Four days. Four races. The inaguaral Dopey Challenge has been completed! Below, read my accounts of each day and the adventures I encountered to receive this gorgeous medal! Five separate entries for all five days I spent in Disney!
Marathon morning. Once again, the alarm clock rang at the crack of dawn! But today, I was ready. Mentally, I was in the zone. And to be honest, I think a marathon is mostly mental. I knew what it was like to run a marathon (blessing and a curse) so I knew what I was up against. 26 long long miles. Everyone kept asking me what was my plan for the marathon. A plan ... hmmm ... I did not have a plan. I kind of was just going to "wing it." See whatever felt right. I arrived to the start area incredibly early. I waited for Daisy and Elsbeth and we walked over to the corrals together. I was so conflicted on which corral to start in. Did I want to start in my corral? Or Daisy and Elsbeths corral? (I was corral K they were corral L). I ended up walking to their corral with them.I was going to go to my corral once the race started. .... but I was so exhausted I dozed off sitting waiting for the start. This was a blessing in disguise because the Cliff Bar 5:30 pace group was in corral L! 5:30 (five hours and thirty minutes)? Wait ... but I ran my first marathon (with a bummed knee) in 5:22. I could do 5:30!! Ten minutes before the marathon started, I had a plan! I would be running with the Cliff Bar 5:30 pace group. and we are off! The pace group ran 5:30 (five minutes and thirty seconds), walked a minute, and ran 5:30 again. They were at a 12:30 mile pace. So for every mile they walked two minutes of that mile. Once we hit mile 2, someone yelled out 'We are half way done!" Three races and two miles in and we were finally half way done. The beginning of the course was the same as the half marathon. We ran into Magic Kingdom, around, and out the same way. This time though the castle had the lights on it (the lights were not on it the day before)! Too bad I am not fast and didn't hit Magic Kingdom before it became light out. I would have loved to see the castle lit up! (My goal for next time!!) 5 Mile time: 1:02:17 Pace: 12:28 Once we left Magic Kingdom we headed towards the race track!! My least favorite and most favorite part all at the same time. Least favorite part because : 1. Once we left Magic Kingom the road we run on for a few miles is SO narrow. Everyone is smashing into each other. 2. Running into the race track there is a MASSIVE slope. People say there were signs warning of the slop, but I did not see any. For anyone who has bad knees, you know running downhill is 10x more painful then running up hill! 3. Lastly, some people were so taken back by the hill that they just stopped. Have you ever just stopped your car dead in the middle of the road? .... basically it turned into a pile up. People tripping over other people. Favorite part because: 1. The race track was GORGEOUS. 2. It had race cars that were revving up their engines. 3. We passed mile 9 inside the race track. You can kind of see mile 9! Miles 9-12 we ran on the Osceola Highway. 10 Mile time: 2:04:16 Pace 12:26 For those of you who have been to Florida before, you know how strong the sun is. The sun was killing me. Absolutely no shade on the Osceola Highway. (The Highway from Hell ... just kidding ... but seriously). Once my Mom got the 10 Mile split time she texted me: Accurately describes how I was feeling at that point. Although I was hot, I was very comfortable at the pace we were running at. I knew I was able to keep this up for another 16 miles. Right before mile 12 we were given food! BANNANAS! I have never in my life been so happy to see a bannana. I usually do not eat while running, but I was so hungry! It was the best surprise. (Next year I may take two bannanas). We ran through Animal Kingom next. I was SO focused that I did not even realize we ran past the Tree of Life :( Because of the number of people, and the ground was a little wet, I kept my head down to make sure I did not trip on anyone or anything. We also only ran through Animal Kingdom for all of three minutes. Fun Fact: The Yeti ride is open during the marathon. Some people stop and even ride it! Right after Animal Kingdom is Mile 13. HALF WAY DONE! Halfway Split: 2:43:18 Pace: 12:28 I still felt good. Next was the ESPN Wide World of Sports! Right before mile 17 I had to use the bathroom. I tried to hold it in as long as possible because I did not want to lose the pace group. If you stop for any reason, you just need to catch up with the pace group, The pace group leader holds red balloons so they're easy to spot in the crowd. After I went to the bathroom I tried catching up with them. My goal was to stick with them until AT LEAST mile 20. While running to catch up to them, we ran through some more really narrow areas (27.000 runners and narrow areas don't mix well). Right before mile 18 someone bumped into me, knocking me off the course, causing me to roll my bad ankle. Immediately I knew my knee was injured. I felt like this: My good body falling. Me watching helplessy as it happened. I tried to run after it happened but the pain was so severe. It was Hartford all over again. I was so angry!! Right after mile 18 were more bannanas. I ate them, cried for a minute, and then continuted on running. I was determind, pain and all, to keep up with the pace group until at least mile 20. 20 Mile time: 4:09:28 Pace: 12:29 Once again, as my Mom got the 20 mile notification she texted me: "wrap it for you." Love you Mom! The next 6.2 miles were run/walk/mostly walking for me. I was so so upset because I knew Brad was at the finish line waiting for me and I was so sad to make him wait. But he was so supportive telling me to take my time. Right after mile 22, just as we were getting into Hollywood studios, we were given more food!! You can't tell, but this was a FULL sized bag! I ate the entire thing in about 90 seconds. The Boardwalk followed Hollywood studios, then our final park .. Epcot. While running through Epcot I saw characters that I had never seen before at a park, and the time I wanted to make was already out the window, so I thought "Why not stop?" And for the first time in my RunDisney history , I stopped during the course to take picture with characters. The next .5 miles were a blur. I didn't stop to take a picure of mile 26. To be honest, I don't even remember what character it was. I do remember though that Brad was standing at the finish line, with a rose in his hand, and he saw me cross. What an amazing moment. I had just completed the inaugural Dopey Challenge. Marathon time: 5:49:53 Pace: 13:21 Such a sweet moment in my life! I did not finish at the 5:30 pace that I had wanted, but I had 21 really great miles. I felt strong. I could have run 21 more miles (if I needed to)!
I can say I found my "happy pace." A 12:30 mile is the perfect pace for me for a marathon. Eventually, I would like to get faster, but until then I am happy to just finish strong. This week I had the most incredible time. I ran the craziest challenge with 7.000 other incredible people, saw my sister and life long friend Elsbeth, spent the week with my best friend, Brad, AND got him to go on roller coasters! Maybe there really is magic in Disney. Until Princess Half weekend Disney, xo. The night before the half my costume still was not ready. I had a purple skirt, t-shirt, pinkish ribbon, and pink tape. With the ribbon/tape I wanted to make a Rapunzel costume. Brad and I googled Rapunzel, and with the tape, we made the best make shift costume I could have ever asked for. Easy to run in and well enough made that people knew I was Rapunzel. Thank you Brad! My plan was run a mile, walk a mile, run a mile, walk a mile ... I don't know why I thought that would work, but I did. I ran the first mile and went to walk at the second, but I was not ready to walk yet so I ran some more. Running into Magic Kingom! 5K split time: 38:49 10K split time: 1:20:38 After the half way point, I decided to just walk. Mentally, I'm not sure I was fully into it and physically I was exhausted. My poor feet! Although I walked a lot of the second half I still did not stop to take pictures with any characters! For some reason I just could not justify waiting in a long line in the middle of a race to take a picture with a character. Especially, when I do that in the parks. Maybe I am missing out on something ... 15K Split: 2:09:51 My favorite Princess! The WDW Half Marathon course is the exact same course as the Princess Half Marathon. I almost felt like I was having Deja Vu. Except this time my sisters were not with me and honestly, I was not feeling as confident. The second I crossed the finish line I was feeling so overwhelemed. I was exhausted (fourth morning in a row waking up at 2:30 am), my feet were on FIRE, and my legs were so cramped. I think I freaked out because I knew what running a marathon felt like (not good) and I was petrified. How in the world was I going to run another 26.2 miles the next day?? As a precaution, I went to the medical tent and had my knees wrapped in ice. As I sat there, thinking of all of my options for the next day, I began to cry. YES! I am always crying. I had my head down hoping no one would see. But I was crying pretty hard and it was pretty obvious. While I was upset, a lady came over to me, put her hand on my knee and said "Hey, you're doing a great job. Keep it up." If you happen to read this, thank you. I'm not even sure I said thank you to her. I might have only nodded my head. My feet at this point hurt so bad I was actually going to go to the expo and buy new sneakers. I know they say nothing new on race day, but I was desperate. At this point, nothing could hurt my feet as bad as this. As I was telling Carolyn my crazy plan, she recommended I buy Dr Scholls Active Series for Women to put into my shoes. She has plantar fasciitis, so she knows what foot pain is. Luckily for me, my best friend Lindsay was coming up from South Florida and she was able to get me the shoe insoles on the way.
Thank you to Carolyn and Lindsay. You literally saved my feet that weekend. Half time: 3:09:44 3 down, 1 to go .... Once again, morning came too soon. This time, my alarm went off at 2:30 am because this race began earlier than yesterdays (5:30 am instead of 6:15 am). Every morning when I woke up, the first thing I did was go outside to feel the temperature. This morning it was POURING out (but warm! Thank you humidity). No worries though because I was prepared. I brought two pairs of sneakers - so that when one got wet I would have a dry pair to run in the next day - and a hat just incase it was raining. Again, Els, Daisy, and I were in corral D (second to last). Elsbeth had a pretty serious knee injury so she wanted to walk the first three races to make sure she was ready for her first marathon on Sunday! It was super important to me that I did at least one race with her, so I thought it would be a good idea that we did the 10K together! The way this race was laid out, we ran down the highway one mile, then turned right on a ramp and ran passing back the same way. Due to the fact that we were walking, we were in the second to last corral, it was the first timed race of the challenge, and the fact that the race looped in the beginning ... we actually saw the balloon ladies! I don't know what I expected, but I definitely did NOT expect them to be wearing this balloon: These balloons are everywhere in the park! If I ever get pulled from a course (knock on wood) these balloons would be a sad reminder to me. Mile 6 reminded me of my family because we were all supposed to be The Incredibles together. Walking 6.2 miles at that pace, ouch! It hurts. I almost think running 6.2 miles is easier then walking it. My feet were really hurting during this race - the 5k the day before plus walking around Magic Kingdom did not help.
Although we saw the balloon ladies - this course was AWESOME. I would definitely run another Disney World 10K. 10K time: 1:41:22I 2 down, 2 to go! |