I think 3:21 is awesome. I was so afraid we wouldn't make the 3:30 requirements. But we did and there were no sweepers in sight! We could have done better but about mile 8 my aunt Pam started complaining that her foot was hurting. She said she felt like she was running on a nut. It didn't get better so about mile 9 we decided to just walk. It seemed okay though because at that point most everybody was walking. It was actually so crowded that it was hard to run at that point with everyone walking.
I just have to say that this was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. The whole weekend we were surrounded by happy, positive women. It was totally uplifting. Most women were dressed up in tutus or costumes. Disney just knows how to do it right.
We were in the last corral. Corral F. I was so worried we were going to get swept that I made sure we were right at the front of the corral. We had to be at Epcot by 4 and in our corrals by 5 so I was very sleepy. While we were waiting in our corrals, I sat down to wait because I was so sleepy and the next thing I know they are playing the national anthem. I woke up and looked up and everyone but me was standing. How embarrassing. Then the corrals were released in waves. The fairy godmother would say a few words then she would wave her wand and sprinkle fairy dust and the fireworks would go off and everyone in that corral would start. We saw that 6 times and I was just crying because it was so magical.
When it was our turn, Aunt Pam shot out of the corral like a greyhound. I kept up with her for about 10 minutes and then I was like, wait a minute, this isn't how i trained. So I slowed down and started doing my intervals. She slowed down with me and we got into a good pace. It was so awesome. There were characters all along the way and musicians too. Pam was so anxious about making good time that she didn't want to stop and take pictures. That is one thing I regret. Next time I am definitely stopping at least to see Cinderella and Mickey and Minnie.
We did stop in the Magic Kingdom to snap a photo. Everyone knows how I feel about Disney. It's my most favorite place on earth. When we ran down Main Street, I had tears coming down my face. The music was playing, the crowds were cheering, Minnie and Mickey were there. We ran through Tomorrowland and back behind and through the castle and then out through Liberty Square and Frontierland and out of the park. I cried the whole way except that I was sure to smile for the cameras. :) Aunt Pam doesn't really get my proclivity for Disney so she was like ummmm. I think she was having quite a bit of pain even then and wasn't really enjoying it.
So we kept running. We got to this onramp in which we had to go up a big hill and it sort of curved around to become a bridge over the road we had just been on. This was at about mile 9. This is when I really began to feel good about where we stood in the race. We could look down on the road below us and there were still thousands of people below us. And we were still in a crowd. So, I knew we would be fine. We just took it easy from there. I was feeling pretty good at this time.
By the time we made it to Epcot again, my feet and legs were really hurting and everyone kept saying, you're almost there, just a little ways further. And it just seemed that it took forever. But then we saw the finish line and I cried like a baby again. Wow, we had done it. We could barely run across it but we did, We had done it. Then I got on the phone and texted everybody I know.
I must give a shout out to my good friends who were texting me all along the way giving me encouragement. That was a big help and kept me motivated.
So, we finished. Then we crammed all the food and sports drinks down out throats that we could. I was absolutely starving. We went back to the room and showered and napped, I didn't really want to nap. I wanted to go to the parks but we had been up since 2:30 and we were in a lot of pain.
Then next day we spent at Magic Kingdom and had such a good time. We saw all the princesses walking around with their medals. Everyone was congratulating us and giving us pats on the backs. Totally awesome.
I loved loved loved this experience. I hope to be able to do it again and again and again. I so admire my Aunt Pam for doing this with me. That woman is 55 years old and just ran her first half marathon. That is really impressive and inspiring. And she is going to do another one in Hawaii in April! Very cool.
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