I knew this was going to be a magical race when I saw my race bib. I didn't realize it, but when you register they ask for your favorite princess, which then becomes your race bib color. Plus who wouldn't love a bib that says Princess Elise?!
Having a low number for my bib number is always a bit intimidating because it's based on your expected finish time. So in reality I should be the 137th finisher. Kinda cool to imagine, but that usually doesn't happen.
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After working two full days and getting half a day at the pool, I was ready to race. I hadn't done a run workout since the previous Sunday, so my legs were ready to move. But that doesn't mean I did nothing all week. I swam one day, biked one day, and jogged to the park one day. I taper hard.
Racing at Walt Disney World is tough because of the early start times. Race started at 5:30 am, but we had to be out of our hotel at 3:30am. That's rough, especially when not acclimated to Eastern Standard Time. Temperatures were expected to be high that day like they had been for the rest of the week, but instead it was cool and humid. I'm not talking about a little humid. I'm saying 99.9% humidity.
After getting bused to the start line, we had to walk at least a mile to the real start line. At least it warmed my legs up. It wasn't cold anymore and I felt ready to crush my PR.
I was in Corral A so I got to start on the starting line again. We began and I tried to hold back a bit. I asked around to see if anyone else was trying for a 1:40. No one responded since everyone had music in their ears. So another lonely race it would be. And let's not forget about warm. I've never ran in such humidity before. I was soaking wet by mile 2. Thank goodness I was only wearing a tank and skirt.
The race course was kinda boring. Pretty much you run for 5 miles to Magic Kingdom, run through it for 2 miles or so, then run back to Epcot. Every mile along the way there would be a float or character to take pictures with. Other that that, you were running on asphalt roads with nothing else to see. There were quite a few "hills" on the course. These hills were overpasses, so they weren't super steep but they were long. At mile 10 there was a longish, circular uphill. The Armyman character said this was the last hill, but he lied. There were still a few more rollers after that. I didn't expect so many hills, so I powered a bit too hard through them. I wanted to keep my 7:30 pace, but I was dragging just a bit.
I passed by my friend Kelly around mile 5. We ran for about 1/4 mile together then she stopped to puke. I felt bad, but there wasn't anything I could do. So I kept running. My slowest miles were in the theme park because of all the turns in there. Maybe having such a boring course was beneficial to me after all.
I got to the Mile 11 mark and saw that I needed to finish in 15 minutes to be under 1:40. That would mean a 6:40 pace for the last 2.1 miles. I knew it would be almost impossible, but I tried anyway. Thanks to all my training, my last two miles were my fastest. It's nice to know that's working. I crossed the finish line in 1:40:49. Yes it's 50 seconds slower than I wanted to be, but it was a 1:20 minute PR. I couldn't be sad about that.
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I hurried through the finish chute so I could get my two medals. Yes, I said two medals. One for this race and one Coast to Coast medal. That means I finished two RunDisney 1/2 marathons in one year.
I don't think I've mentioned my costume yet. Carrie, Kelly, and I did matching costumes again. This time, Star Wars. Kelly was Princess Leia, Carrie was R2D2, and I was Han Solo. Yes, this is the closest I'll ever get to Harrison Ford.
Official Time - 1:40:49 (7:39 pace)
PR by 1:20
12th in age group
53rd woman overall (out of 21,222 women)
Mile 1 7:47
Mile 2 7:28
Mile 3 7:43
Mile 4 7:32
Mile 5 7:42
Mile 6 7:56
Mile 7 7:51
Mile 8 7:43
Mile 9 7:49
Mile 10 7:43
Mile 11 7:43
Mile 12 7:27
Mile 13 7:16
Mile 0.17 1:11