the race

Last weekend was wonderful.

My best friend and I headed down to Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon and had an absolute blast. We heard about the race early last summer and decided it would be a lot of fun. And, seeing how I already *am* a princess, I figured it would be very fitting. My original goal at the time of signup was for this race to be the first for me to run all the way through - no walking. Boy, did that change. I find it ironic now, looking back at that goal, because I actually ended up doing just the opposite - walking with almost no running.

Most of our park time on Saturday was spent in Epcot, because that is the one we always want to see, but the boys (and our husbands) don't want to spend time there. We hit a couple of the rides, including Test Track, where I had to stop at the end and drool over this beautiful green Camaro... wow.

I'm slowly beginning to feel my desire for a Mustang fade... just sayin'.

After a couple other rides, we headed out to World Showcase to start our "Dessert around the World" tour...LOL! We made it to Mexico first, not sure why, but we just hung a left at the entrance.

We decided that we were too hungry to just eat dessert, so we ate in the sit-down restaurant inside. I had nearly forgotten how good the food was there. Afterward, we grabbed a small, light dessert - white chocolate mousse with berries - to share.

Turns out we really shot ourselves in the foot by eating such a good lunch. We didn't eat anymore desserts that day, but we did end up buying a couple of things - including a Rocky-Road caramel apple I bought in Germany to take home to the boys. We quartered it on Monday and shared it around the table and oh, it was so good! I wish I had a picture...

Sunday started off stupid early...alarm went off at 3:00 am. (Yeah, I told you it was stupid early.) The buses for race participants were only running from 3 to 4 am, so we had to get our butts in gear early. The organization and logistics were simply amazing - only Disney could pull off a race of over 16,000 runners with this kind of precision. Most of the participants were women - afterall it was the "Princess" Half Marathon - but there were a few men. Nearly everyone had on a tiara of some sort, and a lot of people had dressed up as a Disney princess or fairy. You could tell from the get-go that this race was about having fun, not winning or setting a personal best time.

We headed out across the start line just outside of Epcot, complete with a countdown by Cinderella's Fairy Godmother and fireworks for every corral (groups of runners that go at one time - helps spread out the crowd). Then it was off for the five or so miles toward the Magic Kingdom. Most of my photos of the beginning did not turn out, mostly because it was still dark. Here is a picture of us making our way under the water bridge (oh, and that's Ashley in the pink tank, btw). At this point there were still quite a few runners, but we were starting to come across more and more walkers.

Then it was into the Magic Kingdom itself. We actually went in a back lot, right beside Space Mountain, and came out on the side of Main Street and hung a right - straight towards the castle.

Once down Main Street, we took a right into Tomorrow Land, continued into Fantasy Land, and then looped back around to the castle, where trumpeters were out, announcing our entrance as we ran through.

After the castle, we weaved our way around through Frontierland and out the side gate near Splash Mountain, seeing many characters on the way including Pinnochio, Peter Pan and the Genie from Aladdin.

The race continued on past the golf course, the Grand Floridian and the speedway, again with lots of characters and distractions. Once on the main road, it started to get a little tougher as we were out in the full sun at that point and my knee was starting to flare. Thanks to some Biofreeze and a few Clif Shots at mile 8, though, we were good to go.

Throughout the race, we were constantly fighting the fear of being picked up. According to the guidelines, anyone falling below a 16 minute/mile pace would have to drop out. Our goal was to run a 15 minute-mile and we were right on that, but didn't know how all the stopping for photos would factor in. Plus, the 16 minute/mile pacer started at the end of Corral F, and we were in Corral C. Around the 10 mile mark, we turned off the main road onto the road leading to Epcot...and we were quite relieved when we saw the pack behind us...

We felt pretty confident at that point that we wouldn't have to worry about the pace police...LOL.

Just a while later, we were in Epcot, making one final loop to the finish where we began running just after the 13 mile marker. Even though we walked 98% of the race, something in us just would not let us walk across the finish. Ash dug in her famous (holy-cow!) sprint and I joined in behind. While I may run a race faster than her overall, there is no way I will ever beat that sprint!! Amazing.

Post finish line we were christened with our medals and a smattering of pixie dust, and a good helping of accomplishment and pride. The goal was to finish, and that's what we did!

Now comes the hard part - training.

I'm taking the month of March off from running. Period. I'm going to focus on lifting weights to build strength in my legs and a little overall body work, too. I may do some walking (no more than 2 miles at once) but the majority of my cardio will be either the elliptical or recumbent bike. I must, must, must, must get this knee back in shape!!

If all goes according to plan, running will start in April at a very small pace, only doing a couple of miles at a time and increasing very slowly on a weekly (or longer) basis.

My goal? Run/walk OBX in November without pain. :-)