Disney Marathon Weekend 2012

While it wasn’t my most spectacular finish, I finished.  Actually, I’m pretty thankful to have even started this one as I was having asthmatic issues for the 3 days leading up to this event and had no idea what my lungs were going to allow me to do.  Kiley and I did jog/walk the 5k on the Friday prior, but it was extremely light and probably was for the best.  Giving my lungs more time to relax and heal was the main priority.  In terms of the 5k, Kiley and I had a great time.  We met up with Amanda, Jeff, Trace and Lisa to chat prior to the event.  One of the things I think Kiley learned is that you probably spend the same or more amount of time standing around at these things than you actually do running in them. J  She did get a little grumpy with me for trying to push her to jog more of it, so I laid off of that as I don’t want her to dislike running on account of her pushy father….  Can’t seem to shut her up now though in terms of her telling everyone that she completed a 5k event in Disney.  So I think I’m good on that front.

The Goofy wasn’t in the cards for me this year with the kids and in-laws coming down…just too chaotic…but it did provide me with the opportunity to become a spectator for once and follow Lorraine as she looked for a PR in the half.  Off topic, but I think the toughest thing about doing a Goofy/Dopey is probably waking up that early for 3 mornings in a row! LOL  I did the Dopey morning schedule even if I didn’t run the half (although, I did run around from spot to spot chasing Lorraine).  I was able to catch Lorraine prior to the TTC, give her a cheer, then move on outside of Grand Floridian, cheer, cheer, then back to Epcot to catch her outside of the park entrance and then on to the finish.  She looked great the first couple of times, but then in some pain on the way into Epcot.  She held it together and PR’d by 2 minutes or so!  I think she’s extremely close to a sub 2hr half now and being the competitor she is….I’m sure it won’t be long before she obtains it.  ;-).

Anyhoo, there was this other little event that weekend…oh yeah, the Marathon..the what?  The Marathon…the what?  (a little The League humor for anyone familiar with the program).  Met up with Amanda and Justin for the second straight year.  I like this “tradition” and hope to continue it…  We chat and laugh quite a bit which always helps to take the edge off.  Remembering the year prior, all three of us were hurting from something or other.  I had calf and ITB issues, Amanda with the knees (if I remember correctly), and Justin had a bad back.  The mood was a little less jovial for 2011 as none of us were certain of how/if we’d finish.  All 3 of us triumphed though and were hoping for the same result in 2012.  I think Just was in the best shape of us 3 as he found his muse during the half and was ready for the full (not to mention he looked lighter and healthier this year, way to go Justin!).  Amanda and I were not as optimistic as I had my breathing issues and Amanda had developed a sickness as well that hampered her in the half.  I was worried for her as the Dopey puts a strain on your body when you’re healthy, let alone trying to fight a cold.  Struggling for breath was on both our minds and we were just going to give it our best shot. 

Trying to cut this down from being a “marathon” length post…sooo, I entered A corral and walked up front.  I love being up there for the start of the race…need to feel the heat from the flames or something, I dunno…  but it kicked off and I closed my eyes, said a quick prayer, and began to run.   Not sure if it was divine intervention or what, but I could run…and I could breathe….so I just told myself to do it as long as I could.  Splits from RunKeeper below, but it was one of the best starts I’ve had at a race, probably adrenaline based.  As you can see, issues came around mile 16.  Actually, it was much sooner than that as I developed severe bloating of my stomach at around mile 9 and it was sloshing like I had just drank a gallon of water.  It made me slightly nauseous, but all other systems felt fine, so I pushed on.  I wasn’t able to fuel at that point which is what I think led to my severe drop off in time and I choked down water/powerade cause I didn’t want to dehydrate on top of everything else.  Seemed to work.   Nausea wore off about mile 20, thankfully, but I was dreadfully out of energy.  I submitted to jogging to a point and then walking as fast as I could.  Just outside of the Studios an older gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and said “c’mon, lets jog for a bit…”  and I did…  we chatted and jogged for about ¾ of a mile till I had to stop and walk again, but it really did help me get through a rough stretch as once you get into the studios, there is a huge amount of support all the way through to the finish.  My breathing was still okay, but the bloat pushing on my mid-section for the last half of the race and it was definitely wearing on me.  Still, I found the energy to jog through the finish, smiling, soooo happy that this was done….high 5’d Minnie, raised my arms and smiled for the cameras.  I was beat-up, but not defeated.  All of that, and I was still able to finish in under 4hrs (3:53:25).  A true testament to my training to help carry me through what was NOT my best day and learning that ever race can’t be a PR, but you can still feel good about it, learn from it and move on.

Learning’s – 1) Need to get a watch to better pace, runkeeper didn’t do it for me this time.  I paced well during training runs, but didn’t have luck here and think getting back to the watch will help me work on finishing races better.  2) Not sure that it was the best idea to break in new shoes 4 days prior to the race…although, my feet were fine after. 3) Sunglasses won’t stay hooked on the fuel belt..lost them at mile 1… 4) Pre-race dinner should be consistent…I ate some sandwich that I think caused my bloating (as it did two days earlier when I had the same thing…ugh).  5) Forcing the smile for the cameras and character stops pay dividends!  I love the one pic I took (with Dug and Russell) and my other pics came out nice as well.  Best I’ve taken at a race yet.

Unofficial Splits (RunKeeper):

Mile 1 - 8:26

Mile 2 - 7:43

Mile 3 – 7:39

Mile 4 – 7:37

Mile 5 – 7:50

Mile 6 – 7:37

Mile 7 – 7:44

Mile 8 – 7:45

Mile 9 – 7:56

Mile 10 – 7:56

Mile 11 – 8:14

Mile 12 – 8:17

Mile 13 – 8:15

Mile 14 – 8:13

Mile 15 – 8:14

Mile 16 – 8:58

Mile 17 – 9:00

Mile 18 – 9:35

Mile 19 – 9:44

Mile 20 – 10:14

Mile 21 – 10:38

Mile 22 – 11:05

Mile 23 – 10:19

Mile 24 – 10:15

Mile 25 – 11:19

Mile 26 – 10:41