Absent....

So I never wrote to recap my WDW Full Marathon, so I'll do an abbreviated version here.  First, I've been a bad blogger and blogger/commentor...  I do want to get better though moving forward, so here's to hoping!

Quick update before I get into the WDW Full Marathon recap.  Just over 114 run miles for the month and it looks like I'm on track for about 126-130 total running, with some bike miles thrown in for good measure.  That would equal my best run mileage month on record, so I'm pretty happy with it.  I did purchase a new road bike and looking forward to trading in some run miles for bike miles pretty soon.  The weather hasn't really been condusive for that yet.  The bike is a Specialized Secteur, pretty much an entry level bike, but much better than trying to ride the mountain bike on the road.  I'm sure I'll chat about the experience as I use it, so stay tuned.  The hope is that I'll be able to take in 1 or 2 sprint Tri's this year.

On the race front, I'm signed up for the Hartford Marathon in October as well as the WDW Full and the 5k (running with my daughter).  Aside from that, I do plan to enter the sprint Tri that my work puts on in August (as long as it doesn't overlap with my vacation...) and a couple of 5k's in the summer to keep the speed thing going.  Shooting to take down my PR of 23:11 this May in a local 5k....i think I can sneak under 23 based on recent workouts. Will give it my best shot anyhow.

WDW Full Marathon Recap:

With the drama of the half behind me, a good nights rest, some ice on the calf....I woke up early and tried my first set of KT Tape on my calf.  I think the compression socks that I purchased after the half and the ice bath really helped.  However, as I made my way to the bus stop I was still limping along with some moderately intense pain in the calf muscle.  Of course, that didn't inspire confidence, oy.  Even getting off the bus down the steep slope of stairs proved to be a challenge, prompting a number of looks from those around me probably wondering why I was going to attempt to limp a full marathon.  Still, I crancked up my music and tried to forget about anything around me. 

Met up with Justin and Amanda thinking to myself "and then there were 3..."  Of course, it was a bit more crowded with more T.V'ers running the half, but we were warriors ready to give this thing our best shot.  With Justin's back, my calf, Amanda's knee's...we were like a M.A.S.H unit or something.  But hey, that comes with a level of toughness I suppose...taking on 39.3 miles in what amounts to a 30'ish hour period of time isn't trival for most mortals (even foolish ones).  Although, I didn't really expect to have any issues with the half, so my confidence was definitely rattled.

One big mistake I made on both days was clothing.  I had it completely backwards.  I was in winter garb for the half and sweated my rear end off, and then dressed in shorts and a t-shirt for the full when it had to be 8 degree's or so colder.  I was frozen at the core for all of the pre-race and didn't thaw till about mile 8ish when the sun started to come up.  Not sure how I messed this up since I was packed and prepared for anything....next time...

The last thing I wanted to do was to limp around C corral for an hour, so I decided to use the overpass behind the corrals for an extended warm up.  Light jog with an occassional stretch and then a full stretch at the end.  Was thinking that I should have done this prior to the half as my legs really loosened up during this time, lesson learned.  Was able to get back to my corral about a couple of minutes prior to the overal race start, perfect.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...go time...well, almost.  We were able to move up a little bit anyhow, watch the B corrallers go, and then it was our turn.  I planned to go very lightly as I hadn't run this course before and wanted to make sure my leg had every chance at finishing.  Felt pretty good actually, almost like I could have kicked it up a notch, but didn't.

Miles past and the leg remained okay.  I did stop and stretch at any sign of tightness as I just didn't want to take the chance.  My ITB was good for most of the race partly due to the strap I put on it, but also the stretching routine I adopted after my issues in the Hartford Marathon way back when.  Still, I would stop occassionally and stretch pretty much everything.  I was happy to see Jeff W. in MK just prior to making the turn off Main Street, great to see a familiar face, definitely a morale booster.  As I passed the half-point I did a mental check and passed with flying colors.  It wasn't till about mile 15 or so that I started to feel a little sluggish.  Not sure what it was all about, might have been the bananas that I ate around that time, who knows.  Still pushed on, stretching here and there.  Coming out of Animal Kingdom and into the parking lot is where I got my next boost when I saw Rae and Erik.  They had a bag of goodies and Icy Hot which I put all over my ITB/Legs/etc.  Felt good to see them and hear about how Justin and Amanda were doing at that point.  I picked up the pace a little bit after that and really only slowed down on the overpasses.  Felt good overall and didn't think I was going to hit the wall at 20 like my past experience.  The Studio's were up next and the only real memory I had there was these insane park goers at the "crosswalks" sprinting across in front of runners and knocking down cast members that were trying to hold them back for the runners.  I tell ya, if one of these folks tried to get across in front of me, I would have had to mow them down...not cause I wanted to, but there was no way I was going to stop or dodge someone after 20 or so miles of running! 

Gotta end this post, yeesh...  Once I made it to the walkway that connects DHS and the Boardwalk I knew I was golden!  We have stayed at the Beach Club frequently and that's my run route, so it sort of felt like home...or something like that....I stopped once on the bridge next to the Swan to stretch..picked up the pace and ran all the way through the finish.  Only regret I had was that I didn't wait for the Goofy photo...or the regular marathon photo...not sure why, I probably wasn't thinking straight... 

Not much to else to add other than heading back to the hotel for an ice bath after a long stretch session.  The odd thing is that I actually felt physically great...  No issues with the calves or ITB, nothing...I figured I'd be a wreck after that race, but I felt good...tired...but good.  Nothing like a marathon after a half marathon to cure what ailes ya I suppose.

So I didn't hit my combined Goofy goal of 6hr 30 minutes, but came darn close at 6hr 35min xxseconds... so I really can't complain about considering that I didn't think I was going to be able to run on Sunday.  I'd like to do this again in 4 years for the 10th anniversary of the race, but next year I'm going to just do the 5k with my daughter and the full marathon on Sunday.  We'll get to watch Lorraine run the half on Saturday, which will be different for me.  So, I finally got this book of a report out, much smaller posts to follow, I swear!