Cam & Howard's Vow Renewal PJ -1/12/09 - WP&WH--p.98: TRIP REPORT BEGINS

[bonzie1]

Oh Cam! We've never met, but I want to let you know How I've enjoyed your posts, and your wonderful journey of life, love and blessings... trials and triumphs!

Thank you fo letting us "strangers" into your life. It's beautiful to feel a part of the process and your excitement, and undeniable love for each other.

I soaked up the details of your planning and smiled as I read of your choices. They are all so precious... your cake ropper, your little chairs, your welcome bags complete with endless surprises for your guests. Everything you've done is an outpouring of the love you share with your DH. That love overflowed into all of your VR plans. May God bless you and your family as you continue your journey together. Thank-you, Thank-you for sharing!

Your sharing brings back fond memories of a dear friend's Disney FTW VR. It was a once in a lifetime event for us. I know you provided that for your guests as well...

 

[keenercam]

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get back here to post the next installment. Even now, though, I can’t quite figure out why I don’t have some of the pictures I thought I’d include here.

The last installment was part 1 of Friday (day 2). It is here at post 1510
day 2 part 1
So, here is Day 2 Part 2 and it picks up with one of the happiest couple hour segments of the entire trip – the WISH team meet at POP Century Food Court. I just can’t describe how much I look forward to the POSITIVE energy that comes from the WISH team. You walk in the room and you are surrounded by friends, regardless of your athletic abilities. You share the goal of training to be fit and everyone is so respectful and supportive. This year, I was doing the Half-Marathon which would be the next morning (I have promised myself that having finished the Disney FULL marathon twice, I’ll NEVER do that again!) So, this was an opportunity to see everyone who had run the 5k that morning, like Howard, and those who would run the ½ marathon Saturday (like me and Howard). Some of our teammates weren’t running until the full marathon on Sunday, so they were a bit more relaxed than some of the rest of us. I only have a couple pix from the WISH meet because I was so busy gabbing that I never remembered to take pictures.

These are some of my dearest friends in the world (5 of the 6 other Minnie Girls – poor Judy was wiped out and needed a nap to prepare for the half-marathon, so I didn’t get to see her that night)

And here are our guys – We call them the “Muffins” -- that started as the Minnies’ Muffins, but some of them insisted that “Minnie/Mini” just was not a term they wanted associated with them ( ), so they renamed themselves the Stud Muffins. LOL! These are truly, without-a-doubt, six of the BEST men in my world. Truly everyday heroes and all-around good guys. I know that no matter where I am and what I need, I could call these guys and know I can depend on them. And what I love best about them is that they treat their wives, my dear friends, like gold. I am so appreciative of the fact that my friends are so well-loved and respected and adored by their husbands.

After we’d been there a while, my MIL, SIL and BIL arrived, and we hung out with them for a while and all got dinner at the food court. Once again (and as always), I was so proud to be a member of the WISH team when some of our teammates came to where we were getting ready to sit, to urge us to come sit with a huge gang of our teammates. I wondered whether Howard’s family would be okay with that, but everyone was so friendly and Howard’s Mom and Sister made a point of saying “Everyone is so nice. You have really nice friends.” Yeah, we know. Blessed, right?

After dinner, we gathered the lasagna stuff from Martha & Craig’s car and headed back to BCV. We showed my ILs their room and said good-night to try to get a good night’s sleep. Jenn, Andrew & Ade were back from their foray to the parks by then and we helped them get their race gear laid out and then all headed to bed early.

Next up: Day 3 – A Half-Marathon and Lasagna Dinner

 

[mla1977]

Yay! An update! I know what you mean about heading to a WISH meet. It is so different from a regular DIS meet.

 

[keenercam]

DAY 3 – HALF a MARATHON and a MOUNTAIN OF LASAGNA!!


Well, I can tell you for sure that 2:15 a.m. comes very early, and if you are worried about your own ability to finish a race without getting swept and also worried about 2 20 year olds who hadn’t had time to train, sleep is even more elusive.

So, at 2:15, we all got up and dressed in race gear. I walked the girls through getting themselves fueled and hydrated and getting all their gear together. We met up with a lot of the WISHers at the start, but Howard and I left after just a couple of minutes to attend the prayer service. Unfortunately, it was delayed several times and then went longer than it has the past 3 years and we were late getting back to the meeting spot. We had time for a few pix at the meeting spot and at the start:

Here are our friends Matt and Kevin. Matt decided to provide course support for the half-marathoners and was all over the course, cheering people on and being absolutely amazing in that Sorceror hat and those wonderful, smile-inducing Mickey gloves. At one point, I saw him up on an overpass and he screamed something along the lines of “Cam, Look at you running!! Every time I’ve seen you, you are running!” and he encouraged me so much. What a great guy! Kevin wears these really fun running tights as a show of camaraderie for our team and to make us all smile. Two really wonderful WISHers! Seriously, what awesome guys!

I have no idea why my cheeks were so red, but here I am with my girls at the start

And then we were on our way! I knew my hip was hurting that morning and it usually lasts for a duration of time, rather than distance. Rhonda, who has been my race partner at every Disney race was fine with me trying to get as far ahead and build a time cushion as possible. My dear Kathy took Jenn and Adrienne under her wing (she is nowhere near as selfish as I am), so I was free to make a break for it and try to get well ahead of the sweepers. I had my best race ever in that I was able to jog most of the way. I was astounded at how healthy and energized I felt. I was wearing my Tokyo Disneyland bride ears and everyone was so sweet, congratulating me. Patty had helped me do iron ons for my tee shirt and though I cant' remember exactly (and the shirt got ruined when I washed it), the back said something like “Marrying My Prince Charming All Over Again” with our two wedding dates. The front said “Marrying Him Once Was Not Enough" with both our dates (I stole this from the slogan Howard had come up with for his honeymoon tee-shirt)

It was so amazing to run past the Grand Floridian:

And the Wedding Pavilion:

I stopped for lots of pictures along the way but I look so goofy in all of them with my red cheeks and ear to ear grin, that I’m not going to embarrass myself by posting them. LOL! One of the highlights was seeing Kevin and Michael (Heather and Rhonda’s hubbies) in the Magic Kingdom on Main Street. What a wonderful surprise! I still can’t believe I was still jogging at that point, stopped for pix, and took off again. Soon, I saw Judy, but she quickly blasted past me – she is so fast!!!

My race time was not great. Truly, my time was pretty bad, but I had the BEST TIME!!! I got to see so many WISHers along the course and our Scream Teamers were beyond amazing. And best of all – Rhonda and Heather caught up with me in EPCOT and we were able to finish together. Actually, they finished just ahead of me – they still were so strong and fast at that point, and I was not. But finishing with them was just the cherry on top!

It was great to see everyone at the end of the race, but I was wiped out and still had lasagna to prepare for about 60+ people, so we soon headed to the line for the resort buses. We waited a really long time for a bus back to BCV. Howard quickly showered and headed out to meet some WISH friends at Macaroni Grille. I was so jealous that he'd see some of my favorite people, but I knew he'd give them my love and hugs and take lots of pix. And he did:

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Sounds like you had an awesome race, Cam! I never fail to be impressed thinking of all you did that trip - WOW!! Got a medal too

 

[Honeibee]

YAY! A new installation!

Oh Cam, you're too funny! I may be a lot of things but "fast" is not one of them.

 

[figmentfan814]

Cam~ I really enjoyed reading about your day running the marathon; it sounds like you had a lot of great support. Kris keeps bugging me for the two of us to train to run in a 1/2 marathon too, but I keep saying only if its one at Disney

 

[pjstevens]

Actually, my personal goal is to supplement my online album with some Randy proofs this weekend so that I can get more installments up. Work has been crazy and I'm "supposed" to be training for a half marathon and trying to lose about a gazillion pounds.

Hey there, what's this 'supposed' to be!!!???? You are!

 

[zoegirl]

Cam I can't believe everthing that you did over that weekend. Between the race, being the "hostess with the mostest" and your wedding I'm surprised you didn't pass out from the stress!!!
I can not wait to see your wedding pics because I know they are going to be beautiful.

and who cares about race times anyway??? Don't sell yourself short on the time you finish....it's that you "have the courage to start" right? I think when you're having fun it makes all the difference, and it sounds like you did.
I have made a vow to stop wearing a chip during local races just so the pressure will be off....I'm never gonna win anything anyway.

 

[keenercam]

Aw, thank you Angel and Meg! I wish I were an entertaining writer like my dear friend Jen (jennifaerie) -- I could read her PJ and TR over and over!

Georgie -- Thank you so much for your kind words. We were so fortunate to have so much time to plan this that we were able to search out the things that meant so much to us, like the cake topper. And we LOVED having the time to plan some wonderful surprises for our guests (details coming up about the pre-reception and the guestbook ). I am hoping that our guests took with them memories to last a lifetime (including memories of dancing with Mickey and having pictures taken with him! )

Bree -- It is so wonderful to see you here. I can't believe how big Luke is getting! Isn't he gorgeous? I still love the pix I have of the three of you from the Boardwalk meet at marathon weekend 2008. He has only gotten cuter with time! How cool that you have taken the pressure off yourself so that you can love running. I love John Bingham's philosophy -- I'm gonna get the very same medal as the fourth place finisher, so I might as well take my time and enjoy every minute out on the course.

Megan -- I'm so glad that you agree that WISH meets are awesome. I've never met a more generous group of people in my life, and the fact that every one is an athlete totally blows away my prejudices about athletes being introverted, ultra-focused and too competitive to be warm and loving. Just WAIT until you see the pictures from our dessert party -- what an AWESOME bunch!!!

Thanks, Lisa! Looking back, I wonder where I left my common sense and I wonder why someone didn't tell me how crazy I was to volunteer for the full marathon water stop, but I'll get to that soon. What in the world was I thinking? LOL!

Oh, Judy, sure! Play all "Miss Modest" but aren't you the one who took a real-live restroom break and STILL blew past me to finish more than 15 minutes ahead of me? Not fast. Kerplewey!

Vanessa -- You and Kris totally have to sign up to the do the Disney half marathon. The one in January is awesome because it isn't likely to be as warm, but the new princess one in March sounded really awesome too. Then, there's always Disneyland -- that one's over Labor Day weekend. You could even start with something a bit shorter -- the Race for the Taste 10k or the Tower of Terror 13k. Any one of them would be so much fun, especially if you two train together and do it together. After your miraculous recovery from your car accident, I am totally convinced you could do ANYTHING you set your mind to, sweetie!

Okay, Patty! I guess those 4 miles on Saturday and 3 miles this morning officially count as the start of a structured 1/2 marathon training plan. Can you tell me again why we are running a half marathon in Delaware in May? LOL!

Seriously, thank you everyone for reading. I'll get more up as soon as possible. I am even going to raid Jenn's shutterfly pix if I can to find more fun pix of WISHers to share.

 

[Disneymoon0909]

Cam,

I just wanted to say that reading through your entire thread has been so amazing- I feel like I know you! You are an inspiration to me as I struggle to lose weight and hope to one day be able to run in the races at Disney! I also hope that my wedding in September and Disneymoon are as beautiful and as magical as yours. I look forward to more!

Holly

 

[bonzie1]

DAY 3 – HALF a MARATHON and a MOUNTAIN OF LASAGNA!!

...but Howard and I left after just a couple of minutes to attend the prayer service. Unfortunately, it was delayed several times and then went longer than it has the past 3 years and we were late getting back to the meeting spot.

Wow! A prayer service. Do you know if they have one prior to all of the races, or just the main marathon weekend? That's great to know. Thanks!

Putting all of this together for us to read is a labor of love. Know that your efforts are appreciated. Your thread is providing joy...

 

[2BoysMom]

We met up with a lot of the WISHers at the start, but Howard and I left after just a couple of minutes to attend the prayer service.....


Here are our friends Matt and Kevin. Matt decided to provide course support for the half-marathoners and was all over the course, cheering people on and being absolutely amazing in that Sorceror hat and those wonderful, smile-inducing Mickey gloves. At one point, I saw him up on an overpass and he screamed something along the lines of “Cam, Look at you running!! Every time I’ve seen you, you are running!” and he encouraged me so much. What a great guy!

Cam-
I wanted you to know that I did my first Half Marathon at the inaugural Princess Half a couple of weeks ago. I wish I had known about a prayer service, I would love to have done that.

Matt was there, and after he sped ahead of all of us, he went back and cheered the rest of us on our way, still wearing his big Mickey Wizard hat (I didn't notice the gloves, he may have had them). He even did the overpass thing again, cheering people on. I can't tell you how inspiring he was and how much fun. Because I am new to the WISH team, he didn't know or remember my name, but he kept calling out "Hey WISH-girl" whenever he saw me. He made me laugh so much, and always inspired me to start running again whenever I saw him.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, I just wanted you to know that your dear friend Matt was at the Princess and still inspiring others.
He was truly one of the highlights of my Half Marathon experience.

-Donna

 

[DisneyFairy19]

Cam I am plannng to do the 5K next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[traceycooper]

Thanks for posting some more of your TR Cam
one day i hope i'll be with you running in WDW

 

[Flurbee]

Cam,

Hey there....I am finally caught up on your thread!! I love it!! I posted something a while back when I got done, but I think you may have missed it... Anyways, looking forward to more...

 

[29apr00]

yay another installment!! I'm so proud of you Cam!!

 

[KeenHo]

*Ahem... how can this have slipped to the second page? Hmmm.

 

[DisneyLaura]

Just checking in and saying I'm finally caught up with your TR. I lost my computer for a couple of days almost a week and I have a lot of DISing to do.

 

[Flurbee]

Is Cam's TR somewhere else?? I haven't heard anything for a while, just wondered if I was missing something....