Tower of Terror 10 Miler: A Post of Many Pictures

Fall weather has been good to me.  Running has been going well.  In preparation of the Tower of Terror 10 Miler I had one last "long" run.  I ran a little over 8 amazing miles OUTSIDE.  I felt great and had high hopes for the race.

September has gone by incredibly fast.  I feel like I was just trying to convince my friend to run the race with me the other day, and yet race day was here!

My amazing friend Laura and I hopped on a plane for Disney Thursday night and had fun adventures planned for the weekend.  The race wasn't until late Saturday night, so we had plenty of time to explore the parks before we ran.  Friday was dedicated to the Magic Kingdom.  I hadn't been there since I was 8, but it was every bit as spectacular as I remembered.  I absolutely loved every minute of it.  After, we went to Epcot and were happy to find a food and wine festival waiting for us.  We enjoyed delicious margaritas and empanadas after seeing dolphins at the Finding Nemo ride!  I couldn't have asked for a better day. I could go on and on about our Disney adventures, so be glad this is only a brief overview ;-)

Saturday we decided to spend the morning at Animal Kingdom.  I had never been and I LOVED it.  It was so much fun seeing all the animals and spending the day in a park so different from what I had expected.  The park was shady and definitely had a safari feel to it.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have hoped since we had to get to the race expo to pick up our packets.

I really enjoy race expos.  I love looking at all the different products they have to offer.  I ended up buying one of the travel massagers since I didn't have room in my bag for my foam roller.  I think it's my new favorite running accessory.  It feels much better on my IT band than the foam roller :-)

After relaxing with some of Laura's family for a wonderful dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up before the race.  Our race didn't start until 10PM and we were a little worried that we wouldn't have the energy to run 10 miles!  

We shouldn't have worried, because once we got to the race I felt completely energized.  Although we had to wait in our corral for a while, the time passed by quickly and the start was incredible.  As we took off the music from the twilight zone played and fireworks went off.  Throughout the course there was spooky villain music and fun props.  One of my favorites was the hyenas from the Lion King!  There was also a dirt trail that had Pirates of the Caribbean music and pirate themed decorations and we got to run through the Wide World of Sports on different tracks and see ourselves on the big screens.  The race was crowded (people off all abilities and speeds were participating) so we spent most of the time weaving in and out of the masses, but we stuck together and kept a nice easy pace.  My main goal was to enjoy the race and prove to myself that I could run that far!  We ended up finishing the race in 1 hour and 57 minutes with a strong finish.  

So happy to finish!

One of the best parts?  I felt AMAZING the whole time!  Yes, my legs were tired, but I had 0 stomach issues.  I took 3 Clif Shot Bloks along the course and the remaining 3 right after I was done.  I probably should have been more careful because the race was pretty humid and I sweated quite a bit.  Luckily it all worked out and I have high hopes for my upcoming half marathon.

Overall I had a wonderful impression of Disney races and Laura and I tentatively made plans to run in the Disney Princess Half Marathon in a couple of years.  They had plenty of water stops, lots of volunteers and crowd support, and at the end they gave us this box.

We were excited when they told us it was a snack pack!  Inside they had provided us with cheese and crackers, a Clif Bar, chocolate, trail mix, and gummies.  They also gave us Powerade and bottles of water at the finish line along with our awesome medal.  By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost 2 AM.  It is a miracle that this grandma stayed up so late ;-) 

Needless to say, we weren't thrilled to leave Disney.  Laura wasn't pleased when I made her take a picture right before heading to the airport, but we couldn't leave without one last goodbye to Mickey!

See you soon, Mick!

I am lucky to have such a great friend that's willing to travel with me to run!  Thanks again, Laura!  I can't wait to become princesses soon!