I had such fun heading down to Florida Friday and enjoyed a relaxful evening. Saturday morning, my sister came and we went to get our packets for the race (her first!!!) and see all the cool things in the Expo. I bought some cool -after race- shoes and relaxing shoes woot! I will show them off this weekend. I also got a cute shirt too.
The lines for the packet pick up was long due to over events of softball and such going on. Inside, people were signing their waivers, finding their bib number and going to the matching window to retrieve their packet. Then we went to get our shirt (Which was cute!) and goodie bag. We looked around the expo items there, bought some stuff and then headed out to use our Animal Kingdom tickets.
I wasnt too impressed with Animal kingdom but I had fun spending adult time with my sister. We dont get to do that often and it was special to be able to do it this past weekend. I took some photos, we walked around, ate some good lunch and then headed back to the hotel. She took a short nap and we relaxed on the bed until time to decide what to eat for dinner.
With it being warm, I generally dont like to eat much. I knew we needed some packed fuel for the long day Sunday so I was in the hunt for some good carbs. We thought of pasta but the place was a little longer than we wanted to walk. We went to Wendy’s to have a baked tater and a salad. Good choice! Not only was it perfect size, leaving room for a Frosty after!, we also got to meet a family from Holland!
We casually walked back to the hotel and enjoyed our Frosty on the bed while watching tv. We got cleaned up, ready for bed and I mixed all our drinks and after run drinks. Lights out was at 10 pm and we tried to get some sleep. I tossed and turned, as usual before a longer race, and she slept fairly well but not too much better. I woke up at 3:56 am and got up. Made sure she was up at 4:05 and began to get ready for our race. We made sure we had our jelly beans, gu, water mix, Endurox for after, phones, ID/Money, bib number etc.
Once everything was -checked-, we left a little eary to make sure we got to Epcot on time. We start at Animal Kingdom and finish at Epcot so they bussed those of us that parked at Epcot, to AK. First of all, I so WISH people putting on a race would include DETAILED directions from various places AND post signs saying “15K Minnie Marathon turn this way” as you drive. Most signs say “Epcot” but not all did, therefore the signs would have saved me some anxious nerves and taking a couple wrong turns.
We finally made to the long line of people parking at Epcot. We got out, noted where we were parked, and made our way to the line for the bus. Busses loaded, we headed back the way we came, to Animal Kingdom. There were porta potties in two sections but as always, could have been more- Specially with all those ladies!!!
There were some dudes running with their lady friends/loved ones and one wheel chair lady that I know of. Her husband (both in mid to late 20s Id guess) ran in the race WITH their young 2-3 year old daughter, in this car seat like backpack on his back! I said he deserved a medal just for doing that! I got a couple of photos of him, sure hope they turn out.
They had sections of times so you put yourself in the section you knew of your pace to be- this way the faster runners are in front of the turtles! Amy and I get ready and waited for the start. We held hands to make sure we didnt get lost in the 3100+ people in the race! It took us 3 mins or so just to get across to the START line! They pack was bunched pretty well the whole way, thinning out here and there.
We started off and I kept us at a good steady pace. We were cruising right along doing well. We followed the packs, zigged and zagged, walked, talked, ran, and laughed. I kept checking on how she was doing. She had gotten as far as 4.5 miles before the race in her training so I wanted to make sure we didnt hurt her. She was also dealing with IT troubles. So easy going pace and me asking “How ya doing?” many times were done as we ran.
I felt so good! I couldnt believe I could run a race and not feel tired. Maybe it was the excitement of running with my sister on her first race ever. Either way, I liked it. We kept a good pace, me watching my Garmin and running to my podrunner tunes (thanks Steve Boyett!).
Each passing mile, we were nearing her most miles. We made it to 5! She was feeling fine, a little pain on her knee but not too bad. I told her she was doing well, we were on a good pace so dont be afraid to say, “I need to walk some” if she did.
We were at mile 6! Then 7 miles! I took a photo of her at the 7 mile marker I think. Her knees were bothering her (they took turns!) and we walked a little more now but I told her we had a good pace in the beginning and we were rocking and she was doing fine. Mile 8 came, we walked a little more but still walked fast, then we saw it… mile 9! I said “Amy we are nearly done! Look- mile 9 marker!” she was happy to see it. Her poor knees were bothering her heaps, the right one mostly, and we slowly ran to the finish line, got her an ice pack and walked SLOWLY to get our medal!
Im so proud of her for not only making the plans a few months ago, to run this with me, but to stick out some sort of training in her busy schedule (3 kids 6-18!) but she was running super (Save for her knees). We took a break, ate a banana, drank some stuff then made it back to the truck. We drank our Endurox and went back to the hotel. We got cleaned up and rested a little then packed up and ate lunch. She headed back home and I had my 5 and a half hour drive back home. I was beat when I got home.
Richard had me flowers in two rooms of the house, a large bag of peanut M&Ms and a lovely card! You rock baby!
I ate some chicken rice (2 single serving cups!) and then crashed by 8pm. I slept until 7am this morning. I was so tired but I was so happy to be able to make a memorable moment for myself and my sister that much more special, by doing it together. Thanks Amy for being there with me and hanging in there. You are a great sister, good friend and Id gladly have you for a running partner any day!