Princess Weekend - Part 3...The One With The Half Marathon

Sunday was the final race of Princess weekend and the final 2 a.m. wake up call. I was the most nervous for the half marathon and had set a goal of 2:45 - 2:50 for myself on the race. I knew it was ambitious because Disney races are packed with people and are often hard to PR in.

The weather was so much nicer on Sunday morning and I was beyond pleased with it. All four of us sparkled (check out Michelle's first sparkle!) and I firmly believe they make you run faster.

Because of our awesome PR at the Lake Nona half marathon, Michelle and I were placed in corral J which is the last of the proof of time corrals. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing it felt to walk into that corral knowing that I had to bust my behind to get in there.

The other great part of being in corral J was that we had a pacer. She was AMAZING! Before we even started moving she was giving us pep talks and explaining how the race was going to go for us. Michelle and I had good luck running with a pacer at Nona, so we knew we would finish well with this one. The difference though, is Nona doesn't have nearly as many runners that the pacer has to navigate through. There were definitely moments where I was figured I lost the pacer and would never find her again...even though she was carrying balloons.

The race overall went really well. I hung with the pacer until about mile 8 or so, then I decided I would do my own thing. I lost Michelle somewhere before Magic Kingdom and you would be shocked how hard it is to find someone in a sparkly skirt with a blue shirt. I mean, it's just as hard as trying to find someone in a tutu.

The last 5k was brutal for me. It almost always is because I'm pooped by this point and still have two monster hills to tackle, complete with a toy army drill sergeant yelling at me.  Once I hit the EPCOT parking lot (and passed the pacer) I started getting a little emotional. I was almost to the Peggy Sue spot and knew she wouldn't be there and also knew that I wouldn't be able to handle any tribute at that point. I also knew I was going to PR by this point, just not sure by how much.

Once I ran into the park something hit me that was strange. There were no guests. I have NEVER been at that stage of the race and not had guests around.

I hit the last .2 of the race and my quads were shaking. I had to give myself a pep talk to make it down the final stretch and hit as I approached and glanced at my watch I knew I PR'ed. It was only by a minute, but hot damn that was my minute. (For the record, it was a minute for my overall half and around 25 minutes for Princess)

Scott was waiting for me at the finish with the biggest smile. I crushed it and watched the pacer cross after me. BOOM. I also crushed that snack box they gave us (much appreciated runDisney).


Michelle crossed not that long after me, and then Lorren and then Cathy. I am so proud of all of us for crushing another princess weekend!

After we noshed on some hot dogs and showered, the kiddos joined us and we headed to Hollywood Studios to celebrate Cathy's birthday.

We had dinner reservations at 50's Prime Time Cafe, which shockingly Scott and I have never been to. The dinner was fabulous and we all literally ate all of the things.

We were even able to snag our photo in front of Cinderella's coach. How awesome is this?!

The entire weekend was wonderful and definitely a physical test. I cannot believe that I PR'ed on this race and cannot wait until Princess 2016!