"Every girl can be a princess..." - Disney musical card
Miles Ran: 358.59 Dollars Raised: $1,760.60
Wow.. what an amazing, exhausting day. The morning began at 2:30 when I had to wake up and start getting my outfit together, braiding my hair, toasting my bagel, getting all necessary things together in my mesh bag, and adjusting my tiara :) As Mom started walking with me over to the main bus stop at our resort a group of extremeeely nice women offered me a ride! It just so happened they were all in the same corral as me - A, for us pretty fast girls... We filled a bus of women and headed over to Epcot, where it was freezing cold, and had to wait for the race to begin. I had on two long sleeves over my outfit, but had to give them up at 4:30 at baggage claim in exchange for a trash bag--which, though I never imagined myself dressing in a trash bag, I was SO thankful to have because that hour and a half would have been brutal without it. It was so nice to have those other women there to talk and get excited with rather than just being there by myself.
This race was like no other for many, may reasons:
- Less pressure - I told myself this was going to be a training run for me, that I wasn't going to push myself and worsen my injury. I did end up running at a faster pace than my usual 10:00 mile (I averaged a 9:17 pace according to my watch) and just mentally let myself off the hook, making me a lot more calm and feeling good.
- Less competitve, more celebratory - This was my first real FUN run. Everyone was so happy to be there and people just were not taking it as seriously. For once I wasn't picking people out ahead of me to catch up to and pass, but instead was just enjoying what was going on around me.
- Entertainment - At LEAST every mile or so there was some form of entertainment to give you a little boost! Whether it was a drum line, or a huge pirate ship with Jack Sparrow ("well hello there beautiful" *high five*), characters throughout the entire race, or the scenery, for the majority of the run I wasn't just looking at the people's backs in front of me, but being able to see and participate in the fun! (Lots of great pictures to come...)
- Garmin - This was the first race I had ever run with my Garmin watch, which I believe helped tremendously. Usually I bust out of the starting line way too fast, and was able to really control my pace throughout the entire run. I kept telling myself, "you need to slow down!!!" I was running at what was comfortable for me, but surprisingly never passed that 10:00 per mile mark... for the last mile I was even able to kick it up a notch and run under 8:30! I think it was easier to look down and see, ok! I only have .5 miles left, PUSH IT! It was also great because before, without the watch, I would have to wait until I got to a mile marker to see how I was doing, which wasn't always accurate, and figure out how to adjust my pace from there--not very easy.
- The Course - Compared to Boston, I loooved this course for the most part. We started in Epcot, went down a straightaway highway to the Magic Kingdom where I saw my family, did a big loop coming out through the castle, and then back to Epcot. There were a few hills thrown in there, but the majority of it was flat. The only thing I didn't like was that the highway was tilted for drainage, so it was hard to figure out where the most flat part to run was so that my foot and ankle wouldn't be twisting. It felt like the miles were just going by so fast.. which is a great feeling!
When I was coming up to the finish line I was able to see my family again on the sideline, and finished with a huge smile on my face, not NEARLY as exhausted as I was after the Boston half, and so extremely proud of myself for finishing after this injury--never mind, with a great time! It made me feel so much more confident about my upcoming long runs, and the marathon all together. I was handed a HUGE, heavy, gorgeous, rhinestoned medal, asked to take a couple pictures for next year's advertising in my costume, and was glittered up by some fairy. It was SUCH a good experience, and I'm so happy I was able to participate in it. Like the doctor saying my injury wasn't a stress fracture, this achievement was something I really needed to encourage me to move forward.
Post-run, I'm just experiencing the normal aches and pains of running 13.1 miles. My foot does not feel like it's in extreme pain at all.. just sore. But so is my right, so I'm guessing it's just from the mileage. My quads were hurting a little bit too, but what can you do... When I got back I did the jacuzzi for a little while, which felt AWESOME, and plan to do it again tomorrow. Now I can finally get some much needed sleep!
Now that it's over I'm finally feeling like I'm on vacation... Do I have to leave tomorrow? :(
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