Saturday, January 11
Walt Disney World, Florida
Temp at Start: 70 degrees, 98% humidity
Start time 5:30am
Net time: 3:07:17
Goofy's Race & a Half Challenge is a full weekend of running, hosted by Walt Disney World. There is a half marathon on Saturday, followed by a full marathon on Sunday. The Goofy Challenge this year was overshadowed by the inaugural "Dopey Challenge" which was a 5K on Thursday, 10K on Friday, then the half & full marathons on Saturday/Sunday. There were 7,000 runners doing Dopey, which caused the Goofy Challenge to be prefaced by "just" whenever it was mentioned, as in "I'm just doing Goofy." That also trickled down to the marathon, as in "I'm just doing a full marathon"; and also the half, as in "I'm just running a half marathon this weekend." For as over-the-top as the entire race weekend was, it did not lose its humility. Runners of all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities came for a weekend of running, and whether people
My vacation partner for the week was my friend Lisa -- the instigator and one of the reasons I signed up in the first place. She summed up my progression in this facebook post:
This is what I love about my friend Beth Adams:
Summer: I hate Disney. I'm not running a half marathon there with you.
Late summer: Did you sign up for that race? I'm still not doing it.
The next day: I signed up for Disney! And I'm running the half marathon AND the full marathon!
A month later: I'm still not going to the parks.
A week later: OK, we might as well go to the parks.
Last month: I'm actually getting excited to go to Disney World!
Last week: I'm watching a Disney movie every day because I can't wait to go to Disney World!!!
Summer: I hate Disney. I'm not running a half marathon there with you.
Late summer: Did you sign up for that race? I'm still not doing it.
The next day: I signed up for Disney! And I'm running the half marathon AND the full marathon!
A month later: I'm still not going to the parks.
A week later: OK, we might as well go to the parks.
Last month: I'm actually getting excited to go to Disney World!
Last week: I'm watching a Disney movie every day because I can't wait to go to Disney World!!!
I definitely spent more time binge-watching Disney movies in preparation for our racecation than I spent training, which already had me in the mindset that I was going to Disney for a vacation, and since I already signed up for the races, I'd at least start the races and see how far I'd get. I was more nervous for the marathon than I was for the "Goofy" aspect of the race; meaning, I think if I was only running a full marathon, I would have been just as nervous. My longest long run in this training cycle was 18 miles, and it was a slow, agonizing 18 miles at that. But the good news was I knew the difference between Woody and Buzz. I was totally prepared for totally the wrong thing.
Thursday
Lisa and I arrived in Orlando on Thursday and headed to the race Expo to pick up our numbers. My favorite part of the whole weekend happened at the Expo -- we heard a speaker panel consisting of Dave McGillivray (the Boston Marathon race director), John "The Penguin" Bingham (an author and motivator of fellow back-of-the-packers), and Dick Beardsley (a famous runner who won a bunch of marathons in the 80's).
Dick told a story of how he fell out of running after an accident and subsequently got addicted to pain killers. Fortunately he got sober in 1997 and has been sober ever since, and remains an inspiration in the running world. John Bingham, champion of the underdog, brought some lightness to the conversation when he answered a first-time marathoner's question about last minute advice. He said that after you finish the marathon, people are going to ask you two things: 1) "Did you win?" and 2) "How long was this marathon?" (Note: All marathons are 26.2 miles. All of them. Always.) He said that no one cares about what your time is, so just go out there and have fun and do what you need to in order to get to the finish line on the same day you started. Dave McGillivray showed a Boston Strong tribute video which had us in tears, and reminded me that the last time I started a marathon, I was robbed of the opportunity to finish. It was after this panel discussion at the expo that I was no longer nervous about the marathon, and I felt I had a duty to finish.
Half Marathon (Saturday)
We woke up at 2:30am with plans to leave for the race at 3:30am. The race started at 5:30am and we needed to be in our corrals by 5:00am, and there was a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the corrals. Even though our resort was located less than a mile and a half from the starting line, we were told by multiple sources that we should be on the road by 3:00am if we wanted to make it to the race on time, due to multiple road closures and the set-up of the race site. My friend Scott, who was also running the half marathon and who referred us to the resort we stayed in, hitched a ride with us in the morning. This was helpful because we were able to get to the race in 10 minutes, which left us plenty of time to wander around the start without feeling rushed. Scott was in an early corral so he set off before us, and would later PR in his half (Congrats Scott!) Lisa and I made our way to the corrals and hung out a bit until she scooted up to her corral. I had plans to run/walk the half, which is strongly suggested for all Goofy/Dopey runners, as you don't want to burn out your legs the day before the full marathon. When my corral (corral L) finally started, it was 6:17am. I had already been up for 4 hours after having walked around Epcot all day the previous day. I definitely felt it in the first few miles too. It was really humid out already and I could feel sweat dripping off my face, and the sun hadn't even come up yet. My first 3 miles averaged a 14:30 pace. To put things into perspective, at the half marathon I ran in March of 2013, my first 3 miles averaged a sub-10:00 pace. Here where the Disney magic happened though -- I did not care at all about my pace. My usual M.O. is to compare everything I do with my absolute best, which usually results in me feeling awful about myself and disregarding any credit for what I am actually doing. The pace for each mile flashed on my garmin, and I would look at it, but they were just numbers. I don't think I would have reacted to it any differently if it had said 13:00 or 23:00. I was just out to complete a half marathon distance, and hopefully keep my legs feeling fresh enough to do twice as much the next day.
After leaving the starting line, which is on a road surrounding Epcot, we ran north toward the Magic Kingdom. The gates to the Magic Kingdom appeared just after the 3 mile mark.
It was still pretty dark here, and with the exception of the on-course entertainment (a marching band at one point, and the Pirates of the Caribbean ship with Jack Sparrow at another point) it was a pretty boring stretch of highway with nothing to see on either side. After crossing through the Magic Kingdom gates, it was about another mile before we actually got into the park. The timing was pretty good though, because as I entered the park, dawn was breaking. Miles 1-3 were dark and miserable, but miles 4-6 were light and lively. I remember saying outloud at mile 6, "How is this mile 6 already?" Main Street in the Magic Kingdom was packed with spectators, which we hadn't seen much of until this point, so these miles really did fly by. I also found that taking advantage of the photo ops was a good distraction even if it added 30 seconds to a minute every time I stopped. This race wasn't about the time, it was about having the time of your life.
My pace started to improve on its own after mile 3. My legs were feeling better, not worse, as the race went on which gave me hope for the next day. I told myself to remember that for tomorrow. I wasn't forcing my pace faster or slower, I was just letting it be what it was. I was conscious about walking at least once per mile, which was not hard to do. I walked every 30 minutes to take nutrition, plus I walked through water stops, plus I was forced to walk a few times as the race course was very congested. My lazy legs were loving this type of running -- normally if I were "racing" a course like this I would be annoyed. And because there were literally thousands of other runners in this same pace range, I didn't even feel like I was at the back of the pack. At one point on the course you went over a bridge perpendicular to the race course so you could look out and see the course behind you. I was floored at how many people were still behind me, something that rarely happens even when I am running my fastest.
As we got nearer to Epcot, I just felt comfortable. My average pace was about 14:00/mile, so I decided that's what I would aim for tomorrow in the full marathon. It was basically a running pace of 12:30-13:30/mile with walk breaks that lowered the pace to 14:00. Sometimes coaches will refer to your long run pace or your easy pace as your "all day pace". I really felt like I could sustain 14:00/mile all day <insert ominous foreshadowing music here>. So with John Bingham's words ringing in my ears that I should just be out here enjoying the race, and a marathon finish line to reclaim tomorrow, I cruised into the finish line with my slowest half marathon of all time -- 3:07:17, and I'd never felt better.
Click here for part 2 - the next day's full marathon.
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| Dave McGillivray, John Bingham, Dick Beardsley |
Friday
As if the Goofy Challenge wouldn't be hard enough, we decided to go to Epcot on Friday. We walked around for about 9 hours. Our feet were killing us. We ended the day sitting next to each other on the edge of the tub in our condo, feet soaking in an ice bath, saying, "Why did we do this?!" Then we were in bed by 8pm with our alarms set for 2:30am.
Half Marathon (Saturday)
We woke up at 2:30am with plans to leave for the race at 3:30am. The race started at 5:30am and we needed to be in our corrals by 5:00am, and there was a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the corrals. Even though our resort was located less than a mile and a half from the starting line, we were told by multiple sources that we should be on the road by 3:00am if we wanted to make it to the race on time, due to multiple road closures and the set-up of the race site. My friend Scott, who was also running the half marathon and who referred us to the resort we stayed in, hitched a ride with us in the morning. This was helpful because we were able to get to the race in 10 minutes, which left us plenty of time to wander around the start without feeling rushed. Scott was in an early corral so he set off before us, and would later PR in his half (Congrats Scott!) Lisa and I made our way to the corrals and hung out a bit until she scooted up to her corral. I had plans to run/walk the half, which is strongly suggested for all Goofy/Dopey runners, as you don't want to burn out your legs the day before the full marathon. When my corral (corral L) finally started, it was 6:17am. I had already been up for 4 hours after having walked around Epcot all day the previous day. I definitely felt it in the first few miles too. It was really humid out already and I could feel sweat dripping off my face, and the sun hadn't even come up yet. My first 3 miles averaged a 14:30 pace. To put things into perspective, at the half marathon I ran in March of 2013, my first 3 miles averaged a sub-10:00 pace. Here where the Disney magic happened though -- I did not care at all about my pace. My usual M.O. is to compare everything I do with my absolute best, which usually results in me feeling awful about myself and disregarding any credit for what I am actually doing. The pace for each mile flashed on my garmin, and I would look at it, but they were just numbers. I don't think I would have reacted to it any differently if it had said 13:00 or 23:00. I was just out to complete a half marathon distance, and hopefully keep my legs feeling fresh enough to do twice as much the next day. After leaving the starting line, which is on a road surrounding Epcot, we ran north toward the Magic Kingdom. The gates to the Magic Kingdom appeared just after the 3 mile mark.
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| Beauty and the Beath! |
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| Cinderella Castle selfie |
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| Coming back into Epcot about a mile from the finish |
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| Slowanski Shufflin' |
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| Gospel choir just before mile 13 - sing me in, Jesus! |
Click here for part 2 - the next day's full marathon.
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