Up Where the Walk, Up Where they Run.

My RBK and I started our journey to Orlando about 10 am Saturday morning.  We stopped at Einstein's for our free bagel thin and drink and headed east.  It was a beautiful day; we had the windows down and our Disney music blasting.  We had decided during our training that we were going to run the race together.  We are doing another half in April and we are going to run our own races then, but this race was going to be a fun run together.

We checked into Disney All Star Movies resort.  I was so excited to be staying in the 101 Dalmatians building.  When that movie came out, I had a dalmatian, so the movie is very dear to me.  I couldn't wait til after the race to hit up the pool.  We went to the room to get settled in and relax a few minutes before we went to the expo. 





It says 13.1 on the other side. <3



We hopped on the shuttle bus and headed to the expo.  I couldn't wait to get my bib and find out if my RBK and I were in the same corral.  We were!  I was excited to get my new Lift Your Sole necklace and I needed toggles for my SpiBelt.  I found green sparkle skirt to wear over my capris.   When I was at the Lift Your Sole stand and I bought my necklace, I showed Jill my necklace I was wearing, and she said, "Are you Amanda?"  She recognized me from facebook, I had mentioned my giveaway on her fb page. 



After the expo we drove to Winter Haven to eat at Urban Flats.  So delicious.  It was about 3:30 when we ate lunch and our dinner reservation at Portobellas at 8:45.  We headed back to the hotel to take a quick nap before dinner.  Well, when it came time for dinner, we were still completely full from lunch and exhausted.  I'm telling you, night shifters don't always transition well to daylight hours.  We slept until about midnight, got up, walk around, stretched, talked a bit, went back to sleep.  Woke up again at 2:45 to get ready for the race.  I ate pb and a whole wheat English muffin and headed to the bus taking my banana with me. 

So cute.  Sleeping beauty and her fairies.

We got off the bus, FINALLY, we were at the starting line.  Psych!!  We had to walk 3-4 days to the starting line, and stopped at the honey buckets once along the way.  I couldn't believe we were finally here.  The adrenaline was pumping. I loved checking out every one's costumes.We finally arrived in our corral and relaxed.  I hoped that long walk counted as a warm up because I didn't really get a chance to jog any on the way to our spot.  I stretched out a  bit and talked to a "prince" about my Vibrams.  Let's go!  I can't wait anymore!

"Baby,  you're a firework!!" 
(PS that song is on TV as I type this part.) 

 I love fireworks, the song and the actual flaming things. Because I was in Corral E, I was able to watch 6 sets of fireworks before I started.  Now, I was PUMPED!!  I crossed the start line, started my watch, and running app.  It was so crowded and the start was slow.  I couldn't see the ground and  I rolled my ankle on something.  It kinda felt like a snuff can.  Strange and Ouch.  Luckily it didn't bother me for long.  It took a little while to pick up speed and get the crowd loosened up.  I could really tell that I hadn't warmed up, my legs were tight.



13:20



Before I knew it we were at mile 1.  I was so happy to be making progress.  It was very cool to look around at the runners, everyone was dressed up, smiling, and laughing with a bunch of women.  It felt really good.  I was so proud to be part of it.  It is still very crowed and hard to navigate through the group.

12:21

Mile 2 came along and our pace was speeding up.  My legs were still a little tight, but my ankle was feeling better.  We were settled into a very comfortable pace.  We didn't want to get caught up in the moment and try to go to fast.  I think I probably do that in my runs.  I wanted to get those negative splits.

During the second mile we started to see all the fun stuff Disney adds along the course.  Jack Sparrow came out to see us run.

Prince Eric is flirting with me

And of course our Princes.    I stopped to take a picture and got hit on my Prince Eric.  No lie.  You can tell in the picture, he saw me and said, "Hey Ariel" in his sexy voice.  I got all giddy and waved like a school girl.  I ran over to Kristina and said, "Prince Eric just hit on me!"  That got me through a mile or so.

12:21

I loved the sign for mile 3, especially since I was still beaming from my run in with Prince Eric.  We had the same time for miles 2 and 3.  Nice. 

11:21

 We turned our iPods on and got into our groove.  I was blasting some Under the Sea and Coheed and Cambria.  Mile 4 had the first hill.  The DJ on the bridge coached us up the hill by saying there were guys on trampolines at the top. 







11:51

 Mile 5 was all about the scenery, so here is mile 5 in pictures.

Kristina running towards the castle.

Me and the castle.

13:05

 After that crazy fun mile through the magic kingdom, I felt on top of the world.  We fell back into our comfortable pace and just kept running.  We didn't stop to get pictures with any of the characters and I didn't stop running to take pictures as I was running by, most of them are pretty blurry.  If you want to see all of my pictures, check out my facebook album. 

The next mile took us back out of the Magic Kingdom.  There were a few more characters on the way out.  It felt good to be running steady and not slowing down and speeding up to take pictures and check stuff out.  I know that is not a very good technique for running a half marathon, but come on, this was the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  It was all about having fun.

11:54

I kept my Clif Bloks on my SpiBelt using my toggles.  I put a toggle every 2 bloks.  Before we left I opened the end half way so that when I wanted to eat them, I could just reach back and rip it open and pull 2 bloks out.  The toggle kept the next 2 bloks from falling out.  The next time I wanted them I pulled the excess wrapper from the toggle and popped out the next 2.  I pulled the whole package out for the last 2 and threw the little pack away.  I'll definitely be using that technique again.

11:44

I started getting a strange cramp in my ribs around mile 9.  It wasn't like a side stitch.  It was in my back on my left side.  I tried to adjust my bra and roll my shoulders around, but nothing was helping.  I just had to breathe through it and stay in my stride.  

11:34

Mile 10 was sooo long.  I was so excited to say, "Only a 5k to go!!" I was getting tired.  Thank goodness I had my RBK to keep me going.  She is steady as a rock.  I told her before I knew my limitations were all mental and she couldn't let me stop and walk unless I was dying and needed my inhaler.  I knew my body could do it, but I can't always rely on my lungs. 

12:14

After the 10 mile sign there was a long gradual on ramp hill.  RBK was getting frustrated with the crowd and totally beasted that hill.  I took a few steps to catch up and I realized I didn't have it in me to speed up that hill and still have energy to have a good finish.  I would catch up when it flattened back out.  I slowed down to get a cup of water.  I sped back up searching for Kristina.  Oh no, where is she?  Mile 11 came, and still no Kristina.  But we were gonna cross the finish line together. 

Forgot to push my button, oops.

I just kept running.  My legs were getting tired and my toes were hurting.  I walked a couple steps to stretch my toes out a little.  I waved at the camera and saw myself on the big screen.  I passed mile 12 pretty bummed.  She couldn't have been that far ahead.  This mile was taking forever.  I had my camera ready to take the mile 13 sign but it never seemed to come.  Ugh.  Ahh, someone is grabbing me from behind.  OMG!!  KRISTINA!!  She was waiting for me right before the big screen I was waving at.  She said she kept looking for the green sparkly skirt, and saw a few others, but she didn't see me and I didn't see her.  She started running again to try to find me.  I can't believe it.  How A for Awesome is that?!?

Epcot

12 and 13.1   26:51

Finally, the 13th mile!  It was my favorite one.  We were so close.  I took the picture and put my camera in my SpiBelt and took my phone out to stop my RunFree app.  I wanted that to track our run so that I would have the cool map through Disney.  I pulled the screen up...only 2.49 miles logged.  Dang it.  Here comes the finish line.  RBK and I grabbed hand and ran through.  So happy I wanted to cry.  I was pooped. 

2:40:26

We got our medals and took a picture.  The volunteers kept telling us to keep moving.  The next thing I know we are at the food tables.  They had bananas and oranges and Powerade, but I needed water.  STAT. I asked  a volunteer and she said they only had Powerade and the water was up at the finish line.  Luckily another runner heard us and had an extra bottle of water.  Thank you awesome runner for the bottle of water.  I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to take an ice bath, shower, beer, and hit the pool.  We strolled around and find the buses. 

We got back to the hotel and pretty much passed out.  I said to myself, let me just lay down for a couple minutes before I go get my ice.  Nope. We woke up at 1:00.  Recovery fail!  No food, no chocolate milk, no stretching.  Our check out time was 1:00.  Oops.  I called the front desk and told them we were going to take showers and then be out. 

We left the hotel at 2:30 and headed to Downtown Disney.  We had reservations at Planet Hollywood at 5:15 and had some time to kill.  We walked around DD for a while and stopped at the Tonsil Tickler Bar for a beer.  Ahh.  Pretty sure it was the best Yuengling I have ever drank.

We used the free time to take some photos.  It was fun seeing other women wearing the shirts and their medals.  I'm glad we were able to walk around to keep our legs stretched out after our horrible (non)recovery.

We went to dinner at Planet Hollywood.  We ordered the bruschetta appetizer.  Yum.  I had a delicious Tuscan chicken sandwich.  It was really the first real food we had since lunch the day before.  I was starving and once I ate I got really tired.  I was kinda crabby.  I couldn't wait to get home.  We finished dinner and headed back to the hotel to get my car.  We talked most of the way back to RBK's house but I needed to rest for a few minutes before I headed to my house.  Thanks for letting me nap on your comfy couch Kristina.  I needed that.  I got home and showed Smooth my medal and passed out on the couch. 

I really enjoyed running another women's race.  I love the energy of these events.  Yeah!  Girl power.  My first half was all about finishing.  This race was about no walking, I beat my previous time by 24 minutes!!  My next half is the Iron Girl Half Marathon in Clearwater, FL.  Another women's race.  My goal is to get another PR, hopefully under 2:30.  It is only 6 weeks away, so I have to jump back on the horse.  I went for a very easy 2 mile wog yesterday to keep my legs loose.  When we got to the bay, I walked into the water knee deep.  It felt so soothing on my calves and feet.  I feel amazing today. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on running a half marathon so quickly after a race?

I can't wait to read my fellow Princess's race reviews.