2017- The year of Mom- had one more surprise.
Of course, it’s not really a surprise, because I already spilled the beans, back in this post!
It kind of was a surprise, though. To me. Up until the day I signed up for it, I would have told you that I had zero desire to complete a half marathon. Nothing about that appealed to me. I know I’m not alone- but I have a husband who really enjoys endurance events- marathons, half marathons, the 200 miles Pan-Massachusetts Challenge… The crazier, the better- to him.
I can absolutely appreciate his point of view on this, but as they say- Opposites Attract- and I do not share this interest.
So how did I end up at the starting line of the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, wearing a bib?
Good Question.
It all began over a year ago, when TT Dad and I made a deal- we could go to Disney World if I agreed to run a 10k. TT Dad would run the Dopey challenge- a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon in four consecutive days. Crazy man. I had completed a handful of 5ks in my life, so I thought that with proper training, I could complete the 10k in the allotted time.
Of course, in true TT Mom style, I failed at the training. Big time. TT Dad took the 10k easy and did a light run/walk interval with me. It was wonderful to run together, and he made the entire experience really enjoyable.
Did you see that? I just said that a 10k was enjoyable. A 10k that I didn’t even train for.
After the run I was on cloud nine. I felt completely empowered. So when I came home and heard from Marisa that she wanted to take advantage of the final weekend of her annual pass, and go run the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, I said ‘SURE!’
And then I promptly panicked.
Big time.
I mean, I finished that 10k, and felt great- with little to no training. In my heart of hearts, I knew that with proper training, I could complete the half marathon. My concern was what shape I would be in after I did so.
But like I do, often, I made a decision, and acted on it, without nearly enough contemplation. So now I had to do the legwork. Except I didn’t. Just when I should have stepped up the training, we were at the beach with Oma and Opa, and the idea of drinking wine, relaxing, and paddling with the kids was too enticing.. and training fell to the wayside, yet again.
I tried to fit a few training runs in before our trip, taking advantage of the mornings that the kids were in school. I did a run/walk interval one morning, and easily completed 5 or 6 miles, which convinced me that while it may not be pretty- I was confident that I would probably be able to finish.
The race was on a Sunday morning, and we flew out on Thursday morning. We had Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to get through, and as you can imagine, I was filled with anxiety about the race. There is no where else I’d rather be experiencing that anxiety than Disney World. There were plenty of distractions available to help me get through those days.
Our first stop upon arrival, was the Expo. We kicked off the weekend with some wine & cheese, of course.
After doing a bit of shopping, we went back to the hotel, and our room was ready for us. We were staying at Sarasota Springs, a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) property. We bought points from my cousin, and were able to stay at this deluxe resort for approximately the same cost as a moderate would have cost us.
Our room was at the very edge of the resort, and our patio overlooked Disney Springs. Beautiful.
We walked over to Disney Springs to grab a bite to eat, and do a little more shopping. We finished the evening at Epcot, even though we hadn’t originally planned to do so.
While we were walking around, we really enjoyed the ‘Hide and Squeak’ adventure available. I don’t want to give it away, but some of them were pretty tricky!
In our 5 park days, we hit up Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot all at least once. We met with SO many characters, rode SO many rides, and there was not one thing that I wished we had done differently.
I got to ride Expedition Everest (twice!) for the first time, and we got to catch the celebration of the MLB World Series Champs- the Houston Astros!
In general, going to WDW without kids was a much different experience. I probably drove Marisa crazy, because everything reminded me of our January trip- and I was really missing the kids!
But I did it. I took a (terrible) picture of mile marker 6 because until that point, that was the longest I’d ever completed!
You could say I was a little proud of myself.
Clearly, I’ll have to make two trips to WDW every year from now on- one adult trip, and one family trip!
Don’t I wish!