Well, it's Friday afternoon and work has slowed from a speed workout pace to that
of a more leisurely jog. I can finally reflect on this past weekend's events.
Short version:
Had a fantastic time. Saw many old friends. Made several new
friends. Ran/walked the following times:
My 5K Family Fun Run: 27:40 (not too bad for a leisurely run from near the back
of the pack)
Alicia's 100 yd Kids Race: I forgot to hit my watch, which I am really bummed about,
but I'm guessing it was about 4-1/2 minutes.
Marathon: 4:23:08 (was at 2:02 at the half and had really hoped for a sub-4 but
the weather locked my legs up tight)
Monday Morning Jog/Stroll: This year was actually a stroll, completing one mile
in about 20 minutes.
Much longer version:
My original flight reservation had us leaving Atlanta at 4:40 p.m. and arriving
in Orlando at 6:10 p.m. This left very little margin for error if we wanted to
make the Friday night encounter. We, therefore, raced to the airport at breakneck
speed to try and catch the 3:10 flight (which would get us there at 4:30). The skycap
was so nice. He jumped to the task of getting us secured on the earlier flight
(with luggage) while I parked the car. We then rushed through the airport so we
could get to the plane. I do believe that Tiffany was less than happy with me
about this (at one point in time growling "I hope all of this rushing is worth
it"). Most people look annoyed when you bring a small child on board a plane,
as if they are going to scream the entire time, but Alicia is an old pro by now.
In fact, the 7 or 8 year olds in the row ahead were much more annoying.
Anyways...Alice and Lou picked us up at Orlando airport and we headed for some
dinner and then off to the Friday Night Encounter. It was great seeing my old
drinking buddies, Sheila and Stan again, as well as the Lawrence contingent, Bart
Ooms, Bill & Ellen McDonough, and the Druckenmillers. We also had new dead,
Chris Haynes at the encounter. It's so nice to hang out with the folks that you
read posts from year-around and just catch up. We didn't stay too long as the
flight, et al, had us beat and I had to be up early on Sat.
Saturday morning I woke at about 6:15 for the 5K run. I called down to the front
desk where they assured me that the buses were running at all stops to take runners
to Epcot for the 5K. I waited about 25 minutes, during which times I saw several
MK & MGM buses, but no bus to Epcot arrived. I went back up to my room and
had Lou drive me over to the start, arriving just as the National Anthem was being
played. I had planned on running between 10 and 11 min miles as just an easy jog,
but the best laid plans...(you fill in the rest). I met up with a couple guys and
we ended up running about 9-9:10/mile. After the run, I saw the Druckenmillers
again, along with Dave Lawrence and several from his gang. I hung around with them
and made some new friends as I waited for Tiffany to arrive with Alicia for her
Kid's race. It was a rather cold hour of waiting and I will make sure I bring warm
stuff next year. They organized the kid's races kinda weird with the older kids
going first and the youngest last. By the time Alicia's group was called, I wasnt
sure she would do it, it was just so cold. But being a Rojas, she toed the line
and ran a great race. She was on a record pace until disaster struck. This year's
race theme was Brother Bear (new Disney movie) and they had characters from the
movie near the finish. She got to within 10 yards of the finish, saw these huge
creatures and was scared out of her New Balance. I was able to pick her up, refocus
her and then we finished the race. She was beeming when she got her first of many
race medals.
>From there, we headed back to the hotel, showered, went for beakfast and
then to the Expo. I'll have to say, I was rather disappointed in this year's expo.
Track Shack has just taken everything over. The Flying Pig expo seemed much larger,
even though they don't have nearly as many participants. Didn't buy anything at
the expo, except Powergel, and headed back to the hotel to watch football until
dinner. Dinner was a lot of fun, as usual. We sat with the McDonough clan, Chris
Haynes and Bill & Bonnie. As has been noted on several other posts, Alicia
LOVES to entertain people. She is not very shy and always seems to have a smile
on her face. Saturday was no different. Tiffany tried to give her some pasta on
a little bread plate, but she wanted none of that. Instead she grabbed fistfuls
of pasta from Tiffany's bowl, much to the delight of all at the table. This year's
crowd seemed rather subdued compared to past years. I think that had to do with
the fact that they placed us at three long tables, instead of several smaller ones.
Regardless, it was a lot of fun and I have to thank Bob for organizing it yet again.
We were home by about 6:30 and asleep before the end of the first qtr of the
Pats-Titans game.
4:00 .m. Sunday came rather early (in fact I had woken at about 2:30 and was
drifting in and out of sleep until then). Took a nice hot shower to wake me up
and then headed up to Tiffany & Alice's room (they had one room on Sat night
& Lou & I had the other, in case Alicia had a bad night). Everyone was
awake and ready to go. Traffic to the start was horrible, but we got there with
30 minutes until the gun. Did it seem like there were more porta-potties this
year? I'm glad they did. Lou & I were in our corral about 10 minutes before
the start. Enough time to get warmed up, not enough to get too cold. The gun
went off and it took us a good 6 minutes to get to the start. The first mile
was a rather slow 10:41 as I tried to move around people. Lou and I ran it
together but as the crowds thinned, the distance between us did as well. My
next few miles were getting faster and faster until I was running right at 9
minute miles. It was so neat to run through the Epcot, all lit up for Christmas.
I completely missed Alice, Tiffany and Alicia at MM 2 (right before you get into
Epcot). I was running mid-pack when I saw Alice just before I passed her. If
I stopped right there, i would have been trampled. I did see Tiffany at our next
meeting place (Contemporary), although she was the only one allowed to come close
to the runners. Then it was off to Magic Kingdom. I nearly took a fall as well
in that construction area, but mine was a little different. The course narrowed
and I got pushed out to the right. My outside foot caught a cone and sent me
into the guy in front. Luckily for me, he was much bigger than me and I was
able to push off and stay on my feet. I probably would have been run over
otherwise. I crossed the half at 2:02-:03 on my watch and felt very encouraged.
I felt good enough to run negative splits and finish under 4 hours. My next few
miles confirmed that. I was contuing on a 9 minute pace for the next few miles.
That is, until i got over the bridge to Wide World of Sports. It was there that
the wind was blowing right through me and my legs started cramping. My times
slowed to 10, then 10:30, then 11, with mile 25 being 11:42. I saw Tiffany and
Alice outside of MGM. I knew I only had a few miles to go so I kept pushing and
crossed the finish at 4:23:08. An new PR by 24 minutes, but not quite the 4 hours
I'd hoped for. In retrospect, 4 hours would have been tough, based on my training,
but I believe that with warmer temps, i could have gotten it down to 4:15. Now I
want to shave 24 minutes in time for the PIG!
We all met up in the Family Reunion area and headed back to the hotel where we
enjoyed a soak in the jacuzzi, ice cold beer, pizza and football. We hung out
at the hotel until 4 when we headed over for the Bragathon. We had a good group
and took up all the chairs in front of the fireplace, before sneaking away to watch
football at teh bar with Eileen and Mark D. We ended up having dinner that night
at Olivia's, the restaurant at our hotel, Old Key West. Excellent food and a neat
atmosphere. I would recommend it.
I was able to walk enough on Monday morning to make it for the morning jog/stroll.
We had a cast member that took some pictures for us before we headed out for a nice
leisurely walk around the boardwalk and the lake. It was a great way to end a
magical weekend at Disney. When I got back to the hotel, Tiffany had gotten 95%
of my packing done so we finished up, loaded the car, stopped by the Wide World
of Sports to check the results and headed to the airport for the flight back.
Like I said in the start, this is one LONG post, but I just get so much joy from
running with all your folks that I have a lot to say. I hope to see many of you
in some upcoming races. Ellen and Eilleen want me to come to Philly for the
Distance run. I'm trying to make arrangements to run the Pig in May. Also am
heading to Austin next month for the Motorola Half and probably Nashville in April
for their half. I am also sending my application in to NYC for the third year
in a row, in the hopes of running that race.
....Adam Rojas
