Kindly call me Princess Judith...it is official!

It is official. I am a Princess. I do in fact have the Medal of Honor to prove that I am.  How you ask did I become a Princess? Well, let me explain….

A long, long time ago, I agreed to register to run the Disney Orlando Princess Half Marathon. At the time I was running regularly and felt very much on top of my running game. I continued to run and register for more and more events. In August I ran a night half marathon in Roswell Georgia. Little did I know then that it would be the last race for me until I became a Princess on February 24^th, 2013.

A series of missed races, coupled with my marriage in December, and a foot my doctor told me to stop running on had me in a runners funk.  I won’t bore you with the list of missed races. It is a substantial list and anyone who knows how I push myself can probably do the math themselves.

So, as the holidays approached I convinced myself I’d start training to prepare for the Disney race. Well, the only training I got was the practice of telling myself I’d start tomorrow. Tomorrow never came and the race was looming. My friend Jac Blair that I was running with was messaging me on Face Book asking about my training and excitement level. I suppose I was underwhelmed by the race. Because….

My husband and I have bought a new home and I was and still am very consumed with the remodel and move into the new digs. I was convincing myself and anyone that would listen that I couldn’t train. I had sooooo much going on. But, I was going to run, or walk, regardless. We had plane fare, the condo at Disney and a friend headed in from Arizona.

The week of the race I was finally excited. Maybe it was the fact I’d be in warm weather in Florida, or just nerves that I was going to run 13.1 miles with absolutely no training since I shelved my shoes in August. So, off we went to Disney on Friday February 22^nd. Jac showed up that night and we hit the expo the next day. I scooped up some Princess merchandise which I wasn’t sure I’d wear, because I wasn’t sure I’d finish.

At the crack of dawn Sunday morning, yes at 2:50 am, Jac and I awoke to dress and head to the bus that would become our coach to the start line. There were women of all shapes and sizes and all wearing Princess outfits. The rainbow of tulle in the tutus and the glitter from all of the tiaras was quite a sight that morning. I felt as though I was trapped in a Jo Ann’s fabric center.

I had a dress on, but I had no other defining costume. No tutu, no mouse ears, no tiara. I just wanted to start, finish, survive, and get a bloody Mary at the finish. I loved the weather, warm/cool (crack of dawn) overcast sky to keep the Florida sun from beating the runners down, and mild humidity. Jac hated the humidity. I didn’t really notice it, but coming from her dry Arizona temps she didn’t like our moist air.

Jac wears a racing watch to time her and asked why I don’t. I explained that I can figure my time very close to my actual by noting my start time and calculating at each check point. I told her I thought I’d have a slow day, probably about 3 hours and 15 minutes. I’m a consistent 2:45 give or take runner. My personal best is 2:32.

 

We corralled up: Jac was in Corral B, I was in C. We agreed to text as we got close to mile 10 in order to keep track of each other and to meet up at the finish. As each coral was released to run, our Fairy Godmother waived her wand, gave us a little magical love, and counted down to one. Fireworks went off and so did we. So, it was Corral C’s time to start. I was a bit nervous, but I was excited to be back in a race. I have missed my sport.

So, the fireworks lit the sky and off we went. I checked my time crossing the start line so that I could keep track of my pace. I was surprised that I actually ran the first three miles (albeit slow) and was pulling a sub 14 minute mile. I was feeling good in spite of no training, nothing hurt and the foot the doctor warned me about was on its best behavior. I was compensating a bit on my left foot to balance a bit, but realized that was causing an entirely new problem so, I adjusted back to my normal form, and voila, magical!

From the moment I ran beneath the start arch, I knew I’d made the right decision to start running again. At every twist and turn of the race, some wonderful Disney character appeared. Jack Sparrow was standing next to his pirate ship and would be Princesses were lining up to have their photo taken. As much as I love jack, I kept running. I was on a mission to finish and wanted nothing to keep me from the time I’d projected. I ran past Aladdin and Prince Charming(s). I ran past every Disney Princess they have. There was Snow White and Cinderella with her evil stepmom and stepsisters, who by the way looked rather fetching in an evil sort of way.

Disney music was playing all along the route. I was in Disney heaven. I felt good, my foot felt good and I knew I had beaten the course. I would finish and add a spectacular piece of bling to my collection. We approached the Magic Kingdom which was the half-way point of the race. I stopped for a quick photo-op and kept going. I waived at Mickey and Minnie and kept on running. I felt like Forest Gump; I was not stopping for nothing. Truth be told, I thought if I did stop, I might not get going again.

So, through the kingdom we ran. I ran past Cinderella again, she looks fabulous, hasn’t aged a bit. And we were again on the Disney access roads wending our way to the finish line at Epcot. As with most races, we are cordoned off into certain lanes of roads. So it was as we exited the kingdom. The running path was lined with orange cones abutted next to each other. It was a solid orange line, no gaps. Some of the runners hopped into the open lane only to be hollered at by the race volunteers to get back in the running lane.

The open lane for cars next to us had traffic headed in our same direction.  It was not oncoming traffic. So, there we were headed towards the finish 5 or 6 miles away and some zippy young lady was popping in and out of the clear lane: the traffic lane. Disney vehicles and cab vans were moving by us as we ran, so zippy young lady kept ignoring the words of warning and she jigged when she should have jagged and she threw herself into the path of the cab van. She was no more than 30 feet in front of me. She just popped out in the lane without looking and hit the quarter panel of the van just past the headlights and the BIG BLACK MIRROR hit her head like a melon. In fact the impact sounded like a melon popping.

Yes, I was horrified as she rolled down the street towards me (outside of the cones). She sat up; she had a crowd around her and was attempting to stand, all the while telling everyone she was going to finish the race. By the time I was parallel to her the driver of the cab had joined the crowd and he look horrified. I felt worse for him than her. Jac asked why I didn’t take a picture and I told her I couldn’t. I see plenty of injuries and heart wrenching accidents at races. It is bad enough it is seared in my mind, no need to sear it in yours. Later in the day as Jac, EW and I were discussing the event, we had to laugh that Disney attorneys were probably notified before the EMT’s.

So, with the drama of the mirror and melon head attack behind me, I ran on, all the while enjoying the Disney characters and entertainment provided by the mouse. I was well hydrated, I was in no pain the foot was good and my time inched up over a 15 minute mile. I was in the zone, the slow zone, but running and walking my way to the finish. I loved seeing Epcot up ahead. Jac was texting and at one point I realized she was about 10 minutes ahead of me. We would be finishing close together!

She sent a text that she had finished and I had less than a mile to go. It seemed like a terminal slow-mo half mile, but I rounded the bend and there was the finish. Holy Running Blisters!! I looked at the race clock and calculated I had run 3:15. No training in a six month period, unless you count the arm lifts of vodka and tonic and wine. And, and I was finished, I felt great, the foot was fine. To top it off I received the blingity of all bling, my Princess medal.

So, if Disney deems me a Princess, who am I to disagree? After al,l I am a Princess now and we Princesses are agreeable folks. I think the icing on the cake was the fact they I wore my bling for the remainder of the day including out to dinner. No matter where we went, what bus we rode, or strangers we passed in the parks I got words of congratulations and I was constantly referred to as Princess.

 

So, if you want to congratulate me on this mini comeback race, please do so using my official name, Princess Judith, but remember; I’ll always be the Widow Fike.