About a month and 1/2 ago I got an invite to run the Disney 1/2 with a great friend. I was so excited. You see, I've always dreamed of running a Disney race but never wanted to go to the expense to do it. It's not cheap, but it's totally worth it! I ran the 1/2 this past Saturday. At first just me and the husband were going to go. That made me really happy - a whole weekend with the hubs! But then the guilt set in. Was I really going to go to Disney and not take my kids? The kids went with us and they were so thankful. It was much different this time around. Now that they are older there was NO whining at all! It was marvelous.
The Expo - unreal! I've never ran a race this large before so the expo was crazy. Lots of stuff, but I only bought 2 shirts. I was proud of myself for not going nuts!
The Race - amazing! Disney has very early start times which I totally understand. They want to get you out of the parks before they open. I was on my hotel shuttle bus at 3 am! It was insanely early. We got to the Epcot parking lot around 3:30. I met up with my friend and waited for the start. The weather was a perfect 50 degrees. The 2 hours we had to wait for the start went surprisingly fast. Tony Horton was on stage leading everyone in some pre-race exercise. This race was just an awesome fun experience.
I wasn't going for time on this race and it's a good thing. There were 27,000 runners and it was crowded. So crowded that I never really got a good stride going. I pulled up at mile 10 with a major IT band issue. I've never ever had an issue with my IT band so I had no idea what was going on. I ran like a peg leg for the last 3 miles because I couldn't bend my knee without horrible pain. My left hip flexor is now killing me from running like a moron. Needless to say I'm taking the week off to let my broken down parts heal.
Lesson learned: I need to get stronger! I need to strengthen my lower half and I will.
