After dinner we hunkered down for the rest of the night so we could get to bed early. We set out all everything we'd need like our costumes, KT tape, biofreeze, shoes, race fuel, etc. We set the alarm for 2 am (!!!) and tried hard to get some sleep. As soon as the alarm went off Amanda and I both got up immediately and went to work! We'd hoped to be at the bus stop by 2:45 am to be on the first bus but I think we left the room at about 2:45. There was a little bit of a line already but not too bad. We didn't wait too long before two buses pulled up right before 3 am and the first bus filled up so we walked right on to the second one. The bus drops you off quite a ways from the entrance (at least a 1/4 to 1/2 mile I'd say) but honestly, you don't even notice how far you're walking when you're looking at the costumes on all of the other people. Even walking to the entrance was fun!
This is me shortly after we were dropped off.
Did I mention that I'm a huge Green Bay Packers fan? When I decided to run the PHM and I heard that you could dress up, it wasn't even a question as to what my theme would be!
When we got to the area with all of the tents, bag check, merchandise tent, port-a-potties, etc Amanda and I had to split up. I had registered for the Race Retreat and when Amanda registered, it was sold out (she missed it by mere hours!).The Race Retreat costs a little extra but well worth it in my opinion. It is a huge temperature controlled tent with a private bag check, food, port-a-potties and photo opportunities. Here is a photo from inside the Race Retreat after it got a little more crowded.
I made my way into the Race Retreat where it was not very crowded and I checked my bag with zero wait. I found a table, and went to get some food. I knew that inside the race retreat they were serving bagels, peanut butter and bananas (and other items like yogurt) so this is what I'd been training with before my long runs and I knew it worked for me. As I was picking out my food a woman recognized me from the Princess Half Marathon facebook group and asked if I'd like to join her and some of the others. I was so thankful to meet some of the people I'd been chatting with, all wonderful women! I was even able to get in line for a photo opportunity with the fairy godmothers!
It was soon time to start heading to the corrals and I figured that I should pee before I left the Race Retreat to take advantage of the private port-a-potties because for the past week I'd been hydrating like a maniac and that included this morning. Apparently every other person in the place had the same idea and the line snaked through the entire tent! I got a little nervous until they opened up the men's side for the women to use and the line moved very quickly. I had brought a zip up hoodie that I was going to use to warm me up just until I got to the corrals and then I'd throw it away. Apparently many people do this and Disney gathers them and gives them to a charitable organization which is win/win. However when I started walking outside I realized that I'd forgotten it on the back of my chair inside of the Race Retreat! But it was already near 70 degrees that morning with 93% humidity so I didn't need it anyway. All that hydrating made me want to use the port-a-potties outside the Race Retreat as well so I stopped again. And then began the long walk to the corrals and it was even longer than the walk from the bus to the entrance. Here is a photo that I got on the way to the corrals because I love men in sparkly skirts. Please excuse the quality, my daughter's ipod touch does not take great photos. Next time I will invest in a very small quality camera to carry with me.
Up next...the actual race!
No comments:
Post a Comment