Race Reports/Kudos/Encouragement - January 9 - 11

[hockeygirl]

GirtheGecko--Sorry to hear about the race today. I am glad that your are staying positive and not giving up!

As for me, I did the half today as well...it was awesome. I really took it easy doing a run 3/walk 2. I stopped along the way to take some pics in the MK also. I ended up finishing in 2:37, which was a little faster than I was hoping, wanted to be around 2:45 to save my legs for tomorrow, but we shall see what happens. I feel good right now, just a little tired.

Time to go set out all my stuff for the morning....I am little nervous, but I am determined to push through and finish!

It was so great seeing all the WISHers today on the course, everyone did awesome!!

 

[TEK224]

Laurie - Congrats today and good luck for tomorrow!

GirtheGecko - sorry to hear you got swept. But it's good you're going to try again. I got swept last year in the full and didn't like the way it felt either. I took a break from Disney this year, but I'll be signing up for Goofy 2010 on Monday!.

Terri

 

[MiniGirl]

Hey, GirTheGecko, at least you made it to the starting line and I think making it to Mile 8 is fabulous. I signed up after completing my first Half last year. (I barely beat the last sweep.), and signed up to go again this year with a goal of "officially" finishing (within the allotted time). However, life changes and family illnesses made it impossible for me to even get to the starting line this year. Next year is still up in the air, but I definitely hope to be there in 2011.

 

[JimB.]

just a quickie - 1/2 time 2:14:38
Full time 5:01:36

Gecko - sorry for the sweep. Just work on getting healthy and come back strong next time. You can do it!

And btw, this will most likely be my first and last Goofy. It was fun, but just too hard on the unit. Anyone have a spare set of quads & ankles???

 

[SamSam]

I just wanted to pop in and say congratulations to all of you who participated in the 1/2 or the full or both this weekend. You are all awesome!

I'm hoping to join in the fun in Jan 2011!

 

[monte]

Congratulations to all who got out there and walked/ran, whether you crossed the finish line or not. It's a great goal and sometimes it takes more than one time to complete...don't give up....keep training and congratulations again!

 

[monte]

P.S. What is the Dopey?

 

[TEK224]

Hey Monte,

The Dopey follows the Goofy. It's doing the 5K on Friday, the 1/2 Marathon on Saturday and the Full marathon on Sunday. I'm doing the Goofy next year, but am thinking about Dopey, too. It's not an official event. I think someone here coined it the Dopey, because you have to be more than Goofy to do all three.

Terri

 

[monte]

Is there a medal given out at the 5k?

 

[aldisneygrl]

Is there a medal given out at the 5k?

Yes, but it is plastic, still cool, but not the bling that the half, full and Goofy are. It may be plastic, but I am so proud of mine from last year!


And congrats to all who participated this weekend!!

WISHERS RULE!!!!!

 

[GirTheGecko]

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and encouragement.

The dbf and I are already discussing what to focus on and while we are not shooting for a 2010 half, there is a half in our future. The dbf was in the same boat as me, with possibly retiring from halfs, but he wants to be by my side for this challenge. Also trying to really strengthen my back to prevent any further problems.

 

[Zela]

I have been training for the goofy for about 5 or 6 months now. I finished the half in 3 hours and 18 minutes. Afterwards, I had no pain (I did an ice bath) just tenderness in my feet. Well, on marathon day, the tenderness in my feet turned into blisters at mile 3 on the pads of my feet. The blisters popped at mile 10. Around mile 13, or so, it hurt so bad that I wanted to quit. My future sister-in-law pushed me and helped me carry on. I really pushed myself after that. I got past the sweep at mile 21 and after that, I could not go any faster that about 17:30 minutes per mile. That was when my sister-in-law sped up a little. The officials said there were going to be two more sweeps. I was going as fast as I could, but I got swept between mile 23.5 and 24. It was right there by the parking lot of mgm, where the sidewalk curves down by the lake. I only had about two miles to go and it had only been 6 hours and 38 minutes since they had blown the gun. I wondered what happened to the other extra time they were supposed to give us for the last person in line to start the race. Apparently, the bikers didn't think that we could finish two miles in about 43 minutes. But in retrospect, we were going more than 16 minutes per mile and they have the right to take you off the course if you are. Thankfully though, my friend had went ahead of me and she finished. I am very happy for her, but I am having a hard time expressing it, because every time I think about the race I ran, I get annoyed.


However, I did do about 37 miles in two days. I went a lot further on marathon day than I thought I would. Now I have a donald and a mickey medal(I did the full last year). I reckon I'll have to do the goofy again next year and find some way to prevent blisters. Speaking of blisters, I have never had blisters in my training, only the day of the marathon. I am currently using smartwool socks. Any ideas?

 

[GirTheGecko]

Zela: That is so hard to read with you going so far and then being swept so close to the end. Glad to see you have a good attitude though.

I had the blister problem too, with the best (?) socks to help with that, and wound up with the worst blisters for any of my races/training. I had fewer and smaller blisters when I wore cotton socks. Hopefully someone can give us good advice for prevention.

 

[suzannews]

Hugs to you Zela...37 miles in 2 days is amazing. I did the 1/2 on Saturday and there is no way I could have even crawled a mile on Sunday.

 

[twoWDWfools]

Quick fly by before heading to parks - I finished my first full marathon!!!

Little slower than I wanted - had problems around mile 22. Sore, tired, hot, done.... pushed thru and finished. My goal had been to finish and I did so guess I'll save the time goal for next year.

Will post more details later this week after getting home.

 

[aldisneygrl]

Zela - Wow! You did a great job! I'm sure you're disappointed, but you have a great attitude! BTW, where in AL are you from? I'm from the Huntsville area.

Liz - Congrats! Have fun today!

 

[TEK224]

Liz - Congrats!

Zela - I'm sorry to hear about your blister problems. I've had similar problems the last two WDW marathons (didn't go this year). I started putting vaseline on the spots where I got blisters before. Then I put on my socks and put vaseline on them two, at the hot spots. It didn't totally prevent them, but it helped a lot!

Terri

 

[corinnak]

I am pleased to say that I finished the 2009 Half Marathon. This has been my "dream" race, the race that I started running for, the race that kept me going on the treadmill many a time. Not just the WDW Half, but the 2009 WDW Half.

Finishing was even more sweet because I have had a few setbacks this year (it seems like this was a BIG year for life trying to get in the way for WISHers) including a concussion in October that made training out of the question for a month. So I am just so pleased that I was able to go and finish. I did not really push myself this race - just did a "happy pace" for the 13.1 miles. My feet were definitely the weakest link, I think because I had not gotten enough miles on them in the previous months. My time was about what I expected it to be, at just under 3 hours. It does not thrill and delight me, but it is truly the best I could hope for this year.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely all the WISH team members that I met and especially those that I saw cheering along the course and at the water stops. I don't always participate the most on the boards, but I so greatly appreciate being part of this team!



Laurie - great job on the half - it was so nice to hang out with you in the corral before the race.

GirtheGecko - so sorry that you had problems in the half - I am impressed that you did what you could to keep on going, though, gait change and all. Enjoy that watch!

Monte - I did not do the 5K this year, but I did covet the medals a little bit - they were really cute this year with Simba and Pumbaa on them. I'm sure someone will post a photo - sorry it can't be me!

 

[bubba73]

I too was there for Marathon Weekend and it was incredible. I had not trained totally in the fashion that I should have. I knew I could handle the distances and the times for the 5k and the Half but I didn't know if I was going to be able to PR either race. Unfortunately, I didn't. (I guess I kind of PRd the Half since it was my first timed event.)

The 5k was to be an easy race. I stayed with Liz (twotoohappy) throughout the race. We managed about a 14 minute pace from the time that we started. (Man, it was cold that morning for a guy wearing short sleeves.) The atmosphere was fantastic. The only downfall was on me. I was soo excited that morning when I drove to AK that I forgot to do one very important thing. I forgot to see where I was parking. After the race, I spend about 15 minutes looking for my car. (I also did the same thing at WWoS during package pickup. I guess I was so happy to be there that my brain left me for the whole weekend.) After the 5k, I made the decision that I shouldn't have. I decided to go to DHS so I could ride Toy Story Mania. I think I added another 4-5 miles of walking around just that park the day before my first Half. What was I thinking???

On the morning of the Half, I was feeling pretty good. I had a game plan and I was intent on following it. Start off slow and steady, get the body warmed up, kick it up a bit in the middle and then finish strong. Sounds like a good plan, right?? Well, in the middle of the race, I got a cut on my toe. (I now understand the t-shirt that I saw that said "toenails are for sissies".) This slowed me way down. I thought it was a blister that was just getting worse and worse. I stopped a couple of times to check my foot to see if it was bleeding or if I could at least, put some sock in between the toes to minimize the pain. Nothing worked but I forged ahead. I was not going to drive all the way down to WDW and pay for this event and not give it my best to finish. It was a great sight to see the WISHers at mile 11 going up the overpass. Debra and Jeanne gave me the motivation to at least complete part of my plan. I stayed relaxed for a little further. I got to mile 12 and stopped again. By now, the hammies were pretty tight. I stretched them out a bit and then continued on. And then the emootion hit me. I knew I was on my last mile and the crowds around EPCOT was incredible. (Had a guy look at me that I had never seen before at all and yell "Keep it up Big Man! You are doing AWESOME!!!") At this point, I forgot about the pain in my foot and the tightness in my legs. I started to pick it up and jog/run the rest of the way in. The crowds. The band. And the choir at the end. Is there a better way to finish a race? It helped me finish stronger than I thought I would have been able too at mile 7.

All I can say is "WOW!! What an experience!" and Where do I sign up for next year??

Thanks everyone!
Bryan

 

[aldisneygrl]

Congrats Corinna and Bryan!!!!!

sounds like you forged through Bryan! Great job, and a great showing for the fine state of Alabama!