Disney Princess Half Marathon

I RAN A HALF MARATHON YESTERDAY!

It's weird to think about choosing to spend 2.5+ hours of my day running. What's even weirder is that I didn't feel like I was running that long. It was kind of like being in a time-warp. I had no idea how much time had gone by and I really wasn't even paying attention to the fact that I was running. I just kept running. Maybe it was seeing the sea of other runners or because it was just so early in the morning, but my legs kept moving and my mind stayed still. 

Despite my plantar fasciitis and back pain at the end of the week, I ran the entire thing. I had a bit too much water at the beginning of the race and stopped at the porta potty .5 miles in - oops :) Not including my bathroom break I finished in 2:40 (according to my Nike+ app). Not too bad. My goal was to beat 2:45 and I did. My time on RunDisney is 2:48, so 8 minutes of waiting in line and peeing sounds about right. Thankfully, I had no foot pain and no back pain! I even managed to Instagram throughout the race like a true social media addict. I did end up with some hardcore chafing on the sides of my arms from rubbing against my costume and a blood blister on one toe, but overall I faired well.

Here's my rundown of the Disney Princess Half Marathon 2013:

I left my house at 3:10am (felt a little like a creepster leaving the house in the middle of the night in a princess costume )

It took me my usual 20-25 minutes to get to Disney. There was hardly any traffic at this time to get parked. I parked and then found some friends that were hanging out in their car. The ladies I was running with left a little later than I did and did get stuck in some traffic, but it wasn't terrible. It's definitely a good idea to leave early to give yourself enough time.

Dressed and ready to go

We started to head to our corrals at 4:45. I was supposed to be in corral F, but I wanted to be in D with my friend and because I knew that was more my pace than F would be. I was also worried I would need the extra time to avoid being swept if my foot started to hurt. Some corrals were really strict about checking your bib. The volunteers in D were checking, but I just walked through like that's where I was supposed to be and thankfully they didn't stop me.

On our way to the corrals

I was so nervous and excited for the race to start. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother Bibbity Boppity Boo'd each corral as they started and there were fireworks. It was cute and got me super pumped as each corral went through. Our time finally came and I was so happy to get running!

About to pass through and start!

We barely made it through the gate and had to pee! At .5 miles in we hit up the porta potties. I was bummed because I knew it would mess up my timing with Disney, but you gotta do what you gotta do. People were already peeing in the bushes, but I figured I'd use the porta potty.

This first part of the race was on our way to Magic Kingdom and to the castle, which seemed to be close to the half way point. On our way in through the part where you pay to park, I may have tripped over the speed bump and ate it (Update: apparently I was one of about 10 to fall out of 26,000 - get it, girl!). It was clearly too early in the morning because I wasn't even embarrassed, I just popped right back up and kept running.

Entering the parking lot for MK - right before I tripped

Space Mountain!

We ran into Main Street USA, around Tomorrowland and in through Cinderella's Castle. When we reached the castle, trumpets were blaring. It was honestly really cool and pumped me up! Leaving Magic Kingdom, we basically had to backtrack the way we came. This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be since when I went up this way it was dark and now it was light outside. I know I started to slow down at this point from being tired, but I kept going.

Cinderella's Castle

At 8 miles we hit the Clif Bar station and got one of those gel packs. Not gonna lie, they're kinda weird, but it did give a nice energy boost. I also had a pack of Honey Stingers chews in my sports bra for easy energy access (really, it's because I didn't have anywhere to put them, but it was easy to just reach in and grab one).

10 miles down - only 3.1 to go!

At mile 10 there was a lot of uphill running. It sucked. By mile 12 we were back in Epcot and I picked up my pace because I was ready to just stop running. I got teary eyed as I got close to the finish line. It was such an amazing feeling to know that I did something most people will never do. I smiled, fist pumped, and high-fived Minnie Mouse. To say it was anything short of amazing would be a lie. I immediately walked over to get my medal, grabbed some water and my refreshment box, and found Hubs and Nugget.

Cuddling my little prince

I was really happy they came to cheer me on at the finish line, even if I didn't get to see them when I crossed it. Hubs sent me a few encouraging texts throughout my run that helped keep me going. I did see one of my friends/sorority sisters in the home stretch and she screamed out my name. It was awesome and gave me the boost to sprint through the finish line.

Things I loved about the race:

-Lots of entertainment on the course - there were tons of photo ops, character greetings, DJs playing music, and volunteers cheering you on. It made it exciting and motivating. While I didn't stop, plenty of people did and looked like they were having a blast.

Lots of water tables - I think there were 8-9 stations of water and Powerade. I looked forward to each table, given how humid it was.

The runners - everyone was super friendly and encouraging each other. Almost everyone was dressed up in some form or another which made the run more fun. I loved looking at how everyone made their costume. The best part was seeing the guys dressed up and the couples. I saw Peter Pan and Wendy, Mary Poppins and Bert, and plenty of princesses with their prince charming. I rocked out my Snow White costume and got a few comments on it as well.

The only thing I didn't like was running all over the main roads instead of through the parks. I know there's only so much space to run, but I really wanted to run more through Epcot and Magic Kingdom and less on the roads. Aside from this, it was a great race and I plan to do it again next year.