Normally I try to get at least some short runs in up to a day or so before the race but I got hit with a really ugly stomach flu the Tuesday before the race. My pre-race routine was lots of Gatoraid in the days before. Went to a great Italian restaurant Friday night. Managed to keep a 1/2 plate of ravioli down. That was at least a bit encouraging.

Work up at the butt-crack of dawn - 3:10 to be exact. Took a shower. The snack bar in the restaurant was opened at from 2:30 so got a bagel with pb&j and got in line for the bus. Got to the Epcot parking lot at about 4 and waited for the start. Not much in the way of warming up except the 2 mile walk to the start line.

Wow, This was a toughie. I went in to the race, hoping to finish in 2:45. I am not going to make excuses for my time. I finished a half marathon and nobody can take that away from me. OK...maybe I will make some excuses...The humidity was insane at the start. By mile 2 I was soaked. I also know that the fact that I had not eaten in 4 days had to play a part. Other than that, it was not too bad. By mile 6 I knew I was not going to make the 2:45, so I was just focused on keeping under 3 hours...made it by 2 seconds! My feet felt good during the run. I just kept going.

I was going to stick to the 8 run 1 walk plan, but decided to run till the aid stations and then walk them. That worked great till about mile 8 when I started walking more. 1 minor blister but it did not bother me that much.

Not get the stomach flu the week of the race. Other than that, maybe my training was not as consistant as it should have been. Up till Tuesday, I felt pretty prepared. I was not sure how the nutritional issues would affect me.

Ran across the line, got my mylar blanket (didn't need it but wanted it as a souvenier), got my chip taken off, got my bling and waited for Steve...and waited...and waited! We had a meeting spot set before the race, but I figured I would just wait for him at the finish but I never saw him. After about 35 minutes, there was onlt a trickle of people coming through and I knew somehoe I missed him. Started walking to our meeting place when I realized that I had chaffed terribly in a very uncomfortable place...can you say OUCH! Waddled over to the meeting place and there was Steve, looking pretty beat-up but wearing his 1st race medal! I was so proud of him. Hobbled back to the bus to the hotel, showered, ate and slept for 3 hours.

Humidity, Stomach Flu and inconsistant training

Will I do this race again...probably not and here's why

1. When we committed to this race, we still lived in MD and it ws a nice warm weather weekend getaway. Living in Texas, we really don't need that

2. Too many people. It is cool to say that I passed several thousand people at the start, but I probably could have made up 5 or so minutes in the first few miles if I could have run at my regular pace. The crowds were hard to get through. Walkers took up so much of the road that I spend too much time weaving back and forth.

3. It's too damm humid

But, even tough I did not do as well as I hoped, in the end, I completed a 1/2 marathon and you know what, the medal I got looks just like the medal that the guy who finished first got!