Miles to GO...

Alright, I was going to wait until Wednesday but I have some time tonight to update, so here goes...

My Florida Vacation...

I arrived Thursday Night into Orlando and went back to my brother, Sean's house in Melbourne (Indialantic to be specific). I got to get some cuddle time in with Margo and just relax for the night.

MARGO

Friday I went to the beach for an hour or so. It was 78 and Sunny. I was surprised to see other people out, but the kids are still off from school so I think that was why.

My Giant Footprint

That is a pelican in the middle of the fishing rods

After the beach I went back and lounged some more until Sean and his roommate, Boggs got home from work. We made some dinner and decided to go bowling.

This was Game 2 of 4. I wanted to post my HIgh Score and of course one of the games I won

Me & Sean

Sean, Me, & Boggs

Saturday we hit the road to...

Where we hit the Marathon Expo first. See a couple posts ago, were I posted the pic of us, super excited!

After the Expo we went to the hotel, where it really felt like a vacation..

Me & Boggs, poolside at the Seralago Hotel

Beautiful

Sunday Morning 3am- Wake up! We hit the road around 3:40am and I was able to find Laurie before the start. She was in a different corral though so I started alone. A couple people made a comment about the weather being cold (it was about 50 degrees) and I started talking to them. They were from West Palm Beach and Team in Training too but I didnt know because they had layers on over their purple. They told me that they do a 5 min run 1 min walk interval and I asked if I could start the first few miles with them.

Goofy, Mickey, and Donald Counted us down to the start..

I was worried that the run would be too fast or too long for me since I have only been 2 or 3 mins running for the past few months, but it was great. I can't tell you exactly which parks and in which order we went, but definitly hit the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM (Hollywood Studios), and Animal Kingdom

I think Magic Kingdom was my favorite

Samantha, Katy, and Frank were the Palm Beach runners and we met Tommy from DC about a mile or two in who joined us too. Frank was doing Goofy for the 3rd time, 5th time for the Disney Marathon and has done a couple Ironmans, it was Samantha's 3rd Marathon, Katy's 1st, and Tommy's 7th marathon and 2nd Goofy. Tommy just did Philly in November too and he finished around the same time I did. I was so happy to have met these guys.

Splash Mountain

I saw Laurie and her sister a couple times during the race and she said to run with Palm Beach because I started with them. They ended up finishing ahead of us I believe and it was amazing. They both, Laurie and her sister, were Goofy this year but you couldnt tell at all. I feel like I would be visibly falling apart had I ran the Half the day before.

The weather creeped to near 80 and Sunny. I tried not to think about anything really. About 20 miles in my feet hurt, my entire body ached, and I wanted to be done. But having the others with me, I didnt say that out loud. I needed to stay positive because I knew that complaining certainly would not help anything. Running with people is one million times better than running solo. I dont know what my time would have been had I run alone, but I do know that I would have let my mind ruin the moment for me. The longer I am aone, the more my brain regresses and focuses on the pain, but having others there and trying to be positive changes it all.

Animal Kingdom- I think this is the Tree of Life or it should be called that..

We crossed the finish line altogether, holding hands. I can't wait to see the pics of that. Mickey sure does look great in my cabinet with the other medals. My body is slowly starting to forgive me for putting it through yesterday. Oh I forgot I said I would talk about what I forgot....body glide. I wore the skort again and forgot to apply it before. The course was well stocked with Medical Tents that had vaseline, icy hot or whichever brand they used, among many other things you could need.

I took the vaseline about 5 miles in and it seemed to hurt more then it helped. My legs did not look too horrible but they felt sooo so bad. I refrained from more vaseline until mile 18 or 19. When I got back to the hotel and in the shower....I cried. Today's shower was not bad at all but like I said, my boday has started to forgive me.

I am looking forward to taking a week or two off before I start training for 20in24. I know that Maggie and the others have already started training but I would like a break for a bit. School is also starting next Tuesday and I know that will be keeping me busy. I will try to keep this updated, because I like to and I am happy to report there are actually people reading! Before the New Year I wanted to break 1,000 page views and today we are over 1300, so thank you to whoever is reading, I hope to keep you all entertained!

2012 Mickey Medal

"Marathoning is like cutting yourself unexpectedly. You dip into the pain so gradually that the damage is done before you are aware of it. Unfortunately, when awareness comes, it is excruciating."

~John Farrington, Australian marathoner

""You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."

~Frank Shorter

I agree with both of the above quotes...If I remember the pain I feel today when I go to run again I will hesitate. Yet when I remember the feeling of accomplishment and nothing else, I am ready for the next feat.

I will write a long entry this week but I wanted to post my finisher pic. It was great, my body hates me, but I'm still smiling. I ran with Team in Training runners from Palm Beach and DC the whole time! We even finished holding hands! It was a great day! I'm vegging in the hotel room for probably the rest of the night and flying home tomorrow.
All in all this trip was great! Great weather, great race, great hotel, and of course it's always great to see my brother Sean and his roommate Boggs. I even got a little color on my pale winter skin.
More to come including the break down of the race and what product I forgot to apply before the start which will be the cause of my waddling the next few days...