I know I'm a little late on this, but I finally can sit down and write up my recap of the Princess 1/2 Marathon weekend. Sit back, relax, and enjoy! :)
Friday morning, we arrived to Downtown Disney a little earlier than expected, but 7:30am came quickly - and I was finally face to face with my two best running friends Tina and Carol-Lee, and Carol-Lee's friend Dawn. It was real right at that moment...Jeff and I were in DISNEY WORLD - getting ready to RUN! Tina's husband Jim dropped us all off at the expo nice and early. The expo was great - very busy, and at times, a bit overwhelming for me. It's a lot to take in as your first expo, especially with it being your first half marathon. But all in all, it was a great experience!!
Saturday morning was the Royal Family 5k at Epcot. Jeff and I got up around 3:45am, got our costumes on, and headed to the buses for the race. We met up with Tina, Jim, and a few other princesses in Corral D (the corral Tina was in with her neighbors) and we all started together. It was awesome! They had little fireworks for each corral, and music blasting. We jogged, but mostly walked. It was great because we didn't get the chance to visit Epcot as one of our chosen parks, so this gave us an excuse to quickly walk through World Showcase. It was a nice day, more humid than anything. We ended up finishing under an hour, and we all received our medals. I was so proud of Jeff for completing his first ever 5k, and getting his first medal. It was also a great warmup for me for the Princess.
After jumping in the pool and cooling down, changing and getting ready, we headed to Hollywood Studios rockin our new medals. :) We met up with Tina and Jim, went on a few rides (TOT and Aerosmith a MUST!), and then had a really nice dinner at Mama Melrose's. We tried going to Starring Rolls but they close at 4, which I didn't know. I was completely bummed because I've been wanting to try a butterfinger cupcake. Jim was bummed too - evidently, he's a bit of a sweet tooth lol. Regardless, it was an awesome day and we had a lot of fun!
Sunday morning - whew was that an early morning. Even though we got back to the room Saturday night, and I was in bed by 6pm, being up at 3am wasn't the best feeling lol. But somehow, I got up, got myself dressed into costume, ifit belt and all, and ate my peanut butter sandwich.. then we headed to the lobby to the buses. We got to the staging area around 4-4:30am. I do have to say that Disney really needs to research their contracted coach buses. The drivers just don't care if you get there or not, and they drive like they've just learned. We almost rear-ended someone, and I heard another bus full of runners got lost and arrived to the race late. Ridiculous. But that's pretty much my only complaint. I left Jeff around 5am or so, stopped at the port-o-potties (lines were really decent then) and headed to my corral - I walked..and walked..and walked. I totally didn't realize it would be so far away from the staging area lol. But I finally made it to my corral. I somehow pushed my way to the front and waited. We watched all of the other corrals go - fireworks and all.. and then, with time going pretty quickly, it was time for corral G (my corral) to head to the start line. We watched and counted down with the Fairy Godmother, and then we were off for 13.1 magical miles. Jeff was off to the side of the highway watching the start line. Unfortunately, he thought I was in corral H and never saw me go by, though I saw him. I started jogging, and was actually making good time. I got to mile 1 within 14 minutes. It started to get lighter out, but it was so humid. I honestly kept asking myself how I was going to get through 13.1 miles. The longest I've ever gone is 12 miles - in 42 degrees. This questioning was going on just after the first mile.
I would also like to point out that going through the tolls at the Magic Kingdom is a huge tease! I was all excited to see that sign, and stupidly thought we were close to the castle. WRONG! Hahaha. But there were different entertainment stops - such as Lightning McQueen at the racetrack, and the drums at the Ticket & Transportation Center. That's where I saw Jeff again.. I ran by, gave him a kiss, he gave me encouragement, and I was on my way to Main Street! We turned on Main Street right after mile 4.5, and Jeff surprised me by being there. It was really the best feeling to see him along the course cheering me on, and supporting me the entire way. It helped to keep going. After seeing him, I was on my way ... running through the castle for the first time! :) It bottlenecked pretty bad, and I stayed to my right and caught a Fairy Godmother in training. She sprinkled me with pixie dust and told me to keep going. It was so awesome to see the amount of support along the course. :)
After I got through Magic Kingdom, the long stretch of nothing started - it was the worst part of the race. It wasn't too bad. Just a little boring. There were more characters along miles 7-9 than people had mentioned before. Mile 7-8 were the ones that really were difficult to get through. I was alone, and I didn't have any music - the downside to having a new phone and nothing switching over. After mile 9, I started running again. Yeah, by this point, I was walking 98% of the way because the humidity was horrible, and my feet were in absolute pain. Somehow though I kept going. I finally saw mile 10...and the balloon ladies. NOT COOL. I started running again, until I got to the dreaded overpass. That ramp is a BITCH (I know, not very princess-esque of me, but there's no other word for it). The Green Army man was all the way on the left, and I was on the right so that sucked, but you could hear him from the start of the ramp and past. I didn't care for the fact that he was telling all of us this was the last hill we would have to deal with - well..he freaking lied! Mile 11 - the mile NO ONE tells you about! It was another hill. At this point, I saw the balloon ladies, and the flagger, and ended up running to get ahead. Mile 11 almost literally stopped me in my tracks, and at that point, I couldn't see the balloon ladies - because they were ahead of me. And I honestly didn't care anymore. I didn't care if I got swept. I didn't care if I didn't finish. I was in so much pain, and everything was swollen. I nicknamed my hands Wreck-It Ralph hands because they were so swollen. I ran down the hill after struggling to make it up, and they kept saying once you're in Epcot, you're safe -you can't be swept. So I start running towards the ball. After thinking I wasn't going to make it, I finally saw Epcot, and the choir. Hello mile 12! I was finally in Epcot, safe from being swept, and exhausted. I walked.. A LOT. I went from a 14min mile to 17:51min mile. I walked around the ball, and a Cast Member was there telling everyone they had 3/10ths of a mile to go.. to just go. Then I saw the Mile 13 chapter book. From there, I ran.. turned and saw the finish line - stopped quicky to take a picture of it, then ran through the finish line. I threw my hands in the air, thanked God and walked to my medal. I saw Carol-Lee and Dawn cheering for me on the side of the finish line, and ended up seeing Jeff. I grabbed my medal, a food box, a banana, a powerade and a water and ran into Nurys - she waited at the finish line for me too!! It was so awesome to see my fellow Princesses waiting for me and being so supportive! I was shaking, swollen and in so much pain. I wasn't even really proud of myself at that point. I just wanted the pool and something to eat. But I was happy to see everyone waiting for me and being there. It was so amazing. After saying bye to everyone, Jeff and I waited in the long line for the bus, finally got on and I hobbled my way to the pool. On my way, Jeff was taking off my iFitness belt and tutu.. I got there, stripped my compression sleeves, sneakers and socks off and sat in the pool. When they say it's one of the best feelings in the world - it really is! It was amazing! Jeff ran to the room and got my chocolate milk and my pb&j sandwich. I sat in the pool for a little, then made my way up to the room. I took a shower and laid in bed drinking powerade and eating what I could and relaxing. We got ready a little later on, and headed out to the Polynesian for dinner with Carol-Lee and Dawn at Ohana. I was in so much pain, and had the biggest blister ever on my foot, so it was nothing but flip flops for me lol. It was a delicious dinner and sitting down felt amazing! It was the perfect celebration dinner, complete with watching Wishes. :)
I woke up Monday and realized what I just did - I just ran 13.1 miles. I ran 16.2 total in one weekend. I completed my first 1/2 marathon. In Disney. I did it. A year ago, I was heavier, unhealthy, and out of breath. This year, I made my dream, my goal come true. As much as it hurt, and as hard as it was - I can now say I plan on doing it again. I am currently working on my next dream, but in 5 years, I plan on being there for the 10 year anniversary of the Princess 1/2 Marathon. But I'm raising the bar on myself - after the Princess, I'm going to Disneyland and earning my Coast2Coast medal with the Disneyland Half, and if they still have it- participating in the Dumbo Double Dare. I have 5 years to train for all of this, and I'm ready for it. I'm waiting 5 years so I can get the new medal that comes out. But I'm also waiting because my dreams of becoming a mom has now become my priority again. One step at a time.
Completing this 1/2 marathon allowed me to prove to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to. It may be hard. It may be hell. I may want to give up. But I know in my heart, I can do it. So with this plan, I'm going to do the same thing I did to get that medal around my neck - I'm giving it my all. Dedication and commitment is what it takes. That.. and a little Pixie Dust. :)
I also want to take the time to thank those of you who supported me throughout this journey. Without your support and encouraging words, it would've been even harder to make this dream come true.
I'm onto the next adventure, but I'm still going to be strapping my glass slippers on now and again. Running has changed my life.. for the better. And it's an amazing feeling.
oxoxoxoxo.
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