That's my time! I finished the race!!!!!
We had to get up ungodly early - 3am, to get to the place at 4am so we could be through the traffic and security and in our corrals by 5am. Yes, ridiculous! The race started at 5:30am, but my corral wasn't released until 6:09am, so I got to wait around a bit. The weather was perfect - not too cold, and not uncomfortably humid or warm. Though it was a little more humid than I'm used to, and I definitely sweat buckets along the course!
Me at 4:30am after first arriving:
I ran the first 2 miles, then did 3/1 intervals (run for 3 minutes, walk for 1). I could have easily run the first 6-7 miles no problem, but I didn't want to tire myself out too early, so I started intervals long before I felt I needed it. I also desperately had to go to the bathroom, and ended up stopping for 10 minutes to wait in line for a port-a-potty around mile 5. I made it to mile 6, and ran into the Magic Kingdom!
Me before running through the Cinderella Castle:
Around mile 7, the sun started really shining and we were starting on the road on the way back to Epcot, where we started. The excitement definitely peaked in Magic Kingdom, and the road back was hot, crowded, and the sun was shining directly in my eyes. I started getting rather tired and losing some of the adrenaline around mile 8, so I switched to a 2-1 interval (2 minutes running, 1 minute walking) which I maintained through Mile 12, at which point I saw my guy waiting for me in Epcot. He gave me a big hug, and told me to finish strong, so I ran the last 1.1 miles through the finish line!
I ran the whole thing in 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 12 seconds! I beat 33.2% of my age group and 40.4% of all the runners. More importantly, I raised over $2000 in my friend's memory for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!
It was a truly AWESOME day! I'll post more pictures tonight/tomorrow when I get them off the camera - these are from my cell phone that I was carrying during the race.