Happy New Year!! I ran the Disney Marathon Goofy Challenge and finished! I can't think of a better way to start 2018. My cheerleaders, Eddie and Noah went with me and we ALL had a blast. I had mixed emotions for this the my first super long marathon since my stress fracture in July. With the holidays just ending, my marathon weight isn't where I wanted it to be, but the good thing is that my foot pain is completely gone and has been since late September. I always wonder through, if the pain would come back and I pushed it faster, so I'm been afraid to run fast. I wasn't able to run my normal 8:00 pace per mile, but I managed to run around 8:15 comfortable. I didn't care because this race wasn't about trying to PR. This is more miles and pounding on concrete that I didn't want to be stupid and hurt my foot again. Don't ever want to feel that pain again. So, I decided to dress up for this one and feel like a little girl again and take it all in as I run through all 4 Disney parks. Both Eddie and I felt like kids again, walking all over Disney World with our little boy and seeing all the Disney Characters walking around taking pictures, watching a parade, riding all the fun rides, seeing great shows and fireworks. It's truly a magical experience and kinda brought tears to my eyes after watching the Happily Ever After firework show at the Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom.
I didn't stay off my feet like I probably should have, but I didn't care. This was all of our first time to visit Disney World and wanted to take it all in. You see, this marathon trip wasn't just about me. My little boy turns 10 years old at the end of this month and know that he's no longer going to be a little boy soon. Heck, he stopped believing in Santa Clause and Tooth Fairy this Christmas :( Then again, every marathon I do out of state is never a take it easy and rest before marathon anyway. I'm the kind of person that wants to go see, eat and do fun things while visiting a new state I've never seen before.
Thursday-Day 1: We get there on Thursday and go to hotel and get there around 8:30 a.m. and realize that our hotel check-in isn't until 3 pm. So, we go get a bite to eat and go to the marathon expo to pick up my race packet. When we booked out trip all of the hotels at the Disney resorts were completely booked. So, I had to go with what we could find and a parent at my school hooked me up with a good deal for she is a travel agent for Disney. Trip included two-day park passes, adult VIP Dine 4Less Card, and Kid's Eat Free Card. The only problem was that the hotel is 20 minutes from Disney World. The hotel was across the street from Universal Studies, so that was nice. The Expo was at the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex. There we meet and took picture of Micky Mouse. Bought my outfit to wear while I run. That evening we walked around Universal Studios and eat dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.
Saturday-Day 3: Half marathon day. I have never ran a race that started at 5:30 a.m. So, I decide to call a taxi and they picked me up at 3:30 a.m. I figured better get there early than late and the taxi company recommended I leave at that time. They have had people in the past not make it in time. That scared me, so didn't want to risk it. I told Eddie and Noah, to get some rest and that I would just uber it back cause they may still be asleep by the time I finish anyway. Well, there was no traffic and the taxi driver loops around, missing his turn and that cost me about $45 to get there! I get there super early and hang out with a married couple from San Francisco. Jason and Kathy who gave the some tips on what to expect. Jason even gave me an extra heated sheet for me to wear until we had to walk to our corral. Super nice couple. He wasn't running it, but was there to hang out with wife till time to walk to corral. They have done this before and he paid extra to get the family VIP access. His wife stayed me and we walked together to our corrals and gave each other a hug and wished each other good luck. That's what I love about the running community. We all support each other and understand what we are about to endure. Runners are of all shape and sizes and doesn't matter how fast/slow you are as long as you work on your fitness and do your best is all that matters! It was so cold that I ran with my Boston marathon jacket until I warmed up. The route for this one was start at Epcot to the Magic Kingdom and back to Epcot. It was fun and took some pics with characters along the way. I finished in 2:02:44 a 9:22 min/mile. I felt good! Today, we decide to get a rental car instead to save $$ on uber fees. We go eat and head out to Animal Kingdom. Today was not going to be a late night for this park closes at 8:00 p.m. I had pizza for dinner and didn't get to bed until around 11:30 making sure I had everything for marathon. I had hard time sleeping. Nerves were sitting in.
Sunday-Day 4: Full marathon day. Decide to wake up at 4:00 today since Eddie was going to drive me there. I eat a banana, no bagel this time. I fill my water bottles with coconut water and get my margarita gu chomps and off we go. We hit traffic and start to panic, but made it in time for go to restroom and walk mile to my corral. No time to chat with anyone today, but didn't freeze my ass off either. The wait time is always the worst time (unless you meet new friends). I had to jog it to my corral and at that time it's still dark. I think more people ran this race because it was super crowded. I had to get on the grass to pass people up and almost twisted my ankle stepping in a hole. I was okay and made it just in time for a quick before picture. It was warmer today and didn't run with my jacket today. Instead, Eddie got me a plastic pancho that I tore off before crossing start line. Fireworks go off and the Disney characters are on stage and they announce when we take off. I felt good until about mile 14 my stomach feels quizzy. Running this early didn't give me enough time to digest my food from dinner and since I wasn't able to use the restroom to use #2 before race like I always do, well this time I had no choice but to hit the restroom during my run. I felt much better after and went back to running. I'm enjoying running and stopping with some of my favorite Disney characters for pictures. Around mile 19th all the stopping and running is making my muscles cramp up in my calves and hamstrings. Not bad, but enough that it's not comfortable and my knees are getting sore. I try to work on my posture toward the end for I'm sure I'm not running correctly. I eat half a banana as volunteers are passing them out. At mile 21, there is a hill that is difficult and pretty much do whatever I can to finish and not feel the pain in my legs the rest of the way. Seeing the characters always make me smile but after mile 24 I'm done taking pictures with them and I just want to finish. The finish line seemed like it would never get here! I usually try to pass up girls at the end and finish strong, but not this time. I felt like I was going in slow motion. My Garmin showed I ran more than 26.2, it showed 26.73 almost 27 miles....geez! My final time was 3:56:43 with a 9:02 min/mile. I'm good with that. This is for sure the toughest thing I have ever done. However, it the pain was totally worth it. These marathons have the best bling and shirts! I received 3 shirts and 3 metals! It was a truly magical experience!
Love my boys!
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