eandesmom
I'm with Beast
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 14,172
First of all, I can’t take credit for the group photos from my last update, thank photopass!
Before I go any further I suppose I’ll need to do a PHM recap. I too am not at all quite sure when I will get to a TR of any sort for that trip, sad as that is. Right now my plan is to finish up my current DL trip from last April before it hits the one year mark! After that I may do a short TR from the DL half but then have a massive September trip that I would like to share as it was pretty amazing. So, like Mary Ellen, a recap now while it’s fresh is probably a grand idea!
However, I think I will just stick primarily to the race otherwise it will be too long as I am not known for my brevity. LOL!
A few notes. Ann and I flew down 2 nights before Mary Ellen did. Unlike Denny’s accidental red eye, ours was planned. We flew, I dozed a bit and we landed. Exciting huh.
The really exciting thing is that Starbucks was open! I’d read they opened at 5:00 am which was going to be too late for us and, wouldn't you know it, our flight got in early, like 4:15 am early!. The coffee gods provided and all was well with the world. We checked in, had breakfast, went to DHS, expo, dinner at Boatwrights and then to DTD. The DTD thing was NOT planned and we were wiped but we were having a dual earbud crises.
Expo pic
I can honestly say I have NEVER worn sweats all day at Disney before but thank goodness I had them!
My haul from the expo.
Ok most of my haul. I did buy another headband when we went back with Mary Ellen.
Friday we had intended to go to MK early and use some FP’s but we were not moving quickly. It was too cold for coffee on the balcony but I did take a picture of my new mug..and then got back in bed with it and my laptop. We eventually made it there but didn’t actually do anything, a story for another day, headed to FW for a run and then lunch at Trails End.
That's Ann running
Probably my favorite meal of the trip. Chicken and Waffles!!!
After that it was DHS, fitness center and the Ditch for a Meet. A late night EMH ride got us on ONE ride for the entire day (again, a story for another day) and then Mary Ellen had landed at this point and had commented on my FB picture of my rita. I offered to get her one and she liked that idea! Of course you can’t carry one out from the Ditch so we headed to the next best place, the Margarita stand at the Boardwalk.
As we stood there I looked at the menu trying to decide what she would want. I texted her to see if she wanted rocks or frozen. I was pretty sure I knew the answer but hey, it is always good to check!
As we stood there the CM went
"you know, if you don’t see what you want, ESPN can make anything you like"
I said thanks but I’m just confirming what my friend wants.
She continued
"you know, ALL of ours are premade mixes, ESPN will make it to order and add as much alcohol as you want"
Okaaaaaayyyyy......
She continued
"and…if I don’t have any more customers in the next 2 minutes I can go ahead and close"
She was freezing
And miserable
And begging
So I said.....
I think I’ll go to ESPN!
LOL.
Now. As some of you know, ESPN is not my kind of place. AT ALL. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good brew pub and I don’t mind watching certain sporting events in bars on big TV’s. ESPN though is a different animal to me. Generally serving crap beer, crap food and not necessarily always showing the events we want to see. Case in point they didn’t have the Ducks bowl game on on our NYE trip which was a huge fail for some of our crew. LOL!
My mission was to get in and out. Upon inquiry the CM at the bar explained their rita options. Which all sounded quite good. I enquired as to price. $8.50-10.50. Which meant the most expensive one was still less than the premix one from the shack outside. I chose one that I think was Cuervo 1800 with Grand Mariner. And it was $8.50 I think.
It would be wrong to make Mary Ellen drink alone and so I ordered myself one as well.
I admit
I had 2 at the ditch (over a few hours lol) both in the classic style though slightly different.
This BLEW them away. I have to admit. Best Rita on property. Craziness I tell you, craziness!
When we got to the room, Mary Ellen was there and we stayed up, probably later than we all should have, chatting away. It was SUCH a fun girls night! As was the next morning. We watched the entire 10K and it was pretty cool to realize later that the 2nd place overall guy was someone Ann and I "knew" from a FB group! We cheered away and had a blast. We did, I confess, have a cowbell. Which our next door neighbor didn't appreciate.
Sorry dude. Race weekend. Boardwalk view! One would think the 10,000 feet pounding outside his window may have been equally disturbing but whatever. We did feel bad but he could have been a bit nicer in how he handled it. I didn’t take much in the way of pics. After that it was off to the expo, sew costumes, dinner and bed.
I did document the prep work (hat construction), and my dinner.
For those who are unsure we were the Fairy Godmothers from Sleeping Beauty (the animated version)
It was SO lovely to see Christine and I really enjoyed AP. The food was outstanding!
However. It may not have been the best pre-race choice. We were all too wiped out to have a lovely glass of wine and well, it’s a restaurant that one should savor and enjoy. I made the mistake of ordering a soup before my entree and while it was lovely that the CM gave all my tablemates their own small bowl too, it did slow the entire thing down. But MAN that soup was good! Instead, the pace felt really really slow and we just wanted to eat, pay and go to bed. I promise the next time we see Christine to be a lot more fun!
Of course during all of this poor Mary Ellen is getting updates on Denny’s flight situation and none of it is good news. Ann and I passed out and I feel horrible about what a rotten night Mary Ellen ended up having! The morning though, once we figured out how to pin the darn wings on, went amazingly well. We actually got down to the busses later than planned but one was there and we walked right on. Our luck continued all the way through the pre race wait. Others I know were not so lucky on busses and I am grateful. We took some early pics and then headed off.
Ann and I got one more in the corral
I had been prepared for a long cold wait and well, it wasn't all long, nor was it all that cold.
Pretty soon The Elites were off!
And we weren't far behind! It is crazy to me to see how close to gun time my chip time is.
I had really debated my race strategy. I had decided to start out with the 2:00 pace group. I did not feel at all confident that I could hit that target but as the next option was 2:15 I felt it would help me to start out faster, even if it was a bit too fast, for overall time. My hope had been to stay with them until the 6-8 mile mark and then I figured I’d have to slow down.
I made it to mile 4.
LOL! Not so much that it was too fast but I did want water. I am not sure I needed water but I did want it. I have paranoia in this area. I have been criticized before for not taking water or food while training and as a result I am paranoid and take it at the slightest hint of things in a race somehow in the back of my mind convinced I’ll bonk or pass out or something. Of course that has never happened when I run without it in training but it is a real fear.
The fact of the matter is a pacer does help me. There is SO much to see it is pretty easy to get distracted and slow down. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, especially at a Disney race. For many, even most, that is the point. Me though, I'm not really a character pic gal and I don't care to stop and start. That said, I mentally go into “long run” mode which is different than “race push yourself mode”. I have not quite figured out why but I can feel it happening and it becomes less about time and more about not killing myself and enjoying myself. I don't feel I've managed that race push yourself mentality more than a couple of times ever at at race. I wish I knew how to turn it back on lol! Heck, I did this yesterday at my 5k. Once I realized that 1) my watch was dead and 2) we were walking over the start line, I figured a PR was unlikely so just ran and didn't try to kill myself. Oddly enough, I did still PR but only by 4 seconds. Surprised the heck out of me as I really thought it would maybe be my slowest 5K ever based on how it felt and the crazy people dodging and super slow start (a PW lol) but clearly I am clueless as it was faster than I realized while doing it. Somehow I need to find a way to trick myself into pushing harder.
Then again it is also possible for me not to see things at all (anyone remember me missing ALL the characters at the finish line at the DL Half?) so maybe I was in the zone after all at PHM! Apparently Pat and Marv saw me at the TTC but I sure as heck didn't see them!
I have to say, running down Main Street and through the castle was absolutely magical, as was seeing Tomorrow land all lit up. I do plan to buy my photos but have not done it yet. Super bummed though as I cannot find a main street or a carousel one but there are enough decent ones I will snag them at some point. About the point they send me a discount code that is! They did take something 45 of me which is a lot more than at the DL half. Not sure why so many more, probably because it is all on property???
Nice thing about an early corral is no congestion. Bad thing is dark castle pics! And tomorrowland, while it looked UBER cool in the dark, isn't hardly recognicable in the photos.
I stopped again for water around the 6 mile mark and 9 or 10. One big beef, and maybe the only one I have for the race, is where they put the water stops. They put them in FRONT of the mile markers, not after, in many cases and in FRONT of the timing mats for the 10 and 15K splits. I do not want a slower split time for water!
I walked the water stops. Longer than I know I needed to, I did not even drink that much water. My biggest take away for my next half is that. I managed my liquids correctly this time and did not need a single bio break. I also did not need 3 water stops. Is the right number zero cups of water? Probably not but it’s not as many as 3. It was a mental excuse to walk and I totally took it. At the time I figured given my splits I could easily make some of it up in the last 3 miles, I had been running negative splits in my training.
However, I didn't really factor in the fact that there are THREE ramps in a row in the later part of the race. And, while none were horribly hard per-se in the sense that I ran them all and didn't have to walk, I certainly did not run them as fast as I would have had it been flat and they did tire me out for sprinting after. When you look at the elevation chart they really don’t look like much but you do notice them. I also didn't realize just how narrow and turny the end stretch would be. Again, not hard but not great to really get momentum. I also had shoe issues. Many of you know my shoe, foot, ankle drama. Well the pair I was running in started to show significant wear at about 125 miles. By the PHM they had 150 and were actually significantly worn down in the heel basically making me lopsided.
Towards the end of the race I could feel myself scuffing, especially on the hills and the cambered turns.
Weather wise I got pretty lucky. It was dark with cloud cover early. About mile 6 (check map) sunrise started and so did the fog. Or really the steam!
About mile 10 (check map) the sun showed up…running into it on the ramps up wasn't my favorite thing. I was grateful for the visor but missed my sunglasses!
Soon enough though I was in the homestretch. I confess, I did hesitate, start to turn in for a picture with Mary Poppins and Bert and then…changed my mind when one guy darted in front of me. I passed up Jack Sparrow with no line which seems crazy but for whatever reason Mary and Bert were the only ones that truly temped me. The gospel choir lifted me and as I rounded the end I saw and heard Pat and Marv cheering for me.. That was VERY cool!!!!!!
Not sure if I am looking at them here, or looking at the Fairy Godmother who you pass twice. I remember smiling at her as she ekpt saying we were at the 12.6 mark. Which is true when you pass her on one side but on the other side...you are further!
I think this may have been closer to where they were but it's hard to tell and of course, marathonphoto doesn't put them in time stamp order so until I buy them I will continue to be a bit confused lol.
And proof I actually finished!
And a photo with my tank top back where it was supposed to be after the race. This is the first time I have run in any sort of costume. I'd worn most of the pieces prior to test but not all together. The tank, while it wicked just fine and was comfy, has these darn "gripper" dots on the hem that is supposed to make it not ride up. It doesn't work. I knew it wouldn't as I have another piece from this line and it does the same thing. As a result I rarely run in it and just keep it for the gym. Not only did it ride up, it took the sparkle skirt with it so in several pics the skirt is all wonky! It was super annoying too as that skirt had stayed put through 2 other races and it had not been a concern at all. Oh well.
I did feel the cape swish on my arms. It didn't bother me per se but it was noticable. I am not sure I would do quite this much again although I am glad I did it once.
For those who are wondering, I did NOT see characters at the finish line. Again! I seriously went through my photos like a crazy person, and the live stream video. They took a BREAK right before I crossed over. Well actually they went over and gave out the awards to the top finishers but still, once again, I was robbed.
After the race I headed to get my gear and check on everyone’s progress since I was tracking everyone. Ann was close behind me and Mary Ellen was texting that she was walking. She sounded pretty down and I told her that she needed to get to the choir as I knew they would lift her up!
I headed over and signed myself in for a post race massage. For a buck a minute I swear it is the best thing since sliced bread. Heck it’s better than sliced bread to me! When I was done after 15 minutes of bliss, so was Mary Ellen! We totally failed on a post race picture in costume but oh well. We had breakfast to get to! I think we all did great and finished within the 30 minute time span of each other we thought we would. Ann did really well, she came in about 5 minutes behind me and given that she did take a bio break and was only seconds off her PR (that did not include a bio break), really really impressive!
So, how did I do?
A funny thing about results, they are always a moving target. I looked at this online today as I was hanging up my new toy and wanted to write times etc on the backs of all my bibs. I realized that numbers had changed since I first “printed” my certificate. In this case I think it is because some folks chips didn’t register and they have since fixed those results based on matching up pictures etc. It mostly changed how many finishers there were, not much change in my overall placement results.
I am ok with it. It was a PR (personal record) by over 5 minutes. I had told myself, and everyone else that I’d be mad with anything over 2:10 and I beat that. It is about where I expected to end. Would I have liked a little bit faster? Yes. Do I think I can be a little bit faster? Yes. Do I think I can break that 2 hour mark? Yeah…not so sure about that one. Given that my corral placement put me in the top 2000, I finished right where I should have. I suspect to break the 2 hour mark I would have to run more than I am willing to do. Either more long runs in the 10+ mark or more days, or both. Not sure I am quite that motivated. You never know though.
Still. I slowed down a LOT after that 4 mile mark. Yes, some of it was water stops but really, my pace was pretty consistent, it was just slower. The pacer helped for sure.
Here are my splits.
Average Pace: 00:09:47:00
Mile 1 00:09:03:62
Mile 2 00:08:54:00
Mile 3 00:09:01:00
Mile 4 00:09:06:00
Mile 5 00:10:08:00
Mile 6 00:10:00:00
Mile 7 00:10:03:00
Mile 8 00:09:42:00
Mile 9 00:09:53:00
Mile 10 00:09:52:00
Mile 11 00:10:15:00
Mile 12 00:10:01:00
Mile 13 00:10:06:00
Mile 14 00:09:48:00
I really had expected to be able to do around a 9:30 mile those last 3 miles but between inclines, turns and narrowing paths it just didn't happen. I blew it on the straightaway from 7-9, that would have been the place to make it up but you always worry about crashing later!
I do wish they had more pacers. I think I could have hung with a 2:05 but who knows!
This was my second half marathon every and my second runDisney event. It was incredibly well run and I can’t say enough great things about the event, the energy, the everything. Just outstanding all around. I would do it again, or any Disney race really, in a heartbeat.
I will do one again
I just don’t know which one or when!
In the meantime....I did sign up for a local half that is in 4 weeks. GAH! Not sure what I was thinking. It DOES have a 2:05 pacer....
Want to see my new toy? Ok, it's not really a toy but it does make me smile
Before I go any further I suppose I’ll need to do a PHM recap. I too am not at all quite sure when I will get to a TR of any sort for that trip, sad as that is. Right now my plan is to finish up my current DL trip from last April before it hits the one year mark! After that I may do a short TR from the DL half but then have a massive September trip that I would like to share as it was pretty amazing. So, like Mary Ellen, a recap now while it’s fresh is probably a grand idea!
However, I think I will just stick primarily to the race otherwise it will be too long as I am not known for my brevity. LOL!
A few notes. Ann and I flew down 2 nights before Mary Ellen did. Unlike Denny’s accidental red eye, ours was planned. We flew, I dozed a bit and we landed. Exciting huh.
The really exciting thing is that Starbucks was open! I’d read they opened at 5:00 am which was going to be too late for us and, wouldn't you know it, our flight got in early, like 4:15 am early!. The coffee gods provided and all was well with the world. We checked in, had breakfast, went to DHS, expo, dinner at Boatwrights and then to DTD. The DTD thing was NOT planned and we were wiped but we were having a dual earbud crises.
Expo pic
I can honestly say I have NEVER worn sweats all day at Disney before but thank goodness I had them!
My haul from the expo.
Ok most of my haul. I did buy another headband when we went back with Mary Ellen.
Friday we had intended to go to MK early and use some FP’s but we were not moving quickly. It was too cold for coffee on the balcony but I did take a picture of my new mug..and then got back in bed with it and my laptop. We eventually made it there but didn’t actually do anything, a story for another day, headed to FW for a run and then lunch at Trails End.
That's Ann running
Probably my favorite meal of the trip. Chicken and Waffles!!!
After that it was DHS, fitness center and the Ditch for a Meet. A late night EMH ride got us on ONE ride for the entire day (again, a story for another day) and then Mary Ellen had landed at this point and had commented on my FB picture of my rita. I offered to get her one and she liked that idea! Of course you can’t carry one out from the Ditch so we headed to the next best place, the Margarita stand at the Boardwalk.
As we stood there I looked at the menu trying to decide what she would want. I texted her to see if she wanted rocks or frozen. I was pretty sure I knew the answer but hey, it is always good to check!
As we stood there the CM went
"you know, if you don’t see what you want, ESPN can make anything you like"
I said thanks but I’m just confirming what my friend wants.
She continued
"you know, ALL of ours are premade mixes, ESPN will make it to order and add as much alcohol as you want"
Okaaaaaayyyyy......
She continued
"and…if I don’t have any more customers in the next 2 minutes I can go ahead and close"
She was freezing
And miserable
And begging
So I said.....
I think I’ll go to ESPN!
LOL.
Now. As some of you know, ESPN is not my kind of place. AT ALL. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good brew pub and I don’t mind watching certain sporting events in bars on big TV’s. ESPN though is a different animal to me. Generally serving crap beer, crap food and not necessarily always showing the events we want to see. Case in point they didn’t have the Ducks bowl game on on our NYE trip which was a huge fail for some of our crew. LOL!
My mission was to get in and out. Upon inquiry the CM at the bar explained their rita options. Which all sounded quite good. I enquired as to price. $8.50-10.50. Which meant the most expensive one was still less than the premix one from the shack outside. I chose one that I think was Cuervo 1800 with Grand Mariner. And it was $8.50 I think.
It would be wrong to make Mary Ellen drink alone and so I ordered myself one as well.
I admit
I had 2 at the ditch (over a few hours lol) both in the classic style though slightly different.
This BLEW them away. I have to admit. Best Rita on property. Craziness I tell you, craziness!
When we got to the room, Mary Ellen was there and we stayed up, probably later than we all should have, chatting away. It was SUCH a fun girls night! As was the next morning. We watched the entire 10K and it was pretty cool to realize later that the 2nd place overall guy was someone Ann and I "knew" from a FB group! We cheered away and had a blast. We did, I confess, have a cowbell. Which our next door neighbor didn't appreciate.
Sorry dude. Race weekend. Boardwalk view! One would think the 10,000 feet pounding outside his window may have been equally disturbing but whatever. We did feel bad but he could have been a bit nicer in how he handled it. I didn’t take much in the way of pics. After that it was off to the expo, sew costumes, dinner and bed.
I did document the prep work (hat construction), and my dinner.
For those who are unsure we were the Fairy Godmothers from Sleeping Beauty (the animated version)
It was SO lovely to see Christine and I really enjoyed AP. The food was outstanding!
However. It may not have been the best pre-race choice. We were all too wiped out to have a lovely glass of wine and well, it’s a restaurant that one should savor and enjoy. I made the mistake of ordering a soup before my entree and while it was lovely that the CM gave all my tablemates their own small bowl too, it did slow the entire thing down. But MAN that soup was good! Instead, the pace felt really really slow and we just wanted to eat, pay and go to bed. I promise the next time we see Christine to be a lot more fun!
Of course during all of this poor Mary Ellen is getting updates on Denny’s flight situation and none of it is good news. Ann and I passed out and I feel horrible about what a rotten night Mary Ellen ended up having! The morning though, once we figured out how to pin the darn wings on, went amazingly well. We actually got down to the busses later than planned but one was there and we walked right on. Our luck continued all the way through the pre race wait. Others I know were not so lucky on busses and I am grateful. We took some early pics and then headed off.
Ann and I got one more in the corral
I had been prepared for a long cold wait and well, it wasn't all long, nor was it all that cold.
Pretty soon The Elites were off!
And we weren't far behind! It is crazy to me to see how close to gun time my chip time is.
I had really debated my race strategy. I had decided to start out with the 2:00 pace group. I did not feel at all confident that I could hit that target but as the next option was 2:15 I felt it would help me to start out faster, even if it was a bit too fast, for overall time. My hope had been to stay with them until the 6-8 mile mark and then I figured I’d have to slow down.
I made it to mile 4.
LOL! Not so much that it was too fast but I did want water. I am not sure I needed water but I did want it. I have paranoia in this area. I have been criticized before for not taking water or food while training and as a result I am paranoid and take it at the slightest hint of things in a race somehow in the back of my mind convinced I’ll bonk or pass out or something. Of course that has never happened when I run without it in training but it is a real fear.
The fact of the matter is a pacer does help me. There is SO much to see it is pretty easy to get distracted and slow down. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, especially at a Disney race. For many, even most, that is the point. Me though, I'm not really a character pic gal and I don't care to stop and start. That said, I mentally go into “long run” mode which is different than “race push yourself mode”. I have not quite figured out why but I can feel it happening and it becomes less about time and more about not killing myself and enjoying myself. I don't feel I've managed that race push yourself mentality more than a couple of times ever at at race. I wish I knew how to turn it back on lol! Heck, I did this yesterday at my 5k. Once I realized that 1) my watch was dead and 2) we were walking over the start line, I figured a PR was unlikely so just ran and didn't try to kill myself. Oddly enough, I did still PR but only by 4 seconds. Surprised the heck out of me as I really thought it would maybe be my slowest 5K ever based on how it felt and the crazy people dodging and super slow start (a PW lol) but clearly I am clueless as it was faster than I realized while doing it. Somehow I need to find a way to trick myself into pushing harder.
Then again it is also possible for me not to see things at all (anyone remember me missing ALL the characters at the finish line at the DL Half?) so maybe I was in the zone after all at PHM! Apparently Pat and Marv saw me at the TTC but I sure as heck didn't see them!
I have to say, running down Main Street and through the castle was absolutely magical, as was seeing Tomorrow land all lit up. I do plan to buy my photos but have not done it yet. Super bummed though as I cannot find a main street or a carousel one but there are enough decent ones I will snag them at some point. About the point they send me a discount code that is! They did take something 45 of me which is a lot more than at the DL half. Not sure why so many more, probably because it is all on property???
Nice thing about an early corral is no congestion. Bad thing is dark castle pics! And tomorrowland, while it looked UBER cool in the dark, isn't hardly recognicable in the photos.
I stopped again for water around the 6 mile mark and 9 or 10. One big beef, and maybe the only one I have for the race, is where they put the water stops. They put them in FRONT of the mile markers, not after, in many cases and in FRONT of the timing mats for the 10 and 15K splits. I do not want a slower split time for water!
I walked the water stops. Longer than I know I needed to, I did not even drink that much water. My biggest take away for my next half is that. I managed my liquids correctly this time and did not need a single bio break. I also did not need 3 water stops. Is the right number zero cups of water? Probably not but it’s not as many as 3. It was a mental excuse to walk and I totally took it. At the time I figured given my splits I could easily make some of it up in the last 3 miles, I had been running negative splits in my training.
However, I didn't really factor in the fact that there are THREE ramps in a row in the later part of the race. And, while none were horribly hard per-se in the sense that I ran them all and didn't have to walk, I certainly did not run them as fast as I would have had it been flat and they did tire me out for sprinting after. When you look at the elevation chart they really don’t look like much but you do notice them. I also didn't realize just how narrow and turny the end stretch would be. Again, not hard but not great to really get momentum. I also had shoe issues. Many of you know my shoe, foot, ankle drama. Well the pair I was running in started to show significant wear at about 125 miles. By the PHM they had 150 and were actually significantly worn down in the heel basically making me lopsided.
Towards the end of the race I could feel myself scuffing, especially on the hills and the cambered turns.
Weather wise I got pretty lucky. It was dark with cloud cover early. About mile 6 (check map) sunrise started and so did the fog. Or really the steam!
About mile 10 (check map) the sun showed up…running into it on the ramps up wasn't my favorite thing. I was grateful for the visor but missed my sunglasses!
Soon enough though I was in the homestretch. I confess, I did hesitate, start to turn in for a picture with Mary Poppins and Bert and then…changed my mind when one guy darted in front of me. I passed up Jack Sparrow with no line which seems crazy but for whatever reason Mary and Bert were the only ones that truly temped me. The gospel choir lifted me and as I rounded the end I saw and heard Pat and Marv cheering for me.. That was VERY cool!!!!!!
Not sure if I am looking at them here, or looking at the Fairy Godmother who you pass twice. I remember smiling at her as she ekpt saying we were at the 12.6 mark. Which is true when you pass her on one side but on the other side...you are further!
I think this may have been closer to where they were but it's hard to tell and of course, marathonphoto doesn't put them in time stamp order so until I buy them I will continue to be a bit confused lol.
And proof I actually finished!
And a photo with my tank top back where it was supposed to be after the race. This is the first time I have run in any sort of costume. I'd worn most of the pieces prior to test but not all together. The tank, while it wicked just fine and was comfy, has these darn "gripper" dots on the hem that is supposed to make it not ride up. It doesn't work. I knew it wouldn't as I have another piece from this line and it does the same thing. As a result I rarely run in it and just keep it for the gym. Not only did it ride up, it took the sparkle skirt with it so in several pics the skirt is all wonky! It was super annoying too as that skirt had stayed put through 2 other races and it had not been a concern at all. Oh well.
I did feel the cape swish on my arms. It didn't bother me per se but it was noticable. I am not sure I would do quite this much again although I am glad I did it once.
For those who are wondering, I did NOT see characters at the finish line. Again! I seriously went through my photos like a crazy person, and the live stream video. They took a BREAK right before I crossed over. Well actually they went over and gave out the awards to the top finishers but still, once again, I was robbed.
After the race I headed to get my gear and check on everyone’s progress since I was tracking everyone. Ann was close behind me and Mary Ellen was texting that she was walking. She sounded pretty down and I told her that she needed to get to the choir as I knew they would lift her up!
I headed over and signed myself in for a post race massage. For a buck a minute I swear it is the best thing since sliced bread. Heck it’s better than sliced bread to me! When I was done after 15 minutes of bliss, so was Mary Ellen! We totally failed on a post race picture in costume but oh well. We had breakfast to get to! I think we all did great and finished within the 30 minute time span of each other we thought we would. Ann did really well, she came in about 5 minutes behind me and given that she did take a bio break and was only seconds off her PR (that did not include a bio break), really really impressive!
So, how did I do?
A funny thing about results, they are always a moving target. I looked at this online today as I was hanging up my new toy and wanted to write times etc on the backs of all my bibs. I realized that numbers had changed since I first “printed” my certificate. In this case I think it is because some folks chips didn’t register and they have since fixed those results based on matching up pictures etc. It mostly changed how many finishers there were, not much change in my overall placement results.
I am ok with it. It was a PR (personal record) by over 5 minutes. I had told myself, and everyone else that I’d be mad with anything over 2:10 and I beat that. It is about where I expected to end. Would I have liked a little bit faster? Yes. Do I think I can be a little bit faster? Yes. Do I think I can break that 2 hour mark? Yeah…not so sure about that one. Given that my corral placement put me in the top 2000, I finished right where I should have. I suspect to break the 2 hour mark I would have to run more than I am willing to do. Either more long runs in the 10+ mark or more days, or both. Not sure I am quite that motivated. You never know though.
Still. I slowed down a LOT after that 4 mile mark. Yes, some of it was water stops but really, my pace was pretty consistent, it was just slower. The pacer helped for sure.
Here are my splits.
Average Pace: 00:09:47:00
Mile 1 00:09:03:62
Mile 2 00:08:54:00
Mile 3 00:09:01:00
Mile 4 00:09:06:00
Mile 5 00:10:08:00
Mile 6 00:10:00:00
Mile 7 00:10:03:00
Mile 8 00:09:42:00
Mile 9 00:09:53:00
Mile 10 00:09:52:00
Mile 11 00:10:15:00
Mile 12 00:10:01:00
Mile 13 00:10:06:00
Mile 14 00:09:48:00
I really had expected to be able to do around a 9:30 mile those last 3 miles but between inclines, turns and narrowing paths it just didn't happen. I blew it on the straightaway from 7-9, that would have been the place to make it up but you always worry about crashing later!
I do wish they had more pacers. I think I could have hung with a 2:05 but who knows!
This was my second half marathon every and my second runDisney event. It was incredibly well run and I can’t say enough great things about the event, the energy, the everything. Just outstanding all around. I would do it again, or any Disney race really, in a heartbeat.
I will do one again
I just don’t know which one or when!
In the meantime....I did sign up for a local half that is in 4 weeks. GAH! Not sure what I was thinking. It DOES have a 2:05 pacer....
Want to see my new toy? Ok, it's not really a toy but it does make me smile
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But it is not fast! 
I always thought just having someone there who knew you to cheer for you by name would just be a good feeling for the person running. When Ann told us how much it sincerely meant to her, and helped boost her when she needed it, and for you two to feel that lift as you finished the race...........I was just floored that it would have that type of an impact. I was so glad we made the effort, and for me that just made it even more worthwhile on a personal level. I've followed someone around once before at a race to cheer them on at different points along the course, and I wasn't sure it meant much at all to them, so thank you ALL for making it special for me too!!! 
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