Disney Avenger's Half Marathon

 I can't believe it's possible, but the Avenger's Half Marathon is now my 4th Half marathon.  For those who know me, you understand how remarkable this is.  I am not now or ever have been a runner.  I don't get that "runner's high", I don't have these long reflective runs that clear my head.  I run honestly for three reasons: 1. Because I think of Juliana.  She does so much therapy and it's hard. It tires her out and yet day after day, we make her do it.  I figure it's the least I can do.  2. It raises money and awareness for Rett Syndrome and it gets us just a little closer to a cure.  and 3.  It allows me to spend time with some of the most amazing women I know.  And we get to laugh, and share stories, give and get advice and recharge our batteries before heading home.  So I get all that for the low price of 13.1 miles.  I'd say it's a steal of a deal.

Look who I ran into in Dallas!  I'm sure it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

 And then we found this one once we got to Orange County.  Double fisted Tina!

 First stop after drinks and lunch was picking up our race bibs!

 And then, like a bunch of old ladies, guess what we did.........we all conked out in our hotel room at about 9pm.  I know kind of lame, but you know what, we don't often get to do that, and it was actually 11pm Dallas time.

The next day we decided to spend some time at California Adventure.  Because of course that's what you do the day before a half marathon that you totally haven't trained for. P.S. - gorgeous weather!

First ride, against Niki's wishes, The Tower of Terror!  To bad you can't see Tina's face:(

Had to take a picture of Doc for Olivia!

 And then of course Mickey for Juliana!

Checked out Monster's U

 And then it was onto Radiator Springs!

 And then it dawned on me that I had still never tried a Dole Whip.  You know that thing I always see on Pinterest where people are trying to recreate this amazing dessert.  So I look at Tina (our resident Disney expert) and asks where we can procure this dessert.  And she tells me we can't!  Why? Because we are in California Adventure and you can only get those in Disneyland.  WTF!  This is unacceptable.  I did not come all the way from Dallas to be denied this tasty treat.  So I ask an employee if this is true.  She confirms it.  I ask her if there is any way she could go in and just buy me one.  And guess what she did. . . . . . . Yup, she let us in Disneyland!!!! Just like that she opened the gate and let us right in for the Dole Whip.  So we ran over to the Tiki Hut or whatever it's called and stood in line (a long line) for a Dole Whip!  Do we look a little excited?

And here it is friends!  It was amazing.

And as we were on the way out, guess what - Parade.  Darn it, I guess we will have to wait till it's over.

Then from there it was our Team Dinner.  I love these ladies.

My number one reason for being there.

And this was the scene at home.  This was Liv's best attempt at a smile.  Apparently her hands were chapped and hurting and she needed her momma.  

 And then it was GAME ON!  Morning of the race.  I unfortunately was in the last corral all by myself.  No worries I made some friends.  Check out all the people behind me!!!  I call that my buffer  - There are that many people between me and the bus that picks you up!  I can do this!

And I got this little jewel.  Apparently a good night's sleep did her good!

Minutes before starting

 Running through the park

Okay, I'm not going to lie.  This run was not pretty.  It was by far the hardest one for me yet.  The 55 mph Santa Anna winds didn't help.  At one point around mile 2, we passed a Wenchel's Donuts and I seriously thought about bailing and hanging in the donut shop.  I could taste the coffee and donuts.  But somehow I persevered.  Around mile 8 we got to run through Angel's Stadium.  That was kind of cool.

And then somehow I finally managed to finish the longest 13.1 miles of my life!

And I got my Coast to Coast medal too!

And then I had a Shock Top!

And then it was time to say goodbye to my dear friends.  What a great weekend.  Truly blessed to have found this group!

Never would I have believed that I had earned all of these medals.  Who is this girl?

Today's the Day

Say Hello to the Dallas Team of runners.  Linda, Demekia, Amber, myself, Barbara (all running for Team Juliana) and Ronda running for Team Courtney!  We actually had to catch the bus at 3:30am!  I know, right! But on a serious note, I will never be able to express how it felt to have you all there, all the way from Texas, running for my little girl.  You are an amazing bunch and Juliana and I are so blessed to have you all in our life.

This is my awesome Rett Family!  The four of us ran together last year as well.  Soojung, Tina, Niki and myself.  I love these ladies, it is part of the reason I get my tired old self to Florida to run 13.1 miles.  Don't get me wrong, Juliana is my inspiration.  But these ladies are like my reward for working hard to get there.  They are amazing girls and I am just so lucky to have such incredible ladies that just get this world that I live in. These are the girls that despite the fact that our busy lives do not allow us to talk that often, we can pick up as if no time has passed. It is becoming our once a year reunion and I hope it continues for many years.

We started in corral C

Here is Soojung shakin' it before the start

And here I am at mile 1.

Here is mile marker 2. Isn't it creepy that it is STILL dark out!

This is where I finally entered the Magic Kingdom.  Yes, you will see lots of selfies because I ran this solo for the majority of the race.  Of the 6 of us that came from Dallas, only 3 out of 6 of trained.  So the 3 that did train were far ahead of us and the 3 that didn't were at different levels of readiness.  So we met up a couple times along the way and then went our own way.

Mile 3 is when I met up with Linda!

This was part of my favorite part of the race.  The castle is actually the half way mark!  Here we come!

And here I go

Mile Marker 6 and I was running solo again.  Running with friends was nice, but running solo really makes you think.  And I ran, my thoughts went immediately to Juliana.  How hard we push her and how hard she works every single day to do the most simplest of tasks.  And for the most part she does it with out any complaints.  She is my hero.  In that tiny 6 year old body is a warrior!

Yes mam you do!

I'm on the home stretch now!

This is me at mile marker 12.  

You can tell in my crazy face that I am fighting off tears.  Because right before hitting this mile marker my husband sent the following video text message.

I know it's not that dramatic, but when your mind is already thinking of your amazing family and the reasons why you're doing this and then you get this message, well it pretty much smacks you the face.  And it didn't help that everyone around me heard as well and you heard a resounding "AHHHHHH"

Here I am in front of Epcot, which is also the ending point!!!!

Here we are - the last .1 of a mile is always the worst!

And yes, that crazy face again is me trying to fight of tears.

Ronda and I holding our medals and our inspirations

This is for you Juliana!

Go Team GP2C!