Dig A Little Deeper: Dopey 2019

[Neon Cactus]

You have a lot of great pictures. I like the one with your daughters and the fireworks behind them. It came out so well!

 

[lhermiston]

Well done on your 10k and half marathon and I love your fireworks pictures

Thanks!

You have a lot of great pictures. I like the one with your daughters and the fireworks behind them. It came out so well!

Thanks! I’m happy it worked out.

 

[cavepig]

Half marathon night I was asleep by 7:00pm, that's crazy and awesome you were out so late. Looks like you had a blast & your girls I'm sure did too! Splash when the fireworks go off is totally the best!

 

[lhermiston]

Half marathon night I was asleep by 7:00pm, that's crazy and awesome you were out so late. Looks like you had a blast & your girls I'm sure did too! Splash when the fireworks go off is totally the best!

I’m really, really happy we were able to do that. We might not have done as much as I would have liked, but I’ll cherish those memories forever.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

What a fun night with your older girls!!
(You're a champ for staying up that late too!)

So I've never used touring plans, I've always just used MDE. How did the wait times compare between the 2?

 

[ZellyB]

I can't believe you stayed up so late! You are a machine.

You have some amazing pictures, but I'm glad to hear you already framed the one of you with your girls in front of the castle. Brilliant pic!

 

[lhermiston]

What a fun night with your older girls!!
(You're a champ for staying up that late too!)

So I've never used touring plans, I've always just used MDE. How did the wait times compare between the 2?

I didn’t check MDE, but did check the wait times posted at the entrances. When we walked into Space, the posted wait time was 50 minutes, but TP’s expected wait time was 35. I don’t recall the others, but they were reminiscent of our Space experience.

I can't believe you stayed up so late! You are a machine.

You have some amazing pictures, but I'm glad to hear you already framed the one of you with your girls in front of the castle. Brilliant pic!

Thanks! I love it.

 

[TheHamm]

I am sorry TP was such a disaster for you. We had great luck at Christmas as their times were much closer than the MDE times. I imagine the anticipated shake up of staffing played into the discrepancy? We decided to fly by the seat of our pants this trip sans kids and when I did check it Friday and Sunday AM I think stuff looked +/- 10 minutes of the MDE postings.

 

[lhermiston]

I am sorry TP was such a disaster for you. We had great luck at Christmas as their times were much closer than the MDE times. I imagine the anticipated shake up of staffing played into the discrepancy? We decided to fly by the seat of our pants this trip sans kids and when I did check it Friday and Sunday AM I think stuff looked +/- 10 minutes of the MDE postings.

I wouldn’t call it a disaster. I’m probably just overreliant on it. It’s generally been a very useful tool for me.

 

[Chaitali]

Great night time photos! That is very impressive you were able to hang out with the girls so late the night before the marathon Looks like you all took full advantage of it and had a fun time.

 

[lhermiston]

Great night time photos! That is very impressive you were able to hang out with the girls so late the night before the marathon Looks like you all took full advantage of it and had a fun time.

I think I paid for it a bit the next day, but it was worth it.

 

[lhermiston]

Day 6: The Marathon - Or, a Tale of Two Half Marathons

I woke up sometime around 3 the morning of the marathon and my stomach was a bit unsettled. Not sure if it was nerves, something I ate or what, but there wasn't much I could do about it, so I pressed on and hoped it wouldn't become an issue later.

I got dressed and was out the door a little before 3:30. For the first time, I was not on the first bus leaving the west depot, but was on a second bus fairly quickly.

When I got to the staging area, the "regulars" from the past few mornings showed up fairly quickly. There seemed to be more of us the morning of the marathon than any of the other races, plus a little bit of that nervous energy/excitement that comes before a big race. No shots this morning (though I wouldn't have turned one down #YOLO)

Around 5 or so, I walked over to the corrals with a group if Dis'ers. We peeled off for our respective corrals and I found my way into B. It was super comfortable that morning, a much better experience than waiting for the 2017 WDW Marathon to start. I knew there were other runDisney all-stars in B, but I kept to myself and waited for the race to begin.

Before too long, we were off. My stomach still felt a little unsettled, but it was nothing serious so I just went about my run. Despite being out somewhat late the night before, I was feeling pretty fresh. I had two sets of Clif chews in my running belt - one with caffeine and one without. The plan was to do one with caffeine every two miles until they ran out, then switch to the non-caffeinated. I might have had one chew in the corral just to get me going, but I don't recall for sure.

Anyway, I had no interest in a marathon PR, but was hoping to beat my previous WDW Marathon time of about 4:22. That said, with the warmth and extra miles of Dopey, my heart wasn't set on a course PR. I just figured I'd run my race.

I started off pretty easy with a 9:19 mile, but as if often the case (and often my downfall), I sped up a bit as the morning went on. The route to the castle was (I'm pretty sure) identical to the half and nothing really stands out from the first five miles or so.

Running down Main Street, USA was once again awesome and this time I really tried to soak in as much of the experience as possible, knowing it would likely be years before I'd be doing this again. The crowds were awesome.

We rounded through Tommorowland and into Fantasyland. As we approaching the rear of the castle, some dude cut across me and another runner. I can't remember if it was for a character or something, but it was rude and someone could have easily tripped since it was still pretty dark. The other runner and I commented briefly about it, but no one was hurt, so I kept going.

I ran through the castle and knew where the photographers were this time, but opted again not to stop. My plan for this race was no characters or any other stopping until my body couldn't go any farther.

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8306506040 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

For having really long legs, my strides are super short, so all of my running photos look like I'm barely moving. It's super cool.

But you know what was actually super cool? Running as Mr. Incredible. It's so fun to get cheers from spectators and know they are specifically for you. I also got some laughs from spectators when they would call out, "Mr. Incredible" and I would point or "flex." It was a blast from beginning to end.

From there, it was Frontierland and the backstage area of Disney, which I think is a really cool area to see. Then, it was the long run from MK to AK. I won't recap much of that, but highlights include seeing the retired ride vehicles again and a donkey or something right outside of AK. Some runner posing with the donkey spooked it, which was funny to see, but probably not so funny for the donkey.

I also looked for any rD all-stars on the out and back, but didn't see anyone I recognized (sorry if I missed you).

By AK, the sun was up, but I was still pretty comfortable. I don't think I was two-fisting waters or anything like that yet. By this point, though, I was probably dumping a little water in my hat or on the sweatbands of my Mr. Incredible costume.

I was still going strong at mile 13 and was hitting paces between 8:44-8:28. I had been telling myself to ease up with my paces, but at that point, everything still felt really comfortable and I ran more on feel than on time. As I entered the second half of the marathon, I new a sub-4:00 was possible, but I also knew I was pushing things a bit. I decided to just keep going until I couldn't anymore.

Unfortunately, that happened about five miles later. Mile 18 came in at 8:28 again, but it was downhill from there. I hit the wall pretty hard. On top of that, I was "off" by about two tenths of a mile, so I was getting mile notifications a bit early. Mentally, it was throwing my off a little bit.

Looking back, I'm not sure entirely what to attribute the fatigue for. It could have been heat, staying up late the night before (still worth it) or just the cumulative fatigue from three prior races coupled with full park days. Or, it might have been all of that. Who knows?

So, at the beginning of Mile 19 I decided I would run until Strava alerted to the next mile (actually only 19.8) and walk the two tenths of a mile to get to the actual Mile 20. I was able to do this throughout the Wide World of Sports, but with diminishing success.

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8306614462 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

By the time I exited WWoS, the sun was fully up and I was struggling a bit. @cavepig passed me and gave me a little shout, which was super awesome and a legitimate morale boost. Around this time in 2017, I was similarly struggling due to knee pain and fell in with the 4:15 pace group through Hollywood Studios, but this year, I was between pace groups and on my own.

I decided to just run as far as I could, as long as I could and as often as I could and walk when necessary. Mile 21 came in at 10:03 and Mile 22 came in at 10:44, but I was also struggling with my phone and the external battery I packed so I could keep my phone going for the duration of the race.

At some point in Mile 23, with my phone switched to my now-damp with water/sweat pocket, Strava got switched off. So, my paces were lost, my current time was lost and I was super annoyed. I need to be mentally stronger about this stuff during races, but at the time I was hot, tired and piloting the Struggle Bus.

You know who didn't care that I was struggling? The Green Army Sergeant on the exit ramp near Hollywood Studios. He started shouting at me to run faster. I shook my head. Then he told me to drop and give him three. I shook my head again (if I laid down, I wasn't getting up again until Tuesday). So, he said run or give him pushups. I ran until I was past him and slowed back down again.

I ran through parts of Hollywood Studios and also stopped for a photo with the Incredibles, because why not at that point? The poor CM had to wipe sweat off of my phone to take a pic and I was too tired to muster up a decent pose, but it was still a good stop.

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8307199285 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

I just noticed you can see the cord going from my charger in my hydration belt to my phone in my pocket. Super cool pic, Lee. SMH.

I had a bunch of pics in Hollywood Studios, but a bunch of them had a small black dot that wound up right in the middle of my face. Maybe it was an ugly runner filter or maybe the photographer just needed to clean his lens. The world will never know.

But, one shot in Hollywood did actually turn out really well, in my opinion. I printed this one and it's hanging up in my office because I can't bring myself to put any marathon stuff in any part of the house that's visible to guests.

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8306374431 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

From Hollywood it was onto the Boardwalk area. I managed to restart Strava and I had settled in at 10 minute mile paces. I had no idea what my time was. I figured that sub-4 was long gone, but I still hoped to beat my course PR.

As I rolled up to the water stop just outside of Epcot, some dude stepped on the back of my shoe by accident and my foot came out. Fortunately, my foot slid right in and the dude apologized, so it was no harm, no foul and I was back on my way.

By World Showcase, I don't even know if I was running more than two to three tenths of a mile at a time. I was done. Spent. Kaput. I knew I'd finish, but physically, I was just shot.

Still managed to smile for a photo, though, because why the heck not?

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8306338358 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

I made it under the globe and went past the choir, feeling far too tired to feel inspired by their singing. I am legitimately jealous of all the people who have these emotional finishes to their races because I'm always just tired and ready to be done.

I think I ran down the final chute and across the finish line. My finish line photos are pretty weak, TBH.

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8306837468 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8306915639 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

So, right after I crossed the finish line, I did this little fist pump thing ... and somehow sent my charger flying from my belt (if you look at one of my finish line photos, you can see the tangled cord, I obviously did not zip it shut). I heard it hit the ground and knowing it was either my charger or my phone, I whipped around to grab it (bad idea, I probably looked like Mufasa in the wildebeest stampede). My left leg seized up immediately, making me think I tore something in my knee and someone kicked my phone/charger. I managed to grab it and then hobble my way down the chute . It was easily a Top 10 dumbest finish to a race.

After getting my marathon marathon medal, I got a wet towel (AWESOME, thank you, runDisney) and stood in front of one of the big misting fans for a few moments. Then I grabbed a powerade, my Goofy and Dopey medals, food and took a quick pic (it looks like garbage, so I'm not posting).

I saw the lines for Goofy and Dopey were relatively short, so I got in line and got my photo with Dopey first.



Then I met Goofy and did a pro wrestler pose, because I am nothing if not a fully grown man-child.

PhotoPass_Visiting_WDWRUNDISNEY_8307150125 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

I didn't check my marathon time until later that day or maybe the next day, but it turns out I finished in 4:08, which is a 14-minute improvement over my previous WDW Marathon. If I'm doing my math right (and I'm probably not), I finished the entire Dopey Challenge in 7:29:33. So, that's cool.




Up next: Magic Kingdom, Ohana and more fireworks!

 

[petals]

Congrats. I'd probably just lie down and let people run over me if I had to do a marathon!

 

[rteetz]

Congrats on the marathon and the dopey finish!

I don't know if I could ever run a Disney marathon that fast. I just love to stop and enjoy everything so much and with it being warm it slowed me down bit more. Congrats on the time improvement nonetheless.

Those towels at the end were definitely needed!

 

[lhermiston]

Congrats. I'd probably just lie down and let people run over me if I had to do a marathon!

I’m sure that thought occurred to me at some point. Just make WWoS my final resting place like Walt intended!

 

[lhermiston]

Congrats on the marathon and the dopey finish!

I don't know if I could ever run a Disney marathon that fast. I just love to stop and enjoy everything so much and with it being warm it slowed me down bit more. Congrats on the time improvement nonetheless.

Those towels at the end were definitely needed!

I really do wanna try it your way sometime. I need to get over my competitiveness and desire to be really efficient with my time (that applies to all of my vacations, I’m not a sit back and relax guy). I’m sure I’d have fun stopping for drinks and doing EE.

 

[Chaitali]

Congrats on the course PR and some epic race photos . That wet towel after the race and the wet sponges in ESPN were the best things ever.

 

[Neon Cactus]

Congratulations! What a great time. Glad you got your picture with the Incredibles too. I loved the sponges in ESPN and the towels at the finish.

 

[lhermiston]

Congrats on the course PR and some epic race photos . That wet towel after the race and the wet sponges in ESPN were the best things ever.

And congratulations to you! I was so happy to see you come back and take care of business.

Congratulations! What a great time. Glad you got your picture with the Incredibles too. I loved the sponges in ESPN and the towels at the finish.

Thanks! I passed on the sponges and immediately regretted it, but the towel was amazing. It didn’t make it home, but I’ll carry it with me in my dreams forever.

 

[jhoannam]

Congratulations! Amazing race considering heat and sun.