Before I completed my first marathon (which was in Oct. 2010), the hubbs and I signed up to run the Disney marathon, "together". I use the term loosely because he's waaaaayyy faster than me. He literally had time to go back to where we were staying, shower, and have time to watch me cross the finish line. It was a fun weekend. We took the kids, and Grandma and Grandpa came to help watch the kids while we were running.
At the Expo. Disney has a great Expo, if you get the chance. Go.
We stayed at a condo and we had some of my running friends over for my healthy version of lasagne. I use turkey and whole wheat noodles instead of ground beef and regular noodles. My friends ran the half marathon on Saturday and were happy for the home cooked meal. They were also going to run the full marathon on Sunday. If you are crazy enough to run both races, it is called the "Goofy Challenge".
We did our pre-race rituals and laid out all of our race gear the night before.This is important because you don't want to forget anything. I don't know about you, but I am not fully awake until I have some caffeine in my body. We set our alarms for a little after 3am. I know, crazy!
Gear. Check.
Ready to go! I have no idea why my eyes look crazy.
I ran into my friends while heading over to the start line. It was a long trek. If you ever run Disney, plan on getting there super early, as there are thousands of other runners trying to get to the same place.
As with every race, I start checking the weather about 10 days out. This helps in planning. It was in the upper 40's at the start! I wish I would have brought a throw-away jacket. I wore a trash bag to the start line. If you must do this at a race, you won't be the only one. It's a runner's thing. Under that, I ended up wearing my Nike Dri-fit running capris, running sleeves, and tank. I was uncomfortably cold. My muscles were cold, which was no bueno.
Disney has corrals, as do most big races. You are grouped according to a previous time. If you want to stay with a friend, you can move back a corral, but you can't move up.
The countdown was on and the fireworks went off. There was a countdown, fireworks, and music for each corral. That was one of my favorite things. There is so much energy and excitement at the start line. We started off running through Epcot. It was hard to get warm. I think I finally warmed up by the second or third mile.
Can I just say that I am secretly jealous of men because they don't have to wait in a porta potty line? Us girls have to wait in line for those nasty things! Ew!! Especially the ones at races!
Running through the parks was so cool with all of the people there to cheer you on. There were characters and music on the back roads too. Many runners were stopping to take pictures with the characters or by a scenic place.
I was nearing mile 13 when I started to feel that oh-so-familiar IT band pain. Many of the roads were slanted, especially the on and off ramps between parks. If you know anything about IT Band, uneven roads aggravate it.
I stopped and stretched every chance I got. By mile 14 it was really hurting. This cannot be happening! I have a rule of walking through the water stops. Every time I walked, and started up again, I was near tears. I kept telling myself the pain would subside. It didn't. I really wanted to beat my time from Nike Women's marathon. I knew it wasn't going to happen.
Something a runner must realize during a race is that anything can go wrong. You must be prepared for that, especially mentally. I didn't have my heart set on a specific time goal, I just want to improve as a runner. Although a little disappointed on my injury, I knew not to dwell on the disappointment. Now, I was just focused on finishing.
Mile 15, 16, 17......where is the finish line!!! My pace was so slow, It was almost a walk. If this was a training run, I would have ended it.
Mile 20! I am only a 10k away! For those of you that have ran 26.2, you know that you have to dig deep, especially the last 6.2.
Now my foot hurts....on top!! Sheesh!!
I think somewhere in the last 6 miles, my running partner came around. It was great having her there. We split earlier in the race when I was feeling good and she was taking it easy because she ran the half marathon the day before. No big deal. So I gimped along.
In front of Cinderella's castle.
Random people crossing the finish.
My daughter. She's excited.
All I could think about was the finish line. As we rounded the corner to the final stretch, there was a Gospel group singing. I don't know what they were singing, but it was beautiful. It got me choked up. That and the fact that I knew I would be done soon. I love the end of a race.
Happy to see the finish line!!! Yes!!!
The whole clan. My kids are thrilled.
I need warm clothes and an ice bath, please.
Nothing can top the fact that you set out a goal and you do it! I started at the very bottom, starting the couch to 5k in the fall of 2009. I couldn't run one full minute. To be able to do something I never dreamed I would be capable of....That's why I love running.
Do you have any running goals?
I would like to run maybe one marathon a year, in a different location.
