Here are some course maps and extra garbage....
Here are some stickers....
Here are some funny sayings that were written on placards during the course (sponsored by Sharpie)....
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Fast guy. Met him at the Alley Pond 5 Miler, Quantum Feet and a few others. Stopped to talk to him for a few. Told him that I am doing Goofy after NYC. Now, most people have not heard about Goofy but not only has he heard about it, he is wearing a jacket from Goofy. He ran it a few years ago. Cool stuff. But then he tells me that he ran the half hard and took it easy on the full. He actually ran really SLOW for the full, taking pictures with all the characters. His time - 4:05 or something garabgey like that. Damn. I felt small. I know my speed and I am pretty good dealing with it and the fact that a lot of people are faster than me but he really made me feel small. Oh well.
Sunday started about 6:20 and ran the water. A simple 10 miler. Nothing more. I never do just the water. How awesome to just stop at 5 or stop at 10! Felt good.
Interesting thing though, later today I suddenly got tired. Real tired. Was gonna take a little nap. I think I slept about 2 hours. On the couch. Covered with a towel. My daughter came to cover me up 3 times and each time it woke me up. I looked at her, smiled when she told me she was covering me up and fell right back asleep. I have no idea what happened. The 5 and 10 by themselves were nothing but I guess together, back to back, they take more out of you then you can imagine.
Next week, hopefully, 7/14. St. Francis on Saturday/Water+4 out of the 5 mile challenge on Sunday.
When I woke up it was raining, then on and off rain. Treadmill or outside?!? Took a chance and went outside. Nice and easy, St. Francis loop. No rain - YAY! Weather was chily and nice at the same time. Long sleeve shirt and shorts. Wished I had gloves. My hands were on and off cold.
Spoke to Jim later who was interested in running on Sunday. My speed. He wasn't feeling it and wanted company. Len called also. The more the merrier. When I woke up, I saw there was also a message from Anu regarding Ed, her fiance. He was also interested. Texted them but he's still injured and wasn't feeling the love.
Walked LC and got ready. Jim came to pick me up on time and Len was there also.
The plan was the water 10 miler followed by 4 of the 5 mile challenge. At the first major hill, Jim commented on the hill. More to come we promised. Beautiful views and different perspective for him. He usually runs on the other side of the water near Fort Totten.
I know Len. Hills to him is like a Pavlovian thing. He sees it and he just can't help himself. No matter how relaxed he was going to be, he sees a hill and he has to charge up. As he says, "Hills is like speedwork in disguise". Got to hill number 2 and he and Jim took off. This is up Little Neck from Northern Blvd. When they finished, they came back for me. When we got to Marathon Parkway, they took off again. Didn't see them again until I finished going up Winchester. At least they came back at some point. Jim told me he stuck with him for Little Neck and Marathon but could not stick to him on Winchester. It's a rough course. Still he did well.
Started the 5 mile challenge. Plan was to run to the parking lot and then turn back. Len stayed with us until we left upper Alley and hit the green line. At that point, the hills beckoned to him again. He left. We thought he might do the extra mile but he decided not to "push" it. Funny! We ran back. The first is the looong but not that steep hill followed by the shorter but steeper hill. Jim didn't look that great at that point. The week before he only did 8 and this was 14. He also got beat up bad by Len. He was hurting. Jim, if you read this, I mean no disrespect. On the shorter yet steeper hill, I decided to push. Len got all excited, spurred me on so I left them. Short-lived. Len was on me almost immediatly. Couldn't shake him. All I could do was yell to Jim to come tag-team me and help out. He joined us. Len took off. I stayed with Jim till the last 1/2 mile but then my knee started hurting. I had to slow down. The 2 days in a row takes its toll after all. Len finished first, then Jim and then me 40 seconds after Jim. Wasn't a race but it was good to push a little between friends even if I knew I had no chance.
Went home to shower, eat and recharge. Spent the rest of the day shopping at BJ's and on my feet. At approx 4:00, I was crashing. Tired as hell tho no opportunity to nap. Instead, I BBQ-ed in the dark again. Chicken and Tuna Fillets and some pasta. Good recovery - ate well. Went to sleep early. Feeling good today.
Got home, showered and started our day. Right before lunch, Elizabeth noticed Jessie didn't look great. She also wasn't hungry. Temperature: 103.4. Tylenol and she felt better but we skipped the YMCA. Took a small nap on the floor in the living room.
Sunday woke up early again. Meeting Jim at 5:30 to go to Oyster Bay. Chilly both days. Started running a little after 6. Still dark and still coldish. Legs didn't feel great - maybe too hard on Saturday? Ran 16 from the LIRR station in OB. Tough course. Makes you stronger and all that. Hoping to sneak into bed when I got back. Never happened. Did crash for 20 minutes on the couch. Sports day at the kids school for pre-k through 1st grade. Jess had fun. I survived. Don't feel sore (yet), just tired. Next week, I backup a little back to 7/14. Let the body heal and all that.
This weekend was a shorter weekend in terms of miles. Did 7/14.
Saturday drove to AP. Did the St. Francis loop. Haven't done it in a long while. Would have been great except for the damn wind. Strong gusts. Going out was a battle against the wind. Made things cold too. Coming back was a lot better. Sun warmed me up a little tho every so often there would be a turn in the road and again the wind. A baseball team played out there and I felt really bad for the girlfriends/wives who sat there in chairs covered by blankets. Sucks to be them. At least the guys were moving.
Sunday was colder but no wind so it was more pleasant. Left from the house at 6 with Jim and ran to AP. The course was a mishmush of things. From my house to AP -> 8 mile loop (Francis Lewis - Northern Blvd - Oceania) - 3 out of 5 mile challenge -> back to my house. Had tired legs but in general I was tired.
In recap, Friday was a good swim but went maybe too hard. Saturday should have tried to get a little nap in. Anyway, miles are in the bank and that is that.
Next weekend, I start building again. The cycle is 8/16 - 9/18 - 10/20 - taper starts - race commences.
Saturday woke up LATE - 7:40. I was hoping to get out before the rain/snow mix that we were expecting. Fortunatly, the rain was supposed to hit mid-morning. Elizabeth was going to go food shopping and I was getting ready to go. Right before she left, the rain started. Damn. She got home and I left immediatly. Drove to AP for the 8 mile loop - Past St. Francis to the end of the Green Line and back. Saw Lisa before I left. She had just finished her 6. Lucky for her.
Started the run. Not to many people out there. Cold, windy and rain. YUCK! I figured I would be somewhat sheltered until the break between parks between AP and Cunningham. Pretty bad over there. A mile before the turn around the rain stopped and the sun shone. Started feeling better and enjoying the run. Turned around and the rain started again. Must have ran right into the storm again. All the way to the car. Got home and a quick shower, food on the way and straight to the YMCA. Late wake up and late run and an earlier time at the YMCA and except for my protein drink and pretzels I had no food till later. Got Jeremy in pool early, took him home to work on his project with his friend, cleaned a little and made lunch for myself. Finally.
Sunday woke up early, walked the dog and waited for Jim to show up. He got to the house at 5:50 and we were at AP by 6am. Colder than yesterday (33 vs 42) but no wind. Walking the dog, my hands were freezing so I decided to wuss it out and take hand warmers in my gloves for the run. Discovered these during the Manhattan half-marathon. Amazing things these things. Felt awesome. My hands were NOT cold. Didn't throw out those things at all. NOPE! Ran with them and enjoyed it.
Ran 16 miles. Started at AP -> did the 10 mile water loop -> with Doctors Row mixed in. Doctors Row is Nothern Blvd (E) to Manhasset and back. Tough loop but worth it. Felt good for the run. The best thing is we were back home by 8:25. Day is still open. Later the kids watched the Lion King. Drank Tea and had the usual reaction - fell asleep for over an hour. I knew it was gonna happen and planned on it. Kids, if you ever read this - sorry. Woke up early to be home early and just needed it. All in all a good running weekend. Next weekend gotta push it - 9/18.
Saturday left the house around 9. Couldn't decide if I should run to AP -> 5 mile -> 2 loops -> run back or drive to AP and do the 5 mile plus another 4. It was chilly, about 26 degrees and a little windy. The smart decision should have been to drive to AP since running between the trees would protect me from the weather but I decided it would suck to see people finishing as I still have to run so I ran to AP. Now, I could have/should have taken the hand warmers but (stupidly) decided that it's only 9 miles. As I ran and froze it hit me what I based my decision on. That running "only" 9 miles does not fully deserve hand warmers. Since when do I say "only 9 miles"? Wasn't it just yesterday or yesterweek or yesteryear that 5K was a lot? Well, I was cold.
Sunday was a balmy 35 degrees and no wind. Started at 6 and took hand warmers in pocket just in case. I figured I wouldn't need it but since Saturday I learned my lesson. I have had already 4 winters of running in freezing weather (negative wind chill etc included) and I hate having my hands cold and hurting. Took a completly different route. Never ran this one. Biked portions of it tho. House -> Commenwealth -> 81st -> left on Little Neck to Northern -> left on Northern and ran the path near the Cross Island all the way to Fort Totten and past to the Throgs Neck Bridge (8.25 miles) and back. On the way back an extra mile or two to get to 18. Wasn't cold. New hills to conquer. When I got to the Cross Island, a curious thing happened. My right hand got cold. Very cold. My left was fine, little sweaty in my gloves. I knew that once we hit Northern, it would clear up so I waited. Well, at 1 point I realized that I gotta use the hand warmer for the right hand before I am not even able to open the bag. My hand was that bad. When we got to Northern, put it in and felt better.
Monday my left knee was bothering me a little but otherwise I felt fine. Tired too of course. Tuesday I was'nt sure if I was going to run or if I should run. Ran and felt good. OK, tired too but otherwise had a good run.
Well, went with the last option. Ran 21ish miles on Saturday. It was coldish and windy. Bastardized course: From AP -> Upper Alley to the green line -> cross the LIE and back to St. Francis Prep -> out on Francis -> right on northern -> right on Little Neck -> Marathon Pkwy -> Douglaston Pkwy -> 5 mile challenge -> extra loop around Oceania/73rd Ave -> 4 loops around baseball field near Tennis courts.
I figured I would get cold either on Northern Blvd or on Francis Lewis. We were expecting 50 MPH winds. Soon as I got on Francis Lewis I knew I was in trouble. Freezing hands. Quickly put in the hand warmers but no good. Kept running but finally ducked in to a Dunkin Donuts on Northern to re-activate hand warmers. Much better after that.
Saturday went to Jessie's Gymnastics/Cheerleading show and that's it.
Sunday morning watched Kona Ironman as a warmup to the shoveling. Burned enough calories this weekend even tho mileage was not as high. I'm ok with that. The shoveling beat me up pretty good. Glad I did not run the high mileage in addition to that.
Saturday went for the St. Francis loop. Temps in the 50's?!? Lot of the snow is gone. Still some slush and ice in some places. The 90 degree right turn was particularily bad. Slipping and sliding down the ice slide. Baseball field actually clear. That's usually an ice skating rink. Near St. Francis on the way to the LIE, bad as usual. Crossed the LIE and the park was horrible. There were many ice patches and a few ice patches that were cleverly disguised ice cold puddles. Wet feet testing out the new socks. While I was circling around, a guy started running and I started chasing. We were approx the same speed. He was actually a little faster. I knew I would lose him but I tried to delay the obvious. Took more chances which translates to more near spills and more puddles. Sucked when after the first hill on the Green line after the 90 degree turn he decided he had enough. The 90 degree up was actually easier than the downhill. Go figure.
Sunday was the water(10) plus the 5 mile challenge starting from AP. Temp was 54 degrees and beautiful. Sun rising and wind picking up which sucked. Was actually a little overdressed. That's ok tho. When the wind was in our face it was chilly. Even less snow and ice and puddles than the day before - YAY. Only problem was that my clothes didn't quite dry up all the way from the day before. Usually, I wash then and hang them up near the boiler. Since it was so HOT, the boiler didn't turn on that many times during the night. That's ok tho. I'll take the temps. Saw CJR, Tom and Len while finishing. Nice to see a big turnout when we finished. AP elections that day too. Had to go home tho - oh well.
Sunday was worse. Jim bowed out of the 10 preferring the treadmill instead. I get it. I would have too except the day was crazy and I had to be done early which means I had to start early. Walked the dog and it was not pleasant. It was cold. It was windy. The only one who enjoyed himself was the dog. Tail up, smelling everything in site, peeing at everything. He had a ball. Then of course he gets breakfast, TLC and a nap in a warm bed. To be a dog...Me on the other hand, hm. Looked at weatherbug.com to see in which the direction the wind was coming from. Easy answer: EVERYWHERE. It just kept changing directions and blowing hard.
There wasn't going to be any easy way about it. It just had to be done. Tried something new tho: Put my socks on, then wrapped it up in plastic bags and then feet into shoes. HELPED a lot. Feet still cold but it helped. The temperature was 18 and we had 50 MPH winds. Gotta feel something. Last January (2009), I did the Manhattan half-marathon. We had 14 degrees but no wind. This was worse. Besides the bag on feet, also had my baclava, hand warmers and a wind breaker which I never use. Gotta figure out how to sinch it tight tho. Anyway, ran the water.
Starts at AP, down winchester toward YMCA. At first light, make a u-turn and then the rest is the rest. Only saw 1 other runner. I was finishing and he was starting. Sucked to be him. The golf course on Douglaston Pkwy had a what looked like 2 feet of ice pond. Damn.
Got chased by a 5 liter jug that the wind was blowing. Saw a utility pole that went down. Saw a Little Neck Pkwy sign that flew off near Northern. But what gets me is that I saw a ticket on some guys car. That ticket wasn't even flapping. Did the brownie glue it on saturday night knowing how bad sunday was gonna be? Anyway, Finished run and drove home. So much to do and so little time. Not a good recovery day. Managed to drink my chocolate milk and some pretzels. Around 11 am also had a little bit of oatmeal. That's it until 4pm besides water. Not good. I was seriously jonesing for food. Oh well.
One other thing...I have never felt the wind in my back. Usually, the wind turns when I do so I always face it but sunday...Man, there were times where I was pushed from behind so hard and then a few seconds later it would change directions and blow right into my face. Quite a few times, I was also buffeted laterally (left to right etc). There were times where I was leaning right and running left. It was just so damn windy....
Friday: Woke Jeremy up early. Lee went to walk the dog while we got ready. He and I left the house at 6 am to make the 6:14 train. Did I mention snow? About 1/2 inch of snow to make walking fast annoying. Got to the train at 6:13. Got out of Penn Station and took a cab to the Hunter College High School. He was taking the test. It's a 7 - 12 grade program. Very competitive charter school. Now, he doesn't want to go but he does want to see if he could get in to the school. Meanwhile, Lee took Jessie to school. I left Jeremy there and since I had nothing to do, took a cab to JFK. Lee finished some of her homecares and went to her parents house. There, she and her dad drove to the city to be ready to pick up Jeremy. I got to JFK EARLY. My flight was supposed to be at 1:45. There I was at JFK at 9 am. Well, I had nothing to do anyway, so I relax. Get to security and I realize that I forgot to empty my jacket. OOPS. Got a screwdriver in there that I am trying to bring on the plane. Oh well, nevermind that now. Well, good thing I racially profile well and that I walk like I own the place because it didn't bother security.
It's approximately 1:30 and we just started (FINALLY) boarding. Left the gate around 2 pm. I fell asleep. Wake up 20 minutes later to see we are being de-iced. Finally took off around 50 minutes late! I cannot afford this delay! Luckily, I planned for this. I have Vinnie as a backup. I scanned my waiver in and a copy of a photoid and emailed him. Might have to use him. The expo closes at 8 pm and I might not make it.
Landed almost an hour late. Rushed through the airport to find the magical express. Get there and there is a small wait for the bus. I start talking to a guy behind me. He was on the plane with me and looks like a runner. John, HS teacher in Garden City, looks to break a 4:00:00 Marathon. Not doing Goofy but has done the full before. We sit together and talk the whole way. Turns out he is staying at my resort too.
Good thing I did online check-in. The check-in line was long but the online check-in was just me. She gave me my stuff and told me to drop my bag off with the guys in front and to go to the expo. I literally threw my bag and jacket at them, making sure I have my papers and wallet and jumped on the expo bus. Bus left almost immediatly.
Strange thing happened. The Goofy people are the minority here, I get it, but it seems like I am surrounded by Goofy people. On the bus, I was surrounded by a few and we talked. Got to the expo. Disney is smart. The expo was split into 2 buildings. You get your packet in the "Milk House" and then you switch buildings for your goody bag and other garbage. Picked up my goofy packet, got my goofy silver bracelet and went to the other building. Got some free stuff, my goody bag and started leaving. Made it in time. The time is 7:45. Called home to say hello and suddenly I realize that I forgot to pick up the race retreat stuff! OMG! Said good-bye and ran back in. Got 2 more bracelets: Red and Green. One for the half and one for the full. That was close!
Back to the hotel and dinner and a little relaxation and sleep. Went to sleep a little after 10pm with a 2am wake up. Before I knew it, the alarm clock goes off and the phone rings. Plan is wake up at 2, be ready by 3:30 and take bus to race site. So far so good but the time flies. It's 3:30 and I head to the bus. Out of every door, people are coming out. My next door neighbor is another Goofy. The lobby is full of people who want to stay in the heat and figured they would take the last bus out which is the 4am bus.
Get on and we are on the way. Everything all ok until we all realize something is not right. All the buses we were following have turned left and we are still going straight. Well, the little old lady driving seemed to realize it too and made a U-turn with that HUGE bus. We are on track now. There's Epcot and an army of buses line up the parking lot.
We all start walking. Huge line of people. Disney people all around directing us. One guy announces, "Welcome to Disney Alaska". It's 3:45, cold and we all laugh. I'm at the parking lot with everyone. Huge, open space. No protection from the wind. I almost run straight to the Runners Retreat. Climate controlled tent with couches, chairs, private baggage drop-off, food (bagels (cream cheese, jelly, peanut butter), muffins, fruit and hot drinks. Besides the climate control thing also are private porta-potties. Outside the line to the porta-potties is HUGE. Here there is a Mens only section and a Womens only section. The worst the line got was 5 deep for 20+ porta-potties. Went through the line in 2 seconds. Awesome stuff.
Again time flies. I thought the race is supposed to start at 5:50 but they keep announcing around 5:10 that we should all start the 20 minute walk because the race is going to start very very very soon. Start the walk. My corral is in C and they are doing wave starts per corral. Didn't realize it until now. Wheel chair went out at 5:30 with fire works. The A's a few minutes later. I was out running by 5:40ish. Pretty cool stuff. Time clocks/splits at every mile. Tons of spectators and volunteers everywhere. Pass a band playing the theme from Rocky. Still dark and cold.
It's sleeting. What the hell is going on here? I didn't bring my APS hat so I'm getting pelted in the eyes with sleet. Right in the eye. No sunglasses either because it's dark. Every so often, I get ice in my mouth.
I'm somewhere between the start and mile 5 and I see a wheel chair athlete coming back in. Cool. The funny thing is is that the bicycle guy who goes with the leaders was actually chasing him. Usually, the bikers lead you, not follow you. Guy couldn't keep up. Wheel chair was booking!
We see Cinderella's castle from afar. It's dark and the lights are on and it's beautiful.
We make our way to the back of Cinderella's castle. I recognize stuff that we took Jeremy on when he was 4 or 5. Poohs ride, frontier land and the cars you can drive. Then suddenly, 2 heralds come out with long horns and give a blast. As they sound off, we enter the castle and come out straight to the cameras. Pretty cool stuff.
We get out and we are at mile 7. Already more than half way. We have a highway turnoff/turnon and back to Epcot. Last mile, I push. I don't really care about time anyway but suddenly I decide to push. Before I know it, I hear my name and I cross the finish line. Get my Donald Duck Medal. Headed to the Goofy tent. They took my silver bracelet and gave me my blue (proof of half completed in time) bracelet. Walk by the medical tent and they are smart. They are taping ice packs to people knees. My knees are fine but I figure on preventative action. Get taped up and head for the Runners Retreat. The taped ice is falling - It's more meant for sitting. Left it on for a little and then took it off. Got to Runners Retreat. Had my Orange and some raisins and cliff bars that everyone else got but here is real food. Ate 2 small plates off scrambled eggs with cheese and some fruit. Checked my email and headed to the bus back to the resort. On the way, took a hot chocolate too. The line to the bus was huge and my bus wasn't there. Started shivering uncontrollably along with everyone else. Got to the resort.
The resort had a laundromat and the plan was going to be to take a quick shower, put everything in the washing machine and to jump in the pool or Jacuzzi. Plan got changed! I was freezing. No way. Took a long shower and started washing cloths in the bath tub old school. I had doubles for most things anyway but some things I desperatly needed for the next day and in any case, I wasn't going to let things get ruined. So, there I am on the floor washing cloths. Hung everything and decided to take a nap. Few minutes in and my mom calls me to ask how the Marathon went. Tomorrow mom. OK, get some sleep. Good idea. Fell right back asleep. Then Jessie calls me. Made a mistake, meant to call Elizabeth to tell her the Chicken Picata is ready. Where's mom? Taking car out of the garage. Oi! Back to sleep. Small nap time ended up being almost 3 hours.
Got up and went in search of food. Ate some plain spaghetti, roll, salad and an apple. Felt good. Went back to the room to relax a little. After that, back to the front to get boarding pass printed up. Had trouble printing it but got it straightened out.
Kept squeezing water out of the wet cloths. Also used hair dryer. I realized that the heat coming in to the room was coming out of 1 vent near the ceiling so I hung things off the curtain so they would get the steam. Neccessity is the mother of all inventions. Things were dry the next day!
My Blue bracelet suddenly fell off. OMG! This could have been a disaster. Put it back on and the rest of the day, night and morning, I kept checking that it was still there.
Spoke to the Family and had dinner. Meant to go to sleep early but again was in bed by 10. Couldn't fall asleep tho. Must have been the nap. Ended up sleeping about 3 1/2 hours.
Time flies and it was 2 am all over again. Made sure everything was packed.
Always gotta have a plan and here's the plan for Sunday. Wake up at 2, leave the room at 3:30, leave my bags with the conceirge and board the bus. Additionaly, I would take a bag with me to the race site with a towel, soap/shampoo and clean cloths. Checkout is at 11 am but they agreed to let me check out at 12:30. I wasn't sure what time I'd get back to the room so with the bag of clothes I could just run through the hotel, take a shower and still make the 12:35 bus to the airport. Might be tight! The people to take the suitcases weren't there but the check in people took it anyway.
Got to the race site and immediatly headed to the race retreat. Once again the weather Gods had a good time on our account. Started at 26 degrees and had a wind chill factor of the high teens. Windy too. Colder than yesterday. Much colder. So happy for the race retreat. Once again: Smart $$. I knew it was cold outside and I didn't bring a garbage bag. Looked all over the race retreat and couldn't find clean ones. Finally, I went to the catering section outside and asked nicely. No problem - they understood.
This time there are 2 start lines. There was red and blue. Little unclear which is which but all I know is that I was in the D corral. The left side had A, B and C. The right side had the wheel chair athletes, followed by D, E and so forth to J I think. I'm in wave 2 and wave 1 starts at 5:30.
I'm running with a white garbage bag. People are shedding their bags and cloths but not me. It's windy and I'm still cold. Took a while for me to throw it.
Red and Blue run their own race for the first 3.4 miles. At that point, they join for the rest of the trip. At 4, we are back at the start and it's the same route as the half to Cinderella's castle. Afterwards, at 1 point, we made a right toward the Animal Kingdom. From there eventually to Hollywood Studios and to Epcot.
Cinderellas castle was pretty cool. Saturday, we sat it from afar in the dark with all the lights on. Sunday, the sun already rose. Still pretty cool just different.
I saw about 30 hawks flying at 1 point. They actually landed on one of their buildings. Pretty cool.
I guess at this point, I should mention what I carried with me: I had 5 gels with me, tho I only intended on taking 3 and also some Tylenol. I had 2 set up in an easy to get place just in case. At mile 9, right before the castle, I decided to take 1. More of a preventative thing. Get out the ziplock bag, get out the pill and I drop it! Hm. Well, disgusting as it may be, once you have a plan you stick with it so like a good ol' addict, I stopped and picked it up! Without thought I picked it up and without a thought I popped it in. Stick with the plan!
Popping a pill with no water is no problen, really. Put the pill in your mouth, collect saliva in your mouth and swallow. Done it many times. Done it in races before. No problem. Today. Problem. Didn't go down easy. Got stuck in my throat. Tried to relax. Collect more saliva and again stuck. So, here I am, running with a pill stuck in my throat. I feel something there and I immediatly swallow which is NOT a good feeling. Tried to bring pill back up and almost vomit. Few more times of almost vomitting and not breathing to well until suddenly it went down.Finally went down and I could breathe again.
Sharpie had witty comments every 30 feet or so during a certain stretch. It was pretty funny. People actually stopped to take pictures of them. Gotta google it - I just know someone posted them online.
Grabbed a wet sponge in frozen water. No one took except me. Squeezed most of the water out and put it in my singlet.
Animal Kingdom was pretty cool. Liked that section a lot.
Leaving Animal Kingdom there is a stretch that from all the race reports, really sucks. You leave Animal Kingdom at 17+ and go to a section that is between parks. Pass 18 and 19 and 20 and then you have a 1/2 mile before you turn around and run opposite the other runners for a 1/2 mile before you turn off. I decided that it will be OK. It was. Gotta love Disney. That section was awesome.
Spectators, lots of spectators. Guys jumping on a trampoline doing tricks while Van Halens "JUMP" is blasting. Guy with the mike screaming at people, getting them riled up. Seeing if anyone will actually jump at the right point. I yelled at the trampoline guy that I got next and he almost flew off laughing.
I was feeling the moment, that stretch of the race. I was belting out with the music. Sucks for other people because I can't sing but I had a good time so who cares.
I was watching the time and I think I was pretty consistent. I was 30 seconds of the clock and that helped.
Epcot. There we were again. Pretty cool stuff. We hit some back stage areas that I have never seen. There was a section that they gave out chocolate covered raisions and also Hersheys chocolates. I decided on having one. Grabbed 2 and dropped 1. Hard time to unwrap with gloves but used my teeth. Never tasted so good. Haven't had one in 10 years so tasted real good. Ran through a building tunnel that shows where Disney does all the cloths and sewing for their people. Pretty cool to see. One guy yelled "echo", I did my pigeon thing and this girl actually turned to me and told me that it was pretty good. This guy behind us did a pig imitation.
Went around the lake in Epcot and I see this woman waving a bag of pretzel sticks around. I don't know if she meant for runners but I made eye contact with her and she waved me on and I turned right to her and grabbed one, yelling thanks. Salty thing was awesome.
Still looked at my watch. I think I got a PR coming. Can't be. Run to the finish line convinced I did it. How does that work out? A PR after running a half-marathon? And both in crappy weather?
Got my Mickey Medal. Got my Goofy Medal. Went to the medical tent to score some ice. Got there and asked for 2 to go. Guy looked at mt like I was nuts and yelled out, "give me 2 gin and tonics to go"? Everyone laughed, including me, but I meant it. Yesterday the ice kept falling off. I knew I was going to sit and eat, so I figured I'd ice there. Got some food and went to the runners retreat. A huge plate of egg and cheese and a bowl of bean vegetable soup and a sprite. I'm not a fan of beans, willing to tolerate them these days, but the soup was GOOD! The sprite was a luxory. During the race I really wanted a coke or pepsi but I figured I'd get hooked again so I settled on Sprite. No email this time. Made a quick exit but grabbed 2 hot chocolates this time. No freezing thing again. Went to the bus line and waited. Guy started counting people. Told me that there is only space for 46 people and the guy before me is 45 and that I'd have to wait for the next bus. He thought I was with the next family. I told him I was with that guy and that I am willing to sit on his lap as long as I get on the bus. Luckily didn't need to do that.
I was at the resort around 10ish. Showered, ate some fruit and went to find the magical express bus to the airport. It was still cold outside and waiting outside was not an option. The concierge people were freezing. One woman told me she was wearing 4 layers! Looked up my results and I missed a PR by 9 seconds!!! Oh My God! Waited inside for the bus. Who comes by if not John. He wanted a 3:59:59 or better but ended up with a 4:02+. He's still happy. Was a PR for him. Cool.
Bus ride went fast talking to him. He ended up with a different airline going back so we said our goodbyes.
Time to hit security. Way different than JFK. Constant messages about the TSA raised the warning level to Orange. More precautions. Everyone was putting their gels and liquids in ziplock bags. Made sure to have them out of their suitcases to show TSA. I didn't. Still had the screwdriver too. Constantly I hear TSA yell out "BAG CHECK". Gotta look like you own the place. Walked away while the person before me and the person behind me both got checked.
Got to the gate and I started feeling bad. Major wall I hit. Took out a protein bar and slowly started feeling better. I think the pilot was in a hurry to get home to watch the football game because we landed 30 minutes early.
Before we boarded, we kept hearing about the TSA raising the level to Orange. Up to this point I was ignoring it but at the gate they had an increased presence. I was concerned that they would notice me and at this point my oversize carry on. I really didn't want to check the bag. Not the money issue, tho that would suck, more of I want to get off the plane and get home ASAP. At the actual gate they kept pulling peopleo ff the line and wiping their hands (top and bottom) with something. Explosive residue test perhaps? I don't know. Once again, walk like you own the place. Didn't stop for them. I own the plane and the airport. Got straight on the plane and boarded with my bag. Put it away and sat down. Haven't done a night time landing in a while. Pretty cool stuff.
Post Race: I feel great. Sunday night at home, I was tired. I felt the tiredness of the entire week buildup with the stress of Jeremy's test, the scheduling and the actual races. It hit me. My legs felt suprisingly fine. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop but it didn't. Slept well. Monday, same thing. I felt a little tired but pretty good nonetheless. Stairs were still not an issue. Running up and down the stairs. It's coming. I know it. Took the kids to school, came back home and waited for Arlene, the masseuse. Massage felt awesome. Tuesday went to work and swam Wednesday. Not sure if I will run Sunday.
Some minor notes: My BFF Tina from APS. I was so excited to hear that someone else was doing this and that hopefully I would have a training partner. Never really happened. Never used her as a backup either. Ended up designating Vinnie even tho I didn't use him. Anyway, I looked at her results and she only had results for the half. Wasn't sure if Disney screwed up, if the D-TAG had issues or if Tina had issues. Turns out she didn't really train. Did the half and didn't do the full. Oh well.
Many people wore either costumes or parts of costumes. Kinda funny that usually people overheat in them while this might have been the perfect weather for some costumes. Depends on the costume. Before the half, I saw Flash. Full body suit! During the full, starting at 16 or so miles, I kept trading places with tinkerbell. She was running with a camera and taking pictures. I think I came in before her but not that much.
I saw a funny re-definition of DNF on someones race report. Usually DNF means "Did Not Finish". For this weekend, they redefined it as "Did Not Freeze". Very appropriate.
Organization: For the most part, I would say EXCELLENT. My only real complaint was something that happened during the full. The half corrals were very clear as there was only 1 starting line. Because the full had 2 (1 for red and 1 for blue) there was some confusion. In fact, when I got there, there was a sign that said D-J here, while in the distance I saw that D (my corral) was up toward the starting line where I expected it to be. Good thing I studied the starting maps. I asked people and they said that this is D but it just didn't sit well with me. Left them and walked toward the starting line which is where D was and which is where I should have been. Sucks for all those other people. Maybe they are still there?
It's a good thing to be a little anal (or a lot) and to read all you can about your event. In one of the previous race reports that I read, people mentioned "proof of time". What's that? Shot a quick email to Disney. You need to submit a proof of time if you want to be placed in the correct corral either by email or at the expo, otherwise you will be placed "somewhere" which usually means the back. Sent an email. I was pretty much up there. For the full, I was right behind the wheel chair athletes which went first. How awesome?
It's considered an honor to walk with your medal or medals once you finish the race(s). People walk all over the hotel, the Disney parks and even downtown Disney. People all over congratulate you etc. It's not my style. Hell, I didn't even mention it in some of the mailing lists that I am doing this. People I care about or that I want to know, know! But, it was pretty cool to see. As people got off the bus and to the resort, the lobby would erupt with claps and whistles and screaming of "GOOD JOB!". That's cool. Since I tried not to bring too much stuff to Florida, I didn't bring any shirts knowing that I would have a race shirt. My one concession to this displaying of your accomplishments, is that I wore my Goofy shirt at the resort on Sunday after the Marathon. It was black and I would probably not get it dirty the first day. Some people knew what it was all about, others didn't. Some said congrats, others didn't. It's cool. Wasn't trying to draw attention. Defintly nice encouragements to first timers tho.
And now my humble opinion about Disney. No doubt the whole thing is expensive and you want to plan around that and maybe do a mini-vacation but there is no doubt that it was great. In fact, now that I did 2 BIG marathons (NYC and Disney), I could easily compare the 2. Even tho, I am a NYer and therefore anything that NY does kicks everything else butts, I gotta admit that Disney was better. If anyone would ask me which they should do, Disney or NYC, I would say Disney. No contest. There is no comparison. The whole route I enjoyed. There was constantly people cheering and making noise. Tons of specators and the areas where they had no spectators like backlots were filled up with Volunteers and Disney characters and music and MC's and other junk. They just did an amazing job. Disney was the whole weekend from start to finish. NYC was just a few crazy people running and pretty much inconveniencing the rest of the population.
There are 3 things that make a race: Volunteers, the Race Director and the course. In that order! The volunteers were amazing. The RD and management did great as well. In fact, they mentioned that there is ice and slippery areas and that they tried to de-ice as best as they can and that people should e careful. I only saw 1 or 2 ice patches. In fact, at the fluid stations, the volunteers were pourng salt and sand all over because the spilled water kept freezing. In NYC, all the fluid stations were slippery. Amazing that no one fell.
I think that I am done. If I add anything else, I will update the update file.
Just a few more castle shots that I wasn't sure where to put. Pretty cool shots.
