Most people call me Belle, though my Louisiana roots also have people calling me "Cajun Sparkle" from time to time. I am on an ever-changing journey that has taken me many, many places but I wouldn't change it for the world. I love my hubster Bear, my hilarious family, my little pom Pearlie Mae, making people laugh, and being a Critical Care RN. Join me on my journey, and you may come away with few cajun sparkles yourself! ;)
I said I would post more pictures from the race- here they are! (Totally out of order, but they're a pain in the glute to re-arrange.) I may actually have to sell my kidney (I need my arm/leg) to purchase an official race picture, but it would be totally worth it, right?
Mickey and Minnie and I put on our running shoes this past Sunday and ran the princess half marathon. This time around, I finished about 4.5 minutes faster than my previous half. (Official time: ~ 2:15:50) If you haven't run a half before and feel encouraged and inspired by a large group of others wearing pink- this is the race for you!
I had so much fun with my running buddy Carla (seen in the Ft. Lauderdale half marathon). Amy wasn't able to run this time, but I hope she will try with us one day.
Carla and I drove to Orlando Saturday morning and arrived at around noon. We went to the Disney Princess Expo where they had guest speakers, merchandise for sale, wii fit games, and any running gear you can imagine for sale. It was a pretty cool expo. By the way, I did not get the princess I wanted on my race bib. So I wrote BELLE with a pen on the bib the night before. Hmph.
My friend Elise from LSU was there and met us for an early dinner after the expo. It was so fun to see someone from home! She ran the 5K the day before and did AWESOME.
After we got some frozen yogurt and other miscellaneous carbs, we attempted to get to bed. We were so excited about the race that we probably only got 2 or 3 good hours of sleep.
At around 2:45, (Yes 2:45 AM!) we woke up to get ready for the race. The busses picked up runners at their resorts at 3:15. We got there right on time, and were dropped off within walking distance to the corrals. (A corral is where you start a race). Since Carla and I both ran before and made pretty good time, we ended up in the first corral. There were 5 total.
This is where I have to interrupt the story to tell you about the insane, horrific, traumatic experience that I had related to the weather. I wore shorts, (little paper thin nike shorts), stockings (also thin), and a tank with a little throw-away jacket on top.
IT. WAS. 30-SOMETHING. DEGREES.
We had to wait in this weather in our scantily clad running gear from 3:30-6:00AM when the race started. I literally felt like a giant popsicle. I don't really tolerate the cold weather that well, and to not wear the proper attire that morning, I was so beyond miserable I couldn't stand it. Carla brought a blanket and shared with me, but it was hard to stay warm because I'm about 1.5ft taller than she is and it was tough to bundle up without suffocating her. Thank you for being my blanket buddy, Car!
Now, I've never had the urge to go into a porta-potty for the environment, but when I went to the bathroom I discovered it's warmth and wanted to stay inside for as long as I could. (They were still "clean" at this point). There was a long line of ladies waiting, so I left after a few minutes and tried to bear the cold again. I really wanted to cry, but feared that my tears would immediately freeze into icicles and be a danger to my retinas. Carla, being the assertive woman she is, talked the concession manager into giving us free coffee so we could try to sip on something warm. I drank it so fast that I was not only cold, but now more alert of the frigid condition! Oops.
I was now running on 2 hours of sleep and had slight hypothermia. (Read: NOT a happy camper. Sorry, Carla!) I was pretty much unresponsive at this point.
When the race started at 6:00AM, I started to warm up a bit and felt better. There were characters at and between each mile marker, and lots of entertainment along the way. What I liked best was having the park to ourselves to run through. It was so great to run through Cinderella's castle and circle Epcot without anyone else there. It really is such a magical place! I stopped briefly at each mile marker, just long enough to snap a pic and send to twitter. (Are you following me? @LoveBelle) I saw a few others doing this, too and wanted to have some memory of the course. There were girls in full out costume running through the race. Long princess dresses and wigs. Seriously! I have to give it to those who chose to run in huge tutu's. My favorite shirt: "If you're not first, you're last".
When we finished, Mickey and Minnie were there to say congrats and there were characters ready to sprinkle participants with fairy dust. I swore I wouldn't do that (HELLO, glitter never comes out!) but when I was done I walked straight up to a character and said "FAIRY-DUST ME, PLEASE!"
Thank you, endorphins.
Anyway, we finished! We decided that we will do a race together every year and make it a mini-vacay. We can travel together and stay in shape that way. I think it's a fabulous idea. I'm even entertaining the idea of a full marathon but don't want to fully commit to saying I am doing one yet. We shall see!
Notice anything? The new design is here! I am so excited about my flowery-pink layout. Jessica at Front Porch Studio is so talented. I made a microsoft paint version of what I wanted (pretty advanced, right?) and she captured exactly what I was looking for!
I just got home from a 13 hour day at my psych ward rotation (only 1 left!) so I won't be blogging much tonight, but I can't wait to start blogging again.
I met my first blog friend a couple weeks ago- Danielle at Just Dandy! We went to her hubby's hockey game (He coaches for the UF Gators). She was so sweet and beautiful, just as I expected! I had tons of fun, and learned a lot about hockey. I may have even done a gator chomp and shared a gator snuggie with her. Don't tell anyone. I hope to meet more blog friends in the future. What a great way to connect!
Only 3 days until the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. I will be sending plenty tweets and posting updates over the next few days.
