You would think after the rain and extended exhaustion of the first day that I would just accept that I was tired and say “nope, I’m too tired to run today” and skip the 10K. It was still raining outside (although not the deluge of Friday), was windy and dark and early. “Nope, I’m too tired to run today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week”.

If you think that I would accept anything and think that, you clearly don’t know me.

I rolled my sore, cold and tired body out of bed at 3:00am and got my backside to the race site. This time I had enough foresight to bring some extra cash with me so I could buy a coffee while I was waiting for the race to start. So yes, I went to the race again to appreciate a solid 10km of running in the rain. I wasn’t as tired as I had been the previous day despite the earlier race (maybe the coffee helped).

One of the greatest things about the runDisney races is that they aren’t meant to be where you reach a PR. They are meant to have fun. They are meant to stop along the way and take photos. There are characters that you can take photos with, there are sights that you don’t get to see when the parks are packed during the day. There are people walking, running and jogging at different speeds, so it doesn’t have that competitive nature to it.

I don’t know how well it can be seen in the photos, but in one of them, I’m sitting in the Queen of Hearts Throne from Alice in Wonderland. In another photo, I have Jack Skellington from A Nightmare Before Christmas in it with me. I have so many photos from the events (both from my phone and the formal photographers). I stand out a lot in the 10K race because I’m wearing a bright red shirt (Gaston, of course. As a specimen, yes, I’m intimidating).

The photos took time out of my race time. Sometimes there was a lineup to get a photo with a character. Sometimes it just took a couple tries to get a selfie angle just right. The point though is that the time didn’t need to matter. What mattered was the fun and seeing a giant Hades or Oogie Boogie. Even if I didn’t get the photos, the point was seeing them, seeing the parks (sort of – it was still dark) and getting to run-ish. How much better is that than being concerned about my race time?

Other things to think about. I was pushing my body further. By the time I got back to the hotel I could barely walk, not based on my legs or feet but just because I was so tired. It was still dark. I didn’t want to shower before crawling into bed but I did, just because I knew I would regret it later if I didn’t. Again, where is the balance between pushing as a challenge vs going too far? I certainly wasn’t considering that. This was the hardest day. Between the weather, being tired and the lack of sunshine at that hour, I was more than exhausted. We can feel our bodies and feel how much further we can go. I know I wrote this yesterday but it stands. How much can we do? It’s not just about going any distance, it’s about going the distance that is best for us.

When I woke up a few hours later, I went to the hotel restaurant and ordered breakfast… three eggs, breakfast potatoes and toast. I finished all that and then ordered it again and ate all of that as well (although I did get it “to go” so I could pretend I was taking it to someone else and not just eating a ton of food).

“I Use Medals in All My Decorating” – Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Shirt, Day 2.