Some After Marathon Havin' Fun Pics

Here they are...Sweeeeet!
After we nabbed these puppies, we took a shower and headed to the Magic Kingdom. Since it's the off season, there was hardly a wait for anything. I think the longest line we stood in was for Ariel. Last year, I passed this up. I thought it was some sort of show but didn't want to wait in the long line. This year when we came upon it, I told Doug I wanted to see it. He so kindly agreed. So the wait time was around 15 minutes. Once they opened up the door, there was Ariel. No show. No anything. Just Ariel. And you got to take your picture with her. I started laughing and apologizing. Doug gladly accepted my apology as he was able to meet Ariel In.The.Flesh. For real...look at that cheesy smile. Goose!
Then a spin on the Tea Cups. Whew...that baby can make you dizzy. Cinderella's Castle from the back...
After all afternoon and evening of having a great time and seeing absolutely everything we wanted, it was time for the fireworks display. It was spectacular.
After heading home, crashing hard for the night and being able to sleep in until the sun came up, we got up to snap a few shots with Goofy with our 6 medals... Our half marathon and marathon pics won't be in til Friday afternoon. So...we'll have to wait til then to post those.

Was able to get a 2 mile walk in with Mols this morning before the temps start to drop. Will get in a bike ride at lunch.

Marathon Number 1 of 2009-Walt Disney World Marathon

What a wonderful experience. We had an amazing time!

Another 2:30 am rise and shine Sunday morning...that wasn't so amazing, but...

The moon was! Remember I mentioned something about the moon being so huge and bright Thursday morning when we were headed to the airport? Well...come to find out...it really did seem bigger and brighter for a reason. The full moon we had on Saturday was the closest the moon will get to Earth this year. That's why it seems so large and bright-because it was! It was beautiful. We should have been sitting in the dark at 4:00 am at the start line, but it was so bright from the moon, they hardly needed lights.

After walking about three quarters of a mile to the starting line, we started in our correct corral this go around. Luckily, not as much weaving in and out of walkers this time. My legs felt great and I was ready to go. We watched Mickey, Minnie and Goofy welcome us and the fireworks blasted as the race started. It was warmer and more humid than the day before which was okay with me as I thought the day before was just a tad chilly. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

We took it nice and easy and things seemed to settle into place fairly quickly. We took another disposable camera to catch all the excitement. Will get them developed soon and post. Crazy that you can take over 50 some odd pictures in two days over 39.3 miles-but we did. And had a magical time doing it. We stopped for almost every character in all of the 4 parks. I think we could have taken an hour off our time if we didn't stop for a gazillion pictures, along with the insanely long bathroom break that someone had to take. But that's what this was all about. Having fun. Enjoying every minute. Laughing and goofing around. And that's exactly what we did. We also ran into some TNT alumni which was fun being able to hang with them a bit.

The day flew by. We started off at Epcot, then ran through the Magic Kingdom, then Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and then finished back through Epcot. We came in right under 6 hours but it really seemed much shorter.

After we crossed the finish line, we received our Mickey Mouse medal and then we were directed to the Goofy tent where we received a huge congratulations and our Goofy medals. They are so awesome. I'm so glad we signed up for this. Not sure we will do it again. Simply because of the 2:30 am wake up calls. Now that was more brutal than the running itself. But it was so worth it.

After receiving our heavy medals, we then returned to the hotel to shower and change and then we immediately headed to the Magic Kingdom for some walking and roller coaster riding. We stayed all day and into the night. By the time the fireworks were over and Tinkerbell flew across the sky, we were toast. So we headed back to get some shut eye. Waking up at 2:30 am. Running a marathon. And then walking Magic Kingdom for over 8 hours will wear a girl out. Oh-not to mention waking up at 2:30 am the day before and running a half marathon :)

I knew Monday morning was going to be the test. A test of 39.3 miles of running plus 8 hours of walking within a two day span. So...how do I feel? Freaking Amazing! I feel the best I have after any marathon I've run. I'm not sore. I don't hurt. My legs feel tired, but I think that's to be somewhat expected.

Something interesting...Going in, Doug and I did little to nil back to back long training runs. I was a tad nervous about this, but once I got up on Sunday and realized how great I felt, I knew we easily had this in the bag. So when we kept getting congratulated time and time again, I felt kinda silly. It seemed so easy and everyone was making such a big deal. Then Doug brought me back to reality, that not everyone does this sort of thing. There are millions of people that would not be able to physically do what we did. And I realized that I'm so lucky to be healthy enough and in good enough shape to think this was a cake walk.

Tonight is going to be busy. School is starting soon and I need to get some things in line. Thinking about hitting the gym for a short run...maybe a 2 miler. Yes...indoors. It's too cold for an outdoor run right now. Laundry needs to be done-but I can probably catch up on that tomorrow while working from home. 24 is waiting...very impatiently. I can't wait to see what Jack has in store for us! And the Biggest Loser...oh so much to do. Glad it's recovery time. Oh crap...and get our pictures developed. How could I forget? I'll see about posting some pics tonight.

Kansas Marathon

HOW do you host the Kansas Marathon WITHOUT a marathon???
The Kansas Marathon will be hosting a half marathon and 5K, but no marathon.
They will be having a marathon in 2010. But not one in 2009.
Damn it.
Well...so much for that being one of my 12 marathons this year.

Still Alive...

We're alive and well. Real well. We had a GREAT time. Finished both the half and full. Took tons of pictures.

Will post more later...getting ready to board the plane now.

Hakuna Matata...Walt Disney World Half Marathon

It means no worries for the rest of your days...
Day One of the Goofy Challenge is D.O.N.E.
Our day started at 2:30 am.
This is after we got ready and around. It's not even 3:00 am!
We started in the back of the pack with our friends and our Honored Patient, Leesa and Craig. We had a day of weaving in and out of walkers. It was a little crazy and insane but we still had a good time with a lot of laughs.

We did take plenty of our own breaks snapping pictures with several characters. We bought a disposable camera, but are not able to process it, so we'll post pictures when we return home.

We strolled in right under 3 hours. We were sure to take it nice and easy and had a great time.
Here is our 1st medal. Donald is honkin' big!

Once we returned to the hotel, we took a dip in the cool pool to ease the inflammation of the day's run. After that, we headed for a margarita. The salt on it was so yummy and just what we needed to replace some electrolytes.

Now it's time to relax. Eat some dinner. And an early night to bed again for another 2:30 am wake up call. Only 26.2 to go!

A Day of Relaxation

Today we vegged. Nothing on the schedule. It was very nice. Some of our time was spent like this...

Hangin' at da Pool...

Touring da Resort...
Playin' Some Twister...With Myself.
Gettin' Fresh with Mr. Potato Head.

He Liked It...

Look in the Sky...A Happy Face!

We also went to Downtown Disney and saw Gran Tarino. It was fabulous and would recommend this to everyone. I can't remember the last time I've been to two movies in one week...let alone cried in both of them. Fabulous. Fabulous movie.

Now it's off to catch a few zzz...'s before our 2:30 AM wake up call. It's almost here!

Thus Far...

It's been a great trip. As always.

• Got in nice and early yesterday.
• Hit the expo with it still halfway quiet and not jammed packed.
• Ended up with 7 new dri-fit shirts already (1 for the half marathon, 1 for the marathon and 1 for Goofy times 2 plus Doug signed for the the marathon before he signed up for Goofy so he went and grabbed another marathon shirt as well). Definitely need more hangers when we return.
• Met up with some friends for dinner last night at Downtown Disney and dined by the water. The moon was full. The stars were shining. And we watched fireworks as we ate.
• Ended up at Ghirardelli Chocolate. Twice. Already. Had to get some drinking chocolate. Not quite as good as Christopher Elbow's...but will do.
• Found Selma's cookies. I can spot those babies anywhere. I LOVE Selma's.
• Went for a short run this morning around the lake. The fog was burning off and the sun is starting to shine. Tons of ducks on the pond and the birds are chirping...loud little suckers.
• Had to smile when I stepped out of the hotel room and there were kids already in the pool at 7:00 am.
• Love the curtains here. They split the rod in half and placed one in front of the other. So when you close the curtains-they actually overlap so you don't have that sliver of light that always seems to come through cuz you can't get the curtains shut all the way.
• Time for some coffee, a shower, tossing on some shorts and flip flops and heading out. No particular plans...may first down some chocolate chip pancakes or a Mickey waffle, probably hit the pool later and just enjoy the beautiful day.

Happy Friday from Florida!