This post is so long overdo. But, I'm going to write my story anyway to let everyone know, I DID IT! I know this is going to be long, so I am sorry in advance!
On Jan. 7, 2010 I flew down to Disney World, in Orlando, FL with my husband and my Team in Training Crowd! It was an experience I know I will never forget!
We stayed at Coronado Springs. It was a beautiful resort right on Disney property. The great thing, the buses ran all day to all the parks, downtown. We never needed a car. And, for us, the one of the bus stop was close to our room! Much needed knowing a lot of running was involved for the weekend!
The weekend started with a trip to the packed expo on Thursday! This was where we went to pick up our race bib, shirt an of course to shop for specials and deals on new workout cloths/gear! It was so busy and crazy, it could only get you excited for the big day!
Thur. night was dinner out with the entire Maryland Team in Training group! 47 of us, plus all our team trainers and mentors went to Disney Downtown for dinner at the T-Rex. That was fun. A great time to chat and share our stories of our lives (in and out of running!) We also got to talk about training tips to help us in the future and for race day!
Friday was our day! Michael and I and one of my teammates, decide to do a whirlwind tour of Disney World. Why whirlwind, we only had about 4 hours. 4 hours is never enough time to see that park and ride the rides. We did pick a few of our favorite rides and we did enjoy a day! We went to Animal Kingdom too. It was a very cold weekend in FL that weekend. I think it was too cold for the animals! We saw flamingos, but everything else was hiding. Ok, we only zoomed through that park too. But, after our quick walk through the 2 parks, we had to head back. It was time for the TNT inspirational dinner.
The dinner was not what I expected at all! There were 1500 Team in Training members, plus all their friends and family, the coaches and mentors. The buses dropped us off at some place in Epcot. As we walked around the corner, there were all our coaches and people there cheering us on. Yelling and hollering at us, calling us heros! It was so shocking, I was speechless. I never expected the greeting! See, I know I personally raised over $3900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I know all my teammates raised at least that or more! (Thanks to everyone who supported me in my journey and made a donation, it was greatly appreciated.) Dinner was incredible. We heard a speech from one person who talked about his marathon adventures. He said anyone who can complete a marathon in 2 hours or so really isn't an endurance athlete! That, to really feel the pain and be an endurance athlete, you had to run for more then 5 hours! HA, that hit home. Anyone can run for 2 hours, but can you run for 5. (Ok, so I can't run as fast as they do for 26.2 miles!) After a few good laughs, we heard another speech from a person who told his story. See, he has an incurable form of blood cancer. But, he told us about how he trained for his first marathon as he underwent treatment for his cancer. That due to the advances of medical procedures/medicines, he could pop a pill that made him be able to live a life while going treatment. (Verses going through months of chemo, that takes a major toll on your life.) He said it was the help of LLS that makes these advances possible That it is the help of people like us, how raise the money for LLS, that have helped save his life! Ok, can you say more tears!
Here are some nice facts from our Inspirational Dinner. Our entire 1500 winter teammates raised $5.4 million dollars for blood cancer! Our 47 Maryland teammates raise $203 thousand! That is an incredible amount of money to support LLS. Now, I was proud to have suffered through the months of fundraising while training. I knew what I was doing was for a good reason, but one more why just presented to me made me so proud to know I could do my part to helpfully one day find a cure for cancer. (thanks again)
Friday night, the news said "This is the coldest we have ever seen it here in Florida." They were talking about the snow, sleet and freezing rain that was about to hit Orlando for the weekend. WHAT! I was there to run a marathon in some place warm. I did not want to hear that the weekend in Florida was going to be colder than if was going to be in Alaska!
Sat. morning rolled around. It was so cold. In the 20's. The day started off with snow and sleet/freezing rain! Based on that, my goal was to stay inside and stay warm. Keep my feet comfy. So, hotel room was our friend for Sat. Early to bed, because the race was about to start!
Ok, to keep this short. Read post 2 for my race day story!
Heather
Changing Lives One Day at a Time!
web: HeathersFitnessSpot
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