Real Women Sweat PINK - A 2013 Marathon Trip Report - COMPLETE 8/8/13

[wiigirl]

Joining in!

 

[ZellyB]

thanks for deciding to finish your report! I love marathon/race TR's because that's my goal someday... Your story is inspirational and I think it's wonderful you had the support of your Dr. Can't wait to read the rest.... that pic of the starting line and the amount of people is just WOW! How is even possible to run at the beginning?

great job - can't wait to read the rest...

gina

Welcome! It can definitely be difficult to run and there were times we were forced to walk even when we were on a run interval just because of the mass of humanity!

I am not going Dopey this year...I'm giving runDisney one year to work the kinks out with adjusting the weekend schedule, adding in the new 10K course, etc. and am planning on doing it in 2015. So exciting that you and your husband will be going Goofy...you guys will have a blast. It'll be the 10th Goofy (special medal!! ), but I'm sure you knew that! You're right, the multiple wake-up calls are a killer. The races are fun, waking up at 2:30 AM over and over...not so much. So yeah, no marathon weekend for me in 2014 (possibly no runDisney at all for me that year...) but I am running Wine and Dine this year, so I'm looking forward to that.

Aren't those skirts addicting?? The princess ones are so pretty but I know they need hand-washing and I'm way too lazy for that, so I only have solid-colored ones (the plain black, the hot pink and another one that they discontinued). But Minnie is a princess too...right??

Chris and I want to do the Wine and Dine too. Actually, we've managed to talk ourselves into a goal of doing all the run Disney races at some point in the future. It's an expensive addiction.

And, of course, Minnie is a princess!

 

[ZellyB]

Joining in!

Glad to have you here!

 

[luckylady]

Wow Main St looks like Christmas day. So glad you decided to continue with the report.

 

[TangledUp]

Great update! I can't believe how humid it was! And how crowded! Looks like you were having a great time so far.

If you don't mind my asking, what 10K or half marathon time did you submit to get placed in corral D?

 

[ZellyB]

Wow Main St looks like Christmas day. So glad you decided to continue with the report.

Glad to see you back.

Great update! I can't believe how humid it was! And how crowded! Looks like you were having a great time so far.

If you don't mind my asking, what 10K or half marathon time did you submit to get placed in corral D?

We ran a 12K and I'm trying to remember our time. I tried to look it up but couldn't find it. I think we were around 1:20 or so.

 

[ZellyB]

As we were running through Tomorrowland, we saw people heading off to bathrooms there. Chris and I both felt the need for a break and liked the idea of a real toilet instead of a port-a-potty, so we headed in. Probably not our best idea. The line was long and moved VERY slowly. Or, at least, it felt that way. We lost several minutes here, I'm sure, but it was nice to use a real bathroom regardless.

We got back on track and headed toward the backside of the castle. We passed Alice and the Mad Hatter somewhere in here, but didn't bother stopping for that one. Around the corner and passed Pooh and we were cruising toward the castle. Along here were several of the princesses lined up for pictures. Chris said something about stopping, but the lines here were really long and I was worried after that long bathroom break. Ditto with Royal Mickey and Minnie (although it might have been Donald standing there, I can't really remember. ). Later I felt bad that we didn't stop, but I was pretty caught up in the excitement.

As we approached the castle, up on the balcony were two horn players who were blasting out some little bit of music every few seconds. Just as we approached they played the "CHARGE!" lead in. So fun!! I've got a short video of our run through the castle, but I'm not sure how to post it. I'll try to figure that out later.

Running through the castle was a blast and all I could think about was, "Am I going to get a good picture?!?" I was in the middle of a pack as we came through the doors and there was a photographer there, but no way to get a shot. A lot of people were stopping here in hopes of a picture and the poor guy just kept saying, "Keep moving. Keep moving. There are more photographers at the bottom." Down the ramp we went and I saw some people heading off to the side for a staged photo spot in the front of the castle, but I didn't want to veer off and wait. But, just as I was nearing the bottom of the ramp, I saw a photographer and threw up my hands and got this...



I couldn't believe it when I got the pictures later how perfect it was. I was convinced that they had photoshopped me in and that Chris would have the exact same picture on his. But, no. Apparantly I just got that lucky! I was thrilled.

So, on we went and headed through Liberty Square and to Frontierland and saw mile marker 6.



We had good intentions of taking more pictures of the mile markers, but only managed a few of them. Too caught up in the race, I think.

Shortly after this, we turned and were headed out of the park via some back entrance. I'm having a hard time remembering for sure, but I think there was another princess photo op along in here. Maybe Cinderella and Prince Charming? Terrible that I can't recall for sure. But again, I was totally focused on gaining some time back from that lengthy bathroom stop.

We ran another mile or so along in the road and then turned to head back toward the speedway. The entrance ramp into the speedway was tough to navigate. It was really narrow and a steep hill (although short) down and then back up into the track area. Not much fun, but once inside, it was a nice wide track for running. I really enjoyed this part of the course for some reason, but Chris hated it.

My girls are big Cars fans, though, so we had to stop for this...



And this...



Like I said, I thought this part of the course was fun. Aside from the Cars "characters", there were lots of people who had their old classic cars parked around and they were sitting out in chairs next to them cheering us on. I enjoyed seeing all the cars and people.

We made one circuit around the track and then headed back out and onto the roadway again. We ended up running along a road here for a couple of miles. I don't know my Disney roads that well, so I'm not sure where we were exactly, but it was a nice wide tree-lined road for the most part and I again thought this part of the race went well.

As we were approaching the mile 10 mark or so, I heard some music playing ahead and saw another photo op I'd been hoping for



for villains!! I just loved the evil Queen's poses. She was giving great face.

Around this time came my second run tracker update for my 10 mile split.

10 mile split in 2:37:39. Pace 15:46. Well, obviously not getting any faster, but still at least exceeding the 16 minute pace and maintaining our lead on the sweepers. Phew.

Now it was on to Animal Kingdom!!

Next up - Animal Kingdom and the last of the "good miles"

 

[beachta1]

Just joining your TR! I love reading TR, but love reading Disney Running ones even more. I'm looking forward to the Disney half next January. I was going to do the full, but I couldn't see myself having the time to train with everything going on at work in the fall. There is always next year!! Anyway, can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip and your run.

 

[ZellyB]

Just joining your TR! I love reading TR, but love reading Disney Running ones even more. I'm looking forward to the Disney half next January. I was going to do the full, but I couldn't see myself having the time to train with everything going on at work in the fall. There is always next year!! Anyway, can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip and your run.

Welcome!

Training time can definitely be a challenge. We get up really early for our mid-week runs as well as long runs on Saturday. The advantage though is you are done really early too.

 

[Ariel484]

Great pictures of you and Chris with the Pirates and on Main Street! Despite the bluriness of the castle photo I still think it is frame-worthy. And of course the picture of you alone running out of the castle toward Liberty Square is fantastic!! It seriously looks like one of those photos that runDisney uses on their website of a happy runner having an awesome time.

REAL bathrooms...priceless!!

When I was leaving MK it was Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip out meeting...maybe they were switching with Cinderella and Charming??

Glad you got those Cars photos for your girls! I bet they loved seeing that!

THE VILLIANS. AHHHH! Love it!! One of the best photo-ops on the course! You're totally right, the Queen does give great face.

"The last of the 'good miles'" made me LOL...ain't that the truth.

 

[BelleLulu]

Subbing.
1. I want to run the WDW Marathon
2. My husband is younger than me also.
3. I play golf with said DH after years of him asking. PS I love the game
4. Iocaine powder, I'd bet my life on it.Enough said!

 

[tink65]

Gisele,

I was so excited to see your TR! I had just been looking at the runDisney web-site trying to decide about the 2014 marathon..... I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011 and had a blast. I haven't done a full marathon but really want to! I also followed the Jeff Galloway program for my first 1/2.

I hope all is looking well with your cancer treatments! Can't wait for your updates! You've inspired me!

Tena

 

[ZellyB]

When I was leaving MK it was Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip out meeting...maybe they were switching with Cinderella and Charming??

It's totally possible that it was Sleeping Beauty and Phillip. I truly don't remember for sure.

"The last of the 'good miles'" made me LOL...ain't that the truth.

I know. I almost don't even want to write about them. Blech.

But, of course, I will.

Subbing.
1. I want to run the WDW Marathon
2. My husband is younger than me also.
3. I play golf with said DH after years of him asking. PS I love the game
4. Iocaine powder, I'd bet my life on it.Enough said!

Welcome!

1. You would absolutely love it.
2. There's a lot to be said for a younger man.
3. Yeah, I tried golf but just could never get into it much. Luckily Chris stopped playing too.
4. Princess Bride fans unite!!

Gisele,

I was so excited to see your TR! I had just been looking at the runDisney web-site trying to decide about the 2014 marathon..... I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011 and had a blast. I haven't done a full marathon but really want to! I also followed the Jeff Galloway program for my first 1/2.

I hope all is looking well with your cancer treatments! Can't wait for your updates! You've inspired me!

Tena

If you are considering the marathon, I'd really encourage you to do it. It wasn't all wine and roses (as you'll begin to see as my report progresses), but it was a really wonderful experience and something that I'm honestly very proud of.

 

[ZellyB]

The course continued on that same road for another couple of miles or so and these were fairly uneventful as I recall. And, I should be cautious to say that, because there were various things scattered along the way (people on a corner waving with music blasting, folks with signs cheering, and of course water and fuel stops. So, even though I may have found portions of the course to be less interesting than others, there really was almost always some kind of distraction every 1-2 miles along the way. That's something really great about the Disney runs.

This might be a good time to talk about how we were managing with our fuel and water as well as the heat. It was about this time that the heat started to climb. The sun was well and truly up and it was warming up quickly. Chris and I had bought one of those towels that help you stay cool and we had cut it in half and were carrying it. (That's what's in my hand in the castle shot). We had agreed to try and save them until maybe mile 14 or so to get the most benefit out of them. At the water stops we would add some water to the container to keep them moist and cool.

We had played with different things during training and found we really liked to use peanut butter Cliff bars and jolly ranchers for fuel and cytomax along with water to drink. So, we mostly carried our own supplies and just used the stops for water. We try to eat small amounts every two miles. That's more frequently than a lot of people eat, but for us it works well. And, I LOVE jolly ranchers. They give you a nice, steady supply of sugar and they help keep your mouth moist. I just tuck them into my cheek and let them dissolve.

Anyway, we did pass a couple of other character meets but I'm struggling to remember who they were. I know one was Mary Poppins, but cannot for the life of me remember the other.

Anyway, around mile 12 we came to Animal Kingdom!!



A ton of my shots have me with my hands up in the air! There was something about seeing those photographers that just made me want to do it. But, you can see from the people behind me and Chris, I wasn't alone. AK actually was open by this time and when we went past EE there were runners peeling off to go ride. I so badly wanted to do this, but Chris struggles with the backward portion of this ride and we certainly didn't want to risk him getting sick. So we moved on. We also took the opportunity to use another real bathroom here. This went more quickly than it did in MK and was totally worth it!

The AK portion of the course was really fun and we were now starting to see park patrons as we ran. I kept thinking they probably were not thrilled to have runners in the parks.

As we entered Dinoland



(this was an accidental picture I took while waiting for the next character photo. But I kinda like it)

we spotted two of our favorite ladies just waiting for the chance to take a picture with us.



I mean, I couldn't run all this way in a Minnie skirt and not get a shot with her, right?

So, on we ran through AK and eventually exited out of the park. Shortly after we left the park we got to lucky mile 13



At this point, I was feeling really good. It felt like it was going by really fast and that everything was going according to plan. We were much slower than we had originally planned before my diagnosis and surgery, but all in all not a problem.

Run tracker at this point gave me a half split time rather than waiting for the 15 mile mark.

Half Split in 3:28:51. Pace 15:56. YIKES!! Slowing down a bit, but hanging in there!!

Prior to the surgery, I was running a 2.5 min/1 min run/walk ratio and we'd gotten up to a 20 mile run. However, in the 7 weeks after the surgery, I'd only done a longest run of 10 miles and had just gotten my stamina back to doing a 1.5 min/2 min run/walk ratio. That obviously made us a lot slower, but my only goal was to complete and stay ahead of the sweepers. On those two fronts, so far, so good.

Right around mile 14 we turned onto Osceola parkway. As we moved down this road, you could see runners that were (WELL) ahead of us running in the other direction across the bridge. I was really jealous of those folks given how hot it was starting to get and that we were basically out of any type of shade. Still, we were feeling good and enjoying ourselves. I think along in here we saw the Undertakers in the median of the road. Lots of people were stopping and laying down to get their picture taken. Frankly, I didn't think laying down was a good idea for me at this point.

Still, we were over halfway there, feeling pretty good and on our way to Wide World of Sports. What could possibly go wrong???

Next Up: WWoS and miles 15-20. Or as I like to think of it The 9th Circle of H.E.double.you.know.what!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm here! I'm here!

Now I have to actually go back and read.

 

[creativeamanda]

Joining in. I'm running the marathon in January for the first time ever after having run 3 half marathons including the Princess. I'm now hooked on runDisney events!

Your skirt is the one I have for the marathon in January!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Climbing aboard. I am signed up to do the 10K in January and am scared out of my mind. I am NOT a runner! I can't even imagine a full marathon.

Whether you want to admit it or not, you are an inspiration. Congrats on finishing the heavy chemo. Hoping you have nothing but good news and easy training from here on in.

 

[ZellyB]

I'm here! I'm here!

Now I have to actually go back and read.

Glad you made it over.

Joining in. I'm running the marathon in January for the first time ever after having run 3 half marathons including the Princess. I'm now hooked on runDisney events!

Your skirt is the one I have for the marathon in January!

Welcome!

I'm also hooked on the races. They are just so much fun. The skirts really are great and lots of fun.

Climbing aboard. I am signed up to do the 10K in January and am scared out of my mind. I am NOT a runner! I can't even imagine a full marathon.

Whether you want to admit it or not, you are an inspiration. Congrats on finishing the heavy chemo. Hoping you have nothing but good news and easy training from here on in.

Welcome!

Great news on signing up for the 10K. I'm sure you will love it. And, of course you are a runner!! If you run, no matter how far or how fast, you are a runner. I had to talk myself into believing that about myself as well, but it's true!!

And, thank you for the the well wishes. I'm feeling so much better again and it feels really wonderful to be running again.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Whooohooo! All caught up and in awe. Cannot wait to hear more!