{"id":17354,"date":"2012-03-22T11:09:22","date_gmt":"2012-03-22T15:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=17354"},"modified":"2022-05-04T20:50:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T00:50:34","slug":"a-battle-of-the-body-and-the-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/a-battle-of-the-body-and-the-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"A Battle of the Body and the Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-17354 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/414365_10150474743001099_648141098_8853987_1403975086_o.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/414365_10150474743001099_648141098_8853987_1403975086_o-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-17359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/414365_10150474743001099_648141098_8853987_1403975086_o-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/414365_10150474743001099_648141098_8853987_1403975086_o-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-17359'>\n\t\t\t\tMy Finisher Medal\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Donald-facebook.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Donald-facebook-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Donald-facebook-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Donald-facebook-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Well when last I left you I was preparing for my first half marathon at Walt Disney World on January 7, 2012. \u00a0I had arrived from Denver and enjoyed one awesome day at Disney&#8217;s Hollywood Studios. \u00a0The busses for the race took off around 3 A.M. Saturday, and so I had forced myself reluctantly to crawl into bed at 9 P.M. on Friday. \u00a0My mind would struggle the entire evening to let me sleep. \u00a0I had been preparing for months to run this race and could hardly believe the moment was upon me. \u00a0I also knew that running 13.1 miles would require energy and so I slowly drifted off to sleep. \u00a0Before I knew it my phone alarm was telling me it was time to get up at 2 A.M. and not long after Donald called me (wake up call) to tell me to get up and get ready. \u00a0I am not a morning person but today I was going to have to be and my body thankfully responded. \u00a0After a quick shower, I got into my running gear (laid out night before, upon advice) and had a nice carb laden breakfast. \u00a0The food court at All Star Sports was open but I had bought a meal box the night before at the food court and ate my bagel with peanut butter, granola bar, orange, banana and water.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->I quietly left my room at 2:45 A.M. and much to my surprise I was joined by a crowd of people heading off to the lobby and busses. \u00a0I was thankful to have the advice to get there early because the busses to the start line would be full starting around 3:30 A.M. \u00a0I thankfully got on the first bus and headed off to Epcot Center to get ready to run. When we arrived at Epcot the waiting game started. \u00a0The risk of waiting and then arriving late was too great for me so I wanted to be early. \u00a0I also had a running group meet at 3:30 A.M. and was anxious to meet some people that would encourage me along my route. \u00a0The group meet was awesome and made the time pass quickly and I also had the wonderful privilege of meeting some new friends. \u00a0At the expo they had given everyone a large clear bag to carry what little treasures you might find but it was also the bag you would use to store items that you did not want to run with. \u00a0So I dropped off my long sleeve shirt (It gets chilly even in Florida at 3:30 in the morning) and room key. \u00a0At around 4:30 they began to ask the runners to get ready to move into position. \u00a0Each runner was assigned a starting gate letter based on the finish time they estimated. \u00a0I had given them 3 hours since I had never run a race and so I was put in starting group F (the letters went up to H). \u00a0The mass of 20,000 people began to slowly work their way over half a mile to the starting line. \u00a0We walked backstage at Epcot and along the route were literally hundreds of potty stops. \u00a0It got very crowded at times but the crowd was friendly and you could feel the anticipation of each runner for the race. \u00a0We slowly made our to a road that runs along the backside of Epcot and finally you could see the brightly lit starting line. \u00a0I then had to wait another 48 minutes til my group finally made its way to the starting gate. \u00a0There you found the Fab 5 in their running gear and two huge screens showing us waiting to go and other runners already on the route. \u00a0Donald {the Conducktor of Ceremonies) gave us our final count down and the fireworks burst as we began our journey.<\/p>\n<p>I had made a friend named Mike and we had decided that since it was our first half marathon we would try to get this done together. \u00a0It was interesting that even though Mike and I really didn&#8217;t really know each other that well our race would quickly build a bond. \u00a0The race begins and I can honestly say that I didn&#8217;t even feel the first 5 miles. \u00a0You leave behind Epcot and make your way along the roads to the Magic Kingdom. \u00a0All along the way you find local high school marching bands and rarely seen Disney characters. \u00a0I saw all the Duck Tales characters, Jungle Book, Princesses and the list goes on and on. \u00a0You are more than welcome to stop your race and quickly run over and get a pic and the get on your way, but since I was worried about my time I chose to plug on each time. \u00a0At mile 5 we reached the Magic Kingdom area and ran under the auto entrance. \u00a0We took a right and ran in front of the Contemporary Resort with Bay Lake off to our left. \u00a0We were allowed several times to run backstage at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and we ran in through a parking lot just off of mainstreet. \u00a0The crowds were large and loud as we ran down Main Street USA and took a right into Adventureland. \u00a0We then ran past Fantasyland and the new construction off to our right, but the highlight is certainly running right through Cinderella Castle. \u00a0It was an exhilarating experience and one that I will never forget. \u00a0We took another right and ran through Liberty Square and around the Rivers of America. \u00a0We again got to go backstage as we crossed the railroad tracks and passed through many sights I had never seen. \u00a0We then exited the Magic Kingdom backstage and enter a road to run around the Monorail resorts. \u00a0This is where the mind took over as the road would not seem so fun or friendly.<\/p>\n<p>So as my journey continued from miles 6 to 12 it was a long stretch of asphalt. \u00a0Every mile there would more characters and music but this is also were you would need to rely on the training you put in to this race. \u00a0My buddy Mike and I constantly encourage one another that each step brought us closer to our goal. \u00a0Thankfully just after mile 12 Epcot came into view. \u00a0What adrenaline was left in my body kicked in as we passed under the monorail and around the last half mile. \u00a0As the finish line came into view I made sure that I enjoyed every last step and as I crossed the finish line I raised my hands in sweet accomplishment. \u00a0I had wanted to run the race in under three hours and I had accomplished my goal with a time of 2:55. \u00a0No land speed record for sure but the fact that I finished with time to spare was an incredible feeling. \u00a0Mike and I gave each other a hug and then looked for the medal that we had both so craved. \u00a0I could not stop smiling while waiting in line for my finisher&#8217;s photo. \u00a0After receiving some snacks and picking up my bag I got in line for my bus and reflected on my running journey I had just finished. \u00a0This is something that is difficult but not impossible. \u00a0Seeing the \u00a0variety of people and skills levels during the race convinced me that this type of event is for just about anyone and any age. \u00a0I will share the remainder of trip in my next post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well when last I left you I was preparing for my first half marathon at Walt Disney World on January 7, 2012. \u00a0I had arrived from Denver and enjoyed one awesome day at Disney&#8217;s Hollywood Studios. \u00a0The busses for the race took off around 3 A.M. Saturday, and so I had forced myself reluctantly to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[507,1695,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walt-disney-world-resorts","category-theme-parks","category-walt-disney-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84767,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17354\/revisions\/84767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}