I got into Orlando on Friday night. Kristina picked me up and we headed off to the expo that night. We figured it would be less empty than the next morning.
We got our bibs and then went to get our corrals changed. When I signed up, I had no idea how fast or slow I’d be, so I said I did a 16 minute mile, which placed me in the last corral, corral L. There is a cut off time for the RunDisney races, and they start that counter when the last person crosses that start line. I wanted as much buffer time as possible, which is why we did the Pink Feet 10k, that finishing time would bump us up. I was hoping to move up to corral K, to give me a few more minutes. I showed my papers with my time on them at the booth, and the girl told me I should be in corral J. I thought that was great! Then she told me she ran out of stickers for J, so she would put me in corral I. I? I never ever thought I’d be up so far! I was ecstatic and in total shock. Kristina got bumped up to I too, since we had the same finishing time. This was getting all too real.
I don’t think the grin of shock, fear and excitement left my face at the expo all night. We shopped around, but already knew what we wanted. We needed the “I did it!” shirts from RunDisney. I also got myself the cool RunDisney limited edition Minnie sneakers. They were too adorable to pass up, and after all this training, I deserved a little something cute.
The next day, I repacked a smaller bag with all of my race stuff and some extra clothes. We headed out to Port Orleans Riverside. Even though Kristina lives in Orlando, we decided to get a room for the night of the half marathon. We figured we’d be getting out super late, and wouldn’t want to drive across town to get back to her house.
We checked in and our room wasn’t quite ready yet, but we met up with Kris’s Team in Training group to head out to the inspiration brunch. The brunch was perfect, breakfast food and pasta. It was just what we all needed before the race. We ate and listened to people talk about all of the help that Team in Training is giving to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It really was eye opening to see how much money they raise.
After stuffing our faces, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest before the race. Now with the adrenaline and just plain jitters, I don’t think either of us got much sleep, but we did lie down and just rest for a while. Then before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the race. We put on our costumes, and headed to the buses.The nerves were in full effect at this point, but we got to the Wide World of Sports and were with the other 14,000 runners.
Everyone was just waiting for them to tell us to get into our corrals. But Disney knows how to do it, they had entertainment, DJs, characters to take pictures with, plus just seeing all the costumes was entertainment enough.After a port-a-potty pit stop, it was time to get into our corrals. We walked over to corral I, and waited for the race to start. They kept us going with music, and before you knew it, it was time. The corrals started going off one after one, until it was our turn. They said corral I, the fireworks went off and we were off for 13.1 miles.
This post was getting really long, so I'm splitting it up into 2 posts. Check back tomorrow for more.
YAY US!!!! :)
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