Today marks 3 weeks since I ran in my first half marathon. In a way it still seems surreal. It was something that I had worked towards and planned for and it seems to have flown by in the blink of an eye. It is something that I will always remember. Once we arrived and checked in to our hotel I bid my husband and daughter farewell and headed over to the Expo.I was very excited to check everything out. I wanted to go down and pick up my race packet before I did anything else.
I had to go underneath the actual Convention Center located in the main tower of the Disneyland Hotel. Now for this Disney history loving girl that alone was a huge treat!
The race packet area was very well organized and moved very efficiently. They even had you go to a different line to pick up any pre ordered items. Once I finished with that I headed back upstairs to go into the Expo and pick up my race shirt. I was very excited. I saw the new Balance booth. I had definitely wanted to check that out because they had just come out with some Cinderella New Balance shoes and this Cinderella fan wanted to see them in person. Much to my disappointment I was told that they had sold out of all of the "spots" for today. I really was bummed. I figured since I was going to be with my family the following day that I would not have a chance to come back and get a " spot ". I went around the other side of the booth and talked to some people that were in line. They explained the entire process to obtain a "spot" and it just left me discouraged. I said well I'm off to look at the Dooney and Bourkes! I was then told by someone that they sold out of them on Thursday. WHAT??????? How could this be? The two things that I had most wanted to see were sold out!!!!!! I was feeling sad to be honest. I mean in my mind I had counted on buying the Tinker Bell Dooeny and Bourke because this is the only place that you can actually purchase one. I lucked into 2 bags last year after the Marathon weekend when I was there with my friend. There were 2 in the World of Disney store and I bought both of them. One was for my daughter for her 21st Birthday. I figured they would have plenty of the new ones this year. I was wrong. I have looked just for the heck of it on ebay and people are seriously disgusting as they are charging upwards of $600 for the purse! I will never play into that. So as I was walking around feeling a bit sad looking at all the booths I turned the corner and as luck would have it I saw someone that I admire so much. There he was Jeff Galloway!!!! I stood in line and he signed my pamphlet and I was able to get a picture with him.
Race day quickly approached. I had followed my plans of not too much walking at Disneyland and an early evening. I was in bed early. The morning quickly came as my alarm went off at 3:30 am. I got up and had my breakfast and got ready to head downstairs. The race started on the street directly in front of our hotel so I didn't have far to go. One of the bell men outside of my hotel was kind enough to snap this picture of me.
I found my corral area very quickly. In the picture below my hotel is in the back ground. I knew there would be thousands of people but still couldn't believe my eyes. These pictures do not even begin to show how many people were actually there. You could feel the excitement from the crowd.
As they would release a corral our corral would begin to move up. There were 3 announcers who were very up! It was really neat.
It was almost our time! This is a jumbo torn screen that we went under. As the people were going in front of us that is the picture that you would see. Literally thousands of people! There were close to 14,000 people participating! Yes 14,000 people!!!!
It was soon our turn. The announcers told us to go. You could really hardly move. People were so nice through out the entire event. It was a nice and cool morning but to me it was just perfect. I prefer cool weather to hot weather.
As we started off people were really bunched up. Along the way there would be spectators with signs and encouragement. As we started to make our way in to the parks we were at mile 2 and a cast member was kind enough to snap my picture. This spot actually ends up being mile 12 as well. We made our way through the back stage area in California Adventure first. I LOVED it! There were sights to see but guess what I had to keep under a certain pace time so I couldn't snap lots of pictures. I am not blessed with a quick enough pace time to stop often along the way for pictures.
It was really neat running inside the parks. First of all in California Adventure it was not yet day light and they had the lights on everything including the World of Color fountains!!!!! It was so neat! We began to make our way into Disneyland. In the area between California Adventure and Disneyland was the Mile 3 mark. As we entered Disneyland I became very emotional. I am a life long Disney fan. To be doing something I had never thought possible in the place that means the most to me in this entire world was overwhelming at this time. As we headed up Main Street USA the music was playing, Tinker Bell herself sat up atop her parade float waiving at everyone. Peter Pan was there too. I love Peter Pan and so does Holly. They actually have a long history the two of them. It was just about time to run through Sleeping Beauty's Castle. At this exact moment the feelings that were rushing through me were wonderful. Running through this particular place means so much to me. The history of this wonderful park is embedded in my soul. I don't think that the smile ever left my face.
As I continued along through Disneyland and approached Mile 4 it was then that I really took notice of the race pacers. Now prior to this I had only heard reference of the race pacers as the balloon ladies which are the official pacers of the Run Disney races. They start at the very end of the last corral and you must stay ahead of them or you will get swept. Well that is what I thought anyway, however there are pacers that stay with each group and are on bikes. These pacers are ever so happy to yell out to you throughout your journey how far you are ahead of pace or how far you are behind pace. They are also ever so happy to yell out that you need to pick up your pace or you will be swept. I was not a fan of our particular pacer. There were many times that I wanted to kick her off of her bike. Yes, seriously I wanted to kick her off her bike. As the race continued on I could hear people saying " Oh my gosh we have 8 more miles to go!!!!" That changed with the miles dropping. I would never let my brain think that way. I just tried to concentrate on one mile at a time. That seemed to work well for me. As I continued on I kept in mind everything my brother had told me. At every water stop I would drink a bit of water and the power aid. I just tried to concentrate on taking one step at a time. Just when I would get comfortable with this then I would hear the pacer come by on her fabulous bike and yell out how far we all were behind pace. I kept thinking to myself, " It's OK. You are going to do this. " At Mile 8 I didn't feel very well. I was very shaky. I had a little snack in my pack so I nibbled on that and it seemed to help.
All along the route there were school bands and dance troops and just spectators with signs. Many of these people were just there to cheer the participants on. They would cheer as we went by and waive signs. Some of the signs made me laugh. The names of each participant were on their BIBs so many people would actually see that and say " Great job Teresa!" There was a school group that formed a tunnel with their arms and would have everyone go through it and chant way to go! As I was at Mile 10 the lovely pacer lady said " Come on you guys got this! " I replied to her " I HAVE to finish this. My Dad is at the finish and he has been through cancer and I HAVE to do this!!!" She told me that I would. Shortly after that another pacer pointed out 2 LARGE buses and said that if they pass us then we have to board them. Not going to lie, that scared me. I did not want to have to board these buses and be dropped off. I wanted to finish! It was about this time that I had to once again change my train of thought. I started to get really bad side cramps. I could hardly stand up straight. I just kept saying to myself, " Look IF you have to get on the bus you will survive. This is the farthest you have ever come before. Be proud of this. " I could hear the busses approaching and then I saw then out of the corner of my eye. I thought " OK here it is." Just then they passed me and they were FULL of people that had been swept. They kept going. I was very relieved. I passed Mile 11 and the lovely pacer said , " If you keep us this pace you will finish! " I felt a bit better. Traffic had to be rerouted through out the city due to road closures for the race. It was right at this point when I could hear my name. It was my brother, sister-in-law, my nephew and niece. They were being rerouted and I really feel this was a blessing. I have talked about my brother before and how much he means to me. He asked how I was and told me I could do this! It was exactly what I needed at that time. I feel like God placed him where I needed him the most. I was able to pick up a bit. The smile returned to my face.
Mile 12 brought us back inside California Adventure back stage area. I was smiling, I was moving forward. I was behind California Screamin! The finish line was within my grasp. I had my cell phone in my hand so that I could snap a picture at the end. I received a text right before I got to Mile 13. It was from my daughter Holly. She told me " You got this Mommy! I am so proud of you! I LOVE you! " It made me tear up. At the Mile 13 marker I saw my Dad and he yelled my name. I grabbed the pacer who at this point I really liked and told her " This is my Dad. This is who I am doing this for! " I kept going, seeing my Mom and my niece Maddie. They were smiling and my Mom was snapping some pictures. I was now very emotional. I then saw my husband and daughter Holly waiving and shouting out to me. I had tears flowing down my face. I was almost there. As I approached the Finish line I could see some of my favorite Disney Characters, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Chip and Dale, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse. They gave me high fives! To this Disney fan that was so completely AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Then I crossed the line. I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I achieved something that I had been working hard for. I had achieved one of my dreams. I had tears flowing down my face. I felt good, I felt proud of myself.
I met up with my family. It was so nice. I can not even begin to express how much it meant to me to have them there to support me. I LOVE my medal! I wore it all over Disneyland and California Adventure that day.
I love my shirt too. I wear it proudly. I learned a lot about myself. I have a wonderful family. I have wonderful friends. I greatly appreciate all of the texts from everyone wishing me luck and congratulating me after wards. I appreciate the posts people put up on Facebook about me. It all meant so much to me. I also love how my life is a dream in the making and if I set my mind to it, all of my dreams can come true.
