Half Marathon Recap

The big day has come and gone and I'm still alive. Here's the whole story, along with some pictures, and hopefully it doesn't bore you to tears.

On Friday, we went to the expo to pick up our race packets. Since this was my first half marathon, I was glad that Russell and Kelsey had been through this before and were showing me the ropes. The process itself was pretty easy. We didn't have to wait too long in any of the lines, but there were tons of people there. It stands to reason, since I think there were like 50,000 people participating over the whole weekend. 50,000!!!

Kelsey and me with the booths in the background (field house at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. Coley is going to be SO jealous when we finds out that I was in the field house.)

And here are Russell, Kelsey and I leaving the complex.


The rest of the day on Friday, we checked in to the hotel, relaxed a bit, went to Olive Garden for dinner and to pick up a few things that we'd need for the race the next morning. After all of that, we went back to the hotel and played some Cribbage and got all ready for our SUPER early wake up call.

Let me just pause and say that I could not have had a better time. It was so fun to spend time with Russell and Kelsey. We laughed and joked and it was just a really good time. Russell almost went face first in to the display of bananas at Publix, knocking over 100 boxes of Nilla Wafers. (For the record, I hate the name of those things, but love banana pudding with them in it.) Playing Cribbage is always fun, but it was especially fun to let Kelsey get a little taste of what Russell is like when I'm beating him (which is the majority of the time). I also really enjoyed getting to know Kelsey better. She has to be one of the most, if not the most, positive people that I've ever met. I could stand to learn a great deal from her.

Moving on! We got up at 3:00 on Saturday morning, though I think I woke up just about every hour during the short part of the night that I was supposed to be sleeping. I don't know if I was excited or nervous that I would over-sleep and make us late and not be able to run. Either way, it was almost a relief when we were to get up because I didn't have to worry about it anymore. Friday night, we went to Tropical Smoothie so that I could get my smoothie with energizer and I started drinking that as soon as I was out of the shower. I knew I would need it and by the time I was dressed, I was already raring to go.


Our plan was to leave the hotel by about 3:40 so that we could take a taxi to the start and not have to worry about figuring out how to drive ourselves there or parking. This picture caused us to leave about eight minutes later than planned and "Coach" Russell was not amused, but I just told him to zip it and he did and we went on with our day. Haha!


After walking over the river and through the woods, we eventually reached the tents where we were to check in and then head to the corrals. Getting to the tents, though, is a whole other story in itself for another day. The bottom line is that we made it on time and no one rolled an ankle or anything before we got there. So what if we walked an additional five miles prior to the actual race? Here we are just before the point of no return.


Part of me wishes that I'd taken my phone with me because there were several times where I would've liked to have taken pictures along the route. I would've liked to have taken a picture of the guy dressed up like Peter Pan who I never noticed while I was passing him, only when he would flit passed me every so often. I would've also loved to have gotten a picture of or with the lady who had to have been at least 70 years old. I found her during mile eight and thought "I can't believe she's doing this. I need to pass her!!!" There were also quite a few people who made me feel especially skinny. That's always good for a little boost of confidence.

I felt really good throughout the race. I did start to get hungry, though, and knew that eventually there would be a food station around mile seven. By the time I got there, I was so hungry that I would've eaten anything. I saw some people standing on the sidelines holding Twizzlers. I was confused and they didn't exactly look like official race volunteers, so I decided not to take any. Wouldn't it have been funny if they really weren't handing out candy to racers, but just holding it and I snatched one as I ran by?!

I think that I ran more than I walked, which was awesome. I know that I ran the first three plus miles without taking a walking break. That was amazing for me because I'd never run that far without some sort of walking mixed in. I think that the adrenaline was definitely pumping and I have to think all that energizer I drank prior to the race was helping, too. Here's a picture from when I saw Russell just before turning on to Main Street at the Magic Kingdom. This was during mile five, I'm pretty sure.


As I was getting closer to the end, I started to think about whether or not I'd get emotional when I finished. I decided that it didn't feel like that type of experience, so I was banking on no tears. Then, as I entered Epcot, I spotted my parents and they looked so excited to see me. I was excited to see them, too, since this was the first time I'd seen them during the entire race. They took a couple of pictures as quickly as they could, but I didn't want to stand around for a photo op, I just wanted to finish! As soon as I turned that little corner, I did get a little teary, but I never actually cried. I was just so thankful for their support and to see them. I needed that extra boost to get me through the last mile. I saw them again just before crossing the finish line, which was great.

In the end, I met my goal. I crossed the finish line on my own two feet and didn't even come close to being picked up and driven to the end for not being able to keep pace. In fact, I actually had a secret goal of finishing in under three hours and I'm happy to report that I met that goal, too. What's a little strange to me is that my official time on the website was 2:59:41, but I remember looking at the clock as I crossed the starting line and it was at 58 minutes and some odd seconds. Then, when I crossed the finish line, I knew that it was around 3:45 (3:44:56, according to the website). I may not be the best at math, but that would make my time somewhere around 2:47, give or take a few seconds. I think I like my time better, so I'm sticking with that one. Besides, both times are under three hours and it's not like I'm trying to qualify for the Boston or New York City marathons, so who really cares?

It took a little while for me to find anyone because I didn't have my phone and I didn't really know what I was supposed to do to find them, other than going to the "M" area like Kelsey and I talked about. After looking around for what felt like forever, I finally asked another spectator if I could use their cell phone to call my parents. I didn't want to move, but I also didn't know if they knew where to look for me. I wanted to stretch, but didn't want to be bent over or on the ground in case they were looking for me, too. Finally, Russell and Kelsey found me. Here are Kelsey and I, half marathon finishers!


My parents finally found us and everything, which was great. I'm sure my mom was a little disappointed that she was standing in the parking lot at Disney World, but didn't get to go all the way inside. I'll be sure to take her back soon, though. I'm disappointed because I don't think that I have a single picture with the two of them! Kelsey and Russell might have one (I hope! Please send it if you do!), but I am not positive. Two of my friends from work also got up before dawn to come out and support me. I wasn't sure if they were going to make it or not, but I was tickled to death when I saw them. Who gets up that early to go watch a bunch of crazies running?! These girls. And that's how you know who your real friends are.


The bottom line is that I am so happy that I did this. I will absolutely, without a doubt, run another half marathon. I will definitely do this one again and I will do a different one. I have already told my brother that he is completely capable of doing this and that we should run it together next time. He's down. Depending on my employment and living situation, I am planning on running a 15k in Jacksonville with a friend of mine in March. I want to keep running. I have never considered myself a running and don't think I'm quite there yet, but I want to get there. I want to set goals for the next race and continue to see myself improve and get stronger and to push myself to do things that today I don't necessarily see as possible.


Even now, all I can think is "Dude! I ran a half marathon!"