We just got back late last night, and wow, I’m still not 100% sure it all happened! I want to apologize for totally bailing on all the WISH events. I’ll attribute it to a number of things, the #1 being my social anxiety (but also some other commitments we had going on). I did see a number of WISHers during the race and I want to send much love and thanks for the Scream Teamers I saw throughout the course. You guys rocked. I wasn’t even wearing my WISH shirt for most of the time (long sleeves and all) but I still felt all of the well wishes and support. So thanks SO SO SO much.
And a little background, although I’ve told this story before. I had very major back surgery on January 8th, 2007. I was on very strict bedrest for almost 3 months. My only physical therapy was to walk; it was all I was allowed do. And after a month of shuffling around my backyard, I decided I needed something specific to walk for. And thank goodness for you all and the Disboards for giving me the crazy idea to walk the ½ marathon just after the year anniversary of my surgery. It’s been a long journey, from laps in my 12 ft long hallway to 13.1 miles. But I could not be prouder of myself for doing it.
On to the race day: We woke up after a kind of crappy night of sleep (but I expected that). We drove to EPCOT, and I had the brilliant idea to go this crazy back way from Coronado Springs, since I wasn’t sure what roads would be closed. Of course, the one I wanted to go on was the one that was closed! Luckily, we had left early enough that it wasn’t a big problem.
We got to the parking lot around 3:45, maybe 4? We brought bananas, PB and bagels to eat in the car (in an effort to stay warm), and DH took advantage of the XM techno in the rental car. I could only eat ½ a bagel, and a small banana. I have had problems with nutrition on some of my longer runs, so I hoped this was going to be enough.
We made our way into the pre-race area and sort of moseyed around with no real purpose. I got in line for the bathrooms, a very loonng line. But luckily DH noticed that there were way more on the other side of bag check, so we went over there. In line I met a WISHer, Lara. Hey Lara!
We went down towards the corrals, and settled in towards the front of corral C. Adam (my DH) kept joking that the walk from the pre-race area to the start should count for something in the race! We just sat and stretched and killed time for almost an hour. However, once the start was close, I started to get so excited and amped up.
I was SO stoked that they did fireworks for all three corrals; that was a nice touch that I didn’t expect. As for the race itself, I wish I could remember more. I know I was doing pretty well for the first 5 miles or so. All of the entertainment was awesome. I saw other WISHers (but again, I took my long sleeve shirt off at mile 1, I was already dying of heat. Every training walk I’d done in the last few months was in 38-45 degree weather—quite a shock to the system!). We had a short conversation with a WISHer, but I didn’t catch his name. But he was very tall
Running through the Magic Kingdom was awesome. The CMs and all of the people cheering made it so much fun. However, it was the 6 mile mark when I started to feel kind of bad. I had strained something in the back of my knee during my last long walk, and it was starting the hurt, plus my tummy was not super happy with me. But I pushed on through and LOVED seeing the ½ hippo behind Splash Mountain. I guess they were rehabbing it for Jungle Cruise.
DH and I took a much needed bathroom break around the Grand Flordian, and I felt much better after that. Mile 7-9 went kind of fast, but my knee really started going again close to mile 10 and that stupid on-ramp! When I saw the Medical Tent off in the distance (Around mile 11?), I felt like an angel had answered my prayers. I slathered BioFreeze all over my knee, and was, quite honestly, flabbergasted at how well it worked. I made it to about mile 12.7 (or somewhere in EPCOT) before I wanted to stop. That last mile lasted f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I saw a few more WISHers (including Lara again!) and put my Wish shirt back on for the finish line photo. And when we crossed that finish line, wow, I was so happy and excited and tired and in pain. It was such a crazy clash of emotions. Of course there was the bummer about the medals, but honestly, at that point, I didn’t care. I got some ice from the medical tent, and somehow got enough energy to hobble out to the car. We were done and I had finished.
We headed back to the hotel to rest and ice. We had a king bed room that was handicapped accessible, so no tub for ice baths, but we did get a few bags and we iced our feet (Top and bottom) for about 10-15 minutes. I think that made all of the difference in our ability to recover reasonably quickly. We ate some lunch (Although I was not hungry at all, I did eat some of a chicken sandwich) and then took a nice nap.
Dinner that night was at Boma, which I thought was an excellent choice, and we even made it out to the MK for some rides and the fireworks. Feet and legs felt pretty good, but that mean old knee of mine was still not super happy. But it wasn’t bad enough to miss out on all of the fun. We got POURED on during the fireworks, we were totally soaked. I was just happy that it didn’t happen during the race!
The rest of our week was great. We drove out to visit my grandparents in Ocala, and spent a lot of time at the parks. It was a fun trip, and so fun to see all sorts of people with their event shirts and medals (I was a little sad to not have one, but never fear, they were sitting on our doorstep, FedExed to us, when we got home!).
Thanks again WISHers for the inspiration and encouragement to do this crazy thing. I could not have done it without you.
And a little background, although I’ve told this story before. I had very major back surgery on January 8th, 2007. I was on very strict bedrest for almost 3 months. My only physical therapy was to walk; it was all I was allowed do. And after a month of shuffling around my backyard, I decided I needed something specific to walk for. And thank goodness for you all and the Disboards for giving me the crazy idea to walk the ½ marathon just after the year anniversary of my surgery. It’s been a long journey, from laps in my 12 ft long hallway to 13.1 miles. But I could not be prouder of myself for doing it.
On to the race day: We woke up after a kind of crappy night of sleep (but I expected that). We drove to EPCOT, and I had the brilliant idea to go this crazy back way from Coronado Springs, since I wasn’t sure what roads would be closed. Of course, the one I wanted to go on was the one that was closed! Luckily, we had left early enough that it wasn’t a big problem.
We got to the parking lot around 3:45, maybe 4? We brought bananas, PB and bagels to eat in the car (in an effort to stay warm), and DH took advantage of the XM techno in the rental car. I could only eat ½ a bagel, and a small banana. I have had problems with nutrition on some of my longer runs, so I hoped this was going to be enough.
We made our way into the pre-race area and sort of moseyed around with no real purpose. I got in line for the bathrooms, a very loonng line. But luckily DH noticed that there were way more on the other side of bag check, so we went over there. In line I met a WISHer, Lara. Hey Lara!
We went down towards the corrals, and settled in towards the front of corral C. Adam (my DH) kept joking that the walk from the pre-race area to the start should count for something in the race! We just sat and stretched and killed time for almost an hour. However, once the start was close, I started to get so excited and amped up.
I was SO stoked that they did fireworks for all three corrals; that was a nice touch that I didn’t expect. As for the race itself, I wish I could remember more. I know I was doing pretty well for the first 5 miles or so. All of the entertainment was awesome. I saw other WISHers (but again, I took my long sleeve shirt off at mile 1, I was already dying of heat. Every training walk I’d done in the last few months was in 38-45 degree weather—quite a shock to the system!). We had a short conversation with a WISHer, but I didn’t catch his name. But he was very tall
Running through the Magic Kingdom was awesome. The CMs and all of the people cheering made it so much fun. However, it was the 6 mile mark when I started to feel kind of bad. I had strained something in the back of my knee during my last long walk, and it was starting the hurt, plus my tummy was not super happy with me. But I pushed on through and LOVED seeing the ½ hippo behind Splash Mountain. I guess they were rehabbing it for Jungle Cruise.
DH and I took a much needed bathroom break around the Grand Flordian, and I felt much better after that. Mile 7-9 went kind of fast, but my knee really started going again close to mile 10 and that stupid on-ramp! When I saw the Medical Tent off in the distance (Around mile 11?), I felt like an angel had answered my prayers. I slathered BioFreeze all over my knee, and was, quite honestly, flabbergasted at how well it worked. I made it to about mile 12.7 (or somewhere in EPCOT) before I wanted to stop. That last mile lasted f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I saw a few more WISHers (including Lara again!) and put my Wish shirt back on for the finish line photo. And when we crossed that finish line, wow, I was so happy and excited and tired and in pain. It was such a crazy clash of emotions. Of course there was the bummer about the medals, but honestly, at that point, I didn’t care. I got some ice from the medical tent, and somehow got enough energy to hobble out to the car. We were done and I had finished.
We headed back to the hotel to rest and ice. We had a king bed room that was handicapped accessible, so no tub for ice baths, but we did get a few bags and we iced our feet (Top and bottom) for about 10-15 minutes. I think that made all of the difference in our ability to recover reasonably quickly. We ate some lunch (Although I was not hungry at all, I did eat some of a chicken sandwich) and then took a nice nap.
Dinner that night was at Boma, which I thought was an excellent choice, and we even made it out to the MK for some rides and the fireworks. Feet and legs felt pretty good, but that mean old knee of mine was still not super happy. But it wasn’t bad enough to miss out on all of the fun. We got POURED on during the fireworks, we were totally soaked. I was just happy that it didn’t happen during the race!
The rest of our week was great. We drove out to visit my grandparents in Ocala, and spent a lot of time at the parks. It was a fun trip, and so fun to see all sorts of people with their event shirts and medals (I was a little sad to not have one, but never fear, they were sitting on our doorstep, FedExed to us, when we got home!).
Thanks again WISHers for the inspiration and encouragement to do this crazy thing. I could not have done it without you.
