Run Disney Marathon Weekend - Day 3 - Part 1 - THE RACE!!

 So -- after months and hundreds of miles of training, the race is finally here!!  The start was at 5:30 am but with all of the roads being shut down and so many people trying to get to the starting area, we were nervous that we would be stuck in traffic so we took the 3:30 am shuttle like they recommended.  We got up at 2:30, showered, had a little to eat and drink, got dressed and headed out from the hotel.  There were lots of other people on our same timeline so once we left the hotel room it didn't seem so crazy to be up so early!
We got to the Epcot parking lot with plenty of time spare - hours in fact since it only took us about 20 minutes to get there!  It was pretty cold - I would definitely bring old sweatpants and sweatshirt to ditch next time.  Thank goodness we had long sleeved shirts at least!!
We got into our corral at about 5:00 and waited for the start at 5:30. Since we were in the very last corral, it took us an HOUR to cross the starting line.  Once we got up there it got more fun and once that gun went off it was ON!!
Brendan ran with me for about 20 feet before saying goodbye and speeding on ahead!  I was pretty sure my IT band wasn't going to be able to hold up for 26 miles so I was going to try to go slow and extend the life of my IT band.  The first few miles felt pretty great!  The sun came up - evidently - sometime before I hit the Magic Kingdom at mile 5.  I wasn't really paying attention - there was so much to look at!  Lots of bands, music and characters along the side of the road.
Running through the Magic Kingdom was fantastic!  Running back through the castle was great - Anna, Elsa and Kristophe were waving from the balcony and it was snowing inside the tunnel!!!  It was nice to get a fun little boost even that early on!  I took another picture at mile 7 - that was farther than I had been able to run since November so I thought I would get a picture!  Any distance of running beyond that was a bonus!! 
I wasn't too surprised when my IT band started hurting right at mile 8 - I wonder if I would have been able to go a little farther without pain if we hadn't had a really steep downhill and then uphill into the car racing track.  At any rate - that was when I started walking - probably about 1 hour and 50 minutes in.  Up until that point I wasn't making great time but as well as I had expected with the knee issues.  The next 18 miles were not going to be a picnic.
From 10 miles to about 20 is kind of a blur - I wasn't in any pain with my knee when I walked which was good but I couldn't run without excruciating pain - which was bad.  I hit mile 20 at 5 hour and 15 minutes.  It was very convenient to start 1 hour behind the clock - it made calculating my times a breeze!!  Mile 23 was 45 minutes later but it took me an hour to go the last 3 miles.  We ran by our hotel and Brendan was waiting for me - he had already finished, showered, and eaten something.  I was starving and couldn't stand the idea of another gel.  It was so nice to see him and get a hug - it made a big difference in the last few miles!!  By mile 24, my other knee was really starting to bother me and at mile 25 - just heading back into Epcot, I could barely put any weight on it.  That last mile took me 20 minutes - no wonder it felt like forever!!  I did manage to run the last 100 yards across the finish line - it was so incredibly painful but worth every step!  I finished under 7 hours which was my goal!  After months of not being able to train and having my longest run be 15 miles - 4 months before the marathon - I was happy to just finish.  Hopefully next time, I'll be able to train correctly and set another PR!
Thank goodness the med tent was right after the finish line.  I hobbled over and a lovely woman wrapped ice packs on both of my knees!  I got my medal, some food and limped over to the bus to head back to the hotel. 
A shower,  a little bit of rest and a new pair of compression socks and we were on our way to dinner.  We were both starving!!!!

Waiting to head to the corrals!

Fireworks for the start of every corral:

 The starting line!

 My first real milestone - only 21 more!

 Magic Kingdom at sunrise!

 mile 7!!

 10

 HALFWAY!!!

 Very happy that I didn't throw my long sleeved shirt away - it rained on and off and it was nice to have while walking!

 I found Brendan!!

 THE FINISH!!

 Off to get some FOOD!

 We did it!!!

Run Disney Marathon Weekend - Day 1

 It's finally here - the MARATHON!!  AHHH!!  Brendan and I have been training for this weekend for MONTHS and it's really hard to believe that we're here in Florida.  It's been such a fantastic journey - I mean I started this all back in March and I could barely run a mile without stopping and here I am getting ready to run 26.2.  Our bodies are incredible!

My parents came down to VA to watch the kids and Brendan and I got on the plane on Friday morning early.  We got down to Orlando with no problems - I slept the entire way on the plane(!!!) - and we arrived at our hotel.  We stayed at the Beach Resort which is right next to Epcot.  The marathon starts in the parking lot of Epcot so we thought it would be good to be close, especially since it starts so early.

We spent the rest of Friday walking around Epcot.  It was actually not super warm but it was nicer than DC!!  We ate lunch at Marrakesh which is the sit down restaurant in Morocco - it's way at the back but totally worth the walk.  The food was amazing and the service was excellent.  The head chef even came out to say Hi and we discovered that he had lived in Arlington before he moved to Florida.  We ended up getting our meal for free which was so nice but I would have willingly paid for it  - the food was very very good.  I can't wait to visit again when we go back!

After lunch we went on a few low key rides and then headed over to the running expo to pick up our packets.  It's starting to feel real now!!  We had dinner at a great steak restaurant in our hotel and then had a great night's sleep!!

Disney Day 4 - Declan's Birthday at Epcot

 After breakfast at Ohana, we headed over to Epcot on the Monorail.  We did a few rides like Spaceship Earth and the Imagination ride before we went over to the countries.  We had reservations for lunch at Mexico but we canceled them because no one was hungry and we just didn't have the time to sit in another restaurant for two hours!  We did the ride in Mexico and the ride in Norway and when we came out it was POURING rain.  Brendan had been clever and packed disposable ponchos in our bag but even so we were soaked!! 

We managed to make our way over to America and into the covered area to do some crafts while we waited for Mimi, Big Dan and Bob Meyer to make their way through the rain to us!  They made it, as soaked as we were, and everyone but Declan and I went in and watched the American presentation.  Declan fell asleep in the stroller and I got to have a cup of tea and warm up!  Who would have thought that I would have been cold at Disney in September!!

After they came out of the show, we went over to Germany to see if we could get into our dinner reservation early.  We waited a few minutes and they got us right in.  It was so much fun - good food, fun atmosphere and fun music!  A German band played and the kids danced - it was a lot of fun!  It was a great way to finish up Declan's birthday!!!!

Declan and Brendan and Aoife at the Imagination ride:

 At America - out of the rain!

 In Germany!

 Happy Birthday Declan!!

Disney Day 3 - Epcot and California Grill

 After breakfast at Chef Mickey's, we took the monorail over to Epcot.  It is so convenient that the Monorail goes right through our hotel!  We visited The World of Energy, Test Track, the Nemo ride, Living with the Land, and Soarin'. 

After the rides, we had lunch at Under the Sea.  It was the worst meal by far at Disney this time.  It was really disappointing because we had a great meal there last time we visited.  The service this time around was terrible and it took us two hours to get our appetizers and entrees!  The kids were freaking out and so after we ate, Brendan took them outside.  It took me half and hour to get the bill!  It was really frustrating since we wanted to be on more rides!  We had purchased the Disney dining plan before we went and made reservations for all of our meals.  This had worked out really well last time we went but this time it wasn't as great.  We felt like we sat forever at each meal!  The staff wasn't interested in getting us our of the restaurant in a timely fashion - maybe because they don't really take walk ins at the sit down restaurants so there isn't any pressure to turn the tables.  I don't know but it surely made us rethink our dining plans for next time!

We took the monorail back to our hotel and met Mimi and Big Dan at our hotel.  Later we had an amazing dinner at California Grill - the super fancy restaurant on the top floor of our hotel.  We had a beautiful view of Magic Kingdom!  It was one of the best dining experiences that I had, although Declan was a mess most of the time and I had to leave a little ahead of everyone else.  I think that California Grill is a must eat at Disney!

Going in to Epcot:

The World of Energy:

 At Living with the Land:

 Ears on the Monorail:

 Dinner at California Grill: