The Main Event - A Goofy Adventure, Day 4

If you had told me when I started this running journey that I would run a full marathon (let alone 39.3 miles in 2 days), I would never have believed it.  When I went to my corral on marathon morning, I still wasn't quite sure.  

But, after 7 hours 24 minutes, and 8 seconds, I could finally believe it.  I ran a marathon.  Most people don't go 26.2 miles in their cars on a Sunday and I did it on my feet...through the happiest place on earth!

Now, don't think this was all sunshine and roses.  I mean, it took me almost 7 and a half hours.  I am slow, but I didn't train to be that slow.   As usual, nothing goes as planned....

The alarm went off at 2:30 (am...in the morning....when bars are closing and drunk people are going home) for the second time in two days.  I rolled out of bed a little more chipper than the day before.  As soon as my feet hit the floor, I knew something wasn't quite right.  My foot still hurt.  My knee hurt.  (The other knee....not the knee that I have been fighting with all season.  Proof that Jim Browning is a miracle worker.)  I did what anyone else would do...I panicked.  I searched YouTube for how to tape it.  I googled where I was feeling the pain and found NOTHING.  (Apparently this pain is not "typical.")   In my panic (and probably my stomping and banging), I woke my husband up, so he came to try and help.  I decided to tape the ankle because the pain was around the ankle.  I got dressed, grabbed my stuff, and ate my breakfast on the way to the bus.  I was just hoping that I taped the right thing and the tape would work for 26.2 miles.

I hopped right on the bus, had a seat, and chatted with some of the people around me.  It was like Groundhog Day...the bus pulled up to the same place as the day before.  

I got off and started the trek to the holding area.  I found a friend and we chatted to the pass the time.  Unlike the day before, I found the friends that I planned to run with.  We made our way to the corrals, stopping at the bathroom, of course.  My knee (the other one) was really talking to me.  Luckily, Jim had mentioned taking my knee brace "just in case."  Well, it was in case.  I slapped it on my leg, took a seat, and snuggled into my trash bag.  (Spoiler....the knee didn't bother me for the rest of the day.  Thank goodness I listened to Jim!)

The vibe in the corrals was different.  People were calm, but focused.  There was some chatting, but not a lot of laughing and joking.  This was a marathon!  All of a sudden, the fireworks were starting and the marathon was off!  It took me about 45 minutes to get to the starting line, but I got some great shots of the fireworks while I was waiting.  Each corral gets fireworks (the marathon fireworks were the best Disney race fireworks I have ever seen!) and unique send off music.

And then...it was go time!

Our plan was to run :30/:30 intervals and to stop for things that were new and exciting and different.  We were going to stop for mile markers and for a castle picture.  

The race seemed faster than the half.  Our time was a little slower, but the miles flew to the Magic Kingdom.  You will not see a lot of pictures from the first half of the race.  All of the characters and all of the mile markers were the same.  This made me a little cranky, but it meant that we didn't have to stop.  My foot was bothering me, so my running friend, Meghan, gave me some Tylenol just as we were coming out of the Ticket and Transportation Center between miles 4 and 5.  I was just looking forward to it kicking in.  We got to the Magic Kingdom and made our way down Main Street.  (This seemed slightly lest hectic than the day before.)

This is the Meghan signature pose

We stopped at a bathroom in Fantasyland, before we made our way through the castle, and then it was time for the magic!  Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and the snow were at the castle again and Race Support was in the same place as the day before.

Then we were back on our way!  We headed back out to the super crowded section of the course.  It was still super crowded.  The characters were the same, so we plugged along.  Heading out of Magic Kingdom, at what was the halfway point of the half marathon, Disney provided a little inspiration.

Just after mile 8, the course took a turn into the Disney World Speedway.  There is a super, duper steep hill (down and then back up) to get onto the speedway.  It's steep, but it is comparable to the other speedways that I have run (Charlotte and Dover).  Just be careful and take it slow.  Unless you are in Corral A and you are looking to win the race, there is no reason to bite it going into the Speedway.  You've been warned.

Many people complain about the Speedway.  It's long, it's boring, it's sunny, it's cloudy....whatever.  Lots of car people were out there with their cars, and, most importantly, their support.  There were at least 3 porta potties on the track.  We didn't need them, but they were there.  I didn't mind the track.  At least you know where you are going.

I learned to avoid the Meghan pose in pictures.  :)

From the Speedway, we started the long trek to nowhere (ie, Animal Kingdom).  As a group, we made a pretty long bathroom stop on this stretch.  We ran by the sewage treatment plant, which was pretty nasty and not my favorite.  My foot was aching at every step, and all of us were getting a little tired.  We walked a full mile during this part.  I would probably say that this is the beginning of the end for a bit.  Once we lost our momentum, it was really hard to get it back.  

Even though it seemed like the road to nowhere, it was actually taking us to Animal Kingdom!  This would bring us to Everest (the roller coaster), the halfway point, and our adoring fans!  It also brought some photo ops!  There was a banana stop right around mile 12, which was great!

Robin Hood, Little John, and Friar Tuck...all together??  I mean, really!??!?!?!

All of the villains!!  LOVED it!

Seemed fitting to stop at the topiary in the middle of nowhere!

Always let your conscience be your guide!

Yep, that's a tortoise...eating banana peels.  

And then, we were in the second park of the day - Animal Kingdom.  We stopped for the bathroom (again) and went to investigate the line for Everest.  We had hoped to be in Animal Kingdom by about 9:15, but it was 9:45.  The park was open, we were near the back-ish of the pack, and the line was 10 minutes long.  10 minutes in NOTHING in Disney time, but it was too long for us, so we moved on.  I knew that Race Support was waiting for me outside of Animal Kingdom, so I was not too devastated by the change in plans.  (I was more frustrated that things were not working out according to the plan.  I am a plan girl and I don't do well when things deviate.)  We crossed the halfway point and headed to the front of Animal Kingdom.  There were TONS of people and great signs!

 I saw Race Support and I lost it.  My foot hurt, it was taking too long, I didn't get to ride Everest....I was having a temper tantrum.  I started crying and my contact popped out of my eye.  It curled up in the top of my eyelid.  My hands were salty and dry and I couldn't find it.  That made my cry all the harder.  Nobody could see it.  It was a mess.  I calmed down, found the contact, threw some water on it, kissed my husband, and went on my not-so-merry way.  My foot was hurting and I was not able to keep pace with my running friends.  They went on ahead, which was really fine by me. We passed some grave diggers, which seemed very appropriate at that time.

Disclaimer...it gets pretty ugly from here.  You see, it started to rain.  It was a chilly rain.  It was a wet rain.  It was a spitty, not raining, but still raining rain.  The "rolling hills" between miles 14 and 16 were starting.  My foot hurt.  I let myself give into the temper tantrum that I started when I saw my husband.  I can't even call it a wall.  It was a tantrum, plain and simple.  It lasted for 6 miles.  I walked most of those 6 miles because it hurt less.  It wasn't walking with a purpose, it was plodding with a bad attitude.  It rained off and on for those miles.  I passed my friends, who were in the bathroom line.  They passed me again a few miles later.  We played leap frog for a while.  We made it over the hills on the road from nowhere.  We turned the corner into the Wild World of Sports, which I had heard horrible things about.  I passed mile 17 when people were coming out of Wide World of Sports at mile 20.  I heard an announcer say that we had taken over 50,000 steps at mile 17.  I wanted to kick something because everyone one of those steps hurt.  I wound my way through the sports complex - around the track, through the baseball fields, around the soccer fields.  I ate another banana.  I cried a little.  I sucked it up a little.  It wasn't as miserable as everyone described, but I guess all things are relative.  Wide World of Sports paled in comparison to the pity party that I was having.  

Just as I made the turn to run around the warning track of Champion Stadium (where the Atlanta Braves do their Spring Training), I got the pick me up that I needed to get me through the last 6 miles.  

I run for Sophie and she LOVES Chip and Dale.  They were there to remind me to get moving.

Then there were amazing spectators, standing out in the rain.  They had signs.

Look, I am running AND smiling.  Temper tantrum over!

I also got a swift kick in the pants when I heard that the balloon ladies (the end of the line, as it were...the 16 minute mile pacers) were coming into Wide World of Sports.  My "lead" was shrinking.  If I got swept, there would be no Goofy medal.  I just kept moving forward. This sign outside of Wide World of Sports was awesome!

I knew there was one more hill that my foot needed to get over before I could run again.  The slanted roads were killing me.  I tried to stop at the mile 20 aid station, but there was a cult following there, so I made it to mile 21.  I took some more Tylenol and hoped it would get me to the end.

A pacer bike came up behind me on the hill down into Hollywood Studios.  She said that the balloon ladies were about 1/2 mile back and that as long as we (the group around me) kept moving, we would be okay.  I didn't like hearing that.  I got a text from my mom that Race Support's phone had died and to keep her posted if I needed anything.  (I replied that what I needed was to be done with this 4 letter word that is not appropriate for this family-friendly blog.)  

As I was turning into Hollywood Studios, the Tylenol kicked in!  We did another magical mystery tour of the backlot of Hollywood Studios.  It was slightly less miserable than Wine and Dine in the rain, but only slightly!  There was chocolate at one of the water stops, which was some of the best chocolate I have ever eaten.  (Note.....the backlot of Hollywood Studios is BORING!  There is nothing to see and all you want to do is run down into the real parts of the park and get the heck out of there.)  

Tylenol kicked n!!!

As we left Hollywood Studios, we ran down the path past the Yacht and Beach Club toward the Boardwalk.  (I was safe!  The sweeper buses couldn't get to me.  I could sit down, take a nap, get back up and crawl to the finish if I wanted. I didn't do it.  I kept going.)  I remembered this from Wine and Dine and I didn't love it then.  It was slightly less obnoxious in the light (and the dry).  There were lots of people, many of them wearing their medals.  Heck, it was taking me so long, most of them had gone back to their hotels to shower and change their clothes.  

The course crossed the International Gateway Bridge and into Epcot.  All I had to do was make it to the ball!  We came in between England and France.  Mexico (and my margarita!) looked very, very far away.  Lots of people around me had glasses of wine or champagne or beer.  I had my eye on the prize and was checking off the countries on my way to Mexico!

Walk break!

Remarkably, the Tylenol seriously helped!  I was able to pick my intervals back up.  I was passing people.....at mile 25 of a marathon!!

At long last, I came upon Mexico.  Not much went right for my first marathon, but I was crossing the finish line with my margarita!

 I ran up toward Spaceship Earth (aka....the big ball) and I knew I was almost done.  I took sips of my margarita during my walk breaks and took special care not to spill it during my running intervals.  I was determined to finish strong.  I had trained too long and too hard to get passed by the balloon ladies or stumble across the finish line.

Finally, I heard the Gospel Choir.  I turned the corner and there was the happiest finish line on earth!  I found my family, who waited for a long time, through the rain for me to finish.

Biggest fan #1

Biggest fan #2

Biggest fan #3

Then, I did it!!!  I crossed the finish line!  An official marathoner!!

That was probably the hardest thing I have ever done.  I learned why people cheat and cut the course.  (It would have been really, really easy at mile 17 to cut 3 miles off and head the other way early.)  I learned why people just sit down and quit.  I learned it because both of those thoughts may have crossed my mind during the tantrum phase. 

I didn't fail because I finished, but I wouldn't say it was a success either because it wasn't the race that I trained for.  

It all started with a mouse.  Walt never gave up!

I did a lot right.  I was hydrated and I fueled exactly on schedule (60 minutes and then every 45 minutes after that.  I felt like I ate for the entire race!)  I recognized that I needed Powerade at the halfway point when I ran out of electrolyte pills.  I paced myself at the beginning.  I felt strong at the end, even with the pain.  I thanked the volunteers, who were out longer than I was.  I had fun.  Really, I did.  I didn't ride Everest.  While it felt like a fail and a disappointment at the time, I think it was probably a good life choice in the end.  I had my margarita at the finish line.  If nothing else went right, at least that did!

There were some things I could have and should have done differently.  I shouldn't have run the half the day before.  I mean, who does that?  I should have run my own race.  Running with people made the miles fly by.  It made the first half of the race fun.  But, it wasn't my race.  I stopped when I didn't need to stop, which took time.  I should have taken the Tylenol a little earlier.  Maybe things would have been different if I had taken it at mile 17 instead of waiting.  


What I do know, is that I want another shot.  I can do better and I can run it faster, I know I can.  But, for now:

I just wanted to finish and my coach wanted me to finish happy and healthy.  Miles of smiles is his motto.  I didn't break any speed records, but I finished with a smile and I can be proud of the fact that I did something that most people have never done!

Watch out, Marine Corps Marathon....I'm coming for you!!