Marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did it!! After months of training and fund raising my day came!! It was glorious!! I thought for sure after crossing the finish line, I would swear to never do another marathon again. But after crossing the finish line, I was already planning my next marathon. So here is a little insight into my 26.2 mile journey.

Saturday was the pasta dinner for the Inheritance of Hope retreat and runners. I got to mingle with my fellow IOH team mates, and talk to a few of the families that the donations helped to support. It was a wonderful night. Mickey came and visited much to the delight of many of the children (even some of the adults). The food was yummy, even though I found it hard to actually eat due to nerves. The half marathoners ran that day, and ran in snow.. In Disney World!!!!!!! Hearing how cold it was for them definitely added to some of the anxiety I was having about the race. I had the biggest knot in my stomach the whole night. The next morning I was going to wake up and run a lot of stinking miles. I was nervous whether I could even do it, or if injuries would come back with vengeance. It took me a while to settle to sleep later that night.

Race day morning I woke up at 3:30. The race organizers were telling runners to try to be at the start by 4 for the 5:30 start. Out of laziness, I slept in my race clothes, so I would just have to roll out bed, try to eat something, and be out the door. Oh my word it was cold!!!!!!!!! I don't run in cold, so I'm not all that accustomed to it. Most my runs were done in 40-45 degree weather. The marathon was in Florida, so the thought of it being colder than that never crossed my mind. My car said it was 24 degrees when I parked. I can tell you it felt much much colder that. I think I stood in the elements for about 10 minutes before my fight or flight instincts kicked in and I searched for somewhere warm. I then joined the huddle in a merch tent, with about 300 other people. I felt like an emperor penguin. haha.

I was in the last corral to start. As I was shuffling toward the start line, the elite runners were passing the mile 4 on the other side of the road. I was happy to see them, most of the time I don’t even get to see the super speedy runners. Thankfully being stuffed the corral with thousands of other people was warm, so I didn't mind the 30 min wait to start.

The first 3 or 4 miles was spent looping around Epcot before the course finally went through it. It was very exhilarating running under spaceship earth. The race then ran to Magic Kingdom, where I spent probably about 20 min in line to take a picture with characters, but I welcomed the break as I was about 11 miles in at the point. Animal Kingdom was mile 17, I think... The space in between the parks was often pretty lonely, but there was always something to look at, even it was just other marathoners dressed in interesting outfits. I saw a pack of goofy's, a person in a stitch costume, and more fairies and princesses than I could count. Miles 18- 20 were the warmest and most comfortable in the race. I even shed my gloves and outer layer *prematurely* thinking it was warming up and I no longer needed them. As we came around to Hollywood Studios, the temp seemed to drop, and I went from warmish to freezing as wind picked up. Hollywood studios came at mile 22 or so. By that point my tired muscles were freezing up and moving was quite painful... The cold just brought a whole new level of discomfort, that I really wasn't prepared for. By mile 24, I couldn't feel my toes, my hands were raw and frozen, and my muscles were so tight running felt foreign. So I walked.. or hobbled. At some point in mile 25 I could feel a little warmth from the sun and I decided I was going to run even if it meant me keeling over at the finish line. The course went back through Epcot, by a choir singing "hallelujah" (my sentiments exactly) and the finish line was not too far outside the gates. I have never ever been so happy to see the finish line.

The last few miles were really crummy... but the considering the rest of the race was a total blast, and I smiled pretty much most of it, the last few didn't matter. I had a handy dandy stopwatch on, and according to my math, with stops to the bathroom (I only used the real ones in the park, heck if I don't have to use a port-a-potty I'm not going to) and the taking pictures with characters it added about 50 mins to my overall time.. yowzers. I probably should have paid a little more attention to time, I might not had stopped as much, turns out 3-5 min stops repeated 12-13 times really adds up. So I decided to just throw out my time.. haha. It doesn't matter. I finished. I'll win next time ;).

I did end up hurting my foot. I didn’t even realize I had done so until I got back to the hotel and de-thawed. I was able to feel the difference between cold ouch and injury ouch. Hopefully it won't derail my plans for a spring half.. I also ended up with some purple toenails. I never had purple toe nails, even when I did pointe. Strangely, I'm really proud. :)

I realized over this experience, I very much prefer long distance races to short. I’m going to stick to half and full marathons from now on; It so much more gratifying. I will post all the pictures I took as soon as they come in. Unfortunately, no one develops film in house anymore.. They are supposed to be in tomorrow. I look forward to looking at the pictures of my journey.

Thank you again to all who supported me and Inheritance of Hope!