WDWFAN9
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2001
- Messages
- 2,043
Better late than never!!
Thursday - Expo day
Jim and I landed in Orlando at 9:50AM. Thanks to ME and a quick check-in at POP we were in MK eating lunch at Peco's Bill's at 11:30
We got to the expo a little after 3PM, the line into the building moved quickly, but that was the last time that happened. Jim headed to get his half packet and I ended up in the longest line for the full. It went so slowly....then it was off to another slow moving line to pick up the pins I had pre-ordered. At least I crossed paths with Wendy! No line for chip verification (I think everyone was in line elsewhere!) and then I headed downstairs to shop. What a zoo! The expo was packed and it was very warm. I did managed to snag a few things, admire Steve's picture on display, and run into Craig, Anne, and Robert. Met back up with Jim and then we all headed to Spoodles for a delicious supper. It was the first time Jim and I had eaten there and the food was wonderful and the company even more so. Craig graciously chaufferred us back to Pop (thanks again Craig!) and we settled into our room.
Friday - expo and WISH meet
Friday we headed back to the expo since it had been so crowded the day before. Bought a few more things and ran into Jen, which was great. Then it was off to a park and back to Pop for the meet. What a wonderful group of people WISHers are! It was amazing to see how much the group has grown, and it was fun to catch up with old friends and put faces to new ones. Thanks again to Karen and John for the cool WISH bag!! Since DH was doing the half we made it an early night.
Saturday - the half
Jim was up bright and early (can you say that about getting up in the middle of the night?) so he could catch one of the first buses from POP. I slept in for a little bit, but was meeting Anne at 5:30. Well, at 5:25 Anne was knocking on my door ready to head out. We made connections easily and got to the TTC to cheer with other members of the WISH scream team. It was a blast watching all the runners/walkers go by, and we cheered for everyone, but especially a little louder for anyone in that special safety yellow shirt (which really does show up far in the distance!). Anne and I stayed till the very end and then headed over to the other side of the Poly to cheer some more. Then we hopped on the monorail to head back to Epcot. We actually saw Judy down below us as the monorail passed over the course. She was really booking!! We got to the Epcot entrance in time to see Jim go by. He was smiling and looking good! It really is so cool to cheer for the runners/walkers as they go by!! Soon I headed out to meet Jim at the finish, while Anne stayed behind to cheer to the very end! There were still quite a few WISHers at the end and we visited for a while. Steve and Krista kindly offered us a ride back to POP, which Jim especially was very grateful for, since the bus transportation wasn't very clearly marked. It was another early night in preparation for another big day.
Sunday - the full
Jim had to be at WWoS at 2:30 to report for his volunteer duties (thanks Krista for another ride) and I was on the 3AM bus to the start. Went through the bag check and right up to the barricade for heading to the corrals. What do I see in the distance??? Portions of bright yellow shirts! Jim and Kristi were just beyond the barricade and they came up to say hello! Quite a few WISHers gathered and we even had a gentleman come up and ask if he could sit with us since we seemed like a friendly group! So of course we welcomed him with typical WISH enthusiasm. Soon it was time to head out to the corrals. There was a group of us in corral G and visiting helped to pass the time. Eventually the fireworks signalled the start of the full and we worked our way slowly toward the start line.
The first couple of miles are always hard for me as I have to convince my body that moving is a good thing, and it was great to see the WISHers at Red #2 and grab a quick smooch from DH. By the time I left Epcot I was feeling pretty good, keeping a good steady pace in the low 15mpm range. It was awesome to see the scream team at the TTC. I walked briefly with Dona, but she stopped to us the facilities just inside the TTC. I was so glad this year to be able to go down Main Street (last year I was diverted with Lily, Cam and Rhonda even though we were well ahead on pace). I made a pit stop at the restrooms between Frontierland and Adventureland and crossed paths with Terri as I was leaving. It was at this point that my race began to go downhill. I was feeling a little nauseated, which has happened to me before, and which I can work through. When I passed the scream team by the GF I was not a happy camper, but was still plugging away.
Soon though I started to feel headachy and a little lightheaded. I was so wishing for someone to walk with, but it seemed like most of the people around me were in their own little zone, or with their own little group. So I kept walking. By mile 16 I was suffering, and noticed that if I didn't really concentrate I would weave just a little bit. I've got to be honest with you guys, that scared me. I stopped and sat at the medic tent just outside of AK and knew that my race was over. There was a med van right there, but I convinced the medics that DH was waiting for me just around the corner and that he would get me safely back to our room. Let me tell you - that just around the corner was a lot farther than it was last year!! But soon I spotted him and Kristi, and boy was I glad! They were both so nice and so supportive of my decision to stop. They got me to the POP bus stop and Kristi stayed until the bus came. Thanks again Kristi, I will always remember your kindness.
Jim got me to POP and there I saw a few people with their Mickey medals. Oh darn! That is one gorgeous medal! Made me feel really bad about stopping - until I realized that I needed to lean on Jim to make it back to our room. After a quick soak in a cool tub, and a little bit of chicken soup that Jim got me from the food court, I took a nice nap and woke up feeling almost human. A very disappointed human, but fortunately the ill feeling didn't linger and we headed out to walk a little bit.
Monday - WISH breakfast
It was great to see everyone with their medals and hear a little bit of their experiences. Thank you everyone for your kind words of encouragement and support, I so appreciate them.
Home -
It has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, coming home without that medal. It just wasn't meant to be. I wasn't nearly as prepared as last year, combined with a few weeks of interrupted sleep due to one sweet little puppy, a few female issues, and whatever else was going on. One part of me knows that stopping was the absolutely smartest thing to do, but another part of me wonders if I gave up too soon. When I checked my garmin when we got home I found that even with the stop with the medics, and not turning off the garmin until I was halfway to the POP bus, my average pace was 16:20. If only I could have gotten past the dizziness! On the other hand when DH asked me if the medics were cute (he must have learned about Judy's experiences from last year) I had to say that I honestly didn't know, but I think one of them was female. Obviously I was a little out of it!!
I am not going to let this DNF discourage me!! DH and I have several exciting 1/2's scheduled this year - Indy in May, Alaska in June, and Vegas in Dec. If things work out I might add WI the end of May, Philly in Sept, and San Antonio in Dec. How cool would that be?
Thanks again to the wonderful WISH team, I can't say enough how much I have appreciated everything this team stands for!
Thursday - Expo day
Jim and I landed in Orlando at 9:50AM. Thanks to ME and a quick check-in at POP we were in MK eating lunch at Peco's Bill's at 11:30
We got to the expo a little after 3PM, the line into the building moved quickly, but that was the last time that happened. Jim headed to get his half packet and I ended up in the longest line for the full. It went so slowly....then it was off to another slow moving line to pick up the pins I had pre-ordered. At least I crossed paths with Wendy! No line for chip verification (I think everyone was in line elsewhere!) and then I headed downstairs to shop. What a zoo! The expo was packed and it was very warm. I did managed to snag a few things, admire Steve's picture on display, and run into Craig, Anne, and Robert. Met back up with Jim and then we all headed to Spoodles for a delicious supper. It was the first time Jim and I had eaten there and the food was wonderful and the company even more so. Craig graciously chaufferred us back to Pop (thanks again Craig!) and we settled into our room.Friday - expo and WISH meet
Friday we headed back to the expo since it had been so crowded the day before. Bought a few more things and ran into Jen, which was great. Then it was off to a park and back to Pop for the meet. What a wonderful group of people WISHers are! It was amazing to see how much the group has grown, and it was fun to catch up with old friends and put faces to new ones. Thanks again to Karen and John for the cool WISH bag!! Since DH was doing the half we made it an early night.
Saturday - the half
Jim was up bright and early (can you say that about getting up in the middle of the night?) so he could catch one of the first buses from POP. I slept in for a little bit, but was meeting Anne at 5:30. Well, at 5:25 Anne was knocking on my door ready to head out. We made connections easily and got to the TTC to cheer with other members of the WISH scream team. It was a blast watching all the runners/walkers go by, and we cheered for everyone, but especially a little louder for anyone in that special safety yellow shirt (which really does show up far in the distance!). Anne and I stayed till the very end and then headed over to the other side of the Poly to cheer some more. Then we hopped on the monorail to head back to Epcot. We actually saw Judy down below us as the monorail passed over the course. She was really booking!! We got to the Epcot entrance in time to see Jim go by. He was smiling and looking good! It really is so cool to cheer for the runners/walkers as they go by!! Soon I headed out to meet Jim at the finish, while Anne stayed behind to cheer to the very end! There were still quite a few WISHers at the end and we visited for a while. Steve and Krista kindly offered us a ride back to POP, which Jim especially was very grateful for, since the bus transportation wasn't very clearly marked. It was another early night in preparation for another big day.
Sunday - the full
Jim had to be at WWoS at 2:30 to report for his volunteer duties (thanks Krista for another ride) and I was on the 3AM bus to the start. Went through the bag check and right up to the barricade for heading to the corrals. What do I see in the distance??? Portions of bright yellow shirts! Jim and Kristi were just beyond the barricade and they came up to say hello! Quite a few WISHers gathered and we even had a gentleman come up and ask if he could sit with us since we seemed like a friendly group! So of course we welcomed him with typical WISH enthusiasm. Soon it was time to head out to the corrals. There was a group of us in corral G and visiting helped to pass the time. Eventually the fireworks signalled the start of the full and we worked our way slowly toward the start line.
The first couple of miles are always hard for me as I have to convince my body that moving is a good thing, and it was great to see the WISHers at Red #2 and grab a quick smooch from DH. By the time I left Epcot I was feeling pretty good, keeping a good steady pace in the low 15mpm range. It was awesome to see the scream team at the TTC. I walked briefly with Dona, but she stopped to us the facilities just inside the TTC. I was so glad this year to be able to go down Main Street (last year I was diverted with Lily, Cam and Rhonda even though we were well ahead on pace). I made a pit stop at the restrooms between Frontierland and Adventureland and crossed paths with Terri as I was leaving. It was at this point that my race began to go downhill. I was feeling a little nauseated, which has happened to me before, and which I can work through. When I passed the scream team by the GF I was not a happy camper, but was still plugging away.
Soon though I started to feel headachy and a little lightheaded. I was so wishing for someone to walk with, but it seemed like most of the people around me were in their own little zone, or with their own little group. So I kept walking. By mile 16 I was suffering, and noticed that if I didn't really concentrate I would weave just a little bit. I've got to be honest with you guys, that scared me. I stopped and sat at the medic tent just outside of AK and knew that my race was over. There was a med van right there, but I convinced the medics that DH was waiting for me just around the corner and that he would get me safely back to our room. Let me tell you - that just around the corner was a lot farther than it was last year!! But soon I spotted him and Kristi, and boy was I glad! They were both so nice and so supportive of my decision to stop. They got me to the POP bus stop and Kristi stayed until the bus came. Thanks again Kristi, I will always remember your kindness.
Jim got me to POP and there I saw a few people with their Mickey medals. Oh darn! That is one gorgeous medal! Made me feel really bad about stopping - until I realized that I needed to lean on Jim to make it back to our room. After a quick soak in a cool tub, and a little bit of chicken soup that Jim got me from the food court, I took a nice nap and woke up feeling almost human. A very disappointed human, but fortunately the ill feeling didn't linger and we headed out to walk a little bit.
Monday - WISH breakfast
It was great to see everyone with their medals and hear a little bit of their experiences. Thank you everyone for your kind words of encouragement and support, I so appreciate them.
Home -
It has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, coming home without that medal. It just wasn't meant to be. I wasn't nearly as prepared as last year, combined with a few weeks of interrupted sleep due to one sweet little puppy, a few female issues, and whatever else was going on. One part of me knows that stopping was the absolutely smartest thing to do, but another part of me wonders if I gave up too soon. When I checked my garmin when we got home I found that even with the stop with the medics, and not turning off the garmin until I was halfway to the POP bus, my average pace was 16:20. If only I could have gotten past the dizziness! On the other hand when DH asked me if the medics were cute (he must have learned about Judy's experiences from last year) I had to say that I honestly didn't know, but I think one of them was female. Obviously I was a little out of it!!
I am not going to let this DNF discourage me!! DH and I have several exciting 1/2's scheduled this year - Indy in May, Alaska in June, and Vegas in Dec. If things work out I might add WI the end of May, Philly in Sept, and San Antonio in Dec. How cool would that be?
Thanks again to the wonderful WISH team, I can't say enough how much I have appreciated everything this team stands for!
We all know you are a marathoner. The conditions were just horrible and it takes a very wise and courageous person to know when to stop. I am so glad you listened to your body. I can't imagine what we all would have done if you'd ended up in an ER with heat stroke. 
I'm living that vicariously through you. I'll be happy if I make it to 25 states. 
Awww, shucks, I wasn't really booking......Was I? 
He did bring it up after Rhonda and Heather started talking about it, though, so I know I can get him in time. WISH I could wait fro airfare rates, though.
