Sunday's Gift....13.1 only for my princess
If you had told me a two years ago I was going to run my first half marathon in February 2012, I would have said you are crazy! I could not even run to the stop sign without getting a shin splint, let alone 13.1 miles! And if you followed by saying I would do it TWO years in a row...I would have denied it for sure!
Well, you know by now I was wrong...I was the crazy one. But only half crazy..right!?!
After five months of training, half marathon weekend is here! I can not begin to tell you how moved I am to have eight wonderful friends join me in Disney to run a half marathon for my daughter. Despite my typical life of doctor and therapy visits and chasing my other two munchkins around with their daily needs (and wants!), and the VERY cold and rainy winter, I still found time to train for this race. Thank you to all of my daughter's Fairy Godmothers for taking time away from the important people in your life to help someone special in mine.
We had fun in the parks ALL day Saturday and I truly think we walked a marathon...I'm not joking! We finally had dinner at 8:00 and were in bed by 10:00 as 3:00 was going to be here before we knew it.
And it was!
I was very excited to be moved up to a closer corral this year after submitting another race time! We were wished off by THE Fairy Godmother and fireworks at 5:49 and my training partner and I were off.
Wow...it was humid! We instantly felt it and said training in the cold is actually better than this humidity! Miles 1-3 were painful...as in it felt like it was taking forever...but miles 3-8 were great. We were getting really hot and uncomfortable around mile 9...and decided to do the run/walk Jeff Galloway method to the finish line. Clearly we were not winning th race, we just wanted to finish! That was our plan and we stuck with it!
Disney did an OUTSTANDING job of having something for you to look at all along the way to help take your mind off the race. Characters, bands, the actual parks, cheering crowds, looking at the outfits people dressed in (some wore full on costumes!), you name it! People actually stood in lines to wait to get their picture taken with a character! We did not, but we did get our picture taken after mile 6 coming out of the castle...you have too! My dad and step mom were among the spectators cheering us on and it was great to see a familiar face in the crowd yelling your name!
Thinking back on the race now, I don’t know if it was the fact that there was so much to look at all along the way or that I had an incredible friend to talk to the whole time or a combination of both, but the run wasn’t bad! When we would get a rough patch we kept each other motivated by staying positive, laughing and calling out all the names of girls who have Rett syndrome we were running for...especially on the hills...that is where we needed the push! Water breaks were more for pouring the water down our backs to keep us cool!
Probably one of my favorite memories was at mile 12.5, I facetimed my daughter with Rett Syndrome at my parents house as I wanted to finish the race WITH HER! I wanted her to run through the finish line with me. As soon as I saw her face on my phone I started to cry. It was a powerful moment for me....seeing her face....knowing she is the whole reason I am running this race. I flipped the view on the screen so she could see where I was running and was headed to the finish line. Right at 12.9 miles, my phone lost connection! I was so bummed! I tried getting back on and could not....but then my phone rang and it was them calling me back...not facetime, but a call. I ran through the finish line talking to her! It was great! 13.1 miles for my little princess....worth every step!
Instead of a quote here are some pictures from our entire weekend....
Probably one of my favorite memories was at mile 12.5, I facetimed my daughter with Rett Syndrome at my parents house as I wanted to finish the race WITH HER! I wanted her to run through the finish line with me. As soon as I saw her face on my phone I started to cry. It was a powerful moment for me....seeing her face....knowing she is the whole reason I am running this race. I flipped the view on the screen so she could see where I was running and was headed to the finish line. Right at 12.9 miles, my phone lost connection! I was so bummed! I tried getting back on and could not....but then my phone rang and it was them calling me back...not facetime, but a call. I ran through the finish line talking to her! It was great! 13.1 miles for my little princess....worth every step!
Instead of a quote here are some pictures from our entire weekend....
4 Fairy Godmothers and myself at the airport!
Me and my daughter's teacher/one to one/true believer!!!
Lunch after arriving in Florida!
My daughter's teacher with her bib number!
Hanging out at the Girl Power 2 Cure Expo Booth!
A familiar face at the Expo!
On the bus coming back from the expo!
Team GP2C Dinner, My daughter's team!
Our inspiration!
Fun day at the park!
My dad and step mom had fun with us too!
4:45AM on race day and I ran into my friend/big sister from high school who I haven't seen since 1993!!!!
Trying...key word trying to get a picture of the fireworks going off with my running partner...
My running partner....we did it!!!!
Yay!!! I'm hot and tired and stink!
The little girl who was my inspiration every step of the way!
My treat after the race!
Today's gift is receiving her medal.
I could not wait to get home today....to see my kids....to see my husband...to sleep in my own bed. I really couldn't wait to get home to place my daughter's medal around her neck.
All my race medals I give to her as she is the reason I started running. No one deserves the Princess medal more than my daughter.
I think she was pretty excited to get it too....what do you think?!?!
My weekend was filled with lots of laughs, pain and tears....but it was well with it. The pain I endured was nothing compared to what my daughter lives with daily. My daughter's team alone raised $23, 018!!!!! And the whole Girl Power 2 Cure Team raised over $200,000!!!
The smile on my daughter's face when I gave her the medal was the BEST way to end my weekend!
Here is a quote for today....
I run for girls with Rett Syndrome. I run because they can't.
great job Em! so wonderful!
ReplyDelete