Thinking back to my first attempt at Princess 2011, I could not have imagined taking on the type of challenge during that weekend. I had not trained. I was scared to death and I almost didn't start the race. But after 8 miles I had a new determination and desire to reach the finish line the next year.
Now three years later, this year's Princess was the 7th half marathon I have completed. One of the reasons I did all of the races at Tink was to prepare for the Glass Slipper Challenge. I'm glad I did not sign up for the 5K at Princess even though I REALLY wanted to once I saw a picture of the race shirt. I tried to be smart about how much time I spent on my feet before the races so we saved most of our park days for after the half.
Mac and I splurged on our hotel this year since he just recently completed his time as a battery commander. We used the trip as a celebration so we stayed at the Boardwalk. Saturday's 10K was a very new experience. I got up alone and headed to catch the bus. There were no spectator areas on the course, just at the start and finish. We have learned in the past that trying to see anything at the start is pointless and we had a breakfast reservation at the Dolphin right after so we could hit Hollywood Studios. Because there was no point in Mac and Rachel being at the start and I wanted them to be able to make it to the reservation on time if I couldn't so I told them both not to worry about getting up to go to the start with me. It was a little weird heading out on my own but it ended up being just fine. I went to catch the bus and was shocked at how long we had to wait for one. There was one there when I got to the line but it filled up quickly and there was no bus behind it. Every time I have caught a bus for Princess, there has been a line of them waiting. The person that was overseeing the buses and lines was surprised too. They immediately got on the radio and asked where our buses were. We had to wait a while but thankfully one finally came. While I was on the bus, I recognized the costume of someone I knew on FB. Jennifer and I have been friends on FB for a while but had never met in real life. This was her first time at Princess and it was going to be her first half marathon. When we got off the bus, I ran and caught up with her so that we could finally meet. While I was with her, she ran into some one she knew from another FB group, Tina, and her sister, Suzanne. Princess was going to be Tina's first half as well and Suzanne was doing her first 10K that morning. We talked and found out that Suzanne and I were in the same corral. She was worried about finishing and I was determined to make sure she made it to the end. I wasn't in a hurry since I had to run the half the next day so I told her I would help her through the race.
She didn't need much help, just some encouragement and someone to keep her distracted. We mostly walked the race but that was fine because she easily walks a 16minute mile, which is something I can't do on my own. Our first mile was a little slower but every Disney start is. The one mile mark was right before a U turn in the course so as we got closer to mile 2, we could see the end of the race and the balloon ladies. I pointed them out to her just so she knew what they looked like and being able to see them freaked her out a little. We decided to run a little after that to give us more of a buffer(even though we really didn't need it). By the end of mile two we had made up some time and did the second mile in 15 minutes. The third was right at 16 minutes and we were right were we needed to be as we entered Epcot. It's always fun being in there so early. We made our way around the World Showcase and out of the back gate towards the Boardwalk loop. Since we were staying at the Boardwalk, Rachel and Mac were able to just walk outside to see us go by. I grabbed a quick hug from each as we passed and we made our way around the Boardwalk. Every time we hit a new mile marker, it seemed quicker than either of us expected. As we were crossing the bridge towards the Yacht Club, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Heather, Amy and Jackie from Tink. Before long, we were back in Epcot and heading to the finish line. Suzanne was a little surprised that she had done it but I wasn't at all. After getting my medal, I had to head over and get my Glass Slipper wrist band so that I could get my extra medal the next day after the half. I said goodbye to Suzanne since I was already late for our breakfast reservation and ran to hop on a bus to the Dolphin. I tried to schedule the reservation based on when I expected to finish but I didn't realize how long they were going to wait between each corral so I ended up being late anyway. Fortunately, Mac and Rachel were already there and the server was awesome and gave me a hard time. He asked me why I was so late and held up my medal. He proceeded to give me a harder time and say I was making up excuses. The food was great and he was very funny.
Sunday morning, Mac got up and headed to the start with me. Rachel was staying at Art of Animation so she headed over a little later. It was mass chaos before the race as usual and I made my way out to my corral. Sitting in the corrals is when it sucks being on your own. I found a spot to sit and wait until the start. They surprised a runner with a video message form her deployed husband for her birthday and made everyone cry. The race started and we slowly moved up until it was our turn. I tried to keep it slow at first but even though there were crowds, I still started a little too fast. There is a turn not long into Tink that forces everyone to be slower but at Princess it is an open road at first so I was moving a little faster than I wanted. I did pretty well and stayed pretty steady for the first 5K. I kept waiting for my phone to go off saying I had a text from the runner tracking and it never came. I texted Rachel to let them know I was getting close because if I didn't get a text, I doubted they did. I saw them quickly and continued on to MK. I kept running into people I knew on the course which was nice. I always love entering Magic Kingdom. I love running down main street and this year was the first time I stopped for a castle picture. I had a volunteer take it right before turning off of main street towards Tomorrowland. The castle was crowded like last year but not as bad. When I crossed the 10K mat, I still did not get a text. I had my garmin so I knew how it was going but I was still frustrated that I wasn't getting the texts. I texted Rachel again since I knew they were waiting just before mile 8 again. After seeing them again, I had to take a picture of the 8 mile marker. I think that will always mean something to me. If it ever stops being special, I need to stop running. I was starting to slow down thanks to the humidity and crowds but I knew I could make it to the finish. I was in some pain though thanks to busting my butt on the boardwalk the day before. It had rained a little and Rachel and I were walking out to the ferry to meet Mac and go to Epcot for the traditional Via Napoli dinner and as I stepped out onto the wet wooden boardwalk, my right foot slid out from under me and I hit the ground HARD. I pulled something in my hip so by mile 9 I was feeling it.
I ended up walking mostly after the cliff shots stop. I was very disappointed that they did not have it set up like Tink where you got your cliff shot and then immediately went through a water stop. This makes sense because you are supposed to use those with water but they didn't do it this way at Princess. Which meat I held on to mine for almost a mile before getting to the next water stop. I was feeling light headed which is the same thing that happened at Tink but that is where the awesome people in the community provided us with animal crackers and pretzels. That's one thing that sucks about races at WDW. Since they are all on property, you don't have the chance to run past awesome people with snack s like in California. My legs felt fine but I was running out of energy. The energy shots helped but I needed something more on my stomach. The closer I got to the finish, the more light headed I became. I was starting to worry. Thankfully right before mile 12, I ran into Amanda, a girl I know from a few places on Facebook. She and a friend were doing 30 second run intervals with a minute walk(I think) and she told me I could hang with them. Staying with them is what got me through the rest of that race. Once I crossed the finish line and got my medal, I went straight to the huge mister fan they had out. It was hot and humid and we definitely needed it. I grabbed water and powerade before going to get my glass slipper challenge medal and special pink coast to coast medal. I grabbed some food and headed to the entrance of Epcot where I sat down as soon as I saw Mac.
I was hurting from the fall and very light headed. I drank some water and powerade and ate a little something before heading into the park for breakfast. This was the first time I was heading back in before the race was over so we had to go through the crowd control points and it took longer than usual. As we approached a very narrow walking path out to world showcase, it was blocked by a guest and a stroller talking to a cast member. He was causing quite a pile up behind him. Once he and everyone else finally passed by, we headed out since it was really only wide enough for one way traffic. As we approached the CM she looked up and asked if we knew where we were going. When we responded, "Yes" her reaction was, "Thank God" We couldn't help but laugh because we knew it had to have been tough. We saw the tail end of the runners on the course and tried to cheer them on as they passed. We finally made it to the restaurant and then waited for everyone else to arrive. We were cutting it close but everyone made it there before they switched from breakfast to lunch. We had our pictures taken with Belle and then enjoyed a great breakfast. I wore all 7 of my Disney medals from 2014 for the pictures with the princesses. They were SO incredibly heavy, haha. For the rest of the day, I only wore the coast to coast medal.
Over all, the weekend was great. I am glad I did it again but the WDW races are still proving to be brutal weather wise. I am hoping to do the new Avengers Half Marathon in California in November because I am sure it will be an awesome race and I love the weather out there. I am hoping Mac will be able to go and possibly do it with me but right now, I am not holding my breathe. It's crazy how far I have come in the last three years. Every time I do a race, I feel like I learn something. I will not do another half marathon without a bag of animal crackers in my pocket because by mile 8 or 9, I have to have something of substance to eat and keep me going.
