26.2 Miles at Walt Disney World

It's been a little over a week since I finished my marathon at the most magical place on Earth. It was my 5th stand alone marathon & my 3rd one at Disney. I decided to do the race in mid- September, as what you might call a "Consolation Race" post Ironman Mont Tremblant.  If you have been following my blog, you already know that it was a colorful experience leading up to the race & the event itself did not disappoint. "If something can go wrong, it will go wrong" became my motto. Despite finishing, I was left feeling pretty gloomy about how the day unfolded. It did not resemble anything I had worked for or envisioned.  I now call it my Post Ironman Depression (PIMD). I know many people go through this after a big event, even when things have gone their way.  I'm a Nurse, so decided to treat my own wounds and I felt the best cure for my PIMD was to sign up for another race STAT!



I was surprised that the Disney Marathon was still open, but it was, and it took very little convincing to get my family on board for the January event. I chose an aggressive training plan and set some loose goals for the event. My running paces had slowed down considerably during Ironman training and then had become even slower due to the knee injuries I sustained from the bike accident.  I was not sure what I could do, but just wanted to try and get back into a good routine. The first 6 weeks of training went great! I was able to log a lot of miles without injury and got my long run pace back down to 9:30-9:40's. I was starting to feel cautiously optimistic about a marathon PR by early November. However, right before Thanksgiving, I came down with a nasty respiratory infection that ended up putting me out of running commission for 2 weeks & the bug lingered for almost a month. I was able to get in my long runs, 19 & 20 milers, but it was a struggle & my pace slowed right back down to 10:30's for the long runs. I put my goals aside and decided to just go & have fun running around Disney World.

Pool at the Wilderness Lodge

We got to Orlando on Friday evening and stayed at Disney's Wilderness Lodge for the trip, which was amazing! We took it easy & ate dinner in our room that night. On Saturday, we slept in a bit, and enjoyed the morning. Then, we headed to ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex around 10:30 am to check in for the Marathon and the Magic Mile for the kids, which was at noon. The Marathon Expo was huge, but we were limited on time, so we only checked out a few vendors. Next time, I would like to be able to spend more time in the Expo. I got my race bib and bag and quickly became aware that I had never submitted a qualifying race time. When I signed up for the event, I did not give a recent race time, as I was waiting until I did the Maine half-marathon to do so. We had until mid-October to submit a time & I ran the 1/2 marathon, but had completely forgot to send in my time! So, I was assigned to Corral "O"...the Corrals ranged from "A" to "P".  I was a bit upset with myself, as I am usually meticulous about these things, but decided to let it go as it was one more sign that I should just enjoy the day & not worry about my watch!

Finishing the Magic Mile with Carly

Post Magic Mile!

The Magic Mile was at the track and both my kids were super excited! They had race bibs with their name & also got Disney Race shirts. I promised them that I would run with  them & my husband supervised & took pictures from the sidelines. There were a lot of kids there & they started off in 3 waves. We ended up in the last wave & my son took off fast, so I stayed behind with my 6 year old daughter to do the mile. It was such a joy running with her! She really enjoys running and I loved being along side her for her very first 1 mile race. My son & her did great! All of the kids got medals as they crossed the finish line & they were also given bananas, water, & Z-bars, which was a nice treat.  They had a blast, but were eager to hit the theme parks. So, off to Magic Kingdom we went! Needless to say, it was not the ideal pre-race day for me, as we ran around trying to strategically get on as many rides as we could. I wore my Mio Global monitor to track distance (for fun) & we logged close to 8 miles with the Magic Mile & walking around that day!

Happy Birthday Ben!

We ate dinner at the Artist's Point inside of the Wilderness Lodge that night, which was fabulous! We had a mini celebration for my son who was turning 10 the next day & it was just a lovely time! I was not stressed about the race, etc. We were back in the room and I was asleep by 9:30 pm, as I had my alarm set for 2:30am in the morning.

I slept surprisingly well & only hit the snooze button once on my alarm & was up at 2:40 am to get ready. I had a cup of coffee & got my fuel belt ready. I was at the shuttle bus stop at 3:30 to head to Epcot for the race. There were just a few people waiting when I got there, but by the time the bus showed up 15 minutes later, a crowd had accumulated & we filled the bus. People were either excitedly talking about the race or had their heads back & eyes closed to get just a few more minutes of rest.

They had increased the security significantly at the race compared to the last 2 races I had done there.   We went through a line and had our bags and fuel belts checked. I was impressed at how quick & efficient the process was, despite the 20,000+ runners. I was in the race area by 4:30 and had nothing to do, but wait. The race started at 5:30, but because of my Corral faux pas, I would not end up starting until after 6:30am.  I had considered trying to move up corrals, but they were strictly enforcing that people stay in their assigned spots & checked bibs each time anyone went in & out of their designated location, which was very smart.

The time went by quickly and I got to see lots of fireworks as the waves went off every 3 minutes & they set off grand "Disney style" fireworks each time! I was getting very excited to just GO at this point & before I knew it, I was off! Unfortunately, I could not just Go, the roads were absolutely packed & a lot of people were walking, so I did a quite a bit of weaving in & out & around people. I was irritated with myself for not submitting a time, but once again, it was my fault & I reminded myself to just enjoy being up & running & to take in the sights of everything around me.

The humidity felt like it was 100%, despite it only being 65 degrees & by mile 2, I was drenched with sweat. I was running very slow, but the miles were ticking by & before I knew it, I was entering Magic Kingdom at mile 5. I had to got to the bathroom and was debating whether to wait a bit or go in the facilities as we entered the park. It looked like there was no one in line, so I decided to run in so I could avoid hitting the port-a pots later. I was surprised when I opened the door to see 8 people lined up inside, but at this point I was there & needed to go, so I waited.... 7 minutes later, I was out & this was the point where I looked at my watch & decided I did not need to look at it anymore. This was going to go slow & I needed to be fine with it.

As I was coming to terms with this, I looked up and saw the Castle. Elsa, Anna, & Kristoff from Frozen were standing on the balcony & fake snow flakes were pouring down as I ran through the castle. This made me smile & I thought of how much my daughter would have enjoyed seeing this! Shortly after this, I was out of Magic Kingdom & heading off to Animal Kingdom. The miles continued to go by quickly & when we got to the entrance of Animal Kingdom, there were several staff members AND animals waiting to greet us! I got such a kick out of this, lots of runners were stopping to get their pictures taken with large snakes & various other animals. I saw a big turtle & thought how much my son would love to get this close up to it. I stopped for a picture, but there was quite a line, so after a few minutes I decided I should get back to running!

As I was making my way through the park, I noticed that Expedition Everest was open for just the runners to ride! I saw many people stopping mid-run to get on the giant roller coaster. I laughed at the idea of this & stopped to get on. As I got in line, I noticed that I was feeling a bit dizzy and decided that a high speed roller coaster ride mid marathon may not be such a great idea for this girl!  I love the idea, but I did want to make it across the finish line at some point.

Onward I went & by mile 14, I noticed that the soles of me feet were aching & it worsened with each mile. This was a discomfort that I had not experienced before, and I was trying to figure out what was going on. My best guess was that it was from all the pavement in the parks. I'm not sure, but it was miserable. By mile 17, my feet were burning & my knees were hurting a bit. I decided to walk a little to see if the discomfort would ease up some. It did help, so I alternated running with walking for the next several miles. I was discouraged, but it was all I could do at this point. I knew I had not put in the proper training for the day, but I did not anticipate this struggle.  I tried to keep a smile on my face & once again remind myself that I was at Disney World, one of my favorite places, & I was healthy enough to be participating in the Marathon!

1/2 Mile to Go!

I shuffled through the Wide World of Sports Complex, but was feeling miserable. However, I perked up when we ran around the ball field, as the bleachers were filled with people cheering us on! Finally, I hit mile 23 and I just wanted to be D-O-N-E.  No more walking, I was going to pound out the last 3.2 miles despite my aching feet. By this time, I was in Hollywood Studios and I was trying to distract myself from the pain with all of the action going on around me. It definitely helped, but I was struggling.  I made it out of the theme park and knew I was in the final stretch to Epcot. There were people lined up along the Boardwalk as I ran by cheering everyone on and I was thrilled when I made  it to the World Showcase, as I knew I was almost done. I was still running and as I approached the Giant Ball (Spaceship Earth), I heard "Goooo Mom!!!" and looked over to see my family standing there cheering me on. This was such a boost for the last 1/2 mile of the race! I turned a corner and could see the Finish Line and ran as fast as my aching feet & tired legs could carry me until I crossed it! I was done & so happy. I had completed my 5th Marathon & although it was my slowest by over 30 minutes, I was not disappointed. I have learned so many lessons over the past year through swimming, biking, & running. Training for this marathon was very therapeutic for me post- Ironman. I will take all the lessons from the training & the day of this event & move forward in the New Year looking forward to much more swimming, biking, & running!