This weekend is my birthday, and I’ll be turning the big 3-0. *GASP*

Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen. On Sunday, I will no longer be a twenty-something. I will be 30.

For the past couple of years, the prospect of turning 30 has given me all kinds of anxiety. Truth be told, I’ve been terrified of it. Ever since I turned 25, I’ve had the same thought on my birthday every single year — “okay, I’m only 27, I’m not 30 yet…okay, I’m 28 now, but I’m still 2 whole years away from 30…”

Celebrating my 25th in my favorite place on Earth.

It wasn’t until the last few months that I decided that I’m okay with turning 30. And I’ll tell you why. (Other than the fact that there’s not a whole hell of a lot I can do about it, haha.)

It’s because I am in a better place now than I was at ANY point in my 20s. I am happier, healthier, and more self-confident that I have been EVER. In my whole life. There is absolutely no question about that.

A whole lot of things happened to me in my 20s. Some of those things were good – like, you know, running a marathon. But there was also plenty of not-so-good – like having an 11-year relationship with my high school sweetheart completely fall to pieces, finding myself alone for the first time since I was a teenager, not being able to afford my rent after he moved out of our crappy apartment, and digging myself into all kinds of debt. Good times, right?

But despite all of the typical 20-something drama, I can’t stop thinking about how, in so many ways, I am a completely different person now than I was 10 years ago.

My 21st birthday

I didn’t intend for this post to be all about my weight loss, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that it was, by far, the greatest accomplishment of my 20s. It changed my life forever. I began my 20s weighing well over 260 pounds, and I was MISERABLE.

Though this blog has lately become more of a running blog than anything else, it all started as a weight loss diary to chronicle just how freakin’ hard it is to lose weight…and actually keep it off.

My first progress photo…20 pounds down.

I spent my entire life as an obese person. Not overweight, not chunky, but obese. But when I was 22, I stepped on a scale for the first time in I couldn’t even tell you how many years, and a little lightbulb went off. I realized that if I didn’t change my life, that I could easily be 300 pounds by the time I was 30 – if not sooner.

So, I did it. After countless years of yo-yo dieting and eating my feelings and gaining weight and losing weight and gaining it back again, I promised myself that I was going to do it the right way and keep the weight off once and for all.

My last progress photo…90 pounds down.

I changed my relationship with food and I fell in love with working out (and, eventually, running). And I didn’t just become another weight loss success story. I became an athlete.

Of course, I did some other pretty awesome stuff in my 20s, too.

Like…

I studied abroad in England for a semester in college.

Oh, Wroxton, how I miss you.

And I saw some of the most AMAZINGLY beautiful places.

Ahhh, Venice…

I graduated from college (Fairleigh Dickinson, woot woot).

(Plus, I was a super huge nerd and was the features editor for the campus newspaper and won all kinds of geeky academic awards, haha.)

After a one-year paid insternship at New Jersey Monthly right after graduation, I had (many) unsuccessful attempts at landing a full-time job in the magazine industry. I was stupid enough to work for free as a peon intern at several different magazines for a year or two before I decided to stop kidding myself and follow my dream. I wanted to be a freelance writer.

The idea of going into business for myself was scary as hell, but it’s something I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wanted to do. And, you know what? I actually friggin’ did it. I won’t be on the Fortune 500 list anytime soon, but I love what I do and I love working from home (in my jammies, lol), and I know the possibilities are endless. Meanwhile, I built my piano teaching business from 2 students to 20+ students, so I get to take a break from staring at my computer screen and hang out with kids every afternoon…and teach them how to play Disney songs.

My first byline, for New Jersey Business magazine — still write for them!

I made friends that are still some of my best buds today.

I also made some four-legged friends.

Riley as a puppy!

My little baby, Miles. <3

And I became best friends with my little sister. We pretty much hated each other for most of our young lives, and now I can’t imagine what I’d do without her.

Nothing says sisterly love like a little Frozen.

I earned my bo-black belt in Thai Kickboxing. I remember how intimidating it was at first — even though I had lost the weight, I still saw myself as “the fat girl” who didn’t belong in any sort of fitness class, let alone martial arts! But I faced my fear of being laughed out of the place, I fell in love with it, and I can’t believe how far I’ve come over the past 5 years.

I earned my black belt in Thai Kickboxing (and got to learn how to fight *real* people for the first time, lol).

I decided to give Taekwondo a try, even though I had pretty much convinced myself that I would NEVER be able to do it. And now I’m dangerously close to testing for my black belt.

I faced an entirely different fear and decided to sign up for my first 5K. It was that day that I realized that nobody was going to point and laugh at me and tell me that I should go back to the treadmill. I felt like a “real” runner for the first time.

I ran my first 10K. And almost cried. I couldn’t believe that I ran 6 WHOLE MILES!

I ran my first half marathon. It still amazes me to think of how terrified I was of not finishing. Even after all those months of training, I had no confidence in myself. I was sure I’d never see that finish line.

There are no words…

And then I REALLY did the impossible. Me, this former fat girl, attempting to run a marathon? There are some days I still can’t believe I did it…and as part of the insane Dopey Challenge, no less!

Now I’m training for my sixth marathon. So that I can have this experience again. Running NYCM was a MAJOR highlight of the last decade, that’s for sure.

Last but certainly not least :::drumroll, please::: I met this guy.

Our first race.

A year later, we moved in together. We’ve already had so many adventures over the past two years, and I didn’t even know it was possible to be this happy. <3

The moral of the story? If there’s one lesson I’m taking with me as I say good-bye to my 20s, it’s that I am so, SO much stronger than I ever thought possible. I am a fighter, and I am capable of absolutely anything. I don’t have to be afraid anymore, because no matter what it is…I know I can do it. Period.

It’s incredible to think about where I was — physically and mentally — in my early 20s to where I am now. It’s honestly hard for me to remember what it was like living life as “the old me,” but I know she is always with me. She likes to come back and haunt me when I find myself struggling the most…like, say, that last 10K of a marathon, haha.

I still have my own personal battles with body image, and it’s an ongoing journey to accept my body the way it is now — loose skin, stretch marks, and all — after so many years of abusing it with yo-yo dieting and being completely sedentary. But I’m closer now than I’ve ever been to being truly comfortable in my own skin, and that’s something I never, EVER thought would happen.

Posing for photos in a bathing suit? UNHEARD OF.

Now that I’m (almost!) 30, I have to admit that, despite all of the mistakes I’ve made along the way, I am proud of myself. I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I’m proud of everything I’ve accomplished, and everything I’ve learned along the way. I’m proud that the big thighs I once hated and tried so hard to hide have carried me over countless finish lines and kicked my way through years of intense martial arts training. I’m proud that I managed to break a lifetime of poor eating habits and completely transform my relationship with food.

I’m a runner now, so that means I can lots and lots of pizza.

Most of all, I’m proud that even when things get hard, I know I can count on myself to never, EVER give up.

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done!

I am so appreciative of my health and my fitness and my career and my relationships, and looking back, I can honestly say I’m happy with the way things have turned out so far. I can’t wait to see what my 30s have in store for me.

Did you freak out/are you freaked out about turning 30?

Much like the Firecracker 4-Miler on July 4th, I run this race every year…and, back in 2011, it was my very first 5k!

Is there any better way to celebrate your first 3.1…?

This year, AS PER USUAL, the race just so happened to land on a disgustingly hot, humid evening — the “real feel” temps were near 100 all day, and even though the race kicks off at 7pm, it didn’t do a whole lot to curb the humidity. I was breaking a sweat just walking to the starting line. (Pretty, right?)

Anyway, I didn’t go into the race with high expectations or anything like that. I mainly run this one for the pizza. And the cookies. Not even gonna lie.

2012

It’s held in the downtown area of Westfield (obviously), and has sort of a fun, festival atmosphere with lots of giveaways and goodies from various local businesses and vendors prior to the race — and, of course, a pizza party at the finish line.

When Todd and I arrived with his parents (my parents and sister met up with us later on), we headed straight for the local running store, Westfield Running Company, which was having a giveaway of its own — free “Run This Town” tech shirts with the store name on the back for anyone who signed up for their mailing list/entered a prize drawing. Sounded like a pretty fair trade to me. They ran out of the men’s shirts by the time it was our turn to sign up, so Todd got a free gray Nike tech shirt. Not too shabby.

We also walked away with swag including ice packs (which I anticipate using an awful lot over the next several months) and the usual snacks, t-shirts, etc., on top of the tech shirt that came with race registration. Which, as per usual, I don’t particularly care for…in fact, I think it may be their most unattractive shirt yet, and it’s not even “real” tech material (it’s that weird polyester I’d never even consider running in).

Anyway, it’s a hugely popular race, attracting some 3,000 local runners, so we lined up somewhere near the 10:00/mile pacer and started out nice and easy. Mainly because there was NO WAY I was pushing myself on a 90-degree evening, but also because there really is nowhere to run due to the crowds. Unless you start right in the front with the super-fast runners, you’re not going anywhere for the first mile or so. Which was fine by me.

Everything started out well enough. The course is very familiar to me, obviously, and even though it’s a tad hillier than I’d like for a 5K, at least I know where all said hills are located and can prepare myself mentally. Todd and I were casually shooting the breeze during the first half mile or so, and I felt okay, but by the first mile marker I knew the remainder of the race wasn’t going to be all that pleasant for me.

I was guzzling water at every station, running through every sprinkler and hose the kind folks of Westfield were blasting upon us sweaty runners, and even stopping to WALK through the water stations — which I normally would never do in a 5K — but I was feeling like crap. My legs were tight and sore, which I chalked up to the previous evening’s martial arts classes, but overall I just did not feel well. I wasn’t pushing myself by any means — my Garmin reported an average 10:30-11/minute mile, my usual “comfortable” pace in hot temperatures — but my body just wasn’t having it.

It still amazes me how a 10K or even a half marathon can fly by, but sometimes a measly 5K at “only” 3.1 miles can feel like an eternity. It felt like those final two miles dragged on FOREVER, and I know I wasn’t the only one struggling. We saw a runner on the ground receiving medical attention in the third mile, and I heard of at least two other runners who went down on the course, presumably as a result of the weather conditions.

When we finally crossed the finish line, I thought for a moment that I might be one of those runners — I immediately felt lightheaded and needed to sit down RIGHT AWAY. I was really afraid of fainting, so I found the nearest curb and plopped myself down. Todd gave me some water and the feeling passed in a few minutes, fortunately, but when I stood up again I still didn’t feel quite “right.”

Not surprisingly, this year proved my worst finish time ever for this race. Even better, it is now my official worst time for a 5K ever (not including runDisney races, of course). We came in a few seconds after my very first 5K time of 33:03, with a chip time of 33:09.

It’s not an encouraging stat, to say the least, but all I can say is that a.) I know my body doesn’t perform well in the summer, b.) It’s not bad given the fact that we really weren’t “racing” and all of my previous attempts at this race have definitely been for time, c.) I’m in marathon training and my legs are not “fresh” in any way, shape, or form, and d.) I wasn’t feeling right and did not want Todd scooping me off the ground and having to alert the paramedics during what was supposed to be a fun 5K race.

We found both sets of our parents and I felt a lot better once I started gobbling down pizza. (Gotta love the salt.)

I’m going to go ahead and assume that I was dehydrated, but as I will discuss in my forthcoming weekly workouts post, this seems to be an ongoing issue. I’m working on figuring out what I’m doing wrong, because my last couple of runs have NOT gone well. And I will be definitely be asking for your advice!

The remainder of the evening went well — it was the first time our respective parents met, so we were chatting and having a grand old time chowing down on pizza and cookies. A reader also came up and introduced herself, which also has a way of boosting my mood.

But then the sky turned black and race organizers started warning people to get to steppin’, because that evening’s forecasted severe thunderstorm was rolling in FAST.

We took a few final photos with the lovely backdrop that was the BLACK sky and started to make our way out, but not before the sky opened up and I found myself doing just a little bit more running — to the car.

I definitely didn’t mind getting rained on at that point, and I counted our lucky stars that the storm held off for everyone to finish the race and grab some pizza before we all had to get the hell out of there. I would have been more than a little upset if the storm started earlier and cancelled the race!

Have you ever felt sick/dehydrated during a race?

Has a race you’ve signed up for ever been cancelled due to the weather?

Of course, if you missed my previous Dopey Challenge recaps, here they are: expo, 5K, 10K, half marathon.

This post was hard for me to write. (Please do allow me to apologize in advance for just how long it is!)

Unless you’re a runner, it’s hard to understand what conquering those 26.2 miles for the first time really means. And for me, it’s especially hard to describe the feeling I had when I crossed that finish line because it’s just not something I ever thought I would do.

Before I write my final Dopey Challenge recap, I have to be perfectly honest and admit that I didn’t initially sign up for this 48.6-mile weekend race challenge because I wanted to.

I did it because I felt I had to.

Photo credit: runDisney

Don’t get me wrong, I knew ever since I crossed the finish line of my first race that, someday, I’d probably run a marathon. Of course, I also knew it was going to HAVE to be the Walt Disney World Marathon.

But when the Dopey Challenge was announced, I felt a need to blow right past the accomplishment of “just” running a marathon and take on something that was so inconceivable, so seemingly impossible, because I needed to prove to myself once and for all that the “old me” is gone.

I know many of you already know “my story.” Clearly, this used to be a weight loss blog, so even if you don’t, let’s just say I used to lead a very, very different lifestyle than the one I have now.

As someone who was obese her entire life, and who at my worst was pushing 275 pounds and miserable and hopeless and really had absolutely no good reason to get up in the morning…I never thought I would be writing the following post.

Growing up, as I cried and stuffed my face with junk food every night because the kids at school brutalized me for being fat, or as I made my way through college and started my career thinking that I wasn’t worthy of achieving my goals and I was simply destined to be overweight and unhappy for the rest of my life, I never in a million years could have fathomed that, someday, I would be able to call myself a marathoner.

Someday, I would use my body as something other than a way to hide my pain and my sadness, and instead rely on it to accomplish this ultimate physical challenge.

It’s still hard for me to believe I did what I did earlier this month. And so that is why this marathon was so much more than a race to me.

Okay, sob story over (for now, anyway). Let’s get to the recap!

The morning of the marathon, I shot out of bed around 3am for the fourth and final day with adrenaline running through me. This was it. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

I got dressed in my Dopey costume — because you KNOW I had to go as Dopey for this one, even though it wasn’t the most original idea in the world — and we were out the door before 4am. I was BEYOND THRILLED to open the door of our room and feel a chill in the air. I had been fretting for months over attempting to run my first marathon in the sweltering Florida heat or humidity, which is what I faced on the morning of the half marathon.

I don’t do so well in the heat, so I thanked my lucky stars that it was going to be a cooler morning (temperatures only reached about 70 that day — not bad at all).

The race day guide warned of “SEVERE TRAFFIC DELAYS” on the morning of the marathon, so I was terrified we’d get stuck in traffic or roads would be closed or we’d have some other issue getting to Epcot that morning and I’d miss the start of the race and life as I knew it would be over.

Fortunately, I had been worried for nothing, because we made it to Epcot in under 20 minutes and I had plenty of time to munch on my usual pre-race fuel — a bagel with jelly, and my latest obsession, Belvita! — and take some pictures.

As I sat there checking out all the costumes and watching the other runners stretching and gearing up for the marathon, I know Todd knew I was nervous. I was quiet and anxious and I’m sure my fear was written all over my face.

What’s funny is that there was a part of me that was nervous about the 26.2-mile challenge ahead, sure…but I have to be perfectly honest and admit that I wasn’t nearly as scared as I thought I’d be. Somehow, that morning I had come to a place where I KNEW that I had this. I KNEW I was going to finish this marathon.

It was one of the first times in my life that I ever felt truly confident about something, and it really did throw me off guard a little bit. It’s not my usual M.O., by any means. I was really enjoying the feeling.

Around 4:30, Todd and I parted ways and I made my slow death march to the corrals. The plan was for him to see me at the castle in the Magic Kingdom, and then again at the finish line, since he’s a newb to The World and I feared that he would get lost or trapped in another park and miss my triumphant finish if he tried to spot me at other points along the course.

As I sat in corral G and waited for the race to start, I felt my nerves starting to kick in again. Although my sister couldn’t make it for this trip, I received the following text at 5:27am (edited slightly for clarity, haha). I didn’t ask her permission to share, but hopefully she won’t mind.

“You’re gonna do great, I have no doubt you’ll finish. Love you and so proud of you. Take it all in…remember how this time a year ago you were terrified thinking you couldn’t do a half….look at what you’ve accomplished in only a year…”

And that really took me back for a second. She was right. It really was less than a year ago that I took on the Princess Half Marathon, and here I was about to run a marathon. And after already successfully completing a 5K, 10K, and half marathon!

It helped give me the boost I needed, and before I knew it, they were letting the corrals go. One by one, until it was time for my fireworks, for the start of my race, and the start of this final leg of my journey.

My plan was to start out slow and steady. I had no time goals whatsoever, and that wasn’t only because this was a Disney race and you know I planned to stop for photos! My goal was to cross that finish line in an upright position with a smile on my face (and maybe even have enough energy afterwards to play in the Disney parks afterwards!). I knew the best way to do that was the conserve my energy as best I could.

That being said, I really never walk in races. The only time I’ll allow myself to walk is when I’m going through a water stop, which is when I typically take my fuel. And, of course, if I MUST use a bathroom, then of course I will stop for a call of nature. I decided I was going to apply that same race strategy here, and force myself to walk — even if I didn’t want or need to walk — any time I came to a water station.

Oh, and my other plan was to stop for a.) any characters that I really, really like and b.) skip any characters that Todd and I had already seen the previous day.

I started the first few miles with a slow, steady pace — no faster than a 10:30/11-minute mile. I felt pretty good. My legs and feet were only slightly sore from the previous days’ races (and park walking).

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t feeling a whole lot of emotion in those first several miles. I couldn’t believe I was really doing this, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how far I’ve come or everything it took to get me to that starting line.

I passed up a couple of characters on the way to Magic Kingdom because they were pretty much the same as the half marathon and I really wasn’t all that interested in them.

(Am I the only one in the world who has no idea who Launchpad McQuack is, BTW?)

As always, I was thrilled to see the gates of the Magic Kingdom, and I knew I’d be seeing Todd soon. But, first, a quick stop at the TTC bathrooms, since I try to “save it,” if you will, for “real” bathrooms instead of relying on yucky port-a-potties.

Before I knew it, we were on Main Street again, and the castle was all lit up and it was amazing.

Amazing.

I ran down Main Street with the dopiest (see what I did there?) grin on my face, and through the park, stopping for a couple of pictures along the way.

Including, of course, what is always the LONGEST LINE EVER — Mickey and Minnie.

And soon it was time for my favorite moment, yet again — it was time to run through the castle!

There really are no words to describe how I felt at this moment.

I spotted Todd pretty quickly — as a ChEAR Squad member, he was privy to a spot right in front of the castle, so we had our few seconds of smoochy and snuggly time and he took a few pictures and I was on my way again.

I knew Magic Kingdom was going to be a highlight of the race for me, so I did worry a bit about how I was going to keep myself entertained for the next 20 miles!

Here’s some entertainment for YOU, though — somewhere in mile 7, I looked down and realized that my belt had fallen off my costume! It was secured with velcro, and after fiddling with it through the early miles of the race because it kept spinning around backwards, I secured it extra tight for Magic Kingdom so it would be in the right place for photos. Unfortunately, that meant that the velcro came unattached, and, yes, this CRAZY PSYCHO decided to run BACKWARDS IN A MARATHON to go and find it! There was no way I was finishing the marathon without my costume intact. Shows you where my priorities were that morning…

Fortunately, it had fallen off less than a quarter-mile back, and some volunteers had moved it to the side of the course — so when they saw me running backwards, they shouted and pointed out where the belt was. Not wanting another such episode, I took a pin from my race bib and stuck it right through the middle of the belt — you know, kind of what I should have done in the first place. It didn’t budge for the rest of the race.

Running through the Walt Disney World Speedway — our next stop — wasn’t the biggest of thrills for me. I just don’t care about cars, sad to say.

Also, I really, REALLY do not care for the ridiculous dip in the road as you make your way in — it could not be more dangerous for a race course!

There was another (boring) stretch of course as we made our way out of the speedway and towards Animal Kingdom. I did find a few characters along the way.

And as always, I was excited to actually make it into the park — although I was disappointed by just how little time we actually spent in Animal Kingdom. I feel like we saw more of the parking lot than anything else.

After leaving Animal Kingdom, I knew we would be headed into ESPN Wide World of Sports.

As we were headed towards Hollywood Studios on this relatively boring out-and-back section of the course, I also couldn’t help but stop for THIS photo opp! The chance to lie down for a second felt really good, not gonna lie.

It was cool running around the track and through the baseball stadium at Wide World of Sports, but, still, not quite enough distraction for me, personally — I really only like running through the parks, in case you couldn’t tell.

I want to pause for a moment and say that, honestly, I will still feeling pretty good. And I was having the time of my life. Really.

The temperatures were warming up and now the sun was out and beating down on me, and that naturally slowed me down a bit. And, yes, my legs and feet were sore — but, honestly, even as I approached miles 15, 16, and 17, I was still feeling pretty strong.

I attribute a lot of that to the fact that I think I did a pretty good job of fueling myself before and during this race. I had a plan for approximately when I would take my Clif Shot Bloks, and I also made sure to drink Powerade (I dilute it with water because I hate the taste and it sometimes bothers my stomach) at every water station.

Throughout the course, there were also two banana stops, which I gobbled down hungrily, and many spectators along the course were handing out goodies like Twizzlers, pretzels, and crackers — all of which I took and munched during a walk through my next water stop. Even if I wasn’t feeling especially hungry, I took whatever they were handing out — solid food tasted good, no matter what, and I wanted to avoid hitting that “wall” I often experienced during some of my long runs where my energy just gave out on me and every step became a struggle.

I was so excited to reach the 20-mile marker. After that, it was all virgin running territory. And, best of all, it was FROZEN — which I am obsessed with.

Todd had texted me with some encouragement when I hit the halfway point, and it was during the last 10 miles or so that my sister continued to send me some personal notes of inspiration, like:

“Your pace is great, keep it up…you can do this.”

“Fight the pain…it’ll still hurt later, and you can worry about it then.”

And even some motivational quotes:

“A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” — Hercules

And, my personal favorite…

“Do or do not, there is no try.” — Yoda

Honestly, I don’t know if I could have done this without either of them. In all of the months that I poured my time and energy into the training process for Dopey, any time I said I couldn’t do it…they were always there to tell me that I could. So, Hopper and TL, if you’re reading this (which you BETTER BE!) — thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.

It was within the last 10K that I really started to feel it. I was excited to run through Hollywood Studios, but, first, there was a whole lot of course that wasn’t really the most exciting in the world. I didn’t know if it was truly a physical thing, or if it was my mind taking over — 6 miles is SO CLOSE, and yet still SO FAR — but I felt myself starting to struggle. Suddenly, everything HURT, and I was basically going back and forth between being able to push myself to about a 10:30 pace for short periods of time, and then having to slow down to about a 12:30.

Also, my feel were on FIRE. I felt like every muscle in my legs was starting to tighten up. I continued to allow myself to walk only through the water stations, and the smiles and the encouragement from the volunteers (who often refer to you by name…or, in my case, as “Dopey”) helped keep my spirits up.

There was a stretch of road at one point after the 20-mile marker that had a whole bunch of signs with quotes…including my absolute favorite. A photographer for runDisney happened to be standing there, so he kindly took this picture for me — and it turned out to be one of my favorites from the entire race.

Fortunately, making it into Hollywood Studios, and a much-anticipated candy stop in Mile 22, also helped perk me up a bit — they had mini chocolate bars and MONSTERS INC. FRUIT SNACKS! SCORE!

And, of course, meeting a couple of characters and running through Hollywood Studios felt awesome — I loved every second of it.

Running through Hollywood Studios was definitely a highlight of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon for me, so I was excited to be back!

As we made our way out of the park and towards our final destination — Epcot! — I remember texting Todd somewhere in those final miles that I was in quite a bit of discomfort now…but that I knew I was going to make it.

Shortly thereafter I spotted Dopey, and almost had a heart attack — this was the ONE character picture I really, really wanted, and he had hardly any line at all. I ran over to him like I was on fire, and this totally made my day!

Heading into Epcot, I felt like I was taking my victory lap. My pain virtually disappeared once again, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

I was doing this…the end was in sight…and in just moments, I would be a marathoner.

The park was already open for the day so, of course, there were tons of people everywhere, but there were plenty of spectators and even runners who had already finished cheering us on.

And, perhaps even best of all, there were a bunch of characters out with absolute ZERO WAIT! I’m guessing nobody wants to stop in miles 24-26 of a marathon? Understandable…but…this person did.

And, FINALLY, at long last…was the glorious 26 mile marker.

This was it. After more than 5 hours and 45 minutes on the course, I had finally made it.

I spotted Todd, waved like a maniac, and headed straight towards Mickey for a much-deserved high-five.

And then it was over. I COMPLETED THE DOPEY CHALLENGE!

And…then…I freakin’ lost it. Like, LOST. IT. So much so that a volunteer came over and hugged me for a solid 45+ seconds. I must have looked like such an giant idiot.

But I didn’t care. I had earned this moment. And some serious bling!

I worked so, SO hard for this and it was an incredible feeling and I still to this day am having a hard time writing about it.

This marathon changed my life. Setting this goal and putting in the training and proving to myself that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought possible has changed me forever.

I will likely carry the memories of the person I used to be with me for the rest of my life. But I will always and forever remember my first marathon as the day when I finally let go of the “old me.”

And in her place is a freakin’ MARATHONER!

I will, of course, subject you guys to just one or two more posts on the Dopey Challenge — including my overall thoughts and a final recap of the rest of our Disney trip — but until then…thanks again for all of your support and encouragement along the way! I really do appreciate it!

By the morning of the half marathon, I was pretty tired. And sore. Not so much from the races, but from walking the parks all day AFTER the races. You see, I know I should have taken it easy, but when I’m at Disney World, I have a really hard time resisting my usual urge to tour the parks commando-style…and we really were spending the entire day in the parks.

What saved me? I made sure to plan for an 8-8:30 bedtime in our itinerary (yes, I had a park-touring itinerary) for the nights before the half and full marathons, combined with several other strategies for surviving back-to-back races in one piece (which I’ll talk about in a separate post)!

What also helped is that I typically decide to shell out the money for a rental car when I’m on Disney property for the convenience of not having to rely on bus transportation — and during a race weekend, it pays off because I could “sleep in” (HA!) just a little bit later. Of course, I didn’t want an episode like the previous morning, where I almost missed the start of the race, so I made sure we got to Epcot in plenty of time…and Todd, hilarious as he is, made sure to make a big production out of laying out my bib and safety pins the night before.

The half marathon was going to be extra special because I wouldn’t be running alone. It was going to be Todd’s very first runDisney experience, and of course, I coerced him into dressing in matching costumes, with the promise that they consist of actual running clothes that wouldn’t be uncomfortable for a 13.1-mile run — which I thought was more than fair.

And what better character to channel on our first runDisney experience together than everyone’s favorite duck? And his girlfriend?

I was ridiculously excited to share the magic of running through Disney parks with him…honestly, having him run with me on this trip was (almost) as exciting as conquering the Dopey Challenge in general, not gonna lie.

We got ready and were out the door a little after 4am to make the drive over to Epcot, where we were greeted with the usual DJ music and various other excitement — including, THANK GOD, a snack stand where I could caffeinate myself. I didn’t get a chance to drink any coffee before the 5K or 10K, and ended up with a splitting migraine after both races. (Withdrawal, much?)

We then began the slow walk to Narnia to find our corrals. RunDisney isn’t kidding when they warn you about a 20-minute walk to the starting line! Though we submitted almost identical half marathon proofs of time (2:02 and 2:03), Todd was just running the half, so he was placed in E, whereas I was in G, so he joined me so we could start together.

We waited impatiently for each corral to be released (just a minute or two of each other), until it was our turn for the fireworks!

And then we were off. We had previously discussed my need to keep a slower-than-usual pace to conserve energy for the marathon and, of course, my penchant for collecting character photos, so this was definitely not a race we were running for time. Plus, as Todd said, his legs weren’t exactly feeling “fresh” after walking all over Disney property every day since landing in Florida on Tuesday morning.

Unfortunately, that morning was also brutally humid, and I was, once again, practically drenched in sweat by the end of the first mile. Gross.

Still, we were keeping a very comfortable, easy 11:30 pace, and after stopping for a potty break at the TTC, I was anxious to make our way to the Magic Kingdom!

We did pass up photos with a few characters along the way, like Jack and Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas (never got into the one), and the pirates because a.) I’ve already taken my picture with them and b.) neither of us are huge fans to begin with.

Truth be told, I was already a little disappointed by the lack of characters in general…I kept thinking back to my first half marathon, the Princess Half in 2014, and just how many more characters there were (and hoopla in general).

However, running down Main Street is still pretty much the most exciting thing in the world to me, so by the time we had entered our first park that’s all I was thinking about!

So…you know I had to stop for some photos. Please ignore my pit stains. And various other sweat stains.

(I told you it was HOT!)

My other favorite part? Actually running THROUGH the castle!

Of course, before we did that, I once again had the joy of running through Magic Kingdom. My favorite place in the world. Honestly, that one mile we’re in the park makes the entire experience worth it for me, as cheesy and ridiculous as that sounds.

We ran through Tomorrowland and grabbed a picture with Buzz.

As we ventured into Fantasyland, I had to stop for Pooh…since I heart him.

And then, given our costumes, we HAD to get in the ridiculously long line behind the castle for — you guessed it — Donald and Daisy Duck.

After waiting several minutes for our turn, we were finally next in line…and Donald decided it was time to go on his break. OF COURSE!

Very much wanting a picture of Todd and I dressed as the ducks actually posing with the ducks, I asked the cast member if we could step off to the side to wait for Donald to return…and then pretty much everyone and their mother followed suit.

The line became non-existent for Daisy Duck — so much so that the cast member had to continually call out to see if anyone wanted a picture with “just Daisy”…and nobody budged. Haha.

Donald finally returned, and we got our picture (which came out kind of crappy on my camera, and I can’t for the life of me find it on Marathonfoto and am getting absolutely no help from them…but that’s another story for another time).

After running through the castle, we stopped for a few more photos.

We also saw Woody (ANOTHER missing picture…not happy about that, either), and then made our way back out of the Magic Kingdom. We headed out to what I knew would be my least favorite part of the course.

It’s tight, it’s crowded, it’s boring…and you really have to make a concentrated effort to weave around the walls of walkers. Granted, I realize that because we stop so often, it’s my own fault for getting trapped behind those running at a slower pace than I normally do, but it’s still not the safest thing in the world to have thousands of runners with absolutely nowhere to run.

Fortunately, I spotted some of my other favorites along the way to help keep me distracted.

And there were some parts of the next several miles that were more scenic than others, like the golf course, which is always nice.

It was within the last couple of miles that I felt myself starting to struggle a little bit for the first time since starting the Dopey Challenge. The 5K and 10K were pretty much a breeze for me, but that morning’s humidity and my third early wake-up call and consecutive day of running were starting to take their toll.

My feet hurt and I was hot and drained and I was looking forward to that finish line…and, truth be told, starting to worry how I’d feel the following morning when it was time to take on my first full marathon.

Fortunately, once we made our way back to Epcot, I forgot all about any discomfort I was in. Funny how that happens.

We were still keeping a pretty consistent pace, and I was excited to run through another park!

I tried to focus on savoring the last mile or two of the race and not let my fears about what the next day might bring ruin it for me. Because believe you me…I was enjoying this moment!

Before I knew it, I saw the mile 13 marker…and it seemed more than appropriate to stop for one last photo.

And, yes, you are reading that time correctly. We were released about 20 minutes after the official start of the race, so our finish time hovered in the 3:25 area, when we’re both pretty solid 2-hour half marathon runners (in fact, one of us…not me…has already broken 2 hours).

But I couldn’t care less about our finish time. I run every other race for time, and there was no way I was passing up a picture with Donald and Daisy or various pictures of us in front of the castle. I had an amazing time “running Disney” with Todd for the first time, and have absolutely no regrets about just how long that actually took.

After collecting our medals, we posed for just a few more photos. Surprise, surprise!

And then hopped in — believe it or not! — yet another long line for Chip and Dale.

We headed straight back into Epcot, cleaned ourselves up (I swear, Shower Pill wipes are the best invention EVER) and enjoyed everything that we had missed on our visit after the expo, including a yummy dinner at Biergarten.

(Oh, and, yes…we did wear the ridiculous duck hats for the rest of the day).

We skipped Illuminations since we had already seen it on Wednesday, and headed back to the room by 7pm.

I had been stressing out about my first marathon for months. The night before my first half marathon, I couldn’t sleep. At ALL.

I fully expected yet another restless night of staring at the ceiling, wondering if I had already done too much harm to my legs and feet, wondering if I had trained enough, wondering if I was ready, wondering if I would ever see that marvelous 26-mile marker.

But then my head hit the pillow…and I was OUT.

Next up…FINALLY…a recap of my first full marathon and the conclusion of the Dopey Challenge!

After arriving at The World on Tuesday and spending three full days on my feet, I’m not gonna lie — my legs were already feeling sore. I also haven’t mentioned the weather for the weekend just yet — Friday morning was QUITE warm. It was FRIGID (30 degrees) the day we arrived, and then the temperatures started climbing again — and by the morning of the 10K, it was pretty freakin’ hot.

I woke up slightly later than I did the morning of the 5K, so I threw on my Goofy costume as quickly as I could. As I was leaving the resort, I realized I was forgetting one teensy little detail. My race bib! It was already about 20 minutes to 5, and the race started at 5:30, so I raced back to the room only to discover that the bib was nowhere to be found! We looked for it frantically and I could NOT find it anywhere!

Five minutes went by, then 10, and almost 15 minutes later, I found the stupid thing rolled up and stuffed on the back of the shelf behind where we were keeping our assortment of snacks for the weekend. No idea how it got there. UGH. I grabbed it and ran out the door, momentarily forgetting that it had rained the night before…and the ground was still wet…and it was very, very slippery…

I’ll bet you can guess what comes next. Yep. I face-planted. My legs flew out from under me and I went down on my knees — HARD — and my chin slammed against the ground. For a moment, I panicked, thinking I broke a kneecap or really hurt myself. It was now almost 5 in the morning, so I was also panicked that I might not even make it to the start line!  I picked myself up and my knees were sore and achy (and BRUISED) from the fall, but otherwise, I felt okay.

I hopped in the car and drove as fast as I could to Epcot, making it into the parking lot as they were closing down the entrance! I then somehow squeezed into the corral area just as they were announcing the two-minute warning to get into your corral before they closed. I MADE IT! (Barely).

Sadly, the actual race wasn’t nearly as eventful as my morning had been. The first few miles were pretty boring, with only a handful of characters. My knees were still hurting from my oh-so-graceful performance earlier that morning, but fortunately, they stopped bothering me about halfway through the race. The heat and humidity were also slowing me down; I was sweating like a pig by the first quarter mile.

Of course, no matter what, it was a Disney race…so you know I was having a good time.

Overall, there were hardly any characters out at all, which was disappointing…and, a little surprising, since I ran the 10K in Disneyland over the summer and there seemed to be a character every half mile!

Running around the World Showcase at Epcot is always fun, and the sights as we made our way onto the Boardwalk were beautiful. It was definitely a favorite part of the course for me!

I still make a concentrated effort to keep my pace pretty slow to conserve energy for the weekend’s races, and of course I had to stop for a few character photo opportunities along the way.

I was especially excited to see Goofy near ESPN!

I also had to stop for Chip and Dale, who were out towards the end of the race.

Before I knew it, we were headed towards the finish line, and the 10K was over.

I finished around 1:30, which sounded about right for my character photo stops and slower overall pace. I was happy to be halfway through my Dopey Challenge journey — even though it was, technically, the “easy” part.

I collected my medal, and started to scarf down my box of snacks, courtesy of runDisney, for the second day in a row.

And then, of course, I saw another insanely long character photo line for Minnie Mouse. Since it was a Minnie Mouse-themed 10K, you know I couldn’t resist.

After I finally got my picture with Minnie Mouse, I headed back to the resort and Todd and I made our way to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon! We had a 4pm dinner at Tusker House and then headed back to the room for an early bedtime.

I figured it was imperative to get as much sleep as possible the nights before the half and full marathon — I had no trouble at all passing out by 8:30.

Next up: a recap of the Walt Disney World Half Marathon!

It started at 6:15am — which is late for a Disney race! — so I was up by 5am to get dressed up as my favorite Disney pooch (and the mascot for the 5K race).

Quick shout-out to Todd’s mom, Nancy, who made all of my costumes! Including my Pluto collar, Goofy vest, and Dopey shirt and hat! (And Todd’s half marathon Donald Duck shirt).

*Note, I WILL be purchasing all photos from MarathonFoto, and will replace them here once I’ve successfully located all of my unidentifed images…still missing quite a few, unfortunately.

I made it to the staging area at Epcot in plenty of time, and hung around enjoying other people’s costumes and soaking up the excitement of the Dopey Challenge. I couldn’t believe it was finally here!

My plan for the 5K was, of course, to TAKE IT SLOW. Normally, I bust it in a 5K (as much as I can, anyway), but I wanted to do everything I could to save my legs for 26.2 on Sunday. When we lined up and they sent Corral B off, I had to force myself to bring it down a notch — my excitement tends to take over when I start a race, and I notoriously go out too fast. I decided to make a concentrated effort to keep my pace no faster than an 11:30, which was actually pretty easy to do since there wasn’t much room to run, anyway, until we made it to Epcot.

Of course, my other plan was to take pictures! I passed up the first character, Flik from A Bug’s Life (if I’m remembering correctly!), because I’m not a huge fan. But as we made our way into Epcot, I did have to stop for Norwegian (I think?) Daisy.

As I made my way into Germany, I was greeted by the sight of a RIDICULOUSLY long line. I mean it. We’re talking at LEAST 50 runners standing around. And before I even spotted the character, I knew who it was for.

They REALLY put Dopey out in the 5K?! The folks at runDisney HAD to have known that everyone and their mother was going to stop for this particular photo opportunity, with 7,000 Dopey Challenge runners participating in the 5K that morning!

I really, really didn’t want to stand in that line (I’m not the most patient person in the world in general), and I almost made the executive decision to just keep going…but my efforts to resist were fruitless. I figured I’d get in the line for a few minutes and see just how long it was actually taking.

Five minutes went by…then 10…then 15…and the line was moving soooo slowly. A runner ran by and shouted, “Don’t forget you need a 16-minute/mile pace for Dopey!”

Crap. I had totally forgotten about that. A bunch of people around me started talking, and basically came to the consensus that there was no way that runDisney was going to disqualify people in the 5K, especially since it was because of a photo opportunity with Dopey. But I was still freaked out! The line had now cost me 20 minutes, and with my 12ish-minute pace to begin with, a few stops for photos with the Epcot ball, and a 5-10 minute line for Daisy, I figured I was already screwed no matter what. I had waited that long, I was getting my picture with Dopey. But if I saw any of the dreaded “balloon ladies”…my plan was to run like hell!

Then another runner ran by and said something to her friend like, “wow, these people must think they’re really fast runners to be able to spend so much time in line for a stupid picture.”

Really? What’s with the snarkiness in a race where people are wearing tutus and tiaras and I’m dressed up like a giant yellow dog? And wearing a freakin’ collar, for crying out loud?

Anyway, I DID finally get my picture with Dopey (and, not gonna lie, I was still really hoping I could get one with him during the marathon). I then decided to hightail it to the finish line.

I ran as fast as I could, weaving around the walkers and slower runners, and passed up a photo opportunity with Remy in France.

I was surprised (and disappointed) to see that there weren’t more characters out, but in the end, it made it easier for me to just focus on getting to that finish line and completing the first leg of my Dopey journey.

I made it to the finish line in a little over an hour. For a 5K. Dopey had cost me at least 25-30 minutes of time, if not more.

But, at the end of the day, I had no regrets. I never saw any sweepers and I did, in fact, earn my Pluto medal.

Which I then promptly took to stand in ANOTHER 45-minute line for a picture with actual Pluto.

(If you haven’t realized that I’m absolutely insane just yet…stay tuned)!

After the race, I went back to the resort to collect Todd and change, and we spent the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios!

Next up: The Inaugural Walt Disney World 10K!

I’m taking that back. Because yesterday, I ran what was — by far — my most harrowing race to date.

Our story begins on a FRIGID Sunday morning in Brooklyn. As many Northerners know, yesterday’s temperatures were absolutely ridiculous. We had signed up for NYCRUNS‘ Chanukkah Chalf several weeks ago, and little did I know that the morning’s temperature’s would be in the TWENTIES. The Chanukkah Chalf was part of the Running Festival of Lights, which included the Chanukkah Gelt 5K and the Oy Vey 10K earlier that morning.

But it wasn’t the 28 degree temperatures that concerned me most. The day’s forecast also called for almost 30 MPH winds.

And guess where this particular race was being held? ON THE WATER. Yes, that’s right. The course was essentially an out-and-back that you’d run twice, right along the water in Shore Road Park near the Verrazano Bridge.

Oh, and there were no clocks or mile markers along the course. Why? Apparently, they blew away. The port-a-potties were also blowing away. And there was no finish line banner. I’m sure you can guess why.

Was it a picturesque location for a race? Sure. But it was the last place I wanted to be on this particular morning.

Okay, so now that I’ve painted that little picture for you, here goes nothing.

We started our drive around 8:30 on Sunday morning for the 10:30 race start time, and found street parking. On the walk to the park alone, I knew this race was going to be special. And not in a good way. IT. WAS. FREEZING.

Meanwhile, this genius decided that I didn’t need gloves — I do have a pair of running gloves, but tend to rip them off after the first mile because I HATE the feeling of hot, swollen hands, so I typically go without them. That was my first mistake. I could physically feel myself being pushed by the wind just on the walk, so I could only imagine what the race had in store for us.

We grabbed our long-sleeved shirts and bibs, and I helped myself to some hot chocolate before the race (I know this is a silly thing to complain about but, no offense, it was by far the worst-tasting hot chocolate I’ve ever had). They did have the post-race goodies out before we started, which was nice — your typical bagels and Gatorade, but also gelt, since this was a Hanukkah-themed event. This amused me much more than it did Todd, since I’m not Jewish and never actually had gelt, haha.

You will notice the lack of pre-race photos, which I know is so not like me. The reason? I couldn’t manage to use my fingers, which were already swollen and frozen stiff.

As we were jumping up and down with about 250 other runners before the race to stay warm — according to NYCRUNS’ Facebook page there was about a 20 percent no-show rate of (intelligent) people who decided to eat the $35 registration fee –  we saw some 10K runners coming in and being sprayed by water that was being blown over the railing and onto the race course. Ah, the sight of things to come.

I’ve never been so anxious to start running in my entire life. The only thing I could think about was experiencing that delightful feeling of warmth once we got started.

I should probably mention a quick side note here. Not to share TMI, but I was hit with some kind of nasty 24-hour bug (or food poisoning or who knows what) on Thursday and spent the entire day with my head in the toilet. I felt okay the next day, but played it safe by sticking to soups, crackers, and ginger ale. I still felt fine, physically, on Saturday, but didn’t have much of an appetite. I tried to force myself to eat, knowing that I’d need my energy for Sunday morning’s race.

Needless to say, I had arrived at the starting line without a full tank of gas, and I had no idea just how badly I was going to need it.

Once we got started — with the wind BEHIND us, might I add — I knew by the third mile that I just wasn’t feeling like myself. I was lethargic and didn’t experience that usual burst of energy I have in the early miles of a half marathon. I honestly felt as though I didn’t have any energy whatsoever.

I gave Todd full permission to leave me at any time, knowing that there was no way I’d be able to pull out any impressive performances in this race. Knowing that it was a super-flat course and the temperatures would be cool (HA!), I think we both had high hopes to PR and finish our 2013 half marathon season on a high note.

But then we completed the first turnaround, and with the 30 MPH winds now forcing their way against us, every step became a struggle. Honestly, I write for a living, and yet I am having a hard time finding the words to describe what we experienced yesterday. The frigid winds were now whipping against my face, and I could literally feel it pushing me backwards. My hands? Frozen? My face? Frozen. My toes? Frozen.

By mile 4 or 5, we both decided that we had a brand new goal in this race: to finish it. Todd knew I was struggling and told me more than once that if I wanted to throw in the towel, he’d be right there with me.

But I can’t quit. It’s just not who I am. Truth be told, there were several points in the race where I really, really wanted to get in the car and drive back to New Jersey and climb under the covers and never talk about this race ever again. But I couldn’t. I knew I had to finish, no matter how brutal the conditions or how poorly I felt.

I kept thinking that people who sign up for the Dopey Challenge don’t quit halfway through a half marathon. You just don’t. So I kept plugging away.

After we turned around to run 4 miles back towards the bridge again, we experienced a little bit of relief because the wind was behind us. But that didn’t stop us from being pelted with the icy, frozen chunks of water that were being blown over the railing. We also stopped for water a few times — the poor volunteers had to pour one cup of icy water at a time, because the paper cups were flying everywhere.

One complaint I did have about this race is that there really were no spectators or course support — completely understandable, given the weather conditions — but I do have to give a shout out to the volunteers who braved the weather without the benefit of running to keep themselves warm. I don’t think I ever appreciated the role of the race volunteer more than I did yesterday.

Still, it felt more like any normal training run than an actual race. Without mile markers or clocks or spectators, it was a run in the park. And one that wasn’t particularly enjoyable. Truth be told, I found the course pretty boring (then again, I loathe loop and out-and-back courses in general), even though it did offer nice views.

We did end up stopping for some photos along the way; it was the first time in a non-Disney race that I saw people stopping to pose for pictures, and I’m thinking it had something to do with a lot of us in the back giving up hope of achieving any impressive race-day goals.

On our final turnaround, with 4 miles left to the finish, I can’t tell you how many times we stopped to walk — which is SO not like either of us in a race. I felt like I was in a cartoon, where you run and dust flies up behind you but you don’t actually go anywhere. But then walking would lower my heart rate, and I could feel an icy chill spreading all over my body in my sweaty, wet clothes, so then we’d “run” — it felt more like a shuffle — a little longer and stop again.

There were parts of this race where I was laughing at how ridiculous the conditions were. There were parts of this race where I wanted to cry and curl up in a ball and ask one of the nice volunteers to please call an ambulance just so I knew I’d have a guaranteed (heated) ride back to the car. There were parts of this race where Todd and I walked and talked like we were taking a stroll in the park.

But then, more importantly, there were parts of this race where I kept thinking that it was all just another opportunity for me to prove to myself that I’m capable of more than I ever thought possible. I kept seeing a runner wearing last year’s Walt Disney World Marathon shirt run by, and granted, it was obviously just his particular wardrobe choice for the day, but I took it as a sign — corny as it sounds.

The path to the Dopey Challenge and my first marathon hasn’t been an easy one, but at the end of the day, I AM doing it. It is something that continues to challenge me, mentally and physically, but I can’t quit now. And as hard as it was, I was going to take that same stubbornness and somehow find the strength to finish this race.

Those last two miles were absolutely brutal. But step by step, we kept moving forward and braving the winds and the bitter cold and being splattered with icy water.

And finally — FINALLY — we made it to the finish line! In 2:30. My very worst half marathon time of all, not including my first at the Princess Half.

But I didn’t even remotely care about my finish time.

As competitive as he is, I don’t think Todd did either.

We were immediately wrapped in heat blankets (which didn’t do a whole heck of a lot, unfortunately), and handed our medals. I scarfed down a bagel like I’ve never eaten before in my life — my appetite had returned in full force — and we attempted to take a few pictures. I was pretty miserable at this point. I was ecstatic and proud to have finished the race, but I literally couldn’t feel my fingers. Hence this beautiful photo attempt.

We were both crabby and tired and cold, so we headed back to the car. It took at least 30 minutes for me to completely thaw out once we made it back. As proud as I was of both of us for conquering this particular race experience, neither of us were happy campers.

I did notice that a few minutes after we finished the race, the volunteers started packing up to leave. They took everything with them, including the bags of dozens of leftover bagels and all of the remaining coffee and hot chocolate. I felt really badly because we were definitely not the last people on that race course, and there were some runners who technically didn’t meet the three-hour course limit — so they didn’t have anything waiting for them at the finish line. I know the volunteers were probably frozen solid and definitely deserved to go home; I just think some extra leeway could have been granted in this particular case for those of us who didn’t perform quite as well as we had hoped given the conditions.

Am I glad I did this race? In a way, I really am. Even though it wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had on a race course — if Todd wasn’t with me, I’m really not sure if I would have made it — I still appreciate a challenge. Anything that makes me feel as though Dopey is within my reach is worth doing right now, and I figure if I can survive yesterday’s half marathon, then maybe I am just a little bit stronger than I give myself credit for sometimes.

Because anyone who showed up to that race and crossed the finish line is truly a badass. Or just downright crazy. Whichever way you want to look at it.

Have you ever run a race in wintry conditions?

After landing on Thursday and getting a little preview of the International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot, I hit the expo at opening on Friday morning. Held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, I was expecting to find the mass chaos that I was faced with during both my Princess Half Marathon and Disneyland Half Marathon experiences.

Since I had to take the bus (my family went to Discovery Cove for the morning!), I arrived at the expo pretty much at 10am on the dot, and was nervous that the crowds would already be forming inside.

You can imagine my surprise when I found what is perhaps the calmest race expo I’ve ever attended. There was no pushing and shoving or hysteria inside the official race merchandise booth. Everything was relaxed and well organized. I grabbed my desired items, and was able to stroll right up to the registers — I was out of there in 15 minutes! It was a far cry from the three-hour line I stood in to pick up Dumbo Double Dare merchandise at the Disneyland Half expo, that’s for sure.

That meant I had plenty of time to pick up my bib for both the Wine and Dine Half Marathon and Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K, and take some pictures.

Of course, I also spent some time at some of the other vendors, and picked up an adorable ornament from Milestone Sports Jewelry, charms to represent each one of my runDisney races from BeeCause Charms, and I finally got to try out the FlipBelt — so far, I’m a big fan.

We spent the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios carbing up at Mama Melrose’s, checking out the Osbourne Spectacle of Dancing Lights, and taking in a viewing of Fantasmic!

The next morning, my sister and I woke up around 5:30am to get ready for Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5k! It’s a 5k race that takes place at Animal Kingdom, so we decided to go as some of our favorite Disney “animals” — Pooh and Eeyore!

It was my sister’s very first 5K, so I signed up to run with her — even though I knew I’d be taking on 13.1 miles later that evening. (Her name is Christine, but I haven’t called her that in about 15 years…she’s “Hopper” to me, haha).

The goal of this race? To have fun. And I think we accomplished that.

The course started in the parking lot of Animal Kingdom, and there was a decent amount of congestion as we made our way into the park. The walls of walkers made it tricky to really go anywhere, even though we started in Corral B, but it didn’t matter to me too much because I was sticking with Eeyore for this race, anyway.

We ran/walked into the park, where we found our first characters! We had to stop for Rafiki, since we both love The Lion King.

It was an especially cool experience for me because, so far, I had only run through Magic Kingdom and Epcot, so it was fun to run through Animal Kingdom. There was a ton of excitement, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

As an un-chipped, non-timed race, I have to say it was nice to see runners and walkers of all ages and ability levels out on the course. Don’t get me wrong, 5K races are usually reserved for my fastest, hardest efforts…but sometimes, it’s nice to be able to celebrate the sport and just enjoy the moment.

I was beyond thrilled that my sister seemed to be having such a great time; she struggled a little bit in the beginning of the race, but as we kept going, I could tell she was enjoying it. It always means a lot to me to think that I might be able to inspire others — I like to think of myself as proof that you can completely transform your life in the most unexpected of ways (never in a ZILLION years did I think I’d become a runner!), and it’s always so exciting for me to be able to share the sense of accomplishment you get from crossing a finish line with someone else.

I also got to chat with a “tweep” of mine, Jill, who tweets at @MRScrashmattb. So awesome to meet her “in real life!”

 As we made our way through the park and out into the backstage area — an interesting element of runDisney races is getting to see what it looks like “behind the scenes” — we stopped for more pictures with some friends.

Before I knew it, we saw the third mile marker, and it was time to cross that finish line. I was super proud of Hopper. Regardless of whether this was a timed race or not, she set a goal, she put in the hard work, and she crossed that finish line — and that’s really what running is about, right?

Afterwards, we took some pictures — just NOT the photo with Mickey and Minnie, unfortunately, because the line seemed to go on for miles. It was insane!

Then we gobbled up some post-race goodies before heading out to enjoy the park for the rest of the afternoon with our new shirts and medals!

Next up: a recap of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon!

 Have you ever run a 5K “just for fun?”

Have you ever run a race with a first-timer?

So I feel as though I’ve been so completely wrapped up in my Dopey Challenge training – physically and mentally – that I sort of forgot to talk about another awesome race-cation I have coming up. In fact, I’m writing this from our resort: the Port Orleans — French Quarter.

I’m paying a visit to Walt Disney World (again) for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon!

But first, since I’ve been kind of quiet here lately, I did want to share how my training for this lovely 48.6 mile adventure has been going.

I’m still following Hal Higdon’s plan as closely as possible, and two weekends ago, I tackled my first 16-miler ever!

I felt surprisingly okay until the last couple of miles, when my legs started tightening up on me. Other than some soreness, though, I wasn’t feeling too bad at all.

Fortunately, Todd was willing to join me again – I went out for 8 miles, and then he joined me for the remaining 8 miles. Long runs definitely go by a whole lot faster when you have company, that’s for sure!

The following day, we ran a Halloween-themed 5K in Long Branch: the annual Trick-or-Trot, sponsored by the Jersey Shore Running Club. It was a lot of fun – you know I’ll take ANY excuse to dress up like an idiot. Fortunately, I found someone who also doesn’t mind looking like this in public:

Honestly, I did a whole lot better than I anticipated, given the fact that I was running for nearly 3 hours the day before! We both finished around 26:30. It was a super easy course – we ran up the boardwalk for 1.5 miles, and then turned around – and the weather was gorgeous.

This week, I’ll be in Florida celebrating my parents’ 30^th anniversary – they’ve always wanted to check out the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, and I figured this was a fine time for me to try my hand (or feet, as it were) at my first nighttime race!

The Wine and Dine Half Marathon starts at 10pm…and I’m very much a morning person, so we’ll see how that goes. But how miserable could I possibly be dressed up like my favorite female mouse and then partying it up in Epcot afterwards?

What’s possibly even more exciting is that my sister and I also signed up for Jingle Jungle 5K held at Animal Kingdom that morning. It’ll be her first 5k!  We’re going as Pooh Bear and Eeyore…our favorites!

She has tried running a few times in the past, but since signing up for this race, she really has stuck to a semi-regular running routine – and we’ve even run together a few times over the past couple of months. I’m really excited that I might just have converted a new fellow running junkie…

I know I’m probably worried about nothing, but I AM a little bit concerned how this vacation is going to throw off my Dopey training plan and my progress thus far. I’m not sure how much running I’ll be able to do other than the 5K and half marathon this Saturday…and let’s just say that today was already spent doing a whole lot of wining and dining…

We definitely have a jam-packed itinerary while we’re here, including visits to Islands of Adventure and Sea World in addition to the Disney parks, so it’s not like I’ll be “at rest,” per se’ (my feet and legs are already sore from all the walking!)…but I definitely won’t be running, either. I was supposed to take on 17 miles this weekend, so now I’m going to have to push it back until next weekend, and I’ll be missing a few scheduled 4- and 8-mile runs. Hopefully all the fun Disney time I have ahead of me won’t make me TOO lazy.

Anyone else running Wine and Dine this weekend?

Have you ever run a race at night?

 How do you fit vacations (or any other interruptions) into a marathon training plan?

In case you missed it, my blog about the first half of the Runner’s World “Hat Trick” — the 5K and 10K — can be found here!

I had mentioned in my previous post that the half marathon was rough for me. And, indeed, after a week’s worth of reflection, I can still say with absolute certainty that it was the most I’ve ever struggled during a race, no question about it.

But what I can also say, now that I’ve had a few days to think about what went wrong, is that I’m actually kind of glad that I struggled so much out there last weekend. I think it’s the tough races that teach you the most…and, certainly, make you appreciate the accomplishment (and my new shiny bling) that much more.

We woke up bright and early (again) to make it to the starting line for the 8am race. This time, Todd was going to be running, and since I wasn’t going out for any particular time goals — I figured the whole running 9+ miles on a hilly course the previous day would probably put a bit of a damper on that — I decided I’d stay with him for a bit in the beginning before he took off. I also thought I’d see if I could get him to try speeding up to my pace in the early miles (he prefers negative splits), since I was convinced he could go out a little bit faster and still manage to pick it up in the second half of the race (spoiler alert: I WAS RIGHT).

When they sent us off, that’s exactly what happened. We were running together, and I was feeling just oh-so-smart since I had technically already run parts of the course the previous day. I warned him about upcoming hills, and we were maintaining my usual pace in the early miles of a half marathon — somewhere in the neighborhood of a 9:00-9:15/mile.

Even though I struggled up some of the hills in the early miles, and was definitely feeling the tightness in my legs from the previous day’s races, I was having fun and feeling pretty good. I figured I’d be just fine to maintain my usual pace for the remainder of the race.

As I’m sure you may have already guessed…that was a very incorrect assumption. Somewhere in miles 6 and 7, after I had already climbed several hills — and, again, these are not “rolling” hills! — my legs decided to stop cooperating. I could feel the tightness in my quads and calves, probably from the races the previous morning, and my energy started to take a nosedive. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so fatigued during a half marathon, and certainly not so early…I wasn’t even halfway done yet.

But it really wasn’t even the physical discomfort that was getting me. It was the fact that the moment I started to struggle, those inner voices that tell me I can’t run a marathon…and I will never be able to finish Dopey Challenge…took over. Never mind that the course was rough and that I had run my usual pace in two back-to-back races the day before. To me, the fact that I wasn’t flying through the second half of the race meant that I was ill prepared to take on Dopey and that all of the work Ive been pouring into marathon training would be useless…because I’d never finish. If I couldn’t seem to manage the 5K, 10K, and half marathon, how in the world could I expect to run a full marathon on top of it?

As we approached mile 8, we had just run past several funny signs from the Running Skirts ladies, who were at the top of a particularly brutal hill giving out skirts and throwing a little party, so I appreciated the distraction. We were then running through a cemetery — always interesting scenery for someone who pretty much felt like she was going to keel over at that point.

I could tell Todd was raring to take off, so I told him to go ahead. It was mainly because I didn’t want to hold him back, but also partly because I didn’t want him to have to witness the meltdown I could feel coming over me. I was so physically uncomfortable and couldn’t stomach the thought of climbing another hill. I was so tired of running. I was so tired of beating myself up. And I knew that — like the serious physical challenge that awaits me in January — this race was something I had to do all on my own.

I really, really didn’t want to go on.

No matter how many times I yelled at myself to stop the negative thinking, I couldn’t stop the fear from taking over. Suddenly, I was downright convinced that I’d NEVER be able to finish Dopey and I wasn’t ready to run a marathon and what was I thinking and how I could I be so stupid and why do I constantly let myself bite off more than I can chew and who was I to think that I deserved to be out there with all the other runners who could manage 48.6 miles in a weekend…and on and on and on. I hated myself for beating myself up the way I was, but it was happening…and I freaked out. It took everything I had not to dissolve into an emotional mess right then and there on the race course, and I refused to let myself stop to regain my composure.

I had to finish this race, and I had to show myself that even when things get tough, I am strong enough to keep moving forward. And, apparently, loony enough to STILL smile for the cameras, even when I’m dying on the inside.

The last 5 miles, honestly, felt more like 15 miles. I thought I’d never be done. I was struggling just to maintain a 10:30/pace, and doing everything I could to distract myself from the fatigue. It was somewhere in mile 10 when one of the well-meaning water station volunteers, who I assumed saw just how miserable I looked, told me not to worry, “it was all downhill from here.” I felt myself perk up immediately, until I turned the next corner and found another hill. And then another hill. And then another hill. I kind of wanted to turn back around and punch her, not gonna lie.

Don’t get me wrong, the majority of the course was quite scenic and we ran through both the downtown area of Bethlehem in addition to lots of pretty residential areas, but the terrain was pretty brutal. I’m fairly certain that even if I had done nothing but sit around with my feet up the previous day, I still would have had a hard time.

After the mile 11 marker, when I had pretty much given up all hope and stopped looking at my watch altogether, I saw the 2:10 pacer run by. I was thinking I had been going so much slower than I actually was, and my fast start apparently meant that I actually wasn’t so far off my usual half marathon finish time. I had just got done telling myself just to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and finishing the “Hat Trick,” but then the pacer ran by and all of my competitive juices came rushing back. My worst half marathon time was 2:14 in Philly, followed by a 2:11 at the Superhero Half Marathon…and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to beat that 2:10 pacer to the finish line.

So I started running. Hard. As fast as I could go at that point. I managed to catch up to the pacer, flew down a hill and regained some of my speed, and just kept going. I kept looking over my shoulder to see how far back she was, like I was being chased or something…people probably thought I had lost my damn mind.

Then, finally, FINALLY, we were back at the Steel Stacks, and I knew from the previous day’s races that the finish line was just around the corner.

But, first, another hill! That’s when the 2:10 pacer caught me again, and I was running beside her for about half a mile mile up the hill. She told me I was doing a great job, and the finish line was just up ahead. It’s moments like these that really make you appreciate the spectators and all the people who volunteer their time to help get you through these tough moments in a race. I picked up my pace again and ran as fast as my legs would carry me to the finish line.

Shockingly, I crossed the finish line in 2:09:52. I still don’t know how I pulled that one off.

I collected my half marathon medal — a larger version of the previous day’s 5K and 10K medals — and found Todd waiting for me.

I have never been so happy to be done with a race. I fought back the urge to have another meltdown, and asked him what his finish time was; according to his Garmin, he had finished under 2 hours! The official results posted him at 2:00:06.

It is absolutely my goal to run a sub-2 hour half marathon someday — I was so excited (and borderline jealous, haha) for him to come so close. I know he’ll get it next time!

After the race, I felt completely fine. Like nothing had gone wrong.We enjoyed the post-race festival, took some pictures (as per usual), and cheered on some of the other runners.

Later, we walked around the Sands Casino a bit, browsed in the outlets, got some dinner at Burgers and More By Emeril, and everything was hunky dory.

And, of course, I had to get plenty of pictures in my new Runner’s World hat and with my three medals!

And that’s how knew that my difficulty on the course that morning had a whole lot more to do with my brain than my legs. I am CONSTANTLY fighting with myself about this freakin’ Dopey Challenge, and I know there are probably several people in my life who don’t really believe I can finish these races. Some days, I include myself on that list.

But then I cross another finish line, or I finish a 16-mile training run (more on that later!), and start thinking that I’VE GOT THIS. I still don’t know what in the world I was thinking when I clicked that registration button and decided to make the Dopey Challenge my first marathon, but I do know this much: I WILL finish. There is NOTHING that will keep me from that marathon medal. I don’t care how much it hurts or how much I have to sacrifice along the way — my sanity, my sleep, my time, whatever — finishing a race challenge like the “Hat Trick” proves that I have the inner strength that will carry me to that finish line. No matter what!

How do you deal with negative thoughts/fear when training for a big race?

How do you help yourself bounce back after a tough race?

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