To talk about the half, you have to start 2 years ago when we went down to Disney World and the Disney Cruise. It would have been August 2008 when we decided to plan a trip. Summers can be so crazy that I need something to look forward to.. I decided to plan a trip for January. It was down time for work and our passports would be here in time for a Cruise :) When we finally booked, we found out a good friend of ours was going down too that weekend.. But to run the Disney Marathon. She is a HUGE Disney lover like me! No wonder we are such good friends! I knew she was running, but had no idea when we planned it was the same weekend! When I found out, she mentioned there was a 5k. So Brian and I decided to jump right in! We didn't really train at all (had done 1 5k previously) and I found out I was pregnant (was 9 weeks preggers on the trip). We ended up running anyway and really enjoyed it.. But felt like slackers the next two days as we watched people walking around in their "real" medals, after running 13.1 or 26.2 or BOTH races! I decided if we ever went back during this same weekend, we should step it up!
So guess what happened?... In May, Mom and Dad bought into DVC (disney timeshare) and so a January trip was planned. We were super excited and I quickly found out it was marathon weekend! I told Brian if we were going, we would have to run and he agreed.. So in July we signed up for the half (don't know if I ever want to do a full :) )! I knew we wouldn't seriously start training until September because of my schedule..
And that's exactly what happened.. We ran off and on until about mid October, then decided we really needed to step it up! We got up to 5 miles, before it all came crashing down.. After our five mile run, we stopped training.. Most of you don't know, but on Thanksgiving day we had a miscarriage at 7 weeks. We were pretty upset about it, and I pretty much stopped at that point.. Too many emotions to deal with and wasn't at all motivated. Before the miscarriage, we had already decided we would likely have to walk/run it. After, we still wanted to do it, I was just not really motivated.. The holidays were upon us in full force and the cold was here! UGG!! So... We ran a couple more times before the big day and that's it.. I was REALLY worried about being picked up by the vans and not getting our medal.. BUT I knew we could at least WALK a 16 minute mile!
So we got excited about the trip and packed and headed to Disney World!! We got there on Friday and the race was Saturday.. We had to go over to Wide World of Sports to get race packets and that took FOREVER! But it was a cool experience and this time we felt like real runners!
Saturday morning we had to be lined up by 5am (yikes!), that meant we had to be on the monorail by 4am (WHAT?), so we were planning on getting up at 3.. but thanks to Burke we didn't need an alarm clock because he got us up at 1am for the day (SERIOUSLY!). It was such an early morning and I felt horrible for my Mom who had to get up with Burke :\
While we waited for the race to start they had various people talk. The best was a woman who was planning to run with her husband when he got deployed to Iraq. Since he couldn't be there, he started a half marathon there! They had the soldiers on the phone and it was sooo cool! They were all running "with us" half way across the world! And Disney was giving them all medals too.. But the best was when the little girl (probably 3 or 4) was telling her Daddy she loved him.. it was AMAZING (and yes I cried)! It was also pretty cool (and I was surprised) that Meredith Viera, Al Rocker and Natalie Morales were all there and running too! It was pretty neat. Disney does it right.. celebrities, music and fireworks!
Our goal was to run through the Castle at Magic Kingdom which was a straight 6 miles. I was a little worried, but knew we could do it. At the start of the race, it was pretty amazing. There were a million people, fireworks and characters cheering us on! They had music all along the route and different characters and things to look at. I'm not sure I could do a non-Disney one, after such a magical experience (have I mentioned I LOVE DISNEY!?) The one mile came pretty quickly.. then the 2 mile marker.. We made it all the way to the castle and to mile 7 before we walked! I was soooooo proud of us! I wish I had kept going, but I was starting to hurt and really didn't want to injure myself, so asked if we could walk for a bit. It's hard to get back in the rhythm once you stop.. But we did... We only walked a few yards before we were going again and heading back to Epcot! At mile 8, we took another breather then it got really hard to start again. You think running the first 7 is awesome.. but you still have 6.1 to go! We ended up walk/running the rest.. We ran all the way through Epcot and before a quick walk and ran across the finish line! We made it in 3:04.10, which we were proud of! We finished AND got our medals!! It was such a great experience. Although, I did quickly say, it may be a once in a lifetime experience... :) The worst part about the whole thing, is the walk back to the monorail after the race.. You make it all that way, then they make you walk a half mile to the train.. I know it's good to walk, but trust me.. All you want to do is sit!
Quickly after the race, we headed back to the hotel. We were pretty hungry and tired and wanted to see Burke! We made it back to the hotel long enough to shower and head to Hollywood Studios with the family. We were really tired, but it was probably best to walk around! I was sore, but not nearly as bad as I thought we would be! And to top off a GREAT day.. We LOVE Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios and ALWAYS ride it multiple times.. After the race, we went and Al Roker and his family were on the ride with us! Don't ask why we didn't buy the picture! :) So it's like we're famous now ;)
And don't worry.. We're already planning our next one ;)
More about our trip soon........
So sorry for your loss. I know exactly what you are going through. We just had a miscarriage at 6 weeks. Hang in there. It's all God's plan and it will work out in His time.
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace.. Our prayers are with you guys too! We're doing much better these days.. Burke makes it easier for us. I'm a true believer everything happens for a reason.. just hoping it makes sense soon :)
ReplyDeleteFirstly: ((BIG HUGS))
ReplyDeleteSecondly: I think you guys are so awesome. I can't even imagine trying to tackle running that distance.