I was busy running around before I left for the marathon, so missed my last pre-marathon post. I'm happy to report that I completed the marathon and my race report is reproduced below.
In December 2007 I was in the final planning stages for a trip to Walt Disney World in January 2008. While reading various blogs and discussion groups, I came across people who were in the final stages of preparing for the WDW Marathon. I knew about the marathon, and it had always interested me, but previously Id always filed it away in the someday file. This time it struck a chord with me. I would be turning 40 in 2009, and knew that if I wanted to do it someday that it should probably be soon. I decided that I wanted to run the WDW Marathon in 2010, when I was 40 years old.
Soon after our trip to WDW in 2008, we purchased a treadmill so I could get started training. I knew very little about running, but I am a keen researcher so I read everything I could get my hands on. I began with the Couch to 5K program, and a goal race of 10K in July 2008. After I finished the Couch to 5K program, I entered a 5K race in April 2008 (my first running race). I caught the running bug and wanted to keep running and racing. Around June 2008, I decided that I might be interested in running the WDW Half Marathon in 2009. It was too late to register, but I knew that package spots were still open. I convinced my husband that it would make a great birthday gift (in July), and we soon had reservations for the 2009 Half. I also convinced him that we should do the Expedition Everest Challenge in 2008, so that was our first Disney Race. We had a great time at EEC, and soon decided to turn 2009 into a family trip. My husband ran the 5K, the kids did the kids races, and I finished my first half-marathon.
In the fall of 2009 I began my training in earnest for my first marathon. My goal was to finish in a respectable time. I dont agree with the philosophy of not aiming for a time in your first marathon. For most of my training, I followed an intermediate plan from the Nike+ website. This plan fit in well with my family life, as I was running 5 days a week, but only running long on the weekends. The weekday runs (with one exception) were no longer than 7 miles. When I registered for the race, I put in an anticipated time of 4:15, but decided later that 4:30 would be more practical for my first attempt.
Fast forward to race weekend, and were in Disney with the family, plus my mother is with us too. My husband is running the half-marathon and Im running the full, making up a Goofy relay (sort-of). We werent thrilled with the weather. Wed done some training in those temperatures, but not much racing. On Friday night, I was surprised by a visit from a friend who lives in North Carolina. She had arranged to fly in with her family to surprise me and see me run the marathon. I was indeed surprised, and glad to have the support. Saturday morning my husband and I headed out for the half race together. After saying our goodbyes, I headed for the TTC to watch and take some pictures. I made it there with lots of time to spare, so headed over to the Polynesian for coffee and warmth. When it was time to head back outside, there wasnt very much competition for viewing spots. Soon after I found a spot, the rain/sleet started. I have to say, it was pretty miserable out there, with a brisk wind to ensure that the rain had maximum cooling effect. Finally the first wheelchair came by, soon followed by the elite men. After that, it was a pretty steady stream of runners. I managed to get a decent picture of my husband running by, and then it was off to the next viewing point. I headed back to the Polynesian to warm up for a few minutes, and then headed to the Chear Squad view point. After getting there, I didnt think I could get very good pictures, so wanted to head south to see if I could find a better spot. I headed across the Poly parking lot, and got turned around just enough that I got confused and headed for the runners heading north instead of south. I didnt realize my mistake until I got to where I could see the runners. I knew that I would miss the photo opportunity there, so headed on the monorail to catch mile 12. I found a nice spot to take pictures near the resort bus area at Epcot and cheered on some more runners. By now the sun was coming up, so it was a little brighter. It was nice to be able to cheer the runners by telling them they only had a mile to go too. Managed to get another pretty good photo, and then hustled over to the finish area. After watching the finish, we met up, took some more photos and then headed for the room. There was a 45 minute parking jam exiting the parking lot, but at least we were warm so we took that in stride.
Sunday morning my husband was volunteering, so he needed to be up a little earlier than I did. He got up and organized while I took my time going through my race day rituals. I headed out for the bus at about 3:30, but had to wait quite a while for a bus. When I finally made it to the reunion area, I headed for the H tent and talked to a few ROTE people. I mostly wanted to meet up with Gina so I could get my ROTE hat to wear during the race. With a 4:15 time estimate, I was assigned to Corral C (blue side), but my plan was to run with the 4:30 pace group in Corral D (red side). I was texting with my husband, and he told me that he was at the parking entrance for Epcot, but was told that it was after the merge. I told him that the parking entrance was before the merge, and also (incorrectly) that it was on the blue start. I headed for Corral D, and one of the bib checkers didnt want to let me in, but then another bib checker corrected him that it was ok to drop back. Not too long after, the pace group leader set up in the corral. He seemed to think that we were starting in Wave 2, but I knew unless there was a change, we were supposed to be Wave 1. His knowledge of how the start worked seemed to be lacking, as all through the race he didnt seem to understand that there were 2 starts (red and blue), and that we started in Wave 1 of the red start. Anyway, I figured that he was confused so I got ready to go with the official start, while he was telling people we had 10 minutes after that. Sure enough, he was caught by surprise when we started right away. As we started, I settled in to a comfortable pace and then got my own surprise when we were heading for the main parking entrance. Sure enough, I was able to find my husband and say hi to him as we ran through. At about mile 4.5 I was warm enough that I tossed my jacket. The jacket was originally to be tossed before the start, but I kept it on due to the cold. Things were all going well so far. I was enjoying the race and felt comfortable at the pace. On World Drive, I briefly met Patrick from ROTE, and then he continued on. Around mile 9 I started to feel like I might have to make a bathroom stop. When we got into the Magic Kingdom, I decided that a stop would be inevitable, so might as well stop in the real bathrooms near Cosmic Rays. After I made the stop I wanted to be careful in how to catch back up to the pace group. I knew I would have to run faster than pace, but wanted to spread out the increased speed over a few miles. I picked up the pace a bit, and kept going on my own. I said a quick ROTE hello as I went through their water stop, and kept at it. Just before mile 14, I managed to track down the pace group, and settled back into their pace. I stopped briefly at mile 15 to take a picture of the mile marker, as I had dedicated that mile to friend of mine who recently lost her dad. I enjoyed the run through Animal Kingdom, as I gained some energy running through the park with some sunshine finally. My husband made it to Animal Kingdom to see me run through there, and off I went to Osceola Parkway. Somewhere in here I ran into Betsy from ROTE, whose blog I had read a few times. She gave me encouragement to stick with the pace group, and then also continued on ahead. I didnt mind the out and back too much. There was a DJ playing songs and generally pumping up the crowd. The return part was better than the out, as you could see all the people behind you. Somewhere around the turn to World Drive, I saw Matt from WISH. I thanked him for cheering on the half-marathon last year, and then continued on. By the time we reached Hollywood Studios, I wasnt paying much attention to the sights, and was just concentrating on finishing the last few miles. When we reached the front of the park, the pace group was just ahead of me, and I was having problems keeping pace with them. I knew I couldnt afford to get too far behind, so I just kept running as fast as I could sustain. My legs were getting tired and kind of jelly-like. I didnt want to stop for a gel, so made due with some Powerade and kept on. I was keeping an eye on my watch, and counting down the time until Id be done. This is something I do on the treadmill when I need to zone out. Pretty soon the finish line was in sight. My husband and my friend were cheering for me down the stretch, but I didnt hear them at all. I made it across the line, and temporarily forgot to stop my watch. When I remembered, a few seconds had passed, but I was pretty sure Id made my 4:30 goal. I tracked down the pacer and thanked him. He said that he had crossed about a minute and a half under goal time. My tracking time that was sent out was 4:30:00 exactly. It was later revised to 4:29:58.
Splits for the race (based on mile markers)
Mile Split Cumulative
1 10:53 10:53
2 10:12 21:05
3 10:22 31:28
4 10:08 41:36
5 10:24 52:00
6 10:16 1:02:17
7 10:25 1:12:42
8 10:11 1:22:54
9 10:17 1:33:12
10 9:53 1:43:05
11 11:35 1:54:40
12 10:08 2:04:48
13 9:44 2:14:33
14 9:43 2:24:17
15 10:02 2:34:19
16 10:06 2:44:26
17 10:16 2:54:42
18 10:09 3:04:51
19 10:25 3:15:17
20 9:48 3:25:05
21 10:14 3:35:20
22 10:26 3:45:46
23 10:05 3:55:51
24 10:18 4:06:10
25 10:46 4:16:56
26 10:46 4:27:42
26.2 2:16 4:29:58
Official Chip Time Splits
5 Mile 51:59
10 Mile 1:42:59
Half 2:15:32
20 Mile 3:25:07
So, based on the official results, I completed a slight negative split (2:15:32/2:14:26) which makes me happy. This was mostly caused by the bathroom stop, but still would be pretty even without the stop. I had some problems taking gels, and had to stop to do it. This was partially due to wearing gloves for the whole race, but I could still make improvements there. An increase in average mileage next winter will probably assist in making the last few miles easier, but even though I started to feel really slow, I was only about 25 seconds per mile below pace. Immediately after the race, I said that it was harder than childbirth-- Just when you figure you cant make it without drugs, the end is in sight. I had an easy time with child birth though, so take that for what its worth! Ive decided to piggyback on my training and do the LA Marathon on March 21. If my training goes well, Im going to try for 4:15 this time. Then it will be a down cycle for the summer and were already signed up for Goofy next year.
I'm always in awe of people who can run like that.
