dopey challenge day 3: the half marathon

I was excited for the half marathon Saturday morning.  I'd slept well (Scot brought me my pillow), I'd been able to eat the special pasta dish from the AOA food court the night before, and I was looking fowrard to wearing my Aurora In Blue costume (even though I knew everyone would think I was Cinderella, but that just shows you how many people don't know their princess crowns.)  I put on a oversized plaid zip-up jacket, slipped the hand warmers into my gloves- no way I was going to toss them this time!- and headed out.  

My parents and Scot were up by 4 to get to the start area, then their plan was to go to the TTC around mile 4 to see me, then board the Resort monorail to the Polynesian to find me at mile 7.7, then meet me back at the finish area.  Sounds like a plan.

It was cold.  Not as cold as the first 2 days, but still in the upper 40s.  I didn't do much socializing on this morning, I shivered my way through bag check, skipped the ridiculously long bathroom lines, and started the mile walk to the corrals.  I was in F for the half and full, so I followed my herd into the fenced off area.  Along the way, and I should have mentioned I saw this at the 10K too, I saw tons of dudes just lined up peeing in the woods off the side of the road.  A volunteer started yelling at them that there were bathrooms up ahead and to not to that again.  Giggle.  The lines were much shorter so I stopped briefly, then got into my corral with about 30 minutes to kill.  

This route was the same as the Princess Half Marathon route back in February.  Once my group got to the start, the countdown was on, a burst of fireworks exploded above us, and we were off!  My plan was to light jog the first few miles before switching to my 4/1 intervals, just to get some space between me and the corral behind.  There's not much to see the first few miles anyway, especially in the dark.  My parents told me later that they were in the crowd to the left separated by about 50 yards of fence and median, but I didn't see them. There were several high school bands playing in the first couple miles, I high-fived lots of cheerleaders as I ran by.  I did see more guys peeling off into the woods to do their business though.  I kept my jacket on, it was still really cold- I was planning to hand it off to my folks when I saw them at the TTC.  We started off down Epcot Center Drive before turning on to World Drive into the MK.  At the 3 mile mark, we hit the WDW Speedway.  I remember looking up at it thinking "Yep, gonna run around that tomorrow!"  There were lots of volunteers and spectators through this area.  I saw Wreck it Ralph, as well as some race cars lines up with lights and music going.  I got a text from Scot saying they were waiting at the mile 4 marker sign.  Good, easy to find!  The cheers from the spectators is always amazing- some of them had really great posters too ("If this was easy, it'd be called your mom," among others.  Some Disney appropriate, some not!  I enjoy reading them all, though!  I saw my dad holding up a "GO MAGGIE!!!" sign at the mile 4 marker, so I stopped to say hi, hand off my jacket, kiss my boyfriend, and headed off on the road into the Magic Kingdom.  I followed the group into a backstage area before bursting on stage just after mile 5 into Main Street USA.  

The crowds and noise didn't feel as overwhelming as they did back in February, but I think that's just because I knew what to expect this time.  It still gave me a huge grin and I ran toward the castle.  I looked for my friend Joe who was supposed to be there with a sign for several of us, but I didn't see him (found out later he overslept.  Easy to do at this hour!)  I ran through Tomorrowland and Frontierland, stopping for a second for a photo with one of the Country Bears.  No lines!  

 A few of us stopped here, there was no official photographer, just someone grabbed a random medical volunteer and handed him a camera.  Poor guy got stuck taking photos til a cast member showed up.

The only photos IN FRONT of the castle were from official photographers, so I snapped a selfie as best I could in the dark.  

After the run though the castle and the paparazzi-esque hoard of photographers on the other side, I scooted off through the parade entrance between Frontierland and Adventureland, over the railroad tracks where a train was parked, lit up, and pumping out steam, and then I was back on the road toward the Grand Floridian and Polynesian!  

Floridian Way runs by the golf courses the speedway, and 2 resorts.  It's about 3 miles of straight road and can get a little tough.  This is where the Clif Shot stop is, as well as more spectators in front of the hotels.  I saw my parents and Scot with the sign again outside the Polynesian.  I stopped for a photo op in front of the Grand Floridian with Mary Poppins and the crew- again, no lines!

With my intervals, I was holding steady at about 10 min/mile.  I tried to slow down a bit with the intervals and photos but it was tough!  This was going to be my slowest half marathon anyway, so I just decided to go with what felt comfortable.  The on ramp to Epcot Center Drive is where the Green Army Man usually is- and without fail, he was there shouting out encouragement to everyone as we hoofed it around the curve.  I stopped briefly, no line for him either.

"This is a race, comrade!  RUN!"

Mile 12 was just outside Epcot, as we ran by tons of volunteers were cheering with noisemakers "Almost there!  One more mile!  You got this!"  I loved it!

We ran in, down the stretch toward Wolds Showcase, made the u-turn where the Christmas tree usually is, and then back towards Spaceship Earth.  I didn't stop for a photo there, lord knows I have tons of photos of Spaceship Earth.  The gospel choir was singing praises at mile 13 as I ran by.  I didn't see my parents at the finish so I just continued on and crossed the line with a smile.  I coasted past the medics and over to get my medal.  

So pretty!  Of course, I double checked it to make sure it was printed properly

I took my time getting through the walk-out.  Photo stops, get some Powerade and water, snack box, oooh apple sauce!  Banana.  Again.  The crazy thing this year is that for us Dopeys, they were not handing out the plastic wristbands to show we'd run all the races.  Basically, they were going off finish times, and matching us up with a photo we'd had to have taken at the Expo.  I didn't mind that at all!

My parents and Scot had gotten stuck on the monorail so it took them a while to meet me at the reunion area.  Scot brought me a drawstring bag to put all my crap in (yay!), then we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up.  The rest of the day was spent lounging around, with me trying to stay off my feet.  I booked pedicure appointments for my mom and I at the Senses Spa at Saratoga Springs and OH MY GOD IT WAS AMAZING!  We got there over an hour early and could take advantage of the hot tub, steam room, and relax room with these awesome chairs that were like heaven for my lower back.  The spa provided flavored waters, tea, snacks, flip fops (although I didn't stray from my Oofos!) and soft luxurious robes.  The massage pedicure chairs were the best I'd ever experienced!  We even got little goodie bags- a bottle of nail polish to take home, plus a block buffing file and a regular nail file.  Just like at the dentist, only better!  Well worth the $80, by far the best spa experience ever!  I walked out of there 3 hours later feeling refreshed, rested, and ready to go run a marathon.

Half Marathon results:

4,559th/22,081 finishers (top 20%)

Gender place: 1,554/12,379 (top 12%)

Age group place: 291/1,953 (top 14%)

Net time: 2:14:11