How Dopey became Nopey 2015

So what I was under trained... It's Disney and magical things happen in Disney right? I just need a little pixie dust to make it through, right? Errrrrr. Wrong. Here's the run down of my first attempt at Dopey! My second RunDisney experience.

We arrive to Disney Tuesday night prior to the start of race week, so that we can hit the expo bright and early Wednesday morning. My cousin is doing Dopey with me and my sister (who has a 3 week old) deferred to 2016, we are all in tow with our husbands. My sister's husband will be running his first half also.

Expo experience is always hectic/frantic... More in my head than anything.. I want to see, touch, and buy it all, along with getting in the NB shoe queue.... We pick up our bibs and get our shirts and do a little shopping. I might add when we travel with my sister we always do the deluxe dining plan, which adds the "we've got to make our reservations factor to every day.

Our Post expo ritual was Hollywood Studios and SciFi Drive in for Lunch!

and of course we had to get our final "hat" pictures in since they were about to start removing it!

We learned from last year, that napping and going to bed early and not trying to do all the parks is essential to survive the early mornings. So we we had dinner about 8 and returned to the room to prep for the 5k and go to bed early.

5K Thursday.... So temperatures dropped and instead of warm and humid like last year it was BRUTALLY cold... as in FREEZING. I used my long sleeve race shirt to layer under my costume and thankfully I packed long running pants... but we also had to add Jackets, skullies and black garbage bags to our layers.... THAT COLD.

I would like to say that when I planned my costume my sister was supposed to be Tweedle Dee and I was Tweedle Dum... and then she deferred and left me Just plain Dum! I wore Raw Threads Tank, and Sparkle skirt and leg sleeves. My cousin dressed as the Cheshire Cat, however once at the race you couldn't see costumes because it was so cold! I honestly wanted to stay in the Port a potty at the race to stay out of the wind (gross) but that shows how cold it really was!

Race went off without a hitch, we stayed under the 15 minute mile cut off  with only one brief Balloon lady sighting (at the 1 mile marker when you make a turn back on the highway... it was at that point we could see the Balloon ladies pulling up the rear... I had to pee but pushed on because of FOBL (Fear of Balloon Ladies) set in! 

We went back to the room and napped and then went to Magic Kingdom for the Day. Again, we had dinner by 8 and back at the room for bed by 9! 

10K... Still FREEEEZZING...

Had hoped for a warm up, but alas it did not! 

Another race without Character photos... my goal was to finish under the 16 minute mile cut off and not get swept!

2 down, 2 to go... We went back to the room and napped for a couple hours and headed to Epcot for the day.  Lunch at Napoli (yum) 

Friday Night is always team dinner since I was running on The Autism Speaks Marathon Team

For a second year in a row I was the Top fundraiser for the team! We had a lovely Pasta dinner at the Sea exhibit (Nemo) in Epcot. 

Photo Bombed by a Sting Ray! : ) 

Back to the room for a roll out and rub down and asleep before 10 for the half!

Saturday and my second attempt at an Official Half marathon!

Still cold... like makes your bones hurt to stand in cold... we all were huddled together like Penguins shielding the wind with our backs!  I was nervous and tired! 

 As if running in Disney isn't magical enough... at mile 6 you actually run THROUGH the castle!! I have to admit I was a little misty eyed as I did!

My cousin, an experienced half marathoner, was my coach and cheerleader the entire time... she called out every interval with an "okay go" and then "okay stop"  I had told myself I wasn't going to complain or say "I can't" not once the entire race! It helped that we maintained a 15:45 interval the entire time. At mile 10ish they were out of fuel for the back of the pack runners... that really sucked. And it was about there that the miles seemed to get longer and boring.... at mile 12 my cousin said "whats it feel like to be finishing your first half?" And I'm pretty sure I said "SHHHHH don't jinx me... I could fall or something and not finish" but my thoughts were I'm pretty sure my feet are twice the size they should be....

BUT I FINISHED.

It was shortly after I began to wobble... my feet felt like balloons...when I got in the car to head back to the hotel I knew something wasn't right. My hands were HUGE and my feet were so swolled that the ball of my foot split. I iced bath, put on compression socks, elevated and took a nap. I slept the most of the day... I was in and out, hearing my husband come and go from the room.. he went and washed my running clothes because I was having to rewear layers... I kept thinking to myself "How the hell am I gonna do 26 miles tomorrow.. i can't even walk."  I had already defeated myself mentally and my body was fighting me tooth and nail.... Here's the thing... if you have an inflammatory auto immune disorder  you can't always count on your body doing what you want to and if you tack on the side effects of a prescription pill you shouldn't be running while taking, well stuff seems to fall apart. 

So I was retaining WAAAAAAY too much fluid in my hands and feet and dumping all the fluids from my kidneys... like had to pee every 3 minutes. If you've ever had a kidney infection it was like that, now try to run with that feeling, it aint happening.

So I told my husband in bed that night that I couldn't do the marathon... I said things like "I completed my first half, so i'm proud of myself." and "I was the top fundraiser and that's the real reason I ran." and "I've done more than I've ever done before so I'm okay with this."

He encouraged me to get up and at least start the marathon... said I'd never forgive myself for not at least trying... said to do the best I could and then i'd have no reason to be disappointed... so I tried.

Sunday, Marathon, where Dopey became a Nopey.

I woke up and forced my feet into my shoes... I kinda hobbled instead of walked.. but I hobbled my ass to the start line... You can see in the pics , my face, I already looked defeated. I already knew I wasn't going to make it far.. I encouraged my cousin to move up to her corral so she'd have a better chance of finishing... and I sat in my corral alone. I was cold, sad and all alone and it sucked! I did manage to find Nicole my running buddy from home and the friend she had met, so I started the race with her... within 10 feet of the start I had to pee and kept my sights on the first port a potty... Nicole offered to hold back and wait for me but I told her I was walking as far as I could and encouraged her to run on... and she did... I watched her run a head and disappear in the crowd... I knew she'd finish, cause she was a badass!  

As I walked I'd hear the corrals behind me start (fireworks) and then moments later the crowd would run past me... I counted through the corrals and knew when the last one past me.  There was a since of peace and relief as the crowds passed and I was walking all alone. As I got to water stations they were already breaking them down and cleaning up. I walked on. As I crossed under the gate into the Magic Kingdom parking lot the Cast members were still there cheering, just like they did for the first runners.... reading my bib they said "You've got this Elizabeth" "You're doing great!" "keep going!" I laughed and looked around and said "Thanks, but you realize, I'm last right?"  As I walked on I took selfies and joked about how people on all the FB running groups bitched about crowded areas and how hard it was to pass in parts of the race... I was like "I don't see the problem.. I've got ALL this room back here... I could  do cartwheels if I wanted too!.... The back of a Disney race IS the loneliest place in the world... as the Balloon Ladies PASSED me.. the bicycle paramedics pulled up along side me and said "You okay?" I said "yes" and she said "You do know those are the balloon ladies, right?" I laughed and said "yes" and explained that my feet were split and I was only in it for as long as I could walk it... which was 4 miles! 

I was put on a sweeper bus with another gentleman who had a knee injury... they seem to put Cast Member/Councilors in there with you along with the driver to make sure you aren't going to kill yourself on Disney property... I was fine.. I was relieved and happy at this point, but I could see the disappointment and sadness in the others we picked up along the way.  It was really depressing when you pull up along the character ops and Jack Skeleton comes to the van all sad looking and waves at you... it was like a sad reversed Disney parade. : (  I text my husband and told him I was taking the ride of Shame to the tent of shame and that he could pick me up there... He told me how proud he was of me for trying and for the first time I got a little teary eyed.  

In the tent they gave me my medal, which I pocketed and refused to put on... I was disappointed in myself, my body, but think I did the best I could in the moment.

We returned back to the hotel and slept until time came for my cousin to cross the finish line!

I was SO proud and slightly jealous... I wanted to be there on the other side of the fence... I wanted to be at mile 26 of 26.2, we had planned on doing it together and I let myself down.  The longer we were in Disney the more disappointed I became with myself... I had medal envy, seeing all the runners in the parks with all their medals... I knew I was the only reason I didn't complete the challenge and I knew it wouldn't happen again!!!

My sister decorated our rooms and made awesome signs...

and upon failing the challenge I  modified my sign! : )

I returned home and made a promise to myself I would no longer make excuses... that Fibromyalgia might be the reason I hurt.. but it would never again keep me from achieving my goals, and the mind games and lies I told myself  were done... No excuses... I was gonna complete Dopey in 2016.

How a RunDisney addiction began

Lets go back to 2014.       My FIRST Disney Race.

My sister and I had run many 5ks (3.1 miles) the first year of wogging together (mostly for the costumes) and we came to a point where when we finished the races we thought "eh that wasn't so bad" and we wanted more, so we decided to bump up and try a 10K (6.2 miles).  Caught up in the RunDisney experience via a friend's facebook post who ran Disney all the time we decided to signed up for the inaugural Minnie Mouse 10k in January 2014.

Disney registrations can be trying and hard to get in (sell out in minutes) so we signed up through a charity and ran for Autism Speaks. Which means you pay an initial race fee to the charity and then you spend your months prior to the race fund raising for your charity.  I don't remember even training much for the 10k. I don't think we varied our twice a week runs even.  I do know I put more time into fund raising and even more time into my Minnie Mouse costume , you know, the important stuff.

The Disney experience is magical one, but it's also overwhelming to a noob. So much info to process, we have to wake up at what time?! (3;30 am) We have to stand in the corrals how long?!? (2-3 hours)  You have to plan ahead, be prepared for the early hours, have food in the room to consume at 3 am for breakfast and so on.

 Our first race experience we stayed up late getting all the details of our costumes and laying out our "flat runners" for the perfect picture  for Facebook and THEN decided to read the racer book we got at the expo, which started the panic of we have to wake up in 3 hours, we have to catch a bus because you're not allowed to drive? (which isn't true) and all the other stuff a first time Disney runner is told. I text my experienced runner buddy to work out the details/find out what time she was getting up and worked out what time was best for us.  So we set our alarms and wake up calls and our back up alarms and our back up back up alarms because we've invested WAAAAY too much money to sleep in on this race! But believe it or not, I've heard several Disney horror stories about sleeping through alarms and missing races. I am incapable of sleeping that soundly, because I'm so excited to be running in Disney!

Alarm goes off at 3:30 and I'm up... because getting my fake eyelashes on right is priority number one. (Boy have things changed, make up and costumes are not AS important to me anymore). Once dressed we headed to the race. My husband, was sweet enough to wake up and drive us to the race start. We followed the signs and he dropped us off where the buses were dropping runners off which is like a MILE away from the starting line. We have since learned all the tricks of where to go to park close and limit your walking / waiting pre race. Elise (my sister) and I walked to the security lines and met our husbands who had parked and beat us to the start by the time we got through bag check. This particular race the temperatures were cool and pleasant, no need for sleeves or extra layers, but running in Florida in January can be any temp so being prepared and having gear for all weather is a must!  There is A LOT of standing around pre race... they want you at the "starting party" an hour before you are suppose to be in the corrals, where you stand for another hour and a half.
Race start... Fireworks and we're off...  (Blurry pic... cause I'm running and taking a pic, duh)

The first 3 miles of the 6 miles is an out and back on the highway there are a couple character stops, but Balloon Lady fear kept us from stopping and taking any pics...

Mile 4-5  you run a small section of Epcot (Used real bathrooms, yes!) and then out to the Boardwalk, which was wet and VERY slippery from humidity

 ....it's not til after mile 5 you enter in the backside of Epcot and run IN the park.

 We took lots of selfies along the way which didn't mean losing time waiting in any lines for photo ops.

Mile 6 is just after you run under the Epcot ball and the final stretch is the .2 miles.

Our First 10k, our first race medal and the start of a beautiful thing...

(^^^ 6.2 + miles and my eyelashes and lipstick are still on!<things a serious runner would never say!)  : ) 

My first real race medal and the start of a true blue addiction....

(Lessons learned in this race: DO NOT wear panty hose/tights under your socks for any distance... it makes for raw sore feet and squished toes, cut the feet out at the ankle or better yet wear Zensah Compression sleeves like I do now)   Also this was the defining race for me to realize NIKE's were NOT the shoes for me... it has taken several brands of shoes to find my perfect shoe... Nike's give me horrible shin splints, NB I have knee issues and shin splints, I am now running in Hoka's (Clifton II)  and have very little post run issues with foot and leg pain.)

Post race and back at the hotel we were starving (because we weren't prepared and didn't have breakfast in the room pre race)  and in need of caffeine and thought we'd walk over and fill our cups up... but the walk around the pond added an additional mile to our morning...this is what your face looks like when you are hungry and tired and have to walk back to your room:

The photo did not convince our husbands to come pick us up... so we ate without them and then took a bus back to our room.

SOoooooo the experience was awesome but it wasn't until our last day in Orlando we went for massages at the Swan resort (if you have an opportunity to do this, I'd say DO IT) and we met 2 gals in the dressing room... they were flipping through pics on their phone and talking about having just finished the Dopey Challenge but said they couldn't find there finish line photos (Fast forward 3 years to my completion of Dopey and I have a conspiracy theory that these ladies didn't indeed finish, that they were probably swept but that's for another blog) .... we were intrigued and just like little fish we bit the RunDisney line.  We began saying things like "If THOSE girls can do Dopey, then we can" and other lies you tend to tell yourself in post massage bliss. So we marked our calendars, set reminders to sign up for the next challenge and started saving our dollars.

(a failed attempt at duck lips) : )

So we go from finishing 6.2 miles and decide 48.6 is our next step, that's totally logical, right? Whuuuuuut? Up until this point anytime I've heard someone say they've completed a half my thought pattern is always "I could NEVER run a half and WOULD never ever run a full, that's just crazy!" 

The test results came back Positive, I'm crazy.