Official WDW Marathon Weekend 2013 Thread-Part 2

[hauntedcity]

Originally Posted by ThurlFan

How do you find and print your certificate? I have no idea what they mean by 'personalized post-race website' or how to find mine...

http://www.rundisney.com/results/dis...marathon/2013/

I think you're in the right place. The websites just aren't ready yet.

[princessbride6205]

Back home and officially a marathoner!
We stayed in WDW the week after the marathon, and already the race itself is blurring. I'm glad I took lots of pictures!

Here's my recap:
My plan going in was to have a fun race - high five spectators, cheer on others, stop for photos, run/walk at a good pace for me but not all out. Also, I was running with a good friend from home, "C", but we had never trained together. She is a slow runner and I am a moderately fast walker - she trains at faster paces but I have faster race times - so we were hoping it would kind of even out. Thought we could do a 6:10 including photos, but wasn't aiming for time really.

The day before I was a little nervous that we had spent too much time on our feet at the expo, kids race, and parks. But I think I was less anxious for this than I was for some of the halfs I've done. I put in the training, I had a plan for eating and pacing, my mentality was pretty much "ready or not, it's race time". The one other thing I was nervous about was how long we'd be awake before starting. Being in Corral F, I would be awake for 3.5 hours before starting the race - I was nervous I might be tired.

On race morning, I had no trouble getting up and getting ready. DH and I got on a bus somewhere around 3:30am. We met up with our friend "C" and were happy to see photographers in the pre-race area. DH went off to Corral B and we followed thru bag check shortly after. C and I sat in our corral until everyone started standing up. Best thing I brought was a throwaway towel - I think it was $3 on clearance. I sat on it for a while, then wore it around my shoulders until it was our corral's turn. I was a little chilly at the start and C reminded me how hot we'd be later.

My pace and C's pace didn't quite line up as well as we'd hoped, but we were determined to do this together. Feet started to get a little sore earlier than expected (mile 12?) but didn't get worse. Legs didn't want to go any faster about that same point, so it was just a focus on putting one foot in front of the other. I feel so fortunate that I never hit a wall. There were challenging spots, but I never felt so miserable or like I couldn't finish. If it's possible, I feel like I got stronger after mile 20. After that, the course was so enjoyable, the finish was nearing, and I had become a coach. C was really feeling the heat, so I was encouraging her and helping her as much as I could. I think it was helpful in a way, since it took me out of my own head. We found the energy for some silly photos in Epcot and managed to run in to the finish with a time of 6:52. 9 days later and I still can't believe I'm a marathoner!

I said this would be my only marathon, but I'm thinking I might do one again - just not in the next year!

Overall highlights:
Someone in our corral reminded us that as first timers, we'd be setting a PR no matter what the time!
On the way to MK, a little girl spectator yelled out "Go Little Mermaid!" (my costume)
Running through the castle
WISHers - you guys were amazing! Pretzels, Twizzlers, and salt packets!

Overall misses:
They were out of Clif shots at the first stop
Running by the waste area - pew!
No balloon for the back of the back at mile 20

And the infamous 20-mile surprise...I actually liked it and recognized the giant puppets as from DL, but it was less than I had imagined. It wasn't a let down during the race per se, but later when I was thinking about it, the mile 20 surprise was a factor in me registering!

Beating the heat - the heat wasn't great, but it didn't bother me nearly as much as others. I had pre-hydrated the whole week prior to the race, and took water or Powerade at every stop - sometimes 2 cups. I wore sunscreen and sunglasses as well. It may have helped me that I've been going to hot yoga 2x a week for the past 3 months - so even though my training runs have been in the winter, I'm still used to exerting myself in the heat. We used some imagery from our MN winters - "can't you just feel your snot freezing right now?!"

And I'll leave any hopeful 2014 or 2015 marathoners with this quote:
"Go as far as your dreams."
(It's from a Cinderella II song lyric of all places)

Originally Posted by Pungodingy

Anyone know where I can get the "pumped up" Disney classics they were playing before/during the races? I asked at several stores but the cast members were less than helpful...
TIA

If you go on iTunes and look at the Disney Mania CDs - that's what most of mine are from.

[FFigawi]

Originally Posted by CaptHomer

Here is my DATW menu from Monday with FFigawi and the gang.

England  Welsh Dragon (3/4 ounce peach schnapps 3/4 ounce melon liqueur 1/2 ounce green crème de menthe)
France  Grand Mariner and Grey Goose Slush
Morocco  Habibi Daquiri
Japan  Sake (glass)
USA  Sutter Home Pinot Grigio (glass)
Italy  Limoncello (shot)
Germany  Jagermeister (shot)
Africa  thank goodness no alcohol served
China  Peach Snap (frozen drink with peach schnapps)
Norway  Linie Aquavit (shot)
Mexico  Blood Orange Margarita
Canada  only served beer so I didnt get anything there.

I think this took around 6 hours or so.
Can't wait to do it again.

Here's my menu...
Canada - Labatt's (as someone said, it tastes like college)
England - Guinness
France - champagne
Morocco - beer
Japan - sake
USA - Sam Adams
Italy - limoncello
Germany - pilsner
China - ginger slush
Norway - aquavit
Mexico - jalapeno margarita

We had a great time! Looking forward to 2015!

[cewait]

[Addendum] I started this on the plane last Tuesday. I was going to post after proofing Wednesday then the flu hit. Holy Smack! I went from thinking of a run in the cool Houston weather to shivering in the fetal position in my bed in less than an hour. Today is day 8 and I still fight a slight fever. The feds in charge of mixing the flu shots this year missed this; BADLY. They went on to post stories about how the flu shot would ‘minimize’ the effects of the flu. I call BS and apparently others did as the shot is off the market according to the doc I saw. Poor lady went through the shot then 2 cases of flu. Back to the original…

This weekend was just that. I felt woefully underprepared for the weekend and my results showed that in the final results. Well that and a terrible step at mile 4 on Sunday.

The half felt hotter than the first 13 miles of the marathon. I ran it with my daughter. Our time was not spectacular but it was her first and a PR for her. We did go out on the day a little harder than we should have and I pulled her back in the second half of the race. I was cramping in the last half of the race so we did some walking to work wound the issue. At the line, she tried to out sprint me and Miranda crossed the finish just in front of me…. We ran into Betsy in the ‘secret’ portolet area pre-race. We also ran into Katie in the corral. Finally we walked a bit with Shelby around mile 10 of the race.

Sunday came early. We headed over to Epcot and were kind of late. We had a simple walk to the staging area, and then off to the corrals. I reset my run walk timer to a 2/1 ratio thinking I would use that as a way to slow up the race. The gun fired and I was feeling racy. I thought the first half of the race felt fairly cool and was hoping that the weather guys were wrong. I am sure the thing making it cool was the near 100% humidity. I had a misstep in the MK parking lot area. I found a spot in the pavement that had sloughed off and I wrenched my ankle. It was not all that bad at first and I was able to continue on. However, around the AK area, it forced me to mostly walk. I quickly did some math as I passed mile 14 and realized that I had the race in hand, maybe. I would add a jog here and there but was mostly averaging 17 mm.

Around mile 15 I noticed a gentleman with a very awkward stride and started chatting with him after playing tag for a mile or so. It was Perfect 20 runner Bill Terlop. He fessed up that that he wanted to finish this one as it would be his last. He was having a real knee issue and saying that at age 70, he thought this was enough. He added during the race that he thought there were maybe 20 of the 94 Perfects who would call this their last. Being a little brain stupid I was shocked until we discussed the ages of those with the streak. He did say that in 94, there was one in their group who was underage at the time. He thinks that guy will be the last survivor since he is only 37 today. I ran with Bill until the on stage portion of DHS where I wished him well and waddled off. It was time well spent.

I ran into Paul, another Perfectly Goofy in the Beach club area. We walked to the shade of Morocco where he sprinted off. I looked up in the area of Germany and a marvelous spectator was offering cups of beer. She had passed out two just in front of me. She was holding the cup up and I asked if it was for a friend. She said it was for anyone and I thanked her. MMMMMM beer, it cures all. I ran the last half mile into the finish, almost catching Paul.


Impressions of the new course.

I miss the first Epcot Loop. From a course crowding perspective, helped string out the crowding in before MK

I liked the Indy Track, but not the tunnel. I lost some time along the track with the cars of my generation and stopping to talk with a couple owners.

I liked hitting AK earlier in the race. I think it helped with the sun on Osceola. It also helped not having the spectators in the park in my opinion.

I did not like some of the WWoS loop. I found it nice to be able to run on grass, but really hated the warning track in the ball field – it was not friendly to the ankle. Victory Way was very cambered. I guess my thoughts are that they tried very hard to get every inch of WWoS into the race.

What was Mile 20 spectacular? Maybe it was the fact that I was only able to walk or the heat or the Japanese tour group who would stop for a photo and take half the course. I was less than impressed.

I loved the Green Army Guy again. He yelled out there would be NO walking on his hill and if you wanted to walk, you must have enough energy to give him 20. Three guys stopped and gave him 20 right there.


Final Thoughts.

I was happy to complete the weekend. The year leading into this race was less than banner for me personally. I am using this as a springboard to kickoff a new year. (OK I was until the flu).

I have not read all reports but want to offer some perspective on this race in particular. Of my 22 marathons, this was by far the toughest to complete. I CONGRATULATE all who finished. It is usually not this bad. But even more, I want to tell those who may have fallen by the wayside during the event that because this was so warm, you have nothing to hang your heads for. I saw a sag bus in the AK parking lot. It was not running as I passed but if it were running with the air on; I may have hopped it then and there. Maybe it was the virus, maybe it was the heat but I was toast then and there. I was late enough in the race as Bill and I were talking about the races through the years that we saw the lantern rouge. I could see the determination and drive in the eyes of most folks I met on the way out of the WWoS. You could also see that there were a few who were really waiting on the bus as well, though not many. I yelled and cheered as best I could from the other side of the cones. I hoped that helped.

Again, congrats to all who tried this weekend.

[CaptHomer]

Looking at the spreadsheet of the results a couple of things pop out.

If bib numbers were indicators of what race one participated in then one can make a few observations

One person signed up for marathon and ran half (bib 15424)?
526 Goofy’s finished half, but didn’t do full
102 Goofy’s finished marathon, but didn’t do the half (and probably got a Goofy medal)

[CaptHomer]

Originally Posted by cewait

I liked the Indy Track, but not the tunnel.

That tunnel was horrible on the knees.

[PRmamiDEdos]

Glad to see you're ok Coach. I figured you might have been sick. It's funny because I was watching a report on the flu this morning and they said endurance athletes are more likely to get sick. Feel better.

[disney_runner]

Nice to hear from you Coach! Sorry about the flu though. My friend got it too, but I didn't, and she didn't run any races. I heard a lot of people who came down with illness after returning home from the marathon. Glad you finished with a beer, and thanks again for all the advice along the long and winding road!

[VernRDH]

I am still trying to catch up with the last 20 pages or so. We went on a cruise immediately after the marathon, so I haven't really gotten a chance to post until now.

We took the half slow, but ran most of it, did stop to take pix along the way. Finished in 2:50, felt good the rest of that day.

Marathon morning plan was to do 6:2 intervals. Started out that way and did okay until about mile 14, when the heat and humidity really started to get to me. I was having trouble catching my breath and keeping up with my coach. I started doing more walking and decided that he need to continue with the running and I would just walk the remainder. The concern was time, as we had to leave WDW no later than 1:30 to make it to Port Canaveral for the ship. I knew I could finish by 12:30 or so even walking the last 11-12 miles. So my friend went on and I persevered.

WWOS- 2 thumbs down. Just awful. Only ray of sunshine there was the sponge, which I kept and put under my hat.

Mile 20 "Spectacular" -#lame-o. I was like "really, this is it?" But hey I met Joey Fatone the day before so

I had a lot of trouble with chafing and was getting vaseline at every med tent. I did take powerade at pretty much every stop after mile 18 or so, and was so happy when the volunteers would offer you a "shower".

Finished in 6:45, not stellar, but I DID IT!!!! And I am never doing it again.

We made it to PC in about 40 minutes, DH was driving like a mad man. And the cruise was just the right cure for the post race soreness.

[joan4mickey]

On the flu shot thing...
did anyone feel like they were getting the flu about 24 hours after the shot?
sore throat, fever? I'm hoping that may be the key. If one felt poorly right after them one's body was building up against a full blown case.

Anyway, just hoping that feeling poorly 24 hours after shot is my ticket to wellness.

For those that feel horrible hope you make a speedy recovery.

[buckeyecinderella]

Originally Posted by joan4mickey

On the flu shot thing...
did anyone feel like they were getting the flu about 24 hours after the shot?
sore throat, fever? I'm hoping that may be the key. If one felt poorly right after them one's body was building up against a full blown case.

Anyway, just hoping that feeling poorly 24 hours after shot is my ticket to wellness.

For those that feel horrible hope you make a speedy recovery.

Another one here with a cold or the flu or something! I came down with it last Wednesday and now I'm losing my voice. I had the flu shot in October and did not have any reaction. Not even much soreness in the injection site. So, maybe I got the "dud" shot this year.

[buckeyecinderella]

Originally Posted by FFigawi

It might be due to the slower pace you were running at. As we slow down, our stride tends to shorten, and that can cause all kinds of stiffness and soreness because we're moving in ways that we're not used to.

I was thinking it could be a running form issue. Also, slow is pretty usual for me but there were a lot if places where I slowed down even more because of crowding, etc. So, what you say makes sense.

[Rose&Mike]

Originally Posted by joan4mickey

On the flu shot thing...
did anyone feel like they were getting the flu about 24 hours after the shot?
sore throat, fever? I'm hoping that may be the key. If one felt poorly right after them one's body was building up against a full blown case.

Anyway, just hoping that feeling poorly 24 hours after shot is my ticket to wellness.

For those that feel horrible hope you make a speedy recovery.

I felt pretty cruddy a day or so after the flu shot, worse than other years. Something nasty went through my office right before Christmas. I am guessing it was the flu. I got it, but much, much milder than everyone else. I ran a very low grade fever and a coughed for 2 or 3 days but that was it. Mike didn't have it then, but he has it now. Again same thing, everyone else at his work was really sick and he got a mild version. We were at WDW when I was feeling less than stellar.

Hope you stay healthy!

[cewait]

Originally Posted by CaptHomer

102 Goofy’s finished marathon, but didn’t do the half (and probably got a Goofy medal)

That number will increase as long as there is no verification of runners in the chute. It's kind of crazy as we had to stand in line for our perfect gear.

[belle2211]

I hope you're feeling better Coach!!