Marathon Wrap-Up

Well, after 18 weeks of training, the Disney Marathon came and went faster than I ever expected.

Someone tipped us off last year about staying at the French Quarter so we were able to walk to the start which meant sleeping until 4:15am which was heavenly if you ask me! We anxiously waited (bundled up in light of temps in the 20s) until our set of fireworks and off we went past Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy who came out to cheer us on at the start line. We were pumped and were making good time due to the excitement of this being my first marathon & simply because we were at Disney World. Somewhere along the line the sun came up but it didn't bring much warmth at all - our FL bones apparently used to temperatures in the 20s & 30s.

Mile 10 brought us to the Magic Kingdom where we pranced along to some GREAT techno music while we passed Tomorrow Land, the Mad Tea Party and ran thru the Castle. Then what I call "the real fun" began...and by "the real fun" I mean "the most miserable portion of the marathon". We twisted and turned on various back roads leading to Animal Kingdom from miles 12-16 and each step seemed to suck more of the life out of me. Poor Ryan had to practically drag me down the course (he literally had to take me by the hand and lead me forward so I didn't stop moving a couple of times). I was chilled to the bone and was absolutely miserable - I didn't want to take another step. (Jeanine wasn't lying when she told me everything in my body would eventually tell me to "STOP MOVING!".) Admittedly I got pretty darn bitchy at this point & basically took it out on Ryan (sorry babe). I don't even remember going thru Animal Kingdom.

Once we hit mile 20 near Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) I started to perk up a little - the end was in sight! By now though Ryan was starting to hit the wall - but bless his heart, he didn't get nearly as bitchy as I did! Although I felt like we were really draggin, we kept passing people along the course and managed to pick up our pace a bit once we hit Epcot and the World Showcase (I could practically taste the beer as we passed Germany!). Once we were back at

Spaceship Earth with only .25 miles remaining we picked back up to a pretty good jog and crossed the finish line with smiles on our faces! We collected our mylars (a godsend if you ask me) and our finishers medals and posed for our "official pictures". Then we trudged to the waiting bus, pulled ourselves inside and patiently rode back to the French Quarter for showers and WARMTH!

We all accomplished the goals we set out to attain for the weekend - Jeanine, Mom, Tammy, Leah and Ryan completed Goofy and earned their special 5th Anniversary Medal and I successfully completed the Marathon and the 5k. We celebrated with our customary champagne toast and then some "park hopping". Fun was had by all!

As we all continue to recover from the weekend's festivities, the temperatures in FL continue to rise and we're all starting to plan our "big events" for 2010. Thanks again for all of the support and encouragement!

Check out all of the pictures here