Marathon Wrap-up

Well, as you might have read, I kicked ass and took names at that marathon.

KABLING!

Okay, maybe I didn't kick ass so much as just finish less than 5 minutes before the cutoff, but I trekked all 26.2 of those god-forsaken miles! We were perhaps just slightly disillusioned as we got up at 3:30 the morning of the race after one of the best dinners we've ever had at Citricos the night before.

After walking around in the chilly morning air, we grouped together and walked the 20 minutes down the road to our respective starting corrals where we would start. And oh boy, was there a start for us when we finally got going!

(here's a little video someone managed to get of what the start was like. Not from this year, but this is pretty much how it went down. That overpass is about where we were standing. The start was WAY up there, though, and each corral moved up and started about 5 minutes apart. We didn't actually end up crossing the start about 40-45 minutes after the first group went.)
 

The mile markers were all pretty fantastic, and each one we would count down our triumphs. It's the only thing you can do when there are so many miles ahead of you.

Miles to go in the teens!

Half way!

6 miles left and this is seriously getting to be bullshit...

Really, though. Whoever said it was an exercise in your mind over your body hit the nail on the head. It was more of a mental battle for me by mile 18 through about mile 22 or 23 where I had to keep telling myself I was almost done even though it felt like my knees were going to run right off by body and my feet were swollen and I needed fruit sugars so badly but all they had were bananas. BANANAS. I HATE BANANAS. What I would have done to steal that whole bag of orange slices one lady had... But we did it. And we ran around and through all of the parks.

Spaceship Earth!

Cinderella's Castle!

THECOSTUMINGDEPARTMENTOMG

It's almost as if they set up the race just for me, where they'd know I would need some sort of boost near the end of the race. Hollywood Studios was the second to last park and being Hollywood (and in "California") it happens to be where they shove all of their Pixar characters. So I got to feel incredible...

 

And lift my spirits up...

And combat my mental monsters...

And...run through the costuming department. Yeah, I have nothing witty for that.

But I finished. And then proceeded to hobble around the parks (and Universal! Woo Harry Potter! I'll post more about that day another day) the rest of the week. I sported some fancy K-Tape for my blisters and runner's knee and swollen feet.

In fact, all of us finished (including my sister and her friend.) I'm so proud of us.

Next stop, the Disneyland Half Marathon this Labor Day weekend. I've got my eye on that Coast to Coast medal. But if you fine readers want some advice, don't ever run a marathon. Just don't do it. It sucks. You hurt. You get drained. If you're like me, you'll cry. More than once. During and after. You feel like you'll never walk again. You don't know why you thought running was ever a good idea. But if you don't listen to me, at least do the Disney ones, because they have stuff to do along the way. I can't imagine ever doing a marathon where there wasn't something almost every mile.

Psst...see those orange Goofy medals our friends are wearing on the right there? Yeah, they're crazy stupid. They did the Goofy Challenge, which was the half marathon the day before the full. I don't know how they did it and I will never attempt it. I just wanted my Mickey medal (they actually got three that weekend. Jealous? Yes. Enough to want to do one myself? Never.)