My Marathon experience.....

I have been waiting for a few minutes (HA!)

to compile my thoughts and all of our fun pictures from our 

Marathon this weekend.

I still don't have exactly what I need....but I really want to 

get moving on this and share my experience with you.

I am going to try and piece meal it together in little batches.
........................
It is 1:30 am = perfect time.
Here goes:

On Saturday morning our Team Neck & Neck girls,
met for a celebration brunch for those that had just run the  half
marathon, and a "get pumped" carb loading session for those of us running
the full the next morning at 5:30 am.
Yum!  Not sure if mickey mouse waffles, giant links of sausage,
bacon, eggs, fried potatoe wedges, and biscuits and gravy have many carbs,
but it definitely worked for me.

There was also an item of business that Tina addressed at this little feast.
That was the naming of the winner of the IPOD she had donated for
a little team motivation (competition).
It was so exciting!!
I was so nervous....I was not nervous for myself, because my sister Amy
had already earned way more than me.
I witnessed first hand how she earned it.
By sweat, toil, tears, and a huge slab of creativity.
She sold her craft wears at work, to family, friends, and any one
who was "buying for the cause"....
if you forgot, Thyroid Cancer.
She had a large group of happy takers,
which kept her extremely busy sewing and creating for several days
in a row the last few days before Christmas.

On one of these busy days my sister Keri and I were there sewing seams
along side Amy when
she got the call that her little daughter's dance recital was going on now!
Were they going to join the show!?
Whoa!
I am just saying, there was some heavy brain overloading going on.

Our team raised just under $3500!!!
Pretty dang good considering the number of dropouts we ended up having.
Tina was the bulk with a $1000,  in second place.......
drum roll.....
was AMY!!! 
with $465....She won the IPOD!!
I need to mention my good buddy Aubrey, whose efforts
brought her within twenty bucks of Amy!
It was "NECK & NECK" !!!
Way to go ladies!

Here is our Awesome team, we are missing a few girls, Barb and Holly.

As you can see, some people really get into their posing.

I won't name names.

After the brunch we got our packets at the Expo.

Then went to check out our sleeping arrangements for the night.

Amy's husband Lance was able to hook our families up with 

his employee discout at the World Marriott, a gorgeous hotel a few miles

away from our hotel, The Port Orleans Riverside.

Amy, Tina and I stayed here so we could have some quiet time

the night before the race and so we wouldn't wake everyone else up at 

3:10 a.m.

It was a smart move on our part.

We got upgraded,

 (don't you love hearing those words in any circumstance??)

to the newly refurbished section.

I will tell you they ain't lying.

When we opened the door we were greeting with the best new room

smell you could ever imagine!

It was so wonderful.

And talk about adorable....every detail was so much fun.

It was themed after the Disney Frog Princess movie.

Very woodsie and rustic.

We picked Tina up when Amy and I were finally able to break away

from our families around 8:30 pm.

Kev still had not made it in from Bogata, Columbia.

He had gone through the usual numerous flight delays and would not 

get in until after 10.

But I am so happy to report he did indeed make it.

It is GO TIME!

We had no trouble getting up at our designated time.

I wasted no time getting straight on my job as team historian.

(I was eating the BEST peanut butter power bar for breakfast!)

I took time to get my inspirational running list in place on my legs.

Tina chose to imprint her 26 miles on her upper arms.

I was like, pst, naaaaa, I think my thighs would make way more sense.

WRONGO.

Try running and trying to read your thighs at the same time.

Found out that was a NO GO.

Literally impossible to do.

Believe me, I tried many times.

We were off to catch our Disney transportation to Epcot.

Before we picked Tina up to come stay with us Saturday night,

she took a bath,

during which

this little note was slid under the door to her.

We made it to the race starting point.

This part is always the worst part of any Disney race.

This being my 4th run here, the other 3 were half marathons.

I find myself always questioning what makes people want to come here?

  It is freezing in the morning at 5:00 a.m.

There are thousands of complete strangers massed together,

and corralled like cattle in lettered gates.

You are herded along, again like animals.

I know I am not making this sound good.

That's because it's not.

It is a long wait, and a long walk and it seems to drag on 

FOREVER.

But then.... 

when your time comes.

When your letter is called,

and the fire works are going off just for you.

You forget about your misery, 

(just like child birth),

and you begin your run.

Couldn't pass up this shot.

Or this one...

heck, three of them, three of us!  

It was a no brainer...plus there was no line.

Now there was NO WAY I was going to miss my chance to get a photo 

with the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang....

On our way to Orlando 

while I had Ethan searching for a cord I needed in the car,

he came across an old cassette tape I had recorded when the kids were small.

We used to listen to it all the time.

It has Chitty Chitty on one side, and Grammy winners 

from some year on the other.

We have been listening to it ever since.....ask Amy if you don't believe me.

There were times when were were excited about getting our 

picture taken with certain characters,

but we did not want to "damage" our PR 

(what does that even mean? Personal record?)

 to stand in line.

We found a way to get our pictures in a timelier fashion...

we would just stand off to the side.

I love the one of Amy and Tina up above with one of the ugly

stepsisters from Cinderella.

Way to out smart the system guys!

We nailed that shot!

Here I am on the outskirts of the Scary Villains scene.

Not bad.

One of the craziest things during a run....

when. you. stop.

Is the fenomenon of passing, and then being surprised again,

each time,

when you end up behind that person time and again.

This kept happening with this girl in the orange skirt.

We finally had to "get a shot with her".

OK....this 5:30 pace group was the bain of our existence.

This is the last pace group of the marathon.

In other words....the slowest group they would bother pacing.

There was NO WAY we were hanging with this crew.

Laters dudes.

See you on the flip side folks.

Good luck slow pokes....nothing against slow peeps.

Just saying.

That ain't our thang.

The only trouble was that we kept, 

somehow

ending up behind them!

It is that same fenomenon I just mentioned.

Only this one was real trouble.

It was not in any one of our goals to be included in the slowest

pacer group.

Amy had told everyone that her goal was to run a 5 hour marathon.

I had verbalized a 4.5 hour run.

Not sure about Tina...

oh yeah, she just wanted to finish so she could 

earn her medal.

Anyway, if you can't beat em....join em.

We finally just had to face facts.

This group was really pretty cool.

Hey, Hey....look it's the NASCAR Guys....

my boys LOVE NASCAR....Aim and I got this shot for them...

and only them.

The time came....surprising deeper into the race than the three of us

could have ever hoped for, when one of us broke away.

Sometime after mile 16 Amy pulled away.

I was happy she did.

Not because I wanted her to leave...but because I wanted her

race out come to be exactly what she wanted it to be.

We each get to choose how to run our race.

I loved the way we choose to count our miles.

We decided to count backwards for each mile.

So at mile one, we only had 25 miles to go,

at mile 10, we were already down to only 16 miles left to run....

and that is awesome....because we had all already run 

16 miles at least once in our training.

So, Been there - Done that,

 if you know what I mean.

I don't remember a trace of negativity.....well, except one time

when T and I were running up an overpass,

somewhere in the 20 mile proximity,

and she said out loud,

"will this ever end"?,

this helpful gentleman next to us pipes up,

"Oh yeah, all you have to to is get to Hollywood Studios, go around back,

then we come to a bend in the road, which doesn't last long,

go another mile or two and you will see Epcot, soon you will 

come to the choir and then you just have to run it out to the finish."

(maybe not his exact words)

Oh, OKay.....thanks.

But that was it....and that was nothing.

I am really not much of a Disney fan.

But I will say they do it up right.

The race is a feast for the senses....every time....I mean it,

every single time I finally went through the effort of getting my phone out,

putting in my pass code, 

getting to my music and getting it going and them back in my little waist sack,

I could hear something up in the distance....

wait, is that another band?

Hey, what song is that?

What I had on my personal head phones was never as intriguing as

what was just up ahead.

I did manage to completely run out the battery to my phone before the 

race was over though....between the pictures, texting, using MyRunning Mate,

etc.  It was dead....pretty lame battery life. 

Two of my favorite highlights of the race involve food....

wait, three of them do.

The first time they gave out bananas...it must have been before mile

16 cuz Amy and I split one.

I will say I have never eaten a more delicious specimen.

Then later when they gave out chocolate goo....several times.

Again, the first time was the best.

Usually I am not a goo fan, 

but the chocolate I have decided I am in love with.

It is exactly like brownie batter.

That is the sole reason I love to make brownies.... for the batter!

Lick the bowl, lick the spoon, smooth out the top with the spatula 

several times to get it just right

(only when I am making them just for my family),

then sometimes after the pan has been in the oven for a few minutes,

I will take it out again and smooth it a few more times.

Especially good with melted chocolate chips in the mix.

That is how good the chocolate goo was.

I have wondered a few times if it would be as good eating it not 

during the marathon.

I doubt it.

The other exciting food time was when they gave out 

miniature Hershey candy bars.

Don't mind if I do.

We had all heard they give away candy at some point in the race....

the anticipation and curiosity drove us mile after mile.

It was worth it.

Up until mile 23 I stayed with my training partner Tina.

Going into the race I was so worried that she was 

even running it.

Several times I suggested that maybe for her body's sake she should 

not run.

She had not been able to properly train for the previous two months

prior to our race.

She had been from doctor to doctor, from therapist, from shoe to shoe,

and so on and so forth.

The list seemed endless to me.

The pain in her hips and feet seemed constant from my perspective.

I could not understand why she would not just step down,

give in and say ok I tried, but now my body is telling me this is 

not the time.

She never once entertained the idea of not running her marathon.

SHE was the one who survived thyroid cancer.

SHE was the one who got us into this race to begin with.

SHE organized and got our team going.

SHE wanted her Mickey Mouse medal....even though she hates 

Mickey Mouse....I don't get it!

The evening before our race she got a priesthood blessing from her 

husband.  He taped her foot and leg for her,

(p.s. the tape is still on....it may be on forever),

and sent her off to us with a little bit of a concerned look on his face.

Before the race began I honest and truly thought she would have to 

walk the entire 26.2 miles.

I was so afraid for her.

We started at a slow comfortable pace.

We just kept at it.

Kept plugging away.

Excited and happy with every mile we pulled down.

I was flabbergasted that she continued to run.

I was thrilled, amazed, and surprised.

As long as she was able to continue to run I had no intention of

leaving my running mate.

We stopped a ton.

We sought every character sighting we could find....

suddenly every Disney character became our favorite.

We drank (at least I did) at every refreshment point and stretched every

mile towards the end.

I have no idea how our pain factor compared to one another,

I only know that when I run a slower pace it 

is a lot harder on my joints, especially my knees.

I was needing every single stop we made, 

to regroup, stretch it out and start again.

At mile 23 I knew we had both made it.

I told Tina....you got this.

IT IS GO TIME.....

I am going to power it up and try and catch Amy.

I was off.

I ran like there was no tomorrow.

Every trace of discomfort left.

I was weaving and bobbing looking for Amy's yellow visor,

and black tank.

It was a thrill.

I was certain I would catch her, I knew I could do it.

At mile 26, when you go around the bend....

there is the choir singing hallelujahs, 

you are on a running high.

Next, I somehow heard a yell, I looked and saw Ethan pop out of some trees,

then Ryker, then in the hoard of hundreds and hundreds of 

people I saw Kevin, Jason, Mel... then farther

down I saw Tina's family, Derek, Braden... and 

Barb's family cheering me on.

It was so fantastic.

I did not catch Amy..... 

I found her just beyond the medal

area wrapped in her tinfoil blanket waiting for Tina and I.

Wow.

What a day.

What an adventure.

I would change not a single scrap of it.

I will own my time 5:28.

Yep,

Amy whooped on me, I know I will hear about it forever 

more from my siblings and brother in laws, 

she came in under the dreaded 5:30 pacer with 5:25.

T was just behind us at 5:42.

After getting away from the Disney madness....

T went her way with her family,

and we headed for some R&R at the Marriot pools.

Talk about a perfect ending.

It was warm, slightly breezy.

Calm and happy.

Satisfied and content.

Back to real life now.

No running pressures.

Mementoes of the day are in their rightful places of honor.

Post Race:

Tina miraculously feels amazing.

Her feet do not hurt....she has whobbly knees (her words), 

but can't believe her feet are pain free.

Amy probably has the worst of it.

The limping about is getting less and less....she just blood let

the blisters below her big toenail last night to let off some of the

painful pressure.  She will loose a few nails, not uncommon. 

I was expecting much worse.

Kev kept asking me when it was really going to hit me....

when would I be super sore?

I guess I will not be.

I could tell I had had a great work out, a little rickety and sore the first day,

but by day two....already felt exceptionally well like Tina.

I have saved this little "Day After the Marathon" video for a

solid year.  I think Tina may have shared it originally....not sure where

I got it from.

I had anticipated a little more of this.....

Enjoy.

Thanks for the wonderful marathon experience ladies!