So, when last I wrote, we had found Kim's time, not found mine and before you know it, the last 5K finisher was crossing the finish line! And it was time to claim my bag and time for Kim to go on to her water park adventure. That was when we got trapped in the large pen in the middle of the parking lot. The lady closed the gap and told us we'd have to go all the way around. Evidently 5K was not enough. Before she left, Kim told me that going to Animal Kingdom for the day was not resting up for the 15K.
Keeping me real again!
I got my bag and headed off to the front of Epcot to change into fresh clothes and catch a bus to Epcot. Had to go through security if you wanted to go to those bathrooms closest to the parking lot, though. I opted for the ones outside of "security" closer to the busses. It is questionable, I know, but I cleaned myself up with about 7 baby wipes, put on fresh clothes, fresh deoderant and headed out to meet my family at Animal Kingdom. A shower would have been better, I know, but the plan was to get Andrew a ride on Everest first thing, and for that to happen, someone had to stay with the kids - one of whom is too short and the other of whom is too scared of the big, steep drop.
I caught a bus with a bunch of other people from the Minnie and got to Animal Kingdom right around park opening. I walked about 15 paces into the Oasis and remembered what I said to myself about just getting over myself and doing what I had to do. And as Kim says, walking around the parks isn't actually resting. So, since my feet were already tired and my pinkie toes were hurting, I guiltily walked back and rented myself.....an
ECV. It struck me as ridiculous and wrong to rent a motorized
scooter to protect my chances of finishing the 15K the next day, but I had been recovering an overuse injury JUST the previous week. Let me just say, those ECV's are not all they are cracked up to be, and I ended up with sore shoulders from the poor ergonomics. Evidently they are made for people with really long arms.
I called my friend Sara in the middle of the day - I was sitting in the boneyard, just watching my DS doing this:
My husband was off riding Everest with the fastpass I had collected for him first thing (followed by a ride for me in the single rider lane) and then took our tall-enough boy on the Prime Evil Whirl. So just sitting in the boneyard, supervising, I called Sara and told her about my rental and she said she HAD to see a picture of this. There you go, Sara.
I don't know if I should feel proud or guilty for doing the rental, but every time I stood up, I felt my feet actually groan at me, so even if it was ironic, I do feel like it gave my feet a much-needed, if marginally unethical rest.
We enjoyed our Animal Kingdom morning and then went for lunch at Wolfgang Puck express in Downtown Disney. Cause there's not that much vegetarian food in Animal Kingdom, that's why. Ironic or appropriate: you decide.
After a boat ride back to OKW, we had good naps that afternoon and before the nap, I had a much needed shower. Next we were up and out to our reservation at Crystal Palace. Which is a long way from the front gates at MK. The scooter rental is transferrable between parks, but unfortunately, they were out of them. I got on the waiting list and it was only about 10 minutes before they had one for me. In the meantime, Andrew had taken the boys to find something to ride. He called me as I was approaching the front of the scooter line and I told him NOT to do the Laugh Floor Comedy show, cause while it's great, it could take too long. Then I abruptly hung up on him cause it was my turn and I got flustered. Long story short (too late) he wasn't answering his phone after that, and I didn't know where they had gone and I thought he might be ticked off that I had hung up like that....so I went and got FP's for BTMRR. I only had 2 of our tickets at that point, unfortunately, so 2 was all I could get. This is getting long. We had dinner at Crystal Palace. Andrew wasn't mad at me - he was in Stitch's Great Escape. After dinner, we split up and he rode BTMRR with one boy and I took the other to the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse - it was what he wanted!!! So I parked the scooter out front and hopped up and climbed up and down all those treehouse stairs. Pretty suspicious, if you ask me. The Spectro parade was going by over on Main Street and the hub, and the view from up in that treehouse in the evening is spectacular.
A quick ride on Pirates and it was time for me to head home and get ready for bed. Before bed, put biofreeze on my feet, figuring it couldn't hurt. I set the alarm clock, climbed into bed, and....the rest of the crew arrived back from the Magic Kingdom. And proceeded to get ready for bed, themselves. Gotta get up in 4 hours here, people.
P.S. Did I mention that the ice machine at our bus stop was broken? I'd have done a lot more ice baths for my feet if it had been easier to get ice.
I really appreciate you bringing your camera along. Helped me relive it all over again, and I love your sense of humor.
Take some time to rest your body and heal those injuries!!!
But the important this was that I was up and I was going to make it to the HH bus stop where Mel was collecting me along with Nancy and Jeanne and Jeanne's husband at 4:30. Oh, and my feet felt GREAT. I got dressed and out the door and then actually had to go back for lip balm. Which I put on right then and proceeded not to need for the rest of the morning. But you never know.
so I'll have to wait for the official time online, BUT, my clock time as I crossed was 29:45, or thereabouts. And I thought I was going to hurl. I have never felt like that at the end of a run before, but today, I must have really pushed it.
