2:30 am came really quick. I honestly was ready to roll over and go back to sleep. But then the wake up call came and I knew I need to get my butt moving. I brought a couple different outfits from home so I quickly decided on a purple top, yellow sparkle skirt and Daisy hairband and was out the door at 3:15. Luckily when I got to the bus stop there was a bus waiting and I was able to grab the last spot. On the bus I went over my plan for the day in my head. Lots of pictures and trying to keep to long run pace.
As soon as we got to Epcot I made a beeline for the princesses. I asked the cast member at the end of the first line which princesses were out and where. He rattle off all the princesses that were there and he told me that in less than 30 minutes they would be switching. I had met all of them except Mulan so I decided I would start with her line and then go from there. Now they were switching every half an hour and I overheard someone say the line would be an hour long. That was a bummer, I probably wouldn't get to see Mulan after all. But the princess that she was switching with was Snow White. Since it was her race I guess she would have been my second choice so I stayed in line. The wait ended up being much shorter than an hour and I was getting my picture with Snow White in no time.
When I was finished I went back to the other princess lines and they were just so long that I decided I would skip them. Instead I saw they had a merchandise tent that was open so I went inside to look around. Inside they had all of the merchandise from the expo and a lot of signs from the weekend you could buy. I really wanted a sign but I didn't know if I wanted to pay the price for one and then have to take it back on the bus.
After the merchandise tent I made my way to my corral. It was the same long walk as marathon weekend but this time I didn't know anyone so I made the the long journey alone
For this half my hard work paid off and I was able to get into corral E!!! I was so thankful I was not in the massive corral behind me. My only issue with E was that I had to walk the median to get to it. The grass was wet so that meant by the time I got there my shoes/socks were wet. Not a fun way to start a race. I walked into E and to my surprise almost the whole corral was sitting down. I was so excited to see that because I was not trying to stand for too long. So I sat down and the girl next to me started talking to me and it made the rest of the time in the corral fly by.
At 5:50am corral E was at the start line and they counted us down and we were off!! With all the people around me, passing me I wanted to fly but I kept telling myself to hold back. I was a little worried about my training considering I hadn't been above 5ish miles since Marathon Weekend and the week before I was out with the flu. However I also thought that it would be the perfect race to stop for pictures for those same reasons.
The first 2 miles were dark and boring. I kept waiting for characters to appear. I had a good idea where they were going to be but I think I was just anxious to stop. Finally as I was coming down the off ramp onto World drive I saw the first one.
It was
Pirates!!
I am sure everyone is shocked. The line was fairly short so I went for it. Looking back at this picture Jack's face cracks me up!! It was a good first stop. The line was short and it moved quickly. Now my adrenaline was going and I was ready to get more pictures.
After pirates it was through the toll booth, past a water stop and into the TTC parking lots. I was already hot at this point and getting worried for what the rest of the morning would bring. In the TTC parking lot I was waiting for Cars to be out or Wreck It Ralph but they never came. Then I saw a super long line and it made me nervous but curious. I looked to the left and it was the princes. For that long of a line I just didn't think that was worth it so I kept on. I was disappointed but I really wanted to save my time for better stops. A couple more turns in the TTC parking lot and we came across the Hag from Snow White. Now the line for her was ridiculous I think just to get to the end I would have added a 1/4 mile to the race. So I passed her up as well. At this point I was losing my adrenaline but stay tuned I promise it gets better
but the girls are SO freaking CUTE!! and kitty posters are fun and totally motivating right? LOL
I hope he doesn't have an injury flare up, but if it's the way it goes with my DH, yours will just trot on through with no problems like he runs that distance for fun all the time
But hey, maybe I'll surprise you guys and show up with beers and beef jerky.
