Another early morning as my mom and I caught the 3am monorail over to the start. I was determined to get to the merchandise trailer as soon as it opened and score a Goofy banner. I totally lucked out as I grabbed one of 3 remaining banners. My mom came in a few minutes later (she had security checks to go through cause of all my running gear) and she was able to get a few runDisney banners and a Dopey banner.
I sat at one of the picnic tables they had set up and my mom handed me my cereal and milk for breakfast and then proceeded to start braiding my hair. Two girls sitting at a table near us were a little jealous of my royal treatment. I met up with some more perfectly Goofy runners for a photo before heading over to the start and my mom headed over to the monorail to drop the banners off in the room and then zip over to our usual meeting spots because she is all kinds of awesome.
I skipped characters that had long lines or that I had seen before because I just wanted to keep it moving and not take forever. I know I planned to stop more but the lines were crazy long and I don't have time (patience) for that.
As I approached the mile 8 shoe change and water bottle pick up my mom told me someone told her she could make it to a place near Animal Kingdom and then the finish line. Bonus day for me getting to see my mom's smiling/cheering face at 3 places on the course. However, if I was running the pace from the previous year (4:07 marathon instead of 4:38 marathon) this plan would not have worked.
She somehow managed to have some cold chocolate milk at Animal Kingdom for me and I almost ran past her because of the way the road curved but I looked back and saw her so I back tracked a little. She said Luke was at the Wide World of Sports to help be my "something to look forward to" since that is usually where I get into a mood.
Yup, mood at WWoS again but not as severe as in years past. I was stopped by a runDisney photographer at a water stop and asked to pose for a photo just up the road a little. I happily obliged and ended up making the runDisney facebook page thing.
I took a mini bathroom break in a real bathroom near the stadium (bathroom break #3 of the race). I was drinking water/gatorade like it was my job in hopes that it would minimize soreness from my lack of December training. It helped a little but I was still quite sore after.
Luke did meet me as I was leaving the WWoS complex. He had a water bottle for me to carry over the next few miles so I could "breeze through" the water stops and not deal with some of the congestion that typically happens. I was the one that spotted him and ran over to him. Everything was going well and I was just trying to stay "cool" by dumping water on my head to cool off. I knew it wasn't really hot out but I was hot. Thanks cotton shirt for a vest!
I really didn't want to stop for anything after WWoS but made the exception for the Monsters because they remind me of my nephew. I kept tearing up running around the World Showcase at Epcot. I texted my sister to pull up the live feed so my dad could watch me finish and texted my mom so she would know I was coming. Luke barely made it to the bleachers to see me finish (holy traffic). It was his first trip back to Goofy since the first one. The camera sort of cut out as I crossed the line but it worked out ok because my dad still got to watch me and called me later to tell me all about how I was smiling and waving to mom. It was an incredible feeling to cross the finish line and I could not have done it without the support of the best chEAR squad around and support crew for the past 10 years--my mom. I wish there was a medal I could give her for all the hours she spends out there toting around my gear that I *might* need and cheering not only for me but all the runners. She is simply incredible.
That night just my mom and I went over to the Polynesian for Dole whip floats and then watched the fireworks. Thank you for an amazing 10 years of Goofy mom and here's to a whole lot more of our mommy and me adventures!
