Disney Half Marathon Conquered!

I did it!  I still can't believe I managed to complete a half marathon.  So you might be asking yourself, why did you run a half marathon?  That is a really good question.  Here is the back story.

While living in Texas in the early 90's I met, Kevin and Kristen.  We became friends during the year our girls were born.  We have stayed in touch and our friendship is still strong after all these years.  They are terrific friends and we have a blast when we are together.  We have always shared our love of all things Disney!  Kevin and John are runners, the fact that they are both retired from the military probably has something to do with that.  They are an inspiration to me since they both run with pain.  Kristen and I have a little bit of a different perspective on running than our husbands although Kristen has developed her running skills over the past several years and she is definitely a fierce runner.  Two summers ago we were discussing the Disney Marathon Weekend and thought it would be fun to go to Disney together and participate in the run.  We also talked to our friends Matt and Trisha about doing the race with us.  Trisha is a runner.  I mean the kind of runner that sets records and she is beautiful inside and out.  She is fit and trim and the envy of women who know her, although it must be said, she does the work required to stay fit.  Matt is fit, but he is a military man, still active duty and he is a lot of fun to be around.  Trisha decided to do the marathon with her sister and Matt did the half like the rest of us.  It was great to know that we had friends on the journey with us.

The obligatory photo with Mickey at the Shades of Green with Trisha and Matt.  

I had three goals.  Finish, finish running and beat someone. 

I originally thought I would do the 5K since I have completed several of them and thought that would be fun.  Then I learned that I wouldn't receive a medal for a 5K so I flippantly said, "I guess I'll have to run a half marathon then."  What was I thinking?

After moving to Louisiana this summer I began running and realized how much easier it is to run at sea level than at the 7000 feet above sea level at our home in CO.  Considering I had always told John I would run with him when we get to heaven, I was proud of myself for trying.  I also discovered that the planter fasciitis in my right foot was back with a vengeance and training for a half marathon wasn't going to be easy.  We joined the local gym and I began training about 14 weeks before the race.  I did three 5K's in the process of my training and overall the training went well with the exception of having to train on the elliptical instead of running on a treadmill or the open road.  I found that I could crank out miles on the elliptical and my foot didn't hurt the next day.  If I ran my foot would hurt for a couple of days.  After each of the 5K's I had pain in my heal for a few days so I knew the half was going to cause pain, but I was committed to the race, basically for the medal.  The last two weeks of my training I spent more time on the treadmill but I knew this run was going to be really tough.


The training program that I did included daily miles and then each weekend there was a longer run required.  It started with a 5 mile, then 6, and went all the way up to 12 miles.  I never made it to 12 miles.  I accomplished 10 on the treadmill and 1 mile on the elliptical.  I was really concerned at that point.  But, I had done the training and I was ready to give it a go.  My goal was to finish within 3 to 3.5 hours.

We arrived a couple of days before the race and went to the Expo and picked up our packets and had the opportunity to purchase souvenirs.  We even went to Epcot the day before the race and did a Segway tour!  It was a blast!!  The night before the race we ate in (spaghetti) and tried to get a good nights rest before the race.  We didn't get much sleep knowing that we had to be on the bus so early for the race.

This was so much fun!  We aren't allowed to do pirouettes though.  It's John's fault!  

Our race bibs.  They were preprinted with our names and starting corral. 

During the training period I realized how much I prefer to run/walk outside when it is cold.  Warm weather seems to make it too difficult for me.  As we were packing for our trip, with freezing temperatures in Louisiana it was difficult to pack for the week of 80 degree weather we were hearing we were heading towards.  After arriving in FL we saw warnings about the temperatures that we would experience on race day.  We were even warned about hydrating and not overdoing it.  This was a little more than we had bargained for.

It is finally time!

The start line.  We slowly made our way to the line and then Donald counted down for each corral to start. 

The crowd in front of us in our corral.

I didn't learn that the race would start so early until a couple of weeks before the race.  We were required to be in our corral before 4:30 am so we had to leave the hotel by 4:00am. After arriving to the race we were supposed to have a 20 minute walk to the corrals.  It was about a 10 minute walk from the busses to the bag drop off area where the lines to the really smelly porta-potties were 15-20 people deep.  It seemed as though all 27,000 of the participants arrived at the last minute, which I know isn't the case.  We were finally directed to the corrals, which might have been a 20 minute walk under normal circumstances, but there were so many people in a very small area it took a lot longer.  We finally got to our corral at 5:30 am, just as the fireworks were going off for the beginning of the race.  We were in corral H which was the last corral.  Each corral would have a 7 minute delay before the next corral would start so we started close to 6:00 am.  There was so much excitement and adrenaline.  My first mile was at a much faster pace than I would probably normally run.  My plan was to run a mile, walk a mile, and continue that plan as long as I could.  The crowd never let up, we were surrounded by lots of people the entire time.  It was hard to run because we had to run around walkers the entire time.  I managed to run mile 1, 3, 4 on accident, 5 and most of mile 6.  I am not sure how much I ran after that.  Around mile 10 I got incredible hungry.  There was a "food" station along the way somewhere and we finally got a Goo pack.  It is a sugary treat that really hit the spot and curbed my hunger for the rest of the race.  There was plenty of water and Power Aid along the way as well.

Around mile 11 I needed some inspiration so I put my headphones in and began running again.  I got around a lot of people during this time, but the crowd was still miserably thick.  There were several people who inspired me to keep going as I watched them struggle to keep going as well.  The end of the race took us through part of Epcot and there were plenty of spectators watching and cheering us on.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times we heard, you are almost there.  Actually, many along the journey were frustrated by the statement we heard it so much.  Finally, we saw the 13 mile sign and this huge rush of emotion came over me.  One thing to know is that the first 13 miles of a half marathon are tough, but that last tenth of a mile is a killer.  We began running, with all the goals about to be met I finished my first half marathon in 3 hours and 17 minutes.  My coach cheering me all the way.  What a day!  What an accomplishment!  What a journey!

Kristie made us a sign.  Thanks Kristen!

There were lots of cute shirts and signs along the way that really helped to motivate and I wanted to share some of my favorites.

My will is greater than my will not.
Dear God, please let there be someone behind me to read this.
DLF greater than DNF and super exceeds DNS (Dead Last Finish, Did Not Finish, Did Not Start)
Thanks, I've never passed anyone before.

And my favorite signs being held by spectators:

I am a total stranger and I am so proud of you!
Worst parade ever!
Run you total stranger!
What do you mean this isn't the 3:00 pm parade?
Only a couple more miles, at around mile 8 and his friend beside him held a sign that said, his math skills stink!

And my all time favorite sign: FINISH LINE

I won't bore you with the after pain except to say I took a nap after the race and upon awaking I wasn't sure I would be able to walk.  The pain in my foot was immense.  I got John to bring me ice and then took a shower and just stood there for a bit which really seemed to help.  All in all the body pain lasted longer than the foot pain and all I can say is, thank you Jesus!  We enjoyed our time at Disney, even though we caught the flu and spent the last day in the hotel room.  At least we were sick together.

That's me running towards the gates at the Magic Kingdom. 

At this point I'm thinking, hey, 'can I borrow your bike?'

This is where it gets really hard, the smile went away here!

I did it, and I have a medal to prove it!

I decided that I was well prepared for a 10K and maybe even a 15K, a half marathon was a push for me, but I am proud that I pushed through and finished.  I am not ready to commit to another half marathon as of yet, but I am not completely ruling it out yet.

So, if you ever thought of pushing yourself, I say go for it.  Make sure you are healthy enough and remember to follow all the recommendations that are provided by your physician, coach and friends, but get out there and give it a try, you might surprise yourself.

Until we meet again!