Disney Princess Half-Marathon 2014 - Race Day! Part 3

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. 

Disney Princess Half-Marathon 2014 - Race Day! Part 2

Continuing on my Princess journey - if you missed Part 1 check it out here

As you pass by Contemporary Resort and approach the Magic Kingdom, you run under this little bridge and head back up with Space Mountain fully in view. I've seen multiple photos of this bridge from the different blog posts I've read about all the RunDisney races at Disney World with the guy dancing on top with the gigantic Mickey gloves. I felt like my blog post would be lacking if I didn't include a photo of him as well.

This guy is so great! I want a pair of those gloves.

The course sends you towards Space Mountain, but you don't actually enter the Magic Kingdom from the front. You run back through some alley ways, employee only areas - there's no view of the castle or Main Street USA, but you know you're close, you know you're on property and the excitement just continues to grow. There were cast members hanging out and cheering us on in this area - in fact, they were throughout the park offering support and encouragement, cheers and hi-fives.  I know Disney excels in customer service - but this was just so cool. It's around 730 a.m. and there they are, hanging out, waiting for us. It was around this point I took my headphones out. I wanted to take in the entire experience - I didn't want to miss anything.

Suddenly, we crossed through a gate and it was incredible - there it was. Main Street USA. And the people. Good gravy, the people.  They block the street off down the center - we ran towards the castle on the right side and the crowd lined the streets 5-6-7 deep on the holding signs and ringing cowbells. It's hard to describe the experience.  I grabbed some video of my run down Main Street.  Yes - I'm a dork. I always forget that you can't turn your camera to portrait when you're filming..... but I managed to remember a couple seconds in on this one. 

After running down Main Street, they send you to the right and straight to Tomorrowland. After running through, Kacey needed to make a pit stop herself.  I took advantage of the break to send a few text messages and grab a couple photos. And dig a pebble out of my shoe that was bugging me.

The castle is that way ladies - keep going!!

A look at where we had just come from - Tomorrowland

When Kacey returned, I informed her that my Garmin was reporting we were maintaining a 13+ minute pace, even with the 2 bathroom stops. We were both relieved to see that and decided to stop for photos if the lines were short enough.  After leaving Tomorrowland, we entered Fantasyland. We hopped in line to meet the White Rabbit - my photo came out blurry, but I've seen several people comment online that their photos were blurry too, so I'm guessing the cast member assigned to that spot was struggling taking photos. As we rounded the corner from the White Rabbit we could see the castle again - and this time, we were heading through!  

 As you approach the castle, you can hear the trumpters up top playing the revelry theme. I heard some people got the Rocky Theme too - but I was perfectly happy with a Royal Revelry. I remember looking at Kacey and in a very cheesy way saying "Here We Go."

If you haven't figured it out yet, I read a lot of blogs on past Princess Half Marathons to try to help me get a small idea of what to expect. One of the biggest complaints I had read about the past year or two was how crowded it was while actually running through the castle and that you could barely run. I'm so happy to report that we didn't experience that. Sure, there were a lot of people, but you can tell from my bumpy video that we had plenty of room to jog and move and enjoy the experience. After exiting the castle we made the hard left and found a short line to stand in for our official castle photo.

Oh yes, I'm beginning to feel like a princess.

We took off towards Liberty Square where we met Louis from The Princess and the Frog and then to Frontierland where we saw Woody. We were hanging out around a 16+ minute pace right now and we knew the long stretch was ahead of us, so we bypassed the princess photo set up and rounded the corner outside the Magic Kingdom. 

Hey Louis - I play the trumpet too!!

Hey there Cowboy! 

Not too far outside the park, we hit the halfway point. Each year, they have a contest to vote on what the song for the halfway point of the race would be. For a while, I was pretty sure Katy Perry's "Roar" would win easily when the time came to vote. And then "Frozen" came out and it became clear that "Let It Go" would be our song - I'm sure the vote wasn't even close. And so there I was, halfway through my first half-marathon and the emotions began to take over. You see, "Let it Go" is my Kennedy's favorite song right now. She sings it all the time - I am not ashamed to admit that I will belt it out as loud as I can when it comes on the radio myself. It was at this point that I realized what I was doing, just how incredible of an accomplishment it had been so far, and just how much I love and missed my kids. I got very choked up - it took everything I had not to break down completely. We stopped for photos in front of the halfway sign and I didn't care who was around - I sang along to the song as loud as I possibly could, arms in the air, even dancing a little bit. This was my celebration time - and I knew that I needed to enjoy this while I could because the hardest was yet to come. 

Oh, don't worry - I will!! Tired, sweaty and probably off-key, I definitely sang along. 

Part 3 coming soon....

Disney Princess Half-Marathon 2014 - Race Day! Part 1

I knew it would happen, so when I woke up at 1 a.m. in a panic that my alarm hadn't gone off, I really wasn't surprised. I laid in bed and played on my phone until my alarm went off at 2:15 a.m. I kept waiting for the nerves to kick in, but they never did. I was calm, strangely calm. I think I knew I was going to finish - I think I knew I was going to be fine.

I had laid out my clothes the night before so I was ready to go. Cleaned up, put a little make up on and ate a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and a banana. I contemplated taking a long-sleeved shirt but after walking about 100 feet outside, decided against it and went back to the room. It was a good decision as the heat and humidity would be a factor later on. I kissed Mark good bye and told him I'd see him at the finish line.

Flat Janae laid out and ready to go. I'm not a huge pink/sparkle girl so this was a perfect outfit for me. I could still dress up but be comfortable.

I got a kick out of seeing all the other women staying at Art of Animation heading towards the bus stop. Along the way, I met a wonderful lady from New York who runs almost all the Run Disney races. We chatted the entire way to the bus, sat together and then chatted up until we got to the race reunion area before saying farewell and good luck. I was so happy to have met her - she kept me from thinking about what I was about to do and made the long bus ride and short walk to EPCOT fun. 

A few months back, through a Facebook group dedicated to the Princess Half, I met a gal named Kacey. Somehow we started chatting, realized our 10K times were pretty similar and decided to run the race together. This ended up being a HUGE blessing for me, but I'll explain that later. We were going to meet up at the race reunion area before heading to the corrals so I sat on the ground and stretched for while waiting on Kacey. After she arrived, she made the suggestion of hitting the porta potties before going to the corral. I'm not a porta pot girl, but felt like she was probably smart in her suggestion and decided to suck it up - it was a helluva a good decision too! With an hour to go until race time, they began calling us all to our corrals. I thought that was a bit excessive, until I realized we were going to have a 20+ minute walk to our starting corral. Holy cow - those blogs I read from last year's race weren't kidding - it's a crazy long walk. The humidity was high and evident - we saw one runner already down on the ground before we even got to the corral. I quickly began to evaluate my strategy. Kacey and I found our corrals and sat down to stretch and relax a little more - and discuss plans. We decided to skip all character photos until we got inside Magic Kingdom -Kacey wanted to give us enough cushion that we could finish the race at an even pace without having to worry about playing catch up the entire time. What a smart gal - she was spot on with that assessment we soon discovered.  Kacey runs - I run/walk. I told her that no matter what, if I began to hold her back she needed to just keep going and not worry about me - I didn't want to impact her race. Again, a smart conversation as this would later prove to be a true statement. 

We casually chatted with people around us and also enjoyed the pre-race festivities on the big screen. Oh yeah, and the surprise for the military wife - absolutely incredible!!! Loved, loved, loved that. Bravo Run Disney.

Before we knew it they were sending corrals off.  At 6:01 a.m. - we crossed the starting line.  The fun was about to begin...

The starting line as Corral I gets the green light to GO!

I let Kacey set the pace since she would be running - she settled in comfortably around 13 minutes and I had no problems staying with her. I actually ran at least the first mile - possibly close to the second mile (I really don't remember). I started my run/walk - not with intervals unfortunately - it was still dark, it was humid, and I didn't want to continue looking at my watch. I would walk until I felt good and start running again. I managed to keep pace with Kacey as she continued to run, and if I fell back a little bit I kept her in my sights. The crowd that had gathered down the first quarter mile or so was crazy - people cheering, tons of cow bell - it was fantastic. When we got passed the cheering crowds, a local high school band was in the median of the road playing and cheering for us - I loved that they were out there so early in the morning to kick off our race. 

The mob of people never seemed to cease. We did a lot of bobbing and weaving - slowing down and then picking the pace back up. I didn't let it frustrate me though - I knew it was coming and expected as much. But, it was still a little shocking that there were so many people. Kacey and I both had headphones in and were zoned in to music but would tap each other to get attention if we wanted to say something. I felt a tap on my shoulder and she was pointing ahead - the Mile 1 marker sign was in view! I felt good - my breathing was not bothering me at all. BUT, I had no feeling in my feet. For the first 3 miles both my feet were numb - I have no idea what happened, or why it happened, but it scared me a little. I tried to just keep going and not think about it. I also began to realize that my trip to the porta pot early may not have been a good idea - I had broken the proverbial seal. I had to go again - bad. I didn't want to stop and slow Kacey down yet - I wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom before stopping - but I was getting increasingly concerned that I wouldn't make it (TMI - I know...but hey, it's a recap.)

Somewhere between miles 1 and 2 there were these cool birds that people were flying around in the sky, similar to kites, and fittingly the song "Let's Go Fly a Kite" was playing.  CMNH (the official charity of the race) also had a big set up around mile 2 with groups of people cheering us on. As we approached mile 3 we saw our first characters - Jack Sparrow and his ship.  The line was insane - and I had no desire to stop for him anyway - so we took a peek and kept running. I got a kick out of watching a guy in front of me hop off to the side and into a batch of trees behind the pirate ship - apparently he couldn't wait for a real bathroom in the Magic Kingdom. 

We also came up on a photo I really wanted - the heroes. The line - holy crap, the line. There was no way. Kacey and I decided to cross our fingers the line would be shorter on the way back and kept right on running. If I do this race again, I may stop and make it my only character stop on the course. 

Soon, we saw a glorious site - the ticket area for the Magic Kingdom. I stopped to grab a photo - but as you'll see, the humidity was so thick the photos make it look like it's raining.

YEA!  The Castle will be in my view soon. 

After we crossed through the ticketing areas we approached the Walt Disney World Speedway. They had an Exotic Car and a RPDE corporate car out front with a couple company drivers for photos. I was fairly disappointed there was no Lightning McQueen or Mater - I stopped to grab a quick photo of the set up and kept running. After a while, we came up to an entry point - with bathrooms!!!! I told Kacey I had to stop and ran right to the men's room - the line was shorter. This was a highlight of my race - the gal in line in front of me and I came oh, so close to squatting over a urinal - we didn't want to wait. And then it happened - guys walked into the bathroom, a little surprised to see what was in front of them. I told them not to worry, we wouldn't peek - they apparently weren't worried either. (Again, I know it's TMI - but I'm recapping my race - I don't want to forget anything - this is my diary as well).

We also passed by another photo stop I really wanted to make - the Villains. I knew the line would be long for this one too - and Kacey and I were keeping a good 13 minute pace, so we stopped to grab photos of them candidly but didn't get in line. 

Kacey and I took off with the crowd and headed to the right, around the lake and past the Contemporary Resort. I looked ahead and realized - this was it - the castle was coming.  

Stay tuned for Part 2....

Disney Princess Half-Marathon Day 1: The Expo

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I pretty much quit blogging for a while. I just didn't have time. But now, I'm going to try to do a better job and keep this blog updated as much as possible as my journeys continue. I started this blog as a way to keep myself accountable as I trained for my first half-marathon. And as I slacked off on my blogging, my training suffered as well. I knew it would happen - and it did. However, as the race got closer, I kicked myself in the butt and tried to train as hard as I could for the final couple of weeks. And now, I can say that I did it - I'm officially a half-marathon runner. More on that later.  In true blog fashion, I'll start with the beginning of my experience.

We flew to Orlando late Wednesday with the main goal of getting to the expo early on Thursday. It's the sole reason I wanted to spend our vacation time before the race, versus after. I wanted to get to the expo. I'd read so many horror stories about past expos and continuous gripes about the merchandise being out of stock. I wanted the "I Did It Shirt" - because, well, I needed as much motivation to finish this race as I could find. And, what's more motivating than a $32 shirt that says you did something - you damn well better finish that race so you can wear that shirt.

We got to the expo about 10 a.m. and I couldn't believe the people that were heading inside. I had butterflies - I won't lie. We walked up and I felt the need to pose for a photo with the banners - I saw so many of these posed photos during my Facebook and Twitter stalking of Dopey runners, that I had to do it myself.

Yea!!! Let's hurry up and do this thing!

We went straight in and headed to bib pickup. We failed to read the signs and ended up making a lap around the top before a nice volunteer let us know where to go. I was able to walk right up and stand in a line of one person before getting my bib and my pin I forgot I had purchased at registration.  Super easy and quick - loved it. 

Holy smokes - it all became real when I had this in my hand!!!

We headed out of that building and next door to the Jostens Center where my packet - and the big Run Disney booth - was waiting for me. I was a little overwhelmed at first at all the people, but then realized that was nothing and there would probably be tons more coming the following day. I kept getting distracted and wanted to look at other things, but Mark kept pushing me ahead to the shirt/gear pick up tables so we could get things going.  Picked up my bag and shirt with no problems and walked right into the merchandise mecca. I started shopping for a brief second before realizing I needed to find the shirt - that's the whole reason we were there on Thursday. I walked up to the table and got a large in my hot little hands - I heard by Friday they were sold out of the I Did It shirts, so I was so happy we made that our first stop. I shopped around a little more and purchased a tumbler too.  We roamed the expo for a while but nothing caught our eye - except the Run Disney booth where the blings were hanging - plus the cool buttons Run Disney had laying out free helping us tout what we were celebrating. I grabbed a 1st Half-Marathon button and an I'm celebrating button and slapped them on my backpack. After about 45 minutes of wandering around, we called it a day and headed out to find some food. We ran over to Downtown Disney and enjoyed lunch at Crossroads at House of Blues. We spent some time walking around DD but decided to back to the hotel and relax.  Later found a great little pizza joint in the neighborhood for dinner and spent sometime outside our hotel on the patio furniture enjoying the beautiful night, the cool air blowing, and the peace and quiet that comes as result of leaving your children at home.  My brain wasn't hurting for the first time in years - it felt so good.

Who picked up some great goodies at the Expo???  As a rookie, I thought the Expo was laid out well and not too crazy - what did you think?