As in years past, I began checking the weather forecast ten days out. It looked like the weekend, Saturday in particular, was going to be cold. And as the weekend got closer, the days appeared to get even colder. I was a little worried when Saturday morning's forecast included a "wintery mix". The local weatherman was predicting sleet from 5:00 AM - 11:00 AM. It looked like I would be running in the cold and rain, sleet and/or snow. Unbelievable.
I prepared the best I could. I bought some pants, a rain poncho, arm sleeves, a fleece blanket, toss-away sweats and a knit hat.
I put my rain poncho on right after this picture was taken
At Thursday's expo Marathon Chris and I discussed our goals and since they were similar, we decided to meet up and run together. I had some doubts, based on my last half marathon in October if I would be able to meet the goal and was prepared to send Chris along if I needed to. I didn't consider that the last two months of training had gone pretty well.
We walked to the starting corral and as we waited it became evident that it was indeed sleeting. It hurts when it hits you. We did our best to stay warm, and surrounded by other people in the corral it really wasn't all that bad. I was prepared to be miserable, but it just wasn't.
As the race got underway, Chris and I quickly found a comfortable pace. I wasn't pushing it too hard, just moving along and talking with Chris. Before I knew it, I was plenty warm and ready to shed my final toss-away, an orange sweatshirt I picked up days before at a local thrift store. I had on a long sleeve shirt arm sleeves and a short sleeve shirt. I was comfortable and we were moving forward.
The race was pretty uneventful other than the sleet, we ran and talked, talked and ran. And just like that we were entering the Magic Kingdom. My pace always picks up a bit when I run down Main Street. I just can't help myself. We made the turn toward Tomorrowland and we just kept moving.
We ran through Cinderella's castle and tried to jockey for a good shot, but that can be a tough job, this was as good as it got.
The course winds through Frontierland and past Splash Mountain, which by the way, is under construction, over the railroad tracks and through a backstage area and out to a service road. It was a little chilly on the service road. There were a lot of trees and the sun was just rising. Brrrrrrrr... It was raining lightly with sleet through in for good measure. I thought I would be soaked and miserable, but it really wasn't. It was actually a lot of fun.
We were now heading back toward EPCOT along World Drive. Soon we were on the cloverleaf for the overpass that would take us closer to the finish line. Chris and I kept moving and we powered up the hill and even passed some people. We were approaching the cruelest part of the course, after mile 11 there are two overpasses that are difficult to climb, but we made it through and just like that, we were in EPCOT. In years past there were characters to cheer runners along at the turn around of the out and back portion of the course through EPCOT. This year, because of the weather, there were no characters to push us through the final half mile.
I was excited, we were so close and the pace picked up a bit. We kept moving forward and crossed the finish line in 2:35:01 - right on goal!
This was by far one of the most enjoyable half marathons I have ever run. I ran with a friend, chatted and we really just made it fun!
After we received our medals, I made my way to the medical tent to get some ice for my knees as a precautionary measure to prepare for Sunday.
Then we hit the Goofy tent where we got our Sunday Goofy wristbands and a quick picture.
I picked up my checked bag, which took at least a half hour. On my walk to my car I realized I was frozen to the bone. My hands were numb and I was so, so cold. I could not get to my car fast enough, I jumped in, cranked it up turned the heat on high and put on a dry shirt, a pair of gloves and a track jacket. Finally, I started to warm up.
It took quite awhile to get out of the parking lot, but I didn't care. I was basking in the results of a great, fun race.
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