Saturday November 9, 2013 – Race Day!
I woke up on my own before 7am after about 5-1/2 hours of sleep. So much for sleeping in I guess. So I got up and got dressed, stopped for breakfast and a few things at Publix and then headed over to the Expo to pick up my bib, race packet and explore the booths. I got my race packet and was able to get my corral changed to F based on my half marathon time 2 weeks previously. I was expecting corral G so I was surprised with the upgrade to F. I then went over to the other building for my shirt and the rest of the expo booths. The shirts were huge. I had to go to the shirt exchange for a smaller size. They were also long sleeve which is nice, but there are very few runs in Houston where I would wear a long sleeve tech shirt, so I went to the Run Disney Booth and bought a short sleeve event tech shirt in Orange, a magnet for my cubicle and a Wine & Dine pin. I had fun exploring the rest of the expo, talking with other runners and looking at all the booths.
I'd never been to the Boardwalk before so it was nice just to look around a bit. I was honestly trying to take it easy today but my feet were already telling me otherwise with all the walking around the Expo and standing at the meet and greet they were starting to hurt a bit. After the meet and greet ended it was time to try to figure out something to eat for lunch. I needed to deal with an issue with my annual pass and we were right next to the boat dock to Epcot so I figured a quick trip to Epcot Guest Service would work and I could get some food in Epcot. That was a mistake. Epcot in the afternoon on the last Saturday of the Food and Wine Festival, plus the Wine and Dine half Marathon weekend, plus Veteran’s Day weekend meant Epcot was a zoo. The Guest Service line at the International Gateway was insanely long so I entered the park and walked to the front of the park to the other Guest Services area. The line was 50 deep out the building so I didn’t stop. I also didn’t stop for food. I love Epcot but I really am not a huge fan of the Food and Wine Festival in general and today in particular. There were just too many people and the whole area smelled like an over packed drunken bar (and this is outside). So I left and took the boat back to the Boardwalk. I went into the Bakery to get a sandwich but realized after I was in line that they were premade sandwiches. I should have left to find something else, but ended up getting a kids mac and cheese instead. This was really not a good prerace food option. After I ate it really was time to go back to the room and attempt to take a nap and at least rest my feet for a while.
I got back to the room and found napping to be impossible and resting was difficult as well. I did take a nice soak in the huge jetted tub to rest my feet for a bit and watched some college football. I wanted to get an early dinner to try to give it time to digest before the race so I headed out about 5:00 or so to find some dinner. I got a grilled chicken Parmesan sandwich from Burger King and picked up some apple slices and pretzels (my standard pre long run food) from the grocery store before heading over to Epcot to get ready for the race.
As I pulled up to Epcot I saw a sign that says Epcot Parking lot is full and I start to panic slightly. I ignore this sign and head into Epcot anyway. They saw my runners bib and I didn't even have to show my Annual Pass to enter and park (I don’t think free parking started yet as it wasn’t not yet 6pm, but it was close to it). I parked in Discovery 24 and took the tram to head to the park. I went into the park to try to fix my Annual pass issue again and again I enter with my bib and bracelet and don’t have to use my pass. I got a picture prerace in front of the Food and Wine sign and walked over to Guest Services. I was able to get my annual pass converted to RIFD card from the old paper card without difficulty and I left the park to head to the bus. I asked as I was leaving the park which way to go for the Race Buses and was pointed towards the Resort Bus area. As I get there I ask the first transportation guy where the buses to the race start are and he tells me they didn’t tell them, but he thinks it is by the finish line tents and he had sent a bunch of other people that way and none had come back complaining yet. The finish line tents are in the Imagine lot which is about as far away from where I was as you could get. They should have had trams running to take you to the bus lot. It was a very long walk carrying your gear check bag to the buses (the gear check bag is just awkward to carry – the straps were either too long or too short to make carrying it comfortable). I finally made it to the buses around 6:30 or 6:40. As we are boarding they say they aren’t supposed to pull out until 7 so I’m anticipating sitting there for a while. We ended up pulling out around 6:45. I was glad because sitting on buses makes me nauseous. Something about the exhaust smell, the vibration at the crowds but I never feel good sitting on a bus like that. I was very happy to get to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The prerace area was great. We got off the buses and there were 4 lines forming, one each for Chip & Dale, Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse and Goofy. There was a big screen TV with a great DJ playing lots of fun music and getting everyone dancing, the gear check area was open and easy to get into and out of it. They had water tables, lots of port-a-potties and plenty of space. I immediately got into line for Minnie Mouse and had my picture to Minnie. They I moved over to Chip & Dales line. After that I got into Mickey’s line (which was very long at this point) and had fun partying in line with the DJ while waiting. It really was a party atmosphere.
As I was waiting in line I was reading Twitter and saw that @RunDisney re-tweeted a picture from an old high school friend. What a very Small World we live in indeed. I sent him a tweet telling him I was there too. He sent me his location and after I finished my picture with Mickey I went to bag check and then off to find him.
At this point I made my biggest mistake of the day.
In my planning for the race I had my spare phone battery “fully charged” so I could switch it out prerace. So before I dropped off my bag I pulled out the spare battery and went to switch them out. I was not smart enough to check the battery before dropping off my bag and did a double switch in the dark (after I’d dropped the battery on the ground) and put the old battery back in my phone. I didn’t realize this until after my bag was long checked with no way to retrieve it. My phone held my intervals, my GPS tracking/pace times and my play list if I needed some motivation or inspiration along the run. I had a whole new set of challenges ahead of me that I had not anticipated as I was going to be running this race now without a working phone. One good thing was they did have spare bags at bag check. The bag I had started to split from the top so they gave me a new one otherwise I have a feeling my stuff might not have stayed in the bag.
The line near bag check for the port-a-potties was 50-75 deep in front of each pair. There were 2 more banks of port-a-potties on the other side of the field with no one in line, so I took a quick stop and then found my friend Mike from high school. It was fun to meet up with him and catch up for a bit. I hadn’t seen him in probably 14 years when I went to a show he and his then band was playing in Florida.
In what seemed like no time at all had passed since I had arrived at the prerace area they were calling us to move into the corral areas. I got back in the port-a-potty line (it was much longer now) for that just in case stop before the race and then moved to Corral F. I met some nice girls in the corral and we talked as we waited for the race to start. I saw a Galloway pace sign and got excited thinking I could fit in when them since I didn’t have my phone for intervals but the sign said 2-1 intervals with a 3 hour anticipated finish. That was much slower than I planned on and I was trying to figure out how a 3 hour anticipated finish was in Corral F since that was supposed to be a better than 2:30 finish. They still had good music and entertainment in the corral areas so the final 30 minutes passed quickly (although I would have rather been sitting down at some point. I realized as I was waiting for the race to start that I had now been standing for over 3 hours and my legs were already starting to feel tired).
The corrals were let go every 2-3 minutes and each corral had its own countdown and fireworks. That was a nice touch and a lot of fun. Mickey and Minnie were also at the start to wish us well. We were scheduled to cross the start line around 10:12 pm and I suspect we started fairly close to that time. I started the stop watch feature on my watch (the only thing it does have) and hoped for the best.
For the first 5k you are running along Osceloa Parkway from ESPN towards Animal Kingdom. It is dark and there isn’t that much entertainment in this stretch of the course but I was still feeling pretty good here so it wasn't that big of a deal. I was doing a lot of instant math to keep track of where I should be each mile to try to stay on track for my pace and trying as best as I could to run 3-1 intervals evenly by just looking at the stop watch. It takes a lot less effort to follow the beeping signals than what I was doing but it was really the best option available to me without my phone (yes I am planning to get a GPS watch for Christmas - I'm open to suggestions). There was a decent hill (for this Houstonian that is) up the overpass just after the first mile but this stretch was pretty straight and a little boring). They did have 2 character stops along here (but I didn’t stop) one for the Country Bears and another for the characters from Fantasia. I finished the first 5k at 36:09 (11:40 min/mile pace) which is pretty close to what my goal for the race was but I had a feeling very early on that this wasn't going to be a PR.
At the 5k mark you make a curve up the overpass ramp towards the Animal Kingdom parking lot and it was a very steep embankment. With my ankle issues earlier in the week I could definitely feel this embankment. Around the 3.5 mile mark, the course narrows significantly as you enter into Animal Kingdom which makes it feel a bit more crowded again. The course takes you to the left of the tree of life, into Africa up the hill towards Expedition Everest (which somehow I didn’t see when I was running, I think I was just so focused at that point that I forgot to look up), past the Finding Nemo show, by the big Dinosaur and out of the park through a back exit, and around the parking lot. There were a lot of characters out in Animal Kingdom (again I didn’t stop) and there was a stage with some Little Mermaid float and stuff set up in the parking lot. There was also a huge Pirate Ship with Jack Sparrow and Barbosa outside in the parking lot as well. That was cool to see. Around mile 5 there was a sprinkler that had broken and the path was covered with water. This was right before a water stop so I let some cast members know about it even though I figured they did. It was definitely a safety hazard and a lot of people were trying to avoid it in the grass etc. We exited the Animal Kingdom Parking Lot through the parking lot entrance (please watch for speed bumps) right before the 10k mark. I crossed the 10k mark at 1:14:39 which was now 12:04min/mile average pace. I could definitely feel myself slowing down in Animal Kingdom partly due to the narrower course and hills and partly just due to tired legs. I knew a PR wasn’t going to happen but I was still feeling pretty good at this point.
Disney has a rolling race close of 16min/mile pace starting when the last person crosses the start line. These are the balloon ladies. As we came around near the 10k mark you could see the balloon ladies. I was amazed at the number of people behind them before the 5k mark. They were already pulling people at the 3 mile mark. I know things happen and you can fall behind your pace but if I didn’t think I could stay ahead of the balloon ladies at least through the 5k mark, I’m not sure I would have started, but that is just me.
We headed back up the Osceola Parkway. Around the midway mark they had a video board showing the post-race party in Epcot. I have to say that really didn’t inspire me. Right at mile 7.5 we turned left up a big ramp onto World Drive and towards Hollywood Studios. We ran past the Green Army men ordering us to keep it moving and finally around mile 9 into Hollywood studios. At the water station right before mile 9 and right before we entered into Hollywood studios I made the mistake of grabbing a cup of PowerAde. The PowerAde did not agree with me at all and within a quarter mile my stomach started cramping. I hit the 15k split at 1:54:03 a 12:26min/mile average pace (yes I was getting even slower).
We entered Hollywood Studios behind Tower of Terror right next to the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. We then ran up Sunset Boulevard around the Hat, through Pixar Place (where I stopped for a bathroom break) past Toy Story (Buzz and Woody were out) and you get a quick glimpse of the lights before we turn right through some back lot places including the Disco tunnel (this is really part of the back lot tour where they have windows set up with props, costumes, etc. but they had a big Disco ball going and lots of music. It was fun but the air felt a little stale in here) and past some very stinky garbage then we went past the back side of the Lights Motor Action Stage and suddenly you are in the middle of the Osborne Lights. That was definitely a wow moment of the race. The lights are wow to begin with but running through it was just beautiful. We exited the lights and passed StarTours and Indiana Jones before exiting the front of the park around mile 10-1/2 or so. At the front entrance I managed to step funny on a planter ring around one of the trees. I sort of half caught the squishy part and the concrete sidewalk and almost fell. I did twist my ankle a little bit and stopped to make sure I wasn’t hurt. I seemed okay other than the nagging cramps but I kept pressing along. We ran down by the Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin, Beach and Yacht Club Resorts. This is the first time you really had a bunch of spectators on the course (other than cast members) cheering because it is the first accessible portion of the course.
Just past mile 12 we entered Epcot through a backstage entrance near Figment. There were a lot of people lining the course in Epcot. At this point I am not feeling well at all. The cramping is much worse, I am plodding along and smell of alcohol (worse than earlier in the day at the Food and Wine) was not helping. We went through Innovations and the Character Spot and out around to the Right of Spaceship Earth. I was so focused at getting to the finish line that I didn’t even look up to see Space Ship Earth. We exited the park and approached the finish line in the Imagine Lot. Mickey and Minnie were at the Finish Line and I got a high five from Mickey as I approached the line. Seeing them gave me just a little extra motivation to get through the last .1 miles or so. I crossed the finish line at a chip time of 2:51:39 for an overall pace of 13:06 min/mile pace. It was slower than my race 2 weeks ago by 14 minutes but considering Tuesday morning I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to run I was happy with it.
My only complaint about the race at all is the post-race set up. They really needed to have port-a-potties at the finish line. The nearest ones were outside the runner’s area so you would have to go past the medals, water, food, pictures, bag pick up, changing tents, and beer station before you could get there. This is where I made my biggest mistake of the race (even bigger than leaving my charged battery in my checked bag). I really had to go to the bathroom and had a one track mind to get there. I couldn’t think of eating or drinking anything until I made it there. I was certain if I did I would get sick so I skipped everything in my quest for a bathroom and so by the time I finally got there it was really too late. It didn’t help that it was now after 1am I was physically exhausted. By the time I fought my way back through the crowd to the gear pick up area I couldn’t stand up. I was so dizzy and nauseous and exhausted. I laid down on the ground for a minute and it is possible I fell asleep when a medical person came by. I consented to go to the medical tent mainly because I needed the bathroom again and it was closer than going back out again to get to the non-medical tent port-a-potties. They gave me some chewable Pepto which I proceeded to throw up almost immediately. After I emptied the contents of my stomach I started to feel 100% better, got my color back and the dizziness went away. I was still cold and tired but I no longer felt like I was going to fall down. I changed out of my soaking wet shirt and left the medical tent. It was 2:30 or so by the time I made it to Epcot (It might have been later as I know the course had completely closed before I left the medical tent - time didn't really exist to me at this moment). I decided to skip the after party and just took the tram back to the car and drove back to my resort. It was 3-3:30 am when I made it back to the resort and I was asleep almost immediately.
Total Steps for Saturday – 43,193
