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We dolled up in our coordinating outfits and headed out to downtown Orlando around 6:15 to get parked and settled in. Traffic was rotten, but we ended up making it to Lake Eola in the middle of downtown in plenty of time. Out of the thousands of people milling around that morning, we actually ran into another friend of mine, Kylie, when the sidewalks merged together! I didn't know she'd signed up (found out later it was a spur-of-the-moment decision and she'd done barely any training at all for it!) We took some pictures and then tried to worm our way into the huge crowd at the start line. There were no corrals, just some signs with min/mi paces staggered back along the sides. I inched my way up to the back of the 9 min/mile crowd before I couldn't go any further. I really didn't have a goal for this race- I figured I'd start running and see how I felt and do the best I could.
Kylie & I
LizzyDragon and I rocking our Sparkle Athletic Skirts:
"Let's get a picture before we get all gross!"
My view of the start line. I'm not that tall, of course- was on tip toe with my phone!
The gun went off at 7:30 and we all inched forward. I started the RunKeeper before I hit the timing pad, just in case it wanted to give me problems. I zig-zag jogged around people while trying to find my pace in the crowd- I met up with the 1:50 pacers and stayed with them for a couple miles before losing sight of them after I slowed at a water stop. I was feeling pretty good and settled comfortably into an 8:25 pace. The race went through the streets of Orlando and through some neighborhoods so there were plenty of curious spectators. The route took us under the 408 expressway and south of downtown. I'd never been in this area before so it was interesting to look at. Some of the houses were ridiculously big! There were a few bands and DJs along the course, as well as plenty of water and medical assistance. Around mile 9, some people had a table filled with red solo cups and a keg in their front yard with a poster board and marker sign that read "Beer Stop." The smell was nauseating when I ran by, but people were stopping for it! I learned later that LizzyDragon was one of those! I laughed, at least I had an excuse to not take any (the FAA frowns on drinking and flying, you see.)
I crossed back under the 408 and headed north back to the finish line- it was looking like I'd break my previous record from the Wine & Dine Half in November!
It's probably hard to see, but I had to put up the map because I had no idea where I was the entire time during this race! I crossed the finish line in 1:51:51- a new personal record!
Yay!
There were plenty of snacks at the finish- Publix had muffins, lots of Powerade and bananas, and the best thing in the world- ice cold chocolate milk! There was also a beer truck (at 9am? Gross.) I wandered around for a while- stood under the water misters, browsed the booths. LizzyDragon came across the line about 40 minutes after me- I'd been getting text notifications on her progress so I was ready to meet her at the finish. We got her refueled and then met up with another friend of ours who had tried to watch us on the course but kept missing us passing by. It was so weird- we just randomly ran in to him on the lawn the way I'd randomly bumped in to Kylie.
Speaking of Kylie- she finished as well! She'd said it would be pure stubbornness that got her through, and sure as can be, she got across the finish line about an hour after LizzyDragon. We left before she finished- LD and I both had to get cleaned up for work so we drove to the flight school and used the FBO showers before showing off our medals to any customers we ran in to.
Finished!
It sparkles in the sun!
Showing off out new (heavy!) bling
So I had to work after all the fun that morning! LD and Kylie did, too so none of us got to do much relaxing or basking in our glory. I worked again Sunday morning, and wanted to go down to the Magic Kingdom Sunday evening but Scot said he was the tired one!
We did go on Monday and I ate the following:
Pork shank from Gaston's Tavern. Verdict? Awesome. Salty. Loved it.
Cupcake from the Big Top Souvenir candy counter in Storybook Circus. Also very yum!
We watched the castle lighting- it was Frozen themed this year. I have to say, I like the Cinderella version better- I love Frozen but the sketch on stage was hokey and Elsa just kind of flailed around while pretending to cast an ice spell all over the kingdom. Plus Olaf was like 6 feet tall. After that, we resort-hopped along the monorail route and looked at the gingerbread displays. Good times, late night!
Next week I get to do my LAST mock Dopey- 3 miles Monday, 6 miles Tuesday, 12 miles Wednesday, and 23 miles Thursday. I'm going to be more prepared and rested this time- I'm going to have snacks and bananas and not run to the library without water!
OUC Half Marathon stats:
Chip time: 1:51:51
Age division place: 32/278 (top 11%)
Gender place: 126/1,763 (top 7%)
Overall place: 526/3,331 (top 15%)
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