Disney Marathon Weekend

Obviously I've been falling behind on these blog updates again, so in an effort to catch up, the next few post won't be nearly as detailed as they probably should be...sorry!

In the days surrounding the weekend of January 10, Lori, Matt, and I spent 4 wonderful days (albeit really cold and sickly for some of us) in Walt Disney World. The main reason for the trip was to run the Disney Marathon. This would be Lori's 1st marathon, Matt's 3rd, and my 4th. The main reason we chose this marathon was because of the relatively (to the rest of the country) mild conditions in January... normal high's in upper 70's and lows in mid 50's. We didn't want to take a chance at a location with the potential for being much colder because Lori's body doesn't handle the cold very well.

Day 1 - Friday

Cold, windy, and light rain (off and on). After flying in, and checking in at the Wilderness Lodge, we went to the race expo at the soon to be renamed ESPN Wild World of Sports (which is a pretty cool complex) to pick up our race packets/goodies. The expo was huge, crowded, hot, and a little overwheming. After coordinating our watches, we split up and a did some expo perusing/shopping. Once re-united, we each had some things that peaked our interest and wanted to make sure the others had seen them. One item that we unanimously were attracted to were these paper thin tyvek coats and pants. You see, the forecast for race day was mid 20's with a wind chill in the teens (obviously the basis for our decision months earlier was more than slightly incorrect). We knew we would have to be outside in the elements for over an hour and a half before the race started...at 10 bucks a piece we couldn't resist and neither could thousands of others. We headed back back to the Lodge mainly to drop my sickly self off. I had been sick all week leading up to this with a plethora of symptons, but mainly I just just felt like crap. Lori and Matt headed to Dowtown Disney while I took what was supposed to be a short nap. 14 hours later, I finally wake up, feeling slightly better but still crappy (and hungry).

Day 2 - Saturday

We woke up to a colder, windier, and rainier (is that even a word...I know it's a mountain) mixed with sleet morning. We quickly realized that the half-marathoners were racing in these conditions and were thankfull it wasn't us...yet. We headed off to spend the day at the Animal Kingdom. i think the highlite of the day for me was riding Expedition Everest (oh, and the massive Tree of Life was pretty cool). It was literally freezing cold which added to the experience... that Disney magic is something else! Lori's favorite part of the day had to be the parade, or was it the giant turkey leg she ate, hmmmm? Not sure what Matt's favorite part was. The creepiest, oogiest, most uncomfortable part of the day for all of us had to be this strange padded, dark, booth-like room where we listened to and "felt" a rainforest for what seemed like an hour.

Day 3 - Sunday

Race Day! We woke up around 4am because we had to be on a bus by 4:30am to get to the start line. As expected, Lori looked nervous...I'm not sure if it was the frigid weather or the race that had her more nervous. One step outside and we knew it was as cold as the weather channel said it was... 26 degrees with a windchill of 16! After a short albeit warm bus ride, we were forced back out in to the elements to play the waiting game for over an hour. There were racers by the thousands looking for any possible shelter from the wind. I even stood in line for the port-a-potty just so I could get out of the wind for a couple minutes. A half hour of standing and shivering later we followed the masses for the mile long walk to the starting corrals where we would stand shivering for another half hour. I was amused at the thousands of racers (in cluding us) in white tyvek suits. It was as if we were about to run a marathon in a recently contaminated Disney World. Then I was amused at the racers who hadn't gotten the memo. Then my thoughts shifted back to how cold I was.

Eventually the race started with a bang! Multiple bangs from the fireworks show...really cool! Yes, it was still dark and would be for at least another hour. And we're off! Ok, we walked for the first 3 or 4 minutes because it was so crowded. The first mile was entertaining watching (and participating) everyone shed layers and launching the clothes through the air. The ground was covered in clothes (note: all of the clothes were donated to charity, I wonder if they washed the 50,000 pieces first?). By the end of Mile 1, my removable layers were gone. By the end of Mile 2, I was sweating profusely, coughing continuously, and felt terrible. 2 Miles in and I already knew that this might not have been a good idea. The sweating reminded me to drink early and often, which I did. Unfortunately, the water and powerade at the first aid station was freezing...literally. There was a layer of ice on top! By mile 4, I couldn't take the continuous coughing anymore and it was really hard to breathe at the my goal pace of 8:55, so I accepted that today was not the day to try and break 4 hours. I settled into a pace (around 10:30) that allowed me to breathe and minimize the coughing and my focus shifted to mearly finishing. It was tough having those thoughts only 5 miles in to a 26.2 mile race. Several frozen aid stations and a visit to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom later, we reached the halfway mark.

I enjoyed a frozen banana at mile 14. Miles 16 thru 18 took us throught the Animal Kingdom which was surprisingly hilly (OK, hilly might be an exageration, but 18 miles in you really start to notice the slight uphills/downhills). The coughing returned with a vengence as we ran past Expedition Everest so slowed the pace even more. I zoned out for the next few miles (love when that happens) but snapped out of it at the aid station at mile 21 where I took my first sip of water all day that wasn't frozen. Apparently, the temperatures had soared into the mid 30's over the last few hours. Mile 22 - 24 took us through Hollywood Studios. As I exited Hollywood Studios I realized that I was in danger of not even breaking 5 hours. My pace over the last 6 miles or so was a little too comfortable. I immediately picked up the pace as we entered Epcot for the last couple miles. Within 3 minutes, I was coughing uncontrolably again and was forced to walk until the spell subsided. Oh yeah, that's why I was running so slow! This little run-cough-walk-run-cough-walk-etc routine continued to the finish line where I was greeted by Mickey Mouse in a blistering 4:58!

I met up with Matt and Lori who both had great races clocking in at 3:20 and 3:57!!! Here are some pictures of them.

We made our way back to the lodge, cleaned up and ate. My sickly self (look familiar) only wanted to lay down and sleep again so I did that for about 6 hours while Lori and Matt went to Hollywood Studios. Now extremely stiff, I hobbled to Downtown Disney to meet them for supper.  This is probably a good time to mention that we ate a lot that weekend!

Day 4 - Monday

We spent Monday at the Magic Kingdom doing all of the things you do at Magic Kingdom the most "memorable" of which was riding Space Mountain. You see, when you're stuffed in this tiny tube riding a roller coaster the day after a marathon and everything is stiff and soar, the screams and painful yelps leave lasting memories. The Carousel of Progress was a far more pleasant ride... you sit in a comfortable padded seat while the carousel occasionally rotates smoothly and slowly. We finished the day watching the fireworks show which is amazing (especially to Lori) how they are able to time the explosion exactly with the music.

Day 5 - Tuesday

Epcot day. Did all the Epcot stuff capped off by another spectacular fireworks show. It was slightly warmer that day which was nice.

All in all, great trip! I highly recommend the Disney Marathon. It was neat running through the parks...between the parks sucked a little, but the entire course was littered with spectators and Disney characters. Between the 2 races there over 50,000 participants!

Below are some candids from the trip that amuse me.  They are in no particular order.  Briefest description possible as follows:  I'm famous for U-turns; Matt found his hat...fitting don't you think...get it, fitting; Swiss Family stairs post-marathon; Post-turkey leg; monkey at heart; that was close; straight up gangsta; he is alive!; terror; Matt's so tall; Look, it's Lori's bike chain!