scoolover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2006
- Messages
- 1,386
This whole Goofy thing started last year when I went for the marathon and looked around jealous of all the Goofy participants. They got an extra medal and I wanted one. When I got home it was a no brainer to sign up. The cost was way too much but it didn't matter.
Fast forward 11 months another marathon, a few halfs and a load of 5K's, a few injuries and a month's worth of digestive problems leading up to Jan 12 and 13.
The trip started as me going for a few days to run and come home. It ended up being 9 nights with two rooms and my son, ex-wife and girlfriend. We left on Thursday and arrived at the Orlando airport with no problem. As I waited in the line for the Magical Express, I noticed that of the perhaps 100 people in line, half or more were obviously runners. It got the trip off right. I was hoping to hit the expo that night but were a half hour too late. Friday morning we were up to be at the expo at its 9:00am opening. We were there 15 minutes early and got in line. Once it opened, the line moved quickly. I got to my Goofy line as my ex got in the half line. After getting all that squared away, we went to the expo floor to get our shirts. The nice volunteer that helped only put the half shirt in the bag and I pointed out that I also got the full. Thank god I was paying attention because that could have become a hastle. From there we went to the official merchandise area and I picked out a nice Goofy shirt and was disappointed in the hat selection. We paid for our mug, goofy doll for my son and my two shirts (one wicking and one cotton) and left the area. My son made my a poster at the sharpie area. I would have loved to see Jeff Galloway but he was speaking at the time of the Kids race which was out next stop.
I had signed my son up for the kids race on both days so we would have some flexability in our schedule. Last year he ran it and loved it. This year his mother ran with him and she wasn't as fortunate as I was last year. He had his typical melt down at about the 100m mark. The last 100m was a struggle. He finished and got his medal which made him happy but we had already decided that we were not going to do that again the next day. I don't complain much but the heats were run way too quickly as opposed to last year when they were run too slowly. I just think they need to perhaps assign more people to the kids race to assist but the volunteers that were there were great. That afternoon we hit downtown disney for a little shopping and lunch at the rainforest cafe.
Kathy and I made it back to the Pop just in time for the meet. I hate that stuff but everyone made it pretty easy and Kathy kept nudging me around the room to meet more people. Everyone was great and a pleasure to meet. I have no clue what I had for dinner that night. I think I ate light and I know that I had no dairy (the cause of my digestive issues).
The alarm went off at 3:00am and I hoped out of bed into the shower. The wake up call came when I was in the shower and the alarm on my watch went off shortly thereafter. I wasn't taking any chances. Out of the shower and into my already laid out clothes. I pinned my number on the night before and laced the chip into my shoes also. Many of you may remember that I lost my chip the year prior. The only way that was going to happen this year was to have my foot come off with it. I was shocked at the line for the but. Last year there were about 7 people on my bus. This time I had to wait for the third bus. It went very quickly anyway. We arrived at Epcot and took the 1/2 mile walk to staging area 1 where we met up with some WISHers. Everyone was again very nice but you could tell that it was early. I waited as long as I could since I am a nervous nelly and started to the corral area. The walk from the baggage tent to where I ended up in the corral was a GPS measured 1.03 miles. On the way there I met up with a WISH lurker and made my best decison of the weekend by bypassing the first set of porto-potties and heading around the far end of the ones in the corral area. I was about second in line. After that I found corral C and Erika. We chated a while before the race and she mentioned that her family was hitting the parks after the race even though she was doing the Goofy. I thought, "if Erika is hitting the parks - I'm hitting the parks". Soon enough the fireworks go off and we inch up. Ten minutes later more fire at the Start line and wave #2 is off. I crossed the start at 11 minutes into the race. My goal was 3 minutes per mile slower than my PR of 2:03. I figured around 2:45 would be a good first third (of the goofy).
Here comes the boring part. Here are the splits for the half as determined by the pictures I took of all the mile signs and my really bad math.
Mile 0-1 12:42
Mile 1-2 12:54
Mile 2-3 12:26
Mile 3-4 13:48
Mile 4-5 15:05
Mile 5-6 13:39
Mile 6-7 12:34
Mile 7-8 12:02
Mile 8-9 12:18
Mile 9-10 12:10
Mile 10-11 missed picture
Mile 11 and 12 average 12:57
Mile 13
I can't figure out how I messed up my pacing chart but you get the picture. It was pretty consistant except for the picture spots, were it took a little longer. The race was good and as always running through the parks was very exciting. I noticed that people walked before MK and after MK but ran in the park. It seemed that the parks jazzed them up a little. I wanted to take my time in the park and run during the boring streches. As I came out of the castle, the picture taker that I was poised to see was working on her camera complaining that it didn't work. That was alittle disappointing but Kathy was at the bottom of the ramp to catch a nice shot. The rest of the race went as expected. I finished without breathing heavy and with my legs feeling good. I had heard that my son was sick the night before and instead of dragging him to the finish, my Shawntel (my ex) let him sleep. That was fine with me. Who was I to complain when she was busy being mom as I was running around with all my foolishness. After a long walk over to the resort bus area and back to the correct area we headed back to the hotel for my first ever ice bath. I started in the tub and gradually added water and ice until I was numb. That was after the painful pins and needles. I must say that I got out - took a quick shower and felt awesome. Now we were off to Magic Kingdom. Mistake or not?
After pounding pavement all afternoon at the MK, I got back to the room and my legs felt tires. I had a chaffing issue that I was not aware of earlier in the groin area. That and my feet were not sore. All the good that my ice bath had done was ruined by the trip to MK. Still, it was a vacation and I didn't regret it as long as I finished the full and got my Goofy. My dad came from Daytona and spent the night. He took us to dinner at Ker's Wing House (same as Hooters but better). We also stopped to get water and other essentials we would need for the week. We went to bed not knowing whether or not he was getting up with us for the start or if he was comming to mile 18 with Hunter and Shawntel.
Again, 3:00 am alarm followed by wake up call and watch alarm. We got ready quickly and my dad decided to come with us. I didn't think he would do anything else. Again, we waited for the bus and rode over. Again, we hung out in the WISH area but this time I waited longer to go through the baggage area. I know- crazy Scott considering I was still probably in the middle third still. For only being 35 minutes early was pushing it. I saw Scott and Carrie in carral E and worked my way up toward the front. I think it was Scott that mentioned banking minutes before the sun came up. That stuck with me and I liked the idea. By the way, I woke up in a pissy mood. My chaffing issue was still there and legs felt like aluminum. Not as bad as lead but still heavy. I wasn't sure that I was going to finish. Around the time of the start, I was jazzed up with all the people and excitement and knew I would finish. My plan was to run a few miles at a nice slow pace before taking my first walk break. I hoped that would loosen up my legs. I think it worked. I took my first walk break at the 1.5 mile mark and felt really good. It is really hard to not go with the flow here. There are so many people that it was hard to take a walk break in the early miles anyway. That is unless you are one of the people who just stops in the middle of traffic to walk with no warning. I try to get over and make sure no body is comming before I walk. Anyway, running through the monorail station was awesome because people where everywhere. They were yelling from the monorail ranp and it was electric. The run through Epcot was cool and I had Kathy and my dad at mile 4. I got to them feeling great. My legs felt fine and my breathing was easy. The next 5 miles also flew by quickly because that is when I find a rhythm. By the time I got to the TTC my screamers were there again and I stopped to say hi. I knew that it would take them a minute to get to main street so I took an extra long walk break and a potty break during mile 9. I did it for them - really! As soon as I entered main street they were there. I found out later that they had only just gotten there after a quick bathroom break, themselves. I was disappointed running through MK due to the lack of characters. I think I only stopped twice because I either got them the day before or I just wasn't interested. Capt. Jack just isn't my thing. Next it was on to scream team location 4 where I was met in front of the Poly. Last year, it started to get bad after the half way point. This year, I still felt good. I had run the first half in a 13:12 pace which banked me a bunch of minutes for the second half and the heat. Up to this point, there was pretty heavy clowd cover and the temperture stayed reasonable. The humidity was high so I made sure to drink a lot. I carried a water bottle during both races and liked it. I would fill it at the water stations and I could control the powerade to water ratio (another gastric issue with me). I could also sip at my leisure, not just at the stations. Anyway, my second third was done and it was on to my last third before the Goofy medal.
By now I was sure that I would finish even though I still had half a marathon to go. I was reallly looking forward to mile 17.5 where my scream team would be united and my son would be there with his home made sign. I got choked up a few times when thinking about it. I am not sure what got me but running far makes you do funny things. I still felt good to mile 16 where my gastric issue made me stop at a porto-potty. I will save the details but it was nasty. The sights and smells made me gag. It took 5 minutes to clean it before I used it. After that it was a quick run to AK. Again all the people who looked exhausted before, found the strength to run all of AK. That is one of the great things about this race. There is always something to look forward to to keep your spirits up. Anyway, at the bus drop off in the AK parking lot, my family was there and I stopped to say hi to them. I really appreciated all the effort they put into making my little side show great for me. I still felt good to mile 18 where I stopped for a Mickey picture. Mile 19 was quick because last year it really kicked my butt. There was an overpass that I kiddingly wanted to jump off. When I saw the overpass, I charged it and beat it. I was elated. About a 1/2 mile farther I saw the real overpass that got me and got a chuckle out of it. My charge up the wrong hill caused this one to kick my butt again. Anyway, up to mile 20 I felt pretty good. That was when the wheels kind of fell off. My gastric issues made it so I couldn't really run. My stomach shaking around caused much distress. Also, I could feel hot spots on the bottoms of my feet at the balls. The only running I did during the last 6 miles was for picture spots and the last .1 for the finish line photographers. During the last 6 my feet got progressively worse and I knew that I would be a hurtin camper. I just hoped it wouldn't be for the whole week since we were staying until the following Saturday. It again became a one more step marathon. Hollywood Studios was okay but I had to run for the photographers there. That was annoying. The boardwalk was alright but the feet were killing me. By now I was also cramping a bit. I stopped taking Powerade about mile 20 because I couldn't handle it. It was catching up with me. There was one awesome moment on the board walk. I saw the top secret medal for the first time. That really perked up my spirits. It looked awesome. I even rubbed one of the WISH ladies medals. I couldn't wait to get mine. When I finally passed the mile 25 sigh, I was kind of indifferent. I knew I was going to finish but I also knew that I had 20 minutes of foot torture to go. The Epcot icon (ball) never seemed to get any closer as I rounded world showcase. That sucked. Once I passed Mexico and came around to future world, I could see it and it finally looked closer. Out the side of Epcot passed the choir (again awesome) and on to the finish. I had to stop and see the scream team where the chain link fence started. I mustered one final push to the finish and was done. It took 6:20 something to do it but it was over. The pain subsided and I got mine. It took about 5 minutes to unlace my shoe to get the chip out. The piece of mind was worth it. On to the Mickey medal and the beverage station. I grabbed two waters and a powerade. I knew that after last year and running out, they wouldn't do that again. Then it was on to the Goofy tent. This walk was one year in the making but it took a life time to get me there. I got my medal and picked up my checked bag.
I went out to meet my team. I was a little choked up again but with great reason. These people who came with me didn't have to play along but they did. My dad has a bum hip but still lumbered around for 6 and a half hours. My girlfriend and Ex wife didn't have to play along but did. It sure wasn't for their benefit. It was for mine and my son's. I appreciate it. I'd say that my son didn't have to make the sign but I kind of made him so there goes that one. Anyway, I appreciate everyone's support. The WISH team was great. The chearing was awesome and the orange slice at mile 21 was awesome. Again I appreciate the WISH team and the easy to find shirts. Overall, it was a great weekend.
Back to the hotel and I think I saw Matt. At that point I was having severe cramping and the feet were still killing me. Sorry if I wasn't too chipper but I couldn't breathe very well. Another ice bath helped a lot. The leftover wings from Ker's also helped and we proceeded to watch the Giants whip the Cowboys butts. As a Giant' fan I was delighted.
The next morning the feet were really tender. I put some body glide on and a few bandaids. I hobbled around that day and some more on Tuesday. By Wednesday, my feet were absolutely fine. There was no issue after that except a little chaffing that some body glide took care of for the rest of the week. I didn't wear my medals around but I did wear my expo shirts for the rest of the week.
As for next year, I am still not sure. The great feeling of knowing I did the Goofy is really appealing. I probably only have a few more days to decide but the cost is just more than I want to pay for a race. I was thinking of doing a shorter stay and maybe only the half. The trip wouldn't be so costly. Maybe I'll wait till next month to decide if I want to do the Goofy. That should help with the decison.
Thanks for reading.
Here are about 50 pictures.
Fast forward 11 months another marathon, a few halfs and a load of 5K's, a few injuries and a month's worth of digestive problems leading up to Jan 12 and 13.
The trip started as me going for a few days to run and come home. It ended up being 9 nights with two rooms and my son, ex-wife and girlfriend. We left on Thursday and arrived at the Orlando airport with no problem. As I waited in the line for the Magical Express, I noticed that of the perhaps 100 people in line, half or more were obviously runners. It got the trip off right. I was hoping to hit the expo that night but were a half hour too late. Friday morning we were up to be at the expo at its 9:00am opening. We were there 15 minutes early and got in line. Once it opened, the line moved quickly. I got to my Goofy line as my ex got in the half line. After getting all that squared away, we went to the expo floor to get our shirts. The nice volunteer that helped only put the half shirt in the bag and I pointed out that I also got the full. Thank god I was paying attention because that could have become a hastle. From there we went to the official merchandise area and I picked out a nice Goofy shirt and was disappointed in the hat selection. We paid for our mug, goofy doll for my son and my two shirts (one wicking and one cotton) and left the area. My son made my a poster at the sharpie area. I would have loved to see Jeff Galloway but he was speaking at the time of the Kids race which was out next stop.
I had signed my son up for the kids race on both days so we would have some flexability in our schedule. Last year he ran it and loved it. This year his mother ran with him and she wasn't as fortunate as I was last year. He had his typical melt down at about the 100m mark. The last 100m was a struggle. He finished and got his medal which made him happy but we had already decided that we were not going to do that again the next day. I don't complain much but the heats were run way too quickly as opposed to last year when they were run too slowly. I just think they need to perhaps assign more people to the kids race to assist but the volunteers that were there were great. That afternoon we hit downtown disney for a little shopping and lunch at the rainforest cafe.
Kathy and I made it back to the Pop just in time for the meet. I hate that stuff but everyone made it pretty easy and Kathy kept nudging me around the room to meet more people. Everyone was great and a pleasure to meet. I have no clue what I had for dinner that night. I think I ate light and I know that I had no dairy (the cause of my digestive issues).
The alarm went off at 3:00am and I hoped out of bed into the shower. The wake up call came when I was in the shower and the alarm on my watch went off shortly thereafter. I wasn't taking any chances. Out of the shower and into my already laid out clothes. I pinned my number on the night before and laced the chip into my shoes also. Many of you may remember that I lost my chip the year prior. The only way that was going to happen this year was to have my foot come off with it. I was shocked at the line for the but. Last year there were about 7 people on my bus. This time I had to wait for the third bus. It went very quickly anyway. We arrived at Epcot and took the 1/2 mile walk to staging area 1 where we met up with some WISHers. Everyone was again very nice but you could tell that it was early. I waited as long as I could since I am a nervous nelly and started to the corral area. The walk from the baggage tent to where I ended up in the corral was a GPS measured 1.03 miles. On the way there I met up with a WISH lurker and made my best decison of the weekend by bypassing the first set of porto-potties and heading around the far end of the ones in the corral area. I was about second in line. After that I found corral C and Erika. We chated a while before the race and she mentioned that her family was hitting the parks after the race even though she was doing the Goofy. I thought, "if Erika is hitting the parks - I'm hitting the parks". Soon enough the fireworks go off and we inch up. Ten minutes later more fire at the Start line and wave #2 is off. I crossed the start at 11 minutes into the race. My goal was 3 minutes per mile slower than my PR of 2:03. I figured around 2:45 would be a good first third (of the goofy).
Here comes the boring part. Here are the splits for the half as determined by the pictures I took of all the mile signs and my really bad math.
Mile 0-1 12:42
Mile 1-2 12:54
Mile 2-3 12:26
Mile 3-4 13:48
Mile 4-5 15:05
Mile 5-6 13:39
Mile 6-7 12:34
Mile 7-8 12:02
Mile 8-9 12:18
Mile 9-10 12:10
Mile 10-11 missed picture
Mile 11 and 12 average 12:57
Mile 13
I can't figure out how I messed up my pacing chart but you get the picture. It was pretty consistant except for the picture spots, were it took a little longer. The race was good and as always running through the parks was very exciting. I noticed that people walked before MK and after MK but ran in the park. It seemed that the parks jazzed them up a little. I wanted to take my time in the park and run during the boring streches. As I came out of the castle, the picture taker that I was poised to see was working on her camera complaining that it didn't work. That was alittle disappointing but Kathy was at the bottom of the ramp to catch a nice shot. The rest of the race went as expected. I finished without breathing heavy and with my legs feeling good. I had heard that my son was sick the night before and instead of dragging him to the finish, my Shawntel (my ex) let him sleep. That was fine with me. Who was I to complain when she was busy being mom as I was running around with all my foolishness. After a long walk over to the resort bus area and back to the correct area we headed back to the hotel for my first ever ice bath. I started in the tub and gradually added water and ice until I was numb. That was after the painful pins and needles. I must say that I got out - took a quick shower and felt awesome. Now we were off to Magic Kingdom. Mistake or not?
After pounding pavement all afternoon at the MK, I got back to the room and my legs felt tires. I had a chaffing issue that I was not aware of earlier in the groin area. That and my feet were not sore. All the good that my ice bath had done was ruined by the trip to MK. Still, it was a vacation and I didn't regret it as long as I finished the full and got my Goofy. My dad came from Daytona and spent the night. He took us to dinner at Ker's Wing House (same as Hooters but better). We also stopped to get water and other essentials we would need for the week. We went to bed not knowing whether or not he was getting up with us for the start or if he was comming to mile 18 with Hunter and Shawntel.
Again, 3:00 am alarm followed by wake up call and watch alarm. We got ready quickly and my dad decided to come with us. I didn't think he would do anything else. Again, we waited for the bus and rode over. Again, we hung out in the WISH area but this time I waited longer to go through the baggage area. I know- crazy Scott considering I was still probably in the middle third still. For only being 35 minutes early was pushing it. I saw Scott and Carrie in carral E and worked my way up toward the front. I think it was Scott that mentioned banking minutes before the sun came up. That stuck with me and I liked the idea. By the way, I woke up in a pissy mood. My chaffing issue was still there and legs felt like aluminum. Not as bad as lead but still heavy. I wasn't sure that I was going to finish. Around the time of the start, I was jazzed up with all the people and excitement and knew I would finish. My plan was to run a few miles at a nice slow pace before taking my first walk break. I hoped that would loosen up my legs. I think it worked. I took my first walk break at the 1.5 mile mark and felt really good. It is really hard to not go with the flow here. There are so many people that it was hard to take a walk break in the early miles anyway. That is unless you are one of the people who just stops in the middle of traffic to walk with no warning. I try to get over and make sure no body is comming before I walk. Anyway, running through the monorail station was awesome because people where everywhere. They were yelling from the monorail ranp and it was electric. The run through Epcot was cool and I had Kathy and my dad at mile 4. I got to them feeling great. My legs felt fine and my breathing was easy. The next 5 miles also flew by quickly because that is when I find a rhythm. By the time I got to the TTC my screamers were there again and I stopped to say hi. I knew that it would take them a minute to get to main street so I took an extra long walk break and a potty break during mile 9. I did it for them - really! As soon as I entered main street they were there. I found out later that they had only just gotten there after a quick bathroom break, themselves. I was disappointed running through MK due to the lack of characters. I think I only stopped twice because I either got them the day before or I just wasn't interested. Capt. Jack just isn't my thing. Next it was on to scream team location 4 where I was met in front of the Poly. Last year, it started to get bad after the half way point. This year, I still felt good. I had run the first half in a 13:12 pace which banked me a bunch of minutes for the second half and the heat. Up to this point, there was pretty heavy clowd cover and the temperture stayed reasonable. The humidity was high so I made sure to drink a lot. I carried a water bottle during both races and liked it. I would fill it at the water stations and I could control the powerade to water ratio (another gastric issue with me). I could also sip at my leisure, not just at the stations. Anyway, my second third was done and it was on to my last third before the Goofy medal.
By now I was sure that I would finish even though I still had half a marathon to go. I was reallly looking forward to mile 17.5 where my scream team would be united and my son would be there with his home made sign. I got choked up a few times when thinking about it. I am not sure what got me but running far makes you do funny things. I still felt good to mile 16 where my gastric issue made me stop at a porto-potty. I will save the details but it was nasty. The sights and smells made me gag. It took 5 minutes to clean it before I used it. After that it was a quick run to AK. Again all the people who looked exhausted before, found the strength to run all of AK. That is one of the great things about this race. There is always something to look forward to to keep your spirits up. Anyway, at the bus drop off in the AK parking lot, my family was there and I stopped to say hi to them. I really appreciated all the effort they put into making my little side show great for me. I still felt good to mile 18 where I stopped for a Mickey picture. Mile 19 was quick because last year it really kicked my butt. There was an overpass that I kiddingly wanted to jump off. When I saw the overpass, I charged it and beat it. I was elated. About a 1/2 mile farther I saw the real overpass that got me and got a chuckle out of it. My charge up the wrong hill caused this one to kick my butt again. Anyway, up to mile 20 I felt pretty good. That was when the wheels kind of fell off. My gastric issues made it so I couldn't really run. My stomach shaking around caused much distress. Also, I could feel hot spots on the bottoms of my feet at the balls. The only running I did during the last 6 miles was for picture spots and the last .1 for the finish line photographers. During the last 6 my feet got progressively worse and I knew that I would be a hurtin camper. I just hoped it wouldn't be for the whole week since we were staying until the following Saturday. It again became a one more step marathon. Hollywood Studios was okay but I had to run for the photographers there. That was annoying. The boardwalk was alright but the feet were killing me. By now I was also cramping a bit. I stopped taking Powerade about mile 20 because I couldn't handle it. It was catching up with me. There was one awesome moment on the board walk. I saw the top secret medal for the first time. That really perked up my spirits. It looked awesome. I even rubbed one of the WISH ladies medals. I couldn't wait to get mine. When I finally passed the mile 25 sigh, I was kind of indifferent. I knew I was going to finish but I also knew that I had 20 minutes of foot torture to go. The Epcot icon (ball) never seemed to get any closer as I rounded world showcase. That sucked. Once I passed Mexico and came around to future world, I could see it and it finally looked closer. Out the side of Epcot passed the choir (again awesome) and on to the finish. I had to stop and see the scream team where the chain link fence started. I mustered one final push to the finish and was done. It took 6:20 something to do it but it was over. The pain subsided and I got mine. It took about 5 minutes to unlace my shoe to get the chip out. The piece of mind was worth it. On to the Mickey medal and the beverage station. I grabbed two waters and a powerade. I knew that after last year and running out, they wouldn't do that again. Then it was on to the Goofy tent. This walk was one year in the making but it took a life time to get me there. I got my medal and picked up my checked bag.
I went out to meet my team. I was a little choked up again but with great reason. These people who came with me didn't have to play along but they did. My dad has a bum hip but still lumbered around for 6 and a half hours. My girlfriend and Ex wife didn't have to play along but did. It sure wasn't for their benefit. It was for mine and my son's. I appreciate it. I'd say that my son didn't have to make the sign but I kind of made him so there goes that one. Anyway, I appreciate everyone's support. The WISH team was great. The chearing was awesome and the orange slice at mile 21 was awesome. Again I appreciate the WISH team and the easy to find shirts. Overall, it was a great weekend.
Back to the hotel and I think I saw Matt. At that point I was having severe cramping and the feet were still killing me. Sorry if I wasn't too chipper but I couldn't breathe very well. Another ice bath helped a lot. The leftover wings from Ker's also helped and we proceeded to watch the Giants whip the Cowboys butts. As a Giant' fan I was delighted.
The next morning the feet were really tender. I put some body glide on and a few bandaids. I hobbled around that day and some more on Tuesday. By Wednesday, my feet were absolutely fine. There was no issue after that except a little chaffing that some body glide took care of for the rest of the week. I didn't wear my medals around but I did wear my expo shirts for the rest of the week.
As for next year, I am still not sure. The great feeling of knowing I did the Goofy is really appealing. I probably only have a few more days to decide but the cost is just more than I want to pay for a race. I was thinking of doing a shorter stay and maybe only the half. The trip wouldn't be so costly. Maybe I'll wait till next month to decide if I want to do the Goofy. That should help with the decison.
Thanks for reading.
Here are about 50 pictures.
).
...and sorry for spelling your name wrong. I wouldn't change a thing.
