Sorry but as usual I am late. I got home Saturday night and have been
very busy since then. Anyway here goes hopefully short.
I want to start by thanking Jakson & Craig on the great job they did on
the shirts. This years design ranks to me as one of the best DRS designs
ever. Again thanks guys, sorry we couldn't really talk at the APD but
you guys seemed to have your hands full.
Also anyone and everyone responsible for the APD Thanks for a great
event.
On to my report.
Saturday started at 3 am, heading to the airport. After getting to
Orlando, Barb (my wife) had plans to go to Belz outlet stores to check
on Disney pins for bargains before getting to the parks. This became a
big ordeal. We got lost and spent an hour driving around where we didn't
need to be. My afternoon just seemed to become more stressful as it went
on. There was not only one but three stores Barb wanted to go to. All I
could think of was getting to the expo, checking into the hotel and
making it to the APD. We ended up 45 minutes late for the dinner. After
the dinner we had a Pin meet to keep me out a little later. This is a
lesson in how not to spend the day before a marathon.
Race morning started mostly uneventful. I caught the bus by 3:30, and
then spent almost 1 1/2 hours waiting by the baggage claim area trying
to stay out of the wind.
When I got to the corral, Michele Wolfe found me. We managed to stay
together for the 1st half of the marathon. Having her to talk to made it
go very quickly. We were just under 2 hours at the 1/2 as I recall. I
had been trying to take in as much Powerade and water as possible. This
became part of my downfall. All of my training had been done with no
fluid intake. Also I have never had any problem in the past with any
sport drinks. I told Michele I need to walk a little somewhere around
the 13 mile mark. I was really starting to feel very sick, I was not
processing any of the fluid it was staying in my stomach. I told Michele
to go on and not let me hold her back. She said maybe I would catch up
with her later, I knew better, I was fighting to keep from turing back
to the 1/2 marathon finish. I continued on for the second half and just
jogged and walked off and on the rest of the way. The only water I used
was to rinse my mouth for the rest of the race. By about 17 or 18 miles
I was feeling totally stressed out, my neck and shoulder were so tense
it really felt like I had a bear on my back. This has never happened to
me before either, nothing I tried worked to help relax. As you can tell
I am not one to give up. I finished in just over 5 hours. This sets
another PR for me, just that it is a PR in the wrong direction. Over the
last 2 years I have managed to add 1 1/2 hours to my PR times
Run Disney in 2003? Damn Straight! Can't keep me away, this really is a
disease!
Michele you will have no problem winning the bet with Kevin. Sorry I
could not have stayed with you for the rest of the race but looks like
you finished great.
I will try to post occasionally just to stay in touch. I have made up my
mind this year will be a better running year for me. See everyone in
Orlando in 2003.
Blaine Barnhill
Omaha
