I had a request for an Expedition Everest post, and I'll take any reason to write here, so here I go
Unfortunately, I don't have many pics..sorry!
This is the second year that my friend and I have run Everest. Last year we place in the seventies and we were determined to place under 50 this year. We had found cute bright swirly tanks to wear (because we like to match at every race) and knew they were perfect for this race!
Last year we left an hour before the race since we live so close. Well, for some reason, parking at the race is INSANE!! We parked with about 10 minutes to spare and I was so stressed out (we usually like to have 30-45 minutes to walk around and use the restrooms first). So we decided not to do that this time and left 2 hours early just in case. Well, there was no traffic! We had an hour and half to wait around! We walked around a bunch and met up with our own Faith! It was so great to meet her!
We also realized that we were in the second to last wave. Which we weren't too happy about. But there was nothing we could do. So we waited until our wave started around 10:15--which means we were really waiting for about 2 hours! Oops! But we got to see the fireworks they shot off each time a new wave started--and I can never get enough of the fireworks!
So when it was time for our wave, we got almost to the front...we were in the second row. That was the closest we've ever been to a front. It was so neat to run and not have tons of people in front of you (since the waves were 6 minutes apart, at the beginning it was clear space ahead!)
When we run, we run for 2 minutes and walk for 1. For 5ks, we run at the beginning for a little longer. We decided to run for a half mile then walk. My friend who I was running with had been sick with a really bad cough for 2 weeks (gotta love our kindergarten students and their germs) and it really got to her during the race. She has asthma too so it was really bad. I kept asking if she wanted to walk more but she said no. We kept up our 2-1 ratio, but just at a slower rate.
There are 3 obstacles in the race. And we remembered from last year they were easy. The only problem was that the last obstacle last year was a cargo net and there was a long line and we got stuck behind slow people going over. This year at the 0.5 mile mark, there were hay stacks to jump over. Pretty low and easy. So I was being silly and jumping silly over them. And jump..karma got me. On the last one, I landed sideways on my ankle. Not landed, then rolled, I landed completely on the side. I immediately thought "Oh crap...that's what I get!" My friend asked if I wanted to walk, but I said no..the more I stop, the worse it would get. So we kept on our ratio and while it hurt really bad at the beginning, it got better as we went along. I just knew that if I sat down, that was it.
I skipped out on the other obstacles though. The second one was a tire run through (like you see football players do) and I knew there was no way I could do that on my ankle, and the last one you had to get on your belly and crawl under wires (or a net thing..I couldn't tell). But I felt pretty okay.
The worse thing was the traffic. It was HORRIBLE! Because we were in the second to last wave, we kept meeting up with all of the walkers in the previous 6 waves. And the paths were narrow, so the walkers would take up all of the space. I have nothing against walkers--we are walkers every two minutes!! But we always go to the right so the runners can pass. Here, walkers were blocking everything. My friend finally started yelling "Walkers on the right, runners on the left." I was embarrassed and told her to stop, but there was another couple running behind us and they thanked her and told her to keep doing it.
So we finally finished the racing part and was on to the scavenger hunt. I think that the clues were super easy this year. I do the clues for us and this time I would get the card and get it right away. There wasn't any need to stop til the last one.
At the end, you have to get the final answer by looking at all of your previous clue cards and I couldn't do that standing up so we found a spot to to sit. We got it pretty easy--We sat for maybe 3 minutes but I stood up, and yup, major pain. I had forgotten not to sit down! We looked down and my ankle had swollen up huge! I wasn't about to stop though! We ran to the end and it was over!
(we're not really sure what happened with this picture--there are weird dots and our faces our weird colors)
We sat for a while eating a banana and drinking gatorade and because my ankle hurt. After we rested, I knew that we had to get a Yeti hat for Jackie (since she had been looking for it!) My phone wasn't getting a good connection so while we waited to see which hat Jackie wanted, we went on Everest. So much fun in the dark! I ended up getting Jackie both hats and decided to just take whichever one she didn't want back. She decided to get both hats..they're so cute!
After that we (I) limped to the car. Honestly, this was not my favorite race. Besides my ankle (my fault completely), the whole wave thing stunk. I don't know if we didn't notice it last year because we were slower or if becuase they did it differently. But they need to set it up like they do the other Disney 5ks where you line up according to your race pace. Not everyone is honest, but there are far less people to pass walking this way.
We knew that with my friend's breathing and my ankle that we probably didn't do as well this year. We were about 10 minutes faster, but the clues were easier, so we figured everyone else was too. BUUUUUUTTTT...for our group, the women's couple group, we ended up in 39th place out of 704!!! Our 5k time was 33:05, our scavenger hunt was 22:28 for a total of 55:33! We were so excited! We're aiming for 25th and under next year!
We're signed up for the Tower of Terror 10miler in September and I'm about to sign us up for the Food & Wine Half Marathon in December. The longest we've run is a 10k (6 miles) so we're really nervous! We're following Jeff Galloway's plan that is specific for each race and training starts on May 29. I've taken time off since April because of shin splints (my brother's girlfriend is an orthopedic surgeon and runs and told me I had to take 4 weeks off of running..I'm hoping the shin splints don't come back!) Hopefully my ankle will feel better by then. I've twisted my ankle tons of times and it usually only hurts for 2-3 days but it's been 2 weeks! It better heal in 10 days from now!
Sorry this has been such a long post...I didn't know I had so much to write!
you look so cute in your fun tank!! I'm impressed with anyone who runs for fun! 
We had anniversary pictures taken at the Boardwalk and Beach Club too in 2011. I loved getting pictures together at Disney for our anniversary. I told DH that in the future we will have to continue the tradition with family pictures once we have a child down the road.
