Princess Half Marathon Recap (Part 2)

Ok, so I lied.  I got it finished and want to post it today, I don't want to wait!  At this rate I might finish the whole thing today. 

This is the second part of my recap, I'm hoping to fit it into three!  Part 1 of my Princess Half Recap.

So where was I?  Oh yes, out to the corrals we went!  I will say that I was super impressed at this point with how RunDisney organized all this.  20+ thousand people and everything seemed to run really smooth.  This could just be my perspective because I have spent the last couple years reading about this race and have come across some horror stories, so I was happily impressed.  

When we arrived to the corrals, we got in an actual line for the PP's this time.  It looked big, but moved pretty fast.  The smell wasn't pleasant, but I'm oversensitive to smells already. 

This was what it looked like when I turned back to where we had come from.  Masses of people still coming into the corrals.  I thought this was so cool.  Crowds usually bother me, but I was on cloud nine and loved the energy that all the people brought to this event. Everyone was in such great spirits, I've never just struck up conversations with strangers like I did during this race. Yes, even in the port-a-potty line!

So if you aren't a runner, this may be TMI for you.  If you are...then TMI doesn't exist and you'll be ok with this next part! I get up to the front and realize that I do have to go...uh...#2.  No problem, I was just happy that I decided to get in line when I did.  I go in, sit down, do my business quickly (I'm fast like that, don't hate me) and reach for the toilet paper.  Nothing.  WHAT THE F*#$*@!!! NO TOILET PAPER?!?! I actually yelled that.  LOL.  It never occurred to me for some reason that the toilet paper would run out? I briefly panicked, thinking I would have to run a race after not using toilet paper, but I figured it out pretty quickly.  I ripped the cardboard roll off and used that.  :p  Just to make it a bit worse, Kim, being the amazing thoughtful friend she is, had woken up in the middle of the night to add toilet paper to my list of things to bring.  What had I done with it?  I blew my nose with it.  Doh!

When I got out of the PP, April said "Was that you?!"  LOL...she heard me from the stall she was in.  Just like me to cause a scene at the port-a-potties!  We headed right over to corral F after that.  

   Behind me:

 It was pretty full already and I was happy to stay where we were, near the back.  It was not long and they were sending off the wheelchairs and first corrals!  I was shocked at how fast it went.  We must have just had good timing, I thought we would be waiting in the corrals forever.  I cannot explain how excited and overwhelmed I was. 

April and I were running different intervals, so we wished each other good luck and I popped in one earbud.  It was our turn and I had to giggle as I went over the starting line that I was already tearing up.  If I was crying already, I would probably be a blubbering mess by the end!  The smaller corrals but shorter wait for each to start must have helped because from the get-go I didn't feel overcrowded at all.  I was so elated, the moment was here, I was doing it, and it didn't feel real!  

I loved the dark.  I paced myself and just soaked it all up.  I passed the 1 mile marker before I even realized it!  April and I played leapfrog for a bit and then I got into my groove and lost her at some point.  I had no interest in stopping for pictures or waiting in lines, but LOVED seeing all the festivities. 

I also realized pretty quickly that I had to let go of the photographer in me.  This point and shoot, covered in sweat, was not going to take the kind of quality shots I'm used to.  I did decide for a quick pic of mile 2, I think I saw April again at this point, but I was in a haze of excitement and euphoria.  And sweat.  A haze of sweat.  Note about the weather.  Florida is humid and I trained in the cold, but I didn't have a single problem with the weather.  I sweat buckets no matter what weather I run in and heat/humidity doesn't seem to bother me, other than being soaked in sweat!  It was foggy and I really loved it.  It helped with the heat and it just made everything a little more *dreamy* for me somehow.

 

For those of you that don't know, I was running with a knee injury and a bit of foot tendonitis? I had only gotten up to 10 miles in my training because of my knee pain and my taper was a BIG taper because I was trying to rest it for the race.  It was bothering me at this point and the foot as well, but nothing I couldn't handle. I arrived at the Magic Kingdom toll booth and was so excited to take this picture! I actually think this is when I realized the shots wouldn't be the quality I really wanted but I was ok with that.  Oh and a side note I just remembered...it was SO COOL to have the monorail drive by as we were running.  It was dark and foggy and the monorail would pass by and it blew my mind for some reason.  I was running, at Disney, and monorails were passing by!  Surreal. 

 My attempt at a selfie. LOL. I had already taken off my glasses b/c they were sliding, which was a bummer later because I couldn't read any of the fun signs!

When I started running again there was noticeably more pain in my knee.  Luckily there was a med tent right after the toll booth and I grabbed some Biofreeze as I ran by the slathered it on my knee.  That helped a little. It was about this time I started to have the urge to yell SPARKLESISTER! at every runner I saw with a Sparklekskirt on.  I eventually just started doing it.  Some people would look at me like I was nuts but most would realize what I was talking about and we would briefly chat about how fabulous they are and how I had one on under my petticoat. I'm sure I looked like a lunatic yelling Sparklesister at people and lifting up my skirt!  ;)

I was feeling really good, just the nagging in my knee for the moment and enjoying it all.  I had to go back and look at the order of these shots b/c it gets a little muddled in my brain.  

Speedway area...

 Villains!  These were a consideration to stop for when I was planning the race, but I just wasn't feeling that line and I really was just enjoying my run.  I loved seeing them from afar and they were playing a Selena Gomez song (Cruella DeVille) that made me think of Savannah. <3

 I had taken my earbud out at this point, it was slipping out of my ears from all the sweat and annoying me.  I didn't really feel like I needed them and decided I could pop them in after the Magic Kingdom if I needed to.  We came to the underpass and I had to laugh when I heard another Princess exclaim how happy they were for a downhill.  I laughed b/c I had to immediately stop and walk down it because downhill is not a good thing for knee pain! Ouch.  Up was much better! Loved the DJ, everything about this race was just so much fun, always something to see and hear.

I was grabbing water at every stop, there was no shortage, although I kept repeatedly asking for water instead of Powerade until I realized that at each stop the water was at the end.  No idea why it took me a couple stops to figure that out. I took a GU some point?   Then I realized I had been enjoying myself so much that I missed mile 4 all together!  I thought that warranted stopping to take a picture of mile 5!

 It was coming now, that moment I had thought about so many times in training.  I remember rounding a corner backstage and BELLS. Cow bells. Bells ringing everywhere.  I turned the corner and it was all that I imagined and more!  The cheering, the lights, the castle...I tried to take a pic while running and it was all blurry.  It's about what I experienced anyway b/c I was crying! 

I decided to pull over for just a second and take a less blurry shot.

I ran down farther to where I wanted to take a selfie, these castle shots were really the only ones I wanted for sure during this race. 

My attempt at a selfie was pretty pathetic!  I looked a wreck, but on the inside I was beaming, I swear!

 You have no idea the amount of editing it took to get my face not totally beet-red.  :p  

A CM offered to take my picture luckily!  YAY!!!!!  

(you know you said you wanted me to post a lot of pics, it's your own fault if you are getting tired of seeing my face!)

Elated, I turned around, stepped onto Main Street, started to run, and was hit with searing pain in my knee.  It stopped me dead in my tracks.

How's that for a suspenseful end to Part 2?!?!  *maniacal laugh*

Princess Half Marathon Recap (Part 3-Final)