Rewind: Fri & Sat

February 27, 2011

A date that I will always count as a milestone.

It has taken me 18 days to write this post. I think part of me thought that once I wrote this down, and shared these pictures, that it would forever be in the past. It would be over, done, and forgotten. Eight, long, hot, and cold months of training would be just a memory. I'm actually crying as I type. 

Oh, not tears of sadness. Tears of sweet JOY and VICTORY. You see, I am not a girl that finishes things anything. You have no idea how much I wish I was one of those girls. But.... now I have a shiny, heavy, diamond encrusted, gold medal to prove that I FINISHED SOMETHING HUGE!

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? 

 Friday morning, Matt and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our fellow travel buddies that were flying in that afternoon. We hit a nearby outlet mall, and once we heard news that they had landed, we quickly jumped in the car to meet them at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The agenda was simple: Meet up with the Team DeGraaf, grab a quick bite for lunch, head to the Princess Expo to look around and grab our packets, and end at the Boardwalk for dinner reservations. 

 The Animal Kingdom Lodge blew my mind! Right outside the lobby (which was amazing in itself) giraffes, zebras, wild birds, and other animals roamed. The decor was straight out of a dream. We met up with the rest of our crew, ate lunch, and quickly got on our way to the Expo. Jeff, Jan, and Hilary left in their rental car, while Matt, myself, Cale, and Aimee jumped in our rental car. I decided to drive, because let's face it, I was too excited to be a passenger at this point. Everything was going as planned...and then....BAMMMM!

Some idiot swerved into my lane and smacked right into the driver side of our car. Long, long, very long story short: No injuries, I was shaking like a leaf for hours, we waited TWO hours for a cop to finally show up, and our day was thrown off course. For blogging sake, I made us take a group photo during our quality time spent on the side of the road in Disney. Say cheese: 

Cale, Aimee, me and Matt

good thing we packed snacks and sunscreen

I must say....

If I would ever find myself on the side of a road in Florida for 2 hours again, I would want to be with these people. Alright, moving on. Once the reports were filled out, we raced to the Expo with 45 minutes to get in, get our packets, and get out. 

We were all starving and ready for some greek food!

With our race packets in hand, we were off to dinner on the Boardwalk! Reservations were made at Cat Cora's restaurant, Kouzzina.

 The horrible hours before this meal all washed away with the first bite. I ordered orzo with grilled veggies and cheese, and Matt had a seafood stew. A huge table filled with food, laughter, and friends. OPA!

 After all that amazing food, we took a stroll around the boardwalk to burn some calories. Matt and I said goodnight to the crew and headed back to our resort. Saturday was going to come quick. Saturday's agenda was short: Back to the Expo with more time to look around, relax by the pool, and be in bed by 6:00pm. 

 Saturday went smooth. The Expo was mind-blowing...so many vendors and so many things I wanted to buy. I stuck to the budget. My purchases were: 1 t-shirt, a decal for my car, and a couple running headbands. How cute was the "running Cinderella slipper"!

We promptly headed to the resort pool once we returned to the room. I still can't swim, but I have a swimsuit now for when that day comes!We prepared dinner, set alarms, I laid out all my running gear, packed the backpack for Matt, and went to bed. Thank goodness for black-out shades in hotels.

2:00am was going to come too fast....... 

*to be continued.*