It is so hard to begin this recap because I am remembering what a nut case I was the night before and up until we were about to cross the start line. The
nerves starting kicking in on Wednesday evening after my last 4 mile run for the week. I literally had to sit down in the shower to make sure I didn't pass out from anxiety. I rehashed my goals and tried to put it out of my mind.
My parents made it to my house late on Thursday night, both so excited. I think my Dad is a little proud that he got another Swenson to add to the list of "suckers that are working out at 5:30 on a Saturday morning rather than sleeping" list. My Mom was also very excited as she ran her first long race with her dad when he was roughly 50 (hope she doesn't kill me for divulging her age). So this was bound to be a cool experience for the both of us. We probably stayed up a little too late that night talking about our excitement and I was taking notes on what to do/not to do (of which included, don't freak out).
I took the day off of work on Friday to spend the day with my parents and head over to the expo for packet pick up. After lunch in Cocoa Beach, we headed out to Disney to check into our hotel. Checking in was crowded, a good 45 minute wait of me just standing their letting my nerves psych me out. Dropped off our stuff, suffered only a small wait for the bus and headed to the expo. Since this was my first race of this size (over 55,000 people ran one of the race between Friday and Sunday) I expected way longer lines, but we were shuffled in and out quickly. Sign here, and here and here, don't lose this, take this there, cross the pad, then exit to the left, cross the lot and go to another building, pick up your goody bag, take a pre-race photo and Voila! Everything you need for the race in the morning is now covered.
I got the chills just thinking about the rest of that evening. My Mom was cool as cool could be while I increasingly started to freak out. We grab a Disney priced meal in our hotel and loaded up on carbs and vitamins. As we were leaving the eatery, I had to rush back to the room because I was feeling a little sick to my stomach and knew I was about to get sick. This is nothing new to me, I always experience this when I get too anxious, but the last thing I need before working out in the morning was throwing up and having an empty stomach. Luckily I over came it and held down my food. As everyone else lay down to bed and quickly feel asleep at ten, I laid there and watch minute by minute go by. I tried falling asleep but literally couldn't even close my eyes. Finally around 1 am I managed to dose off for a bit.
Rise and shine early...no 3 am is not a normal wake up time for me, but the alarm went off and we were out of bed and getting ready. You would think that it would only take 5 minutes to throw on my clothes, put my hair up and be out the door, but I moved like a turtle and needed 30 minutes to get in order. We managed to time the bus nicely and walked right on. I was still so anxiety ridden that it took me nearly 45 minutes eat a single cliff bar. The race was actually set up nicely with pre-race fluids and plenty of restrooms. The temperature was great too. Historically this race has started with temperatures in the 30's but even at 3am, it was only 55 out. From the meeting area it was a good 30 minute walk to the starting line. So we used the restroom one last time, downed our water and headed for the course.
When I originally signed up for this race, I guesstimated my time to be 3:15 and because of this, I was placed in corral G. My Mother, however, had a much faster time and was placed in corral C. There was nearly 40 minutes different in the start time for these so rather than having to wait any longer, we snuck up to C. I got luckily - the people checking bibs had already stopped someone who was breaking the rules and we walked right in (I know, I know...but if Mom says it's okay, well then...). At 5:30, fireworks went off and the first corral left. This is when the anxiety started turning into excitement. For the first time, this felt real and I was going to do it. After nearly 6 months of training, I was going to run a half marathon (none of my training ever had me doing this many miles). I downed my Gatorade prime, hugged my mom (and of course thanked her for doing this with me), and started heading for the start time. With each corral they did a set of fireworks and when we were set, I was finally set too.
Most of the race was actually quite a blur to me. We found out early that this would be a hard time to hit any specific time goals as loads and loads of people were running with us. Our slowest mile (running wise) was this first mile and by no means was it because we were taking it easy; it was because it was so hard to get going. We were weaving in and out of people, on concrete, on grass, faster, slower, and slower again. I actually found it a little frustrating that many walkers were in this corral and even the two before us; this made it very hard to get around people and into a groove. We stayed positive and just tried to get to a good spot. Things started thinning out a bit around mile four. I had now for those miles been convincing myself that I didn't need to pee, but when it didn't go away, that actually became a problem. We were able to find some unoccupied porta-potties along the course and make a quick break there and back to the course. I estimate that we only lost around 45 seconds of time. Now that my bladder and the crowd were under control we were able to get in a groove and knock out the next couple miles without noticing.
Mile 6 and 7 were a lot of fun as the course took us through the Magic Kingdom and down Main Street USA. This is where a majority of the cheering crowd was located. It was still dark at this point so all the lights made for a pretty view. I've never been a huge Disney fan or anything but it definitely helped make these two mile go by quickly. Almost every character could be found here giving high fives and posing for pictures. Runner were actually forming lines to get their picture taken. Heading through the park near Cinderella's Castle got a little crowded again as everyone stopped to pose for photos. By mile 8 the sun started to rise and it was a great boost knowing the day was starting and we were over the half way point. At mile nine I ate my Powerade Power Pack and was feeling great again. My mother and I had worn matching Mickey pants in order to have a little Disney spirit and it seemed like on this stretch of mile, every other person was asking where we got the pants from. We were mini-celebrities for a minute as I was telling them that my Uncle, Mickey Mouse, made them for us. Clearly a lie, but hey anyone who is running 13.1 miles is just crazy enough to believe it. Most people just chuckled and wish they were too related. From our pit stop and all the swerving in and out, our watches were now beeping way ahead of the mile markers and it kept throwing me off. I proclaimed a little too loudly as my watch beep 10 miles; "Only a 5K to go." Several people corrected me, so i got to experience that moment again as we actually passed the 10 mile marker.
Knowing that we were so close to the finish line, miles 11 and 12 flew by. As we rounded the mile marker for 12, my mom looked at me filled with pride, tears in her eyes and was just so happy. I had to clearly remind her that I may still kill over at mile 12.5, so she wasn't allowed to celebrate yet! As we entered Epcot and the cheering crowd began to build again, my excitement level peaked. There were performers and singers and dancers and people on stilts and on bikes and dressed up around each corner...but I paid no attention because our site were set on finishing strong. We crossed the finish line together, holding hands and eyes field with tears (anyone who knows me, wouldn't expect anything less than a "oh goodness, Kayla is happy crying, again" moment). It was a great bonding experience and a very proud moment. My Mom PR'd this race and did an awesome job keeping me challenged running over the last couple months. We had such a great time and may even do another race in the future (aside of course from the
Annual Swenson 10K Super Run World Cup).
We did it!
Remarkably we placed in the low 7000's among over 22000 finishers that day.
And the race was on! Getting started on this race was by far easier than the previous race; people weren't crowded in, they weren't in a rush to get to the front of the line and there was plenty of road space. I quickly identified others that were that were intending a 2 hour finish in order to help with pacing and maybe make a friend if things got tough. I knew that I would slow down a bit after the the half way point, so my goal was to average 9:05 for the first 6 miles, then do a 9:35 for the 7 mile that took us over the bridge. When I got down the down the bridge and saw the beep for the 7 mile, I was surprised to see that I was actually a few seconds ahead of the time frame I wanted to be in. Great...then mile 8 happened and I started feeling a little, well just - done. 
