Hopefully I won't be looking at the inside of anyone's eyes, nor eating at Hooters (although I guess it was yummy.) I certainly won't be sorting through bridal magazines, because instead I'll be wearing a big blue princess ring from my youngest son to match my other princess attire.

I've traded in my muddy sneaks (as pictured they were "cleaned up") for some brand-new white sparkly ones (which I ran in today with better results than the shrunken-post-mud-race ones had given me during my first half-marathon race at the start of February.)

By chance I received a sparkly-tiara cap from Disney - although I'm wishy-washy on whether shiny (unbreathable?) black is a good choice for a race. On one hand, I want the sparkle and sun-shade capabilities of the cap -- and on the other hand, I'm not sure if my head will freak out and want to breathe. So, thank you so much Disney, but I think I might wear the cap during the rest of the weekend and let my head breathe during the actual race? Yes, I'm undecided on this one, but ain't it beautiful?

Alas, I cannot find my actual tiara. I have some little tiara hair combs and I have a sparkly headband, but my actual tiara is somewhere in this house, hiding. I even had a dream about finding it, but since the location of the dream was fictitious, I cannot translate it to real life.

But, I know what matters isn't what I am wearing, but rather my ability to complete the race.

Let's say that on one hand, my mind is blown that I'm actually going to run a half-marathon a week from Sunday. I am double-ly blown that this will occur at Disneyworld (I've never been!) and that an offhand "Hey, let's run this princess race" comment nearly a year ago has resulted in a huge group of people making the trek. (Thanks to Kristen for rallying the Shredheads for the occasion.) But on the other hand, I ran a half-marathon at the start of February, and last week completed a personal record in a 10K race, during which I ran the whole time. Yup, that's right - no walk breaks. So I know I can do the half in a week. I know it. And yet, I'm scared.

I'm nervous because I'll be running with people who I know are going to finish before me. I have some envy because I wish I were that fast. And yet, I know that to finish is a huge accomplishment! A year ago, I was sick with the whole chest-congestion thing, and as I saw "Shredheads" buttons pop up on people's blogs, laughed because I wasn't getting off the couch anytime soon. But then I joined the Shredheads in mid-March, completed the shred in exactly 30 days, and with a huge dose of reluctance, started to run.

As of today, I've run five 5K races, four 10K races, and a half-marathon. Come April, I'll have added another half-marathon, another 5K and another 10K to the tally (fingers crossed that I have no injuries!) At the end of the half-marathon a few weeks ago, I hobbled to my car, but also knew that the Tiarathon is Possible. (An added "bonus" is that since my car was over a mile away from the race - and I had to sprint to the bus bound for the the start line - I traveled over 15 miles on foot that day.) And last weekend, I ran for 6.2 miles straight, and felt invincible at the end.

I am slow. Even when I run without walk breaks, I am slow. But I get it done. I sound like a crazy preacher when I exclaim that if I can do it, YOU can do it.

Next weekend is going to be a challenge. I am already jittery thinking about it. But this anticipation and feeling of "I can do it!" is exactly why I set this goal in the first place.

Now if only I can find my tiara...

--
The glass slipper with running-tread is from Disney's Princess Half-Marathon website.