princess half marathon

the princess half marathon was supposed to be my race. i prepped & trained for months, trading in my glass slippers for running shoes, in an effort to run a sub 1:40 half marathon.

i spent hours & hours deciding which running costume to wear, ultimately narrowing down it down to one of three princesses.

the always fabulous snow white, with her striking black hair & skin that’s white as snow…

the perfectly pink aurora…. what little girl doesn’t dream of being sleeping beauty?

but finally i settled on rapunzel, knowing that dressing as her would ensure i had “the best day race ever!”

unfortunately, my very own “once upon a race,” didn’t go exactly as planned.

even though i had experienced a fairy tale weekend (filled with the princess 1/2 meetup & the tangled royal family 5k), i woke up at at 3am on race day with a fever, sore throat, hacking cough, & a very non-existant voice.

all i wanted to do was crawl back in bed, & sleep for the next week or so… but the princess half marathon was calling my name, & i needed ample time to fix my hair before the race – so, i found myself climbing out of bed & pulling on my team sparkle skirt.

by the time i got to the starting line, race adrenaline was pumping thru my veins, i could feel the excitement in the air, & being surrounded by literally thousands of women who were ready to run… i couldn’t help but forget about how crummy i felt, & start to believe that maybe i would have a magical day, after all.

with a wave of her magic wand, fairy god mother started the princess 1/2 marathon, & soon i found myself flying down the road, weaving in & out of runners, dodging tutus, & counting the numbered of costumed runners.

the first several miles flew by. running along the road from epcot to the magic kingdom, i was feeling strong, & running “on pace,” even a wee bit under. & then it happened.

just as i entered the magic kingdom, i started to cough – & i couldn’t stop. the coughing triggered an asthma attack, & suddenly i couldn’t breath. i really & truly thought i was going to die, right there & then in the magic kingdom, which didn’t seem all that magical at that particular moment.

luckily, i had my inhaler… & 2 or 3 puffs later, my life was no longer flashing before my eyes.

but, in that brief moment, i quickly realized that my dream of a new PR (personal record) wasn’t going to come true at the princess half marathon.

at that exact instant, i suddenly felt incredibly disappointed & may have even shed a tear or two.

but the moment was fleeting, & quickly replaced by a voice in my head reminding me what jeff galloway had told me just a few days earlier… “enjoy every mile. there’s not a lot of fun getting from point a to point b as fast as you can.”

right then & there i decided to change my race approach.

it didn’t matter that the princess 1/2 marathon wouldn’t be my fastest race ever.

all that mattered was that i ensured that the princess 1/2 marathon was one of my funnest races ever.

for the rest of the race, i tried to enjoy every mile. as i ran around the magic kingdom. thru tomorrowland, fantasyland, cinderella’s castle & fronteirland, before heading back to epcot where we ran thru future world, past spaceship earth before we crossed the finish line – i stopped, visited & took pictures with every single disney character on the race course (there were more than 100 pictures!). but this group of disney villains were definitely my favorites…

i high-fived spectators, thanked volunteers & posed for pictures with a few of rapunzel’s littlest fans.

& anytime i started to feel a wee bit sorry for myself, i repeated jeff’s mantra “enjoy every mile,” & reminded myself that kelly clarkson would tell me:

“what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… stand a little taller.”

i ran almost the entire race with a smile on my face, and really & truly did enjoy all 13.1 miles.

but the best part of any race is always crossing the finish line, being dusted with pixie dust & receiving the bling.

& since i had already run the tinkerbell half earlier this year,  i got to walk away with not just one, but two fancy schmancy medals… the fabulous princess half marathon tiara & the coveted coast-to-coast medal (earned when you complete one complete runDisney half marathon or marathon at walt disney world & disneyland in the same calendar year).

the cling clang of medals, definitely was (& still is), music to my ears.

princess half marathon {by the numbers}

* total “chip” time 1:49:16
* 73rd place out of 2,473 women in my age group
* 318th place overall out of 15,803 women
* 5K split time 23:55, average pace of 7:41 minutes per mile
* 10K split time 49:11, average pace of  7:54 minutes per mile
* 15K split time 1:16: 23, average pace of 8:11 minutes per mile

i guess it really is true… fairytales do come true. one mile at a time. the key is to enjoy every mile.

 

disclosure: while i have been planning on attending the runDisney princess half marathon weekend & running the runDisney princess half marathon (at my own expense) for months now (i really wanted my coast to coast medal)…. i was recently invited by runDisney to attend the entire event weekend as media – meaning they were kind enough to cover my hotel expenses at the fabulous animal kingdom lodge (where live giraffes, zebras & more roamed outside the balcony of my room), meals, and all of my race fees.

of course – all thoughts & opinions are 100% my own, because as you already know… i absolutely, totally & completely LOVE runDisney events, especially the princess half marathon.