I don't go all the way OR the story of my half marathon.

"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general." ~Mark Rippetoe

Well, I did it!  I ran my 1st half marathon.  Resolution check list is getting done.  It was amazing!  It was fun!  It was an eye opener on many levels.

I'm going to preface this whole thing by saying that I did NOT conventionally train for this race and if you are considering running a half, don't follow my 'program'.  I did not follow a running program in preparation on my half marathon.  I felt I would be too tired to do that, CrossFit and prepare for my Level 1 Cert., so I chose to just WOD as I normally do.  Runners should prepare for a big run.  If you want to walk a half marathon, then get out there!  You CAN do it.  But still, you need to put in some miles prior to your big day.

First, my training kind consisted solely of CrossFit, although I did venture out one Sunday and ran seven miles without stopping.  I NEVER once thought of running the entire thing.  NEVER.  I just thought that I would run the first 6 or so then walk/run the rest.  Here's how it went...

I went to EPCOT the night before and had a great little spinach noodle/shrimp dish at Nine Dragons.  I also had some yummy guacamole and chips at the Mexico Pavilion earlier that day.  My day before the race was spent cheering Chase and Sydney in the Royal Family 5k and riding rides at EPCOT.  They had a great time running together and did an amazing job.  Sydney called Chase her Prince Charming.  :)

If you've ever spent a day in an amusement park with your family, it was just as relaxing as it sounds.  FUN, but eating exotic food and walking all day and into the evening would not be my suggestion to you the day before running 13.1 miles. 

My goal for my 3am wake-up?  To not wake up my family, get into my princess garb and get coffee and food before getting on the bus at 3:30-that's 2:30 Missouri time folks.  Last time I was up at 2:30, I was either rocking a baby to sleep or I was sitting in a Denny's reminiscing about the evening with a plate of Moon Over My Hammy.  But, I did wake up with a spark in me and felt pretty rested!

There were 13,091 finishers in the Princess Half Marathon.  About 900 men and the rest were women.  My guess is that every Port-a-Potty on the Eastern side of the United States was sent to Orlando for this event.  Was it enough?  No, of course not.  But they are at almost every mile marker on the course.  The line was usually 6 or 7 Princesses deep.  But if we were a Princess for the day, then we ruled over Shitland-these thrones were foul.  Not so foul that I didn't stop seven or eight times during the race.  But when I ran thru the Magic Kingdom, I did zip into a real bathroom in Tommorowland.  I figure 3 minutes  a 'pit stop' was 21-24 minutes added to my time.  It was sooooo worth it.  Feel free to make a Princess and the Pee joke.

As a CrossFitter, everything is for time, so my thought process felt foreign.  I made it a point to not focus on time and just see what I could do.  'For time' was too intimidating for me.  I had never done this before and I don't like to run.  When people asked me what my goal was for a finish time, I always said that I wanted to make it from the Start to the Finish line.  I had no time in my head.  I just wanted to move my body 13.1 miles.

  At mile three, I wasn't surprised that I was still running.  That's just a 5k.  Or at mile 5.  I tried to think of it as rounds, not miles.  That's a little like setting your clock ahead so you 'think' you've slept till 6:20, when it is actually 6am.  Stupid trick, but it was working, so I went with it.  It was like an endurance WOD.  Six rounds, seven rounds in-I'm still running!  Holy crap!  Mile eight was supposed to be the stereotypical point where you break down, but that was a motivator for me. I'm too stubborn to break down where someone tells me I will.  I was already past 7 and would rather choose mile 9 or 10 to lose it.  And I'll make it epic.   Just to be different.

When I was still running to Mile 10, I saw a little girl with a sign that said "My Mommy is my favorite Princess".  I almost stopped and gave her a hug.  That sign, made by some random little girl, made me push to run the last 3.1.  We need to be that for our daughters.  I wanted Sydney to be the kind of girl that says "Sure, I'll try a half marathon.  Why not?  My Mom did it." 

Disney does a great job motivating you too!  There were entertaining things to see and hear along the course.  These beefy firemen from the Reedy Creek Fire Dept. were popular with the ladies:

Plus, your friends and family could track you on their phones.  Online tracking is motivating-someone is watching you!  Chase said that I got faster as the race went along.  I'm proud of that.  It was really hard to run in a crowd of runners and walkers.  The crowd got thinner as people started to walk.  That helped my speed.

On a side note and speaking of thinner, there were all shapes and sizes in that half marathon!  I saw 2 girls that looked like fitness models before the race.  I past them on mile 3.  They were walking and exhausted.   Display model only.  I also got SMOKED by many ladies that were large by anyone's standards.  Athletes come in all shapes and sizes-remember that.

So do Princesses.

The best was Mile 13.  Point 1 to go and there was the  most amazing gospel choir.

 

I was raised Catholic.  Our choirs aren't like this, but in my opinion, every choir should be.  It was like a direct link to Heaven and I could use a little Jesus at this point.  I don't know who they were, but God bless each and every one of them.  I sped up, rounded the corner and saw the Finish Line.   Then, I crossed it.

 I ran the whole thing.  And did it in 2:58:14.  Considering that 20+ minutes was spent answering the 'call of nature', my actual running time was in the upper 2:30's.  And I only cried when I saw my family at the finish line.

"How was it?" they asked.

"I ran the whole thing."

That's when I had my breakdown.  That's when I cried. 

I went to the hotel, took a shower and did what many say that they would do after a personal triumph-I went to Disney World.

I did learn a few things along the way:

1.  I do everything better in a tiara.

2.  A positive attitude can give you fairy wings.

3.  Princess is a state of mind.  And there is more than one path to feeling like one.

I hate to run.  I'm slow and my form isn't perfect.  But I believe in me, so I tried what seemed the impossible.  And I did it.

And I believe in you.  So, go do something you thought you couldn't do. 

You can do it!