The Darling Family Takes on Marathon Weekend: Jan at the Boardwalk Villas

[cdotla]

Phew! I am finally caught up...it was even exhausting just reading about all of those miles!

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying your Marathon recap. Way to go!!! So proud of you! What an emotional meeting with the family in Dinoland.

And how great that Liz and Carissa were able to join you too!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the race. I am in complete awe of you right now!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I loved this update! How very special to have your family cheer you on.

 

[kcandbella]

Awww, yay Darling family! What a proud moment. You really do make running a marathon seem like fun... Waiting for the finish line update!

 

[Stefy]

Great update, loving that the family came out to cheer you on. You got some great pictures too

 

[dismagiclover]

Great run photos! And how special to have had your sweet family there to cheer you on and motivate you. That would've made me teary eyed too. And can I just say that you looked fabulous for all that running you were doing! Girl, I'd be a hot mess if I'd been running that long! I don't know if I mentioned it yet or not but I love your Minnie headband! And how cool to be running through Animal Kingdom. It must be very special for both you and your family to accomplish something so difficult. I'm sure you all benefited from it. I am really enjoying this TR, it's giving me a very nice tutorial of Disney marathons!

Thank you! Maybe if I was going faster I'd look like a hot mess, but I never got up enough speed to break a serious sweat I was very happy with how the Minnie headband turned out! I wanted to do something fun, but I wanted to be comfy too and that ended up perfect! There is still more to come.

How great that you got to see your family. I bet they made you feel so great. I know they were proud to see you out there accomplishing what you had worked so hard for.

It was so great to see my family. They were so proud and supportive. I am one lucky lady

Phew! I am finally caught up...it was even exhausting just reading about all of those miles!

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying your Marathon recap. Way to go!!! So proud of you! What an emotional meeting with the family in Dinoland.

And how great that Liz and Carissa were able to join you too!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the race. I am in complete awe of you right now!

I am dragging out this recap for so long that everyone will be tired by the end of it. I've been meaning to ask you if you've tried talking your DH into trying the Disney races? It may be a way for him to gain an appreciation for Disney Magic. And don't be in too much awe of me. You could do it too if you decided you wanted to.

I loved this update! How very special to have your family cheer you on.

Thanks Lisa! It was a special moment.

Awww, yay Darling family! What a proud moment. You really do make running a marathon seem like fun... Waiting for the finish line update!

In all honesty, running this marathon really was fun. I wouldn't say training was fun, but the race itself was all about fun! Who knows when I'll finally get to the finish line update

Great update, loving that the family came out to cheer you on. You got some great pictures too

It was so fun to see my family. You just like the pictures because of DH's jacket

 

[Queenofallthings]

I love that John ran out to youbrought a little tear to my eye! To have your whole family there to cheer you on before your last 9 miles.....wow!!! Families the best!!!!

 

[dismagiclover]

I love that John ran out to youbrought a little tear to my eye! To have your whole family there to cheer you on before your last 9 miles.....wow!!! Families the best!!!!

John is such a sweetheart. He may be my biggest champion

 

[dismagiclover]

I’d passed Mile 17 and went into the backstage area of the Animal Kingdom. There were a few friends waiting to greet us.

By this point you may have noticed I’d given up on my resolve not to stop for characters I’d met before. I was feeling confident that I was going to finish this thing. Plus I was really tired and looking for any excuse I could come up with to stop. We ran around the outside of the park and then turned towards the main entrance. Lots of spectators here which was a nice boost. The biggest boost was of course my favorite spectators who snapped this picture.

Yes the Darling Family was there for me once again. One of the things you may notice in this picture is that not too many people look like they are in a hurry to get to the finish. Everyone around me was pretty tired and most were now walking. From this point on I have to say there were more walkers than runners around me. In fact, Michael made the comment to DH, “I know why Mommy is taking so long. She has to spend her time passing all of these slow people in front of her.“ Yes, Michael, that is exactly why I was taking so long. Anyway there hadn’t been near as many walkers around me in in the first half of the race, but I think everyone was just tired out. Myself included. I didn’t stop to chat with the Darling Family this time. Just smiled and waved and apparently made an incredibly dorky face.

DH took one more shot of me running away.

Shortly after that I hit Mile 18

Then I saw some guys who wanted to bury me.

The guy in front of me that got his picture taken actually laid down in the grave. I was afraid if I laid down I would never get back up so I remained standing. (And I am not joking.) This is when the really tough part of the race began. As I already mentioned most people around me were walking, but I didn’t want to start primarily walking just yet. I knew I eventually would, but I felt like I still had some run left in me. So I put the headphones in and listened to some more Rocky music.

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Risin' up, straight to the top Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

I was running, but I’m sure it was slow even with the Eye of the Tiger helping me along. DH said they passed me on the bus and saw me running. He banged on the window, but I was so focused I didn’t even notice. (Now that is unusual.) I made it to Mile 19.

Can you tell there is a bit of incline? I wouldn’t even notice that in Mile 1-5, but in Mile 19 let me tell you I did. There were some tall guys to distract me.

I soldiered on to Mile 20.

My goal was to get to Mile 20 by 5 hours. I knew if I did that I would be able to finish the last 6.2 miles in 2 hours no matter how tired I was. My watch said 5:04 as I hit the 20 mile mark. So I was 4 minutes behind my goal, but I knew I was OK. I really was going to finish this thing! A couple of things happened around mile 20. First of all this is the period of the race that is an out and back. So for a half mile or so you can see all of the racers in front of you and then after the turn you get to see the racers behind you. Let me tell you, the racers in front of me weren’t looking too hot. Most of them looked exhausted. I realize that is probably what I looked like to them too. Secondly it was around Mile 20 that it began to hurt a lot to run. This is why I will never be a serious racer. A serious runner would think, “Of course it hurts. You are at Mile 20 in a marathon. It doesn’t matter that it hurts. Just keep running.” I, in case you haven’t noticed, am not a serious racer. So the thought that went through my head was, “It hurts a whole bunch when I run. I don’t want to run anymore so I’m not going to.” And that was that. For the rest of the race I pretty much walked interspersing a few running breaks here and there. Now I was cognizant that I was still racing so I did try to keep my walk at a 15 minute mile pace or so. I felt good about that because I was still passing more people than were passing me. So my new racing strategy brought me to Mile 21.

5.2 more to go! I got this one!

 

[DrMomof3]

You're awesome! I'm sure I'll be walking by that point next year...

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

 

[norybell]

Ditto!

 

[mermaid764]

Wow you are doing amazing, I can't even imagine having the energy at that point to finish the thing....you should be really proud.

Can't wait to see the pictures at the finish line

 

[Stefy]

It was so fun to see my family. You just like the pictures because of DH's jacket

Well it is a great jacket

Wow you are doing so well, such an inspiration

Loving the Grave Digger pics, so cool you got to meet them and Mickey and Minnie look so cute in their safari gear, great pictures with them too

 

[carissanboys]

I don't think you look dorky in that picture! I think your expression is so cute!

Your mostly walk with a few runs thrown in here and there sounds like my technique for the 2nd half of the half.

You're almost there!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I agree. I'm tired just reading this and seeing the mile markers go by. I cannot imagine actually running it!!

You're an inspiration!!

 

[Stitch2007]

The worse part of the marathon is that out an back. I was so tired by that time that I could start running again when I entered DHS and it took me 1 1/2hours to go the last 4 miles. But 2 years later I think I'm going to sign up for another marathon, however, not Disney

 

[dvc4life]

Great update. You are doing such a fantastic job. And I love the fact that you still have that great smile in all of your pictures.

 

[dismagiclover]

You're awesome! I'm sure I'll be walking by that point next year...

Amanda

I can't wait to hear about your race next year! It is such an incredible experience!

Ditto!

Thank you. Both of you are very good for my ego!

Wow you are doing amazing, I can't even imagine having the energy at that point to finish the thing....you should be really proud.

Can't wait to see the pictures at the finish line

No rush to the finish line! I still have 5 miles to go. Maybe I can drag this thing out for another 5 updates

Well it is a great jacket

Wow you are doing so well, such an inspiration

Loving the Grave Digger pics, so cool you got to meet them and Mickey and Minnie look so cute in their safari gear, great pictures with them too

I love the Mickey and Minnie pictures too. They do look so cute in their gear

 

[dismagiclover]

I don't think you look dorky in that picture! I think your expression is so cute!

Your mostly walk with a few runs thrown in here and there sounds like my technique for the 2nd half of the half.

You're almost there!

Yes the run/walk technique takes on a whole different meaning at the end of races, doesn't it?

I agree. I'm tired just reading this and seeing the mile markers go by. I cannot imagine actually running it!!

You're an inspiration!!

Well remember I didn't actually run the whole thing. I have to admit I'm pretty inspired by the fact that I kept putting one foot in front of the other though!

The worse part of the marathon is that out an back. I was so tired by that time that I could start running again when I entered DHS and it took me 1 1/2hours to go the last 4 miles. But 2 years later I think I'm going to sign up for another marathon, however, not Disney

That out and back was tough. Luckily I'd read enough before hand to know it was coming. I didn't do much running after this point either. Those last 6 miles took me an hour and 40 minutes so I wasn't moving too fast either. Good luck on your next marathon! I'm not ruling out doing another one someday, but I don't know if I'd like doing it somewhere other than Disney. What would distract me?

Great update. You are doing such a fantastic job. And I love the fact that you still have that great smile in all of your pictures.

I'm sure it sounds crazy, but it wasn't hard to keep smiling. This race really was fun!

 

[Shannon84]

Doing great!!! thats awesome you were able to get pictures with the family during your marathon Also Mickey and Minnie look pretty darn cute in those outfits!!