Race Recap: Disney Princess Half Marathon

I can now officially say that I have completed my first half marathon.
My time was 2:11:14 - not exactly thrilled with it, but I'll take it for a first!

So here's my race experience story, of course mixed in with some subjective reflections on the Disney Princess race.

Last night we visited Mexico (well, Mexico in Epcot), and celebrated my birthday with my family. Getting there was highly stressful, because we had to pick up my race packet before dinner. We had to travel via Disney bus, and it took so long that we were late for my own birthday dinner. All of the hype about the race turned me off because I felt so pressed for time. (No, I don't have time to wait for you to stop looking at tiaras and move out of my way.) Add in the dilemma of dealing with "princess issues," and I was one grumpy girl!

Clearly I was feeling less than Princess-y.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, things started looking up.
The food was delicious! The view was lovely! The company was fun!

As always, a Disney chef came to my table and told me what I could eat. And yes, chocolate mousse was on the approved list.

Ty and me at dinner

We enjoyed an evening stroll around the lake and headed home. We knew we had an early and long morning ahead of us. Unfortunately, roads are closed quite early, so we had to leave before 3AM.

Around 11PM, I had an unfortunate wake-up call in the form of nausea - needing immediate relocation to the restroom. So I spent the night before the race throwing up my birthday dinner. You don't find that recommended on any race sites. I can't remember the last time I was so violently ill, and I thought for certain that I would have to scratch on race morning. I was sweating and shaking so badly. Ty was a good nurse and brought me cool cloths. I made it back to bed around midnight and slept until 2:20. When I woke, I was feeling about as un-race-ready as possible! I decided to get dressed, head to the race, and see how I felt closer to my start time.

We made a quick stop at Walgreens (always interesting at that hour!) so I could hydrate and get some electrolytes, I grabbed a Lara bar for the road, and we were off. Thankfully, we did not have any bad traffic.

My sister-in-law stayed on Disney property and actually had more trouble getting to the start! One of the bus drivers went to the wrong resort, or something like that. I bet that created hundreds of angry Cinderellas and Ariels! Thankfully, Ty was kind enough to hang out with me until I had to pass the "runners only" section. And woah, was that an act of love! I know he could not have been too thrilled to be at Disney at 4AM with 26,000 girls in tu-tus doing the Macarena. (Okay, okay, not everyone was dancing, but almost everyone was wearing some sort of regalia.)

Back to the facts. Oh, wait. Those were the facts.

I even risked a little coffee. My Prince Charming fought off dragons and evil queens to secure that cup for me. I drank less than half, because I knew I was already in danger of dehydration. A swag of Gatorade, a sip of coffee. I was exhausted and just couldn't imaging running without morning coffee! Yes, I'm addicted to the bean.

Forcing a smile early, early race morning

Amanda and I finally met up at our corral. Ah, the H corral. Let me say this was probably the most frustrating thing about the race. Because neither of us had competed in a 10K (or further distance) race, we were automatically relegated to the very last corral, which had a start time one hour later than the official race time. This meant a lot of sitting around, but it also meant we were with all the walkers. Foreseeing this problem, we managed to squeeze our way up to the G corral.

Unfortunately, we were stumbling over walkers at least until mile nine or ten. Actually, we almost tripped over a walker at the finish line, too! We spent a good deal of time in the grass and dirt, trying to pass everyone in front of us. (This became especially frustrating when I couldn't get around some Tink wings!!)

In true Disney fashion, there were themed "encouragement stations," if you will, with music and characters. Many racers stopped to take photos at these spots. For example, as we ran past Test Track, Lightening McQueen was there with the Rascal Flats's hit "Life is a Highway" blaring through the speakers. All of this was very fun and well done. Of course neither Amanda nor I dreamnt of stopping. We only had the finish line in mind.

Before the race began, Amanda and I had agreed to run our own pace and split up if needed. We were thrilled to find that our pace was nearly the same! I started out shaky, not feeling too well in my stomach, but I kept close to her. As we progressed in the race, we took turns making a path between walkers, around cones, and through the grass.

At about mile seven, I think my adrenaline kicked in. Up until then, I was needing a bathroom very badly! Again, stopping was not an option. Amanda and I were joking that I'd have sooner wet my pants and kept running. Thankfully, it didn't have to come to that. While I didn't want to drink, I made myself down fluids nearly every two miles at the water stations. I was determined to say no to dehydration!

My favorite moment of the race was running down Main Street in Magic Kingdom. The sides were lined with crowds cheering their loudest! It was definitely a classic Disney moment, and I am glad for that experience! My other favorite moment? Sprinting to the finish line and crossing together with Amanda!

We had a very friendly greeting committee! (Just look at those babies! I love them!!)
Oh, and my other, other favorite moment of the race? Collecting my box of goodies - delicious post-race treats, and all of them gluten-free! Thank you very much.

The weekend has been tough on poor baby Brooklyn. She has had too much crate time between dinner, the race, and a wedding this afternoon. Some very nice friends of ours helped us out by stopping by and taking care of her. Thanks a million!

I took Brooklyn to the farmer's market this morning after cleaning up and refueling. We even picked up some Chipotle as a thank-you for Ty. Thankfully Ty was home getting some much needed sleep.

Closing thoughts on the race? Would I do it again?

I would most definitely run another half marathon. I'm already looking for other upcoming races, eager to improve my time.

I'm not so sure I'd run another Disney race and probably not this one again. It was more expensive than other half marathons and the hugeness of it all was, well, annoying. Of the few races I've done, the smaller ones were my favorite.

What did I expect, right? I didn't mind the fun costumes, but I minded the people inside them. There were so many people that many times I felt I couldn't even give a full stride. Perhaps that would have been different had we began in a faster wave. At least I have this half on my record, so I don't have to be last next time!

In the end, smiling faces. I am thankful. Now I want to go to bed.