Learning from the mistakes of the previous day, I decided to skip the 3-4AM bus and just walk to the race start, which was about 10 minutes from our hotel. This would give me at least another hour of sleep and it meant I didn’t have to show up to the race line until just before my wave took off. First wave started at 5:40 so I figured I’d look to be there around 5:15.
It was a clear morning, but much colder than the previous day. I’d later read where someone said it bottomed out at 17 degrees. I didn’t want to be cold and miserable again so I decided to wear four layers, which is suicide in Texas. I had my sleeveless compression shirt, then the light long sleeve event shirt, then a thick long sleeve running jacket, and finally my Dynamo jersey on top. Since I only brought running shorts with me (ha ha) I had to bum a pair of my wife’s running tights. Of course, they were Capri length. The pants, combined, with my compression socks, met just below my knee and gave me what I refer to as the Pinocchio look.
Over these I wore the throw-away Tyvek pants that did an excellent job of stopping the wind.
Despite knowing I missed the last bus and my plan to walk to the race, out in front of the hotel was a marathon bus waiting to pick up the last of the stragglers. Well what the heck? OK, sure I’ll ride. I made it to the race start and started the race shortly thereafter.
The crowd was immense and I had to hold about a 10:00 pace starting off, which was just fine because I had no real agenda and I wanted to ease into the race anyway. The aforementioned Tyvek pants stopped the wind nicely, but they kept wanting to fall off of me so after a couple miles of hiking them up, I finally pulled over and ditched them altogether. Unfortunately, somewhere around mile 2, I also ditched my brand new sunglasses that I had bought the day before at the race expo. Oh well…
The four layers worked well enough at the beginning but half an hour into the race, I started to feel a little warm, so I shucked the race jacket and wrapped it around my waist where it stayed for the remainder of the race. Three layers would prove to be the perfect number on that day. The beanie and gloves stayed on for the entire race, which is also a first for me, as my head tends to get hot later in the race. Not this time!
Around mile three or so, I ran into a guy I met while walking out to the start area. His name is Jim and he’s from Wisconsin. We started chatting again and kept up a 9:30 pace, which wasn’t too aggressive and felt fine by me. We got to the Magic Kingdom and there were some new characters so we took some pictures with them and by the time we left and got back on the road, our pace had slipped to 9:40.
My first real indicator of how I was feeling occurred around mile 15 when I had to stop for a potty break. I sent Jim on without me at the same pace while I stood in line for a couple of minutes. I really wanted to catch up to him before we hit the Animal Kingdom park so I picked up the pace for the next two miles and caught him. I didn’t know how I would feel after that but it turned out I felt great.
Animal Kingdom, in case you don’t know, is an awesome park. I had never even heard of it before the trip. I wasn’t even planning to go there, but after the race course took me through the park, I blew off the rest of my day’s plans and we went there to spend the afternoon. Expedition Everest is the most awesome roller coaster in the whole park (except maybe Space Mountain) and the safari ride was badass as well. Lots of other photo opportunities happened while going through Animal Kingdom.
My next discovery would happen around mile 20 when Jim needed to stop. He told me the pace had been a little quick for him and that he planned to run/walk after the break so he told me to go ahead and meet him at the finish. The sun was up but the weather was still cold and crisp and I felt strong, so I decided to turn it up a notch or two. I picked up my pace to 8:00-8:30 for the rest of the race, including photo stops and water stations. I couldn’t shake the great feeling I had. I figured I’d run until I felt the miles weighing on me then I’d slow down. It never happened.
This was about the time when I turned into the Disney Hollywood studios and having another theme park to break the monotony of the open road was just what I needed to keep my focus on the last leg of the race.
The miles ticket by and I ran with newfound energy, passing many of the people who were slowing at the end or running even splits.
Let me tell you that seeing this sign was a pretty great feeling.
I thanked the volunteers at the aid stations. I congratulated the spectators on the sidelines who wore the Half Marathon medal from the day before. I joked with the other runners (some of whom felt like joking back) and I snapped photos of each mile marker as I went. When I hit mile 26, I picked it up and burned out the rest of my energy and finished with a big smile on my face. Final time was 4:10:29. I’m sure I could have beaten 4 if I never stopped for the fun things, but what’s the point? I’m going to run with the 3:50 pace group this weekend and see how long I can last. If I can go the distance, it’ll be a PR for me.
I cruised through the finisher’s chute and was directed into the line for Goofy Challenge finishers to get our special medal. It was a lot of fun and really nice to get additional recognition for the combined event. Something else that threw me off was the fact that all weekend long, people were wearing their medals from various races while they walked around the parks. At first I was put off by this since it seemed kind of egotistical. After seeing dozens of people doing it on Saturday, I realized it’s just part of the Disney experience so we did it as well. All of the characters we posed for photos with acknowledged the medals and it was fun to walk by a complete stranger and share a quick congratulations.
Plus, you have to admit, the bling on this event is pretty sweet.
Wish me luck in Houston!
Epilogue: I spent the rest of the day walking around Animal Kingdom and EPCOT. The next morning, I woke up and my legs were really not all that sore. I think it was because the walking stretched them gently throughout the day and never let the muscles tighten up. I'll file that bit of knowledge away for future use.
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