I am setting here at Old Key West listening to the weather and its
49F this morning and will be in the upper 30's tonight. What a
difference a couple days could have made.
The Half
The day started out warm around 68F with a high layer of fog. I was
in Wave B-1 so was destined to start at 6:10 just after the A Wave.
They allowed B-1 runners into the start areas along with the A
runners so I was in a great position to see the start of the half.
It's really cool to have fireworks all around. At 6 the gun went off
and I was thinking this is great I am getting out with the big boys.
We moved forward with the crowd then stopped with me about 30 feet
shy of the start line. I was next to a couple runners from the A
Wave and they were a little upset that they didn't get out with the
rest of the A's but as soon as we were off they were on point and I
think they were enjoying the fact that they didn't need to do much
jostling after the start. The gun went off for the B runners at 6:10
and I followed the previously mentioned A guys for about a half mile;
then pulled back just a little as I knew 9 minute miles would not
work well in the summer like conditions.
The day remained cloudy for my entire race so temperatures did not
seem all that bad during the race. I took three cups at each aid
station, one PowerAde and two waters. The PowerAde and one of the
waters went in and the other water went over the head. That was a
great refresher. My 5 k splits were remarkably flat right at 11
minute miles at each segment. This was a little faster than I
planned before the race but I just could not pull back the pace. It
was a pace I know through metabolic testing and heart rate monitoring
is very aerobic and one that takes in mostly fat as fuel rather than
glycogen. I noticed the sun up somewhere around mile 6 though I
think it was dawn much earlier. I do not really remember many
characters in Magic Kingdom as I went through other than the cowpokes
in Fronteerland and Peter Pan coming out and asking his handler what
to do. At mile 8 I looked over and saw the last runner on course
going into the parking lot with an entourage of vehicles following at
a comfortable distance. I felt a little sorry knowing (assuming)
that the sweepers were lined up as they got into the Magic Kingdom
parking lot. The return went well. I picked up an Apple Pie flavored
Cliff Shot and almost spewed from the repulsive taste. Apple Pie
must be a slow mover for Cliff as that was the only favor available
on the half.
I ran off and on with a couple from New York who was also doing the
Goofy. I finished with the wife as we offered each other words of
encouragement over the last mile and a half. As indicated previously
my finish was 2:24:41 and was a personal best for a certified half
course.
Recharge
Mary and I spent the afternoon recharging the batteries. I stretched
out and the attempted to drive the car home. I was not ready for a
90 minute adventure in leaving the parking lot. Apparently Barney
Fife was in charge of traffic and was only allowing a couple cars out
of the lot at a time. A couple of us call security letting them know
that a problem existed. Finally we were out of the parking lot and
made our way back to the villa.
Once back home I showered, stretch out again and we were off to ESPN
for lunch. We were going to head to the parks but I wanted to rest
and attempt to get some salt and carbs back into the system. We
turned the air down in the villa and napped. Later in the afternoon
we walked over the Hospitality House and had an ice cream sandwich
for snack. That evening we made pasta for dinner and went back to
bed around 8:30. At none we received our nightly wake up call from
Epcot and then my mind went crazy for the next couple of hours. At 2
am I received a wake up call from Stitch telling me to not waste the
day. The only bad thing is that I did not request a 2 am wakeup
call. I hope someone didn't miss the marathon because they did not
get their wake up call.
Marathon Day
The morning was the same temperature as yesterday but it felt a
little cooler as I left the villa at 3:45. I got to the parking lot
and sat in my car for 30 minutes or so. Then I went over the to P
and D tents to see if anyone was around. I didn't recognize any
faces so I went through the drop off tents and found a necessary
booth. When I got back I found Bart and Jack at the tent. Wendy,
Robert, Julie, Tom, Larry and many others came up as the time to move
to the corrals came. I saw Robert showing Wendy where the
magical "no line" potties were as I took off towards E corral.
As I got out to the corral the day seemed like it would be a long
one. I didn't find anyone to talk with as every one I was around
either had their own conversations or were just zoned out. About 10
minutes before the gun the fences separating the corrals went down
and we moved forward. I was close to the start again and the start
line fireworks were great. The countdown was also displayed in
fireworks on both sides of the start. Then the gun went off. I was
across the line in about 1:45 and the race was on. I carried an
11:23 pace through mile 5 and 11:50 through mile 10. This is just
were I wanted to be at mile 10. It was a nice comfortable pace with
lots of reserve left for rest of the race.
At the mile 9 aid station I apparently cut a guy off for a cup of
water and he popped me in my left (surgery) shoulder. I am not sure
if I cut him off; stole the cup he had his eye on or he was anxious
to get away from the water stop. Today I am not sure if he really
hit me or just pushed to get away from the water table.
Nevertheless, I saw stars for a few seconds and decided to walk it
off. That is where things kind of started going down hill. While
walking, the sock liners in my shoes started bunching up created
discomfort and I thought a high probability of blisters. The liners
flattened back out when I got back on stride, but would bunch up at
my mile point walk breaks. I pushed into the Magic Kingdom and then
decided to take the liners out. I stuffed them into the back of my
shorts and took off. I had several photo ops as I exited the
Castle. All was well as I exited the park. At mile 11 though, my
calves started to cramp up a little and that continued off and on for
the next mile. I decided that the change in shoe dynamics might be
the cause and decided to walk to Animal Kingdom. It was a nice walk
through the woods, occasionally picking up a run as I felt like it
but walking most of the time. Once in Animal Kingdom I stopped in
Asia to put the liners back in the shoes. I was worrying about the
lack of padding and really wanted to run again.
As I slipped the liners back in and started to run, the legs were
pulling a Nancy Reagan and "just saying no" to running. I remember a
few other times where I was able to push through cramps but decided
that I was still too far away from the finish to risk a lock up. So
I lumbered on out of the AK. I felt a blister coming up as we left
AK but it wasn't bad. I met up with a first time marathoner from
north of Orlando named Todd. The conversation started off something
like,
Todd, "man I cramp after running a couple hundred yards."
Charles, "me too, you know at this pace we can walk it in"
Todd, "You sure"
Charles, "Yep, I think so" (though not so sure sounding as it came
out)
Todd, "then I'll stick with you"
I noticed he looked at his watch with a frown and I looked at the
Garmin and redid the math a couple times and the conversation
repeated again and again and again in several differing versions.
Todd and I stuck together until mile 26.1 where he took off to the
line and I had already decided I didn't care what my finish line
photo looked like.
As we passed the mile 18 aide station there was no water and the
PowerAde was triple strength. Thankfully, a spectator was handing
out water bottles. She singled me out, so I started to worry that I
looked bad. I handed the bottle over to Todd and a couple others as
we continued east on Osceola. The next aid station did not have
water either but thankfully the PowerAde was weaker. Todd and I
passed mile 20 and switched sides of the road. The DJ at that spot
mentioned that the sweepers had closed the course at AK. That was
the first time that I really started to worry about the finish,
though I knew that at 4:39 all I needed to do was average 22 minute
miles for a 7 hour finish and we were still moving around 15 minute
miles. We refocused as we watched the runners coming from the turn
around. I mentioned to Todd that the return would be better as
everyone we would meet would look worse than us. The next couple
miles were uneventful. A runner did go down on World Drive just in
front of me and we were able to flag a bike medic down to assist. We
hit MGM and exiting with little fanfare. My conversation with Todd
seemed to focus on a continual .2 to .4 mile analysis of distance
traveled, distance remaining and time remaining.
It felt good as we traversed the section along the canal connecting
MGM and Boardwalk. There was a small breeze and the sun was behind a
cloud. (Anyway, a cloudy mind) As we came into Boardwalk, I saw Tom
and yelled at him. I told him of my adventures and kept on
trucking. I would have liked to stop but knew that once the legs
quit moving, I was done. At the Beach Club a charity coach had a
shoe box top full of ice. Man it was great. We entered Epcot and I
knew the prize was at hand. I had almost an hour to get to the other
side of the park. I saw Stan and Sheila just after Mexico and Stan
took several photos. I am sure they were fairly bad looking at that
point. Just another quarter mile. Todd shook my hand and said that
he might no have made it with out me and took off wogging to the
line. I had a very unique experience as I walked up the finish chute
with no one around…that is until some one caught me at the line.
The post race consisted of getting a PowerAde and making my way
through the Mouse medal area and then to the Goofy Area. It felt
great to finally receive that second medal. I considered going back
from there to the med tent as I knew that cramping would be an issue
as I slowed down from here. However, the way the finish area is set
up, it's not easy to get back to the Med Tent so I walked out to the
Family Meeting Area.
I went from an 11:40 10 mile pace down to a 14:40 overall pace at the
end finishing with a time of 6:25.
Post Race
I found Mary at our pre-arraigned tent. I sat on the edge of the
table for a second and changed shoes. It felt good to get out of my
shoes for just a second. I get a little light headed as I stood back
up, though not unusual for a post run for me, a little concerning as
you start out along a path where you know you will have nothing to
grab hold of. We made it to the car and I changed out of my race
shirt and the cramps finally came. I knew that my calves, hams and
quads were going to cramp but I even had a hip flexor lock up (lower
ab area) and a big toe cramp. My poor wife was thinking heart attack
as I lay in the back of the rental SUV stretching out as best is
can. I assured her that the deep breathing is due to working out the
cramps and that I'll be fine in a few moments. Then almost on cue, I
was able to stand again and we drove back to OKW. I attempted to
stretch out again in the villa, but ended up taking a 2 hour nap.
From there, it was tough to get in front of the sore muscles but I
got up, showered and we made our way over to Epcot for the
traditional post race stroll. We had a traditional meal in Japan
where it's always a challenge to climb the stairs…and to get back
down. (I know there is an elevator, but that would take the fun out
of it)
Monday
I met up with the deads and we strolled around Crescent Lake,
swapping war stories. The saddest stories focused on the runners who
were close (as close as mile 25) but didn't make the end. I said my
good byes at the end of the first loop and off I went.
Lessons Learned
1. I didn't quite have the nutrition down for a hot and long
race. I need to understand how to keep the electrolytes up better.
You would think that here in Houston running in mid-80F temps would
prepare you for what we had this weekend, but the body needs to
readapt.
2. Pouring water over the head works well, but I am thinking I
may have over done that. i.e. the ipod that quit working and the
sock liners that wadded up.
3. I am happy that this year's weather didn't happen last year,
or my Goofy experiences would have stopped at 1.
4. As bad as I felt at times, I know that by keeping one foot in
front of the other, I can do almost anything.
5. I worried a lot about those behind me late in the race. I
felt bad that aide stations were not well stocked and that these guys
would need to be more self sufficient than me. Though I was happy to
see many folks late in the race carrying their own hydration systems.
Comments
1. I think that the wave start for the half will work better
than the first year's plan, though many bugs need to be fixed. i.e.
the waves were broken into a-1, a-2…b-1, b-2, b-3, but no corral
system was in place at the start to keep faster runners up front and
slower runners back. Hopefully this will be corrected.
2. Disney is a masterful planner, but fell sort on a couple
fronts. We started talking about the hot weather on in the groups 15
days out. I know that Disney looks at weather trends with much more
sophistication than the public has. They also have warehouses well
stocked with Dasani and cups. It makes little sense that water stops
had no water during the hottest marathon in the last 10 years. I am
sure that EMMI and Disney will have more water left over next year as
they hopefully learn from this experience.
3. I love the tech shirts, but couldn't we change to logo up
just a bit?
4. I hope that I do not sound too displeased about the marathon
run. Am I disappointed, a little? However, I am grateful to have
decided to push into an unknown region for me and that's speed
walking. I have never been able to carry a decent walking pace,
ever. I now know that I have that in my arsenal to pull out if
needed. I was also happy to be with those for whom I have yelled for
at many other races, the back of the packers. I learned a lot from
those who came in with me.
5. Oh, as usual, it's always great to meet up with old friends.
Recover hard
Charles
