I Did It! I Did It!! The Princess Half Marathon and Solo Adventure Trip Report

[disney_mommy]

First, here is the link back to my pre-trip report in case anyone is interested in reading.

So, for a quick recap - I'm a 31 year old single mom who wanted to do a Disney race, ended up signed up for the Princess Half, and decided to make it a little solo trip for myself. There, now you don't need to read the pre-trip report. Of course, that recap has none of my personailty and wit, so you're taking your chances...

Let me set the stage on our opening scene:

It's dark and though the moon is out, it's not very bright. Everyone is asleep, even the mice and birds, there is not a sound to be heard. I am tucked snugly in my bed with the electric blanket cranked up to 9, sleeping soundly, a dreamless sleep. Suddenly, an alarm goes off. It's loud and insistent, it can't be ignored. Wait, yes it can, there's a snooze button, slap it!

It's peaceful again, everything has returned to sleep in the post-buzzing quiet. Suddenly, there's that beeping again. Why is this noise interrupting my slumber? It's Saturday, I don't have to work! Wait, it is Saturday, isn't it? Let me think... oh, yeah, I've got a plane to catch! What time is it?! It's 3am! Okay, time to get up.

Now, let's skip ahead to after the plane has landed. You don't want to hear the details about how I fell asleep on the plane and woke myself up snoring. I have not checked any luggage, so I pass that by and head straight to Disney's Magical Express. The only problem here is it's a long way away! Lots of walking to get to the other side of the terminal. There's no line, and I have my little blue booklet ready, so I get scanned and told which line to get in. There are 2 young girls in line in front of me. I'm so excited to be there I can hardly stand it! I'm grinning like an idiot, and the fact that I'm alone doesn't help.

The bus arrives and we get waved through to board. I hop right in the front seat and get out my phone so I can start texting people that I'm there. Only a few more people get on the bus then. The two young gals and their parents sit opposite me in the first and second rows. Off we go and then I'm watching the "Welcome" DVD that plays on the way to our resort.

Suddenly, I'm aware of the sound of someone getting sick. The poor guy in the front seat is retching into a bag. I feel so sorry for him, he clearly feels like crap. One of his daughters scoots over next to him and starts rubbing his back, which I think is so sweet. From what I can gather from their talking, he woke up that morning sick. I couldn't tell if it was an illness or some kind of food poisoning or what. But he was obviously a trooper and didn't want to ruin the vacation for his family. Luckily, he doesn't get sick anymore, he just sort of dozes until we arrive at the resort.

And now, I'm home! Animal Kingdom Lodge was the first Disney resort I stayed at as an adult, and it has always been my favorite. There is no greater feeling than walking through the front door and hearing "Jambo! Welcome home." I head right towards the front desk to check in, planning on just dropping off my bag and heading out. After all, it is only 10:30am. But I'm checked in in minutes and handed a room key! I say "It's ready?" She says "It sure is, you can head on up." Yippee!

So up I go to the fifth floor, where all of the Vacation Club rooms are. I have to walk to the elevators and then backtrack a bit. I was hoping for something a little closer to the main part of the building, but hey, I'll take it!

The room is amazing, of course. It's considered a studio, but is plenty big for just me. I have a pool view, but can still see plenty of green, so I'm okay with that. The flat screen TV is very large and is on an arm, so it can be swung out from the wall and turned in different directions. There is plenty of room in the armoire for my hanging clothes, and I only need to put things in 2 of the drawers, they're so big.

I didn't intend to unpack, but on a suggestion I read on a board, I go ahead and lay out all of my race things, so in case I forgot something, I can pick it up at the expo. Luckily, I have everything I will need. I am so tempted to just keep unpacking and taking pictures and enjoying the room, but I know I need to get over to the expo, so I change from pants into a pair of capris and out I go.

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Been there with the snoring waking you up. Always fun. Sounds like you had quite a "magical" bus ride. Look forward to more.

 

[cmp1111]

How nice to get an alone trip, and to AKL, no less! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Melknor]

Can't wait to read more of your TR. I would love to run in the Princess half marathon some day! I just started the C25K program, so if all goes well, I may one day run it!

 

[disney_mommy]

Thanks to my meticulous research (read - anal tendencies), I know that from AKL, I need to take a bus to DHS, then transfer to a bus heading to WWoS. So after I drag myself out of my room, I head to the AKL bus stop, out the front door and a little walk down to the left. I only had to wait about 3 minutes before a DHS bus shows up and I'm on my way. It was so cool to see The Tower of Terror as we pulled up. I thought about heading into the park to ride a few rides before the expo, but I resisted and found the bus stop for the WWoS.

There were quite a few people waiting there as well, and luckily we didn't have to wait long (oh, how complacent I quickly became!) before we were heading out. The parking lot was packed full and there were a ton of people milling around outside the building as we approached. I found the right entrance and quickly headed to where packet pick up was. No wait and I had my little purple mesh backpack in my hot little hands. What comes next? Shopping, of course!

This is my first race, and hence my first expo, but Im going to assume this was representative of all expos. Yowza! It was so crowded you could barely scoot up to the booths to see what the people were selling. I would have liked to look at the jewerly more closely, but no way was I going to fight the crazy people elbowing and jostling to get to the front of the tables. I did manage to score a double pocket black SpiBelt (yay for no shipping!) and a few extra GU in Chocolate Outrage (yum!). You'll never get me to admit what I had to do to purchase these things, however. I'm not proud of myself.

I was so excited to see the Disney branded merchandise, but I was really disappointed. A few tee shirts, some ears, shot glasses and mugs. They did have a cute pair of running shorts and a matching singlet, but I'm more of a "cover yourself up" kind of girl, so those wouldn't have worked for me. All in all not what I was expecting.

After I decided I had shopped until I was ready to drop (or ready to drop kick the next person that elbowed me), I headed toward the exit and back to DHS.

The wait for a bus took much longer this time. There were a whole bunch of us lounging on the sidewalk and in the grass. A lot of us had opened up our packets and were reading the program and rules, etc. Some of us were using the opportunity to sunbathe. And by some of us, I mean the scantily clad trio of teenagers laying on the sidewalk sucking on lollipops and holding their trim legs up in the air for all of us to admire. The rest of us enjoyed that very much.

Finally the bus shows up and we all board. Once back at DHS, I walked around like a doofus looking for the correct bus stop to take me back to AKL...

 

[Stitch2007]

I have done the half and full marathon is January and the expo was just as crowded. I always want to look around at the vendors, but the crowd gets to me. I usually pick my stuff up, purchase a couple of disney merchandise, and leave.

 

[mla1977]

I was down there for the race too! I had such great time and can't wait to read about your experiences there too.

 

[solar]

subscribing to the thread...was great to meet you and so glad to stumble across your trip report!

Congrats on such an awesome job

 

[disney_mommy]

Been there with the snoring waking you up. Always fun. Sounds like you had quite a "magical" bus ride. Look forward to more.

So embarassing! And yes, quite a way to start my vacation!

How nice to get an alone trip, and to AKL, no less! Thanks for sharing!

My first solo trip ever! Now that my son is 11, I thought it was time for me to take a break.

Can't wait to read more of your TR. I would love to run in the Princess half marathon some day! I just started the C25K program, so if all goes well, I may one day run it!

If you just started the program, you are well on your way to being there for the 2011 race! Good luck.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Hi, disney_mommy! I remember seeing you post over on the Princess thread on the Wish boards, so I was really excited when I came across your report!!

I loved the line about drop kicking the next person who elbowed you--that pretty much sums up how I felt as well.

And I have to say, I want to know what it was that you did to get the Spi belt and the GU's. You've got me intrigued! LOL! Inquiring minds wanna know!

Anyway, I can't wait to read more of your report and hear about the race through your eyes. I know it was definitely a wonderful experience for me, so I hope it was the same for you!

 

[disney_mommy]

Now I've finally arrived back at my beautiful resort. I stop at the quick service restaurant Mara and grab a diet coke, small salad and a chocolate milk (someone on ROTE mentioned that was the best post-race thing to eat/drink). Once I'm back in my room, I finish unpacking and get everything ready for the race tomorrow. I lay out my clothes on a chair, put the D-chip on my shoe, turn on my Garmin so the GPS adjusts its location, fill the new Spibelt with GUs, tissues and chews. I decide to stash my phone in the checked bag and keep my camera in one of the belt pockets. I put my oatmeal, a bowl and a spoon out on the counter. I lay my sweatshirt and blanket by the door.

Now I'm ready to relax a bit before I head out to dinner. So do I head out and explore my favorite resort? Nope, I sit down on the couch and turn on the TV. I eat my salad and flip through the channels, trying to find something interesting. I end up watching one of those true crime shows where they follow a case from beginning to end. (PS - the guy was found guilty and his defense that he was sleep walking during the murder was dismissed.) In a bit, it's time for me to head over to meet my friends from ROTE for a pre-race meet and greet.

For the sake of brevity, I'm going to skip all of the bits about catching the right bus and transferring and the waiting, etc. Unless otherwise mentioned, just go ahead and assume that I found the right bus, transferring took forever, the waits were long and the whole 'having to bus it' thing sucked.

Okay, so I end up at Caribbean Beach. I've stayed there before and so was familiar with the layout. It is still just as beautful as ever with great theming throughout. I find my group over in the food court and we have a great dinner together. I really enjoyed meeting the people I had been talking to over the 'net for months. (I got the fettucine alfredo with a breadstick and it was barely edible.) Not too much later and everyone starts saying it's time to leave because we've got an early morning (can anyone say understatement?).

So back at my room, the first thing I do is set alarms. That's right, plural. My cell phone, the in-room alarm clock and a wake up call, all staggered to go off around 3am. In the morning. Did you hear that? The morning! I think that must be the worst part of a race, the early morning wake up. Anyway, I get ready for bed, check that everything's ready to go for the race, call and say goodnight to my family and get into bed. And though I had been afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep, I am tired enough that I drop right off. And I don't wake up at all during the night, which several people mentioned they'd done before. But, I've always been blessed with an ability to sleep through just about everything (including the tornado that knocked a tree on top of my house and broke through the roof and window of the room across the hall). Lucky me I guess.

Next up - the race!

 

[disney_mommy]

Ah, the race. My whole reason for walking the past 12 weeks. My whole reason for buying new shoes and new outifits and worrying over whether I should wear a running skirt or capris. The reason I spent money on chews and gus and bloks and socks (I could not would not want my spending stop). The reason I put on a crossing guard-like neon yellow reflective vest for night time walks. The reason I learned about hydrating and pace. The reason I spent $120 to enter the race, $200 to fly there and $450 for someplace to stay. THE RACE!

The first thing I remember that morning is Mickey Mouse talking in that high pitched voice of his. As I began to wake up, I started wondering why Mickey Mouse was talking to me. Where in the world was I? Suddenly, I opened my eyes and saw my room. I was in Animal Kingdom Lodge! And apparently, when the wake up call came in, I picked up the phone and laid it on my ear and went back to sleep. I'm not sure how long I let Mickey go on, but it must have only been a few seconds because next my cell phone alarm went off. I hung up with Mickey and turned off my cell alarm. As I was contemplating whether I could skip my shower for another 10 minutes of sleep, the room's alarm clock went off. I decided it was best to go ahead and rise and shine.

I was ready pretty quickly, considering the areyoufreakingcrazy hour. I scarfed down a granola bar and lots of water while getting ready and was out the door by 3:40 a.m. There was another gal getting on the elevator at the same time as me. We were both still sort of half asleep, so there was no conversation on the elevator ride down. We may have grunted at each other once or twice...

In the lobby, which was eerily quiet, there were about 7 other gals milling around. A few were heading to cars in the parking lot, but most were waiting for someone to pick them up. As I was leaving, my ride (the very generous sailors_wfe) walked in. We introduced ourselves and climbed into her car.

It didn't take long to get to the Epcot parking lot. There were lots of cars out and about, but everything was well controlled by the lot attendants. We parked, gathered our things and headed into the chaos.

There were tons of people. Everyone was cold and bundled up. Most were jumping up and down in an effort to stay warm. Or because they had to pee. I didn't ask so I can't be sure, but I'm certain it was probably warm thing. saiors_wfe and I milled around checking things out. There was a stage to the left and some music blaring, though nobody appeared to be on the stage. There was a line of port-a-potties, and each one had a line of people waiting to use them. We waited in line and took our turns. Yuck. 'Nuff said. A DJ came onto the stage and started talking to the crowd, getting everyone pumped up. Soon there were about 100 people doing the Cha Cha Slide and the YMCA. I split off from sailors_wfe to find ROTE and spent a few minutes with them. Finally, I headed into the bag check area (after one last FB update!) and went on the absurdly long walk to get to the start line. Seriously, Disney, what were you thinking?

I found my corral easily enough and slipped in. Then came the waiting. And waiting. And waiting. You get the idea. The DJ had moved to the start line and had a fairy godmmother with him. They were entertaining everyone and had a "roving reporter" who was talking to the racers. They had a couple of large jumbo screens set up so even the people in the back could see and hear what was going on. After a while, I just plopped down on the cold ground to wait.

There were lots of single people and lots of groups of people in the crowd, so I never felt out of place being alone. I had my ipod with me and could have turned that on, but I didn't want to miss anything, so I just sort of spent the time psyching myself up and checking everyone out. I saw this dude who was such a good sport. He was letting people take pictures with him and laughing along.

Finally (a few minutes late) they started getting ready for the start. There was a countdown, then fireworks! A few seconds later, our corral started surging forward. A few more minutes of waiting, then another countdown and more fireworks. Again, we moved forward, coutdown, fireworks. Finally, corral D was at the start.

I couldn't believe the time was finally here! All this time getting ready, and it was about to happen. Would I be able to finish, which was my goal? I was about to find out.

Before I knew it, there was a countdown, then fireworks and we were off!

(I intended to cover the entire race with this post, but it's time for me to turn off my work computer and head home, so I'll continue this soon.)

 

[DisneyMomma09]

Sounds like a great trip so far! I am planning on running in the Princess half next year, so I am looking forward to reading about the race and the rest of your trip. Congrats on doing it!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I am enjoying reading this!

I also did the Princess Half this year; it was also my first half marathon. I am interested to read more about your experience. Already I'm seeing a few differences from your weekend to mine. For example, we went to the parks on Saturday instead of just relaxing like you did. You must be more responsible (sensible??) than me!

I also set an estimated million alarms. Well, maybe it was just 7.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Very cool! We were in the same corral as well!!

 

[disney_mommy]

Thanks to my readers. I love knowing that someone is entertained by my ramblings!

Okay, where was I...? Ah yes, the fireworks!

Thanks to my planning, I knew that the further to the front I started, the more cushion I gave myself as far as pace, so I did manage to squeeze myself towards the front of the pack. I wasn't in the front row, but I was probably about 1/3 of the way back.

And let me say, it's a good thing I wasn't in front because I would have been run over! Those people in the front are serious!

I also knew from my research that one of the worst things you can do is get caught up in the excitement and come out of the gate too fast and hard. I tried to stay at my fast walking pace, but after about half a mile, it felt like I was being left behind by everyone else, so I picked it up into a jog. Mistake. After a few seconds, my shins started hurting, just like they do when I try to run at home. I pushed for about 2 minutes, and then decided I'd better stop before I really hurt myself, so I slowed back down to a walk. Luckily, the shins stopped hurting and I never heard from them again. And I did continue to get passed by lots of people, but I also managed to pass a few people, too.

One thing I wish I had learned about ahead of time was racing etiquette. I could tell there were lots of faster people trying to get around us walkers (some were vocal and rude, others not so much) so I decided to stay to the very right side of the path or street, but I didn’t know if there was a ‘usual’ side walkers should stay on.

Around this time, I saw the first mile marker. I couldn't believe how fast it came. I started thinking, "Boy, this will be no problem! I've already gone 1 mile!" (Ignorance really is bliss...) By the way, this picture is blurry because it was dark so I could barely see the viewfinder and I had decided not to stop walking to take the pictures. I changed my mind about that soon.

It was still dark, and I was still pretty chilly, but I was warming up fast. I had on my sweatshirt and wasn't ready to take it off yet.

Here we are about halfway to mile marker 2, with the sun starting to peek out.

Shortly thereafter, I came upon the first beverage station. It was a few long tables set up on both sides of the road. There were a bunch of people standing in front of the tables holding cups in their outstretched hands. They were all shouting “PowerAde here, water further down.” I grabbed a PowerAde and thanked the man who handed it to me. I sipped it slowly, not wanting to down the whole thing at once. There were a few trash cans set up after the tables, but clearly nobody was aiming for them. I guess with the large amount of racers, they didn’t want to bunch up at the cans. At any rate, there were hundreds of cups tossed on the ground. The first time I was ready to toss my cup, I felt weird about just throwing it to the ground, but what other option did I have? The trashcans were way behind me, there were no more in site and I couldn’t carry it with me. So I glanced behind me and threw it to the side of the road. (As an aside, I looked to see if anyone was coming not so I wouldn’t be seen, but so I wouldn’t hit anyone with my cup – a lesson a few other people could have used, but more on that later.)


Miles 2, 3 and 4 were pretty uneventful. I was really feeling the groove and just kept on going.

One of the great things about this race was all of the entertainment they had set up. At every half mile or so was a different “act” to keep us going. While I can’t remember now what was where (and I thought I’d remember everything about that day forever), I can remember a few of the acts. There was the pirate ship with Captain Jack Sparrow and some pirates, the princes (with the song “I Need a Hero” playing loudly nearby), the Japanese drummers from Epcot, the princesses, the DJ just talking to people, the local high school band, a gospel choir, Pluto, Chip and Dale and lots of characters. Some people were stopping to take pictures with the characters (and some were standing in line!), but I just kept on going. I learned a bit of race etiquette here, which probably won’t come in handy except for another Disney race, but here goes – if you want to get your picture taken with a character, don’t stop in the middle of the road and run horizontally to said character! Ease your way to the side and move completely out of the path before stopping.

Can you tell this is when I decided to actually stop and take pictures?

This dude must have been a good sport, to race in a tutu with his princess...

Here's something new I learned during my first race: there are some people that don't use the potties, they go right out in public. During the first half of the race, I saw a lot of people running into the wooded areas, around behind the potties, or around a corner but as the race progressed, they started peeing more and more brazenly. There was the dude who showed me his butt cheeks when he pulled down his pants not 5 feet from me so he could pee into the grass, and the woman who squatted (facing the course!) about 10 feet away. I understand that people don’t want to lose time to do their business in the port-a-potty, but yowza! Luckily I never needed to go throughout the race, so I didn’t have to use up my time waiting in a line (most of the potties had lines of at least 3 people). And don't expect to see pictures of peeing people because I didn't take any (darn it!).

Heading towards the Contemporary... Doesn't it look really really far away?

This underpass really kicked my butt. It was a struggle to get back to the top.

Right after mile 5 is when we headed in to the Magic Kingdom, which was really neat. There were crowds of people behind roped off areas, cheering and yelling for everyone. It was so awesome to be able to run down Main Street and see MK from a different point of view, not zooming through thinking about making an ADR or which ride to rush off to. I know that seems silly to say I am seeing things more during a race, but it’s true!

Next we went through the famous castle, and I have to tell you, it was a bit of a letdown. I think it was probably because I didn’t have anyone to share the moment with, so all I could do was look around and say “Oooh, pretty” to myself. It was actually the first time I’d ever been in the castle, but it was just another section of the race to me. This was where I noticed 2 photographers, but too late. The first one I didn’t see in time, so I’m not looking at the camera or smiling. After I passed him, I was bummed about not smiling for the camera and trying to look around and see everything, so I missed the dude waiting right around the corner! Bummer. I wish I had been smiling and waving for my pictures in front of the castle, but oh well. This is not the worst camera related incident that will happen during the race.

Now we've left the castle and are moving on...

 

[disney_mommy]

Remember earlier when I said someone else should have learned the lesson about looking before you throw cups? Here's why: at some point during the race after a water stop, someone had a cup of water and didn't want to finish it for whatever reason. This person happened to be in the middle of the road. Without looking at where it was heading, this person tossed the cup to the side, where it emptied against a poor woman's arm. She looked shocked then angry and looked around, but the responsible party did not admit it or apologize, which I thought was crappy. I hope they learned a lesson.

Anyway, now we headed to the main Disney road next to the interstate, which was probably the most boring part of the race. Just miles of blacktop. There was still the sporadic entertainment, and the water and medical tables, but it’s just not the same as walking in the park.

I don't know who these ladies are, but they look happy, don't they?

Around here my right hip started hurting and it got bad fast. I tried ignoring it, but surprise, that didn't help any. I stepped off to the side and stretched it for a minute or two, but I was afraid that if I stopped for too long, I would never start again. I started taking smaller strides so it wouldn't stress the hip as much as longer strides would.

Hmmm... Don't know why I didn't stop to take the picture here.

Now my hip was killing me and my head was pounding. I stopped for my only time at the next medical tent and begged for tylenol. They had a big bunch of them and handed me 2 which I gulped down.

This woman was far ahead of her group, so she stopped to wait for them and cheer other people along:

"I need a hero..."

"Arrgh, matey!" (Sorry, I couldn't help it…)

Every once in a while, the cars passing us would honk and flash their lights, which was fun. Ocassionally, you could see a woman in the passenger seat holding out her medal and giving a thumb's up. Which was fun and disheartening at the same time.

"And miles to go before I sleep..."

I loved these 2 couples with the men both dressed as Maleficent. They are posing with the army men from Toy Story (who were yelling in very official voices at us to hurry it up and move along and pick up the pace):

This was heading toward the infamous ramp that I had been dreading, the banking that everyone said would kill.

More long stretches of boring roads...

Loved their outfits, and the fact that they could go 13.1 miles wearing them:

As for the banking, I found it a little rough at first, but I soon followed another gal’s lead and got on the outside shoulder. It took a little longer, but it was practically flat. I had no trouble getting through that. Once on top, I could see all the racers still behind me who hadn't gone under the overpass yet. I heard someone mention sweepers at this point, but I couldn’t see them, even back before the path leading to the overpass, so I figured I was doing okay.

Around this time was probably the hardest part of the race for me. My right hip and my head were still hurting. I started fighting a mental battle with finishing.

I was thinking about all of the people who were cheering me on. My family at home, the ROTEers at home and on the course and the WISHers at home and on the course. All of these people had confidence in me and supported me, the least I could do was make an effort to walk until I couldn't walk any more. I decided to just "shut up" and do it. I didn't entertain any more thoughts about if I could or should do any more, about who would be disappointed if I didn't finish, or even about my aches and pains. I basically just got out of my head and kept going.

It's getting close now...

At this point, I was telling myself to just hang on, I was almost there.

This part was especially fun, the winding through Epcot's staging areas. We could see a lot of things people don't normally get to see, like broken down vehicles, work trucks and the cast entrances to buildings. It was very un-magical, but still neat.

And here is another lesson I learned: never trust new batteries for a big event. I had recently bought a cool new camera with a better zoom lens specifically for this trip. Then I decided I better buy a new battery, just in case. Does the company sell its own batteries? No. So where's my next stop? Why, Amazon of course. I buy a new battery which has gotten great reviews from lots of other people, charge it up and put it in the camera so I can charge the battery the camera came with.

So race morning comes, and the new battery is still in the camera, but I haven't used the camera but to take 2 or 3 pictures, so it should be fine for the race. (Insert ominous jaws-type music here. Duh duh. Duh-duh. Duhduhduhduh...)

So I lift the camera up to take a picture of the approaching finish line and see that stupid little white battery with a line through it symbol. Can everyone imagine my colorful language? I made it through the whole darn race and I won't get a picture of the finish line? Man was I mad.

So now I'm approaching the end. I know I'm going to make it. My head is better (though it's still humming a bit) and my hip is only really hurting now, instead of really really hurting. I can feel that my face is beat red and I'm all sorts of sweaty. But the finish is so close.

We're weaving all over the back side of Epcot, then into the front, making loops and re-tracing our steps. I can tell some people are pushing hard now and trying to get to the finish line as quick as they can, but I'm keeping at my pace, just reveling in the moment.

There were lots of people standing on the sidelines now, including a lot of cast members, cheering and waving, and offering high-fives. At this time I was smiling like a goofball.

And now the finish line is within site! I can't believe it! I think about running to it, but decide that would not be pretty, so I continue to walk with a big old stupid grin on my face. Suddenly there are 3 women running around me to meet up with each other. They grab hands and hold them up in the air as they cross the finish line together. I slow down a tiny bit so I can get my own victory picture. Then I kind of get upset that they haven't noticed how I've been pushed to the side of their group. But, they're excited and want to finish together and I understand that.

And then I'm crossing the line and I can't think of anything else. There are people everywhere, including covering a few setf of bleachers, cheering for the racers and it's so loud and exciting. Suddenly I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. Do I stop and wait for someone to say something?

But I keep walking and right around a little turn someone is standing with an armful of medals. But I don't know if I finished in time to get one. I think there was a time limit and I wasn't paying enough attention to my time and pace to know if I've earned one. What if I go to get one and they tell me no?

But then I figure if there's still that many left, and they're still standing there holding them, then I must have made the time limit. So I approach the woman and she smiles. So I stand in front of her and lean in and she puts the medal around my neck. And, totally unexpectedly, I burst into tears. The woman looks like she can't decide what to do, and I think about hugging her because I'm so excited. But I just move on.

I think about my family and how proud they would be of me, then I start to cry harder because there's nobody there for me. All around me, people are hugging and jumping up and down and talking to each other and I'm all alone. Nobody is there to tell me how proud they are or to hug me or tell me congratulations.

Now I'm standing in a parking lot crying. So I decide I need to pull myself together. I take a deep breath and gaze down at my beautiful medal. I've worked hard for this baby for almost 4 months.

There's a couple of tables bunched together with a selection of food standing nearby, so I grab a bagel and a water bottle and wander around. I see the massage sign and decide what the heck. That's why I stuffed the $20 in my Spibelt, right? I enter the tent and see a sea of tables. The whole tent is just massage table after massage table, spaced a few feet apart. The lady behind the table says it's a dollar a minute and asks me how long I would like. I'm not sure about how it will feel, so I go with 10 minutes.

She hands me a popsicle stick with the number 10 on it and tells me to wait a minute. Just about a minute later someone calls me over. The lady at my table throws a mylar sheet on the table and tells me to lay down. I place my stuff under the table and ask her which way. She says whichever way you want. I say, let's switch halfway through, she says fine. She asks if there's any area that I want her to focus on. All I can think of is my shins, which were hurting at the beginning of the race. I guess my hip had gone numb by then and I'd forgotten about it..?

She works on me for a few minutes, then the lady from the next table comes over and works on one leg while my lady works on the other. The other lady is pressing much deeper and it feels way better than the original lady. They stretch me out and next thing I know, she tells me my time is up. Lesson - next time, pay for at least 20 minutes, take my shoes off (which I saw other people had done) and request deep pressure.

After the massage, I head over to the bag-check area (wrapped in my mylar sheet which the massage lady told me to keep). There were only about 7 bags left, so I didn't have to wait for someone to search a bunch of tags or look for my princess ribbon which I had thoughtfully tied to the strap of my bag.

I get my phone out of the bag and see that my family has called 3 times. they must have gotten the text that I had crossed the finish line and wanted to talk to me. I look over at where ROTE is meeting but there doesn't appear to be anyone left so I head over to the bus area.

 

[solar]

So proud of you for doing such a great job....people were asking for you at the end, about you...nobody knew you went to the massage tent :|

Would have loved to given you a hug right then and there when you showed up...my hug had to wait for dinner. Sorry

I'll be there at Wine/Dine with you - and you'll get that ultra-super-duper hug that will hopefully cover both the Princess and the Wine/Dine together.

You did great, and I am so super proud of you. You were so worried going into this, and you got it done - you finished it! Great job my friend, great job.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Wow...that last installment totally had me tearing up. I feel bad that no one was there with you to share your joy and excitement, but I am so proud of you for finishing. It made me very thankful to have had my husband there. It sounds like you were fighting quite a battle, both mentally and physically, so you did an awesome job of finishing!!

We had to have been somewhat close to each other for at least parts of the race as I recognized some of the people in your pics.

And I totally agree about people being rude when trying to get around the walkers. My teammate and I would walk and then run a little, and I tell ya, I got so many elbows that it wasn't funny. There was one point that I wanted to yell, "The next person who hits me is going DOWN", but I figured that wouldn't have been very Princess like!

Was it just me, or did that last mile seem like it was the longest one of the race??

 

[disney_mommy]

So proud of you for doing such a great job....people were asking for you at the end, about you...nobody knew you went to the massage tent :|

Would have loved to given you a hug right then and there when you showed up...my hug had to wait for dinner. Sorry

I'll be there at Wine/Dine with you - and you'll get that ultra-super-duper hug that will hopefully cover both the Princess and the Wine/Dine together.

You did great, and I am so super proud of you. You were so worried going into this, and you got it done - you finished it! Great job my friend, great job.

You are such an encouraging person, Deb! Thank you for that. I'm glad you'll be there with me in October. And, don't forget you did awesome, too! I'm proud of you, too.

Wow...that last installment totally had me tearing up. I feel bad that no one was there with you to share your joy and excitement, but I am so proud of you for finishing. It made me very thankful to have had my husband there. It sounds like you were fighting quite a battle, both mentally and physically, so you did an awesome job of finishing!!

We had to have been somewhat close to each other for at least parts of the race as I recognized some of the people in your pics.

And I totally agree about people being rude when trying to get around the walkers. My teammate and I would walk and then run a little, and I tell ya, I got so many elbows that it wasn't funny. There was one point that I wanted to yell, "The next person who hits me is going DOWN", but I figured that wouldn't have been very Princess like!

Was it just me, or did that last mile seem like it was the longest one of the race??

Thank you! I can't believe we were so close during the race but never knew it. That would have been awesome if you had yelled that! If I'd been nearby, I would have yelled something encouraging back at you. And yes, that last mile or two was definitely longer than the others.