The final installment of my Disney Princess Half Marathon experience. I know it's been a long blog entry, but I wanted to record as many memories as I could before time begins to fade them away. If you missed any of the previous entries, part 2 is
here, part 1 is
here and my expo thoughts
here.
After taking time to Let It Go, I knew the toughest stretch of this race was ahead. This wasn't a part of my mental negativity rearing it's ugly head - it was the truth. The road narrowed significantly and the people were still there - so many runners. I did my best to stay middle to right - raised my hand and look behind me before I stopped to walk. I'm sure I didn't do as good of a job as others would have liked, but when you're elbow to elbow, you do your best. I've heard stories of some nasty Princesses during the race- but I didn't encounter any. Lots of "excuse me", "on your right/left", "ooppss, sorry." Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and pleasant - that made me so happy. I didn't want any negativity impacting my race and feel so lucky that I didn't experience any.
We passed Mary Poppins & Bert (long line, but I really wanted to stop...oh well....). Somewhere between the halfway point and mile 8, we passed a golf course. The Genie was hanging out so we stopped for a photo. I also stopped for a photo at the Mile 8 marker since it was the only Beauty and the Beast reference on the entire race course.
Ain't never had a friend like him - loved this photo opp
At least I can tell which one is the Beauty and which is the Beast in this photo. Jeez, it was humid.
Around mile 9, volunteers were handing out Clif Shots for us to refuel with. I use Clif shots and blocks during my runs, so I grabbed a few to put in my Spibelt. Kacey had admitted earlier in the morning that she didn't like them - they didn't set well in her stomach. As we moved through the Clif Shot area, she mentioned that she was really starting to struggle and was hoping maybe one of these would help her. I told her I was perfectly fine walking for a while (my walking intervals were beginning to outnumber my running ones anyway) - so we slowed down. What I couldn't believe is there wasn't a water station nearby after the Clif Shot stop. I can't take the shots without water - so please don't ask my why I made the stupid mistake of taking a Vanilla shot. I don't know if it was the shot or the vast amount of water and Powerade in my system in an attempt to stay hydrated, but suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach.
Kacey and I made one last stop - A Bug's Life is my all-time favorite Pixar movie, so I couldn't pass up a chance to have a photo with Princess Atta. I wanted a photo with Mrs. Incredible across the street, but the line was just too long, so we stuck with Atta. This would be the final time I would stop with Kacey - and keep her in my sights.
My favorite non-human princess
I didn't feel well. Around mile 9.5/10 it hit me hard and progressively got worse. I tried to keep Kacey in my sight, but I couldn't keep up. I concentrated on the road ahead and continued to put one foot in front of the other. We came upon one of the overpasses I had heard about- I do think it's pretty evil to place "hills" on the final 3 miles of a distance race, but oh well. Had I not been feeling so crappy I think I would have been okay. My legs, feet, body felt good overall - my gut did not. A Toy Story soldier sat at the top of this overpass - I had planned on stopping for a photo, but I didn't. I was so afraid of throwing up. I got to him just as Kacey got her photo - she saw and I told her to just go. I told her I couldn't keep up and wanted her to just run. And she did - the Clif shots didn't bother her at all it seemed which is great. I'm so happy that she just kept running and didn't try to wait for me. She paced me in the race - I finished because she helped me maintain a good, solid pace. I didn't make any silly character photograph decisions and had someone to hangout with during the run. I later learned she finished 6 minutes ahead of me - I was pretty happy to see that as I had assumed she crushed me by 15-20 minutes. At least I was able to keep up a little bit - it really helped how I felt about my race overall, especially my final 5K, knowing that she was still just a little bit ahead of me. I know she got to run her race and I ran mine - and that's more important than anything as far as I'm concerned.
It was also around this time I pulled out my phone. I hadn't looked at it since the half-way point but realized that I wasn't going to make a couple of the Fast Passes I had set so I went online to fix them via the really cool My Magic app (priorities you know). Anyway, I saw that I had a new text message, less that 5 minutes old. It was from my sister. How she knew I needed encouragement at that point, I'll never know. Her message was simple - it said "Run, Janae, Run". I sent her a response letting her know I was at Mile 10 and struggling. Her response - "You Can Do It. We Believe in You. Only a Little Bit Left." That was truly magical. I needed a little pick me up and my sister was there. I sent Mark a note letting him know I was at Mile 10 and struggling - he responded with "You'll Be Okay, On the Home Stretch. Finish Strong - I'm Here Waiting." Cue tears. I am so blessed.
We had 2 more overpasses to conquer in that last 2-2.5 miles. The second one was around mile 11 - I stopped at the med tent and asked for some Tums. Those were the best two antacid tablets I have ever taken - I felt better almost instantly (placebo affect maybe?) and kept on trucking. I could hear women around me shouting out encouraging comments to each other - I loved it. We rounded a tight corner to hit our final overpass - and at the top I realized we were extremely close to EPCOT - close enough to see their entry point! It all started to hit me - I was going to finish.
I see EPCOT!!! The finish line is around the corner!
I saw no sight of the balloon ladies - there was still a mass of humanity running behind me. I was going to finish - I was going to do it. We hit the Mile 12 marker and I just put my head in my hands. A gal running next to me asked if I was okay - I told her it was my first half marathon and I can't believe I'm going to finish. She reached over, gave me a big hug, and told me I was good now - I could take my time, take it all in and enjoy from here on out. I never saw her again - have no idea who she was - but I hope she knows how much that meant to me. Mile 12 was on the EPCOT property - and the crowds were out again. So many people cheering and yelling - so many signs. My favorite is below - especially since this entire vacation was born out of my desire to run this race.
Apparently yes, this is what I call a Disney vacation.
We kept running towards Spaceship Earth (the big EPCOT ball) and through back alley. We saw Sophia the First before getting into EPCOT, but I had taken my picture with her a couple days earlier so I kept running. Instead, I asked a really nice cast member behind the scenes to grab a photo of me in front of the ball.
We curved to the right after entering the park and I saw a photo line - the Fairy Godmother! I'd never had my picture with her in all my years of traveling to Disney World - and it was, after all, her race weekend. So I hopped in line - time be damned - I couldn't get swept now!! I also realized at this point that my iPod had cycled through my playlist. I'm not sure when that happened, but I decided against restarting it. I shoved my headphones down my shirt and decided to enjoy the last .75 miles. The photo line was quick and I got my photo - I took a minute to thank her for a magical race and kept on running.
We ran all the way out to the lagoon and then back around towards the ball. The park had opened by now (because I'm that slow) so there were park guests that were watching us run, cheering for us and watching us with amazement and horror. I high-fived cast members while running past - I kept running as much as I could. I was also so excited to see the infamous Gospel Choir I'd heard so much about. They were fabulous - such a fantastic way to end a long 3 hours.
After passing the choir we ran through an exit gate - a cast member was cheering, telling us the finish line was just around the corner. Now, we'd been hearing this from people since Mile 10 so I was inclined to tell her to shove it. But, I realized she was right. We were there. I came up to the Mile 13 marker and had to stop for a photo. There were princess' hanging off the bike fence trying to get in a photo with it or a better photo of it. We princesses are a bunch of Frozen addicts.... At that point and time, you're just so tired and delirious it and effectively "over it" that you don't care what you do anymore.
The finish line is just behind this sign.
After passing this sign I made the decision to run. Run however fast and hard I could. No more walking - I was going to finish this race by running. And I did. I posed for photogs along the way and smiled. A lady a few feet away from me either tripped over her own two feet or someone elses, but she went down- hard. I started to go back to help, but she was surrounded in no time with people to help so I focused my eyes forward so I wouldn't be the next to go down and kept running for the finish. They had Goofy hanging out on my side of the course and I wanted to stop for a picture, but handlers were shooing us away (booooo) while he gave out hi-fives, so I just kept running. I don't remember much about finishing. Just that I raised my arms in the air and smiled - I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. So, I smiled.
From Marathonfoto.com - hopefully they don't get mad at me for posting this.
We were funneled down the chute and I found the ladies sprinkling finishers with pixie dust. I may have been sweaty and gross, but I wanted my glitter. We kept walking and volunteers were handing out these glorious cold cloths for us to put around our necks - they felt so good. A couple times I thought to look for Mark in large finish line crowd, but I couldn't focus. So many people, so much going on - I knew he was waiting for me somewhere and that I'd find him soon enough.
Then we were given our medals. I very happily accepted mine, put it around my neck and stared at it for a second. I still couldn't believe I had done it and was the proud owner of this little piece of hardware I had been dreaming about. They also gave us this really cool purple mesh bag, a bottle of water, bottle of Powerade and our snack box. I took it all, but didn't care to eat or drink. My gut still wasn't 100% and I just wanted to find Mark and go to the hotel.
After wandering around the post-race area I finally found the exit over to the reunion area. I knew Mark was waiting for me by the engraving line - but it took me a while to find that booth. After locating it, I saw Mark. He was on his phone calling me actually - he knew I had crossed the finish line about 10 minutes earlier but didn't know where I was. I tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a kiss - it was so good to see his face. He had bought me a rose with a little gold Mickey setting in the petals- it was perfect. I was hoping he'd buy one for me, but was still so surprised when I saw it. I told him I really didn't want to stand in line to get my medal engraved - I just wanted to go take a shower. I had him grab a photo of me with my medal real quick to send back home and then we stood in line for the hotel buses. He had brought my flip flops, muscle milk, water and my foam roller per my requests - but all I wanted was my flip flops. From the bus, I called home and let my dad know that I had finished the race and would call them all later.
Heh - I don't look too bad for 13.1 miles
It's a beauty, isn't it??? The rose was so sweet too. I'm drying it & saving it for my shadow box.
As soon as we got back to our room at Art of Animation, I collapsed on the bed. Mark told me to get up and get in the shower or I'd never make it to Magic Kingdom. I reluctantly got up and took a shower - a nap sounded so much better, but we had big plans at the Magic Kingdom and I wanted to show off my medal. It was so great spending the day at the park wearing my hard earned medal. Cast members would congratulate me - call me princess - other runners would come up and talk to me about the race and we'd congratulate and/or commiserate together.
So - would I ever do this race again????? Maybe. It has nothing to do with the race or the experience. I loved it - I really did. But, I don't want to lose the magic. It has special memories for me - sights, sounds, thoughts that I don't want to replace with new ones. And, it is pretty expensive after you figure in the registration, the flight, the rooms, the tickets, etc. My mom saw the bling though and has a bit of an itch to give it a try. She's always wanted to do the 5K they hold - but she really likes the half medal, and the thought of the Glass Slipper Challenge and possibly getting four medals really intrigues her. Yesterday, however, she was beginning to question whether she could do that much running in a weekend and thinks maybe the 10K would be enough. If she's serious about doing this race in any way, I'll go back. I'd love to do this race with my mom - I think we'd have a great time. We'd probably make a quick trip of it - just a few days, not a full week. I'd also sign up for Glass Slipper this time around - why not? Run the 10K with my mom and then have her there to support me during the half-marathon if she decides not to run it.
But, who knows. In the meantime, I'm perfectly happy with my 2014 Disney Princess Half-Marathon experience. It was the experience of a lifetime - something I'll never forget. It was a huge accomplishment - something I did by myself, for myself. I can now call myself a half-marathoner. I have the pictures, I have the memories, I have the medal - and now I have the blog post. Long as it was, it's my diary of memories. Something I can look back on fondly to remember the little nuances of the race.
And now, onward. I have another half-marathon coming up on April 12 and need to get back to training. I'm curious to see if I really do enjoy running 13.1 miles, or if it was just the characters and the location.
It was a magical vacation.
