And this is why you should train.

When my alarm went off at 2:45 am I honestly contemplated staying in bed. I was tired, it was Florida cold out, and I hadn't trained.

But my pride won out and there was no way I was going to go all the way to Florida and not actually attempt to run. I knew I could walk it, no problem (I walked the 3 Day in 2009 and had to be "held" at the various stops I was walking too quickly).

Thanks to my anal-retentiveness, all my tings were laid out the night before.

Sneakers, socks, SPIbelt, sunglasses, "throwaway" sweatshirt, lulu wrist pack I would wear on the SPIbelt, lulu crops, blistex, my room key, my license, cash (you never know), sports bra, vintage 1989 tutu, lulu top with foam wings and figment chest adornment, and my Princess Aurora bib. Not pictured is my brand new ipod shuffle and my purple hanky pankys (you have to match).

Luckily my mother had requested that our room be close to transportation and I actually looked out the bedroom window at the bus that was going to transport me to the start.

I eventually dragged myself out of bed, did the whole brush your teeth/apply deodorant liberally thing and started putting on my outfit. Then I had to braid my hair. My hair is super thin and super fine and a ponytail does nothing. I have flyaways and short pieces everywhere so I typically wear my hair in a french braid when I run in a race. I usually have PLK there to do it for me, or my sister's friend KPT. Both are quite adept at the hair braiding technique.

This is where it got tricky. I probably could not be considered a girl under the PrincessProbz Treaty of 2012. I lack that hair/makeup/high heel gene. I am a terrible braider. I had a long, traumatic childhood because my mother doesn't know how to french braid and refused to learn.

So cut to me at 3:00 am standing in the bathroom attempting to braid my own hair on 5 hours of sleep.

It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

I had purchased a bagel and some peanut butter the night before and prepared that, along with a banana, to bring with me to eat. I took some swigs of powerade (Gosh, Disney Gatorade is soooo much better) and grabbed a water bottle to go.

Thanks Mom for capturing this beautiful picture of me at 3:00 am. Glad you took the time to check if it came out okay.

Luckily I am vain enough that I snapped this before I left.

The bus ride was fairly short and then it was back out into the cold morning. By cold it was probably mid 50s, but it was windy and I was in no mood to stand outside at 4:00 am in the blustery wind.

I overheard some individuals lamenting the 20 minute walk we had to undertake to get from the bus stop, to the pre race area, and onto the corrals. UMM IF YOU ARE GOING TO RUN 13.1 MILES I THINK YOU CAN SWING A 20 MINUTE WALK.

The fairy Godmother and other assorted individuals giving us the countdown.

 Once we got to our corral, Corral C holler, we had a solid hour before it started. I sat on the ground and did some stretching and mostly picked at my bagel, drank water, and people watched.

Almost ready to start...sweet shades girl.


My eyes are especially sensitive to light, I wear sunglasses all day long, all year long, and the fake industrial lighting at the start was bothering me. So yes I wore sunglasses from 4:00 am on.


The whole atmosphere was exciting, fun, scary, nerve-wracking, awesome, supportive, great, eeeek-inducing.

At one point I tweeted that I really wished I had some of honey boo boo child's go-go juice and I wasn't kidding. I was super tired.


Each corral start gets their own set of fireworks, which was very neat, and the first mile or so was exciting, but painful. Painful because I drank so much water and the portapotties were so far from my corral that I had been holding it for over an hour.

Finally I spotted some portapotties and stopped...but others had the same issue so I did have to wait about 5 minutes. My 5k split was about 43 minutes due to this pitstop.


Miles 2-5 were pretty uneventful, all on Disney highway-ish roads. A high school marching band greeted us around 6:30 am which I thought was great and there were characters every three quarters of a mile or so. There was a map at the expo that showed you where each character would be, but I hadn't planned on stopping for anyone. Except for Figment. If I saw Figment, I was stopping. And making him use his teleportation to get me to the finish.


Around mile 5 or so we entered into Magic Kingdom. I took the following pictures while I was running, so beware if you get Blair Witch Project motion sickness.

Turning onto Main Street.

The crowd support was awesome. So many people were there and it was only about 7:00 am.

Approaching the castle was so cool...we veered to the right and ventured into Tomorrowland, and then onto Fantasyland.

Time to run through the castle!

Exiting the castle....the path is a bit narrow but let's face it, I'm not fast, and I was just trying not to die so I didn't mind.

Each of the mile markers had a different Disney scene on them.

The Hall of Presidents is one of my favorite attractions at Disney. Yes I know I am a geek. I have no problem with it.

After this my camera had to go away because newsflash: I had never attempted to run farther than 6.2 miles. I was feeling pretty okay, eating a baby snickers every 3 miles and power walking through the powerade and water stops.

I ran to mile 7, and then gave myself the permission to stop running once I reached mile 8. By mile 8 my stomach was in knots. I'm not sure if it was gut rot from the powerade and candy, the fact that I never drink powerade and one of the most important things you are supposed to do before a half is test out the food and water you will be consuming that day, or the sheer terror that I still had 5 miles to go.

I walked miles 8-11, stopping twice to expel some of that powerade and water, and started to lightly jog miles 11-12. By the time I got to mile 12 I could see EPCOT and knew the finish was a l m o s t there. I ran the last mile through EPCOT. Right before the finish there is a gospel choir which really lifts your spirits and gives you that extra push to finish strong.

I finished. Got my medal. And proceeded directly to the ice tent, which is coincidentally where I picked to meet my mother. I knew I would need some ice. My father had been tracking me online and sent me a congratulatory text right as I finished which cheered me up. When I got to the ice tent they didn't have any plastic wrap, just bags of ice. I was in no mood to go back to the medical tent so I grabbed a bag and walked right on a bus back to my resort.

 I alternated the bag of ice between my knees and changed into the sandals I had my mother bring with her. I wasn't ready to eat the veggie sangie I had her bring (it was 9:00 am after all) so I checked out the post-race princess box I was given. UM FAIL CITY.

First of all, roasted edamamae? Gross. Gummies? I don't eat gelatin. A weird tube of hummus? Why is it not refrigerated? Dark chocolate? GAH-ROSS. Melba-ish crackers? NOPE.

So basically I ate the bruised banana I picked up and waited for the bus to bring me back to the resort.

We made a stop at the resort next door and the older woman in the seat across from me had to get up to let someone out. As she was getting out she managed to SWING HER CANE DIRECTLY ONTO MY KNEE. oh my dear Lord lady I just ran 13.1 miles with severely degenerated knees that I shouldn't run on and you whack me with your cane? I was too tired to make a scene.

Taking off my clothes has never felt so good (that's what she said) and I managed to stand in the shower for a few minutes before my knees complained. I got dressed in sweats, decided I wanted to eat (bad idea) and then got into bed to rest my legs.

Two hours later and my aunt, cousin, and cousin's two and a half year daughter have all arrived and I'm still asleep. They checked in and got lunch and I gingerly climbed out of bed.

Upon examination of my medal (obviously had to show it off) it was discovered I was missing the center jewel. I just ran 13.1 miles and I get the peasant medal? No way was I wearing it to the park. People would think I fished it out of the garbage.

Sad, peasant medal.

 I emailed runDisney when I got home and was sent a brand new medal, complete with center jewel.

So basically, train. If you are going to run a distance you have never attempted before, you should probably test it out.