After the previous morning’s traffic fiasco on our way to the half marathon, we set our alarms for even earlier (ugh) just in case of a repeat performance. After getting dressed in our Rapunzel/Flynn costumes and doing some last minute safety pinning (to make sure certain chameleons stayed put for 26.2 miles, lol), we were out the door…and ready to sit in another hour of traffic. That morning took us even longer to get to Epcot, and if we hadn’t left by 4am we could have missed the start of the race.

(Obviously in hindsight we should have just taken the runner buses, but I like having our car in the parking lot so we don’t have to deal with bag check and we can park hop, etc. at our convenience for the rest of the day.)

So, once again, we made it to the corrals with just moments to spare, and before I knew it we were about to begin another 26.2 mile journey.

The temperatures that morning definitely felt warmer, and yet maybe slightly less humid (thank god). It was definitely wayyyy too hot for running a marathon, but I was in Disney…so, you know, whatevs.

Our early miles were pretty much an exact replica the previous morning. Running in the dark. Forcing ourselves to keep our pace slow and steady to conserve energy for later. And sweating our asses off.

We skipped the characters who appeared before the Magic Kingdom because they were either repeats or characters we didn’t especially care about (I’m still not into The Nightmare Before Christmas).

By the time we reached the TTC, we both had to make a pit stop, and we were soon continuing on to the Magic Kingdom: THE BEST PART OF ANY RACE, ANYWHERE, IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD.

Running down Main Street was AMAZING as always, and that morning was even better because we weren’t running through a cloud of fog. We could actually, you know, see the castle.

And, as a bonus…we were getting LOTS of attention for our costumes.

You know what’s even more glorious than running down Main Street? Running down Main Street when the castle is still all lit up for Christmas.

Our first character stop that morning was for Lilo & Stitch. Because, I mean, c’mon. It’s Stitch. And I loves him.

And then began the most magical part of the marathon. The reason I wish I could run this race every single year for the rest of my life. There are no words to describe the elation of running through the Magic Kingdom. If you took the “high” of crossing the finish line of every single race I’ve ever completed and added them all together, it still wouldn’t compare to how I feel when running these 1-2 miles through the park.

Call me a dork, but…it’s the truth.

And this year was THE BEST YET because, unbeknownst to me, the course had been changed quite a bit (due to the closure of the speedway, I presume).

Suddenly I found myself running by Splash Mountain and through new Fantasyland and spending way more time in the park than ever before. It was AWESOME.

And there were some amazing characters out along the way, including my favorite princess ever. When we jumped in line, Sebastian was posing with Ariel and I was SOOOO EXCITED. But, of course, he was escorted away by a cast member when there were just a few runners in front of us. Boo.

I wish we could run all 26.2 miles through Magic Kingdom. Not even lying.

Before I knew it, it was time to exit via the backstage area and start making our way over to Animal Kingdom. This stretch of the course isn’t especially exciting. I was still feeling just fine, but Todd had been complaining of some tummy issues so I was hoping he would start feeling better.

Obviously, the good part about starting in an earlier corral for a Disney race is the comfort of knowing that you can stand in line for some characters and take pit stops as needed…and little did I know then just how much we were going to need that extra cushion (spoiler alert). I was feeling especially grateful that I damn near killed myself to score an almost-PR at The Love Run last spring to submit for corral placement for this race.

Character lines hadn’t been TOO outrageous at that point, but we did stop for a TON due to the extra time in Magic Kingdom, and of course we spent time taking pictures in front of the castle — which is why those 1-2 miles in the park always take us AT LEAST 30-45 minutes, if not more. Our pace was muuuuch slower than our usual race pace, of course, but we were still generally running around an 11:30/mile, if memory serves. So I wasn’t too worried at that point.

When we leave the park, we tend to get stuck behind a cluster of walkers on narrow paths before the course opens up (a little bit) again closer to the golf course. We just did the best we could. It’s not like we were trying to PR or anything (obviously), but we did try to weave around other runners whenever possible and if the course got too congested we’d walk a bit until we could find an opening.

And, fortunately, we found this guy and jumped in line right before he was supposed to switch for Donald. Lucky day.

The stretch leading up to Animal Kingdom had some surprises for us this year. It seemed every half-mile or so had a different character…and they were all really RARE characters, with lots of VILLAINS! Never knowing what character you might spot up ahead is a GREAT way to keep your mind off the agony of, you know, running a marathon.

I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever, so we jumped in line for pretty much all of them. Couldn’t help myself.

They also had some animals out for us as we got closer to the park. Seeing this guy was pretty much my favorite part of the entire day, not gonna lie, lol.

We made our way to Animal Kingdom for a short stretch of course inside the park. It was time for another potty break and some more silliness.

Todd still wasn’t feeling quite right, and truth be told my stomach wasn’t 100 percent either, but that tends to happen when I’m a.) running in the heat and b.) when I’m traveling and haven’t been sticking entirely to my “normal” food.

The Animal Kingdom part of the course is over sooo fast, and I knew the next several miles might be a bit of a struggle. So I enjoyed our time in the park as much as possible…especially when another runDisney photographer grabbed us to pose us for pictures in front of the tree.

Before I knew it we were back on highway, it was warming up…and things got a little boring. Especially since I know we were headed to the Wide World of Sports, and that’s just not a highlight of the course for me.

Halfway there!

This is probably where things started to take a turn for the worse for Todd. Now it wasn’t only his stomach, but his feet were starting to hurt big time and I knew the previous morning’s half marathon (and all the walking we did around the parks) was catching up with him. I’m used to tackling back-to-back races so I guess I knew what to expect, and I worried this might happen to him because it was his very first time with any sort of multiple-day race challenge.

So it seemed only appropriate that this was our next photo stop, lol.

We kept plugging away, but I could tell our walk breaks through water stops were getting longer and longer, and as we approached Wide World of Sports and Todd kept asking to take impromptu walk breaks, I knew we might be in a little bit of trouble. Unfortunately, we both remembered that it was right around this point last year when Todd lost his mojo, and this time we had the added fatigue of running the Goofy Challenge thrown into the mix.

I was feeling perfectly fine at that point; a little bit of fatigue in my legs and feet, obviously — and I still don’t do well in the heat, pace-wise — but when I’m in Disney I just don’t feel pain. It sounds ridiculous but it’s so true. So I tried to do my best to keep him in good spirits.

My high school yearbook quote, lol

We ran/walked through Wide World of Sports. I was encouraging Todd to conserve his energy as best he could, and unfortunately all of our tomfoolery earlier in the race had caught up with us. Though we started in corral F we had fallen wayyyyy behind the runners with similar running paces, so we were getting trapped behind walls of walkers. Because there’s really just no room to run on the narrow paths at Wide World of Sports, we opted to just walk whenever it became impossible to weave around other runners. Todd said his legs/feet felt a little better after each walk break, so that’s what we did.

And, you know, we rested our legs standing in line for pictures. How do you NOT stop for a photo with Goofy when you’re *thisclose* to completing the Goofy Challenge?!

Wide World of Sports felt like it went on forever, but we did pick it up a little bit for our victory lap through the stadium.

After we left the complex we kept plodding along towards Hollywood Studios. It sort of felt like we were moving in slow motion at that point. Because this section of the course is something of an out-and-back, we could see that there were no other runners headed into Wide World of Sports…which I knew meant we had fallen a bit further back than I thought.

I knew we had a little ways to go before the glorious Hollywood Studios/Boardwalk/Epcot portion of the race, and let’s just say Todd wasn’t in the best of spirits. His feet were killing him and his stomach was still upset. Since he has talked me down off the proverbial ledge many, MANY times in races before, I made it my mission to help him get to that finish line! We continued with our run/walk and made our way sllllllowly towards the final stretch of the race: the last 10K.

It was somewhere in mile 21 when I made a joke to Todd about how we were “almost safe” from the balloon ladies. Truth be told, we’ve never actually seen the balloon ladies, but if you run Disney races then you know that you have to stay in front of them in order to avoid being swept from the course for falling too far behind the time limit. Not 30 seconds later, a pacer on a bike rode by and announced: “just letting you know that you guys are about 2 miles ahead of the balloon ladies right now.”

And let me tell you I have NEVER seen a swarm of people all start sprinting at the EXACT. SAME. TIME. I knew well enough that we would be “safe” once we entered Hollywood Studios in mile 22, so I knew that we were fine. But Todd and I tried to pick up the pace nonetheless! We’ve never been that far back before, and it wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences to know that the “dreaded” balloon ladies were now chasing us to the finish line!

We made it into the park and runners were cheering and high-fiving and cast members were congratulating us on the way in, but since I’m such an experienced marathoner now (ha), I knew very well that these last couple of miles were still going to be pretty brutal. Even with all the distractions along the way.

I was thrilled to take on this final leg of the marathon because there’s so much park time and you get to run along the Boardwalk, but Todd was not having ANY of it. I knew he was hurting and I let him dictate whenever it was time for us to take another break.

The man still manages to smile for the camera, though…gotta love him, lol.

And what better way to take a break than standing in line for more pictures?

I have to say, I LOVED all of the “rare” characters this year.

I think his spirits lifted a little bit in the park because Hollywood Studios was already open for the day and thus there were lots of cheering spectators (as well as disgruntled park goers who made it clear they were pissed at us for clogging up all the walkways, haha).

My blogger friend Kim from Barking Mad About Running spotted us on our way out of the park, so it was awesome to have the personalized cheers.

The path leading up to the Boardwalk is basically a disaster because it’s damn near impossible to run. Everybody and their mother was walking, and because it’s so narrow you really can’t go ANYWHERE. Todd’s legs had basically fallen apart by then, anyway, so it was fine by both of us if we had to walk a little bit more.

But we were sooooo close to the finish and we had been out on the course for sooooo long…I was anxious to get to Epcot and cross that finish line!

We were able to run/walk/hobble/whatever you want to call it to the Boardwalk, with a few extra walk breaks. I knew for sure that he was struggling then because I heard a few expletives slip out of his mouth. And let’s just say that I’m the one with the potty mouth in this relationship, lol.

I knew we were going to make it, and I tried to be as encouraging as possible. I think he was kind of annoyed at the situation because I was bouncing around and making jokes and smiling and acting like an idiot and giving high-fives to people…and here he was in pure agony.

Seriously…I will say it again. There is NO SUCH THING AS PAIN when I’m running in Disney. I’m sure I was just as tired and in as much physical discomfort as he was, but I just don’t *FEEL* it the way I do when I’m running any other race. Why do you all think I’m so obsessed with this marathon?!

The views on the Boardwalk were beautiful as always, and with less than a 5K to go, I was feeling PUMPED.

At long last, we made it to Epcot for what is seriously the MOST INCREDIBLE marathon finish you will ever experience. Magic Kingdom is obviously the best part of this race for me, but the lap around the World Showcase is a close second. Between the spectators cheering you on and the absolutely EPIC music you hear playing in each country, there is NOTHING like it.

Oh, and the fact that there are a bunch of characters and absolutely no lines because we’re the only idiots who stop for photos in the last 2 miles of a marathon, lol.

As we ran towards Future World, I could feel my emotions bubbling up…and I almost lost it. Here I was running the race that started it all. It sounds corny but running the Dopey Challenge in 2014 as my first marathon really did change my life forever. Not the least of which is that it gave me courage and a level of confidence that I never had before…and it made me realize that I could accomplish absolutely ANYTHING.

And I kept thinking about how Todd had told me so many times “I’ll never be able to do the Goofy or Dopey” because he legitimately thought he wouldn’t be able to finish. And here he was about to complete his first Goofy Challenge.

Everyone was cheering for “Rapunzel and Flynn!!!” and I was soaking up every second of it as we made our way towards the finish.

And, ladies and gentlemen, after more than 7 hours and 15 minutes on the course…WE FINALLY MADE IT to the finish line.

There are no words.

It was our absolute worst marathon time to date, but I didn’t care one bit. I enjoyed every second of it and I wasn’t the least bit sorry for all of the photos and characters and silliness along the way.

I’m not sure if I’m ever going to get Todd to agree to run the Goofy Challenge again. And he pretty much laughs in my face whenever I mention the idea of running Dopey together someday.

But I could not have been more proud of this guy for completing his first Goofy Challenge.

After some much-deserved chair time in the finish line area (um, and also, devouring those Oreos in the snack boxes…OMG I LOVE OREOS), we made our way…slooooowly…back to the car to hop to Magic Kingdom.

Because, yeah…obviously this had to happen, lol.

After a Shower Pill “bath” and a fresh change of clothes, we headed to Liberty Tree Tavern to stuff our faces and enjoy the rest of the night in Magic Kingdom. I know ya’ll probably think we’re gross (and also a little insane), but since it takes us so long to finish the race, if we went back to the hotel for showers, etc., the parks would practically be closing by the time we got back. And ain’t nobody got time for that.

So, for the record, after the race was over some clouds rolled in and temperatures dropped and suddenly we were both FREEZING. UGH — it couldn’t have been that chilly during the race?! So, anyway, this happened. Thank goodness for Snuggies.

Anyways, this recap has probably gone on long enough…so thanks for sticking with me, and, as always, for all of your support along the way!

Have you ever been in danger of being “swept” from a race course?

What’s your favorite part of the WDW Marathon/favorite Disney race?

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside this time around, and while it was a beautiful resort, unfortunately its location in relation to Epcot didn’t do us any favors on race morning. Though we were up by 3:30 and out the door a little after 4 (I always rent a car), we sat in RIDICULOUS, bumper-to-bumper traffic the entire way to Epcot. Between the road closures and police officers re-routing people and the zillions of runners trying to merge themselves onto one single-lane ramp to Epcot, what should have taken 10 minutes took almost an hour. UGH!

So by the time we parked and walked allllllllllll the way to the starting line, they were just about to release corral F! Our streak of JUST making it to the starting line of races continues.

Of course, we still made time for a few quick photos along the way, lol

In other news, that morning was HUMID. I mean seriously HUMID. Oh, and foggy…it was actually pretty creepy! It wasn’t sweltering hot or anything (I think it was in the 60s/approaching 70), but there was so much moisture in the air it was ridiculous. Don’t believe me? Here’s what our earliest race photos looked like:

As you know, for this race we decided to go as two of the Three Caballeros, and simply carry our third little duck friend. Well, let’s just say that my stuffed duck was pretty much soaking wet with sweat by mile 2. Groooooooss.

We started the race at a nice, easy pace, and our first official photo stop was Wreck-it-Ralph, who had a pretty huge line. But our plan was to stop for any characters we really liked in the first miles of the half marathon, so that if there were repeat characters in the marathon, we could skip ‘em.

As we got closer and closer to Magic Kingdom, I was feeling pumped to be starting another leg of the Goofy Challenge. Other than the god-awful humidity, I think we were both feeling pretty good.

And then you turn the corner onto Main Street and feel even more AH-MAZ-ING. I’m still waiting for the day when this gets old, and, yet…never does.

We stopped for a couple of character pictures (and a potty break) in the Magic Kingdom. This mile always clocks in on our Garmins as 30+ minutes or more because of all the character silliness.

When we stopped to take some pictures in front of the castle, one of the runDisney marketing folks took us aside and took a bunch of pictures of us since, as he said, “it IS the Donald half marathon…”

Photo credit: runDisney

We made our way through Magic Kingdom (which is STILL all kinds of glorious fun to me, BTW), and one of the more unique photo opps of the morning was in the backstage area: Peter Pan and the gang!

Of course, after you leave the park, the course becomes a crowded, congested mess. We’ve become accustomed to this and either try to run on the grass or simply take unplanned walk breaks when things get out of hand. There’s really not much more you can do; unfortunately, there are still lots of runners who walk in the middle of the path, stop unexpectedly, walk in groups of 3+ across, etc., so I’ve decided not to get agitated by it and just try to go with the flow.

We found a couple more friends along the way, and soon it was back to the boring old highway.

I will say that the marathon course is SOOOOO much better than the half, and the more times I run the marathon, the less I enjoy the half. I know runDisney tries to keep us entertained with the parade performers and the floats and the bands along the way, which I very much appreciate, but at the end of the day you really are just running on highways.

Excited to find Donald!

The goal of this race was to take things sloooooooow. I honestly don’t even know what our pace was at that point, but I did feel that we were running SIGNIFICANTLY slower than usual. I knew Todd was in for a real treat during the marathon the next day, and since he’s not used to the back-to-back race experience, I thought it was best to take the half marathon as easy as possible.

So thats what we did. We walked through water stops and kept our pace steady, and soon enough we were back in Epcot and making our way towards the finish!

We were excited to see more duck friends along the way, and had to stop for a picture with Scrooge!

And, of course, we had to stop for a quick photo with vacation Genie, haha.

Before I knew it, we were leaving Epcot and had reached mile 13! I had met a Twitter friend (hi, Sarah!) earlier in the race, and she happened to be taking pictures at the mile 13 marker…so she was kind enough to take ours.

We crossed the finish line in what was our worst half marathon time for a Disney race (or, you know, in general)…our usual Disney time is right around 3:30 since we stop for photos with practically ever character. (And we obviously couldn’t miss the opportunity to get a finish line photo with Donald, haha.)

But other than some sore feet, we both felt pretty good, so I certainly wasn’t complaining about our finish time.

We hung out in the finisher’s area for a few minutes, and thought it might be a good time to take a picture with another duck.

We also ran into Meranda and Lacey from Fairytales and Fitness! I’ve been reading their blog forever, and we had finally met for the first time at the expo the previous morning…so it was awesome to see them again!

Photo stolen from Fairytales and Fitness: http://fairytalesandfitness.com

After we made our way to the car to freshen up and slip into my magical OOFOs, it was time to hunt for our third caballero. We found him in Mexico. Donald was SUPER excited to see us, haha.

And then I decided it would be just gosh darn hilarious if we rode the Three Caballeros dressed as the Three Caballeros.

Doesn’t get any dorkier than this, folks.

The cast members in the Mexico pavilion went absolutely bananas for our costumes, and insisted on taking pictures with us, LOL.

It was a great ending to that morning’s 13.1 mile journey.

We spent a few hours in Epcot before grabbing an early dinner at ‘Ohana, and then went back to our resort for night-night to prepare for the next day’s marathon!

Walt Disney World Marathon recap…coming soon!

Disney runners…do you always stop for photos with characters along the way?

How do you deal with congested race courses?

Who else loathes Florida humidity as much as I do?! 

Todd conquered his first Goofy Challenge, and I added another glorious Mickey marathon medal to my collection.

Though it was WAAAYYYYYYY too humid for me for both races, we had an amazing time running Disney. And — no surprises here — I still think the Walt Disney World Marathon is the best marathon in the whole wide world.

The half marathon was awesome because we had a blast running as some of our favorite ducks. We got LOTS of attention from cast members (I think a lot of fellow runners/other spectators had no idea who were were, lol) and also the runDisney marketing folks; they took some awesome pictures of us in front of the castle and at the finish line and already used it on social media. So, basically, I’m famous.

Photo credit: runDisney

Oh, and we also managed to find our third caballero, live and in the feathers (haaaaaaa), after the race.

The marathon was a bit tough for Todd. He definitely isn’t used to running back-to-back races, and he struggled in the second half of the marathon. But I think he got a really good look at why I love the Walt Disney World Marathon so much. Even though my feet hurt, I was tired, etc…it’s kind of like I just don’t feel it. I’m having WAY too much fun to truly feel the agony of running a marathon.

It was also our closest encounter ever with the dreaded “balloon ladies”…we started in corral F but stopped for a photo with just about every character along the course. Toss in a couple of potty breaks and numerous photos in front of the Cinderella’s castle, the Tree of Life, etc., and, well, let’s just say we barely beat the balloons into the Hollywood Studios gates.

Almost there…

Even though Todd wasn’t really feeling it in those final miles, we stuck together and made it across the finish line! And then hobbled our way over to the Magic Kingdom for our FastPass+ reservation with Rapunzel (I seriously could NOT be any dorkier if I tried).

I’ll be back with full recaps and lots (and lots) of photos next week! Happy weekend, everyone!

What’s your favorite part of the WDW Marathon?

Do you have a favorite half/marathon that you run every year?

]]> http://thefinalforty.com/goofy-challenge-2016-we-did-it/feed/ 31 http://thefinalforty.com/my-2015-goals-and-another-marathon/ http://thefinalforty.com/my-2015-goals-and-another-marathon/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:55:14 +0000 Jennifer http://thefinalforty.com/?p=5319 Hey, guys! I figured since it was February 5th, it would be a fine time to share some of my goals for this year. (You know, that post everyone else writes the first week of January.)

Better late than never, right?

I usually spend the majority of January prepping for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (half recap HERE, full recap HERE, in case you missed ‘em!) and the following weeks basking in all the post-Disney happiness.

WDW Marathon Weekend = A SUCCESS
(P.S. Anyone else heartbroken that the hat is almost completely gone?!)

It’s always nice to kick off a new year with a marathon, but now that January is over, I thought it was time to get serious about the rest of my goals for this year.

And I am happy to announce that I am officially registered for yet another marathon.

Marathon #5 will be…

::::::::::::::::::::drumroll, please::::::::::::::::::::

www.thenewjerseymarathon.com

(And, just for the record, this was all Todd’s idea…so if anything goes horribly wrong, it’s my full intention to blame him.)

Honestly, I wasn’t planning to run another marathon this soon. I figured I’d take a little bit of a breather, maybe do some half marathons, and gear up for another bout of marathon training in the late summer/fall.

But I’ve already done the New York Marathon…might as well run one that takes place literally 20 minutes from our house.

One of my first half marathons was the Long Branch Half Marathon back in 2013, which is part of the New Jersey Marathon — so it’ll be kind of cool to return and “go all the way” this time. And to be honest, I have a hard time finding the motivation to get out there and run if I don’t have a goal, so I think a spring marathon is probably the best way to keep my momentum going!

2013 Long Branch Half…seems SO long ago.

Also? I want a sub-five. BAD.

I KNOW I could have done better in New York. I KNOW I could have pushed harder in my training…and I definitely KNOW that I wasn’t properly prepared for the course/conditions. I am positive that I can do better, and seeing how this course is supposedly pretty pancake-like (and it will hopefully still be fairly cool in April), I’m hoping I can finally see a “4″ in front of my marathon time!

But in addition to training for a marathon — AGAIN — I’ve also set my sights on some other health/fitness/running goals I hope to accomplish this year. And what better way to stay accountable than to announce them to the world?

1.) Get Fast Again. Okay, so I was never really “fast,” per se’. But ever since I started focusing on marathons, my average pace has climbed from somewhere in the 9:15 area to more like a 10:30. My half marathon times have jumped from around a 2:05 to a 2:25. And for the past several months, I’ve felt nothing but discouraged and sluggish. It’s hard to feel motivated to run when you feel like you’re running through molasses all the time. My legs are always tired, and I couldn’t/wouldn’t find the energy to do any sort of speedwork.

I want my “old” paces back, and I want them back NOW.

Here’s the thing, though…I kinda sorta have no flippin’ clue how to go about this. I used to just naturally run a 10ish-minute/mile, and my pace just improved with consistency alone. And that was that. I have to be honest and say I haven’t done a whole lot of speedwork. And definitely not in conjunction with training for a marathon.

This past weekend, I thought I’d push myself a little harder on some shorter distances, just to see what I could do…and what it would feel like to try to run faster again. And for the first time in forever (*cue Frozen song*) I managed to run a 3-miler in 30 minutes, and then the next day, I challenged myself a little harder to run 4 miles in under 40 minutes.

I was right around a 9:10 for the first mile, then a 9:20, then a 9:30, and a 9:40. I haven’t seen those kinds of paces in probably a year. Granted, it was not easy…those paces used to feel completely comfortable to me, and this time, I was sucking some serious wind. But I surprised myself. I CAN do it. It’s not going to be easy, but I hope that if I start pushing myself a little harder again, I can get back to where I was.

2.) Set a New Half PR. So, I have a confession. My half marathon PR? It’s 2:03, and it’s from my very first half marathon (I’m not counting the Princess Half, because I did NOT run that one for time). It was way back in April 2013.

And that is just SAD.

“Runapalooza” in Asbury Park: my half marathon PR. TWO YEARS AGO.

Since then, I’ve come close (that year I ran a bunch of halfs in 2:04, 2:07, 2:10…) but never actually beat it. This infuriates me to no end because you’d think that with all the finish lines I’ve crossed since then, I should have seen some improvement from my first race EVER, right?!

You know how I said I wanted a sub-five marathon? Well, I want a sub-two half marathon just as badly.

Clearly, I’m not training properly — and I will be the FIRST to admit that — and that’s something that needs to change pronto. I’m proud of all of my accomplishments, don’t get me wrong…but at the same time, I’m tired of “just” being happy to finish. I want to get better. I want to know that all the hours I pour into running are actually paying off.

In other news, I just realized that my half PR will no longer be useable when I apply for corral placement in Disney races. We *MAY* be running the Wine & Dine Half Marathon this year, and proof of time has to be from a race after November 2013. And I really don’t have any times from last year that are even remotely close to 2 hours. *Insert panic here.* You know I don’t run Disney race for time, but I DO want the best corral placement I can have…mainly so I can get to the characters (and the post-race PARTAY) a little faster.

Which means I have no choice but to stop resting on my laurels and actually get out there and RACE again. The plan is to take this month to start slowly building up some mileage (I’m using a beginner marathon plan for now), but mainly focus on speed for the shorter runs and trying to improve my longer run performance (more consistent paces, etc.). I hope to run a race or two in March to see what I can do…since I’m going to need the flattest course possible and cooler temperatures if I have any hopes of performing well.

Getting our marathon training started…on snow and ice. Gotta love it.

We’re thinking of possibly doing The Love Run in Philadelphia, and there’s also a local 10-miler for St. Patrick’s Day (which I’ve also done in the past) but I recall it being nothing but hills…which is no bueno for me.

I’m realistic enough to know that my next half isn’t going to be a PR, but I’d like to get a little bit closer to 2:00. That way, I can take most of March and April to continue training for the marathon…and then maybe try another half or two (any of you New Jerseyans ever run the Wildwood Half?!) afterwards.

3.) Tackle a Tri. I’ve been talking about this one for, like, ever. I’d love to see what I can do in a multi-sport race. I love cycling, but between running and karate, I never feel like I can squeeze it into my weekly training regimen. And because of my fear of the swimming portion — I CAN swim, but I’m definitely not the strongest swimmer — I keep putting it off.

But I looked into a few local triathlons, like the Jersey Girl Triathlon, which seems perfect for a beginner like me. It’s a 3-mile run, 11-mile bike ride, and 300-yard swim. I haven’t signed up yet, so nothing is official. But I figure I’d already be well trained to take on a 3-mile run (duh), and whenever I do cycle it’s always for at least 10 miles, so I’d just have to become a little more consistent.

As for the swimming…well…I figure it’s a great form of cross-training, and I won’t be racing in the late spring/early summer (TOO HOT), so I can focus on improving my performance in the water.

4.) Drop a Few Lbs. I haven’t really written about this here yet. But I’m sure ya’ll can see that I don’t look quite the same as the picture in my blog header, which was taken two years ago. Ever since I started running marathons, I’ve watched my body change. I’m still wearing the same size and everything, but jeans that used to be loose just fit me now, some of my old running shorts are a little too tight for comfort, and some of my dresses are showing a bit more in my mid-section than I’d care to see. I’ve watched my legs and arms continue to get a little bulkier, which I do attribute partially to the Thai/Taekwondo and running — and that’s fine — but I find myself feeling self-conscious about my body again. And I hate it.

I had finally reached a point where I felt good about my body. Then I become more physically active than I’ve ever been, run a couple of marathons…and start to put weight back on? Where’s the fairness in THAT?!

I’ve been struggling to strike the balance between eating what my body needs to fuel my running — particularly for marathon training — and yet not overdoing it. I struggle with the “rungries” constantly, and that assumption that because I ran for 2 or 3 or 4 hours on a Sunday, that I can eat whatever I want. I haven’t weighed myself in more than 2 years, nor do I even a little bit care what my current weight is. I spent my entire life chained to that scale, and allowed a stupid little plastic box to crush my self-esteem time and time again.

All I care about is feeling comfortable in my own skin again, so my goal for this year is to get back to where I was, mentally speaking. I don’t plan to go back to counting POINTs again, but I know enough about portion sizes and how much I was eating when I lost the weight to simply tighten things up a bit and be more careful about what I’m putting into my body.

5.) Cook More. To that end, we’ve been making a more serious effort to cook in this house. Both of us pretty much suck at it, and I have absolutely no patience whatsoever in the kitchen. Truth be told, I really don’t enjoy cooking AT ALL. I know how to read nutrition labels, so I’ve always tried to pick the healthiest, most “natural” stuff to stock the kitchen…but we’ve been relying on frozen conveniences just a tad too often.

So I’ve turned back to Weight Watchers, so to speak, and we’re making an effort to try at least 2-3 new recipes a week from their database (my mom still has an active membership, so I just log-in under her name…shhhhhhh). I like it because the recipes are genuinely good (and good-for-you!) and you can filter them by prep time, difficulty level, etc…and there’s no shortage of main meal options that even an idiot like me can put together. And I’ve ordered a few cookbooks from Amazon. So, we’ll see what happens.

20 minutes ’til dinner? That’s what I’m talkin’ about…

6.) Become a brown belt. I’m still plugging away at Taekwondo. Now that I’m no longer considered a beginner, the higher belt level classes tend to be a little later in the evening — which means I can squeeze more of them into my weekly schedule.

I’m still way behind the other adults I joined with (who can make several classes per week), and that can be discouraging sometimes. And as much as I love martial arts, I know the wear-and-tear it puts on my legs isn’t always ideal for marathon training! But I’m doing the best I can to make it to class and work on mastering my curriculum for each belt…so, hopefully, I’ll be testing for my red belt soon, and maybe even my brown belt by the end of 2015! Patience is a virtue, right?

How are you doing on your 2015 goals?

Who has tips on speedwork for me?!

Northeast peeps…what are some of your favorite local half marathons?

After the previous morning’s half marathon (my recap can be found here, in case you missed it!) and a full day of walking around Epcot, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to another 3:30am wake-up call. Honestly, I kept having to remind myself that I had already completely this particular challenge…and with two additional days of early mornings! Why did it seem so much harder this time around?!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Todd was going to be running with me (EXCITEMENT!), and he graciously agreed to dress up “like a fairytale character,” as he puts it. LOL.

Our marathon costumes were pretty simple, but it did take me the better part of 15 minutes just to clip the damn bow into my hair the way I wanted it, and the felt corset was an entirely different story…it was held together by safety pins that didn’t exactly want to stay put. So, yes, I struggled with pulling it up and re-pinning it all throughout the race. In addition to juggling my stuffed fish, of course.

We were out the door by by 4:15 again, and had no trouble getting to Epcot and parking. It felt SIGNIFICANTLY warmer that morning (BOO), and there was a bit of a chill in the air — but it was still already approaching 60 degrees. We made a quick visit to the port-a-potties and squeezed into our corral shortly before the 5:30am start time.

Disney knows how to keep thousands of runners entertained — even at that ungodly hour — and before I knew it we were seeing our fireworks!

Another 26.2-mile journey was about to begin, and I for one could not be more excited. Not only would I be running the MOST MAGICAL MARATHON ON EARTH (again), but this time, I wouldn’t have to do it alone!

Still, in those early miles, I kept thinking about how freaked out I was running this exact same race last year. As my first full marathon, that fear of the unknown was enough to suck the fun right out of the experience, especially when you’ve signed up for some cockamamie Goofy or Dopey Challenge and are already feeling sore from the previous day’s race(s).

This time? It was all about the fun. I was never scared about not finishing, and I knew that even though I might struggle, that I would be able to fight through it.

The first few miles were pretty uneventful. I spotted Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanellope again, and since we both love that movie, I decided it was definitely worth another quick wait in line.

I was feeling some tightness in my legs from the previous morning’s half marathon (not to mention all the walking around the parks) but so far, my knee wasn’t bothering me and I was feeling good. We got started nice and easy, right around that 11ish-minute/mile, and the plan was to walk through every water stop.

There were a bunch of the same characters out from yesterday — The Nightmare Before Christmas people, the pirates — and we opted to pass them by. But I will NEVER pass up a picture in front of the Magic Kingdom gates!

Moving right along to the backstage area and towards the TTC, I felt the same amount of excitement as the previous morning. You would think the whole running through the Magic Kingdom thing would eventually get old…and yet, it NEVER does. We were still feeling good and enjoying the cooler temperatures, although I was DEFINITELY sweating a whole lot more than I was during the half marathon.

And, as per usual, I was having some costume difficulties — mainly in the form of the corset slipping down, bunching, and not staying pinned the way I wanted it to. Fortunately, I stashed a bunch of extra safety pins in my bra (gotta be prepared!) for just such an occurrence, so I took a few minutes during our first potty break at the TTC to try (in vain) to pin it tighter and make it stop slipping.

Soon, we were backstage at the Magic Kingdom, and turning the corner onto Main Street.

AH, THE EXCITEMENT!

Now it was time to take lots and lots of pictures with the castle.

Then we moved into Tomorrowland and stood in a VERY short line for Buzz. I wished all of the character lines could be that short…then maybe we could finish this damn race in under 7 hours. (Sorry, spoiler alert, haha).

We made our way into Fantasyland and behind the castle again, where I was once again disappointed to find no Mickey and Minnie. The Frozens were out to greet runners again, but it really doesn’t make up for missing out on one of my favorite character photos of the race.

Fortunately, running through the castle made up for it!

As always, we grabbed some more pictures in front of the castle, courtesy of Marathonfoto.

My favorite picture from the race!

And then headed towards Frontierland, when we spotted this guy.

We did pass up a few characters in Magic Kingdom, namely that ridiculous alligator again and the boring old White Rabbit, in addition to that mime guy. No matter what, our time in Magic Kingdom felt very, very short, and it was time to move out into the backstage area. I saw Rapunzel and Flynn posing with Snow White and whatever her prince’s name is, but a cast member told us that Rapunzel probably would be on her “break” by the time it was our turn…so we moved on.

After leaving the Magic Kingdom, you have the joy of attempting to run on a very narrow path with about a thousand of your closest friends, so I can’t wait for this part of the course to be over. Although, we were excited to see Donald and Goofy together in their oh-so-adorable golf outfits!

Like the previous morning, Genie and Abu were out again. So, of course, we had to get that one, too.

Then the course leads you into the Walt Disney World Speedway, where you have to navigate the world’s steepest and most dangerous race incline. I, unfortunately, had to walk said incline, because my knee was starting to bother me again. Like, a lot.

This time, not only was I in pain, but it felt like my knee was going completely stiff. I felt like the freakin’ Tin Man trying to hobble along. What was strange was that while I was running, it hurt — but the pain was bearable. But then when we’d stop for a picture or to wait in a character line, it felt damn near excruciating trying to start running again.

There was no way my stupid knee was going to put a damper on my fun, though. And I definitely wasn’t going to turn into a Mr. Grumpy Pants and ruin this part of the course for Todd, since he was actually interested in running through the Speedway.

I ignored the pain as best I could and soldiered on. I knew that running through the parks would be plenty of distraction to get me through the discomfort. And I figured if things got really bad, I could always make my first in-race stop at a medic tent for some ice and Biofreeze.

The classic cars in the Wide World of Sports are fun and all, but, again — I’m not really into it. This stretch of the course dragged on a bit for me!

I was really looking forward to Animal Kingdom, and even though the sights aren’t the most exciting along the way, we still managed to have a little bit of fun.

Moving along, we found a few more friends.  We have sort of an inside joke revolving around my aversion to the Country Bear Jamboree (sorry), so this photo HAD to happen.

And, how do you pass up a meet-and-greet with THE cricket himself?

We were getting closer and closer to Animal Kingdom, and I couldn’t wait! As I’m sure I’ve mentioned once (or 50 times) before, the great thing about the Walt Disney World Marathon is that there’s always plenty of surprises along the way. Whether it’s a backstage look at floats from some of the parades, the (extremely smelly) sewage treatment area, or some especially attractive topiary.

Or a running goat, for crying out loud! There were several animals out to take pictures with runners, and one of the highlights of my race was getting to run alongside this guy. Who, YES, was wearing a race bib!

Needless to say, I found it downright hilarious.

Finally, we were in Animal Kingdom! Unfortunately, this stretch of the course really IS too short — we’re talking a mile or two, tops.

Nevertheless, it offered a great opportunity to 1.) take another in-park bathroom break, with real toilets and EVERYTHING, and b.) gave me a chance to make my knee feel even worse after standing in a fairly long line for the bathroom followed by more character lines.

There was no way I was passing this one up, though, since I missed it last year. I got in line right as Minnie and Daisy mysteriously disappeared…and never actually returned.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to move out of Animal Kingdom. Fortunately, the parking lot is a great place for spectators to catch their runners, and there’s always lots of excitement. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to meet Safari Mickey. And for him to steal your fish.

As an added bonus, after you run through the “backstage” portion of Animal Kingdom, you’re officially halfway through the marathon.

*Gulp*

I’m not gonna lie. I was hurting. My knee was killing me now, and I was still doing a fair amount of hobbling. I had been doing a good job of fueling, alternating between Clif Bloks and Honey Stingers every 45 minutes or so, and I felt okay…other than my stupid, annoying, I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-it left knee.

I definitely remember thinking, “we’re ONLY halfway there?!” Granted, I knew there was still plenty of fun ahead, but I also knew that the Hollywood Studios/Epcot portion of the race wouldn’t technically happen until the last 10K. Could I make it that far?

Unfortunately, Todd shared my sentiments. See, we had this great idea that we’d both run a marathon in November — NYCM and Philadelphia — and then he would have absolutely ZERO time with which to recover. He followed a six-week Hal Higdon “multiple marathon” plan in between the two races, which only had him train up to a 16-mile long run.

Needless to say, on that boring stretch of course heading towards the ESPN Wide World of Sports, it wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses for either of us.

Which is a LARGE part of the reason why taking this photo felt absolutely fantastic. The chance to lie down in the middle of a marathon, even just for a second? Priceless.

I was just anxious to get to Wide World of Sports. Todd was asking to take a few intermittent walk breaks here and there, and we were still walking through water stops, so our overall pace was slowing down quite a bit. Plus, there were some spectators handing out snacks, and I’ve been known to eat just about anything during a marathon (in addition to the yummy bananas runDisney gives out!). Honestly, I had turned my Garmin off somewhere in the first 10K, anyway, because it was acting up and I don’t really pay attention to it during a Disney race.

The good news? Although the temperatures had warmed up a bit, the sun still hadn’t really come out. It was nice and cloudy up until that point, and then as we made our way to Wide World of Sports, it started to rain! It was FANTASTIC.

(Of course, I ended up looking like a wet rat for the rest of the race…but who really looks good while running a marathon?)

In Wide World of Sports, we took (yet another) pit stop in a “real” bathroom, and I stood in (yet another) line for the ladies’ room. My knee was still sore at this point, but I think since we weren’t stopping for characters as much (and we did a bit of walking), it was actually starting to feel a little better.

Running in Wide World of Sports is fun and all…but probably not quite as thrilling if you’re not into, you know, sports. Todd enjoyed it, though.

I mainly enjoyed chillin’ with these guys.

And seeing a big, blown-up Baymax. ‘Cuz I love him.

Plus, one of his quotes from the movie just seemed so apropos for this particular moment…

I do like running through the baseball stadium, mainly due to the spectators. I did notice that there seemed to be fewer people cheering us on than I remembered last year, but I also know that had a lot to do with the fact that were bringing up the rear at this point.

I knew that by this time last year, I was almost done with the race. The lines for characters had been getting longer and longer, and we had a LOT of trouble attempting to weave around walls of walkers, especially during narrower points of the course. At times, we decided to walk just for the hell of it, because there was no way we could even try to run without hurting ourselves (or someone else.)

After you’re out of the stadium, you know that the 20-mile marker is SOCLOSE. I knew that if we could make it to mile 20, we’d be just fine — that’s where the fun final 10K begins!

In any normal marathon, those last 6.2 miles can be BRUTAL…but in Disney, it means you still have Hollywood Studios, the Boardwalk, and Epcot to look forward to.

We were still doing okay, physically, and my knee was cooperating a little bit better. I know Todd was struggling with the usual fatigue and pain in his feet and legs, but we were in good spirits. I was still having the time of my life.

I was disappointed not to see the green army man somewhere on the highway before Hollywood Studios, but I know he appeared in other runners’ recaps…so perhaps he was on a coffee break at the time we ran by. Sadness. I always, ALWAYS get a picture with that guy!

Nevertheless, we made it into Hollywood Studios. Which several runners around me were applauding as “the no-sweep zone.”

Honestly, I’ve never once worried about getting swept in a Disney race, which is why I feel like I can take the liberty of stopping for as many characters as I’d like along the way. It’s kind of strange, because I basically bust my butt all year long to keep my pace fairly fast, so that I can have the luxury of going as slow as I want in this particular marathon, haha.

Still, I know we were towards the back of the pack this time around. I knew then that our finish time would definitely be over 7 hours. Last year, I finished in 5:50…which amazes me now because I have no clue how I did that, especially as part of Dopey and with so many character/photo stops! I know that my “racing” pace has gotten slower since my first marathon, which stinks, and plus when you’re running with someone else, you have to be accommodating of their need for pit stops, walk breaks, etc.

Running through the Studios was bittersweet, especially since I knew this would be our last chance to take pictures with “the hat.”

The park was open for the day, which meant plenty of extra spectators to cheer us on. Not to mention the regular park-goers who had no idea what was going on, haha.

I enjoyed every minute of it.

This part of the course also takes you into a backstage” area where you get a look at the costume department, and there’s my favorite stop of all: THE CHOCOLATE STOP. It was there that I learned two very important lessons. Number 1: Hershey’s bars + running = heartburn. Number 2: Stuffing chocolate into your pockets “for later?” Not a good idea in Florida.

But after I munched on some yummy chocolate, I was thrilled to spot some more of my favorites!

And we got to be “Incredible!”

We made yet another pit stop on the way out of the park (well, at least I knew I was well hydrated) and headed towards Epcot — THE FINAL PARK. But, first, the course takes you onto yet another crowded pathway, which is annoying, and onto the Boardwalk, which is beautiful.

As we approached Epcot, there was no stopping us. We were no longer taking walk breaks, and our pace picked back up to where it was in the early miles. To me, it felt like we were flying.

I think we both wanted to be DONE. I gotta tell you, being on your feet for 7+ hours can be just a tad exhausting.

Running through World Showcase is always a highlight of the race, not only because you’re just moments away from the finish line, but also because there are always characters with NO WAITS WHATSOEVER! Since the park is open for the day, they let “regular” people take pictures with them, too, but runners get first priority.

Running through Epcot is kind of like taking your own personal victory lap. There’s nothing like it.

Granted, you still have the day guests looking at us throngs of costumed runners like we’re crazy, as they sip beer and nosh on delectable treats from whatever country they happen to be visiting at the time. But you also have tons of spectators watching for their runners, and you know that magnificent finish line is just up ahead.

You make your way into Future World for your final lap before heading back into the parking lot, and I know that at least for me, any pain or physical discomfort I may have been feeling completely disappeared.

This was OUR MOMENT. And it was so, so sweet.

With just two final pictures before the finish line, we finally crossed…in a time of 7:15.

Four hours longer than it took me to run the half marathon the previous morning, and nearly an hour and a half longer than it took me to run last year’s marathon.

But I didn’t care. I stopped for WAY more pictures this year, and I could not have had more fun.

After collecting our marathon medals and grabbing some goodies, I had to make my way into a special area for my Goofy medal.

This year, they had computer kiosks set up to match your bib number with a photo taken of you at the expo, presumably to help crack down on people trying to play tricks on runDisney when it comes to running with someone else’s bib, etc. After I proved that I was, in fact, Jennifer Nelson, I was allowed to collect my beautiful spinning Goofy medal.

I had done it — AGAIN. And this time around, I was able to focus solely on the experience of running this marathon and less on the panic attacks and the whole “OMG, I CAN’T DO THIS” freakouts from the previous year.

It was amazing.

After I had such a tough time running the New York City Marathon, I NEEDED this. I needed a reminder of how running can be fun, and how much I really do love it.

Running in Disney will always serve as a reminder of why I do this in the first place, and there is no race that will ever top this marathon to me. If I could, I’d run it every year for the rest of my life.

Since I know that this post already went on…and on…and on…I’ll be writing a separate recap with some more highlights from our trip! But after the marathon, we raced (literally) to our first Fastpass+ reservation so that this could happen…

Before getting changed and feasting, in true post-marathon style, at the Crystal Palace.

We spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom. And, yes, we DID stay until the end of Extra Magic Hours. So to say we were exhausted would have been an understatement. But Todd knows better than to even THINK about trying to get me to leave the park early.

It was a magical ending to a most magical race.

What do YOU enjoy most about running in Disney?

What has been your most “fun” marathon to date?

After spending Thursday at Universal Studios (Todd insisted…BOO) and Friday at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, that 3:30am wake-up call on Saturday wasn’t easy. But I was dressed as everyone’s favorite snowman and out the door by 4:15 (another perk of the rental car…no waiting in lines for buses to transport you to the starting line).

Of course, my stupid ass took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at Animal Kingdom, so by the time I successfully made my way to Epcot, parked the car, and completed my death march to the starting corrals, the race was just about to start!

This turned out to be a very good thing. See, for some strange reason, it decided to be 40 degrees in Florida that morning. And, no, in case you were wondering, I did NOT have the foresight to pack any throwaway clothes, garbage bags, etc. And, no, I did NOT opt to wear the arm warmers I packed with my costume, because they typically make me want to rip my arms off by the third mile.

Was I a little chilly? Sure. But at the same time, I watched my fellow runners jump up and down and huddle together in their vain attempts to stay warm, as I sipped my coffee and pranced around in my short-sleeved tech shirt like it was no big thing. To me, it didn’t feel all THAT cold. We left New Jersey on an average winter morning, with temperatures below 20 degrees and wind chills making it feel like it was sub-zero…and I’m used to running in little more than a light long-sleeved tech shirt even on the coldest of winter days.

Honestly, I found it almost pleasant. And I was downright THRILLED to have the opportunity to run a race in Disney without being soaked with sweat and wanting to drop dead from heat exhaustion. In case you haven’t guessed by now, I tend to be one of the sweatiest runners ever — and I HATE running in the heat/feeling hot — so if temperatures are anywhere above 45 degrees, it’s pretty rare to catch me running in anything heavier than a short-sleeved tech shirt and capris.

Mickey seems pretty happy about it, too…

So, all in all, I was very, VERY excited to run Disney in THE COLD!

Before I knew it, corral G was called, our fireworks went off, and I was on my way!

I was BEYOND EXCITED that in those early, boring miles on the highway, I never once felt hot. In fact, I wasn’t even really sweating at all (SAYWHAT?!)

I was keeping a super-comfy pace (somewhere in the realm of an 11ish per-minute mile), jamming out to my awesome runDisney playlist, and having a grand old time.

It was fantastic.

I made one of my first character stops in those early miles — when I saw Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanellope together, I HAD to stop. I LOOOOVE that movie (and I totally plan to make ask Todd to dress up as the Ralph to my Vanellope one of these days).

I did opt to skip a character or two early on, like that skeleton-looking guy from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Never got into it. And I’m not entirely keen on the pirates either, and they’re always out right before you enter the Magic Kingdom gates.

Even though I’ve now run this exact course a number of times already, the excitement of seeing those Magic Kingdom gates never gets old.

And the screaming fans as you run into the main entrance of the TTC (which is even more exciting to me, since that’s where I always plan my first potty break, haha)? Never gets old.

And the excitement that builds as you run by the Contemporary Resort and behind Space Mountain, and through the “backstage” area of Magic Kingdom? Never gets old.

And the pure elation you feel when you turn that corner onto Main Street and see nothing but that sparkling, gorgeous castle and the rows of spectators cheering you on like you are the world’s biggest rockstar?

Priceless.

It’s a big part of the reason why I will continue to give runDisney my money over, and over, and over again. I don’t care whether you’re an insane Disney freak like me or just a normal person. There is NOTHING like it.

As I made my way down Main Street and into Tomorrowland, I expected to find another character — and stopped for a quick photo with Buzz. The line was a bit longer than I had hoped for a character I’ve seen in just about every Disney race I’ve ever done, which gave me a clue as to the kinds of lines I’d be seeing along the rest of the course.

But, honestly, when I’m in Magic Kingdom, I take my sweet old time. I KNOW that this is the highlight of the half marathon, and I have every intention to savor it. So I always plan to make as many character stops here as I’d like.

Unfortunately, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that there were hardly any characters out — and the ones that were, well, let’s just say they weren’t my favorites. As I ran through Fantasyland and towards the back of the castle, I was VERY disappointed to find that Mickey and Minnie were not there. Really?! No Mickey and Minnie, but we do get a freakin’ Country Bear and that stupid alligator from The Princess and the Frog? Oh, and the Queen of Hearts/White Rabbit?

Dislike!

Okay, so there WAS one highlight — instead of my favorite mice posing for pictures behind the castle, Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff were chillin’ on the castle balcony to greet runners as they ran through. And everyone was stopping to take picture of them.

Or, in my case, in front of them.

This was rather exciting, but not nearly as exciting as running through the castle…which is something that ALSO never gets old!

And, of course, I took some time to take a few pictures in front of the castle.

Don’t care about your time and want to increase your chances of getting a good picture (i.e. not too dark, blurry, etc.) Stand in all four lines of Marathonfoto photographers. They don’t mind. LOL.

One of these days I’m GOING to get a castle jumping picture where I don’t look like a complete idiot.

We then made our way through Frontierland and I knew my time in Magic Kingdom was coming to an end. But not without one more princess-y picture “backstage.” I was hoping to get a photo with Cinderella, who, of course, went on her “break” before it was my turn…so I just got Aurora (again, lol).

The next few miles of the course are not only a snoozefest, but also tend to be very, very crowded. I don’t especially care for them. It’s tough to manuever your way around so many of your fellow runners, and though we do get to run by the Grand Floridian and the golf course, the scenery pales in comparison to being in the parks, IMHO.

I saw a few other characters I wasn’t interested in (such as the likes of Mary Poppins), but I HAD to stop when I saw Genie and Abu together. Aladdin is my favorite! (After Little Mermaid, of course.)

I was still feeling good, physically, except for a teensy, weensy little problem. I’ve been struggling with pain in my left knee ever since NYCM training, and it has only continued to get worse. It’s something that comes and goes, and it’s not debilitating or anything like that, but it definitely hurts…a lot…and makes it very difficult to maintain anything that even closely resembles proper running form.

I assumed it was just from the stress of training for two marathons back-to-back, so I’ve pretty much been ignoring it (I’m real smart like that). Unfortunately, I started to feel the familiar twinges somewhere in the second half of the race. It was still nice and cool, so I was loving that, but I was really nervous about how my knee would behave while running a marathon the next day (spoiler alert: it didn’t).

It was right after seeing Genie and Abu that I ran into Kellie from Will Run for Ears, who would be running her first marathon as part of Goofy! Even after all this time blogging, I still get so excited to meet fellow bloggers “in real life.” I felt kind of bad, though, because I don’t think I was being especially chatty…my knee was bugging me and I was feeling like a bit of a Mr. Grumpy Pants at that moment.

Anyway, I tried to ignore my knee as best I could and continued plugging away. I saw hardly any (good) characters, which made me kind of annoyed (no Lilo and Stitch?!), and I succumbed to my usual state of boredom as you run mainly along highways towards Epcot. I still kept things slow and easy so as to save as much energy as I could for the next day’s marathon.

Because when you’re doing the Dopey or the Goofy, that’s really what it’s all about — making sure you still have enough oomph (and stay injury-free!) to take on that final 26.2.

Finally, I was making my way back toward Epcot, and I knew the end was in sight. But, of course, not before having to climb the dreaded overpass, which is really the only big hill of the course…so I guess I can’t complain too much. Good thing this guy is always there to help motivate you to MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!

The sun was peeking out and it was warming up a little bit, but it was still my most comfortable (and, let’s be honest, driest) Disney half to date!

The Epcot portion of this race is over just a bit too fast. It’s pretty awesome running in Future World, especially since there are tons of spectators, but it really only covers that final mile of the race or so.

One thing that was different this time around was that there were photographers set up right in front of the ball (kind of like they are in front of the castle). So, of course, I had to stop for that picture, too.

In case you weren’t quite sure…this is my “snowman” pose, LOL

And, in the blink of an eye, we were backstage and headed out, past the choir (which I always enjoy), and back into the parking lot.

 As I approached the finish line, I scanned the crowds for Todd, but I didn’t actually know if he was there. See, last year, he spectated the marathon from the ChEAR Squad zone — but this year we determined that it really wasn’t worth the money. And since I fully intended to drive him crazy with my commando park touring during our trip, I made him a special deal: if he would willingly deal with my nonsense (“we have to get to the park the second it opens!” etc.) for the duration of our trip, then he didn’t have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn and sit in the cold and fight the crowds to watch the half marathon.

Which brings me to my next Disney PROTIP. If you have a spectator planning to catch you at the finish line, and that person will be relying on Disney transportation, leave a TON of extra time. Todd did NOT see me at the finish line, because he was still waiting for an Epcot bus at our resort…which never came! They finally let him jump on a runner shuttle back to the finish line, but by then, I was finished. LOL.

 Anyway, I crossed with a final time of 3:15 — which was a bit faster my usual “Disney time.” As a rule, I almost NEVER finish a Disney race under 3:30, with all the standing in line that I do for those character photos.

But, as I alluded, I was a little disappointed in the characters for this race. It’s kind of a big deal for me, so when the usual suspects are mysteriously missing — Mickey/Minnie, Woody, Lilo & Stitch, etc. — I get real mad, lol.

I run Disney for the pictures, as I’m sure you can tell.

Also, anyone who frequents runDisney groups on Facebook has already heard about this…but there were no mylar blankets at the finish line. That’s right. On a day when temperatures were only expected to go up to 60 — and the ONE time I actually could have actually used one of those damn things — there were no blankets to be found.

Fortunately, the sun was out, so it wasn’t TOO cold…but I shuddered to think (literally!) how the 5K and 10K runners fared if they also didn’t receive blankets.

After I was given my beautiful Donald medal, and made my way out into the Family Reunion area, my texts indicated that Todd still wasn’t there.

My feet were a little sore, and my knee was stiff, but I figured I might as well go stand in line for a picture with this guy (and scarf down my snack box like there was no tomorrow). I loved that Goofy and Dopey were posing for pictures in the finisher’s area this year!

Todd finally met up with me and we put plans in the motion for the rest of the day. My first priority? Finding a Photopass photographer who could make this happen. LOL.

We spent the rest of the day in Epcot. Since I didn’t make my Fastpasses until later in the day, we had plenty of time to wander around the World Showcase and fat it up enjoy the sights.

Whooooo loves quiche?!

After we hit some of our Fastpass reservations — and mingled with some woodland creatures — that night’s dinner reservation was a feast at The Garden Grill.

It was actually my first time there! If you like Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom, I’d recommend it. Good food, all-you-can-eat, what’s not to love? Plus, this one has characters.

I usually prefer dining in one of the countries, but Todd put the kibosh on that idea…no “foreign” food the night before a marathon, haha.

We finished the day with Soarin’ before making a beeline for the exit. I wanted to try to get plenty of sleep…we both had a freakin’ marathon to run the next day!

And, for me, I was ready to be Goofy!

Up next…my (long overdue) recap of the Walt Disney World Marathon!

What did you think of this year’s half marathon?

Do you/would you stop during a race to stand in line for character photos?

As always, I’ll start with a quick look at the expo, and then share some other details (and, of course, pictures) from our trip!

We had a 9am flight from NJ on Wednesday morning, which I didn’t care for because a.) I prefer to leave for my Disney trips in the wee hours of the morning (6:30am or earlier) and b.) it was making me nervous that I knew there was a decent chance that some merchandise would be sold out already by the time we got to the expo. But, unfortunately, JetBlue had BY FAR the cheapest morning flight…which then didn’t take off on time…which made me a very, VERY impatient person.

I know there are some runners who don’t care so much about the merch — and, honestly, I wish I could be that way! — but for me, I love having my pick of the shirts, pins, magnets, etc. And I hate that things tend to sell out within just the first few hours of the first day of the expo, and I have to worry about racing to Florida as quickly as possible just to have a chance to give Disney even more of my money. No bueno. But that’s another post for another time, haha.

Before we left for the airport, I made sure to log into the New Balance website to join their “virtual queue” for a chance to buy sneakers at the expo. I got in just minutes after they opened the queue at 6am, and yet was already assigned a 4:50 time slot. Um…really? I didn’t even especially care for the new sneakers, but I figured I’d take a look at them in person — and this way, if I wanted to buy them, at least I would have the opportunity to do so.

Anyway, we landed, hopped into my rental car from Alamo (Disney PROTIP: if you’re the slightest bit Type A and/or have even a loose schedule for your trip, constantly having to wait for buses to get around on Disney property can and WILL drive you insane), and headed straight to the expo. We did not pass GO, we did not collect $200. We were finally in Florida, and I couldn’t get to that expo fast enough!

But we did stop for a few quick pictures on the way OUT…

Once we arrived at Wide World of Sports between 1:30 and 2pm (the expo opened at 10am), I made a beeline for the runDisney merch area, which I was pleasantly surprised to find was quite calm and orderly, and still pretty well-stocked — except for one adorable Goofy shirt I really wanted, which was sold out except for S and XL…when I needed either a M or L. Fortunately, my tried-and-true expo trick of stalking people who have more than one of your desired item, skulking around and waiting for them to try it on, and then politely asking for their rejects worked like a charm — I got my hands on a medium.

After I spent about a zillion dollars in gift cards (‘cuz I collect them all year from my birthday, Christmas, etc. just for this proud moment, haha), we checked out the rest of the expo.

Including the New Balance 2015 runDisney running sneakers. Which, I am sorry to say, I found downright ugly.

Photo credit: runDisney

Normally, runDisney can slap their logo on just about anything and I’ll probably buy it. (Big surprise, right?) But these were a huge disappointment, and at $180 bucks a pop, the fact that New Balance took a boring black and white sneaker they already sell and added a silly little Mickey decal and called it the “2015 runDisney design” is not cool. Oh well, more money to spend in the parks.

The “good” news? New Balance never even called me for my appointment time. I did get confirmation text with my “estimated” return time, but never got anything else. Which wouldn’t have been so fine and dandy had I actually wanted the shoes.

The rest of the expo pretty much felt same old, same old to me. Whereas race expos once used to be exciting, I’m sad to say they no longer thrill me the way they once did. Especially since the runDisney expos are quite large and crowded, and you basically have to walk to Narnia to get your bib and then back into the main expo area for your shirts, etc., and all while pushing and shoving through massive crowds of your fellow runners. It’s exhausting! RunDisney races attract the best vendors, don’t get me wrong…but it’s all stuff I’ve seen before.

But, don’t you worry…we still managed to have a little bit of fun.

But after that, we grabbed our bibs and got out of there — I had Fastpasses in the Magic Kingdom, for crying out loud!

We quickly checked into our resort — Pop Century this time — and made our way to the happiest place on Earth.

Unfortunately, we ended up being just 15-20 minutes late for our first Fastpass+ reservation at Buzz Lightyear, and they turned us away (Disney PROTIP: they are enforcing the new Fastpass+ system BIG TIME, so be there during your one-hour time slot or you’re sh*t out of luck).

But we still had time to catch the other attractions I reserved.

Guess which person in this photo is just a teensy bit scared of Space Mountain…?

And…I did get to see the new show where Elsa lights up the castle! Which was pretty fantastic for a Frozen geek such as myself.

After watching Wishes (my favorite), we made our way to the monorail for our first dining reservation: 1900 Park Fare! Let’s just say the Grand Floridian made our lodgings at Pop Century look a bit…sad. Haha.

But after a loooong, exhausting day of travel and expo and theme park time, I was SO READY to stuff my face enjoy a buffet dinner. And take pictures with Cinderella and friends.

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

What’s your favorite part of a runDisney expo?

Do you have a favorite WDW restaurant?

What do you think of this year’s New Balance runDisney sneakers?

]]> http://thefinalforty.com/walt-disney-world-marathon-weekend-the-expo/feed/ 40 http://thefinalforty.com/im-goofy/ http://thefinalforty.com/im-goofy/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2015 18:01:01 +0000 Jennifer http://thefinalforty.com/?p=5083 Hey, all! So we just got back from The World late last night, and I wanted to drop in to announce that Todd and I both successfully ran the Walt Disney World Marathon!

And, that I completed the Goofy Challenge!

I finished the half in 3:15 — slightly faster than my usual Disney half marathon race time of 3:30, haha. I’d mainly attribute that to the fact that there didn’t seem to be quite as many character stops (more on that later).

I’m not gonna lie, the marathon took us quite some time to finish (over 7 hours). But, we stopped for about a ZILLION photos…honestly, we got pictures with almost every single character, plus stopped for a ton of other photo opps along the way.

It. was. AMAZING.

As an added bonus, the weather worked out beautifully for both races. In fact, it was pretty cold (in the 40s-50s!) for the half marathon, which was PERFECT for me. It was exactly the kind of weather I’m used to running in here in New Jersey…and it seemed only appropriate, given the fact that I was dressed like a certain snowman.

The morning of the marathon was a little warmer (60s-70s), but the weather gods smiled upon me and it stayed pretty cloudy throughout the race — and it even rained a little bit, which felt like heaven as the temperatures were rising and we were fighting our way through those last 10 miles or so.

As per usual, all of my usual self-doubt was for nothing. I did just fine. I’m not saying it was easy — and I definitely performed better during last year’s Dopey Challenge, believe it or not — but when you tackle something like a marathon (or a Goofy or a Dopey, for that matter) it’s impossible not to acknowledge to yourself just how strong you really are.

To me, there’s NOTHING like running through Disney. And I know that has a lot to do with that little extra boost of motivation when I felt myself hitting the usual marathon wall in those final miles. But, at the same time, I don’t know how many marathons I have to run before I let myself admit that I’m strong enough to fight my way through ANYTHING.

Plus, I’m super proud of Todd — he ran the Philadelphia Marathon just a few short weeks ago, and then took on yet another 26.2 with me this weekend.

Of course, I took all kinds of photos, and I’ll be posting full recaps of our trip, the expo, and the races over the next couple of days. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing/reading all about your experiences!

Did you race this weekend?! How’d you do?!

So, I’ve had some time to reflect on the Dopey Challenge, and wanted to go ahead and share some final thoughts with you guys. Especially seeing as how you must be sick of hearing me talk about Dopey already!

Now that it’s over, the question I keep getting is: would I do it again?

And the answer?

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.

The Dopey Challenge was amazing. I’m having trouble coming up with a better adjective, so, there you have it. It was quite possibly the most fun, exciting, rewarding, emotional, terrifying, exhilarating experience of my life.

However, that isn’t to say that there aren’t some things that might make me hesitate to do it again. And there are certainly some things anyone who might be toying with the idea of taking on the Dopey Challenge should think about.

1.) The Moolah

First and foremost — obviously, the cost of any runDisney race, and especially FOUR back-to-back races, is extremely prohibitive. 500 bucks is nothing to sneeze at, so until I win the lottery or somehow figure out a way to get rich as a freelance magazine writer (HAHA, YEAH RIGHT), it’s doubtful that this is something that I could ever afford to do every year.

(That being said…would I consider running the marathon every year? Umyeahdefinitely).

You have to remember that once you’ve signed up for a Disney (or any “destination”) race, that’s only a teensy, weensy little portion of what you can expect to shell out for your overall racing experience.

Between the plane tickets and the park tickets, the car rental or other transportation costs, the hotel stay, the dining, the photo packages, the official merchandise and random expo purchases (ahem Dooney purses and New Balance sneakers)…

Can you say: CHA-CHING?!

2.) The Training

Here’s another big one. I trained for MONTHS for this. I kicked off my Dopey training the second I landed back in New Jersey after completing the Dumbo Double Dare way back in September!

I followed Hal Higdon’s Dopey Challenge training plan, and while I absolutely credit the man with the fact that I completed four races AND still had the strength and stamina to walk all over the Walt Disney World resort for 6 days, I also would have to think long and hard about the kind of time and commitment that Dopey training requires before I’d hit that registration button again.

I put in months of 5-6 days of running every week, with distances ranging anywhere from 3 miles up until my last long run of 20 miles.

I had to run in the snow, the rain, the wind, the ice, the cold.

I had to run when I was still tired and sore from the previous day’s run. And the run before that. And the run before that.

I had to devote several hours, every single weekend, to squeezing in increasingly long back-to-back runs.

I had to complete a “mini-Dopey” consisting of four consecutive runs of 3, 5, 10, and 20 miles.

You have to really, REALLY want it. You have to make time to run when there just isn’t time to run. You have to force yourself to run even when the last thing in the world you want to do is run.

I had the time of my life, but still, the Dopey Challenge is no friggin’ joke. Running 48.6 miles in four days is serious business, and if you want to avoid injury and cross that final finish line in an upright position and without the need for medical attention, then you have to make a commitment and put in the training.

3.) The Sleep Deprivation

Raise your hand if you want to wake up at 3am four days in a row. And then run a whole bunch of miles immediately afterwards.

Yeah…didn’t think so.

The four early wake-up calls — mind you, this is on TOP of an early (6am!) departure flight to Florida and early morning at the expo — was pretty brutal. What saved me was strict adherence to an 8ish bedtime the nights before the two longer races, and a 9:30ish bedtime before the 5K and 10K. I was still tired, don’t get me wrong, but race day adrenaline and the excitement of running through Disney definitely went a long way.

Oh, and those pretty, pretty medals waiting for me at the end of each race also didn’t hurt.

Completing the Dopey Challenge was rough on my body, there’s no two ways about it. And, honestly, I feel like I’m STILL trying to go back to “normal” as far as my usual sleeping, eating, and exercise patterns. Which leads me to my next point…

4.) The Recovery

Yeah, so, those 48.6 miles will kick your butt. I like to think of myself as someone who is in pretty good shape, but between the physical damage to your feet and legs and the sheer exhaustion from stressing your body out so much in such a short period of time, you really have to know what you’re in for.

Again, I trained HARD for this. And at the end of it all, I felt mentally and physically prepared to take on this challenge. I spent no time in the medical tents, suffered no injuries other than soreness following each race, and I still managed to be in the parks until closing most of the nights we were in Disney! Given that it was my first marathon, I was really thrilled (and pleasantly surprised) by how well I held up.

After the full marathon, it was really only my feet that were killing me — I had some serious trouble walking afterwards, and couldn’t wait to get out of my sneakers and into some flip-flops! But it couldn’t have been too bad, because I still managed to hightail it over to Magic Kingdom for our lunch reservations with some friends.

My feet felt felt better throughout the day, and Todd and I stayed at the Magic Kingdom until the end of evening Extra Magic Hours that night. (And, yes, we enjoyed our Dole Whips in the chilly 50-degree weather, haha).

In fact, we stayed so late that we had to basically beg one of the resort bus drivers to drive us back to our car in the Epcot parking lot because the Epcot monorails and buses had stopped running for the night!

Honestly, it wasn’t until I got home that I started having the most trouble. My soreness went away after a few days, but my runs are still not what they used to be. Truth be told, I’m struggling right now. I’m skipping training runs left and right (oh, yeah, have I mentioned that I’m currently training for ANOTHER full marathon?) and I’m tired and I’m drained and every time I lace up my running shoes, it feels like a chore.

I’m waiting to feel “normal” again, but so far…no dice.

Of course, I also want to say that, again, completing this challenge was truly life-changing for me. I will never be the same, and I am so incredibly glad I did this. I know it will take time, but I will be just fine.

As someone who loves Disney as much as I do, you know it’s hard for me to look at the Dopey Challenge objectively. It was an absolute BLAST, and I loved every minute of it.

Were there some aspects of the races that left something to be desired? Sure.

I’d say the crowding on the courses and all the corral placement nonsense — Dopey Challenge runners were basically handicapped a few corrals, causing us to have to weave around crowds of slower runners and walkers even more so than usual — would be high on my list of things runDisney might consider improving for next year. Also, if I had only signed up for, say, the 5K and/or 10K, I definitely would have been disappointed by the lack of characters and overall “magic” in those races — I think they could absolutely afford to step it up a little bit next year.

At the same time, it’s also hard for me, as a first-time marathoner, to look back on Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2014 with anything but sheer joy at everything I accomplished over the course of those four days. I could not have asked for a better first marathon experience.

So, let me just say that if you ARE a runner looking to take on a new physical challenge in what is quite possibly the most fun, supportive — and, let’s face it, MAGICAL — environment you could possibly imagine, I would absolutely give Dopey some thought.

Plus, runDisney bling is the BEST bling, hands down, and nowhere else will you be treated like an absolute rockstar all week long for sporting your medals.

So…would I do it again?

I’ll bet you already know the answer. ‘Cuz, you know, I’m Dopey like that.

Okay, your turn! Dopey runners, what did you think? Will you be back?

Everyone else…would you ever take on the Dopey Challenge?

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!