Disney Race Report

So this weekend did not exactly go as planned.

The short version:

1. I was registered for the Goofy....

2. I ran the half marathon with no official time....

3. I had a fantastic weekend that turned into a week with my friends due to the snowmageden in atlanta!

On Friday morning, George, TyTy, Dave, and I drove down to Disney World. We stayed at the All Start Sports Resort on Disney Property to make everything easy!

It had these hilarious oversized sports equipment, but you know, we were ready for a game with giant football players if it came up.

We headed over to the expo. I think the toughest moment was walking up and taking my registration for the Goofy knowing I was not going to race it. I have skipped a race before due to injury, but never had to face the registration table knowing you are not really doing what you signed up to do.

Oh well.

The four of us headed to Downtown Disney, and had dinner together at Bongos. Good Cuban food, but it was SO hard not to devour those fried plantains only hours before a race!! Must go back to eat more plantains!

I had decided that this would not be my longest or my fastest race, so it had to be my cutest race!!! So, before the race, I HAD to buy sparkly minnie ears :-)

We got up at 3AM (seriously), and hopped on a bus to the start by 4. Got up in my Corral after wishing George, TyTy, and Dave luck. George was preparing for a great race, Dave and TyTy were doing their first.

I spent the first five miles or so COMPLETELY stressed out. Does my knee hurt? No. How about now? Not really. Should I quit? This is stupid. I am not going to be able to run at St. George. I hate this hobby. Ok, maybe it hurts a little. Well. Maybe not.

Pretty much I was going nuts.

Then we got into the Magic Kingdom, and it was SO much fun!!! I have done the marathon before, but the castle is just a blast, and I love seeing all of the characters. At this point, I had taken off my polka dotted jacked, and I had my Ironman Louisville shirt on. From miles 7-about 10 I had a group of men asking me about racing that distance and training. Hilarious. I had a crew and my chatting just made the miles tick away like it was nothing. Then I realized I had gotten excited and I was running a little too fast. So I slowed down, said goodbye, and focused on my form.

That meant the last three were less fun again....but then it was over in about 2 hours! And I didn't feel worse then when I started. YES! Still don't feel great, but not feeling worse....

Results:

George killed it. We are calling it his "30's half marathon pr." He had a great race, and it was a blast. When he walked into the tent for the D's to pick up his bag, he was the first one, and everyone cheered for him!! Awesome! I am super incredibly insanely proud of him. He is really tough and works really hard.

Dave had a great first half! He didn't tell any of us he was registered for it until we got to Disney! Sneaky!

Ty Ty came in right behind him for her first half too! Way to go you two!!!

Waiting to see my results? Weeeeeelllllll, I realized later that I had put the directions on my shoe instead of a timing chip. They look alike. Awesome, right? No results, no pictures, and I stressed out my coach who thought something had happened to me all morning when I had no time checks!!! Oh well. I was somewhere around 2 hours. Not too slow and not too fast.

After the race, the four of us met Sparkles, Chris, Sara, and Kendra at the Polynesian for lunch. We were pretty hungry by the time we got to eat, but we looked adorable!

It was a character breakfast where they walk around. George had been waiting for months for Pluto to make him an omelette. Dreams really do come true...kindof :-)

After watching these characters for a while....and eating a lot of mickey waffles

Ok, here's the waffles:

So, after those, I decided that I could be a character. Kacie the triathlete. I would be really good. Open smiles--slow pats on the head--gentle hugs--over the top movements. I got this.

Strange they didn't offer me a job while I was there!

That night, we all headed to Sparkles mom's house (known as Mama Spark). She made us all an AWESOME vegetarian pasta dinner. We all sported our shirts (and I'll post pics of that once I get them!). We also enjoyed Pez of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves. I was Bashful. Of course ;-)

The next morning, we were up at 3 again to cheer for Sparkles and Chris. It was really really really cold....and we started cheering at mile one. It didn't take long until we were wearing the clothes that people were tossing off. We have no pride. None.

We cheered 4 times until they blocked off the roads. Then we went to breakfast :-) We headed to the finish line to cheer them on for their last marathon finish. Awesome!!! So incredibly exciting to be a part of it. Sparkles thanked me for the inspiration, and I teared up. Don't tell her that. Ok, maybe she's reading this. Ummmm...I mean, I didn't cry, not at all :-) Seriously, though I was SOOOO proud of her. She just started running late 2010! First half marathon in October!!! Incredible.

That night, we enjoyed an evening in an irish pub in Downtown Disney.

The next morning, we were off to Animal Kingdom.

Then, they city of Atlanta got pummeled with ice and it the interstates were shut down, so Monday, I was FORCED to go to Universal Studios to see Harry Potter World!

So, that was tough......

Then, it was still iffy in Atlanta, so I HAD to spend a day relaxing with my wonderful grandparents and going out to a nice dinner and generally having a great time with them.

And then it was ok enough to drive home, so we made it home...and our heater was broken (see, I knew you would feel bad for me eventually!).

It was a great weekend/long weekend/week, and I am glad to be home. I will post more fun pictures as I get them!!!