Short: First Marathon: 4:46
Long: 2 years ago while visiting Disney I saw a lot of people in the
EPCOT parking lot. It was the 1999 Disney Marathon. I vowed that I
would try do that next year.
By the time I checked into it the 2001 Marathon was closed. But the
bug had already bit and I started running for the fun of it. As I put
on the miles I started having problems with my shins at distances over
12 miles. During the run they were fine - but afterwards they hurt and
would hurt for days afterwards - preventing any running. While working
out with the Paralympic Judo team in Colorado Springs and having more
pain, the trainer said only cure was rest. So I stopped all running
until May 2001. I did get signed up for the Jan 6 2002 Marathon.
Working my mileage up slowly over the summer I felt pretty confident
about doing this Marathon. I followed Hal Higdon's 18 week beginner
marathon plan. I also did the Disney 5K, Disney 10K, and a 1/2 marathon
and everything seemed to be fine. But my shins started giving me
problems after my 15 mile run and I couldn't run for a week. Then after
my 18 mile run I couldn't go out for 2 weeks. I was very concerned
that my endurance would not be good enough to do the 26 miles. Marathon
weekend - Got Race packet and picked up a few Marathon shirts at the
expo. Checked in at Dixie Landings (I still can't use the new name) -
with 4 of us the trundle bed comes in very handy. Dinner that night was
at Victoria and Albert's. My 2nd time there and completely different
menu (we are all vegan and had phoned ahead to make sure a meal would
be available for us) and again amazed us. Saturday was 5K Family Run.
Daughter (7 years old) and I walked and ran a little bit, girlfriend
ran most of it, friend ran all of it. Fun time was had by all. Then all
day at MGM studios. Friend got into the hot seat at Millionaire and did
pretty good. He also got to participate in the water portion of the
Backlot tour. Pretty good for a normally shy person. Another trip to
Millionaire got me into the hot seat (I think I was the one Jason and
Ticia saw). Didn't do as good as last time I was there - but was more
comfortable. Dinner at Alfredo's in Italy at EPCOT. Lots of pasta.
Then back to hotel room for a few games of Settlers of Cataan and in
bed by 9:00pm. Not sure how I did it but slept until 2:45am wake up.
Watch, alarm clock and phone all went off (not taking any chances!).
Shower, dress in running clothes and warm throw-aways (thanks list for
that idea), fuel belt with several power gels and gatorade, and then
triple check everything before leaving. On bus by 3:10am with only 5
other runners on bus (thought it was going to be crowded). Ate 3
bananas and drank gatorade. Then hanging out at EPCOT parking lot until
5am. Was concerned about coldness - I live in South Florida and was
not used to this low of temperature. Portapotty break, walk to starting
line with another portapotty break, lined up in D corral. around 5:30am
starting stretching out. 5:45 - potty break by the trees. 6:00am and
some small fireworks in distance and off we went. The sweat pants, sock
gloves, and long sleeve shirt came off before I reached the start line.
Wanted to do negative splits - so tried to do my own pace.. but I seem
to have problem with matching speed with those around me. Felt really
great going through EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. Around first hour (and
each 1/2 hour after that) I had one of the caffeine laced power gels.
Really didn't care for the de-motivational signs after the first one.
averaged 10:00/mile for first 13 miles. Noticed at that time that my
right nipple had been bleeding. I think the safety pin for the race
number had rubbed. No pain - but not a pleasant thing to see. Around
mile 15 I started losing steam. My wind was fine - just no energy in
the legs. Also may have been the boring route behind Animal Kingdom.
So I started to walk for a minute at the next few mileposts. Animal
Kingdom was a bit of a letdown. From the map I thought we might be
running alongside the fences and would have great views of the wildlife.
But none were to be found. Around mile 18 I started fast walking a bit
more each mile. Started feeling bad as more and more people ran past
me. But told myself I shouldn't be worried about them - only about me
finishing upright. Rain hit around 19.5. I thought it was great and
welcomed the cooling off. It pretty much was gone by mile 21.5. Saw
the runner with the Mickey Medal motivating people. Told myself I
should look good running through the parks - so I pushed myself to run
all of MGM. As a result - I can't remember much of it :). The back
route to Boardwalk and then EPCOT! Ran from World Showcase to the
finish line. Net time of 4:46. Met up with family and hobbled back to
Dixie Landings. Went to store and got some Analgesic Balm. Both knees
and hips were hurting pretty bad. Motrin and hot bath seemed to help.
Thought some walking might work the kinks out, so we headed to Magic
Kingdom. Vegan pizza at Tony's (left my room card and Disney Dining
Card there - was too occupied with body to think right). Let the kids
run ahead to Space Mountain while girlfriend and I slowly walked to
Buzz Lightyear. A few more rides and then a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge
for a great dinner of tofu and grains at Jiko's. Early to bed and a
night of toss and turning trying to get comfortable. Up around 9:00am
on Monday to checkout and go see what results I got:
Official Time: 4:49:31 Net Time: 4:46:18
Half Marathon Time: 2:09:53 Official Place: 3425 of 7950
Gender Place 2266 of 3895 Age Division Place: 480 of 755
Over the next few days I slowly returned to normal. Funny thing - my
shins never hurt during or after the Marathon. It's now a 6 days later
and think I'll be able to run again this week or next. No hurry!
Summary: I'll be there next year. Girlfriend wants to do 1/2 Marathon.
Friend wants to do the full with me. Daughter is a few years away from
this distance - but wants to do all of the 5K running next time. I'm
looking into another Marathon before Disney 2003. For the 2003 Marathon
I want to run under 4 hours. For the 2004 I want to run under 3 hours.
I need to set goals to push myself.
