Saturday, January 17, 2009

Disney Pre-Race Report



Whew.... where to begin? I have seriously been neglecting this blog over the past couple of weeks so I had better get a report out there before I forget what happened!

I left on Wednesday before the race for Disney. I slept in then straightened up the house (I hate coming back to a mess and I figured if I died while running at least the house would be clean!). I finally got on the road to Orlando around 12:00. It is about a seven hour drive from Atlanta but went by quickly thanks to XM radio.

Thursday was the first day of the expo so I killed some time before it opened at noon and then headed over to pick up my race packet. Part of my killing time included eating a mickey mouse shaped waffle, of course. I love how everything in Orlando is in the shape of Mickey's head.

My race number...


Assorted race swag...


and.... a birthday card from the race directors was in my packet :)





the expo...


Of course I had to get 26.2 gear!


After the expo, I headed off to Disney to check out the parks. Over the course of the next two days, I hit the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. On Friday night, RW drove down for the big event which was a surprise as we weren't sure if he could make it due to work. We went to Charley's steakhouse and had the most gi-normous steak known to man. Living on the edge right before a marathon but it sure was good!

The day before the race, I pretty much just hung out and rested. I met up with some friends at Rainforest Cafe for dinner and arrived back to my hotel to a cookie bouquet from my friend, Joan :)

Some pics from the day...





the birthday volcano...





My birthday cookies :)











paris in spring... or epcot in spring...





there were lots of seagulls. EVERYWHERE. This one sat like this and stared at me as I ate my lunch...


















All of a sudden this is very lengthy... the actual RACE portion of the report to come. :)

2 comments:

Kevin said...

Looks like it was an awesome trip. Cant wait for the race report

Mary Elizabeth (MErider) said...

Great pics, Karen. You look so cute with your hair in a ponytail with the 26.2 button in your hand. I'm with Kevin and look forward to the report...make it as lengthy as you like and I'll live vicariously through you! :-)