February 24, 2013
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| With Mary Poppins and her gang. |
Disney weekend started
out in Tampa on Thursday. I worked to help set up the Fit2run booths at the
Gasparilla expo, which had it's races the same weekend as the Disney Princess
half marathon. Friday, I worked at the expo and was on my feet for about 10 hours.
I left downtown Tampa at about the worst part of the day, 5pm. It took me an
hour and a half to get to the Disney resort, where the expo was and were I was
staying that night. I made it into the expo about 20 minutes before closing. I
got my bib and shirt, before checking out what they had in the race merchandise
area. It was a small space, much smaller than the marathon weekend merchandise
space. I didn't find the race tank I was hoping to buy, but did get a coffee
mug. I checked in with the Rock n Roll/Women's half marathon booth, were I
would be working the next day. I had hoped that I would be sitting a lot, but
unfortunatly, the tables were set up high, so no sitting at them. I then headed
off to check in and then find dinner. There was a massive line for the
restraurant in the resort. I waited, got a dinner to go, then headed to my
room. I was up for another hour or so before going to bed. I was tired! I was
then up again before 6am. I ran 3 miles (3 loops) around the resort before
heading back to the room to pack up and drive over to the parking area set
aside for expo workers. The expo was crazy busy all day! I couldn't believe the
lines for everything! Just as big as the marathon weekend expo. The expo closed
at 6pm. We were packed up within 10 minutes and out of there. Katie, who was
sharing a room with me and Brenda that night, showed up just before closing, so
we headed out for dinner at Outback Stakehouse before heading to All Star
Sports to check in. My 3rd hotel in 3 days!! We left a key at the front desk
for Brenda, who was at a wedding and would be in later. After getting settled
in and relaxing for a while, we were in bed by 9:30 with a 2:30 am alarm
set.
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| Me, Brenda and Katie before the race |
2:30am came around
quick! We got dressed, got our gear together and then headed out the door to my
car. The drive to the Epcot parking area went pretty fast. I remembered to get
into the far left lane, which always puts us in the parking area closest to the
waiting area and finish line. We sat around for a little bit and then just
before 4, we headed out. We went in search of the meeting spot for the Half
Fanatic group photo. there were crazy long lines to get photos with Characters,
but no fanatics. I looked on the facebook page to see if anything had changed.
The meeting spot had been moved to the front of the merchandise tent, which was
were we came in! So, we headed back over there. We found Della and a couple of
other fanatics, took a quick photo, then made our way to the porta potties
before heading off toward the corrals. Once we got near the corrals, we waited
for the porta potties again before heading into corral A. It was great that the
3 of us were in the same corral. I lead us up close to the front, but not right
at the front. Then we sat and waited. The time actually went by fast. Soon the
lone wheel chair guy was off and then it was our turn. After a pep talk from
the Fairy God Mother and a blast of fire works, we were off!
Normally I'll post my
split times and discuss the miles and how I felt. But, I'm going to skip that
for this report. Within the first mile, I could tell this was going to be a
race for fun and not for time. My stomach was upset and my legs were tired from
all the standing I had been doing. Plus, it was very warm this morning, with
very high humidity. The opposite of last weekends weather for the marathon! I
tried to keep a decent pace, pretty much at the fast end of my long run pace. I
decided I would stop for photos and just go with the flow. I hit the first
steep hill, which is an underpass leading to Magic Kingdom. I decided to walk
it, since there was no point getting to tired. As I walked up, Juli passed me.
She was looking so strong running up that hill! At the top of the hill, I got a
photo with the Gene puppet. In Magic Kingdom, I stopped for a photo with Buzz
Lightyear and then Jessie, before running through the castle. There was a long
ling to get a photo with Mickey and Minnie, so I didn't stop there. I've got a
couple of good photos with them already. I ran through the castle and over to
the front for a photo. They had 3 photographers and only me there! Seems like
not many runners in corral A stop for photos. Good for me. :) As we ran out of
Magic Kingdom, I stopped for a photo with Aurora and her prince.
The rest of the race
went well. I continued to just take it easy and not look at my watch to much.
Since I've run this race 4 times now, I kind of remembered when to expect
things. They had plenty of water stops, which was good, because I wasn't
carrying any water with me. The cliff gel spot was around mile 8. I knew to
wait to eat that, as the water stop was a little way down the road. I stopped
for me photos with one of the Ants, Mary Poppins and then with Elastic Girl. I
felt really great as we made our way into Epcot. I think this is the best I
have felt while running through here! I've always felt really yucky when I get
to this spot. :) Heading out of Epcot, I knew I just had a few turns before
seeing the finish line. Mickey and Minnie were waiting for us as we crossed the
finish line. I gave Minnie mouse a high five and then crossed the finish.
Finish time was 2:15.
Not my best time, of course, but I'm happy that I ran it for fun. I'll probably
not run this race again for a few years.
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