After Pasta in the Park we went back to our hotel and got our race gear ready for the next morning. I was going with a pseudo-Cinderella outfit. My Lululemon skirt was intended to be part of an Olaf costume but college finals got the best of me and I ran out of time.
Heather and I before entering our corral, bright and early! We ended up running in the same corral although we were in different ones, mostly because we just put random times at registration. I really didn't mind dropping back a corral, considering my lack of preparation for the race. Although, I did underestimate my ability to run on adrenaline. I actually felt great the entire race and I believe if I started in an earlier corral with less congestion I would have significantly reduced my time. But hey, we were running in Disney World and I was not planning for a PR.
I got kind of caught up in running and sadly did not get any character pictures because once I got going I just wanted to finish as fast as I could without overstraining myself for the 1/2 the next day.
After the race! |
We didn't end up staying together during the race because the start was really congested and it was hard to keep together. Heather ran with our friend Megan, until they eventually lost each other and Heather ended up helping a 16 year old runner who was injured but was determined to finish because she was running in honor of her dad who ran Boston last year. This is why Heather is awesome, and also because she has a really awesome Ariel Sparkle Skirt!
I named the blister Mt. Vesuvius because it looked like it was waiting to erupt. Gross, I know. |
And this is where everything went downhill! Sorry for the tmi gross picture, but this is what a blood blister looks like, incase you were wondering. I experienced some swelling in my feet due to the heat in Florida in comparison to the cold weather in Delaware. I suppose that is why my left shoe felt a bit tighter than usual and my poor toe hit the top of my shoe for the entire race, rubbing against it and causing terrible friction. I actually did not realize I had a blister until I took my shoe off though, which was probably for the best because I was at my hotel at this point. I wore flip flops for the rest of the day and went to Fit2Run that night, where I was directed towards some really cool toe socks that helped.
We headed to Epcot to ride as many rides as we could before our 12 pm reservations at Biergarten. This was another really cool dining experience; there are musical shows throughout the day, so no matter what time your reservations there will be entertainment at some point. The restaurant is buffet-style, and the seating is in groups, meaning your party will be seated with an entirely different party at a table, this makes for interesting conversation though! The buffet offers many different types of German foods, some of which I had never experienced until then. There is an entire section devoted to meat carving, a section with sides, soups & salads, and dessert, of course. My favorite part - the mini bavarian pretzels!
While in Germany, I had to get my boyfriend a souvenir because last time we visited I meant to buy him a beer-stein or something of the sort and I lost track of time. Given my already overpacked bags, I wasn't sure how I would pack a very breakable beer-stein so I found this funny beer "sweater" as I like to call it. He took German in high school and taught me how to say "iche liebe dich," or "i love you" in German. So this was the only one that I could read without referring to the tag, lol.
This is my supercool Enchanted 10K shirt, which was included in registration, along with my super cool Princess Half Marathon jacket, which was not included with registration, haha.
After a long day well spent running, riding rides, eating in Epcot, and shopping in Fit2Run, we finally retired to our room at 8pm. Instead of making dinner reservations anywhere, we planned on getting room service, which clearly resulted in me ordering an entire pizza - the best pizza. I obviously didn't eat the entire thing the night before a race, I actually just had 2 pieces and had plenty left over for after the race. Yes, I was sitting in bed taking in the beauty of my pizza while watching tutorials on how to use KT Tape - in my Disney Princess Shoe pajama pants, of course.
These are the awesome toe socks that I wore to separate my toes from each other in avoidance of nay more blisters! I was a first time user of KT Tape, and I am now a believer. I taped it the night before the half because I had to wake up at 2:15 am and did not want to deal with it in the morning. I highly suggest using KT Tape, even as a preventative type of thing. I didn't actually have a shin splint, yet...but I was feeling a good amount of pressure on my left shin during the 10K and I didn't want to risk it for the half marathon. I have to say, I am very glad I bought it and used it. Also, it stays on forever, you don't have to worry about it coming off until you're ready.
Next up: the Princess Half Marathon race recap! It's about time.