Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Recap Part Three: Half Marathon

Read:
PART ONE HERE
PART TWO HERE

Where to start with this recap? Let's start with this. This half marathon was by far my favorite half (out of the 5 others I have done). It was even better than last years Disney Princess Half Marathon. Did I PR? Nope. Was the weather good? Nope, hot and humid. Did I have fun? YES!

Let's go back to 3am when the alarm clock went off. I woke up and was exhausted! Although I slept pretty incredible that night (try getting little sleep the day before, it makes you sleep a whole lot better). I got dressed and proceeded to take an attractive selfie in the mirror. Can you see the excitement?

Cate and I hopped in the car and drove to Epcot. There was much more traffic then the previous day. Still nothing as bad as I thought it could have been. We got to Epcot and Cate checked a bag. We didn't do a dance warm up this time since it was already super packed. It reminded me of the year before when I was literally the first person there.

We headed over to our corrals, making a quick stop to the porta potties. I had no idea how I was going to run this race. The idea of a PR was not even a thought in my head. It was too humid and I had been training in freezing cold and snowy MA. At the same time I didn't plan on waiting in lines to take pictures (since I would get too anxious and antsy). I decided to start slow and if I had energy later on, go faster. Cate and I headed to our individual corrals. This year Disney organized the race much better then the previous year. There were only about 250 people in each corral this year, as opposed to the thousands of people in each corral last year. I chatted with a few people around me. I'm not going to lie the crowd had a little less enthusiasm as opposed to last year. Then again many were completing the Glass Slipper Challenge, and like me, had been up at 3am the previous morning. Still I am always surprised how friendly and talkative people are at Disney races. It's AWESOME!

Ok a little bit more convincing!

Standing waiting for my corral to go, I started chatting with another woman. She was extremely nervous. This was her first half marathon. She told me that she was nervous about her time and if she was going to finish or not. I was brought right back to last year, when I was nervous about this race. Here I was a year later, 5 half marathons under my belt. I couldn't be happier to be back racing this race which was my first half marathon. However, I remembered how it wasn't really that fun last year. Sure, finishing my first was an incredible feeling. Sweating bullets, worrying about the time I would get and listening to my music and being in my own little world, not so fun. I didn't have a chance to take it all in. It was then that I vowed to just HAVE FUN this time around! Take it all in. I wished this woman the best of luck and told her my advice: It's your first half so whatever your time is, it's a PR. Also just have fun. I told her that was what I had most regretted. 

25,000 of my closest friends

The fireworks went off and off we went. I decided to not listen to music. To my surprise I enjoyed running without music. It was great listening to the women around me chatting (some singing disney songs). It was also great to interact with the crowd (yes crowds cheering us on this early) along the highway. I did put my headphones in right before the 5K mark, just because it was getting a little boring. It's all highway! However, a song later they were back out and I enjoyed it better that way.

Along the way I tried to take a photo in front of or of each mile marker (some came out a little blurry). My favorite part of this whole race is running down Main Street USA and it was even more magical hearing the crowds cheering us on and giving out high fives!

 I LOVED HIS SIGN!

When people were complaining about this "Hill" I wanted to say come run in Western, MA then we can talk.

Then running through Cinderella's castle. I can't begin to describe how cool this is! I took a video which of course came out extremely bouncy and unfocused. What ever! I even got a photo in front of the castle. A runner said let me take your picture, and in return I took a photo of her. DID I MENTION HOW AWESOME THE OTHER PRINCESSES ARE!

We continued with our run in the Magic Kingdom. I was surprised how well I remembered the race course. It was great! Except I knew more highway was coming once we exited. Still I soaked it all in! After mile 7.6 (half way point) I put my music back on. I remembered this to be a very dull part of the race so I prepared and listened to some awesome music.

Mile 8 was dedicated to Lesli Margherita and as we came upon mile 8, LOUD started playing. My iPod was on shuffle. I thought how crazy is that! Her song starts to play during the mile dedicated to her.. Must be a sign. I decided to make a quick movie of me dedicating this mile to her. It ended up being pretty cheesy, but made the mile go by much quicker. I might have looked like a crazy, but it was fun to do. Also a great way to later remember each mile.

We kept running. I was getting tired but not as exhausted as previous races. At mile 11 I made a video dedicated to those who I inspire to run. Again it made the time go by quicker. Then I saw the golf ball which meant we were closer to the finish. 

Once we entered Epcot I took my headphones out again. Running through this part of Epcot wasn't as fun as the previous day. However I did manage to grab a photo with my favorite princess/fairy… (not quite sure what to call her). She promised me a beer at the finish line. I responded saying "MAKE IT A BIG MARTINI". 

We turned the corner and saw the Gospel choir. Another favorite part of the race for me! Then it was a sprint to the end. It was awesome to hear the crowd cheering us on and I even saw myself on the big screen. I gave goofy a big high five right before crossing the finish line. I was so excited! There is something about crossing a finish line. Whether it be a 5K or a half marathon. There is a mixture of feelings: excitement, relief, being proud, happiness and just plain AWESOME! This is one of the best feelings in the entire world. It's what makes me keep going back to running races. You don't have to be super fast or PR every race, because crossing that finish line and realizing what you just completed is a feeling everyone gets (whether you are first or last). 

My new race photo pose?

I walked over and got my medal. I also got some fairy dust on me.. HEY I'M A PRINCESS! I walked over to pick up my Glass Slipper Challenge Medal (oh yeah, 3 medals that weekend). I got my official finisher photo taken. It was awesome they had the medal from the previous day so I could hold up all three of them. 

Come on this photo says it all!

I decided to head over to medical tent since my feet weren't feeling to great, also it was a way to waste time before Cate was finished. I posted some photos on Facebook and Instagram. I am so grateful for the love and support I got from posting those photos! I also looked at my time. It's funny, crossing the finish line my first thought wasn't to stop my Garmin. In fact, the whole race I had my Garmin upside down and didn't glance down at it as much as I have on previous runs/races. My time was faster then last year. Which I found interesting because I did stop and take some photos. I'm not going to lie, I still was happy it was faster (even if it was by only a few seconds), then again the amount of fun I had during this race made it what it was.

 Splits: 

Mile 1- 12:35 min/mile

Mile 2- 12:48 min/mile

Mile 3- 13:32 min/mile

Mile 4- 12:25 min/mile

Mile 5- 11:56 min/mile

Mile 6- 12:33 min/mile

Mile 7- 12:12 min/mile

Mile 8- 12:21 min/mile

Mile 9- 11:41 min/mile

Mile 10- 11:51 min/mile

Mile 11- 12:04 min/mile

Mile 12- 11:43 min/mile 

Mile 13- 11:37 min/mile

Mile (.32)- (9:28 min/mile pace)

Unofficial Time (13.32 miles) : 2:42:17 --- 12:11 min/mile

OFFICIAL TIME (13.1 miles): 2:42:14-- 12:23 min/mile 

5K split- 40:57 (13:12 min/mile)

10K split- 1:19:36  (12:50 min/mile)

15K split- 1:57:49 (12:40 min/mile)

Negative splits somewhat

Once Cate was done, we headed to the merchandise tent and she picked up a few things. Then we got a photo of us finding our names on the "Glass Slipper Challenge" board. 

We hopped in the car and went to their new hotel. I was lucky enough to get to take a quick shower in before heading over to the pool. Oh did I mention this was the one day the sun finally decided to come out?! Yup I wasn't going to miss it. I took my book and sat my the pool. I soaked up the sun, read, and hopped in the pool. I repeated this several times. It was so nice to just relax and not worry about anything!

Afterwards I headed to grab some lunch and poke around the hotel. Finally it was time to head back to the airport :( I was not happy. Then my flight was delayed. Then once I landed back here I found out my dad could no longer drive me home. Thank god Paige came to my rescue (after calling a few other friends who all couldn't do it). I was literally crying in the airport, looking like a fool with my tiara and medals on. In flip flops and with sunglasses on. Get the picture?  All while it was 30 degrees outside. Coming back was hard, especially with the delay and not having a ride home. Nevertheless I am extremely grateful for such an incredible weekend and couple of races. 

Not happy :(

BLING BLING!