yup! that's 13.1 stinkin' miles! something i thought i would never do in my life! as y'all may know i've run a few 5k's these past few years and last year i had a goal to run two 10k's of which i actually accomplished. as much as a 1/2 marathon sounded so daunting and terrifying to me it was the next step up after a 10k. with much hesitation but inspired by some of my friends and family who completed their first half i put it on my bucket list sharing this huge goal with only a certain few peeps because of the fear that i may not cross the finish line.
we've always been big disney fans. i've been going since i was a kid, went with the hubs before kids, and when the kiddos came along we took yearly car trips and made the road trip from northern caifornial to disneyland in southern california. i thought it would be fitting to run our first half together at a disney marathon and since we now live in north carolina i registered us for the disney princess 1/2 marathon in orlando, fl.
N and i got up early saturday morning and did the road trip driving south to florida. we arrived and went straight to the expo to pick up our packets.
afterwards we headed to my cousins for the evening. she made a yummy baked spaghetti for dinner to carb up and we all enjoyed some time over dinner to catch up. we went to bed around 10ish and i set my iphone alarm clock for 2:00 a.m.. yes, you read that right 2 o'clock in the morning because we had to leave at 3 a.m. to be in the parking lot parked at 4 a.m. and in our assigned starting corrals by 5 a.m..
waiting in our corrals for the race to start at 5:45.
me and my cousin...
this is her 3rd half marathon!
getting ready for the race to start!
20,000 peeps registered!
running to the entrance of magic kingdom
through disney's main street...
towards the castle...
i had to stop and ask someone to take a pic with the castle behind me how could i not? this was the point where i lost N. he didn't know i had stopped and he kept going. with 20,000 people running this race it can be quite easy to get lost in the huge shuffle.
disney princesses and characters were staged throughout the park for photo opportunities but most had mile long lines. i knew that if i stopped to get in those lines it would only add minutes to my finish time. i didn't want to risk that. however, lilo and stitch's line was only 10 people deep so i quickly jumped in for a quick shot!
thankfully, the hubs and i were reunited he really slowed down enough so that i could catch up to him. i really needed him at that last mile to push and encourage me. once we were almost to the finish line he pulls out a sign that he had printed out, tucked away in his pocket that said...
"my princess did it!"
of course, i started to choke up but i really did my best to hold the tears back. as we neared the finish line he took my hand and we crossed the finish line together! that was priceless!
"i can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"
philippins 4:13
we went back to my cousin's house after the race to shower, rest our sore and aching bodies for a bit before the drive back home to north carolina.
we came home to a home baked and decorated brownie cake made by the kiddos!
i believe i officially earned the right to put a 13.1 sticker on the back of my car which the hubby happily slapped onto my car! yippee!
i went to work this morning and i was asked...
"so is this the first of many half marathons or the one and only?"
if you asked me yesterday after the race, i would have told you... i've crossed it off my bucket list and it will be my one, only and last half ever in my life......
however, after waking up this morning i felt differently. i set the goal to run a half marathon and with training, hard work and determination i actually accomplished it! was it hard? oh, heck yeah!!! it was one of the toughest and challenging things i have ever done in in my life but crossing that finish line and knowing that i actually did this crazy thing was so worth it. it was such a great feeling of accomplishment! i am so proud of us! now that i know i could do it why can't i do another two or three more? i just need to do the same, set the goal, fight the good fight and finish the race.
"i have fought the good fight, i have finished the race, i have kept the faith."
2 timothy 4:7
lastly, for those of you who are on the fence of putting a half marathon down on your bucket list, i say do it! let me tell you now 'IF I CAN RUN A HALF MARATHON, ANYONE CAN RUN A HALF MARATHON!" really!
