Wow. It took me awhile to get to this one: Part 3 of my Dopey Challenge saga.

Why you ask?

Well, I really crashed and burned in Part 3, where I ran the half marathon at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

If you aren't familiar with half marathons, that is 13.1 miles. Not to sound like I just got off the bus from bragging camp, because 13 miles isn't a very difficult distance for me.

I have run for so many years that 13 miles is a staple in my weekly training. In college, 13 miles was also known as Sunday.

I mentioned in my other posts that it was rather hot in Florida (which was rather awesome!)

But on the Saturday of the half marathon, it was a heck of a lot more than hot. It was sweltering!

With the humidity at 90 percent, we were sweating before we even got started.

My original plan was to race the half marathon all out, and use the other three races during Walt Disney World's Marathon Weekend as easy and fun races.

Well, if you read Part 1 and Part 2 of this saga, you know I didn't take the first two races very easy.

Six miles into the half marathon, I fell apart. My legs felt like crap, I was a sweaty mess and I didn't even think I was able to finish.

All I could think about was Eric Zane ahead of me, and my frustration fueled me to the finish line.

Of course, when they sent me my photos that I could choose from, I only saved the ones that I looked good in -- or happy in like this one below taken at the four-mile mark when I didn't want to die.

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Alas, I did finish the 13.1 grueling miles. I wasn't scared for any of the races until I finished this half marathon and realized, Lord, I have to run 26.2 miles tomorrow.

Part 4, my final post about The Dopey Challenge, will be about that 26 miles!

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