And so it continues...

After my first race in May, the Muddy Buddy, my cancer decided to raise a little cane in my life.  I was a bit puny and some of the cells had gone all Ramboish in my body so it was decided to remove the infected parts.  This included my cervix and uterus, a hysterectomy.  I had that July 28th and recovered fairly well.  Prior to the surgery I had to donate my own blood in case I needed it.  I was given a 'script for iron supplements to help replenish that mineral before surgery.  Well the pharmacy included the wrong directions on my dosage.  Instead of one every other day they had me on two a day.  Let's just say an iron overdose is no fun!

At my four week check up it was determined that I had ripped out some of my internal stitches by running so I was put on rest, no running, for four more weeks.  We had a family cruise planned for this time so I didn't mind so much.  I also had the Expedition Everest run planned for 9/26/09 @ Animal Kingdom.  The Dr. said maybe and he would see me the Thursday before to determine if I could partcipate.

So only my second race and once again I have little to no training going into the race.  The EE is a 5K night race, followed by an obstacle course and scavenger hunt inside Disney's Animal Kingdom park in Orlando.  It is also a partner race and unlike the Muddy Buddy the idea is to stay together.  Please recall how much taller the ManHo is than I.  Stride difference much?  Not to mention that his pace time is like 4 minutes better than mine.  Oh well he suckered me into this, he can suck it up and shuffle step.

The Doc cleared me with a little reservation and some internal glue stuff (don't ask, it's better not to know, trust me).  We suited up, checked in and were just shocked at how many runners there were participating.  The Disney folks put on a great race including fireworks.  We were in Wave 11 so with a 5 minute wait between each wave we wouldn't even start 'till the fastest first wavers were finishing.  Then it was time...on your mark, set, GO!

It quickly became apparent that ManHo should run at his own pace and wait for me at the start of the obstacle course.  There was just no way we could run it together.  All was well but about 3 minutes into our run the heavens opened and a torrential downpour proceeded.  I was soaked in minutes and not even a half mile in yet...damn it.  The muttering started.  This was gonna cost the ManHo something sparkly, for freakin' sure.  Y'all should know though that I just kept going, head down, cursing. 

About mile two I happened to see a woman supporting a very fit looking man and I approached her to see if she needed help.  She did, he was having a seizure.  She was remarkably calm and I suppose this happens a lot with them but it freaked me out.  I became a woman on a mission to get the medics there.  I ran fast and found a race ranger and yelled as I ran anyone a Dr., nurse, medic?  About six people stopped their race to help until the medics arrived.  The man was fine and the seven of us very wet runners continued the course.  We lost maybe 5 minutes total.

I have to say by mile 3 and coming into the home stretch I was miserable.  I was cold, wet and grumpy.  Thirty minutes running in a downpour will do that to ya.  I didn't have on a watch but knew that my pace was slow.  As I approached the finish line I watched the runners in front of me seem to sink into the pavement.  WTF?  The finish line was about 10 feet away from a pavement drain.  I ran through and was quickly covered to above my knees in water.  So much for sprinting, more like sloshing!  Ran through the finish line at about 7 minutes slower than my normal pace, met ManHo and we jogged to the obstacle course.  The rain was still coming.  We completed the balance beams and net climb but decided to football step the crawl under net.  I was wet no way was I getting muddy.  Been there, done that.

Obstacle course completed we headed to pick up our clues and equipment for the scavenger hunt.  As we headed for the tent, massive lightening strikes.  About a minute later they called the race.  That was it.  ManHo and I had completed everything but the scavenger hunt so we were considered finishers.  Anyone still on the obstacle course or running course wouldn't have times.

I will honestly say I was miserable.  Soaked, pruned and chaffed.  There was however the issue of my bling.  You see the finisher medal for this race was a spiffy compass medallion.  I covet the bling.  It started to ease up so we headed to the final finish line to get our medals, hell yeah!  Grabbed some snacks and then decided to dry off and see if the attractions would open.

Being not just a mom but the DaDivaMom, I had the foresight to pack in our running bags two towels and a dry shirt for each of us.  Amazing.  A dry shirt was simply amazing.  It didn't make up for the soup in my shoes but every little bit of comfort counts.  We decided to head over to the Everest ride to see if it was open and we were among the first to be allowed on.  I will say this roller coaster is so much better at night than during the day.  After our ride it was time to head to the hotel and warm up.  A quick stop by Mickey D's for some french fries and a Dr. Pepper and I was a happy little Fat Girl.

As miserable as this race was for me I learned a lot about myself.  I have endurance and determination.  I am compassionate, as evidenced not just by the fact that I stopped to help a fellow runner but by the fact that I did not kill ManHo when it started raining.  I further learned that my determination is in direct proportion to my reward.  Nice bling, french fries and Dr. Pepper can make me do most anything.

Sadly I don't have photos from this race it was just too wet.  I will take a picture of my fabulous medal and attach it later though.

For your own Expedition Everest adventure check out: 

http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=ExpeditionEverestChallengeDetailPage

Until next time my little petals...until next time.