WDW - The Reader's Digest Edition

Phew!  I had hoped to be able to blog as I went all weekend, but spotty internet and a packed schedule kept me from it. I am home again - exhausted but exhilarated and ready to share the story of the weekend with you all...it is just going to take a bit of time to get organized.  I hope to get started on the longer posts tonight and that perhaps I can put forth a teaser to give you a taste of my amazing weekend!  I'll recap in greater detail very soon.

I flew in Thursday and it was around dinner time by the time we made it to the hotel.  One skanky bad resort pizza later, I knew I had to do something about the food situation.  I picked up my 5k race package from Anna and headed to bed...where I proceeded to not sleep since the 2 hour time difference meant my body wasn't quite ready yet.

Family Fun 5k

Friday morning dawned with a 2:45 alarm, a quick change into my costume and a 4am bus to the start line for the 5k. Met up with Nikki and Leana and went out to rock a super fun 5k through Epcot.  Our costumes were epic and we felt like celebrities toward the end since we were the only people in light up tutus (that we saw).  It was incredibly hot out, considering the sun was barely up by the time we finished the race and I was worried about how I would fare on the longer races because of it.

Race Expo

Friday afternoon, me and the rest of Team Alberta headed over to ESPN Wide World of Sports to the expo to pick up our Goofy packages and do some shopping.  Holy crap did I ever go into sensory overload!  I managed to pick up a few things that I really wanted but had to get out of there before my brain exploded.

On my way out of the expo, I nabbed myself a taxi and headed to Target for some Grocery Shopping

TNT Inspiration Dinner

Nikki came as my date for the Inspiration Dinner and it was yummy food and inspiring speakers all the way.  The Canada Flex team was small but awesome and they really tried to make us stand out on our way into the convention centre through the cacophony of staff.   I tried to film it, only to realize my video hadn't started...boo... John Bingham was the emcee and he kept us laughing with stories both new and familiar.

WDW Half Marathon

Saturday meant a 2am wakeup call and a groggy trip to Epcot for the start line on that 3:30am bus.  I wished my team good luck and then headed off to find Nikki again.  A long walk to the start line later, we arrived just in time to witness the start of the race.  Amazing.  THAT, I got on video.   The race course wound itself through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot and was super fun.  and HOT!

Afterwards, Nikki and I went shopping and then to dinner to load up on some more carbs.  Then we decided to stick together on Marathon day and finish this out together.

WDW Marathon

So hot.  Hot hot hot.  Even the Floridians were telling me that it was unusually hot.  Luckily, the heat advisory that went out for Race weekend and the race was ready with a million water stops.  The race morning was really similar to Saturday (2am wakeup, early bus and long walk to the start...and a very similar first 8 miles.)  By the half way point, I was drenching myself at every water stop to bring my body temperature down.  Disney kept us entertained and I tried to stay strong.  There was one point, just before Mile 20, where I had to give myself a mental bitchslap to brig myself back on track.  I don't know if I really had a "bite me" zone (as John Bingham says) but by the end, I was pretty quiet and had mentally tied an imaginary rope to Nikki so I could stay focused enough to finish.   With a high five to Mickey and tears in my eyes - I crossed the finish line to my second marathon.   and earned myself a Goofy medal!

TNT Victory Party

My original plan for Sunday night was to attend the dinner at the TNT party and then head out to Downtown Disney to meet up with Nikki to celebrate at the official Run Disney Cool Down party.  But my trip was missing something.  I still hadn't made it to a park and I really wanted to.  When I looked it up and saw that the Magic Kingdom was open late - I made the executive decision to change my plans and go to the park.  A couple of other people in our group were going as well so we ate at the dinner and then hopped the bus to the park - arriving just in time for fireworks.  I wandered around, shopping and exploring (and eating ice cream and popcorn) and took some time to reflect on all I had accomplished that weekend.

It was amazing, people.  Truly amazing.  Disney puts on a helluva race weekend. I can't wait to share the details with you all.  It will be very soon - I promise!

It's kind of fun to do the impossible. 

~ Walt Disney