Is it normal to not remember much of the race

[Sabeking]

Originally Posted by rocio

This. I also came back with disappointment from the marathon. It was weird. When I did my first half marathon at the Princess last Feb. I came back so excited and proud and I couldn't stop smiling for at least a week. I came back from the marathon feeling discouraged. Like I know I could have done so much better. I am proud that I completed my first full marathon, but it was not how I expected to finish it. I have since decided to do a "do-over" in Chicago this fall. I know I can be faster. Then I feel silly for feeling this way. You did it, you finished your first full marathon, Rocio! But yeah, there is still that disappointment that it was sooooo slow (for me). I have something to prove to myself. Nobody else. Just me.

I understand this feeling. I felt that way after I ran my first. It was in Chicago and it was 87 degrees. I was soooo slow and had done so much training. I know people mean well when they say be proud because you finished but for me I had expectations and was really disappointed with myself. The good news...the next year I did the Marine Corp in about 47 degrees and took off an unbelievable amount of time!

I felt that way with the WDW. I had pr'd in most of my training and ended up running with a stomach bug. I did the half and couldn't remember anything about where we came into the Magic Kingdom the very next day when we went to the park. But I could remember where every port-a-potty was located in a ten mile radius!!

Good luck with your next run; you can do it!

[DrMomof3]

I've been able to do a detailed race report because I took pictures along the way so I could piece the race back together. Although I have some pictures that I honestly don't remember taking or seeing! The other funny thing is that I took pictures of every mile marker of both the half and the full but I somehow missed mile 11 of the full. I just totally zoned into my race and realized I was at 11.4 on my Garmin. Never even saw it!
I don't run with a camera during non-Disney races and definitely can't remember the details.

Amanda

[joan4mickey]

Originally Posted by ZellyB

And funny about the childbirth analogy. I had told my husband somewhere around mile 22 or so that while I was happy I was doing this and glad I would finish, I think I was going to be a "one and done" marathoner. By Tuesday I was talking about going Goofy in 2015.

Honestly childbirth was so much easier for me than the marathon. Childbirth for me took about 3 hour (20 min for my third) and there wasn't 20 training runs before the "event", that take me about 4 hours to complete. After the 2012 marathon, I said never again and probably wouldn't have run 2013 if my DS hadn't begged me to do it again with him.

[Rose&Mike]

Originally Posted by rocio

This. I also came back with disappointment from the marathon. It was weird. When I did my first half marathon at the Princess last Feb. I came back so excited and proud and I couldn't stop smiling for at least a week. I came back from the marathon feeling discouraged. Like I know I could have done so much better. I am proud that I completed my first full marathon, but it was not how I expected to finish it. I have since decided to do a "do-over" in Chicago this fall. I know I can be faster. Then I feel silly for feeling this way. You did it, you finished your first full marathon, Rocio! But yeah, there is still that disappointment that it was sooooo slow (for me). I have something to prove to myself. Nobody else. Just me.

I hope your do-over is a huge success. I will not do another full unless I can figure out what is going on with my back. Nothing is worth going through that again. I tried sitting down at the W tent after the marathon and it was so bad I couldn't sit until I hobbled back to the massage tent and let them "unlock" it.

After that I was fine. I got up and ran a mile the next morning and Mike and I went to the water park and went up and down all the stairs. I agree, I don't have anything to prove to anyone else, just myself. This was not about the temps for me that day--I finished with too much energy left. Honestly, unless the doctor/pt can help me figure out what is going on, I think I am done with long distance (longer than a 10k) running. I ran 9 miles on Saturday and I have been miserable all week. It's just not worth it anymore--to go through all that training and have a miserable experience and a miserable race.

[steph0808]

I actually remember a lot of the race. Maybe because I wasn't "racing" it - I got sick two days before and was just glad that I made it to the start, let alone the finish!

I wish I had taken picture of every mile marker though, so I knew where all of the characters were!

I did finish about an hour and 45 minutes later than I had anticipated. I do alternate between disappointment and being grateful I even finished. But mostly, even finishing so much later, I consider it one of the best days of my life!

[Princess Steph]

Originally Posted by rocio

This. I also came back with disappointment from the marathon. It was weird. When I did my first half marathon at the Princess last Feb. I came back so excited and proud and I couldn't stop smiling for at least a week. I came back from the marathon feeling discouraged. Like I know I could have done so much better. I am proud that I completed my first full marathon, but it was not how I expected to finish it. I have since decided to do a "do-over" in Chicago this fall. I know I can be faster. Then I feel silly for feeling this way. You did it, you finished your first full marathon, Rocio! But yeah, there is still that disappointment that it was sooooo slow (for me). I have something to prove to myself. Nobody else. Just me.

I felt like this also! My knee started hurting at mile 2, at mile 25 I could no longer "run". I could walk and knew I would finish but I was going slow. The very worse part was I was running with a group of 5 (we were running for a charity) and I knew I was holding everyone back. I could not get out of my depression for days and was really surprised by my emotional reaction of sadness and frustration instead of joy for my accomplishment. I decided I'll stick to 1/2's for now.

[PRmamiDEdos]

I remember bits and pieces. The biggest part I remember is almost getting to Stormalong Bay and "talking" to my Dad and asking him for a little push because my feet were killing me. I was suuuuper slow but I made it.

[jpeka65844]

This was my DH and his BFF's conversation after the marathon:

DH: "Don't you remember so-and-so at Mile XXX?"
DHBFF: "no."

DH: "Don't you remember so-and-so at Mile XXX?"
DHBFF: "no."

DH: "Don't you remember so-and-so at Mile XXX?"
DHBFF: "no."



And so on and so on.....

[freepixie]

Lol! After last year's Princess, I was higher than a kite after I finished, and I couldn't wait to tell my family about my pic with the princes, but for the life of me I could not remember any of the names!! So I was like, "There was the dude from The Little Mermaid, and the dude from Mulan, and the dude from Rapunzel, and the dude from Aladdin..." My mom couldn't stop cracking up

[dvcdenise]

OMG I thought I was the only one who couldn't remember parts of a race. I always call it running amnesia. I am so happy to hear from others that they have it as well. Thanks for letting me know.

[jpeka65844]

Originally Posted by DrMomof3

I've been able to do a detailed race report because I took pictures along the way so I could piece the race back together. Although I have some pictures that I honestly don't remember taking or seeing! The other funny thing is that I took pictures of every mile marker of both the half and the full but I somehow missed mile 11 of the full. I just totally zoned into my race and realized I was at 11.4 on my Garmin. Never even saw it!
I don't run with a camera during non-Disney races and definitely can't remember the details.

Amanda

While my first 1/2 marathon is more than a year away (Wine/Dine 2014), I think I'm going to do this in order to look back on the race!

I even made a t-shirt design today!

[DisneyRunnerGirl]

I found that I remembered a lot after I uploaded the info from my Garmin and followed the race path with the satellite view. It helped me fill in my notes for my running log.

This was my first full and when I really looked at it 3 weeks after the fact I can see that it went relatively well. I never hit the wall mentally, just some nausea that had me at a VERY slow walk from Boardwalk to England. I think the heat caused me to have issues with the chocolate I had at Studios. I had trained with chocolate, but it was below freezing on those long training runs, not hot and humid. Live and learn for the next long warm weather race.

Intellectually I know I was smart to slow down with the heat and make finishing the most important part of the day but emotionally I was still somewhat let down after the finish. Before the race I conservatively estimated a 6:15 finish time, but completed in 7:01. I was so hot when the sun came up I made a decision to take lots of pics and just take it as it came. Still it is always tough when a race day is one of those "It is what it is" days. Much easier for me to get over training days like that....

I didn't upload the Garmin data until last weekend because I really had no desire to review the race until now. Funny thing is that once I was ready and used the satellite view I was able to draw in a lot more positives about the day then in the days immediately following the race.

My best race memory has got to be seeing my DH just grin and shake his head at me at the finish when I stopped 15 feet from the finish line for a picture with Minnie. I told him later that at that point my time was no longer a consideration, but I was thrilled to have a great picture with Minnie.

Ultimately I may find I am more of a half marathon girl, but I have decided that I will most likely run the Columbus Marathon in Oct because I need to see what I can do in more marathon friendly weather.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[Rose&Mike]

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences. It was nice to not feel so alone with my conflicted feelings about the marathon.

I don't know if I will ever do another one--this one was really hard on my body. I am back in physical therapy. Unfun but it is helping.

There is a part of my brain that desperately wants a better time, so I think maybe--but then I remember our training run where it was 45 and it rained for 13 miles--and I think hxxx no. I think if I do another one it will be in the fall when I can get the training in before the weather gets bad....so we'll see.

[goofeygirl]

Its normal. I am slow so I see and recall most things. My brothers wife however is fast and dreadfully focused that she didn't even recall running through the MK!!

[goofeygirl]

Originally Posted by Rose&Mike

I hope your do-over is a huge success. I will not do another full unless I can figure out what is going on with my back. Nothing is worth going through that again. I tried sitting down at the W tent after the marathon and it was so bad I couldn't sit until I hobbled back to the massage tent and let them "unlock" it.

After that I was fine. I got up and ran a mile the next morning and Mike and I went to the water park and went up and down all the stairs. I agree, I don't have anything to prove to anyone else, just myself. This was not about the temps for me that day--I finished with too much energy left. Honestly, unless the doctor/pt can help me figure out what is going on, I think I am done with long distance (longer than a 10k) running. I ran 9 miles on Saturday and I have been miserable all week. It's just not worth it anymore--to go through all that training and have a miserable experience and a miserable race.

No its not worth it because you will a greater price each time.