On Saturday, to ensure we arrived at Celebration with plenty of time, we left around noon. We stopped at the Kangaroo for snackage (I ended up with Gas Station Nachos, a Kit Kat I never got around to eating and a large soda).
The
drive was easy and I think we ended up arriving around 3pm. The expo is small, but easy to get to – got a
good parking spot.
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| So cool! Truley Nolen still "mouses" it's cars! |
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| That building is where packet pickup is - nice and close |
I picked
up my packet outside – this year we got a nice sling backpack again. I wish
they’d go back to reusable grocery bags, I get more use out of those.
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| Sling Bag, very boring |
Inside,
I picked up my shirt as well as a cool towel.
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| It fits! And it's from Raw Threads, so it's comfy |
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| HUGE beach towel |
With the
‘official’ stuff taken care of, we walked around the rest of the expo. I
purchased a few Honey Stingers and a cool pint glass. I also picked up a free
water bottle holder from a local vendor.
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| I think this was about $15? |
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| A neat water bottle harness |
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| Basic plastic water bottle |
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| Buff, pens, bracelets, lip balm, tech towel wipey-things |
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| I still haven't mastered what to do with a Buff |
On our
way to the hotel, Garmin took us a cool back way on Griffin Road, that was much
faster than trying to get there via 192. Thanks Garmin!
This
time, we’re staying at Red Lion Inn, on 192, right near the entrance/exit to
Disney. The room was about $80, and it
was pretty nice! King, which was
amazing at this price, I think it was a TempurPedic, plus a sofa-bed for the Kiddo. The bathroom was nicer than others we’ve
stayed in and the bathtub was existential (it was deep)! That’s gonna get some use!
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| Sofa bed, King Bed (hubby finally gets a nightstand!), desk with Keurig coffee machine |
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| Nice selection of toiletries (and they don't stink, which is nice!) |
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| Ice Bucket and Oh-So-Fancy Plastic Cups |
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| Shaving Mirror and Hair dryer (I always unplug it and charge my phone there) |
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| Existential Bathtub! |
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| We get a couch, a desk chair AND an arm chair with side table |
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| Basic TV, door hides fridge |
We
unpacked and chilled out for a bit, trying to figure out why my cell phone kept
freezing and the battery dying so quickly. It also wasn’t letting me download
RaceJoy, the app the race would be using tomorrow. I tried to move some apps over to my SD card
to free up space, but that didn’t work.
We eventually figured it was an app I recently downloaded, so we deleted
it and the phone started working much better after that, and I was able to
install RaceJoy.
The kiddo
wanted a burger, and I wanted steak, so we ended up at TGIFriday’s again. I went balls to the wall and got the Jack
Daniels steak and ribs with French fries and macaroni and cheese. We found out that our waitress Elysia would
be a volunteer at the race, so I said I’d keep an eye out for her. My meal was
delicious, except for the mac, which was bland. I’d definitely order it again (but without the mac).
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| Jack Daniels Flat Iron Steak, Ribs, Fries and Mac & Cheese |
Dinner at TGIFriday’s - $47.06 after tax (tip not included)
Two
Classic Cheeseburger Meals - $9 each
Jack
Daniel’s Flat Iron Steak/Ribs - $20.60
Two
Sodas (not for me) - $2.69 each
Back at
the hotel, I laid out my race stuff, then crawled into bed to chill. I tweeted
for a while, read my book before forcing myself to shut down at 10:3), even
though I was still wide awake. Once I did fall asleep, it was fitful… the AC
was very loud each time it kicked on.
Now, I
gotta be honest here…I’ve not been training as well as I should have. I knew going into this that this race was
going to be hard. I was expecting it. I don’t know if I was expecting it to be
this hard, though!
I woke
up around 4:45, but didn’t roll out of bed until 5;15ish. I ate some Lucky
Charms at this point and started getting dressed. It wasn’t supposed to be very
cold today, so I didn’t put on any cold layers, except for my Gasparilla challenge
jacket from last year. It didn’t match,
but who cares!
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| Weather Forecast for the race |
After
everyone else was up and ready, we headed to Celebration and parked at the
Celebration K-8 School, like we do every year. It’s easy to find, we don’t have to
argue with traffic and we’re usually one of only a few cars there, so it’s easy
to get out of, too.
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| Yeah, there's a LOT of us! |
We
walked to the start line, and I lined up with the walkers and other slow folks
in the back, while the family headed to the other end of the start line, with
the other spectators. I ate some Sports
Beans while waiting for the race to begin. Spied the Queen Mum of Sparkle
Skirts in the crowd.
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| Breakfast of Champions? |
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| See that chick in the skirt? I'm pretty sure that's Leah Powell! I'm not a stalker... |
Garmin
on! Nike on! RaceJoy on! Intervals and music on! Once the National Anthem was
sung, we were off! I gave a wave to the family as I passed and started slogging
through this race.
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| Florida Mountains |
Even
though my training has been sucking due to Hubby’s work schedule, I was hoping to
just finish. My longest run was only 6.8
miles on the treadmill. And that was in November!
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| They stand here every year, to say thank you to us |
My first
mile is feeling good. I’m doing 1/1 intervals again. I like doing something multipliable (yeah,
that’s a word) because if I want to do 2/1 or 2/2, it’s easy to calculate.
I passed
the Mile 1 sign as we headed through neighborhoods. I saw the family, but I
wasn’t ready to give up my jacket yet, so I waved as I went past.
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| Sorry - Blogger isn't playing nice today |
About 10
minutes later, I wished I gave them my jacket! (I took it off and tied it around my waist until I got back to them).
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| I don't think this photo is in order with the others, but I can't remember! |
I passed
Mile 2 and took my first Honey Stinger – fuel was going to be extra important this
time around, since I was highly undertrained.
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| 11 more to go |
We hit
the turn-around and came back up the road, passing the water stop that Elysia
(from TGIF) was working.
 |
| Action Selfie! |
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| Elysia is the cutie in boots (I bet her feet hurt later!) |
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| Random spectators in Superhero Onesies |
When I
saw the family again, I handed over my
jacket, told them to have fun (the walk over to Publix for some breakfast, and
to suck up the WiFi), and took off. So far, RaceJoy live tracking is working
well for this race!
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| See those two lonely people waiting on the median? Those are my people! |
I came
to Mile 4, and this time it was half a package of Honey Stinger Chews. I also took two puffs on Vlad (the
Inhaler).
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| Good for you, old guy! I'm pretty sure I passed him though. |
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| Play "Jump!" Mr DJ Man |
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| Random photo of either spectators or water stop... |
This
year, there was a change to the course that I didn’t know about (because I don’t
pay attention) – rather than run along the main road, past the fire station, we’d
run behind the Celebration Hospital. I liked this change, both for the runners
(quiet road) and the hospital (the race would otherwise block the ambulances
from coming out). I hope they keep the
change.
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| If you tip your head, you can see it says Mile 4 |
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| Going behind Celebration Health |
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| Lots of motivational signage back here |
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| "Strength to endure. Resolve to finish." |
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| I love how many of them were religious in nature. |
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| "The finish line is only the beginning" |
We came
out near the firehouse and continued on.
I passed
the Porta-Pottie of Doom before getting to Celebration Avenue. If you recall from last year’s race, I
pottied here and my Nathan fell into the deep dark blue hole of filth… and
because I couldn’t remember if my ID was in the pocket of the Nathan, I had to
retrieve it. It wasn’t in there. I had to run 9 more miles knowing I'd touched Pottie water (I now have wet-wipes in my ArmBand).
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| This is what I think about you, Pottie! |
We
turned onto Celebration Avenue, and the long two-mile slog began.
I passed
Mile 5, and it was at about this time, I had the super-smart idea to begin
running nonstop.
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| Ingenuity! Selling Girl Scout Cookies! |
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| "Completing this is kind of a big deal" |
I was still running at Mile 6. And feeling pretty good, actually.
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| I didn't stop, but I did dance there |
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| Aww, stop, you'll make me blush! |
I picked
up the last two Vanilla Clif Shots at the fuel stop, but took my Honey Stinger
instead. I walked through the fuel stop,
but ran again until I got to Mile 7.
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| Live band at the DVC Building |
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| "Average Annual Snowfall - 0" |
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| This was a weird house - they used every inflatable they had to tell a "sign story" - I coudln't catch it all with my camera... |
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| BABY (Don't be a baby) HEART (Put your heart in it) LEPRECHAUN (There's gold at the end) All very creative |
At Mile
7, I took a walk break for water, but decided, since it was dry, I could run
the boardwalk. Also, I really didn’t
want to get passed by the first marathoner before Mile 8.
 |
| Oh my God, how long have I been running? |
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| Oh, that makes more sense |
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| I love this signage at the end of World Drive |
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| Turning into the Boardwalk area |
I passed
a few half-marathoners (including neon tank top gal) on the boardwalk and made it to about 7.98 before
getting passed by the first marathoner.
Not bad.
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| Last year, someone cracked her head here; nice to see added warning this year |
At Mile
8, I ate the other half bag of chews. Oh, and I’m STILL running at this point!
I don’t know what has gotten into me, but I’m doing really well! (Okay, so 4mph
isn’t realy “running” to you speedy folks, but you can suck it, it’s running to
me).
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| And there goes the first Marathoner, about 2 hours and 18 minutes into the run |
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| SO CLOSE to making it to Mile 8 |
Out of
the boardwalk area, I slow to a walk for a water stop until Mile 9.
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| Mile 9 - the Motherfucker Mile |
Oh, hell
no, we do not WALK the Motherfucker Mile! So I ran some more.
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| Ingenuity! Good job, real estate agent! |
Using
RaceJoy, I got a funny cheer from the family
(I can’t remember which one it was, but I think it was the pirate one
where it says “Look at me, I’m FLYING! Oh, wait, no, maybe not.” Whatever one it
was, it was a pick-me-up that I needed).
Okay,
so, I’m not quite RUNNING the Motherfucker Mile. I decided to do intervals, but
oh, it’s bad now. Everything is hurting,
where the fuck is Mile 10??? I’m not stopping until I see that sign!
Oh,
thank you Jesus, Mile 10. I can walk now! I took a Honey Stinger gel and tried
to get back on track. I planned to walk all of Mile 10, then pick up intervals
again for miles 11 to 13.
 |
| Mile 10 is my salvation |
Well, my
body said otherwise. By the time I got to Mile 11, I was ready to die.
 |
| I'm seriously being beaten by an armadillo right now |
I
attempted to start 1/1 again and felt super crappy. I ate more chews. I drank some water.
Anything to keep me moving.
(At this
point, everything begins to mesh together, so bear with me!).
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| Hi, I don't care, thanks, bye |
At Mile
12, I know I’m close. I’m close enough to hear crowds, but I feel close to
death. I give absolutely NO FUCKS at all about this race, and I just want to
sit on a bench.
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| I don't care how close I am, there's a bench that's closer |
Marathon
pacers pass me on the left – there goes the 6:50 (3:35 half), there goes the
3:45 half, there go all of my goals. I
just want to finish.
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| Hello beautiful Bohemian Hotel. I want to be on your porch. Or in a room sleeping. |
I saw a “Dig
Deeper” sign – fuck you, sign. Even my
TOES are empty at this point.
 |
| You can't NOT be moved when you come around this corner. So much cheering! |
Finally,
though, it’s towards “Main Street” and the glorious finish. I pass a tiny
little “13” sign, round the curve and hope like fuck I can make it in under 4
hours.
 |
| No. Fucks. Atall. |
By the
skin of my teeth, I finished, upright, at 3:55:45. Is that my best time? Not in the
slightest. Am I happy with it? Oh, fuck
yeah!
My 10k
split was 1:44:42, and my 15k split was 2:39:31, very close to Gasparilla PR
time. But man, things went downhill after that 15k time!
I beat a
total of 59 people. I came in 185th
out of 192 females in my age group. I
was the 1182nd female to finish (out of 1231). The last half-marathoner finished at 4:55:39,
about a full hour after me.
I’m so
ready to cry right now, I got my medal and my weird Tyvek type jacket and
hobbled over to the side of the chute.
 |
| I look a lot better than I feel right now (and where did those beads come from?!?) |
I saw
some friendly faces, once I began to calm down. Liz, a runDisney volunteer, was
volunteering here as well. I also saw
Betty, who finished about 30 minutes before me at 3:29:17.
I picked
up a water and some Clif Bars then hobbled over to my family, who helped me
hobble over to an empty table so I could sit and decompress. I was trying
really hard not to cry the whole time. Was it pain? Was it frustration? I don’t
know. I think it was both. I peeled off
my shoes and put on my flip-flops while describing my run to the family. I cleaned out my skirt pockets and threw it
in my run bag. My ankles, I think, were the worst. They felt like there was glass in my joints and every time I put weight on them, they were grinding together. It was terrible!
I got my
food card and we began walking around. It was already past 11 am! I got a Natalie’s Virgin Mimosa (just OJ), a
slice of pizza, some bread, cookies, and grits with bacon jam. (The kiddo was
NOT impressed with the grits and bacon jam!).
We
headed back to the hotel, which had allowed us late check-out, so that I could
take an ice bath. The room keys had
already been deactivated, so hubby ran to the front office, explained our
situation and had the keys fixed. He said the front desk said we could stay as
long as we needed to (within reason, obviously), and to leave the keys on the
desk when we left.
I didn’t
want to be here for hours, so I skipped the ice bath and took a 15 minute hot
soak in the existential bath tub. (I
didn’t want to get out, it was so nice and deep!).
While I
was in the tub, the family packed up the room, and when I was done, we were
done and ready to boogie. Thank you, Red
Lion Front Desk Staff!
We drove
over to the Beach Club and parked. I, of course, had to potty! Then we checked
in at Beaches & Cream for our reservation.
We had to wait almost 15 minutes past our reservation time. But, it’s a
popular place, so it’s understandable.
 |
| My medal matches the plates! |
We even
got seated at the same table we got last year!
 |
| Hmmm, what do I want? |
I joked
with the family that I kinda wanted French fries, but we all just got sundaes.
Last year,
I got a Milky Way sundae, but I wasn’t THAT hungry this time, so I went with a
two-scoop vanilla sundae with caramel sauce and whipped cream.
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| Two scoops, caramel sauce, whip cream and a medal |
Hubby
got the same, with chocolate and peanut butter sauce, no whip.
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| Two scoops, peanut butter sauce, no whip (loser) - iPod 5th Gen for scale |
The
Kiddo got the same, with chocolate and hot fudge, no whip.
Jokingly,
I told the waitress that I’d take all of their whipped cream (I make that joke
a lot).
With the
restaurant being so small, you can see behind the counter and watch the staff
make the food. I saw that our waitress
was working on our sundaes, and I just fell in love with my waitress – she was
actually attempting to give me this HUGE topper of whipped cream.
Unfortunately, it was very messy, and she ended up remaking the sundae (which
made me feel bad – it’s a waste of food that wouldn’t have gone to waste if I’d
not joked about the extra whip).
She
brought our sundaes and took our photo for us, and then I went to town on that
ice cream!
 |
| You can tell I'm feeling MUCH better at this point! |
After we
paid and left, we sat outside and debated what we wanted to do. We thought
about going to Epcot, but realized that we’d left our Magic Bands in the car,
and I really didn’t feel like walking back to the car to get them, then walking
back to catch the boat. Hubby wanted to
go to a park, but the Kiddo and I overruled him – we were both too tired. He was kind of bummed, but got over it.
Dessert (lunch) at Beaches & Cream -
$25.94 after tax (tip not included)
Three
2-Scoop Sundaes - $5.99 Each
Two
Sodas (none for me) - $3.19 Each
We hit
up the WaWa for road food, then decided, what the hell – we drove over to
McDonald’s and got 3 large fries!
Snacks at WaWa $17.59 (after tax), plus gas
Meat Cup
(x3) - $2.79 each
Chex Mix
(Annie) - $1.69
Borden
White Milk (Ann) - $1.49
Herr’s
Chips (Amy)- $1
Herr’s
Cheese Curls (Amy) - $1
SC &
O Chips (J)- $1.49
Soda (A
/ J) - $1.19 each
We got
back home around 5ish and unpacked (lovely Hubby did most of it). I hit the bed by 5:30 (really!) and
twittered, futzed around on my iPod and watched TV. I was probably asleep by 8pm! (Good thing I
took tomorrow off – I need more recovery time!)
Location: Celebration FL
Host: (Who put on the race) Town of Celebration
Race Fee: $70 (ROTE Promo Code saved me $10) – Fee goes up to $100
the week of the race
Packet Pickup: Day before, at Expo – super easy
Parking: Always crowded – we park at the Celebration School, about
5 blocks away
Support: (on-course) Amazing! 10 Water stops, all with Gatorade;
Clif Shots, oranges and bananas at around Mile 6
After Party: Getting better than the first 2 years. Virgin Mimosas!
