So I had just an incredible race this morning…but I know I did everything possible wrong leading up to this race and broke so many rules in the “runner handbook.”  So appropriate that I got back to the hotel to find Hercules on the TV.  “I can beat the odds.  I can go the distance” – these lyrics are particularly appropriate for today.  While I will put a whole lot more detail in my race recap, here are some of the forces I have up against:

• I have been fighting some upper respiratory junk since the morning we flew here (I think getting only 3 hours sleep that night did not help).
• I ended up eating some fried and not so good for you food at lunch yesterday – I try to eat bland and easy to digest the day before but that’s tough at a theme park.
• It has been tough getting adjusted to the time change and I have had trouble sleeping in past 3 or 4 am local time every morning here.  Wouldn’t you know it – when my 3:15 am alarm went off this morning, I was in a deep, peaceful slumber that could have lasted for a good long while.
• My usual pre-race breakfast, a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Luna Protein Bar, was (unbeknownst to me) super expired.  I figured this out about half way through this disgusting bar.  It didn’t age well – expiration March, 2012.  Oh crap.
• We were running late getting out of here and left the hotel after the time we were supposed to be in our corrals.
• I get to the first water stop to find out that all the PowerAde is BLUE – I hate anything other than orange or yellow.  Every other runDisney race I’ve done had yellow.  Oh no – I knew by mile 2 I would be doing this race without any electrolytes.
• This course was really hilly!  I was shocked by just how challenging the course seemed to be!

Despite all of these things, this was one of the best races of my career thus far.  I felt great, rocked and rolled, and ended up with negative splits and a big time PR.

i also achieved my race goal of breaking the 2 hour Half barrier.  Not only did I break the barrier but BLASTED through it with a time of 1:53:30, average pace of 8:39.

I am so thrilled!  Charles wanted to come back to the hotel for a bit and sneak in a workout so I am resting for a little as well (although I probably could have walked straight into the parks post-race.  I really feel great with very little to no soreness as for right now.  I have on compression socks just to be safe.  I can’t wait to enjoy these last 2 days in the park without having to worry about “Am I walking too much?  Should I be resting?  Should I sacrifice enjoying Disneyland for the sake of the race?” – I beat the system and did it all!  I shouldn’t get too used to it though.  You can’t always tempt fate and walk away with a PR and amazing race.

More to come…

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