Letter to Future Me & final PHM plans!

I was going to post this on Thursday, but realized that a lot of my readers will already be in Orlando by then, so I decided to post it today. 

I've been dreaming of this race and planning for a LONG time.  Three years now, to be exact.  I ran across information about the Princess Half Marathon right before the 2011 race.  I was financially not in a spot to do it but the seed was planted.  In 2012 while injured, I thought for sure I would be able to pull it off by 2013.  I had started back up running but then found myself set back by Plantar Fasciitis for ten months.  As I read all the race reports from 2013, I decided that I was not going to let another year go by without running this race.  I had set the goal of running a half marathon by my 40th birthday and I realized that even though I couldn't do it before turning 40, I could still do it during my 40th year! (less than 2 weeks before turning 41). 

My 40th bday, March 5th, 2013:

As I started training for the half and reading everything I could get my hands on, I came across Futureme.org   It's a site where you can write your future self a letter and they email it to you on the date you set.  I loved this idea and immediately wrote myself a letter to be delivered in February 2014, before the race.  

I've been waiting.  I didn't remember the exact date it was to be sent, I thought two weeks out...when it didn't come, I thought maybe a week out...but that passed as well.  When I had my little freakout last week, I wished and wished for it to come.  I needed that boost from my past-self!  I even tried to login and find it but it looks like I never created an account so there's no way to retrieve it.  I searched my spam but didn't find it either.  It's lost out there in cyberspace.  I was so looking forward to that letter and reading what I had written before this long year of training.  There are little bits I remember and I realized yesterday when it didn't arrive, that it was from ME.  I have all that inside me, I just need to rewrite it.  So, that's what I'm doing.  Without further ado, my letter to my future self...written by my current self! 

Dear me,

        You are about to run your first half marathon!  I cannot begin to imagine what this year has brought to you.  It's never the way we think it's going to be, is it?  I'm sure there have been struggles, tears, and pain.  I doubt you have gone without injury and have stressed about not only running a half marathon, but paying for a trip to Disney.  This kind of comes with the territory, you should be used to this by now!  Let that all go now.

      By now you have finished those long runs and even though I cannot imagine what they were like, I know you have found strength inside yourself.  It's why you love to run.  I hope you haven't forgotten that.  No matter what this year has brought, you are going to finish this race.  If you have to walk the whole thing, you will!  The work is done now and you can get excited!  You are going to your favorite place in the world to do one of your favorite things.  ENJOY this. SAVOR it. You will only have your first half marathon once.  

      I know you have it in you and I know that our future future self will want to remember every moment of magic and fun, so relax and soak it all in.  You made it!!

                                          Love,

                                               Your Past Self

We are headed out very early Friday morning.  Rey will drive us to the airport and then he and the boys plan to have a wild week at home, no doubt playing computer games all night, every night.  Hopefully they remember to scoop the litterbox.  

Our plans for the week include:

-Staying at Pop for 4 nights, then Beach Club Villas for 2 nights!

-2 special days with one of my dearest friends I have not seen for 5 years!  Kim is coming up for the race. love this girl. 

-ADR's at Crystal Palace, Boma, Cinderella's Castle, Tusker House, and 1900 Park Fare 

-The #Runnerslove meetup at The Polynesian

-Numerous people I'm meeting before the race for photos and pre-race fun (I seriously have a list going. LOL)

-and last but not least, running my first half marathon! 

Mainstreet, here I come!  

(the only thing that would make it better would be if Rey was actually there watching me)

I will be posting one last WAW tomorrow and then you'll have to follow me on twitter because I'm such a babyblogger that I really have no idea how to do a blog post from my phone! I'm also unsure I would have time.  I'm kind of commando at Disney!  I'm sure to be back on the 28th posting hundreds of photos and pages of race/trip report stuff!  If you want to follow me on twitter, you can find me at @twoboysnmygirl

Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me.  I don't know where I would be without all of the support and advice that my fellow runners and friends have given me.  I really can't believe how fast the time has gone, I started this blog to document this journey and here it has arrived! I cannot wait to run! ~Karen