My running skirt was super comfortable! Pretty much everyone there wore costumes, post on those to follow as well. Some of the outfits were unreal! With 17,000 runners it was constantly something new to look at. There was a guy dressed up as a frog with a sign on his back that said "Prince looking for my princess for happily ever after." Aw. Clever guy because all the ladies wanted a picture with him.
My official princess certificate. :)
Quite possibly the best running shirt ever "Dear God please let there be someone behind me to read this" I also saw "I thought they said Rum" Awesome!
When I stopped to have my picture taken with the Genie from Aladdin (my favorite Disney movie) I made the wish to him that I would finish the rest of the race feeling great, and he granted my wish!
The hills during this race were seriously like speed bumps compared to the hills in Columbia. Running that Resolution Run 5k in January may have been one of the best things I did for training because of the massive hills involved. When I came up on the hills in this run they were around miles 9 and 11 and I told myself as I approached them I could walk them if I needed to. But once I got to them I just kept running and realized they were nothing. It felt great to run by all the people walking up them.
Boy was I happy to see this sign and know there was only 1.1 miles left to go! I tracked all my miles with my Garmin watch and looking back through my last 1.1 miles was the fastest of all the miles I ran throughout the race!
I was glad I took the time to take advantage of the picture opps.
These fireman on the truck, you can't tell in the pic, but they were CUTE! Stacy was fairly close behind me and told me later she could see the big smile on my face as I ran by them. I would have stopped to take my picture with them had they been on the ground but they were probably safer staying up on the truck with the amount of women running this race! I bet they would've had the longest line for pictures compared to any of the characters!
Had to stop for a pic with Captain Jack, my face is all goofy in this pic. He and his crew were just like in the movie, and slightly creepy. They definitely acted drunk and looked you up and down, so at that point I just wanted to take the picture and get back to running! Wasn't expecting them to be THAT much in character.
Mrs. Incredible was at mile 12. I wanted to stop with her for sure because I was feeling pretty incredible. I was also feeling a little loopy. I probably would have stopped for any character there was at this point just for a little break!
This was taken as we came running out of the castle. You can't see but around the corner there are photographers everywhere! I felt like a celebrity.
Running into the castle, one of the most exciting highlights of the race. There were a lot of whoops echoing throughout the castle as the crowd ran through.
Quick picture approaching the castle. The castle was around mile 5.5 into the race. We had to run about 5 miles before actually getting into the park and were only in the park a couple of miles. The rest is pretty much highways and parking lots. But the characters were all along the way along with bands and of course spectators.
This was in the morning in our corral waiting to start. We had to be up at 3, on our bus by 4, and at the starting line by 5. We actually crossed the starting line at 6:09. So 3 hours and 9 minutes basically of anxiously awaiting the start. However it gave me a lot of warm up time. I normally don't take much time to stretch so I took advantage of the time to stretch. Saw a girl wildly swinging her leg back and forth, figured it looked like it couldn't hurt so I did that too. Why not, I had a few hours to kill!
The expo the day before the race was at ESPN's Wide World of Sports which was cool to check out.
The sign says "Let the Memories Begin"
I was disappointed in the stuff they had to buy in the Expo, I was expecting some cool running souveniers but didn't find anything there I had to have.
Cheesing it up for the photographer
Crossing the finish line!
This turned out to be my favorite picture with all the characters from the day
Stacy and I with our official medals. Some race highlights and thoughts:
-I was much less nervous than I expected to be and although I was excited I think it helped me not pysch myself out by overthinking about how I could be underprepared
-I was amazed at how many people started walking right from the start! Literally as soon as they crossed the start line they walked.
-I was also amazed at the variety of people of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels who participated. People who you would think never ran a day in their life were talking about how this wasn't their first half marathon.
-Um, there were plenty of porta-potties and let me just say, many people did not put them to use. I can't count the number of people I witnessed peeing on the side of the road. Again, some right from the start! We just sat around for a couple of hours next to a zillion porta-potties, why wait until crossing the start line to pee in the grass? I don't care if I were about to explode I don't think I could do it!
-At one point an uber-serious runner ran by and yelled out "If you are gonna walk you need to move to the side!" First of all she is yelling at half of us who are actually running. Second of all lady, I don't know how to tell you this but if you are that serious about racing you picked the wrong race honey. I think she should know better than to run a race where you can stop to take your picture with a giant dog, giant bug, or drunk pirate if you so choose and expect people to take it THAT seriously.
-Saw some great signs from spectators like "Run like you stole Cinderella's crown" and "Stop reading this sign and run."
-I was able to run the entire race which I was very happy with. I walked through the water stations and then had my occasional picture stops. My pace was very slow and I could have definitely sped up from the get go. Had I went faster to begin with I may have been more tempted to walk but it was great being one of the few people running at the end when everyone else was walking. My final time was 2:54. I'm sure I could've shaved 15 minutes off my time but at least I didn't set the bar too high for next time!
-I had a very motivating conversation during the race I will recap in the next post because I think it is an interesting topic all in it's own. But let's just say when I was getting tired and thinking of when I may let myself walk it came at that time I needed it to really get me through the rest of the race.
-My only other races up until now have been 5ks. I haven't squeezed in a 10k before in an actual race, although I had run the distance in training. So when someone during the race said "We just passed the 10k mark" it was pretty cool to think "Hey I just ran a 10k!"
-It was such a surreal experience. I can't even explain how good I felt. 4 miles into it and I felt like I hadn't even started running. It's like everything just came together. My breathing was perfect, I just took it one mile at a time. I didn't think about how many miles left to go, just concentrated on getting to the next one. My legs never got heavy. My feet and ankles were taking a pounding on the concrete and about 6 miles into it I was feeling the ache. When I did stop and walk through the water stations I felt my legs get tight right away so I was almost afraid to walk because I didn't know if I would be able to run again if I did.
-I was so grateful to all the volunteers at the aid stations. When you are thirsty like I was it was very exciting to see them! I drank Powerade through the whole race except the last station where I downed a Powerade and a water. Water messes with my stomach so I was very leary about drinking any even though it wasn't smart for me not to. But I didn't have any stomach issues. That last mile after drinking water my stomach started giving me the first signs of trouble so I think I made the right call with the drinks.
-Wore my iPod but never listened to it. I am so much more in tune with my breathing when I don't and there was so much going on I didn't need it.
-Never has a banana and an orange tasted so good as it did when ate those after crossing the finish line!
-I'm not a huge Katy Perry fan but they played "Firework" at the start and finish line and now that song will hold a special place in my heart.
-I thought to myself as I was running how it would feel to run a race of that distance with no frills. No characters, no exciting landmarks, less than 17,000 people none of whom are wearing crazy costumes. It would be tougher for sure. But as one of the ladies at the expo said "Once you run one you will want to run another one." She was right, I'm already thinking I would do it again. If nothing else just so I can beat my time.
-On my longer runs in training I felt awful the rest of the day so I was worried about how I'd feel after running the race. I had a slight headache later in the day but overall I felt pretty good. I think it was because of the food I ate the day before. I don't eat like I should when I'm doing the training. I was a bit stiff the rest of the day and the next. But the biggest thing that hurt was my toenails! I'm pretty sure I will lose two of them. There was no way I was putting my tennis shoes back on anytime soon after I got them off. My toes are still sensitive. I was just waiting for someone in the park to step on them accidentally. It would not have been pretty!
-When we boarded the bus from the race to go back to the hotel it was standing room only. This nice man stood up and gave me his seat next to his girlfriend or wife who had also ran. I graciously took it and told him he was an angel. A lady turned around and said "No he is a prince" and we both laughed and said that was an even better description!
So that is a pretty long post for now...I'm sure there are plenty of details I am leaving out. I will post more to follow with the Disney visit itself, the race costumes, and my motivating conversation during the run!
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