Disney Marathon Race Report (Part 2)

So we left off our pre-race story with sickness, and a sleepless night.

Did you miss the pre-race recap? read it HERE.

Race Day

The phone rang at 3am. Instead of listening to what Disney character had called to wake me up, I picked up the phone and slammed it in place. I was exhausted. I was mad. I started sobbing.

How am I going to do this?

I'm exhausted.

I can't breathe.

My nose is filled with snot.

If I felt like this at home...

I would call out sick from work.

I would totally skip my run.

I would take Nyquil and sleep all day.

My mom and Kevin tried to comfort me. "You don't have to do it. If you don't feel up to it don't worry."

"But this is the WHOLE reason we're here!"

I cried, got up from bed, and started putting on my race gear. My brother came over and told me he'd stay with me the whole race. He'd repay the favor I gave him 2 years ago in the Disney half by not leaving his side. I knew I needed him on this marathon morning.

I made up a piece of bread with banana and peanut butter (my usual pre-race fuel), packed my honey stinger chews and waffle into my skirt and, grabbed a protein bar, and stuffed as many kleenex as I could in my skirt, pack and hands as I could. Soon, jason, S and I were boarding the bus to get to Epcot.

I tried eating my breakfast, but I really couldn't stomach it. I knew it was bad to head into a marathon with such little fuel in my body, but I just couldn't eat. I finally threw it away in the trash so I could concentrate more on blowing my nose.

We finally got to the staging area, we didn't have bags to check, but headed to the information tent to see if they would let my brother change corrals to be with me in corral D. Thank god they did based on his word of half marathon time the day before. While we were waiting, I txtd Sara from Words to Run By & found her!

Sara & I pre-race

She was on day 2 of her adventure of the Goofy Challenge, She was battling a toe blister, and was worried about finishing. I wished her good luck, but unfortunately Sara got pulled from the course not far from the end. Visit her recap HERE, it is an absolutely amazing story of perseverance, determination, and that stubbornness we all display as badass runners. If you need inspiration, you need to check it out.

We took a couple more pre-race photos. In pictures I didn't look too horrible...

S & I pre-race

Jason & I pre-race!

We headed to the corrals, stopping twice at porta potties on the way. I felt like I went through a million kleenex. We headed to corral D, and on the way I saw Team Hoyt on the big screen. They are such a huge inspiration to me as well. I love hearing about them racing, and was so excited to be racing the same race as them!

Soon with fireworks and cheering Corral D (for Determination!), was off! I was excited to get going, but felt sick, tired, and sluggish. I had my Garmin on, but my brother told me not to look at it (it was pitch black and I couldn't anyways). He told me to let him know if we needed to slow down, or stop to walk. Disney Highway to Epcot....

mile 1: 13:07 (quick bathroom stop)

mile 2: 11:44

at 2.5 we hit Ecpot, it was dark and all lit up. We ran through the countries and out by the Epcot ball.

mile 3: 11:46

Back to Disney highway. I was still feeling awful, constantly blowing my nose. We walked through the water stations, and I tried to drink some powerade figuring it may give me some calories since I barely took in any that morning. Big mistake realized later in the race. Overall I was feeling ok, my knee was behaving, and we kept plugging along, chatting with other runners along the way.

mile 4: 11:41

mile 5: 12:22

mile 6: 12:10

mile 7: 12:16

mile 8: 12:23

mile 9: 12:09

mile 10: 12:30

Our pace was slowing, I was getting tired and light headed. I had to walk a little when the dizziness got bad. I was looking forward to hitting the Magic Kingdom. Mentally, I tried to break the race up into parks, with a goal to make it to the next one. Once we passed the Contemporary hotel, I got excited to get to Magic Kingdom. Running in and seeing the people cheering, and the castle was just as great as the last 2 times I've passed through, although this time we were about double the distance in. We stopped to take a couple pictures.

I didn't want to stop and wait in character lines, so instead I took pictures from the side if there was someone good. As we ran through tomorrow land we saw Buzz LightYear, and since my brother always loved him growing up, I had to get a picture for him.

By one of his favorite rides... Splash Mountain

And me by mile 11, because I honestly couldn't believe I had made it that far.

mile 11: 12:50

Leaving the castle!

After exiting the park, we knew we had only a little over a mile until we saw Jason's girlfriend & Kevin at the Polynesean. We ran by the resort looking for them, but couldn't find them. I was afraid we missed them, and started txting Kevin. Finally there they were! Jason changed from his long sleeve into his tank top, and we headed on after a hug and kiss from our biggest cheerleaders.

I ran away from them feeling happy, but tired. Sick, but ready to go on.

mile 12: 13:26

mile 13: 14:16

Next goal was to get to Animal Kingdom. I was going downhill. I felt sick to my stomach, I was barely able to eat any chews. I tried to eat part of a waffle, but couldn't get it down. I was able to drink water successfully. The lightheadedness came and went. I shed my arm sleeves and had run out of kleenex. I decided to keep my gloves and use them as a disgusting handkerchief.

mile 14: 12:51

mile 15: 14:04

mile 16: 15:23

Slightly after mile 15, was when I really felt sick to my stomach. I had that feeling that if only I could throw up, I'd feel better. So my brother told me to pull over and try. So I did. Power Aid. Nothing solid, I barely had anything in my stomach. After getting up the power aid I started feeling a little better nausea wise. I was able to eat more chews and drink water. My Nuun had gotten warm, so I stopped drinking. It was getting hotter and hotter out. I tried focusing on getting to Animal Kingdom.

Finally we were there!

There were animals by the gate to greet us.

I wish I had taken more pictures throughout Animal Kingdom. The Tree of Life, Expedition Everest. I was so focused on getting out of there so I could head to Hollywood Studios. In my mind, I knew if I could make it to Hollywood Studios I'd make it to the end.

mile 17: 17:20

mile 18: 15:10

Then came 19, which I had heard was the worst stretch of the race. All Disney Highway to Hollywood Studios. I'm pretty sure it was around this point where I started feeling overheated. I remember saying things to my brother who told me to quit spending extra energy, I wasn't even making sense. I made a comment that I've never run this far before. I knew I needed to take care of myself to avoid a repeat of what happened to A at Disney Princess last year. I stopped at a med tent and asked for ice. They asked me to sit down and they would tape it to me. I told them I wanted it just to cool down. 

I was thirsty and hot. We started walking more. My brother was encouraging and motivating, I teared up a little telling him how much I appreciated him. 

mile 19: 16:55

mile 20: 17:34

Then I saw it!

The sign for Hollywood Studios!

I started crying,

"We're gonna make it! We're really gonna make it. We're gonna finish!"

My brother calmly said, "Steph, of course we're gonna make it. We did well the first half, and you're doing fine, just keep going."

Then through a cruel twist, we realized that before entering the park, we had do an out and back loop, which totaled a mile. Such a cruel tease. I stopped at another med tent, I decided to try tying the back of ice to the back of my sports bra so I could try running with it, since prior I was only walking when I had ice. It worked, and I was able to pick it up, and alternate more running with the walking.

mile 21: 15:47

mile 22: 15:53

We hit Hollywood Studios! I honestly barely remember what we ran by, We were running through the Backlot tour and looped through NYC.

mile 23: 17:56

Past Mickey's Fantasia Hat...

Bye bye Tower of Terror!

My dizziness was still there, I was guzzling water. I was so thirsty and hot. My legs were getting tired, not pain, but just exhausted. My feet were aching, I just wanted to be finished. We headed down the walking path to Disney's Boardwalk. I remembered making this walk last year from my hotel and felt like we were getting so close to the finish. We alternated running and walking along the riverside path.

mile 24: 15:29

 We headed onto the boardwalk where there were people everywhere cheering for us. Most people had been walking the last 4 miles or so, I got excited passing people when I was able to run. My ice was sliding all over my back, but felt so good. We were almost there!! Only the back gate of Epcot and through the countries to go! I teared up again, but tried to calm myself down to prevent my heart rate from creeping up even higher.

mile 25: 15:48

There were people all over Epcot. I remember taking off my ice pack to give to a cast member to throw away. When I had to stop to walk, my brother would ask if I needed to stop stop. I told him no, we needed to make forward progress, I just wanted to be done. Then we saw Snow White! I HAD to stop, I was dressed up like her!

I'm pretty sure I teared up again here too.

Then we were running by the Epcot christmas tree & toward Spaceship Earth.

mile 26: 16:13

Just before this, Jason was asking me how bad did I want it? I told him I just wanted to be finished. Lets go. I think I may have needed one walk break backstage before running out in front of the crowd. I saw Kevin again cheering us on with my mom and everyone else.

We gave a wave, and headed toward the finish, I was sooooo ready to be done!

That last bit I picked it up to a 12:51 pace.

I crossed the finish.

I started sobbing.

I hugged my brother.

I thanked him and told him I owed it all to him. I would have never made it without him. I've dreamed about this moment for 6 years and he made it possible on a day where the conditions made it seem unlikely to happen.

We did it.

Him 39.3 miles

Me 26.2 miles

I was ready to collapse. 

I got more ice, grabbed some water and food I knew I wouldn't be able to eat.

We went to our meeting spot, and sat down. My feet felt swollen and I couldn't wait to get my sneakers off. 

I'm a Marathoner!

Despite the horrible conditions thrown my way, I'm incredibly proud to say I did it.

And you know how I said I would never run another one unless a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike were before it?

Now I need to do another solo 26.2 to see what I can do when I actually feel well.

So be assured, there will be another marathon in my future!

Look at that sweet bling!

Overall Stats

overall place - 11313/13478

gender place - 4979/6315

division place - 897/1114

Half Marathon split -  2:45:52

Marathon time - 6:17:06

Post-race recap will be part 3!

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Red Dress Run 5K Race Report!

This was not originally a race I had on my schedule, but I had thought about doing it the past 2 years. It's put on by the Hartford Marathon Foundation, and is to support the American Heart Association which I am a HUGE supporter of (I've been contemplating doing another Train to End Stroke race).  Then I saw that Kristin @ Bigger Girls Can Run Too (we'll call her K1), was running and found Kristin from Running to Somewhere (K2) who was running to. I was sold!

Now, one of my biggest fears is going to new places by myself. When I was younger, I wouldn't even let my mom drop me at the restaurant front door to put our name in while she parked the car. I HATE doing things by myself. In fact, before today I had never gone to a race by myself. I usually drag Kevin out of bed in the morning on race day with the promise of Dunkin Donuts to be my chauffeur and official race photographer. However, with my plan to meet the Kristins, I gave him the day off. Aren't I nice?

My drive toward Hartford!

I planned on leaving early so I had time to register, but due to poor directions on the race website, and lack of signage, I thought I was going to have to turn around and drive home. Finally, I found the parking lot with shuttles and joined Kristin #1 in the bus line.

I headed to registration, had to correct the woman categorizing me that I was an Athena, since she almost put me in my age group even though I had checked the Athena box. I grabbed the t-shirt (not bad), and attached my bib to my iFitness belt. I met the other Kristin and we headed to once of the nicest race bathrooms I've ever used. 

Race start

Next we headed to the Race start, Kristin 1 stayed back and I started closer up with Kristin 2. We took a few pictures (hopefully hers came out better than mine!)

So shadowy!

The start was crowded and a little slow. It took me awhile to bob & weave and find an open spot to run in. The first mile went by fairly easily. Decent downhills and mostly shade, I clocked in at 9:19, a little ahead of pace. The waterstop came a little before the 1.5 mile marker, and I grabbed a cup because I was sweating like crazy, and my little handheld doesn't hold that much. The heat started getting to me. and just before the 2 mile marker I had to stop for a walk break. Mile 2 was 9:37, not bad but slightly off my goal pace to finish under 30 min. Every time I hit a hill, or had to take a walk break because I could feel my heart rate creeping up (187 during the race), I could feel my time goal slipping away. I did not want to end up passed out in the middle of the road, so I took breaks when I needed to. 

I did mile 3 in disappointing 10:04, and tried to pick it up on the downhills and shaded areas. Finally the end was insight and I booked it as hard as I could (191 HR).  That last .15 of a mile  I did at a 7:57 pace haha. I crossed the finish with a Garmin time of  30:12, & official time of 30:14 which is a PR by 4 seconds. Not the under 30 I was hoping for, but a PR nonetheless!

I crossed the finish line and grabbed a cold water and poured it all over me to cool me down. I saw Kristen 2 and Kristen 1's mom & we went to the sideline to watch her finish. Soon we saw her pink sneakers running toward the finish!

Here she comes! (pink top)

After Kristen poured some water over her, we took some photos...

Kristin1, Me, Kristin2

Then got some delicious post race strawberry parfait. The most delish post race food I've ever had. Although we agreed a nice Margarita or a cold beer would have been nice too since it was so hot out!

Overall, a fun race with great scenery, and I'm glad I got to meet some blogger friends! Hopefully next time there will be better signs and directions for parking!

Official Results

30:14
9:44 avg pace
272/943 overall
9/123 Athena

Time for a little lounging around before my big 15 miler tomorrow!

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3rd place!!

Today I placed at my first race in over 4 years!

3rd place Athena in the Sheriff Sprint Triathlon!

I earned myself a little bling and a prize off the prize table (almost the last to pick, so a pair of socks), and exciting bragging rights. I had a really tough time with the race. My heart rate was way high, and I was huffing & puffing. Maybe a combo of my exhaustion & sickness (stayed home from work friday & saturday). Full race report to come soon!

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post a raffle winner yet for this week! The file is on Kevin's computer and the power cord is MIA. I will post ASAP

I am in my fundraising push! Less than $80 to go, and I need your help! Please help me reach my goal for the Run to Home Base to support injured war vets HERE.  Anyone who donates from now until May 13 will be entered be entered into a special drawing for a prize pack from me. And if I get 5 or more donations, I'll pick 3 winners next week!

In weightloss news, I have been disappointed in myself lately. My extreme fatigue and sickness didn't help this week. But besides working my way through Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance, I decided to try 2 more things to try and add a little fire to my rear end. 

Omron Full Body Sensor Body Fat and Body Composition Monitor

After reading in racing weight about tracking body fat percentage, lean muscle mass, etc to track weight loss & improvements in body composition I was sold. I searched for a while online, and finally decided on this one. I'm really excited for it to come in, and hope I can really use it to help motivate me in the right direction.

I also joined Spark People. While I have been a weight watchers girl for years, I heard about Spark People and decided to give it a try. It is basically a free online tracking site (free is always awesome), that has a lot of great features. I like how it breaks down your calories, fats, carbs & proteins. I like the charts and graphs it makes. I like that I can also track my exercise and body measurements more specifically and all in one place. I'm going to really try & focus on it this week, and we'll see what happens.

Back to the pool tomorrow morning!

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Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

                                             Pre-race

We got to DC around 10:30am on saturday, and after getting on the Metro to the hotel, we found ourselves in Macys. How the heck is there a Metro stop inside a Macys?? After finally finding our hotel, we headed to Capitol City Brewing Company for lunch. Next up was packet pick up.

We walked the few blocks away only to find a HUGE line wrapping around the entire building. We settled in at the back, then started to feel a sprinkle. Soon enough it was raining, then hailing! With no umbrella, or way to get shelter without skipping out on the line, we decided to tough it out.  Luckily a ton of people in front of us bailed, and we moved up a little more. Our total wait time? 1 hour. The most ridiculous wait time ever for race packet pick up. I'm not even sure why it was such a long wait, since when we finally got to the room for our bibs, there was barely anyone inside, and no wait at the check in tables. Completely ridiculous.

The expo wasn't too bad, I picked up a couple new sweaty bands, and a free swim cap. Scoped out the gear, then headed out to see the White House, and take a few pics. For dinner we headed to Aria, which was listed as an italian resteraunt and near our hotel. The only things "italian" about this place were the 3 pasta dishes and pizzas. The rest of the menu was salads & sandwiches, and the service was horrible. I would NOT recommend eating there to anyone.

After dinner we crashed to prep for our early wake up (actually a late one for me)! I was completely undecided on what to wear until the absolute last minute. After feedback on facebook, and checking out the Runners World "what to wear" page, I finally decided!

Pink shorts & socks won!

Race Day

Alarm went off, and I got up and started to get dressed and get my breakfast together. I put on my outfit, grabbed my throwaway longsleeve shirt, my breakfast and other gear and we headed out. We had a short walk to the race start from our hotel, and it was easy to find it since there were so many other people out walking to the start. We checked our bags, and took a few pictures by the Washington Monument.

We were in the green corral, which was 2nd to last. We crossed the start around 7:50am. My brother was running this race with me, which was our first really running together since his downfall at the Disney Half in 2010. He had just started training for his first marathon, and wanted to use this as a training run at a slower pace, so he decided to stick with me.  The weather was great, a little breezy to start, but I was able to ditch my throwaway around mile 3 or 4.

We cruised along, I was feeling pretty good.  I felt great for miles 1-5. By mile 5 I was really starting to feel it. Maybe because I was keeping a pretty steady 10:30ish pace.  I noticed that my Garmin was about .1 ahead around mile 3. The bad thing about the race course was the amount of out & backs. There were so many that you would see people running opposite you and not get to that point for quite a while later, a little discouraging! Around mile 5ish there was a water stop set up in a extremely narrow running road, which created a huge bottle neck, and slowed us down a bit. By mile 6, I was starting to slow, and I told my brother to go ahead without me.

As you can see, I faded hard. I had to take one walk break mile 6, 2 mile 7, then more throughout the rest. It must have been because I went out too fast, which sucks because I felt great, and I thought the pace was good, about 15 seconds slower than my half pace. I guess 10 miles is pretty close to a half marathon! Any advice on decreasing the fade?!

shots along the race

I was so excited to see the finish line! It was an uphill finish, and then we were done! Plus, I made my goal time (barely)!

1:50:09!

Finished!

After the race, I met up with my brother, who killed it in 1:44. We got our finishing medals and a muffin. Another bad thing? The set-up for post race food! I couldn't find it! Instead of being right off the finishers chute, it was off to the side, and I missed it until my brother pointed it out. 

Back to the hotel for a shower, then I starting searching for a lunch place. After searching for breweries online, I found one that served brunch. AMAZING. We were sold, and headed over to the District Chop House for fabulous beer & breakfast. 

Cherry Wheat beer, french toast & fruit! yummmmm

Overall, the race was fun, but not sure what the big hype is. It was really cool to run by some of the monuments, and the scenery was nice, but we won't be traveling for this race again. After the crazy packet pick up, and post race crowded confusion, I'd rather do a local race.

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