I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

WOW!!
I don't even know where to begin... but this was one of the best days of my entire life! I am going to write out the complete story, along with pictures, so feel free to close this post NOW if you don't have time to read my novel.
On October 1, 2011 I ran my first half marathon. I only trained for 9 weeks, and that was coming from a base of 0 miles per week (coming off 6 weeks rest from IT Band Syndrome). I met my goal of under 2 hours (1:57) and it was pretty easy for me. Running a marathon has never been one of my goals, until I did the half. After running that half, and having it come so easily, I decided to go for the full. And what better time than NOW! I always heard great things about the Disney races and the timing worked out perfectly. 3 months after the half. I thought to myself that would be plenty of time to train from 13.1 to 26.2. I registered, booked flights, booked hotel, etc.
BOY WAS I WRONG. Nothing went according to plan. ABout a week after the half the faint pain I had in my foot got worse and worse... STRESS FRACTURE. No running for possibly 6 weeks! For 2 weeks I did nothing. I slowly added elliptical and bike workouts, and by 4 weeks I was able to run again without pain. But of course, more went wrong. We went on a 2 week vacation to Florida and I was only able to fit 2 runs in. My treadmill broke. Oh, and it started to get dark at 4pm. So everything was working against me. I used the elliptical often in place of my shorter runs, because I don't like running in the dark. In the 8 weeks leading up to the marathon these were my long runs: 10, 14, 7, 10, 17, 20, 10, 5, race. I was so undertrained it wasn't funny. BUT I decided to go for it since all was already paid for, and my goal became just to finish it. I would walk if I had to and I would enjoy it.
My aunt and I flew down to Florida on Friday around noon. By the time we got the rental car, checked into the hotel, and went down to ESPN's Wide World of Sports it was already almost 4pm. ESPN's Wide World of Sports was super crowded, but I was impressed at how organized everything was at the Expo. I had to wait behind only one person to get my packet... and there were over 50,000 packets to be picked up. They had a great Expo and I wanted to buy everything. The one thing I bought that I was super excited about was the iFitness Ultimate II Running Belt. Link! I had to some stuff to carry with me on race day and since the forecast was hot, I wouldn't have my running jacket with pockets. This belt held my Cell Phone (doubled as camera), ID, Disney Room Key, Credit Card, Cash, 4 Gels, toilet paper, band-aids, extra hair band, and chapstick. It did not bounce at all and I am totally in love with it.
AFter the Expo, we went to Downtown DIsney and had dinner at Planet Hollywood and did some window shopping. On Saturday, we went to Hollywood Studios bright and early. I had to get on the Rock N Rollercoaster! Around noon we went to the Magic Kingdom and met up with my sister's in-laws. Her FIL runs the half marathon every year, so we met up with them after his race. At around 3pm we watched the parade and then started to head home. This is when the nerves really started. I wanted to be sleeping by 6pm because I had to wake up by 2:30am on Sunday for the race. I have IBS and eating at weird times (like 2:30am) is not always a good thing for me. We got home and I ate a bagel with peanut butter, banana, and continued to have tons of water. I was in bed by 7pm... but I did not fall asleep til 11pm!!!! My mind was racing and I just could not fall asleep. So, I only got 3 hours of sleep before the race. NOT GOOD!
-to be continued-

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Sunday 2:20 am, alarm rings. Its race day!
I drank another bottle of water, and ate another bagel with peanut butter and another banana. I had it all planned out in my head where/when I would be stopping for water/poweraid/gels. (stopping at every water stop, alternating water and poweraid, and gels at miles 6, 12, 17 and 23). The forecast was 50 degrees at start, warming to about 75 degrees towards the end of the race. I wore a tank top and shorts. I was so stressed about NOT being able to wear my cw-x compression tights. My two friends who were also running convinced me that it would be too warm for them. These tights really do help my legs over the long distances, so I went with compression socks as a compromise. I wore throw-away fleece pants and jacket over my clothes. We were staying at the All-Star Sports hotel.
I went down around 3:30am to catch the Disney provided bus transportation to Epcot. There were plenty of busses and again I have to applaud Disney for being so organized! The atmosphere on the bus was strange. There was a sense of excitement, but at the same time it was dead silent. We got off the bus at Epcot and walked about 10 minutes to the Tent Area. All of the runners were gathered here. They had a DJ and about 10,000 port-a-potties. Again, very efficient and organized bag check. All of the runners walked through into another "holding" area and we soon began the 20 minute walk to the Corrals. They had 8 corrals labelled A-H for staggered start times. I was in Corral D. My 2 friends were also in Corral D, and we planned to meet there. Since they did not bring their phones, and there were thousands of people in each corral, I was not able to find them. I did meets tons of nice people though, and we anxiously waited together. They had some people interviewed and one stuck with me. There was a guy that was running his 7th Goofy Marathon (which is both the half and the full). They call this the Perfect Goofy since he has run them all since they started with the Goofy. They said he has been battling Pancreatic Cancer for the past 2 years and that he had just finished a round of chemo - WOW. As some of you know, we lost my mom to a short 11 month battle with Pancreatic Cancer and it got her fast. I was by her side through the chemo and I was absolutely amazed that this man was able to run. I told myself "if this can do the goofy, there is no excuse for me. I am doing this!" Soon enough, the wheelchairs lined up to start. FIREWORKS went off and everything got real. There was cheering, music, fireworks. Pure excitement! I ditched the pants and before I knew it, Corral D was lined up at the start!
Cell phone pic from the start:

And off we went! The first mile was awful. It was so crowded and I was zig zagging around people. By Mile 2-3 I broke free from the crowd, and we approached Epcot.

There were tons of spectators there and it was all very exciting. It was so hard for me to hold back and run "slow". I kept telling myself, you never ran over 20 miles... save some for the end.
Around Mile 5, we took took an exit ramp down and ran under the road we just came off of. I had to take this picture, but since I was moving when i took it, it is blurry. Those little black dots on the bridge were all people. It was insane!


The official results list my 5 mile split time at 50:17.

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Then we headed down the long stretch of highway to the Magic Kingdom. My sister's FIL was staying at the Contemporary which we were running right by (9-10 mile mark). He came down to cheer me on and that was nice to see someone you know cheering for you. I should mention, our bibs had our first names on them and all of the WONDERFUL race volunteers were cheering for us all by name the entire time. The volunteers were fantastic!

10 mile split: 1:39:45

Entering the Magic Kingdom was magical ! We entered on the side (my sister said its where the parade starts) and turned the corner onto Main Street USA. The sun was just rising and hitting the top of the castle. The street was filled with cheering spectators and it was such a magical feeling running down that road.
Cell phone pic:

We turned right and ran through tomorrowland, and back behind the castle.
Up until this point I hadn't stopped for pictures with any characters. I decided to make the most out of this experience and get those memorable pictures. I first stopped for Rapunzel because she only had 3 people on line. Shortly after that picture, we ran through the castle. WOW. I am not a "disney person" but there is just something about running through that castle that make you feel like a little kid again and you see Disney in a different way.
One of the Professional pics taken of me by the castle

Next we ran through adventureland and I stopped and waited on a 10 person line for woody. I told myself, "your goal is just to finish, are all of these pictures gonna add 10 minutes... so what!!"
Me and Woody:

Took this picture as we were exiting the Magic Kingdom. Mile 11.


Half Split time: 2:13:32

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Congratulations! My wife and I did the 2011! As you saw in my video. Thanks for watching and please keep sharing

So what is next?

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

We started running down a long highway stretch to Animal Kingdom.
I remember at the 16 mile mark looking at my watch and thinking, "wow, I feel great and am making good time even with all the stops. I can do this in 4:40."
I jinxed myself!
Just before mile marker 17, the pain started. I was calling it my hip at the time, but now I think it was my groin. Either way, every time I lifted my right leg there was a pain right where my leg joined my body. Like a little knife. Between 17 and 18 it got worse, and worse, and worse.
This is where it got mental. I started to panic and argue with myself. it went something like this:

-----
How the hell was i going to run another 9 miles with this pain! Its only going to get worse. I can't do this. I should just quit.
NO - quitting is not an option. I will get through this, somehow. Think of that man with pancreatic cancer. He is doing this, so will I.
But how can I go on 9 more miles like this? And now I am not going to make my goal of 4:40 - no way!
Wait, I just made up that goal 5 minutes ago. My real goal was just to finish - and I will!
But it would have been nice to run it in 4:40. HOW AM I GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS!
Snap out of it!
-----
I stopped at the medical tent and got tylenol. At this point we were at Animal Kingdom. I stopped in a real bathroom. Urine was clear - at least i wasn;t dehydrated! I washed the salt off my face. I layed down and stretched really well. I told myself, OK you had tylenol and stretched. You are good to go.

~Mile 17/18


I was really in a lot of pain. At this point, my whole right leg started to hurt. I guess my form was compromised, because next to happen was my hamstring got super tight. Then my ankle started hurting. All on the right side! I was running so slow. My mind was wandering and I was thinking about some convos I had with my brother about running. One day as we were leaving a race, we saw a straggler finishing a 5k in what must have been an hour. The poor guy was barely moving his feet and looked like he might not make it. I said to my brother "if he would have just walked, he would be done already" and my brother said "but then he didn't RUN a 5k". It was an argument we've had a few times before. My side was, if you can walk faster... then walk. His argument was, it is better to run the whole thing even if its slower. At this point I was running SLOW. The slowest I've ever run, I was about 11:40 pace and in pain. I started to walk and saw I could comfortable walk at 14:30 pace. Although the rest of my leg still hurt, I felt relief in the groin area where the main pain was. I love doing math calculations while I run, so I started calculating. If I walked a 14:30/15 min mile half the time, and then ran a 9/9:30 half the time, that brings me to approx the same average pace if i ran the whole thing slow and in pain. This became my plan. Instead of 50:50, I made it a 60:40 ratio running to walking to allow for water stops, bathroom, and photo ops. If I could do these intervals, that would allow me to finish under 5 hours. I concentrated on sticking to this plan and I honestly have to say, miles 19-23 are a big blur! I remember seeign Jeff Galloway on the course around mile 20, and a few steep entrance ramps that seemed like mountains. All of a sudden I was in Hollywood Studios. Wow, I made it to mile 23! How did that happen!
You can see the pain in my face, Hollywood Studios ~Mile 23
.
This was around 23.5 miles. Still pushing through the pain!

I remember, this was supposed to be a walk interval, but it was a fun street to run down with all the fans cheering.

Approaching Mile 24, I was told to squat and point a finger. Well, my legs wouldn't squat. i remember almost falling over.


Next we ran though the Disney Bpardwalk area. This is another place I barely remember. I concentrated on my intervals. Before I knew it, we were entering Epcot and the crowd was yelling "ONLY 2 MILES TO GO!" A lot of the runners picked up the pace. Sadly, i could not do any better than I was doing. Some people were flying by me, and there were others who looked like they were in pain like me.
This pic really shows the pain on my face as well as the other people behind me.

We entered Epcot by the OK and the bridge there seemed like another mountain. We ran around all of the countries and finally, there it was!

With less than a half mile to go I started thinking, how did I get here? Wasn't I just at Mile 18 ready to die? HOW DID I DO IT?!!!
We went behind the bathrooms to an alley way and I saw the 26 mile marker. Just past that was the most amazing choir. I swear, I almost started to cry. Just ahead I heard the crowd yelling to the runners "Around that bend you can see the finish line!!" When I got around the bend and saw the finish line, it was like the pain disappeared. There were massive amounts of people cheering. I felt like I was John Starks of the 96 Knicks. Crossing that finish line was the most unbelieveable feeling. YAY!!!
My chip time was 4:51:38.





I walked over to get my medal and then got another picture taken. I look awful!

I grabbed some poweraid from the food tent and chugged it, texted DH "I DID IT" and walked straight over to the massage tent. I paid for a 20 minute massage. I layed down on the table and when I opened my eyes I saw Randy Jackson! The massage guy was a look-alke of Randy Jackson... same glasses too.
He asked where it was hurting and I said "Just do my right leg the whole time" He said all my muscles were cramped and he started pushing down on my legs with fists. OUCH! He stretched me good too. I felt better after that and headed to the bus back to the hotel. I called my aunt at the hotel and told her to start filling the bathtub up with ice. When I got back I immediately went into the ice bath for 15 minutes. Getting in to the ice bath might have been worse than running the marathon! When I came out, my aunt had my peanut butter & jelly, grapes, and banana waiting for me. A few minutes later we left for the parks. We went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot until 8:30 that night - 6 more hours of walking!! I was sore, but I wanted to go on rides and continue to enjoy the weekend. I think it helped keep my legs loose too. I got my favorite Disney food for dinner, turkey leg!

The next day we went home.
I was never a "disney person" so I took this picture to send to my sister. Me in a mickey shirt! After this race, I am converted. I LOVE DISNEY now.

The whole experience was amazing. I can't imagine running a marathon anywhere else. There was entertainment every mile or less. High school bands and cheerleaders, all the different characters, antique cars, hot air balloons, DJs... I only listened to 5 total songs on my ipod the entire time! Everything was so organized and I am impressed with so many people how smoothly things went. I cannot stress enough how MAGICAL the whole experience was. I highly recommend this race to everyone!

Even though I didn't make my made-up goal of 4:40, I only came in 11 minutes slower at 4:51:38.

My overall place was 5744 out of 13478

out of females, I was 1995 out of 6315

In my division (F, 30-34) I was 367 out of 1014

So I think my stats were pretty good for my first marathon!


Thanks for letting me share!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

WOW!! You should be so proud! Heck, I don't know you and I am proud for you!! You are amazingly strong, physically and mentally. Awesome! Awesome!! I love the pictures and I am glad you enjoyed the experience so much. My DH wants to run this marathon and I am going to have him read your account of it. Thanks for sharing!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

AWESOME JOB!!!!


You don't look like you're in pain in any of those pics...and you look pretty darn good after just finishing a marathon!! Thank you for sharing your experience.

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

That was amazing! Congrats!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

WOW! You are so amazing & inspiring! Your post had me in tears! Thank you so much for sharing!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Wow, it really looks like it was an amazing experience! What an accomplishment...congratulations!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!


I'm tearing up just looking at the pictures! I know you were a little worried going into it and I've totally been there. So I know that feeling of crossing the finish line, there's nothing like it! And what an incredible time! So proud of you. I have to add this race to my list, those pictures are awesome! Congrats, Congrats, Congrats!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Posted by pinky

WOW! You are so amazing & inspiring! Your post had me in tears! Thank you so much for sharing!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Posted by Eireann

Posted by pinky

WOW! You are so amazing & inspiring! Your post had me in tears! Thank you so much for sharing!

Oh my gosh...same here!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Great job!!! I love how you can pose with the characters!!! That must be a great way to get through the last 10K!

You did great!

Welcome to the <1%!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Congratulations, an amazing story...good for you!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

u should be so proud of yourelf!!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Absolutely amazing! Only you can run 26.2 miles in FLORIDA and still look absolutely gorgeous!!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Great post! Congratulations on your first marathon! So...what's your next one?

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Congratulations!!! That is amazing! I'm doing my first Half in March and this inspires me so much!!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Thanks everyone! It really was the best experience. That day I said "I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!" but now that a few days have passed... My leg feels almost all the way better now. I ran 3 miles today pain free. I still have that pain going up or down stairs/inclines. I was so undertrained but it was my first, so if I ever attempt a marathon again I will make sure to train properly. That might mean no marathons for 5 years because I don't have enough time with 3 young kids to even think about it right now.

So for the rest of this year, I am excited to shatter my PRs for 5k, 10k, and half marathon. It really is all relative. A half marathon seems like a walk in the park to me right now. 5k is like a warm up. I can't wait to go back to Disney though. I am thinking of doing the Half next January, or the all girls Princess Half Marathon Feb 2013. I think I convinced my sister to try too.

Posted by jeanyus27

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!


I'm tearing up just looking at the pictures! I know you were a little worried going into it and I've totally been there. So I know that feeling of crossing the finish line, there's nothing like it! And what an incredible time! So proud of you. I have to add this race to my list, those pictures are awesome! Congrats, Congrats, Congrats!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Posted by julz33

Thanks everyone! It really was the best experience. That day I said "I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!" but now that a few days have passed... My leg feels almost all the way better now. I ran 3 miles today pain free. I still have that pain going up or down stairs/inclines. I was so undertrained but it was my first, so if I ever attempt a marathon again I will make sure to train properly. That might mean no marathons for 5 years because I don't have enough time with 3 young kids to even think about it right now.

So for the rest of this year, I am excited to shatter my PRs for 5k, 10k, and half marathon. It really is all relative. A half marathon seems like a walk in the park to me right now. 5k is like a warm up. I can't wait to go back to Disney though. I am thinking of doing the Half next January, or the all girls Princess Half Marathon Feb 2013. I think I convinced my sister to try too.

Posted by jeanyus27

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!


I'm tearing up just looking at the pictures! I know you were a little worried going into it and I've totally been there. So I know that feeling of crossing the finish line, there's nothing like it! And what an incredible time! So proud of you. I have to add this race to my list, those pictures are awesome! Congrats, Congrats, Congrats!

Thanks so much! And all the FMing we did was really helpful. Thanks again!

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

I got all teary reading it all. What an amazing accomplishment! So proud of you!!!!

And I love Disney after how they treated us last time we went.

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Wow! Awesome job!
I was tearing up reading your story.

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

congrats on a job VERY WELL DONE!!! i know the feelings you felt quite well and truly enjoyed your very descriptive post on it. you did it!!!!-what an amazing accomplishment!

ETA i'm glad your a converted Disney fan-it is such an wonderful place!

Message edited 1/14/2012 9:57:00 PM.

Re: I did it!! Disney Marathon 2012! (LONG)

Congrats! Glad you had a good experience (minus the pain!). Disney is such an awesome race. I've done it twice and hope to go back to go Goofy someday.