Disney’s Princess 1/2 Marathon: February 24, 2013

There are few experiences that will ever compare to crossing the finish line after having completed a 13.1 mile half marathon.  This is an experience I won’t soon forget.

Now, over 29 hours after crossing that finish line, I am still trying to figure out how I wound up running/walking for 13.1 miles which took me  3 hours 42 minutes and 40 seconds.  

It started out as a weekend in Orlando, FL, for the birthday celebration for a high school friend.  I went down on a Friday night in late September.  The first night we talked for a few hours then crashed.  The next day we hung out then had dinner Saturday night.  As we are getting ready to crash Saturday night, she says she has a surprise for me.  My surprise…Waking up at 5:00 AM to drive an hour so we can run a 5K!  REALLY?!  I DO NOT RUN!!!  EVER!!!  So I didn’t…we walked it.  But it was rather humbling to be bested by a 12 year old middle schooler.  It took is 53 minutes or so to do 3.2 miles.  If you do the math that is just over a 16 minutes mile.  You see where this is going?  I didn’t!

Turns out my friend was training for a full marathon, 26.2 miles and this was one part of her training.  I was so excited to be doing this with her before I knew it I had agreed to run with her for a half marathon a month after her full marathon.  Just goes to show you some days I speak before I think.

So from that point February 24, 2013, becomes an ominous date on my calendar.  My friend sends me training schedules and a box of goodies for my birthday to help me train.  So the box goes under my desk and begins to gather dust.  Every so often I would walk around my neighborhood and call myself training.  Over the previous 12 months I had been seriously training on and off with the arbitrary idea that maybe one day I would run.  But I never took it serious.  I eventually gave up running and opted for the elliptical machine.  Then gave up on the elliptical all together.  So in January of 2013 I realize I have only roughly 9 weeks to train for an event that takes 6 months, give or take a few weeks, to train for.

After a few failed attempts to haul my lazy back outside and run I enlist my neighbors daughter next door.  She is thinking about going into the military and is interested in running in the afternoon.  So now I am bested by a 15 year old high schooler.

So during the last 2 months of “training” I go through new shoes, muscle cramps, heat waves, cold snaps and a sinus infection all the while 13.1 miles is starting to look really ominous.

In January, 5 weeks before my marathon, my friend runs her full marathon.  She gets up at 3:00 AM to be at the event by 4:00 so she can be at the starting gate at 5:00 so she can hurry up and wait for her corral to cross the start line at 5:48.  I was there to watch her start the race.  I was there to see her at the 4 mile mark.  I was there to see her at the 6 mile mark.  I was there at the 7 mile mark.  And I was at the finish when she was swept off of the course at the 18 mile mark because she fell too far behind the 16 minute mile “required” pace.  I was there to see her walk away from the marathon with her head held high and a smile on her face.  And I wondered if I could ever be that positive and upbeat.  I was ready to get serious…but was it too late?

So I did train more seriously and I started taking better care of my body, watching what I was eating, making sure I was drinking enough water and paying attention of my screaming knees.

So the weekend of my marathon finally gets here.  In my head I am telling myself that I can overcome anything and that 13.1 miles really isn’t THAT far. But my heart knows I didn’t train nearly as well as I should have.  The farthest I trained was just 2.8 miles.  But I have my gear, my energy boosters and I am at the starting line waiting for my corral to start at 6:18 and wondering if it is too late to back out.  My friend looks at me and tells me she knows I will finish but she has been battling a sinus infection for 5 days and isn’t sure she is going to finish.  So the fire works go off for us to go.  Within the first 5 minutes my friend is already struggling.  So I slow my pace to keep back with her, but she tells me to go.  After a few minutes trying to decide what the right thing to do is and wanting to give in to an easy out, she convinces me to go on and finish.  So I do.  I put in my earbuds and pace myself to the beat of the music and begin counting down the miles and looking forward to the water/Powerade stations.

During the race one of my favorite past times was looking st all of the cool outfits everyone wore.  Yes it was a Princess marathon, there were lots of Bell’s, Ariels, Cinderellas, but there were plenty of Prince Charmings.  One shirt a man was wearing said on the back “Why are all of these princesses chasing me?”  Then there was “Sorry Charming, gotta run.”  But my favorite was “I am running to free the ones who aren’t free to run…YET!”

I knew my friend was behind me somewhere and because of my husbands profession this time of year is not conducive to weekend outings, I knew I had no one cheering me on in the stands.  But thanks to modern technology, my family and friends were able to track my progress electronically.  So when I passes the sensors tracking my progress I truly felt up lifted.

Then one of the most amazing things happened.  There was an elderly couple on the sidelines along the course.  She was in a wheelchair and her husband was standing behind her.  She was holding a sign that said “Hello stranger!  I am cheering for you.”  It took my breath away.  Then I started noticing along the way several more signs: “Leave can’t in the dust”, “I see a pedicure in your future”, “Mind over Muscle” and my favorite “You look tired but my arms are killing me”, my very own Simon of Cyrene. This is important because at mile 6 I realize my left foot is bleeding.  I can only guess it is a blister that has burst and is bleeding.  And my right hand had swollen to twice its normal size.

But I persevere and I do finish and find out that my friend got swept st mile 6. Through my tears of amazement I ask for a medic and I get bandages for my toes and ice for my hand.  An hour later I realize I have a blister on the ball of my foot the size of a dime and one on the outside of heel half the length of my pinky, an all 10 of my toenails hurt.  That blew me away.

So now it is 30 hours since I crossed the finish line and I hurt in places I never imagined.  My toes still hurt and every muscle between my calves and shoulders scream in protest if I so much as breathe hard.  But I am so much more wise.

Today I am a runner.  Today I am stronger than I ever imagined.  Today I accept that I AM AN AMAZING WOMAN.

I finished a half marathon!  But I am a full princess!

Blessings,
Stefanie Michele

PS:  Be sure to check out the pictures in the photo gallery!