Disney's Princess Half Marathon

A view from the flight

Yesterday was the day we've all been waiting for!  Well, I have been waiting for it, anyway.  You might not have been.  Or maybe you were.  Either way, yesterday was the Disney's Princess Half Marathon!!  Mr. Marathon and I headed out for the airport on Friday (which was also my birthday!  and George Washington's birthday!) and flew into sunny Orlando.  We checked into the All Star Sports Resort at Disney World, then headed to the Race Expo for packet pickup.  It.  Was.  CRAZY.  Seriously, I have never seen that many people in one place in my life.  But, there was a lot going on and a lot to see.  On Saturday, we woke up bright and early (so we thought) and headed to the parks.  We spent the day at Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom having fun, riding rides, eating deliciously unhealthy food, and seeing everything we could possibly see.  At the end of a long day of fun, we returned to our room and hit the hay because we knew what time we would have to wake up in order for me to make it to the starting line on time for Sunday's race.  First of all, let me say that the race was scheduled to start at 5:35 AM.  Ridiculously early right?  That's earlier than I wake up to go work on a regular weekday.  Ew.  So now let's work backwards to discover the time we had to actually wake up, shall we?

Post-race: I know I look a mess

5:35 Corral A start
5:00 Recommended time to be in starting corral and ready to go
4:15 We allowed 45 minutes for walking, waiting in line for the shuttle, riding the shuttle, and navigating the starting area
3:15 I need at least an hour to get up and going, because of course I had to look beautiful.
3:00 In case I decide I need 15 minutes of extra sleep, I need to wake up 15 minutes earlier than I think.

So, I was awake at 3 AM.  Seriously.  But anyway, I got everywhere mostly ok, then the race began with singing and fireworks and all that other magical stuff, and I ran my very first half-marathon, mostly successfully.  I may not have finished in my goal time, but I did finish still running.  In the interest of keeping my posts here fairly short and sweet, I will end this one right here.  I will, however, post about something else I got from this experience, besides plenty of souvenirs and a blingin' medal.  Stay tuned, it's coming super soon.  Promise!

A collage of memories from the weekend