Cynthia - I am sorry there was no run this morning, but your run earlier this week looked divine. I am going to try to get an update in this weekend as well. It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so I think I can get some serious DIS time in. On Sunday I am going to NYC to see Book of Mormons. Very excited. This will be my first time to NYC to see a play.
First time to NYC for a play or musical? That is just WRONG!
My earlier run was lovely. Today on the other hand...soggy!
Your cronut looks super yummy!
I love all your group shots. They turned out great. I don't think I have nearly that many. Fun!
I remember it was such a gorgeous and warm day. Perfect day to start some vacation!
LOL! those are the PP shots, not mine. You should have the same set, if you don't let me know and I can send copies.
That cronut was like nirvana
and then the sugar hit.
Thanks! We definitely got some last snuggles in, but it was sad to see her uncomfortable. She was so stoic. Cats are tough animals. They really try to hide their pain.
I am glad you got last snuggles.
I don't think I could have done it without you and Anne. Now I know so much better what to expect. There was so much unknown. I'm proud of myself for making the decision and sticking to it. I am also proud of myself for training through the cold weather and doing the best I could. I do think I needed more runs in excess of 10 miles.
I hear you there, I need more longer ones as well. I am incredibly proud of you!
Totally not a loser. You are doing much better than I am! Can't believe you had to go on another work trip. You have been heading over to Hawaii quite a bit these days.
I go about once a quarter so it really was on my normal schedule. I am SO glad I got that run in Tuesday as I didn't look up after that. I tried to run a couple times but it was not to be for a variety of reasons. Which in a way is good as I might have had more chafing. LOL!
Running is far more important that DISing and your run just looked so lovely. Totally jealous. But I told you that already. Good luck in your Sunday race. Sounds fun.
Thanks, it was ok. Everything kind of went wrong but we got it done anyway. First I messed up packet pickup, we were supposed to do it last Sunday and I thought it was yesterday. Which meant Jeff had to go downtown to get our stuff versus grabbing it closer to the house.
Then he almost got a ticket and it appears in his rush back to his car before the parking expired, he dropped my shirt!
My sister and her DH were going to run with us and it was going to be a fun adult outing with beer garden after.
They bailed. So I've commandeered her shirt even if it is a size too big as Jeff was nice enough to grab their packets too.
I landed from Hawaii to find a dead car. Too late at night to deal with it so took a cab home. Instead of the beer garden (which honestly did NOT sound good at 9am lol) we headed back ot the airport to charge my car. And then hit horrendous traffic on the way home in hideous weather. I also thought I lost my running glasses but thankfully they had fallen out of my jacket in the car as I got out. WHEW! Oh, and my running watch was dead so I had NO clue how I was doing.
It rained for the race. And it was crowded! I expected crowds, there is about 13,000 that do this dash. What I didn't expect was the pacing disaster/congestion. It may have been the worst run I've done in that regard (although I expect the one we are doing in SF in May will be similar). The run had 4 waves, 2 timed and 2 not. The timed waves combined had almost 5,000 people in it. We went for the 2nd of the timed groups as my BIL has never done a race. Lots of walkers had signed up for the timed waves, including the faster 1st group. We literally walked across the start line! Parts of it were really cool, bagpipes at the start line as each wave went, a solid sea of green running through downtown (and neither of us had ever run through actual downtown before) but the people dodging the entire 5K got a bit old and didn't make for a race that felt fast that's for sure. Plus a little hill right at the end. LOL! Still, it was a PR. Not the PR I hoped for but hey, 4 seconds is 4 seconds. If I did it again, we would definitely choose the first wave, Jeff was worried about his knee and we wanted to support my BIL. It worked out but it was a little frustrating at times (and slippery in spots). Kind of bizarre though, Jeff and I took the exact same place in our age groups, that's a first. Not that it's anything huge mind you, just odd that it's the exact same number. Similar results by gender in terms of placement too which is also unusual for us. As expected though he blew me away in overall finish so it would appear the knee did just fine. LOL!
Glad to be home now in front of the fire lol. Not motivated to do much.
And, yes, we did ride LWTL and we also rode SE. I have pictures, don't worry, but my update is going to be a recap of the PHM. I guess I feel the need to relive it!
I guess I'll do a little PHM recap next then too
Cynthia and I had been texting back and forth and she and Ann came to my rescue with the incredibly generous offer of letting me stay with them for the night at the Boardwalk. The BWVs are where I would be checking in the next day, so it was perfect and it definitely erased the anxiety of me having to stay alone off site. I can’t thank them enough for coming to my rescue!
No rescue needed, you are ALWAYS welcome, it was a no brainer and I'm so glad you accepted. It was so much fun and made it more of a girls trip for that part which selfishly was very cool.
Cynthia and Ann were heading back from EMH at Epcot when I arrived and Cynthia even brought me a rita from ESPN, which was delicious and definitely needed.
We stayed up for a few hours just chatting and then we set the alarm so we could watch the 10K race from the balcony
That was really fun, although we got scolded by the next door neighbor for waking him up with our cheering.
Look at the VIEW! So jelly! I wish I owned at BWV.
I admit, I LOVE owning there and being able to lock up this view for key trips! I have a funny story about that Rita. Oh that guy. I mean I feel bad but it wasn't like the 10,000 feet outside wouldn't have woken anyone up anyway. He could have been a little nicer about it.
Since we had an extra seat (due to Denny not being there) we were able to invite Christine (2excited2sleep), who now is a Florida resident. Lucky girl!
We were back in our rooms by 8:30pm, but yours truly did not get a good night sleep, even though I should have been dreaming of Princesses and such
It was SO good to see Christine even if I felt like I was very boring as we started to all hit various walls. Next time I will be more fun! I am just sick about how your night ended up going, that is awful.
I don’t have a picture on my phone of the three of us together. I have to admit - I felt like crapolla from no sleep and I was nervous. I just wanted to start the race and get it over with, so I wasn’t in the picture mood.
But I do have proof that we were together in the staging area and I managed a fake smile.
I decided to try to run with the 2:30 pace group. I had met the pacer the day before at the Expo and she seemed delightful. I thought this might help keep me focused and I liked that they were supposed to walk a minute every mile.
The race started around 5:35 for the elite runners. Our corral left about 5:53. It really didn’t take long to start. I was worried it would seem like an eternity and I was worried I would need a last minute bio break, but neither of those things happened.
I loved running with the pace group, but sadly I was not able to sustain the pace. I stopped at every water stop and this is where I ran into problems. I just couldn’t catch back up, even though the pace group was also supposed to stop. In the shear number of runners, it was hard to keep my eyes on the balloons whenever there was a water/walk stop. I was able to run at Marie’s pace, but I could NOT walk as fast as her. Sounds crazy, I know, but she could walk like nobody’s business.
I managed to have her in my sight until the 10K mark, but after that I knew there was no hope.
I am glad that it went fast for you while waiting, I know I was worried about that too as you get out there a lot earlier than in CA. I think you did GREAT to keep with them until the 10K mark, better than I did with my pace group!
I know what you mean about walking, some people are crazy fast!
So I was on my own for the second half of the race.
I knew by mile 8 that I was going to struggle a bit to finish the race. By now daylight was breaking through and I could feel some humidity. I found myself walking more at the water stops, but I managed to convert back to running between the stops. I think at mile 8 I texted Cynthia to let her know I was walking some. But mile 10 I texted her to let her know I was mostly walking. Here’s where it got tough.
Everyone says if you can run 10, you can run 13.1. But at my age, I felt my lack of preparation. Maybe it wasn’t lack of preparation. Maybe it was the type of preparation I had done - running all my long runs in the cold winter. Now here I was in the daybreak, in temperatures at least 20-30 degrees higher than what I had trained in. Couple that with no sleep the night before and I had run out of gas.
And then the self doubt started.
What if I pass out?
What if I don’t finish.
And that kept me walking more because I knew time didn’t matter. I just had to finish.
I think all of this is as much a mental game as it is the physical part. You had more than one night of less than optimal sleep plus a huge work load before you left and I think it's only natural with everything that the self doubt creeps in, it happens to me, to all of us I think!
My mile 12 we had reached Epcot and the spectators saved me! Not kidding. Their encouragement was so infectious. I got my second wind.
At mile 13 I saw Pat and Marv. Well, actually they saw me and screamed my name SO loud. Thank you Marv and Pat.
Here is a proof picture of me running in my complete outfit. And the best part - I am actually RUNNING and not walking.
There were tons of photographers in Epcot. I know I look like I am dying, but believe me - I look quite a bit worse in some of the other pictures that I didn’t bother to copy.
The finish line!
And a seriously ugly picture of me with my medal
It took me a little while to catch up with Cynthia and Ann. I went to sit at one of the first aide tents and suck down some more water and gatorade.
I was so relieved to be done.
Yes, I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t done better. But overall, I realized that for someone who didn’t make the commitment until summer and hadn’t done long runs in FOREVER, this was a big deal.
Here’s my certificate
First, none of those are ugly pictures! You look focused and determined but NOT like you are dying! YAY for Pat and Marv, I know their cheer meant a ton to Ann, who hadn't even met them yet. Really boosted her when she needed it. You did incredibly well and should feel fabulous about it.
I was also so pleased with how the race was organized. I highly recommend this race to anyone who wants to do their first half marathon. It was so well supported and so well run. I really did feel special when I finished it. When I first started running and doing races, back in the day, there were no events designed to really bolster someone’s spirits or sense of accomplishment. Having events like this is so empowering. Thanks Disney. I am glad I have the financial means to be able to support doing a race like this. And, and I know I can’t say it enough, I feel so fortunate to have made great Disney friends that really supported and encouraged me to do this.
You should feel special.
You are special!
I was still on a high, so despite the fact that I had next to no REM sleep in the last 36+ hours, I decided I still wanted to go to breakfast as planned.
Yum!
More Yum!
Yes - no sleep had made me delirious
I also remembered from our May trip that standing next to princesses makes me feel really big. They are so darn small.
After breakfast I went back to the Boardwalk to take a much needed nap. It was the most perfect pool day, but I knew I needed sleep a lot more.
A mimosa, breakfast with Princesses and sleep sound pretty perfect to me! I have to say the mimosa and the tablemates were the highlights. I am glad we went there and it was very appropriate but it won't be on my list to get back to anytime soon. Not impressed.
Cynthia and Ann invited me to have dinner with them at Beaches and Cream, but I decided to head back into Epcot by myself and grab a beer and some fish and chips.
We met up with Marv and Pat: Dawn, Dale, and Caitlin; Danielle, Jackie, Popadon and the rest of their crew. Sadly, we have no group shot of this meeting, which is a major fail on all our parts. By the time everyone had a margarita, or their beverage of choice, all bets were off. We relocated to a group of tables in Norway and never even watched Illuminations. Clearly no one in our group was a newbie.
Some of us had shots of tequila to celebrate!
We stayed until we were kicked out of the tables. Imagine that? We were actually asked to leave.
Danielle walked back to the BWV with Cynthia, Ann, and I. I probably would have had one more drink at the Bel Vue lounge except:
- There were quite a few people at the bar when we first arrived.
- I started getting seriously tired. So tired that I started to pass out in my chair.
Sorry, Cynthia, I know this is NOT the best picture of you.
It was pretty funny that we were in Norway the whole time just chatting away as Illuminations went off next to us. Yep, not a newbie in the bunch. I probably would have had one more drink too but the couch was comfy and that seemed like work. LOL!
I loved having the extra time with Danielle!
And am glad I FINALLY got to meet Denny the next day.
Let's be real, is anyone really fun when they get hungry? I surely am not.
It is the cronut kiosk and nothing more.
That's right! It shall now be called the cronut kiosk henceforth!
The kiosks being closed was like they were taunting you! I felt the same way. My next trip I just miss F&G by one weekend, so it's kind of sad. But I'll get over it I suppose.
I don't know when I will be back, or more accurately IF I will be back before 2017. Which gives me anxiety just typing.
Yay for you doing the PHM again next year! I'm doing the regular half in January.
Caitlin is kind enough to be doing it with me, so I'm excited.
That is great!!!
I need to figure out, um get approved for, a next disney race or I might go a bit nutty on everyone.
EVERYONE (well except Caitlin lol) feels enormous next to the Princesses. LOL! My head always looks huge for some reason. Oh your dad, I love love love your Dad. I was in stitches all night. So.Much.Fun!
Scooter Tutor!
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Love it!!
Wilderness Lodge.
Was there any damage? 
Not what you needed!
