runDisney

I don't know what we were thinking back in March when we signed up for the Wine & Dine 10k, maybe we were looking at the part as having a weekend without the girls! We had both trained for a half marathon back when we were much younger (we got sick and didn't race) and each of us had only ran one 5K prior to this race. Over the last year I had been jogging some with the girls in the stroller but was tapped out (and bored) at about two miles, that needed to change if I wanted to get to 6.2!

I wanted to gradually increase my mileage so I started my training back in June, not the right time of year to start, I got up early to run at 6am while it was light enough and didn't have to push 60+ pounds in a stroller! By the time August came around it was too dark early in the morning and had to alter my plans, which most of the time included the girls so I tried to make the runs fun for them too. We ran to Publix on the weekends for donuts, ran to see the cows and other creatures, ran and then stopped and played at the park and then when school started we made running our transportation once a week, behind the donuts this was their favorite run. We listened to Disney and Princess music and got many chuckles from strangers as they passed us, hey it's what I had to do to keep them happy!  I was never able to get over the five mile hump, running by yourself is quite boring at a certain point but new I could push through an extra mile.

By the time I knew it November was here and so was race weekend! Grandma and Grandpa came to stay with the girls and we headed to Orlando to work for our medals. We picked up our packets at the Expo, did a little shopping at Disney Springs and enjoyed a kid-free night at Epcot indulging in the Food and Wine festival (we did get to ride the new rides, Frozen I was a little disappointed with after all the hype, Soarin though was great). 

Our alarms went off at 3:30am Saturday morning, it sort of felt like Christmas morning, what I had worked for all these months was about to happen, well happen after all the waiting! Finally at 6am the fireworks at the start line went off and we started our 6.2 mile journey around Epcot. We ran together the first mile and then I took off on my own, F's shin splints weren't gonna slow me down, I worked hard to run and had set some goals that I wanted to beat. The first three miles of the course were pretty boring (they were on the outside perimeter roads of Epcot) and I wanted to stop and walk a few times, I didn't and kept pushing through, the saying "Just Keep Swimming" from Nemo was on repeat in my mind. Just after mile three we entered Epcot back around China and that is when my momentum started, there was just something about getting to run through an empty park and have hundreds of Disney employees cheering you on. I watched my pace and to my surprise I was doing pretty well, I even stopped to take a couple of posed pictures with the photographers and grab some paper towels in the bathroom. We looped through the countries, over to the Boardwalk and then back inside the park. As we headed towards the glowing ball I new the end was in sight, I finally saw the finish line in sight and sprinted towards it, I probably had another few miles left in me and wasn't 100% ready to stop!

I met my first goal when I crossed the finish line before the sun came up. I thought I had beaten my time and that was confirmed when I got my official race time and learned I was under the time needed to use this race as a qualifying time for a half marathon,  I was very happy and anxiously waiting for F to cross the finish line! We both finished and didn't get swept by the infamous balloon ladies everyone talks about!

There is something about finishing a race and a sense of accomplishment, now I know what is meant by runners high! I'm still on a high and planning my next race (just a local 5K at the holiday time), my new hobby might have just gotten a little expensive and a half might be in sight!

Enjoy the pictures! I'm glad they have photographers on the course.