So whose idea was it to run two races back to back?
I suppose it was mine.

Due to a stop in Tallahassee where DW went to school at Florida State on the way down Friday night, we didn't get into our hotel room until about 2am. We were staying at the Comfort Suites maingate off site due to everything being full by the time we were for sure confirmed to be going. Alarms went off at something like 5:45, and we were in the car by around 6:00 headed over to Animal Kingdom. Late packet pickup went smoothly, except for the fact I stood in the walk/fun run line and then had to go stand in the competitive chip timing line.

DW wasn't running this one, so she was the day's cheerleader and video recorder, as well as general motivator. Now of course you'd think knowing I was running a 10k the next day I would have taken it easy, but as usual that wasn't the case.

My two issues with the race were that the course map wasn't very helpful, so where the race started and finished was somewhat a mystery until you saw them. There was NO mile 1 marker which made it very tough of course to tell how stupidly fast you were going out... Crossed mile 2 right about at 16, which was right on pace for a PR, so that gave me an extra boost. But unfortunately the last half mile or so were somewhat desolate after you crossed out of the park, and you didn't really realize how close you were to the finish until you came around a corner of a large hedge, saw all the screaming fans, and the finish line only about twenty yards away. (no mile 3 marker either that I saw) So of course I kicked it into high gear, but after finishing felt like I had a bunch left and was frustrated I didn't start picking it up sooner. All the more reason to get a Forerunner I guess! The other crazy thing was for the first time ever in a race I had to stop to tie my shoe! And it was only about a half mile in on the way up over the bridge to the Tree of Life! I'm estimating that took about 6 seconds, but why? Well because I was only 6 seconds off beating my PR.

Wasn't too sore following the race, and after a leisurely day of mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens (great course, especially the difficult one!) a LENGTHY nap from like noon to six (sorry we missed the meet, but we were out coooold ) and the Cheesecake Factory for dinner (hey, carbs right?) we used the food coma to put us out relatively early in the evening.

Up again at 5:30 (haven't we done this before?) and out the door to make the drive to Epcot. Managed to get in line behind a guy at the tollbooths that really wasn't too helpful... They were just waving everyone through, and the guy stops and here is the exchange "I'm here for the race" "Yep just follow the line of cars" "No I'm here for the Race for the Taste 10k" "Yep go straight ahead and follow those cars" "right but I have this special parking pass thing" "yep you all do, go ahead and drive straight on" "but I was told to show this and then I'd make sure I was in the right place" "right that's straight ahead where all the cars are going" "but I'm not going to Epcot I'm here for the race" Do you see where this is going? Of course the other lane was just flying through so we weren't able to merge until after the 5 minutes had passed, and we were worried we'd miss the busses!

They said the last bus was at 6:15, but ours left around 6:30 and there were at least two more after us so I guess they fudged that a little. DW and I wished each other good luck (she was runnin this one, her second ever after the Labor Day in Atlanta with all the hills) and I started throwing elbows on my way up towards the front of the pack...

I was determined to take it easy to start the race, and chose someone with a strong stride and headphones on who seemed to be about the speed I was looking for. Came through the first mile at 8:20, which was slower than the 7:59 sillyness I started with at my last 10k. I let her go at that mile marker, and she was at least 100 yards or so ahead of me at the mini turnaround headed towards mile 2. Really didn't enjoy those banked turns though early on, tough to run evenly on! She was wearing bright blue so I kept an eye on her for the next mile, and when we passed through the stunt show I could still see her on the big screen! To my surprise as we came out of MGM I saw her just up ahead! I guess she'd been slowing down a bit as well, and I made the pass and gained a bunch of confidence! (she looked like she could run 5 marathons back to back) Very scenic along the river heading over towards the Swan, and then loved the wooden areas of the boardwalk that were springy, much easier on the feet. I also was quite pleased with all the downhills on the course, it seemed like the uphills were just a few strides and you were at the top, whereas for the down you could stretch out your stride and fly along and make up a lot of time. Last 1.2 seemed like a blink, and then it was down the hill out to the amazing finishing chute! I assume the marathon one is even bigger, so I'll be floating on air!

Found a guy to sprint against for the last bit, and as soon as I was medalled it was back out to the edge of Epcot to look for DW. Only waited a few minutes and out she came! On that last little hill she started turning it on, and I thought yep there's her top finishing kick, but then she found like 3 more gears out of nowhere! Her story is there was a girl next to her trying to beat her and she's sticking to it, but I never saw anyone... Maybe hallucinations that late in the race after running so fast?

And now everyone's favorite part, the results!

My previous PRs: 5k: 24:39, 10k: 55:59

Race for the Cure:
Mile 1 and 2: 16:00 Mile 3.1: 24:45 soooo close to a PR!
Race for the Taste:
Mile splits: 8:20, 8:46, 8:40, 9:03, 8:43, 8:37, 1:21
Total: 53:32 !!!
PR by nearly 2.5 MINUTES! And how bout those negative splits for the last few!

But of course my wife just had to go and show me up...
Her previous best (and only previous 10k was 1:10:41)
Her splits were unknown (although she now wants a watch that will take them, but she finished in 1:05:18 !!! A PR by over FIVE MINUTES!

Better yet, I don't feel sore at all, and am ready to get back into marathon training on Tuesday! Who says two races in a row isn't fun?

Needless to say, we're both on