Women Run the World 15K :: Race Report

Late Friday afternoon, my daughter and I headed out to Wide World of Sport to get my race packet and check out the expo. On the way, I noticed the beginning of scratchy throat. Oh, no! I couldn't be getting sick!

I thought the expo was lacking. Last year there were some big brands with floor space. Champion, who is a pretty big sponsor was there last year and absent this year. New Balance, which was a big favorite with my daughter last year because of the opportunity to play Dance Dance Revolution was also MIA.

There were a lot of smaller brands there, such as my friends from Running Princess. And there were other girly brands there too who had some super cute stuff.

By far the booth with the most action was the Bondi Band booth. As you all know, I am a big fan of my bandannas, but I was lured in and I bought two Bondi Bands, one for me and one for my daughter. I didn't wear it today, but I'll try it out soon. I bet that 30% of the runners today had Bondi Bands on. Amazing! I am going to see if they can find some pink camouflage material and I just might make the switch. Stay tuned...

Friday night and all day yesterday I was on a steady stream of Airborne and Zicam (I should have gone with the nose swabs, the dissolving tablets are tough to choke down)

This morning, I was up just before 4:00 AM. With a 6:15 AM start, I knew I needed to leave here no later than 4:30 AM to beat the road closures and be sure that I had time to stretch and get ready.

I arrived without incident, made my first port-a-potty stop and then began to wander around. I ran into my friend Angie who I ran the last 10 miles at the DeLeon Springs Half Marathon. We talked a bit and then realized that the port-a-potty lines were growing quickly. We got in line and when we were done we made our way to the start. We had to snake our way through the 11:00 minute milers and found our place around the 9:00 minute mile pace. We said our "good lucks" and when the race started, we parted ways with Angie taking quite a lead.



Because I have not been feeling the greatest, I decided to take the first half of the race cautiously. I was moving at a decent pace, but I wasn't pushing too hard. After the turn around near Wide World of Sports we hit the four mile mark. The volunteer called out 38 (something, I can't remember the seconds). I was feeling really good. I thought I could be on pace to not only get a PR, but come in at the 1:30 mark, which was my #1 goal. I decided to pick up the pace a bit.

On days that I have not been running, I have been walking on the treadmill at a good clip (5.0 MPH) at an incline of 8.0 - 10.0. That really helped me to cruise up the off ramps and other inclines that have slowed me down in the past.

We made our way through Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) and around the boardwalk. We passed a group on the beach participating in a sunrise yoga class.

The course goes through a back area at Epcot and then you pop out into England in the World Showcase. It was really all a blur once I was in Epcot. Before I knew it I was almost all the way around the lake. I remember smelling the Jasmine in China and the next thing I knew, I was headed toward Spaceship Earth. At the nine mile mark, the volunteer called the time and I thought that the PR was within grasp.

I was almost there .3 mile to go and then I really started moving.

I crossed the finish line in 1:28:02 (chip time).

A New PR by seven minutes and six seconds!

I missed Leana today. Next time we'll have to make a plan to meet up before hand. But the race almost snuck up on me this time.

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Before the race started this morning, it was announced that the 15K is being replaced with a half marathon next March. The Princess Half Marathon. Registration opens tomorrow. I'm all over it!

I was thinking that the Minnie Marathon Weekend would be replaced by a co-ed race. It is just being replaced by a more marketable franchise. Princesses trump Minnie all day long.