Expedition Everest Challenge 2013 Race Report Part 2-The Race

After two days of volunteering and a mostly rained-out attempt at the Magic Kingdom Friday night, I decided to chill out in my room Saturday afternoon instead of heading to a park.  I thought I might take a nap, but I might have fallen asleep for maybe 20-30 minutes max...I spent most of the time eating lunch and then reading instead.

Headed to the start area not too early--this year it was a 10pm start.  The weather was pretty good for this time of the year-71 with a little breeze and not too humid (for Florida...it's all relative anyway).  I arrived and just wandered around until I saw Steve, Katie and their daughter (Running of the Ears friends), then I hung out with them for a bit.  I didn’t see any other ROTErs (though I knew some were there), but some of my local friends arrived and we got a quick pic before heading over to the corrals (borrowed the pic from my friend Amy at The Point One Will Getcha! since mine had icky lighting, thanks Amy!).  

This year for the corrals, instead of the individuals going in the first corral and the teams coming after, we were assigned corrals by pace.  There were corrals A-H; I was in F...kind of a bummer after getting to start in the first corral the last two years.  The corrals themselves were not big enough to fit everyone so we were spilling out the back of it.  As each wave was sent off and we moved closer to the front, we were finally able to fit into the chute...also the closer to the front, they had “snow” falling onto us from high above.  Our wave wound up starting at 10:30pm.

One thing that bugged many of us-even though corrals were supposedly assigned by pace (you had to indicate your anticipated pace when you registered), as each corral was sent off, you could see that every single corral (even corral A) had people at the very back walking-and not necessarily a fast walk either.  I had been honest about my pace when I registered-I was thinking they’d still have individuals first, probably ordered by pace, then teams the same way so I figured I still wouldn’t be at the back, even indicating that I would be one of the slowest paces...I didn’t know they would put individuals and teams mixed into every corral based on pace.  While I wasn’t put in the last corral, I thought they may have moved me up based on my times (5K and scavenger hunt) from last year. 

Since I hadn’t done much running-mostly walking-in the months leading up to the race, I started off at a brisk walk and figured I’d add in running if I felt up to it.  The course started off like the last two years, around the parking lot until we came to the first obstacles-the hay bales to hurdle over.  I did run through this-it’s a lot easier to hurdle hay bales when you’re running than when you’re walking.

Then on into the park for a bit before heading backstage.  They changed up the course a bit so we saw some different backstage portions than before.  The second obstacle was the tires.  They had a long line of tires set up (like what you used to see football players go through) and by the time I got there, it was a sea of people one after the other in a big line going thru them.  There were about 7 or 8 people waiting to start the tires in each line, and since I’m a clumsy one, I skipped it and went off-road around them.  The final obstacle was the net to crawl under, but again this year I couldn’t fathom crawling down there with the dirt being kicked up--I have enough problems with my allergies as it is...and so I went around this one too.  I probably would’ve gotten through it faster if I crawled since the sand around it was soft and not conducive to any kind of fast pace at all.

After crossing the 5K finish which was back outside of the park (not my slowest 5K time ever, but still pretty slow for me at 54:40, a 17:35 pace...but I did walk almost the whole thing), I got my first clue.  I was only handed the clue card and flashlight, and asked about a marker, but was told I wouldn’t need one.  Here’s Clue #1:

“Zero in” told me to look for the zeroes and once I did, you could see they made the letters “NW” for Northwest.  Told the volunteer at the first station just outside the entrance to the park my answer and I was given Clue #2:

“Heads up”-start at the top, “high and low”, go up and down...to get Northeast.  On to Camp Minnie-Mickey, gave my answer and got Clue #3:

This one I got immediately.  26--easy, that’s the number of letters in the alphabet, 19 and 23 are the letters S and W for Southwest.  Hurried to Africa, gave my answer and got Clue #4:

Okay, this one stumped me for a bit (and many other people).  I understood from the hints that I should start at the top line and look down the rows to get the answer but for the life of me I couldn’t see where in the top line to start.  Finally saw “nor” from normally, next line right below that was “the”, then right under that was the “ast” from “fast” which gives you Nor-the-ast...Northeast...and on to Asia for the Final Clue (#5).  When I got there, tons of runners were sitting all over the ground trying to figure out this clue:

So basically we had to put the other 4 clues together, turning them the correct way based on each clue’s answer to get this:

See the symbol in the middle?  We were supposed to point at the flag on our bib that had that symbol after we crossed the finish so the volunteer would know we solved it before we got our medal.  Me?  Yeah, I had no idea...just like all those other people who were sprawled everywhere trying to figure it out.  Since I knew we had to use the previous clues to solve the final one, I kept looking at them and the only thing that popped out at me was the colors the clues were printed on-blue for the first one, white for the second, red for the third and green for the fourth.  My not-so brilliant idea was, hey, we didn’t use yellow for those...and the final clue was on yellow, so I’ll just point to the yellow flag, right?  Yeah, not so much.  I headed to the finish line.

The volunteer I went to for my medal was one that I had worked with that morning at the refreshments table, and when I pointed to the yellow flag, she said, “ah, no...um, rhymes with right...”.  Oh.  Okay.  So I pointed to the white flag with a silly grin and she draped my medal around my neck.  White? Huh?  I got my banana, Clif Bar and Powerade and hung out after the finish chute waiting for Amy and her hubby (our other friends are way faster than us and were already done and back in the park).  She explained how the last clue was supposed to work.  I wasn’t about to try to figure it out again then, so we headed on into the park for the After-Party.

In addition to the rides in Dino-Land being open, they also had Kali River Rapids and the headliner, Expedition Everest available to ride.  I had been looking forward to that all night!  And what’s even better than riding Expedition Everest at night (the absolute best time to ride it!)? Sitting in the front row of course!  We rode twice before I decided to call it a night.

Overall I had a great time-this is still my favorite Disney race and I’ll keep coming back every year if I’m able.  My overall time this year was slower, in part due to my much slower 5K portion (2011 I did 47:17 and 2012 I did 48:44 for the 5K part) but also due to the difficulty of this year’s clues.  My final overall time?  1:32:42.  Women, 355/608; 599/954 overall in the individuals.  The 5K portion was of course 3.1 miles; the scavenger hunt added another 1.73 miles for a total of 4.83 miles for the entire race.  And for those interested, here’s the crazy overall map from my Garmin:

Have you ever done a 5K “Adventure” race like this?  Would you ever want to try the Expedition Everest Challenge?

Remembering Determination and the Importance of Support

Yes, I know I haven't posted for a couple of weeks but I'll address that in a different post.  I wanted to get back to the blogger challenge and catch up a bit.  I'm skipping the day 13-15 topic...I did two posts for the day 10-12 topic so in my mind, that makes up for the skip ;-)

So the next topic was to pick any picture from your Facebook or Instagram pics and write about it.  You can see the pic I chose above; I actually didn't take the photo (obviously, I'm the one the red hat!).

This photo was taken by a ROTE friend during the 2011 Disney full Marathon as I was making my way from World Showcase in Epcot toward Future World.  I would guess this around mile 25.5, maybe a bit farther, and by that point my feet were killing me, my back was sore and all I was thinking was "just keep walking, don't stop, one foot in front of the other".  I was focused straight ahead when I heard one of the ROTErs, Joey shouting at me, "You're doing it Carra!"  I saw him walking with someone else-I can't for the life of me remember who-toward World Showcase and waved.  He is the one who actually posted this picture on Facebook and tagged me in it (thank you Joey!), and was the last ROTEr I saw before I crossed the finish line.

Even though my body was overwhelmingly sore, tired and ready to just collapse by that point, hearing and seeing people I knew cheering for me continued to lift my spirits and drive me on.  I didn't stop-even though I really wanted to have the Photopass photographer take my picture when I got by the fountains in Future World-I knew if I stopped I'd never get going again and I just wasn't going to let that happen with the finish line so close.  I was DETERMINED to get my Mickey medal!

My point in choosing this particular picture?  The importance of support.  When I first started my journey into the running world, I happened to come across an online forum of people who were runners who loved Disney and running Disney races.  I've made a lot of friends from that forum and having them online for support, advice and friendship before and after races and especially along the course cheering me and everyone else on is invaluable and tremendously motivating.  I can tell you without any doubt in my mind that I would have never been able to finish that race if it wasn't for my ROTEr friends-especially those I saw from the point of exiting Animal Kingdom through the end of the race.  They helped spur me on and get me going enough to leave those sweepers in the dust.

I gave shout outs to them in my 2011 Disney Full Marathon Race Report post, but I just wanted to recognize and thank them again-Joey (of course-you're always there with such kind and supportive words before and after races), Erica (super big hugs!), Tracy, and especially Colleen and Dawn-if you two hadn't of been there outside of Animal Kingdom, I would never have been able to dig so deep and start running to get away from the sweepers that were closing in-seriously.

Don't ever underestimate the power of your support crew-whether they are there so you can just hand off a jacket, grab a drink, pass you some Twizzlers or just clap/cheer/ring a cowbell/hold a sign...or scream your name, jump up and down or honk their horn as they're driving by you on the course.  They'll help keep you going and give you that push you need to make it across that finish line.

And if you're looking for a group that will do all that for you-and so much more-be sure to check out Running of the Ears.  I know you'll be glad you did.  Here's some pics of the group:

This pic is from the Monday after the 2010 Marathon Weekend (my first half marathon)

A bunch of ROTErs at Downtown Disney at the start of race weekend 2010

A bunch of us volunteering at the mile 13 water stop at the 2010 Disney full marathon (see our red hats?)

Group shot before the 2012 Princess Half Marathon

Group shot before the 2012 Tower of Terror 10-Miler

Do you have a support group for your running/walking/racing?

Ya Gotta Have a Goal Part 1

I’m addicted to Disney.  Most of you already know this...after all, my blog description up there at the top of the page does mention my “Disney obsession”.  One of my favorite things to do is plan my next trip to Walt Disney World.  I’ve even start planning (and booking and paying deposits on) trips that come after ones I haven’t even taken yet.  Many of those trips have been for runDisney events (8 events, 7 trips to run them with two more coming up); even more-LOTS more-have been just to go have fun in the parks.  I’ve been going to Walt Disney World for 35 years now, usually several times a year since I’ve been an adult.  Being at WDW just makes me happy-whether I’m riding the rides or just wandering around the parks people-watching; the whole Disney atmosphere just draws me in.

I love the planning and booking so much, I’ve started an additional career centered around it.  In case you missed it in a previous post, I became an independent travel agent, specializing in Disney destinations.  I can actually book any kind of travel (and have), but Disney is my main concentration.  Do what you love, right?  And lately I’ve been laying the groundwork to start really growing that business...more on that in a bit.

I also love doing Disney races (that fact I’m positive you already figured out...you have, right?  Well, unless this is the first post of mine you’re reading).  Races in general are fun for me and I’m one of those people who loves the bling.  But being able to do races at my favorite place in the world?  That makes it a thousand times better.  But Disney races don’t come cheap and certainly aren’t going to start going down in price.  I know there are many people out there that are thinking twice about them due to how costly they are becoming.  I may eventually become one of those people if the prices go too high, but that’s a decision for the future...hopefully far in the future.  Though even if the cost of the races themselves get to high, I’d still go to volunteer (my new favorite thing to do at Disney races when I’m not running one) and to cheer my friends on with my sparkly Running of the Ears sign.

GO ROTE!

A ROTE friend who was running snapped this one of me (thanks Gina!)

Anyway, the point is one of the reasons I went into business for myself was to help earn money to pay for my Disney (and Disney race) obsession...among other things.  And that’s where the growing-my-business part comes in to play.

So that is my goal right now-growing my business.  I’m working on a few things regarding marketing.  And I want to create a tie with my other blog, The Disney World Files as well--I believe that my blog and my business complement each other and each can help the other thrive.  It takes a lot of time to do the behind-the-scenes stuff; but for me it is so very worth it.  If you have the time and inclination, I’m always looking for feedback on my website, www.enchanteddreamvacations.com as well as my blog at www.thedisneyworldfiles.com (don’t worry, as long as you’re offering constructive criticism you won’t hurt my feelings-I know there are things I can do better).

And while this is an important goal for me, it’s not the only one I have-hence the “part 1” in the title of this post.  Part 2 will be coming shortly...stay tuned friends...

Race Recap-Tower of Terror 10 Miler

So this should be subtitled “the race report I never wanted to write”.  That may clue you in to where this is headed, but I’ll tell you everything anyway.

I set out early Friday morning to drive up to WDW so I could be at the expo when it opened.  The packet pickup and expo went like most all other WDW ones and I got through pretty quickly.  The only real difference was the expo size-it was much smaller than what you’d see during Marathon Weekend (where every millimeter of floor space is used to its fullest) which is what I’d expected. We got a cool tech shirt that glows in the dark and as I was expecting with the corral assignments made public beforehand, my bib # put me in the last corral (D).  I was a little disappointed about that since the only Disney race I’ve been in the last corral for was my very first one, but considering the shorter distance and only 4 regular corrals I guess I knew it was going to be like that.

I rested up Friday afternoon since I went to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party that night (LOVE the Halloween Party!).  I honestly can’t remember what I did on Saturday before getting ready to head to the race.  I ate a late lunch/early dinner, nothing different than what I’ve had for my other night races.  I was a bit concerned about the weather.  Not rain, but the humidity since the forecast was trending high.  We went to the start area early and met up with a bunch of the ROTErs and hung around chatting.  

Once it was time to start heading to the corrals I tried to make my way to the front of D, but there were SO many people it made it pretty hard.  I was finally able to get almost all the way to the front-I wanted as much room between me and the last person starting as possible.  Finally it was corral D’s turn to set off.  I was already sweating from standing in the huge mass of people...it didn’t help that it was still 80 degrees with 80% humidity (yes, you read that right).

I started off fine, walking a bit more than I normally would but still keeping my pace where it needed to be for Disney’s standards.  The first part of the course was an out-and-back down Osceola Parkway which was neat since you got to see the runners on the other side going the opposite direction and could shout out to each other when you saw someone you knew (or just random strangers if you really felt like it LOL).

Now, like I said I was keeping pace--so when the balloon girls (the Disney pacers who start after the last person crosses the start line and keep the 16 minute mile pace) had caught up to me by mile 3, I was wondering what the heck??  One of them I remembered from Princess, and it seemed they were doing the same thing I saw at Princess--once they would get to a mile marker they would stop for a bit since it seemed they were actually ahead of pace so they needed to pause to let the clock catch up to them.  So I was kind of concerned...especially when I really started to feel the humidity after mile 4.

Yes, I train in the heat and humidity since I live down here in SoFla where 80+ degrees and 80% or even 90% humidity is a regular thing (and it was like that throughout ToT training too).  But that night, it felt so much worse and actually made it hard to breathe properly when running-I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath...and so after mile 4 I was down to walking.  And after mile 4 I couldn’t see the balloon girls anymore.  But I wasn’t giving up.  I was going to keep going as fast as I could, period.  I was hydrating properly (and had for the days leading up to the race too) but the humidity was just so draining physically and it was making me feel a bit nauseated.

I think it was just after I hit mile 5 that the turn into Wide World of Sports came and we were on a dirt road for a while--which I hated.  I kept watching the ground, worried I was going to step wrong on a rock or something.  And that’s when I really started feeling the chafing from the huge amount of sweat making everything I was wearing wet (and in places you never want to chafe.  Don’t ask.).  But I kept going.  Through the stadium (which honestly didn’t wow me) and around the track, then back out to the WWoS exit.  As I was getting slower and slower-down to an 18 minute, then 19 minute mile there were fewer and fewer runners (well, walkers by then) all the way at the back.  But there were still people behind me...though many were starting to take the option of climbing into the extra-long golf cart that was trundling along at the back.

I refused to stop.  Once out of WWoS and back on the road, I knew I wouldn’t be finishing.  Just after the 7 mile point, one of the big charter buses was sitting right on the course (they normally position them off to the side on a side road or an off-ramp) along with one of the police cars positioned in such a way as to say “your race ends here”.  A man with a clipboard was waiting by the front of the bus to tell us that unfortunately, we’d have to stop there as they had to get the roads opened back up (um, for who?  It was right at midnight by then and we were only 3...miles...away...from...finishing).  There were several people who started to cry once they reached that point (and yes, I felt like it but held it back) and one guy who embraced his girlfriend/wife/SO to console her when they were stopped and her tears started to fall.

This is the first time I have ever been swept in any race.  I may have seen the bicycle people with their little orange flags and been passed or played leapfrog with the balloon girls before...but I was never swept.  Until now.

As we were ushered onto the bus, a runDisney person had a clipboard that she wrote our first name and bib numbers on as we boarded.  We were offered water and Powerade so I grabbed a bottle of water but just the thought of drinking the Powerade made my stomach do flips since that nauseous feeling was still happening.  I dropped into a seat and felt so tired and worn out--so horribly worse than I felt after doing the Disney full back in 2011 and the back-to-back days of halfs when I did the half marathon and marathon relay back in January 2012.  I didn’t want to move from my seat.  The runDisney person climbed on board the bus with us once the last person had been loaded.  She tried to be perky and smiling, saying we did a great job but we all knew she was just trying to cheer us up.  It didn’t work.

The bus dropped us near where the finish chute let out (I know it was after the finish line   since the runners coming by already had their medals).  We walked through a tent where we were handed a bottle of water and what I thought at the time was some food.  I wasn’t paying attention to what they were giving me since my stomach wasn’t very happy and I was looking around for anyone I knew and the way out, just trying to keep moving forward.  It wasn’t until after I was past the tent and trying to juggle what was in my hands that I realized the girl at the tent had handed me a medal, not some snack.

I know all the controversy there is surrounding medals for those who didn’t finish.  By the time I saw what I had, I was too far down to go back (I just felt awful and wanted to get where I was going and just be done)...so I just wrapped it up and zipped it away in my pocket.  I wasn’t about to hang it around my neck.

I saw Kimberly from ROTE and congratulated her, admitting that I was actually swept.  Actually saying that was so strange.  (It was great to see a familiar, friendly face after that, thanks for your kind words Kimberly!)

I finally made it out of the backstage area and into Hollywood Studios.  I texted my SIL and went to the Indiana Jones show area to pick up the bag I had checked.  Waiting in that line, going down the steps to the stage area and then back up the steps to get out I could feel the waves of nausea wanting to overcome me.  But I held on.  Once out I met up with my SIL and her friends (one was worse off than me).  I was craving some kind of soda, and made do with a bottle of Coke from one of the carts.  It actually made my stomach feel better when I drank it (and the burping helped too).  I still felt crummy so headed back to the hotel for the night.  I wasn’t in the mood for celebrating.

One thing was upsetting to me.  There was a large stretch of the course that was comprised of the out-and-back.  I actually saw several people cut from my side over to the other side, totally cutting out the WWoS section of the course.  At some of the points I saw people cut over well before WWoS, some cut from 2-2.5 miles off their course.  That just pissed me off.  Here I was, pushing as hard as I could given the conditions, not stopping until I was made to do so, covering every mile of the course as it was laid out.  Sure, I could have cut across--and though the thought of it was tempting once I hit that mile before WWoS, I have never cheated in a race and wasn’t about to start, even if I knew it might mean getting swept.  There were some people around me asking each other, “are they really cutting across?” and saying, “that’s just not right”.  Uh-huh, yeah.

Anyway.  Oddly enough (or maybe it was just a sign, or my body telling me something, or whatever), in the weeks leading up to the race and especially the day of and our waiting time right before the race started, I just had this “feeling”.  It was kind of a nervous butterfly feeling, you know?  It just felt wrong.  Even on days where my training was going great and I was excited for the cool new medal...I felt “fluttery”.  I don’t know.  

And so that’s my report.  The one I never wanted to have to write.  And I never want to write another one like it again.

Oh, and the medal?  I’ve never put it around my neck.  It’s not on my rack...and I'm not posting a picture of it.  And now I’ve got a sticker on it that says “DNF, 7.12 miles”.  It’s just sitting on a shelf.  It will never hang on my rack, but it is a reminder for me...and motivation to never let it happen again.  And yes, I’ll be back to try again...the whole redemption thing, right?

2012 Princess Half Marathon Weekend Recap

Yes, I’m aware it is almost 11 months later, but hey-I figure if a year hasn’t passed yet, I’m okay posting my recap.

This was my first time doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  I’d actually been to the Princess Half Marathon Weekend before...you may or may not remember that the Royal Family 5K in 2009 during the inaugural Princess Weekend was not only my first Disney race, it was my first race of any kind-ever.  I remember when I was getting ready to check out of my hotel that Sunday (the day after the 5K), runners had already started coming back to the hotel with the shiny Princess Half bling hanging around their necks and that was the first time I thought, “I want one of those!”.  And thus this whole crazy ride started.

I was originally going to be heading up to WDW by myself, but then turned it into a mother-daughter weekend instead, bringing my mom along with me.  If you think I’m a huge Disney fan, I’ve got nothing on my mom.  Plus this would be the first time she’d be there for one of my races...so I was looking forward to a fun weekend.

The expo on Friday was just like most other Disney race expos, though not quite as large and crazy as the Marathon Weekend expo can be.  Packet pickup went smoothly as always, and I wound up in corral G.  Since the corrals went to H that meant I’d be in the next to last corral...so at least a little cushion there.  Erica from ROTE was working at the SparkleSkirts booth and after introducing mom, Erica continued calling her “Carra’s Mom” for the weekend.  After, mom and I spent time at Magic Kingdom getting lots of Photopass pictures taken and enjoying our favorites-the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes.

Saturday we checked out Animal Kingdom, taking more Photopass pics until a little after lunchtime, then headed back to the hotel for relaxing and an early bedtime since those 3am buses on Sunday would be coming up pretty quickly!

I brought my mom along to the family area where I met up with the other Running of the Ears peeps at the H tent.  I introduced her to some of my friends and asked if she could follow some of them who would be cheering over to the Magic Kingdom until it got light outside (thank you so much Steve!).  Once it came time to head to the corrals, I made my way over while mom hung with the cheering ROTErs until they went to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  It was a bit cool out...I also did have a cheap poncho in my pocket just in case since the forecast was looking like it could rain.

Once in my corral I got as far forward as possible.  My speed was not really where I wanted it to be and I wanted to make sure I got as much cushion as I could to avoid those pesky sweepers.  Once we were on our way, the race was pretty uneventful...I didn’t stop for any characters and I was already familiar with the course from the Disney Half Marathons I’ve done.  The cool temperatures made it easier to keep up my pace.  I did start seeing the bicycle people with their little orange flags around mile 7.5 or so.  Around the time I got to mile 9 the weather had gotten a bit misty out but I didn’t bother breaking out the poncho.  There’s one lady from the bike people who would ride by letting us know how far ahead of pace we were.  I’ve seen her at previous WDW races and she’s pretty good at keeping the runners informed.  

Once I hit about mile 9.5, I was just so tired of trying to keep my pace up-I’d stopped doing any intervals a couple miles before.  I think after doing the back-to-back halfs during Marathon Weekend, then the ING Half three weeks later, then Princess was just taking its toll.  But I kept going and pushing because what was foremost in my brain was the fact that my mom was going to be at the finish and I didn’t want to get swept at a race she came to see.  Between mile markers 10 and 11 was the hardest...because just after 10, the pace girls with those blasted balloons passed me at that point.  During mile 10 my pace had dropped to around 17:30/mile.  

As I and my fellow runners/walkers were pushing through mile 11 towards a looping turn that would take us toward the final approach to Epcot, a couple of us asked one of the male bike guys if there were any more sweep points.  He said ,”Nah, no more” and looked very relaxed just hanging out on the side of the course as he was watching us go by.  We made a looping turn toward our last overpass when the lady bike person came around again.  She wasn’t saying anything about how far behind pace we were, so we asked again about sweep points.  She kind of fumbled her response with a ,”Um, well, you just need to keep on going, keep on moving forward”.  We looked at each other (us runner/walkers that is) and we knew we were safe--you could tell she was trying to say something to keep it vague so we wouldn’t just slow to a crawl without actually saying there were no more sweep points.

And so yes, I did slow a little, maybe by 15 seconds/mile until I passed the 12 mile point-knowing by then I was definitely not getting swept.  At that point it was kind of drizzly out and I was not going to rush it anymore.  I wound up finishing in 3:45 and some change...and finally got that Princess bling around my neck!

Once I stopped moving I got chilly and the line for the bus back to the resort was waaaaaaaaay long so mom and I hung out in the empty bag check tent to stay warm (mom was freezing from mostly standing in the wet and cold) until the line went down, then hopped the bus back to the hotel.  We both wound up taking a nap for a couple of hours to rest and warm up before heading out to a celebratory meal at Outback.

Sunday night was Epcot, then Monday was Hollywood Studios and a little more Epcot (taking lots more Photopass pics of course!) before finally heading home.  It really was a great weekend, especially being able to spend it with my mom, so we had a fun girls’ weekend-appropriate for Princess, don’tcha think?  As we were driving home, mom asked if I could let her know when we could see the Photopass pictures online after we got home since she would probably want to get some of us.  That’s when I sprung a little surprise on her...that we’d be getting ALL of them since I’d be getting the Photopass CD (thanks to a bunch of ROTE friends sharing discs!).  While it took me a while to get around to copying the pictures over onto a disc for her, I did finally get it to her along with a framed 5” x 7” of one of my favorite pics from the weekend (no, not the one pictured here).

So, have you ever had a race weekend away with your mom ladies (or dad for the guys)?  Did you have as much fun as I did with mine?  :-)  Cherish those memories!

Disney Marathon Weekend 2012 Part 3-the Marathon Relay

When I signed up for Marathon Weekend 2012, I was initially only going to run the Marathon Relay (Chip & Dale) on Sunday, but wound up also signing up for the Half Marathon for Saturday.  I rationalized that a couple of ways-it was my SIL’s first Half Marathon, so I would run too...it was a progression towards eventually going Goofy (2010 Half, 2011 Full, 2012 Half/Half, 2013 Half/Full)...it was an opportunity to do back-to-back half marathons on consecutive days which I’d never done before.  Whatever my reasoning at the time, this would be a very new experience for me since the closest I’d ever had two half marathons together was 2 weeks back in 2010.

After a take-it-easy first half on Saturday, I was up again in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday to make my way to the start area for the Marathon Relay AKA Chip & Dale.  I had partnered up with a fantastic ROTEr named Carol from Georgia after we found each other on the Running of the Ears forums looking for relay partners.  Since I was running the half on Saturday and the first part of the full marathon course for Sunday was pretty much the same course as the half, plus I had never run back-to-backs before and didn’t know what kind of shape my body would be in, I wanted to do the 2nd leg of the relay so I could see the 2nd half of the course; I was also concerned about being too slow if I was runner #1 due to the prior day’s race that I might get swept (I learned later that even I that were to happen, the runner #2’s would still get to start).  Thankfully Carol was just fine with being runner #1.

It was pretty chilly at 4am, all the way down to 44 degrees at the lowest!  I hadn’t worn my throwaway pants as my legs aren’t normally chilly-I had a throwaway fleece blanket instead ($2.50 at Walgreens, great deal!).  I did have on a long-sleeved t-shirt over my short-sleeved tech top so even with my fleece blanket I was still chilly.  After meeting up with the other ROTErs in the start area, those of us who were relayers running leg #2 went to the shuttles as a group to be transported to the exchange area over at the Magic Kingdom parking lot.  Once there, not much was going on.  There was a DJ and a big-screen that they showed clips of the race start, then later as the first of the runner #1’s started arriving, they would put them up on the screen.  Until then, though, there was not much to do except sit around and chat and try to keep warm.  Since it was so cold, the volunteers were actually handing out the mylar blankets to us to keep warm with the caveat that we give them to our partners as they came in.

Those mylars really helped!  We waited and watched as the sun came up-it was a beautiful morning with clear skies.  I had signed up to get text messages from the runner tracking so I knew where Carol was and when to expect her at the exchange area.  She was unbelievably consistent so once I went over to the chute where we’d exchange, I only waited a couple of minutes since I knew when she’d be there.  She was originally slated to start in corral F (out of H), but I believe was moved up to D based on proof of time from another race.  Between that and her AMAZING 2:43:43 time (you ROCK Carol!), she made it to the exchange around 8:30 am-ish where I got to take over.  I was glad I had done a Disney relay before (Wine & Dine 2011) so I knew what to expect in the exchange area.

It was a pretty interesting time for me to start.  Considering I’m usually in either the last or next to last corral where you have a lot of walkers and walk/runners, starting while there are tons of people just running (and running at a nice pace too!) was really weird...but cool at the same time since I’m never around people going that fast!  I made sure to get all the way over to the right as quick as I could.  I was a bit stiff at first but as I kept on everything started loosening up.  I didn’t need to wear my long-sleeved t-shirt for too long and tossed my throwaway gloves (those 50-cent kid ones you can get at Target) a little before arriving at Animal Kingdom.  The gloves I didn’t mind tossing but the top I kinda liked, it was really comfy so I tied it around my waist instead.  

One of the great things about being able to start the 2nd half of the full marathon course so much earlier than when I had reached that point the year before when I ran the full was how much more I was able to see since I wasn’t anywhere near in any danger of being swept.  Heck, I could have taken an hour longer than I did and not been swept (*bowing down to Carol for both her speed and agreeing to be my partner*).  As I entered the back of Animal Kingdom, they had actual animals out that you could pet and take pictures of:

And of course, the characters (yay for getting Minnie!):

As I passed by Expedition Everest, I was really tempted to take a ride since the line was super short (plus from what I heard, if you were a runner the cast members were letting you go to the front of the line), but I felt like that would be taking extra advantage of my huge head start from my partner so I kept on going.  From Animal Kingdom it was back to Hollywood Studios.  As we came across one of the overpasses, I snapped this shot of the backup of traffic due to the road closures from the race (you think the drivers were mad?):

But one of the killer spots of the full is this hill heading toward the Studios:

My legs, after doing the half the day before, were screaming at me saying “What the &%$#! do you think you’re doing?!?!?!”  Yeah, I walked up that baby...as you can probably tell, most people were walking.  I give a standing ovation to those that were running (or attempting to run) up that.  Remember, I’m a SoFla Flatlander to the max.  Our idea of a hill is a bridge over a highway.  And I personally live out near the Everglades in some of the flattest land down here, so just looking up that incline made my legs want to go run and hide LOL.

One of the best parts of reaching Hollywood Studios when I did the full last year was the candy stop--yummy chocolate!  Um, yeah-at 20+ miles that tastes heavenly.  At around 9 or 10-not so much...I thought I was going to gag and had to wash it away at the next water stop.  But that’s okay-I was in the Studios and could actually watch everything around me!  

Once I got out of the front of the Studios and started heading down the walkway toward the Boardwalk resort, I knew I was home free.  Not that I was anywhere near being herded on to a bus.  Just passing by the buses that were already there for those coming later knowing I didn’t have to worry about that was such a relief!  And once across to the Boardwalk side, past all the resorts there came my favorite part-entering Epcot for the final lap around the World Showcase before heading to the finish line!  Here’s some tiny pics from that:

I wound up finishing my half in 4:01:04, much slower than any other half I’ve done but I was thrilled to still be in the upright position after completing the half the day before.  Yes, I was sore.  Yes, I was tired.  Would I do it again?  In a heartbeat!  I thoroughly enjoyed the relay-it was wonderful being able to actually take in my surroundings during the 2nd half of the full marathon course instead of worrying that I would be taken away for not making the pace.  Our combined time was 6:59:45.  Yes, I made us a slower team, but still within the 7 hour pace time...not that we were anywhere near being swept away ;-).

The relay is not being held for 2013, but I’m hoping that’s just because of the 20th anniversary year for the full marathon with the course change and other “surprises” they have planned.  I would love to do the relay again, especially as runner #2.  Here’s some parting pics:

Have you ever done half marathons (or longer) on back-to-back days?  Would you do it again?  I sure would, especially Disney!

Expedition Everest waivers up; Tower of Terror filling fast; my other blog

runDisney has put the link up to the 2012 Expedition Everest waivers here. They've also posted final race instructions. This year I'm bib #366 so if you see me there, come on over and say hi! Not quite as low as last year's 95 but not a 5-digit number like I always am at the half marathons (and the full marathon) at Disney. I'm hoping they keep the wave starts like last year with the individuals going first before the teams, it was really cool last time to be able to go off with the first wave instead of the last or next to last like I usually do. Speaking of last year, if you haven't already read my report from last year's event, you can read it here.

I also posted yesterday that I'm officially registered for the Tower of Terror 10-miler the last weekend of September. If you are wanting to participate, better get over to the site to register ASAP...on Friday it was 87% full, yesterday it was at 91%, now today it's up to 94%...so the final slots are filling fast! I know there will be a HUGE group of folks from Running of the Ears there. If you haven't checked out the ROTE forums I highly recommend doing so-lots of great info and fantastic people who love running and love Disney!

Okay, gotta go work on my other blog that I started, The Disney World Files. I figured that since I love Disney World so much, I wanted to write all about it. I'm hoping to make it a place people can check out with tips & tricks, interesting facts, things like that. I want to make it different than other sites/blogs about Disney where I'm not just telling the same information over and over (like hotel details, ride descriptions, restaurant choices). I'm thinking I'd like to be more...I don't know...free-spirited? If you were going to read a blog about different Disney World resort topics, what would you want to see? For example-reviews of the different resorts/restaurants, overview of Downtown Disney, Disney transportation options, etc.

But something more than just the everyday, every Disney site/blog out there talks about the same thing stuff...any unique things, out-of-the-way things, etc-interesting topics/viewpoints that everyone else hasn't already done to death, you know?

Let me know if you have any ideas/requests...and if you have questions/ideas/requests from friends, send those over as well. There is no such things as too many topics/questions and no such thing as too "small" of a topic to cover.

2011 Disney Full Marathon Race Report

Warning you now...this is pretty long...

Last January I completed my first half marathon at Walt Disney World. Not even two weeks later I had made the decision that I was going to register for the Disney full marathon for 2011. I figured I had a whole year to train so it should be no problem. Yeah...

After getting pretty burned out after doing my first three half marathons plus some shorter races in less than 90 days, I wound up taking much of the summer off and started training for the full around mid-August. Training went well until I hit my 16 mile LR...when I first found out what sore feet REALLY meant. Same thing for my 18-miler. I was reassured some when my 20-miler went well with almost no soreness but still was nervous in the days leading up to the race.

I left for WDW on Thursday after work but was too late to check out the expo so just headed to Pop Century to check in and crash. Friday morning I got up early to get some walk/jog time in before heading over to pick up my race packet. I was at the expo when it opened so was able to get in and out pretty quick. The goody bag didn’t really have a lot of “goodies” in it, a lot more flyers and ads for other races...and I was disappointed it was just the plastic bag that we could use for bag check and not like the nice mesh drawstring bag we got last year. I did pick up the “I did it” shirt and a cool t-shirt that said “Runner by day, Park Hopper by Night” which I just LOVE. Spent the rest of the day at Epcot with my husband who was able to finish work early and come join me for the weekend. Saturday I decided to just take it easy with a leisurely breakfast and just spent the day reading and relaxing---I didn’t want to be on my feet at the parks all day. Went to bed about 8pm with my alarm set for a 2:30am wake-up.

DH got me up just before the alarm was supposed to go off and stayed up until I left for the bus (HUGS to him!). I was on the bus by 3:15am along with some of my Running of the Ears friends and we made our way over to the “H” tent to meet others from our group before the race. I had my pre-race PBJ sandwich while waiting to head to the start, then tried to remain calm so it would stay down. Walked to the start line with Julie, Mark, Nancy and Tricia...Julie, Mark and I entered Corral H and made our way as close to the front as we could get. As each wave was sent off I felt a little more nervous, then finally it was our turn and we were off!

I started out running for the first thirty seconds or so, then settled back to walking for the first mile and a half until I started my walk/run intervals. I was doing a 30 second run/90 second walk which had been working well for me during training (that summer break totally put me back at square one after working my way up to a 3 min walk/2 min run before the Disney Half last year). I was able to keep that up through a little more than 8 miles. My back had started to bother me around mile 6 so I popped some Tylenol to try and keep it in check. With the exception of mile 1 when I was getting warmed up (cause you know standing around in the corrals for 45 minutes before our start just killed any kind of warm up you might do before), I was doing between 15:22-16:05 minute miles. I was confident early on that I’d be able to keep that up so I stopped for some pictures with Pluto, Chip and Dale then again with Eeyore and Tigger, then Woody and Jessie and finally the Pirates of the Caribbean (and boy, that last one it really looks like Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa!). I got to see Tracy at the #7 water stop which was a lift!

After I hit mile 9, my body said it didn’t want to run anymore so I switched over to just walking but still doing 16 minute miles...then after mile 11 my back really started to howl at me so again with the Tylenol and my pace started to slow a bit. That’s when I started to see those people on the bikes with the little orange flags in their packs. They were all very encouraging to everyone, letting us know we were still X minutes ahead of pace every mile or so. I lost enough time though that a little before the mile 17 sign, the TNT coach/pacer that was at the back of the pack was telling everyone, “come on everyone, pick it up, run for the next mile sign” because the infamous lady wearing the balloons to signal the 16mm pace point was almost upon us. So about thirty of us just started running all-out until we crossed the 17 mile sign...this happened again at mile 18 and when I realized how much I’d dropped off, my brain just blocked out what my back was saying (the Tylenol helped with that too LOL) and I really started to pick it up. I also saw fellow Running of the Ears members Colleen and Dawn just after leaving Animal Kingdom and they were there cheering away---thank you ladies, that REALLY gave me a boost!!! To the point where mile 19 was actually my fastest mile of the race!

The dreaded orange flags!

I actually was still trying to get back ahead at mile 20 where I saw my first orange flag (ran to get past that one!), then kept booking it to make up time-I didn’t want to see those bike people and their little flags anymore. Heading in toward Hollywood Studios I heard a car horn honking and people yelling my name, and there were Colleen and Dawn again, cheering me into DHS as they were driving by! You two were really spurring me on, thank you so much!! (((HUGS))) There was a guy next to me when you were driving past that said “hey, they look like they know you, you should ask them for a ride”. I was actually passing people I hadn’t seen the whole race since they had always been way up ahead of me! I even caught up to Santa (did you all see him? Santa actually did Dopey!) which was fun with the spectators that were calling out to him and the kids with the wide eyes and open mouths so surprised to see Santa in the race, just more to keep me excited even though by this time my feet were starting to hurt. I got to see Tracy again and she walked with me for a little bit to make sure I was doing good (THANKS Tracy, HUGS to you too!!).

Santa!

Once we exited DHS, I saw one last place they had the special “Parade Buses” for those being swept in the parking lot...after that though I knew there was nowhere left they could sweep...I was SAFE! I must confess, I did slow a little here as I was really feeling it in my feet-my brain was still blocking out anything my back was saying. Saw more ROTErs along the walkway to the Boardwalk (I remember Cath offering me water and was that also Chris there? I can’t remember anymore, it’s all becoming a blur, but believe me, you were ALL very appreciated!). Then suddenly, I was re-entering Epcot! I was almost there! A little more than a mile to go! More ROTErs! Erica giving me Twizzlers and walking with for a bit making sure I was doing good, thank you so much! Around the world I went, then heading toward Future World and there’s Joey telling me I’m doing it!

How good it feels to see this sign!

And suddenly, there’s the turn and that 26 mile sign, I can hear the crowd and the announcer ahead...I straightened myself out and suddenly I could see the grandstands and finish chute...and my DH, best friend and godson (who was ringing the cowbell Julie gave me during the half to cheer with like mad) were right there at the fence before the bleachers started----I beelined straight over, slapping hands while they cheered as I headed to the finish line where I got a high five from Donald as I stepped across and heard the announcer calling out my name and city (since by that time there weren’t tons of people crossing together so he could call out people individually)! OMG I just finished a MARATHON! Me! I kept wandering along and saw a ROTEr (Snowball/Anita I think?) handing out mylar blankets so headed straight for her...and then there were the people passing out the medals. My Mickey medal. For finishing a FULL marathon. Me!

Finally I made my way to the H tent where I found Julie waiting for me, she wanted to make sure there were ROTErs at the tent to greet me when I finally finished. A HUGE HUG for you Julie! We both did it! DH, BF, her DH and my godson made their way over...got a kiss from my godson (“Eww, tastes like sweat” he says) and then said goodbye to the ROTErs before heading to the car (which by the way was located at the opposite end of the Epcot lot way past the monorail station...I must’ve looked a sight waddling all that way LOL). Finally back to the room where I rested for an hour, then showered and headed out for a great steak dinner to celebrate (cause by then I was seriously craving the protein!). Finished up the trip on Monday with a delicious ROTEr lunch at Via Napoli, then it was finally time to head home.

All in all an AMAZING weekend, accomplishing something I never dreamed I’d ever do...what, me-run? You’re joking right? Nope, I’m not just a runner-I’m a marathoner. Yes, me. And to all of the Running of the Ears friends who were cheering me on, you are the most fantastic group of friends anyone could wish for! I would have never made it without all of you...the support you have given and continue to give has made (and is still making) such a difference. Special shout-outs to Colleen, Dawn, Julie, Erica, Tracy and Joey...and I know I’m forgetting people but it’s all starting to fade to a dull roar, but believe me, I knew everyone was there and was profoundly grateful that you stuck it out until I passed! It may be a while before I try a full marathon again (now don’t you all start talking about Goofy, I may be a little nuts but I haven’t hit the insane mark...yet) but with this group, I’ll still be doing lots of races if for no other reason than to enjoy the ROTErs!

I know this has been long, but I just had so much I wanted to put down about this experience. Oh, and in case you were wondering? 6:59:09.