So, finally we are home and time for a short (hopefully) race report.
Running the half marathon at Disney last Saturday just confirmed our suspicions (Heather's and mine) that it will take more than the Magic of Disney to make us love running in the heat. This race was the toughest half marathon I have run. It probably didn't help that I have been a slacker in my running since the Run for the Toad. And Heather's break due to her laser surgery probably didn't help her either. So we were both out there to just run and have fun. Well, we ran - and walked alot -- and had some fun, but not as much as normal due to the heat. It was so dark and crowded in the beginning that I was afraid that Heather and I would lose each other. As it was we couldn't run very fast due to the crowds. By the time we hit mile 3 the humidity was killing us and we both felt nauseous. We told Cathy and Petra to go on because we did not want to hold them back. Thanks to Cathy supplying us with some salt pills, which we took. Around about this time, who should appear but Janet! Apparently she had to stop for a port-a-potty break and had actually managed to see us ahead in the crowd. She said she wanted to run with us just to finish and have some fun. We informed her that up till that point we were NOT having fun and she did admit later that we didn't look like we were either. Once the salt pills kicked in, we bounced back a bit but every step seemed to be a struggle. The best time was going through the Magic Kingdom as there were so many distractions. Then it was back out on to the highways with their on and off ramps which were killers on the ITs. We tried to run along the grass where it was more level. Because we had been so slow, had walked off and on and had several bathroom breaks, we ended up with alot of walkers, which were hard to get around while we were in our running mode. There were quite a few Canadians out there who would say Go Canada when they saw our shirts. We met two men who wanted to know if we spoke French. They said that they weren't Canadian but that their last name was Lamontagne which meant the mountain and that was all the French they knew. Most of the run is a blur of water tables and runners/walkers. We looked longingly at that Epcot ball for what seemed like the longest time. It felt like we would never get there. Finally we entered the park. It seemed like we ran through the whole thing, but I know we didn't - based on our return trip later that day when Heather and I actually did walk the whole thing. We were the last of our group over the finish line and were happy to see that everyone else had made it and were still excited about completing the second half of the Goofy the next day. I know Heather and I were grateful that we weren't - but then again, we hadn't trained for it either.
All in all, it was a great trip! It was more of a holiday for Heather and me than it was for all the Goofy people. We enjoyed our visit to Epcot after our run. We had a great time spectating at the finish line of the marathon. It was wonderful to see all our friends complete the Goofy with smiles on their faces. You women are all just so amazing -- and tough!!!
Thanks Sandy, Patti and everyone else who was involved in the planning and logistics for the weekend. You did a great job!
We had a lot of fun on the second part of our trip which involved LOTS of shopping and a day at the Animal Kingdom and a day at both theme parks at Universal Studios.
Only two not so nice things happened during the whole trip. After we checked out of the Disney resortm we headed to Perkins in Kissimee for brunch. We were having a great time until we came out of the restaurant to see a Sheriff's car in the parking lot. The van next to our car had been broken into and one a couple down from ours had a back passenger window smashed. Both had stuff stolen. Fortunately ours was ok. I don't know why we were so lucky, except maybe because all our stuff was in the trunk, so they couldn't see it. This just freaked us right out and we decided that even though it was only 11:30 we would drive up to our hotel in Orlando and check in so we could get our stuff out of the car. We were paranoid for quite awhile after that. By the way, we were VERY pleased with our hotel in Orlando. Good dollar value, good food, free internet. And right around the corner from Universal Studios. If anyone wants more info, we can provide it.
The second thing was our second flight home - from JFK in NYC to Syracuse. We were flying on a Dash 8 airplane -- 32 passengers
This didn't bother me too much as I have flown for ten hours in the back of a Hercules cargo aircraft before. First they kept bouncing us back and forth between gate 18 and gate 23 due to an airplane substitution due to a mechanical problem. We started at Gate 23. Then the board said to move to Gate 18. Then we got there and they delayed the plane by an hour so we went to get something to eat. As we arrived back, they were moving everyone back to Gate 23. Then they said the plane was boarding sooner than the hour delay and they put us all on a bus and drove us back over to Gate 18! Everyone was laughing about that one. Then as we were taxiing out for take off it sounded like we ran over something. Don't know if it was one of those mules that pull the luggage carts or just plain old road kill. After that Cathy and Petra said apparently there was some question by the one stewardess who was being trained as to whether the plane door was actually closed. I think that got resolved. And lastly, none of us enjoyed the thrill of the two sudden drops of several feet and then lifting back up again just as we were coming in to land. When the stewardess' eyes (not the trainee one either!) just about pop out of her head, it does kind of concern the passengers!! I think next time we would book on a bigger aircraft.
All in all, it was a good trip. But it is good to be home. I am exhausted.
