One year ago today, I nearly retired my running shoes

It's hard to believe it has been a year since the Inaugural Walt Disney Tower of Terror 10 miler. It will be a race I will never forget for multiple reasons. So much has happened in the past year and looking back makes me realize how much I have accomplished, helping me through the negative thoughts that I deal with on a daily basis.

The 2012 Tower of Terror 10 miler was my first long distance run. Since the TOT started at 10:30pm, we trained at night after work to get used to running while being exhausted from the day. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared us for what we were about to experience.

There were three major issues which resulted to a bad ending of this race. We dressed up since it was a Disney race. Gabe and I were Jesse and Woody from Toy Story. I hated everything about our costumes somewhere around mile 3. My Jesse hat ended up in the trash and Gabes 100% shirt was quickly removed. We stressed out so much over what to eat prior to the race. I blame this partially on Keri, who is a control freak about doing everything by the book. I put too much different stuff in my stomach prior to the race (peanut butter and banana sandwiches, protein shakes, gu, all of which all followed a pasta dinner). The next issue was completely out of our control...but 80% humidity at 10:30 pm is NOT conditions you want to run in. This is one of the reasons runDisney moved the race up a year in 2013. It made for very difficult running conditions.

Result: Along with a reported 60% amount of participants, I got sick. Right smack dab in the center of Hollywood studios with no where to go. I found a trash can, hid behind and threw up everything in my body. All of the bananas, peanut butter, gu, even the pasta from earlier in the day. I left the park in a wheel chair because I couldn't move. I was utterly exhausted. Even worse, I got sick in the bus on the way back to our car. That was a huge blow to my ego.

This race almost ruined my running career and I wanted to quit running. If I thought I had self doubt prior to this race, what followed the months after was downright awful. I didn't want to train and I was afraid of anything over 8 miles. To make matters worse, My first Half Marathon followed a few months after and it was a total disaster. I went into the Disney Half in January with so much doubt and I didn't want to run it. To be honest, if my best friend and former roomate weren't running it with me, I would have deferred. Yet I crossed that finish line with a huge smile on my face with spirits lifted. I had to quickly jump back aboard the positive running train, knowing I had the Rock n Roll St. Pete Half, Rock n Roll New Orleans Half and Sarasota Half in a two month span.

So here I sit on the one year anniversary of the race that caused me to doubt why I lace my shoes up. I reflect at what I accomplished vs. what almost made me quit.

Five weeks from today, I will be running the ING New York Marathon. Am I stressed out? OF COURSE, it's what I do best.  If you are a reader of this blog, you are aware my training did not go as scheduled. I erased those hopes and dreams of crossing that finish line under 5 hours. Now, I can only hope and dream to finish it. I am also very sad because my parents were flying up and are now unable to be there. This will be an experience - what kind of experience is up to me. It can be an amazing experience or a bad experience. What I really hope is that my first full marathon will a once in a lifetime experience.

And the answer is no, I am not running the Tower of Terror 10 miler next week.