Mission: Accomplished!

Goal: Realized!

New addiction: Found!

Alright, I won't go so far as to say I'm addicted to running (that addiction belongs to my hubby). But I will say that for all my talk ahead of time that this would probably be a one-time deal for me, that I would finish this race and be done with running, that I hated running and couldn't imagine what I was thinking by entering a half-marathon....well, a lot of that has changed now.


I got bitten by a bug.


The racing bug.


Maybe it's not so much the racing that I loved. It could very well be that this was a DISNEY race and the adrenaline rush that came with it was indescribable. Whatever it was, I'm smitten and looking ahead to future races. This was absolutely not a one-time deal for me, no matter how much smack I talked ahead of time.


I won't go into a lot of details about the race because I don't recall a lot of the minute points about it. I noticed the crowds cheering, the Disney characters out for meet-n-greets, the lines for the port-a-potties, heard the music from various dj's and local bands along the way, saw my family at mile 7 for a photo op, and cursed the cloverleaf on-ramp that I had to go up (it never seemed to end!). I felt the energy from the crowd when I needed it most, only needed to use my mp3 music for about 2 miles of the race, and only got teary-eyed one time when I entered Epcot for the last mile of my route. I remember crossing the finish line and feeling so proud that I had accomplished my original goal of completing the race and also my ultimate goal of being able to run the whole thing without needing any walking breaks.


I was not fast by any means but I wasn't the slowest either. And even if I had been, there was another jogger that morning wearing a t-shirt that was quite inspirational. I'll never forget that shirt, ever.

Dead Last Finish

is better that

Did Not Finish

is better than

Never Even Started.

How awesome a saying is that? I love it! Any takers out there for next year's race? Registration for 2010's event has started. Why not sign up for it, have a year to train, and proudly wear a shirt slogan like the one above? Hubby and I are hopeful that we'll be there again next year to do this craziness again!

I leave you with a picture of our family after my race was over, my Donald Duck medal around my neck and the sign James made for me that encouraged so many more than just myself.