nearly four months. that’s how long my running shoes have been gathering dust in my closet. following eat. blog. run. i could hardly walk (literally), let alone run. three different doctors, one active release technician, one physical therapist, & one reiki master/healer/guide/intuitive later, i realized i had to accept the cold hard truth – sometimes, time is the best (& only) medicine.
so, for nearly four excruciatingly long months, my shoes sat there – temping & taunting me. as the days turned into weeks, which then turned into months, i began to wonder if there would ever be an end to my self-imposed jail sentence. with just two weeks to go before the disneyland 1/2 marathon (a race i had signed up for in march), i threw caution to the wind, laced up my sneakers & started to train.
seven training runs later (the furthest being a total of six miles), race day found me at the starting line sporting my special edition, chartreuse-colored team sparkle skirt, tinkerbell wings & little bit of pixie dust. as i ran “through sleeping beauty’s castle, high-fived my favorite disney characters, & rounded home base at angel stadium,” my team sparkle skirt was definitely the talk of the race – resulting in lots of compliments, cheers & definitely a little bit of skirt envy. but, i have to admit, my skirt’s not the only thing my fellow racers were jealous of. i don’t know how many times i heard “no fair. she’s got wings. she’s going to ‘fly’ by all of us.”
disneyland 1/2 marathon by the numbers…
* 5K split 29:31
* 10K split 58:37
* 15K split 1:27:26
* total chip time 2:01:40. (although, a new personal record, in my mind there will forever be an asterisk associated with this race. while my “chip” time was 2:01:40, the total course mileage was 13.35 miles. so while the records books will forever clock me at 1 minute 40 seconds over 2 hours, deep down i know i ran 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours).
* overall place: 1,991 of 12,361
* gender place: 700 of 7,854
* division place 143 of 1,310
not bad with just two weeks of training under by belt. i guess the tinkerbell wings & pixie dust helped more than i anticipated.
oh yeah, i guess i wasn’t the only one who decided that a team sparkle running skirt was the perfect accessory for a disney running race… luckily the girls of team sparkle were there, cheering us on & preserving all the fabulous-ness on video.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
You are amazing!!! Well done.
Congratulations! You must be proud. I would be!
kelleyn´s last [type] ..All Roads Lead to Rome
You are awesome!! I needed to read this tonight. See, I was training for my first 1/2 marathon (St. Jude one in Memphis, TN) and I was *almost* there. I had just gotten myself to the 11 mile mark and knew I’d be able to complete my first half in December. On 9/17/10, I was out running and was struck by a car. I broke bones, vertebrae, dislocated a hip, tore an ACL…the list goes on…and I can’t walk yet. But, I read stories like yours and I know it’s possible to run again…and train again…and I will run the same race next year. Thank you for writing about this.
P.S. I have total mini-skirt envy – and the wings! Oh the wings are just perfect! I live right outside of Disney World so I know all about the wings, ha! Such fun running attire! Maybe I’ll be bold like that when I run next year…not if I run…WHEN I run!
That’s awesome! I’m going to run it for the 1st time next year. Wings would be awesome!!!
Diapers & Divas – Heather´s last [type] ..The Fickle 10
I LOVE your outfit for the race. I need to check out your skirts in LB. Congrats on a great run at Disneyland! I can’t believe it but I finished within 1 minute of you there. I wish I would have known so I could have looked for you!
Casey´s last [type] ..WDW Princess 1-2 Marathon – 3-7-10
LOOOOOOVE it!!!!! You rock! So proud of you!!!
Way to go! Runners impress me! You look great!
What an achievement!! To stay in shape these days, I do crossfit, and there’s a lot of running involved in it. I can say I hate/love running with a passion
BusyDad´s last [type] ..Watch Jim Eat
This is so great. So you must really like running. I am doing a 5k in Montana at the end of October and I am finding it hard to train. Do you have a secret? Do you have a special way of training? I ran two miles on the tredmill this morning and totally had to push myself. I did it though. Is it going to get easier? And when you train, do you run every other day and on the off days, cross train? I need some encouragement. I love your “outfit”.
You are AWESOME!! Congratulations!
You ran a seriously RAD race. Looked strong the whole time. So glad we were able to be there to cheer you on from the sidelines!
This is Carrie´s last [type] ..Weekend Retreat
{ 3 trackbacks }