So, it’s been 3 months… It seems like forever ago, but it seems like yesterday at the same time. I’ve went through the day in my head a million times. I have reflected on the lessons learned. And I I’m finally ready to put it into words. I’ll be doing this over a few days this week, so I don’t overwhelm you with too much in one post. Ready for part one? Today I’ll be talking about the Expo and Pre-Race day at Disney. Here we go…
I had been playing with the idea of doing a marathon for a while. I like the idea of racing to keep me motivated towards bigger goals. One of the biggest goals in running is to finish a marathon. So, I signed up. I trained for six months. When I signed up for this race I had only run a few miles at a time. I ran a 10k back in my internship days… I don’t remember my time but it wasn’t fast thats for sure. In that same internship I couldn’t even run the mile fast enough to qualify for a team hike. Either way, I was registered and was nervous like crazy. I tracked all my runs on Nike+. My longest run in training was twenty-three miles. I felt confident that I could finish, I just knew I was slow. I was confident, but slow.
It was nerve wrecking having to pack for a marathon that you have to travel for. I checked and rechecked my packing list. We flew into Orlando on Thursday before the race and stayed in a hotel just off property. We checked into our Disney Resort, Caribbean Beach, on Friday and were planning on going to the expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports to pick up the race packet.
We eventually got there (it was PACKED!) and had a pretty easy time finding the actual bib pickup. Getting into the expo to pick up the swag bag… that was another story. With a husband and toddler in tow, getting through the sweaty packed expo without a stroller (they weren’t allowed inside) was a chore! It was semi-organized chaos in the actual Disney store portion. I was able to grab a few souvenirs and get out pretty quick. I wish it wasn’t as crazy in there so that I could have spent more time looking at the booths, some of the stuff looked awesome! This was my first “big” race so I’m not sure if all expos are this crazy or if it was just because it was Disney. Guess I’ll find out at my next race expo in 2 weeks!
Once I got my bib I got even more nervous, I mean it was REALLY happening.
Don’t let the smile fool you. I was terrified.
We spent the day Saturday at Magic Kingdom with the Family and had a blast. I was hyper-vigilant about hydrating and eating right. I loved seeing the half-marathoners walking around with their medals. At that point I was kinda thinking the half-marathon might have been a better idea at this point. Those nerves were getting me!
I ate the pre-race dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table and they were VERY accommodating with having a carbolicious pre-race meal. I had Chicken and Pasta, very simple and very good. Dinner lasted WAY later than I expected and I didn’t get to bed until 10:15ish…
I set my alarms and hoped for a good nights rest, but was so anxious I wasn’t sure that was going to happen…
{come back again Tuesday to read about my Race Day Experience and then again on Thursday to read about the lessons learned from my runDisney experience!}
What are some of your favorite pre-race meals? Do you have a set routine before races?
imperfectly courtney 