The Most Amazing Week of My Life

As I sit here with my medal still around my neck, I am still astounded by the extreme feeling of happiness and accomplishment that I have after this week. Our honeymoon was amazing, but this was the greatest vacation/trip of my life. I'm sure my husband would agree. Here's the full report (feel free to skim).

Day 0: Wednesday night I have my final "I can't do this" moment and cry. Michael tells me that he's already so proud of me, he believes in me, and he makes us take a picture of ourselves to look at when it's all over. I'm all red-eyed and sad-looking.

Day 1: We leave around 9am on Thursday morning and get to the airport with tons of time to spare. I'm feeling really nervous, because now my heels hurt. The crazy in me has me convinced that I'm developing plantar fascitis and am completely falling apart. However, during the plane ride I decide to just love every second. There's no turning back now. Michael gets bored with "Tales of Beadle the Bard," so we're both happy to arrive in Orlando, the most beautiful airport ever. There's a welcome sign at baggage claim and about a billion runners. We wait in line for the "Magical Express" to take us to our hotel, Coronado Springs. I meet some lovely women, one spectator, one first-time half-marathoner. Michael fumes at the weird lady doing stretches while waiting in the baggage claim area.

We head to the hotel and get there around 6. We put our bags in storage and decide to go to the race Expo tonight, since from now on, it'll be a zoo there. I sign a wall for the race--"For Michael, my love." We are starving, so we eat some Clif bar samples. Michael goes back for seconds. I buy 50 sample packs of Biofreeze, which everyone said was great for using during the race. It's a cryotherapy gel. Before we leave, I take a picture by a photo of Donovan McNabb in the hopes that we'll both have a good Sunday.

Back at the hotel, we get dinner and check into our room. It's a gorgeous resort. The Zaccs and I stayed there in 2000, and it's prettier than I remember. I organize all of my TNT and race information, and we pass out early.

Day 2: We wake up early for breakfast and see some of my teammates. They've all already seen at least one park and are heading off to more. We go to Epcot that morning, my favorite place. We walk around and see lots of interesting things, including a guy doing skywriting that says, "Praise Jesus" and "U+God=smiley face." It's weird. I thought Disney was a no-fly zone.

The TNT Pasta Party is in Epcot, so we meet everyone at 2pm for that amazing event. Hundreds of people are there. They showed a slideshow of survivors and people who lost their battle from every chapter. I felt part of something so great. Michael stands twice when they ask for all of the participants' supporters to stand and for all survivors to stand. I choke back tears and feel the proudest I've ever felt to be married to this man.

After that inspirational and emotional afternoon, we decide to check out the pool at the resort. It's a little cold for the big pool, but the hot tub is just right. After dinner, I had a team meeting where we got final instructions and decorated our singlets. I put Michael, my TNT buddy Art, and at the last minute, Sheila, our family friend who was battling ovarian cancer and had just taken a bad turn, on my singlet. We hear a mission moment from a half-marathoner who was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma and is walking the half tomorrow and doing really well. She makes me cry. Now I'm really nervous but more excited. Michael and I then purchased some "marathon wine" called "Miles of Smiles" created for the race. We sit around and watch TV, and around 11pm I notice that there is a sign on our door. It's from TNT and says, "Some angels don't have wings, they wear purple singlets," and "Behind this door sleeps a hero." What a way to end a great day.

Day 3: The half-marathon was at 6am this morning. I decided to conserve my energy and sleep in, but we saw all of our teammates as they came back around breakfast time. I was SO impressed by them and so elated to hear it all went well. It got me so excited for my "finish" moment. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Lou arrived at the hotel around noon. We got lunch together and headed to Downtown Disney. I was inspired to get a temporary tattoo of Dash from The Incredibles on my arm for good luck.

After some shopping, we headed to Saratoga Springs, our timeshare homebase and where the family was staying until Monday. We open up some of Uncle Lou's favorite Lambrusco, and we start telling old stories about Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Peg, and old times. I feel my loved ones with us as we laugh and laugh and laugh! Then my mom notices that she has a voicemail. I'm a little quicker with cell phones, so I grab it, put it on speakerphone, and play the message. I don't know what possessed me to do that. It's my Dad's coworker with the sad news that Sheila died at 4am that morning. We're all very upset, but Dad's happy that he saw her on Thursday, Mom talked to her the other day, and I'm even more motivated to carry her name with me for 26.2 miles the next morning! Mom said that Sheila never complained while she was sick. She would just say, "I'm offering it up." I decide to do the same tomorrow.

When we get home, I do my stretches, lay my clothes out, and try to go to sleep at 8pm. Wake up call is 2am. Michael says he wants to go back to Downtown Disney, because he wants to make a t-shirt for tomorrow. I fall asleep miraculously at 8, but then there's a knock on the door at 8:15. Jen and Lori sent me a bottle of wine! So sweet!! What amazing friends. Then I get a few texts, so I'm sleeping an hour or so and then waking up. I'm nervous, really, really nervous. I start to pray out loud. I thank God for Michael. I thank Him for the moments we have together. I thank Him for the moments tomorrow that will be hard and will be amazing. I thank Him for Sheila. I pray to Sheila and wish her peace and happiness. I cry quietly and fall asleep.

Michael comes in around 11pm with his shirt. It says, "My wife ran the Disney marathon and all I got was this t-shirt. Way to go Therese!" It was supposed to say "stupid t-shirt," but he was censored by Disney. Hahaha!

RACE DAY: At 2am, I get the wake up call. I barely slept, but I'm ready. I pack on my gear, put on my TNT tattoo to match my Dash one. I read the note Michael left me saying how proud he is of me. I write him one in return. I kiss Michael goodbye, and off I go to meet the team. Everyone's in great spirits. We get to Epcot at 4ish am. We stand around for about an hour and then head to the starting line. We're walking in almost complete darkness on the back alleys of Epcot. As one teammate said, "This is where Epcot goes to die."

The start is amazing. The national anthem is sung. Fireworks go off. We're READY! I'm scared, but with my team by my side, I just want to start. We cross the start line around 6:10am. We're going slowly to stick together and conserve our strength. At every mile, we meet up again. It's crowded and REALLY dark. However, by mile 3, I'm still feeling good with no knee pain.

The sun starts to come up. We've run through Epcot, seen our first of many characters, and now we're on the highway for miles 5 - 9. Gary, our coach, and I stick together for most of this stretch. I'm still feeling good, and we try to up the pace a bit to get through the crowds. It's hard to weave around people for 10 miles. We play Gary's game of picking someone far ahead of us and trying to pass them before the next mile marker. We win every time. We're taking a break at every mile, and I still feel good.

Then we enter the Magic Kingdom. I knew this was a spectator spot, but I thought I wouldn't see my family until mile 13 as we had planned. When I see my mom's face in the crowd at mile 10, I burst into tears. Dad yells, "You look great!" Michael snaps one of my favorite photos ever. Off I go!

Around mile 13, I see them again! I'm starting to get tired, and it's officially hot now. But I complete a half-marathon in about 2.5 hours, which is just a little slower than my PR for a half. However, my knees hurt now. I see Chris. He's nauseous and not looking good. I start to feel tired. Then I get a sharp pain in my right foot. I have to stop. What could this be? I stretch for a minute and keep going. Now I'm just going to try to keep going to each mile marker and then take a break. I'm alone now. Gary's with Chris and circling back for others.

Mile 15 - 18 were boooooring. We were actually at a recycling center and on a narrow, boring road for most of this. I'm hurting. I'm good once I start, but then there's a water stop, and I'm getting dehydrated, and then it feels like my bones are breaking when I start to run again. This is not fun anymore. My run mix of music is boring me. I want to be done. Gary told me to count up the miles until mile 17 and then start counting down. We get to Animal Kingdom. I hate Animal Kingdom. It smells, it's hot and not that interesting to me. I stop at a real bathroom, which helps my spirit. My Garmin loses reception, and for a second I think it will stop tracking me. I'm wrong, thank goodness!

Mile 19 - 20 is highway...hot highway. I see a girl throw up. I see a man lying on the ground waiting for an ambulance. I can't do this. I think of all of my "ammo," as Gary calls it--Michael, Sheila, my family, my friends, the finish line. Nothing's working. Then Gary appears. I burst into tears. I sob, "I hurt so badly. I just want to be done. I am so thirsty." He calms me down. I pour water on my head, which helps a lot, I take another gel and drink more than I have been at stops. I can't stop crying. A nice man passes me, sees my face and yells, "You can do this, come on!" I laugh and start to run again.

From here on out, it's pretty awful. Everything hurts. I have to stop every 6 minutes or so to walk and stretch my IT bands. My foot is sore. I feel a blister pop. We get to the Wide World of Sports Complex where the Expo was. I know from the map that we run a mile and then turn around and then head to Hollywood Studios. I need a theme park. The course has been so boring. This out and back mile is killing me. Then I see the wall I had signed at the Expo Thursday night. I am reinvigorated. I see Manon, Jeff, and Wendy. I feel better. Gary stays with me. I don't know how he kept me going, but he did. I'm still distraught that I have 5 more miles. My brain can't even imagine going another 2.

We get to Hollywood Studios. There is some shade, and they gave out chocolate mini bars. I get a Mr. Goodbar, my favorite, and walk for a little while. I pass the set that looks like a NYC street and I remember taking a picture there in 2006. I hate this spot now. I want to be done!!

Miles 23 - 25 are along the river. At this point, I'm trying to run for as long as I can and then walk. I'm probably doing 5 minutes of running and 3 minutes of walking. I don't care. I see Jeff. He makes me laugh, and I'm ready for the end. I get a text from my teammate Gail who finished well over an hour before me. She reminds me to think of Michael and Sheila. I have 1.5 miles to go.

We get back into Epcot near my favorite spot, Italy. I remember Michael and I being there two days earlier. I take water cups two at a time. I run, I walk, I cry. I cry just thinking about the ending. People are screaming my name. Earlier on the course, I got a lot of "Go TheresA!" Now I'm going slow enough that people can read my singlet and say, "Therese" (well, sometimes "Ter-rez").

Gary finds me again. He starts saying, "You're almost in the Lifetime club!" I'm crying every 30 seconds now--partly because of pain, partly because I'm almost done! I see the finish line. I'm scanning the crowd for Michael. I cry and cry and lift my arms in the air. 5 hours and 42 minutes and I finish the marathon!!!! I get my foil wrap, my medal, and call Michael.

I see him before he picks up. He's walking away. I scream, "I see you!! I love you!! Come back to where you were!! I DID IT!!!!" I'm crying writing this. We all hug, we cheer, I can't describe it anymore. It's one of the best moments of my life.

The Jesus skywriter starts writing again as we board busses to go back to the resorts.

The Aftermath:

I had one black toenail and I still have a MASSIVE bruise on the inside of my right foot. It doesn't hurt at all. I think I just popped a blood vessel, but the whole side of my foot is deep purple now. I took an icebath and enjoyed the rest of the day. McNabb and I had a great Sunday.
Day 5 - 7: I was the sorest I've ever been on Monday, but we went to Hollywood Studios and checked into Saratoga Springs. We had a FANTASTIC rest of our time there. Check out some pictures here: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=260597611/a=3130054_3130054/t_=3130054
Thanks to all of you who read this, donated, or just have been my friend throughout this journey. I don't think I'll ever do another marathon, because nothing could have rivaled this experience. Thanks to my TEAM and coaches, especially Gary. I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to my family who cheered me on in person or in spirit the whole way. Thanks to my best friend, Michael, who I can't live without. Thanks to God, who made this world so wonderful and blessed us all so much.

GO TEAM!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!