Rather than staying overnight at an el-cheapo hotel, I decided that we should
just drive down for the day. I think we
left the house around 4 – I was hoping to get to the parking lot no later than
6.
We got to the Celebration Fire House (and parking lot)
around 6:15. It was already VERY busy at
the packet pickup, and it took about 20 minutes to actually get my stuff.
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| The line for packet pickup - and a Princess Posse Sparkle Skirt! |
I
hustled back to the car so that I could take my swag photos and gear up before
heading to the start line.
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| Unisex Navy Blue Tech Tee - not bad |
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| A sticker, a Give Kids the World pin and yummy chocolate |
While I was taking photos, a local hot air balloon company
started launching balloons – at one point, there were at least a dozen in the
air.
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| There are at least 10 more in the sky behind where I was standing |
Hubby took my photo, and then we headed towards the start
line, which was about ½ mile from the parking lot.
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| My ears were cold, so I pulled my Bondi down |
It was a beautiful morning,
with perfect weather.
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| Standing in the grass near the starting line |
I ran into other Posse girls Sarah and Maryanne, so we took
a quick photo before we were off and racing!
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| Random Dude, me, Sarah and Maryanne |
I’ve never been to Celebration before, and I was amazed at how
pretty it was. Extremely “Stepford,” but beautiful nonetheless.
Mile 1 came and went (no photo for some reason), and I was
in the back. That actually worked in my favor, though, as we came to this
bridge. We had to stay on the sidewalk, so if there had been other runners, it
would have been very tight.
At the end of the sidewalk after you crossed the bridge,
there was one of those “Speed Limit by Radar” signs. I thought it was funny.
No, I wasn’t going 25mph.
Continuing on, we passed the Celebration Golf Course, which
was also pristine and beautiful!
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| That tower in the distance is where I parked the car |
I passed Mile 2 and then began heading into neighborhoods.
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| Even their drainage canals are pretty.... |
They had some local cheerleaders out for support.
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| He's in the sky...He's our sun guy... Ra Ra Ra! |
At Mile 2.8, the 10k group separated from the 5k group, and
Shelly Williams (fellow SparkleSister) was out with a sign for the local Moms
Run This Town (MRTT) girls.
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| Sparkle Sister Shelley Williams - 10k goes Left; 5k went straight to the finish line |
I missed the Mile 3 sign, but I passed it and continued down
the LONGEST sidewalk I think I’ve ever been on. It kept on going (for niles and
niles and niles…..) There was a road on the right and more golf course on the
left.
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| How do they grow 'em so straight? |
At Mile 4, I passed the DVC building, which was really cool
to see. It’s an awesome Art Deco style.
I also began to see people coming back from the turn-around, like Betty,
Curly Blonde Girl, Red Shirt Sister and Maryanne. (I’m sure these other people
have names, but damn if I can remember them now! I guess I should look them up at some point.)
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| Betty - my very first Run Buddy! |
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| Curly Blonde Princess Posse Princess! |
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| Tall SparkleSister; Maryanne in the back |
After the golf course disappeared, I started seeing more
neighborhoods, and then some construction. Hell, even the construction workers
here are nice! No whistling or catcalling us chicks at all. Kind of made me sad…
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| It's artsy cuz it's tilted... |
I’m realizing at this point two things: 1) I’m last and 2) I really wish I brought my
inhaler (I was wheezing bad).
I trudged on to the turn-around spot and headed back the
super-long sidewalk to the finish line, doing my intervals when I could, passing
Mile 5.
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| You can't see her, she's hiding behind a tree, but there IS someone behind me! |
FINALLY, I get back to the end of the long sidewalk of doom
(missing the Mile 6 sign), and there are more cheerleaders. I told them that
there is another woman behind me, about a mile back, and that when she comes in
to cheer like hell for her.
Hubby and the Kiddo are near the finish line, and the Kiddo
decides to run in with me. (Can I be honest here? This is MY moment, back up and let me enjoy
it!)
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| Go away! This is my moment! |
Anyway, finish! I
missed my PR by just over a minute, but I’m so okay with that!
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| So pretty! |
My medal is
gorgeous, and I got my hug from Hubby, then a bunch of us SparkleSisters took a
group photo before I headed over to the Fire House for the Rotary Pancake
Breakfast.
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| Sarah, Neon Luv SparkleSister, Maryanne, Tall Red Shirt SparkleSister, Swirly Blue Sparkle Sister, Shelley, Me, Betty, Curly Blonde Posse Princess |
It was very crowded, and Hubby was grousing that he was
hungry and wanted to go eat something. I wanted to junk punch him and tell him
to shut up – I wanted to enjoy my post-race party. He still doesn’t
understand that there is more to a race then the race. He thinks that when you cross the finish line, you
leave. WRONG! He’s got a lot to learn, and he better, because soon he may get
punched.
Anyway, we walked around and saw that there was juice and
milk, so I grabbed some OJ and got a cool photo with a tiny alligator from
Gatorland.
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| He felt like a cold, squishy purse. No, seriously, that's exactly what he felt like! |
Finally, though, it was time to change and head to
Disney. I went into what is the fanciest
Porta-Pottie I’ve ever seen and changed clothes. Runner Etiquette to remember for the future –
don’t do this! There was a line when I
got out and I felt bad…
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| "Real" flushing toilet, clean toilet paper |
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| Working sink with running water, fancy basket of paper towels, a Febreeze, hand soap and a little flower (and a big mirror) |
As we walked back to the car, we started talking about what
we wanted to do for breakfast, and our first idea was Slurpees and Gas Station
Nachos from the nearby 7-Eleven, but as we exited Celebration, I saw a Publix
and I desperately wanted a doughnut. So we
all went in (used their restrooms) and checked out the bakery and deli area.
This Publix is so much nicer than mine at home. They had a
make-your-own salad bar and a hot bar, with things like Asian noodles and
whatnot.
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| Is this a good price for a salad bar? No idea! |
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| They were filling this while we wandered around. You can see there are 12 items for sale. |
Over in the bakery bread case, they had pretzel bread! I
should’ve gotten one to see if it was any good, compared to LeCellier.
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| Good price for a pretzel roll! |
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| Publix Chocolate Ganache Cake (bar) - Cake, Mousse, Ganache, repeat |
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| Publix Jumbo Filled Vanilla Cupcake - Yellow Cake w/Buttercream Frosting (inside and out) |
Our next stop? Disney, of course! Who comes to Central FL and doesn’t go to
Disney! We hopped on 192 and headed out.
While sitting at a red light, we saw this…. So, okay. Fuckin’ Bubbles!
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| Freakin' bubbles! |
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