I know that many of you have been waiting to hear the report on my first 13.1 race and it has taken longer to write then I thought it would, but with how crazy life has been lately I just have not had the time. More details on that to come in the future.
So, let me tell you about my most anticipated and longest completed run to date. As with many of my big runs of late this was also a Disney run and if there is one thing I can say about Disney is they always do it right! It was a night race and that was something new to me I had no idea as to what to expect along the route or even what it was going to be like to run at night. Well, let me tell you that I had a wonderful time yes it was long, yes I was tired, and yes I literally feel on my face but people and characters were everywhere!!!
I started out my run knowing I had to keep it in check not to fast not to slow, you know how it goes, and then as I am conquering somewhere around mile two guess who roles out to meet me Chip and Dale (Now I met Mickey and Minnie before the race started) then along the route were bands, Goofy, stilt walkers, more people, more characters, and even DARTH VADER!!!!! I mean I was like a kid in a candy store with all these characters out to watch me run. I know I am an inspiration to tons of people, but an inspirtation to the Dark Lord of the Sith that he would want to chear me on - Man I'm good. OK now that I have gotten that out of my system let me tell you how the race went.
I was feeling good and thought I was doing well. We left from Wide World of Sports and then went through Animal Kingdom and according to the pace clock on the route I was well ahead of my 12 min training pace. This was my second race through Animal Kingdom and it was still a blast. We ran through that park quickly and the tree of life and other places were lit-up it and music was playing and park characters were out. It was really nice.
As I was making my way back on to the street to leave and head to my next park I was still feeling good about myself and making my way toward Hollywood Studios (which is in my head the biggest park in the area no matter what the maps say) we had a great DJ calling out college game scores and unfortunately UGA was not doing well that night so it was a bit of let down to know I was doing my best and they were stinking up the first half, but really it's about me at this point and I did not really cared about them...I know some of you may find that hard to hear, but it was true at the time.
So as I ran into Hollywood Studios I go through the front and out the back, but while I was in the part the route took me up and down every street, avenue, it felt like every where. In case you are wondering this is where Darth Vader was over by the Star Tours ride. They had us run through the back lot tour, the action/adventure stunt show, star tours, where the Tower of Terror is, near the area of the Playhouse Disney and on and on and on...then thankfully we were allowed to leave and head toward EPCOT. I was never more excited to leave the park as I was that day in my life.
As we were leaving the nice run by the river toward Epcot made a huge impression on me during that time I was tired, still a head of my pace and was past the 9 mile mark. I could not see Spaceship Earth yet, but I knew it was coming and that was enough. I need to also let you know that over the course of this race several people had been pulled from the race for falling behind the pace or becoming sick or failing apart. Something had happened to take them out and to know that I was still in was a big deal. One person had to get medical attention because they were over on the side of the route tossing their cookies and that is a sure sign of dehydration and that is one of my worst thoughts when running. I think am I staying hydrated enough for this? Am I sweating too much? Should I take a carb shot or just stick with water? Am I drinking too much water? All this may sound pretty simple, but I consider it all through the course of these long runs, because it can be threatening if I don't listen to my body and push too hard.
So, as I run and know at this time I could simply walk and finish in more then enough time and my heart fills with pride the old saying happens. Pride came before the fall...I literally tripped and feel flat on my face at this time. I am somewhere between the Dolphin and Swan resorts when SPLAT! I trip over the road, fall out on the grass, and spend several seconds trying to get back up until I had a panic thought which was "their going to take me out!" I then jump up and start running covered in dirt and cut and scraped and unknowingly tweaked my knee, but the adrenaline was pumping and I had to keep going.
I end up falling behind my race pace a little bit and finish on my practice pace. I was so upset and happy at the same time. I finished knowing I had literally left all I had on the road that night for that race and that is how I like to finish, but I felt foolish for allowing myself to take things for granted and not keeping my head in the race. I like to know that when I cross that finish line that I had done my best and over came all the obstacles that were faced as part of this run and training for this run.
Needless to say the next morning when I woke up my knee let me know it was hurting and my feet wanted as little walking as necessary. So I took it easy around the hotel and my loving wife drove me home, it was a truly great weekend. We did not go to the parks, but the kids did not seem to mind and that was a relief, because I was sure it was going to be a fight. Knowing that while I ran the kids were good for Meg also made me feel good, because it was important to me that everyone had as little stress this weekend as possible and I would like to think that happened this time. I know many people will think I am nuts with all the running and racing and expense, but I just enjoy it so much and it makes me feel like I did when I was on the swim team in college. Me against myself going for the best and if I manage to pass a couple of people along the way all the better.
Up coming how my life has changed recently and my adventures with my new shoes.
