Marathon Day!
Total morning replay as Saturday. Early alarm, bagel, banana, and put on my costume. Ok, not exactly the same as Saturday.
Now one of my biggest question was answered. How would my legs feel after PR'ing the day before? Most people say that you should save your legs during the half-marathon portion of the Goofy Challenge so the marathon is manageable. I threw that caution out like a used gel packet. I did try to help myself by wearing my recovery socks pretty much all day Saturday and all night (yes, I slept in my recovery socks). My legs felt like I spent a day at the parks, so I was very content with that.
Speaking of costumes. I provided a few hints of our costume over the previous month (and a full on picture last week)....
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| Calf Sleeves |
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| Hat |
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| Shirt |
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| Tweedle Dee (me) and Tweedle Dum (Joe VI) |
Bring on the Race!
Today's running crew is Jill (who also ran the 5k), Jess, Joe VI, Ron, and Maureen. We never did see Maureen until after the race. It was all the same timing as the half marathon but we didn't have to wait to move from the port-a-potties to the start corrals. Pretty much everyone did a bag drop today. I decided to do so as well so TKB didn't have to lug around a bag of clothes for me all morning. Once everyone had finished prepping their fuel belts, we started the long trek to the corrals.
Ron, Jess, and Jill filling up their water bottles. Joe VI is probably in the bathroom for the third time.
A road sign on the way to the start corrals. Right before you enter the start corral area, they have another 50 or 60 port-a-potties. Of course we stopped.
Me (4th marathon), Jess (3rd marathon), Jill (FIRST Marathon), Ron (FIRST Marathon), Joe VI (2nd marathon)
This shot is of corral "C". We all hung out together for the start. Once 5:30 hit the first corral took off and about 8 minutes later, so did corral "B". We slowly inched up to the start line and after another 5 minutes, we took off (we were lined up in the very back of corral "C".
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| Jess and Jill talking race strategy, I think. It wasn't me taking a photo of their butts... I promise. |
Route
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| I'm pretty sure there is a better map out there than my Garmin data. |
The route started the same as the half marathon. At the mile marker 9 is where the route deviated. We ran through the speedway and then south towards Animal Kingdom (mile marker 14). Then a long run towards ESPN Wide World of Sports (mile marker 19). We then head into Hollywood Studios (mile marker 24) and then a nice scenic run by a river into Epcot for the finale!
At the entrance of the Magic Kingdom.
After the Magic Kingdom, trying to speed this thing along.
The entrance to the speedway.
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| From the RunDisney Facebook page. |
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| Found here. |
Somewhere around Animal Kingdom, I needed a Tweedle Dum-p.
Around mile 16, looking back at all the runners.
Apparently mile marker 20 was suppose to be something spectacular. Meh.
Heading into Hollywood Studios. Tower of TERROR!
Volunteers!
We stopped for a stretch in Hollywood Studios.
After four and half hours of having fun, we crossed the finish line!
Another very hot and muggy day. There were alerts from the Race Director to stay hydrated and "know your limits". I heard that local hospitals were overstaffed in case there were major issues. There were a lot of medical staff in the chutes encouraging people to drink.
Once we made it through the corrals, we stopped by a second tent and got our Goofy Challenge medals! We eventually made it out to the family meet-up area and found Lauren and TKB. Soon after we finished, Jess, Ron, and Jill crossed. We found Jill but not Jess and Ron:
Joe VI, Lauren, and family had left by this time. We eventually went back to the hotel to wait for everyone to show up. Jill decided to stink up the bed in our room.
TKB ran around and made ice baths for our feet.
All of my four medals... fully earned!
The plan for the rest of the day.... OK, there might have been some additional beverages consumed that had been put on hold for about four days.
Marathon Recap
- It was hot and muggy. Disney Marathon weekends have been known for their potentially crazy weather. A few years ago it was sleeting. This was one of the hottest marathons in the last 10 years.
- If you find yourself assigned in a late corral, move up if you can. I consider this marathon the "everyman's" marathon. That's not meant to be an insult. It's Disney! They do things awesome and many people choose this as their first marathon. This also means that you will find more walkers in the crowd. In fact, the recommended training plan is Jeff Gallaway's walk-run-walk plan. Move up if you don't want to deal with people walking every few minutes.
- Joe VI's costume idea was a major hit. We had people pre-race ask to take photos of us and with us. People cheered us on when running by crowds and through the aid stations. I felt like a little celebrity.
- "I PR'ed that Pit Stop" - Scotty B, January 13, 2013
- I need to learn how to use the locks better in the port-a-johns. No reason.
- Giving High Fives is a good interval workout. Whenever we were in crowds I took off to give everyone high fives (or high fours, for people with Mickey Mouse gloves), unfortunately I kicked up my pace when doing so. Besides that wearing me down, it is generally the worse route you can take around corners. I didn't care, I was having fun (and potentially acquiring the flu at the same time).
- I need a new fuel belt. I was wearing 4 gel packets. Once I took one out, the third one dropped. I gave Joe VI one of my remaining packets when the last one fell out. Oops.
- Specifically for Disney races... bring a camera! I had just purchased a Lumix TS4. It was fun to bring but I'm still learning how to use it. Too many blurry or foggy photos but that's likely a factor of the dark sky and muggy day.
- Do more photo race reports. Less chances for typos.
My Favorite Photo
This was taken from my Lumix camera so no need to spend $40 for it!
Monday
Monday was our last day at Disney. We all went to Magic Kingdom to ride some roller coasters and then off to Epcot for Fish and Chips and drinking around the world!!!
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| Magic Kingdom! |
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| Taking the mono-rail to Epcot! |
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| Jill enjoying beer #1 with some Fish and Chips |
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| Jess doing the same. |
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| Epcot at Night |
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| Rebecca and Jake, waiting for the Illuminations show. |
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| TKB and Jess |
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| Ron! |
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| Jess, Jill, and Jaime... getting comfy. |
This is it for the Disney trip! It was so much fun and I hope we built some great friendships over this as there are many of races to run together!
Also... be sure to check out Jill's blog for her race/spectator reports!
Also... be sure to check out Jill's blog for her race/spectator reports!
Loved your review! How did you make your shirts? The bf and I are running the Disneyland 10k and since it's Alice in Wonderland themed and because it's the only way he'll dress up- I really want to do the tweedles without adding extra fabric or weight to what we're already running in. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThe shirts were really just yellow tech shirts purchased at a sporting goods store and Joe cut out the collar out of white tech material and then blue bow ties were cut out of similar material. We tried to make them as light as possible since it was hot and humid out in Orlando.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to be at Disneyland 10k and half in September too! Dee & Dum may be making an appearance at the 10k as well. See you there! :)