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Goofy: Day 2

Crossing the finish line of the Half Marathon was the moment we had to begin to recover. 

We spent the day eating, sleeping, and icing, just kind of shuffling around. In the evening we watched The Spirit of the Marathon for inspiration and went to bed early. And then....here we go again...3am.
I am sleepy, sore, and about to run my first marathon!
Once again we were at Epcot in the cold 4 in the morning dark. It was colder than the morning before. At 4:30, 17,000 of us marched a quarter mile to the start. 
We were again in the second to last starting wave, and with the course making a loop through Epcot before going out to the Magic Kingdom, we got to see the lead runners as they came through heading into mile 5. And they pretty much looked like they were running at an all out sprint. And I'm shuffling up to mile 1 at a 12 minute pace trying to loosen up and be able to feel my feet. So here we are, we are running a marathon.

The first 6 or 8 weren't too bad, the sun came up and we made it into the Magic Kingdom.
Angie happy, lady behind her ecstatic.
We couldn't pass up this opportunity, the five minute wait was well worth it...
it's my pirate face.

We followed the same route out of the park past the golf course again and crossed the halfway point at about 2 hrs and 45 minutes. I was feeling pretty confident. One mile later I was questioning whether I'd be walking the rest of the way, something happened to my knee.
The road to Animal Kingdom seemed very very long. There was Davy Crockett , a bluegrass band, and a guy standing on the side of the road telling jokes. Apparently after 15 miles, why did the chicken cross the road jokes are the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life.
At one of the aid stations I stopped to slather my legs with bio freeze and had a hard time getting going again...stiff hurting knee. At the next one I stopped to eat a banana...and had a harder time getting going again...then we made it into Animal Kingdom and saw this guy!
I love this guy
The game plan was, I would not stop. Keep the knee moving. No stopping for anything. At the next station I popped two tylenol and hoped nothing got worse. 8 more miles.
The parks were actually open while we were running through, there were tons of people everywhere. Leaving Animal Kingdom we headed right into Hollywood Studios and saw this guy!
That's not me because I couldn't stop running. It's a random dude.
Then we hit mile 20 and seeing that number on the sign was an incredible feeling. We made a U-turn at Wide World of Sports at 20.2 with exactly 6 miles to go and headed back toward Epcot. The next five miles just kind of went by. The adrenaline and excitement probably had a lot to do with it.

Halfway around the world, through the park, out, around one more corner, past the choir, the crowd, the bleachers packed with screaming people, and that right there is the finish line.

I was about 12 years old when I decided I would run a Marathon by the time I was 30. And here I am in Disney World, running with my sister, with six months to spare.

yes, that's 3 medals each.

39.3 cheers!



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Comments

  1. KevinJanuary 31, 2011 at 6:10 AM

    Congratulations. I want to do this someday. It is right in my backyard. I live only a few minutes away from it.

    Kevin
    http://halftriing.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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