Oh goodness where do I start? First off I want to apologize to my 1,010ers. I have been so busy and tired I haven’t been able to get all the stats together for an update so I will do my best to do that tomorrow. Also, this week Sunday FunDay will be Monday FunDay so be sure to check back =)

Alright so race stuff. I must warn you now…this will get long.  That’s just me.  So feel free to skip around but of course you’re going to read the whole thing =) Thursday morning we were up and at the airport by 5:15am. Thats alot of tired and dazed TNTers! We made the journey and checked into Cornado Springs Resort at Disney where all the TNT teams were staying (Team in Training was everywhere! I was so great seeing some many TNT shirts and the Puerto Rican team brough the party and the noise wherever they went)!

Once we got all our stuff moved in and such, we grabbed lunch and everyone headed off to the Expo and the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.  Our driver was crazy.  I’m serious…instead of taking us to the front entrance, he drove us around the back, and onto the soccer fields!  We had about 3 security vans and a bunch of grounds keepers on tractors chasing us and yelling!

But anyway we made it inside and luckily got there right when it opened so we beat alot of the lines.  Here’s some pics from the Expo…

As per usual, I bought some things at the Expo…just couldn’t help myself.  All in all I got a Champion performance zipup (with the Disney Half Marathon logos on it), and running princess shirt, and some Bondi Bands (surprise surprise).  The owner of Bondi Bands, Rebecca was so sweet.  I had contacted her last week asking about getting a purple Bondi for the race and she told me she actually had some TNT bands and she would bring them to the expo for me! So cool!  The back of the running princess shirt had the cutest quote!

Anyway, my Aunt who had traveled with us is a total Disney Freak so right after the expo she had us in Epcot where we stayed and ate dinner.  After dinner we were exhausted and headed straight back to the hotel and I passed out big time.  The next morning I debated a short run but my back was hurting and I decided it would be best to skip it (do you guys run the day before races?).  We went to Animal Kingdom Friday and although we had a great time, I wish I wouldn’t have spent so much time on my feet Thursday and Friday.  By the end of Friday my back and feet were pretty sore.  We headed back to the hotel, showered and such, and around 5 had a team meeting where we went over last minute race details and decorated our race shirts.  Then we all headed over to the Team In Training Inspiration Dinner in Epcot.  This was amazing!  The place was decked out in TNT purples and they were playing a slide show of all the honored teammates across the country.  It was wonderful seeing so many people from all over the country (an Puerto Rico of course!) joined together for the same cause.  We heard from great speakers including the one and only JOHN “THE PENGUIN” BINGHAM!!!! He was a great speaker, very funny, and also very inspiring.  It was great to hear about all the wonderful things TNT dollars are going toward and he announced that with the help of TNT, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has now raised $1BILLION for cancer research!  GO TEAM!  All the participants, survivors, coaches, mentors, staff, and family members were honored and it made me so proud to be a part of something so amazing.  If you’ve ever considered doing an even with TNT or even if you haven’t, I strongly encourage you to!  There are no works to explain how this experience has CHANGED MY LIFE and it has become so very close to my heart.  So much so that I’ve already signed up to run the Disney Princess Half with TNT.  Please let me know if you have any questions or anything, I would love to answer!

After a wonderful past dinner, we headed back to the resort to get all our race gear together and attempt to get a few hours a sleep.  I mean it when I say attempt.  We had to meet in the lobby by 3:15am to board the shuttles by 4am over to the race start.  The race started at 5:40 so it was an EARLY morning.  I got all my stuff together, attached my bib to my shirt and my D-Tag to my shoe, got the Ipod ready, had breakfast set up, and had all my throw away put together.  I had brought tons of different options for race day with me not knowing what the unpredictable weather would bring.

After realizing the temps were going to be freezing and it was going to rain (well ended up snowing/sleeting), I ended up going with and underarmour shirt under my TNT jersey and long tights (and my bondi for my ears of course).  I got to bed around 10:30 but barely slept.  I was too excited!  When the alarm went off at 3 I literally jumped out of bed…then once I realized how freezing it was I lingered in the blankets a bit longer.  I finally got myself dressed and packed, ate my pumpkin bread (the only food I trust not to upset my stomach while running) and banana, started hydrating and Dad and I headed to meet everyone in the lobby.  When we opened our room doors, we realized they had been decorated with certificates and streamers from the TNT staff it was so sweet!  I have pictures but I took them with the disposable so I’ll have to wait to post those.  Everyone was very excited as we waited in the lobby.  I tried to get in some stretching to calm my muscles and nerves.  We boarded the shuttles over to Epcot where the start/finish was, checked out bags, and then prepared to sit around for 2 hours in the freezing rain before the race went off.  Taking your advice, I hit the port a pots before the lines began.  I’m glad I did.  It was so funny looking around at all the people in trash bags (myself included) huddling together in any tent we could find trying to stay warm.  Some people were even hovering around lamps trying to get a bit of heat.  Hit the now crowded port a pots two more times before we all started heading to the start line.  I was in the second wave so we heard the first wave go off and then I really started getting nervous!  I didn’t even know our wave had started until I realized every around me was running (well more like shuffling and weaving in and out of each other). Once I finally reached the start line mat, I passed Mickey and Minnie and set out on my first race!  Within the first mile I had already thrown off my top layers and by the second mile I had settled into a pace I felt comfortable with.

Miles 1-5 took us out of Epcot and down World Drive past many resorts toward Magic Kingdom.  Each mile marker had different characters and many stopped to snap pictures.  The next few miles were AMAZING!  We ran into the Magic Kingdom and right down Main Street USA.  It was still dark and it was lit up beautifully!  There were spectators all along the way but this was definitely the highest concentration of them and it was such a rush hearing all the cheering!  We ran up and around the castle and then THROUGH THE CASTLE!  How cool is that!!

The next few miles took us past the Grand Floridian and Polynesian which is around where the little incident I detailed in my last post occurred.  Once I was back up and running I passed the Cliff Shot station and grabbed one.  I had already eaten most of a bag of Sports Beans but I thought it couldn’t hurt to have something extra just in case.  Again, as per your advice, I grabbed powerade at every station even when I didn’t think I needed it and managed to get in a few good sips while spilling the majority of it on myself.  It had begun raining pretty hard by mile 10 but I really didn’t notice.  I wasn’t feel cold or wet, I was just focusing on my breathing and pacing, but when I realized how miserable all the spectators looked, I realized how nasty the weather really was.  At mile 11 I really started feeling it in the knee I feel on.  I took advantage of the next biofreeze tent and grabbed some, rubbed some on my knee and calves that were getting pretty tight and jumped in an empty port a pot.  The little breather really helped me get back on track and the pushed through the next few miles until we were finally approaching Epcot again.  Once I saw the Mile 12 marker I was getting so excited.  I was exhausted and starting to mentally lose the motivation but once I was back in Epcot running through the park with all the spectators cheering, I was so excited!

My calves were getting really tight and I was really pushing myself mentally.  I kept telling myself “I’m doing this for Bunny, Lindsey, Amanda, Stephanie, and all those who wish they could do this but don’t have healthy bodies to do it.  They can handle chemo, I can handle this”.  Literally right when I saw the sign signaling the last 1/2 mile my Ipod kicked in with “Tik Tok” my ultimate power song and I knew I had this in the bag.  I pushed to that finish line and once I crossed it I could not believe I had just run 13 miles!  The longest I had ever run before that was 10.5 and it felt so amazing.  I got my medal! and mylar blanket…got my finishers picture taken, and headed to bag claim.  Then I headed back to the TNT tent to wait for my Teammates.  It wasn’t until I sat down that I realized how incredibly cold I was.  My body was shaking uncontrollably and I realized for the first time that I was completely soaked!

I grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, ate as many bites as I could stomach, drank some gatorade, and then sat huddled and shivering in a chair waiting.  My family had started in the wave behind me so I had no idea where they were but I waited for a good half hour before my Aunt Jeanne (who had been running all over Disney watching us) found me.  She informed me that both Uncle Chip and my dad has finished in under 3 hours! and then she gave me a stern talking to for not having taken off my wet clothes.  I knew I needed to but I was so cold that the thought of standing up and taking anything off was not fun.  I finally got off my wet shirts and through on a sweatshirt but that’s as far as I got.

We then found my poor father who could barely walk.  He had opted to wear shorts and his poor leg muscles got so cold that he started having serious muscle cramps and convulsions around mile 10.  I could see in his face that he was in serious pain and when I looked at his calve I literally almost threw up.  You could SEE THE MUSCLE CONTRACTING AND CONVULSING!  We got a medic who sternly told him he has no business running/walking/limping the last few miles n that condition and that he couldn’t believe me had made it.  I’m so proud of him!  I know how painful just one Charlie Horse is, I can’t imagine having reoccurring ones over and over while jogging three miles!  But he didn’t quit and he finished in a good time!  The medic worked some of the knots out and we got him into some dry pants (his lips were blue!).

We found Uncle Chip and got my dad on the next bus back to Cornado as soon as he could walk a bit.  It seemed like every time he slightly bent his leg, the muscles were start convulsing again.  We finally got back and once dad got warmed up and dry the convulsions stopped but the medic said he probably ripped a few muscles and he was definitely sore.  We showered/stood in hot showers for as long as possible to finally warm up.

It was honestly an amazingggggggg experience.  I am so happy I did my first race with Team In Training.  I met such wonderful people and accomplished some great goals including raising $19,000 so far (still fundraising until March!).  Hearing complete strangers yell GO TEAM! every few minutes on the course was exhilarating and helped keep me going by reminding me why I was there!

I know this got long winded but if you’ve read to this point THANK YOU!  I can’t wait until my next race and I am definitely hooked now and I have many of you to blame thank! Please come back tomorrow for a big announcement =)  Oh and sorry about all the spelling and grammar mistakes…I tend to write and publish without really proofreading…oops.

☮ ♥ AND RUNNING!