Ok, so that might not be the most accurate statement considering it was my first race. But come on, its Disney, everything is magical there!
About a month ago Megan and I took a trip down to Walt Disney World and we had a blast. After all we did leave the northeast (I'm in DC and Megan is in Pittsburgh) and head south, so that's always an improvement.
Saturday came and we headed over to the ESPN World Wide of Sports to the Fit for a Princess Expo-which was awesome.
We checked in, got our bibs (Mine was personalized with Princess Cassandra and I picked Jasmine as my princess, Princess Megan chose Belle) and D-tags (which I am still confused on why they are called that) and started shopping. We each picked up a running belt that we used to hold our phones, chap stick, and some other small stuff, I bought inserts (post coming soon), and we both bought an assortment of RunDisney clothing. After spending a good hour or more there we headed back to our hotel room, got our running outfits together for the "morning" (we had to be at the start line by 5 am) and headed out for dinner aka time for carb loading! After a pasta and veggie filled dinner at Uno's, we headed back to our hotel and hit the sack-which is really hard at 9:30 pm when you are amped up for a race the next day!
We checked in, got our bibs (Mine was personalized with Princess Cassandra and I picked Jasmine as my princess, Princess Megan chose Belle) and D-tags (which I am still confused on why they are called that) and started shopping. We each picked up a running belt that we used to hold our phones, chap stick, and some other small stuff, I bought inserts (post coming soon), and we both bought an assortment of RunDisney clothing. After spending a good hour or more there we headed back to our hotel room, got our running outfits together for the "morning" (we had to be at the start line by 5 am) and headed out for dinner aka time for carb loading! After a pasta and veggie filled dinner at Uno's, we headed back to our hotel and hit the sack-which is really hard at 9:30 pm when you are amped up for a race the next day!
Sunday morning rolls around and we're up nice and early, 3 am early! We ate a quick, yet nutritious breakfast (bananas, peanut butter, and high protein cereal) and left for the race. My wonderful mother drove us over to the resort next door where the shuttle buses are and headed to Epcot for the start line! The anticipation is building!!! I cannot wait to get to the start line and get going!! Of course we stopped to take a photo or two in front of the Epcot Ball:
Ok so we finally get over to our corral, and everyone is excited, there are women EVERYWHERE, and the occasional men dressed as a prince or frog. Megan, Val (one of Megan's friends from Pittsburgh), and I each ran with a cute party tiara, that was as far as our costumes went.
Let me just tell you, before a race begins it can be very emotional! I never would have guessed that! My wonderful little brother (17 and 6'3'') texted me good luck and I just started crying! Who does that?? But it was great to get some encouragement from my family!
Let me just tell you, before a race begins it can be very emotional! I never would have guessed that! My wonderful little brother (17 and 6'3'') texted me good luck and I just started crying! Who does that?? But it was great to get some encouragement from my family!
Each of the corrals starts their section of the race with Fairy Godmother counting down and then fireworks! We were in Corral D, which is essentially everyone who didn't submit a proof of time. As we slowly move up toward the start line each of us has a moment like mine. Finally, it's our corral's turn! Now remember this is my first race, so my first inclination is to just start running! But then I remember what all of my runner friends have told me, and that is definitely not the thing to do! So we jogged, and jogged, ran and walked, and of course there was some sprinting at times-but really that was to get to the princes! After we were finished our 13.1 mile journey I can honestly say that I had a blast! I would definitely do it again, and I'm so excited to have started this blog with Megan!!
We will be updating regularly and posting about our running progress, different products and recipes we've tried. I'm currently looking into running the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon, which I've been told is so much fun, but I'm not sure much can top running through Magic Kingdom and meeting a bunch of Princes. We'll see...~Cassi
The Princess Half was definitely an experience. It was my 2nd half-marathon and to compare it to my first- a lot less stressful! Then again, at least I wasn't fighting my gallbladder during these 13 miles.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being my running buddy, Cassi!