Now that I'm back and have had a few days to gather my thoughts, I'll throw my more detailed review out there. This was my first PHM, but my 7th half and my 7th runDisney race. PHM is the only current rD Florida offering we had not done, but it was the reason I started running in the first place. 7 years ago (there's a lot of 7s involved this weekend) we happened to be visiting during PHM. I had no clue they had races at WDW and I said that someday I would do this race, so there were times where I got a little emotional over the weekend with everything coming full circle.
Expo: We went to the Expo Friday morning around 11 AM. Headed straight to bib pickup, no lines. Then we walked over to pick up t-shirts. The Raw Threads booth was a nightmare, I couldn't look at anything without having to dodge an elbow. Moved on to RockTape and got my shin taped up as I've been having some pain in my shin/calf area. DH went to pick up our shirts while I stood in line. Afterwards we went to the official merchandise area. I didn't think this was crowded at all. The only thing I wanted was the AP weekend shirt and it was gone, which I did expect. DH got the medal pin; the line was not too bad to check out. I do wish people knew how to follow instructions and that "move all the way to the end of the registers" does not mean, stop wherever you want. We took our picture in front of the carriage and were on the bus around noon.
Race Day: We woke up at 2:30 AM to get ready. I ate some leftover filet and mashed potatoes from Saturday night's dinner at Artist Point (food was fine but I didn't think the atmosphere justified a $50 steak). Drank my coffee while doing my hair and makeup, rolled a little and we were off. There were 2 buses outside Wilderness Lodge and we got on the first one. We were off in about 5 minutes and we arrived at the Epcot lot around 3:45. DH is a Tailwind ambassador and was asked to do an Instagram story takeover during the race, so he was taking lots of pictures and videos. We got through security no problem. He made a stop at the porta potties, I said I wanted to wait until we got to the corrals...this was a statement I later regretted. I don't know if it was because it was dark or I was tired, but I could not find where to go to get to the corrals. I was in a group of people thinking they'd lead me the right way, but nope. Finally found the entrance to the lonnnnnnng walk over. I was extremely annoyed with the walk in the wet, uneven grass. Then a volunteer told us there were no more porta potties and she voiced her frustration over the setup. I may have had a mini meltdown and told my husband I was turning around and going back to bed lol. We did eventually get to our corral (E) and had a seat towards the front. I spotted more porta potties, but I never ended up using them because I didn't feel like pushing through people to get out, then pushing through people to get back to my husband. Right at 5 when the announcers took the stage, everyone around us stood and started pushing towards the front of the corral. I did not think it was too aggressive, but it was a little too early to stand in my opinion. Eventually people started sitting again. I thought the waves really moved quickly and we were off at 5:51 AM. I originally was bummed that I didn't get into D based on my POT, but I didn't use the right calculator before I raced my 10K and I missed D by a minute or so. So I was more so mad at myself as I knew I could have raced a 10K faster than what I did. However, once I saw the weather report, I was glad I was in E so I could slow my pace a bit. First 2 miles were the slowest splits. DH stopped at the first set of porta potties and caught up to me just before the 2 mile marker. I did slow my pace a bit while we were separated. He said he was doing 7:20s to catch up to me, so sorry if he ran anyone over...I think he ran in the grass though. Everything felt really great. The RockTape was awesome and it was the first time I was running with 0 pain since December. I also took a risk and switched from a stability shoe to a neutral shoe with PF insoles a week before PHM, definitely paid off!! It was certainly humid, but I loved it. No problems breathing and no cramping issues. I ran into my friend from home around the 4 mile mark and got a quick selfie so I got to see how sweaty I was! Running down Main St. and through the castle was amazing. I was definitely holding back tears. My husband had to make another stop at the aid station for bandaids near the car care center, but he caught up with me soon after. I was still feeling really good. I normally have a meltdown at mile 11, but for whatever reason I didn't. We were looking at the time and realized I had a small chance at a PR if I ran the last mile straight instead of 2/1 intervals. I had no goal of a PR, which I think is why I was feeling very comfortable, but I told him I'd decide right at 12. Well, that last turn up the ramp someone cut me off and I had a little ankle tweak. It went away, but that made me decide to just stick with what was working and do the intervals to the finish. I was 2 minutes and 15 seconds shy of a PR, but with how comfortable the whole race was, I'm not disappointed I didn't push at the end. And it was a runDisney PR by 4 minutes, so I'll take it. And I never had to use the restroom after all!
Post-Race: Typical finish line chute, got my snack box and took probably the worst picture of my life. I look like the Incredible Hulk. It's really bad... Anyway, we got on our bus which made its first stop at Fort Wilderness. By this point we had been on the bust for 50 minutes because of traffic! We got off and took the internal bus to the boat dock and took the boat back to the Lodge. Not sure if this saved any time, but I needed to get up and walk. We ate breakfast at the Geyser Point walk-up, showered and made it to MK for our Pirates fast pass and Main St. picture. Late lunch at Geyser Point before a nap, California Grill and Happily Ever After. Capped off the night at Territory Lounge and was asleep around midnight. Long day! I was really shocked that I didn't wake up sore at all. I was like, "Did I actually run?!" because everything felt amazing. I get sore after rD 5Ks for some reason, so I was really pleased that I posted a decent (for me) time and my body responded so well.
Wrap-Up: While I was annoyed with the walk to the corrals, I really enjoyed the race. I'm probably in the minority, but I liked the course. This could be that the Boardwalk area is getting a little stale for me from the other races I've done. I do think that I had so much adrenaline the first few miles getting to the castle that those miles just flew by. Normally those are the hardest for me and I question why I do this to myself. Not on Sunday, I was having a great time! I typically hit my stride at the 10K mark, so that was great to get me through to Epcot. I thought the spectators were great and I loved all the signs. Even though I feel very positive about the race, it wouldn't be my first choice only because I have a soft spot for Wine and Dine (first half and my favorite time to visit).