Monday, January 16, 2012

Walt Disney World Half Marathon


It was an interesting day! Let's say it did not go as planned. I feel terribly guilty about it, too. Given the easiness for my Meniere's symptoms to flare up, I can't really turn my head around too much - especially while running. This made it so hard for me to stay with the group because I never knew if I was far ahead or lagging behind. So to Pineapple Express, I'm so sorry! Next time maybe we should bungee ourselves together!



Okay, so back to the beginning. I was up at 2am feeling pretty refreshed. By 3:15am we were on our way to the food court and the buses. We didn't have to wait at all, and traffic getting to Epcot was a breeze - of course as a passenger it should be, and there is a reason I had us all up so freaking early! Arriving at the Epcot parking lot, the party was already going on! It didn't take long and I ran into a friend of my from my Kali River Rapid days! Fred, Abby and I did some shopping, hit the potties and made our way to the starting corrals. I thought the time went by pretty fast before we were ready to run. Of course Fred and I were checking out all the boys, so that probably helped kill some time!


The plan for Pineapple Express (our team name, which seems to fit since we worked together about as well as a bunch of high pot heads would!) was to run 3, walk 1. I needed a code word to know what to do -- so Pineapple meant walk, Pineapple Express meant run. Yes, these are the brilliant things I come up with when it is still dark in the morning and I am running. I'm not going to write about the actually running part because for me this was all about fun and getting pictures, checking out other runner costumes, enjoying myself. I was pretty laid back and not stressed at all ... hallelujah! First time for everything! Let's have some photos!

I think we hit every single photo stop except for right in front of the Castle. Go team!! I kind of ended up running from one stop to another. Fred was our gopher and would run ahead to get in line for us since some of them were pretty long - and he is a much faster runner than the matchy matchy girls are.  The Jack Sparrow line? Seriously - 15 minutes maybe? Definitely our slowest mile of the race. But was it worth it to be all up in Jack's business? Hell yeah! He made the mistake of mentioning rum ... and that stayed on my mind for a few more miles. I mean any time is a good time for rum. (Pretty sure I actually was a pirate or a pirate's wench in a past life.)

Naturally since this is a Disney half I had to do a little shout out to my Team Jam girls. I did it via cartwheels! I did two. I kind of wanted to do more, but there was a race going on and I wasn't making forward progress by doing gymnastics in the grass now, was I?!?

I loved the "chilly" weather Florida was having. I honestly never broke a sweat until the last 5K of the race. Last year during the Princess I was whining and melting the whole time. This was refreshing!  I have oodles of photos. They are all on facebook if you are just desperate to see them. But I DO want to share this one. I love it!  (Sorry Fred...)


And since it was a 15 minute wait ... here is Pineapple Express with my two favorite pirates!

At mile 11 I pulled over for a photo. During the Princess Half I got a photo in that same spot, so I asked Fred to run ahead with me so I could get the photo again. What Fred and I didn't see was Abby signal that she was going on and for us to catch up. When the picture was over I couldn't find my twin anywhere. We stopped running and looked ahead and behind. She was nowhere to be found. We didn't know what to do. Fred and I lingered so long that we got passed by THE balloons. The balloons you need to stay in front of to know you're on pace and not in danger of being swept! When we learned of the passing we started to jog. I was so worried about Abby. Was she hurt? Did she stop at the med tent? I can't go on without her! At that moment Fred pointed out a shirt in front of us. It was Lilo & Stitch themed, saying "Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind ... unless you can't keep pace." We read that shirt and immediately pulled over, determined to find Abby wherever she was. I finally convinced Fred she HAD to be way ahead of us and that we had to haul ass to find her. Haul ass we did. Oh my gosh - at nearly a steady 9 minute mile pace we finally caught her at the 12 mile marker. I have never been so happy to see "solar red" capris in my life!

We were reunited and stayed together through the end. Dysfunctional, but dammit we freaking did it! I completed my tenth half marathon and had a total blast doing it! Plus we achieved our goal of keeping it easy because all 3 of us would be running in the marathon the next day. Very memorable race indeed!
Half marathon number 10 ... Done!

13 comments:

  1. Hehe, very nice. Great pics.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The leggings are pretty awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks like you had such a great time!! Which one would you say you like better - the Disneyland or Disneyworld half? Trying to make a little "list" of my own of races I'd like to do! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Taryn - definitely Disney WORLD. You are on Disney property the entire time, so you have non-stop characters and distractions. In Disneyland the time you are in the parks with fun things happening is very short and only the first 4 miles. Fun - but just a different kind of fun!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks like so much fun! Do the photo stops count toward your total race time?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yep, photo stops count .... which is actually rather exciting when I get to my marathon relay race report! I should probably write that one up soon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Some day I'll learn how to do a real cartwheel so I can do team Jam proud.

    ReplyDelete
  8. How awesome you were able to find Abby! Ohana- love it!

    Also, wonderful that the weather cooperated for you! Great race, R

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay, super jealous of your photo with Jack Sparrow & Scrooge McDuck!! Tinker Bell is a little over a week away and reading your recap is getting me all excited!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You got some really great pictures! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Every time I look at pictures from this race, my eyes go weird from the brightness of those leggings. . my god!

    They're hanging on my banister right now (where I left them to dry after laundry. . .weeks ago.) and it always freaks me out how bright they are. . I want to ask Nike what the hell they dyed them with.

    PS- Thanks for letting Fred and me be apart of your weekend. It was so great to hang out in person! Can't wait to do it again!! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh my! I can't wait on my Disney trip anymore, You've really made me excited. Thanks for sharing your Disney adventure. Orlando Parks

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well, of course after you posted that pic, I had to come read this! First, you guys are totes adorbs. Second, those pants are not solar red. They seem more like Light Saber Sear Your Eyes Out Red. Now I understand why you guys kept saying "Pineapple" during the marathon. I was confused- but too hot to remember to ask you about it!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading my little blog, your comments rock my compression socks!! ºoº