Before we begin let me take you back in time to a lazy Saturday morning in January 2013. There I was sitting on the couch watching TV with the girls and catching up on Twitter when I started seeing a bunch of WDW half marathon photos pop up. I hadn't really run since I'd hurt my knee in the Houston half in 2008 following my disastrous NYC marathon in 2007. But suddenly the running bug bit again. I wanted to run the WDW marathon. But this time I was going to do it right and build up to it. I put on some old running shoes that afternoon and went for my first run in a long long time. 2 miles that Saturday started me down the path to being a true runner.
Fast Forward to this weekend. The time to fulfil a dream, but now not only was I going to run the WDW marathon, I was going Dopey. 4 races and 48.6 miles. What was I thinking?
My final Dopey Simulation long run back-back-back-back combo finished on December 13th and I proceeded to take taper to the extreme over the next 4 weeks. Between the cruise, family in town, Christmas, a sinus infection and packing for this trip, I did not get anywhere near the runs I was planning in during taper. For better or worse I came into the weekend with well rested legs, and a sinus infection.
For some unknown reason (okay - it was the cheapest direct flight) I decided that a 5:30 am flight on Wednesday morning was a good idea. (because 4 early morning wakeups for the races aren't enough).
With 4 running outfits, 4 running hats and 2 running shoes packed, I was anxious and ready to go, I attempted to go to be early Tuesday night only to toss and turn and give up on it after a while. I did manage a few hours of sleep before the 3am wakeup (or was it 2:45 - it was early).
With the exception that Dunkin Donuts wasn't open at the airport when I got there, the flight to Orlando went off without a hitch. There were many other marathoners and Dopey runners on my flight including a friend from our local running group.
Um the sign said you would open at 4? It's 4:30.
I got my luggage and my rental car and was off to the Expo. I was underwhelmed by the expo offerings. The RunDisney merchandise was nice, but the rest of the expo offerings were minimal with a very limited number of vendors.
First stop the required picture with the Dopey Sign.
I ran into Susana as I was headed to the merchandise line and joined her. It started my weekend of friendly faces and helped to calm my nerves.
It was crowded in the RunDisney tent, but they had lots of merchandise and were constantly restocking. Knowing that I was getting ready to get 6 new shirts it seemed crazy to buy more, but the new race shirts were all long sleeve and well I live in Houston so I wanted a couple of short sleeve options. I also got my magnet and pin and a new Tervis mug.
After my purchases were complete I found the Dopey packet pickup. For some reason my line was exceptionally long when all the other lines had less than 2 people in it.
(Susana's picture but it looked this way for me too).
I did like the way they had the challenge photo set up so you didn't have to go to a separate location for the picture. It made that part very easy. The line to pick up shirts was slightly chaotic and was running into the marathonfoto booth, but they got things organized and moving quickly enough.
Then I went off in search of the kids race pick up so I could get the girls race gear and looked at the additional booths before heading out to see if I could check in.
I was staying "offsite" at Bonnet Creek for this trip. It is my favorite place to stay at Disney. You are inside the gates of Disney even if it is a non-Disney property, beautiful 2 bedroom suite, nice soaker garden tub, comfortable, clean and easy access to everything. Check-in time wasn't until 2pm, but they had my room ready when I got there about noon. I was on the 12th floor with a spectacular view of Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, the Orlando Eye and the Swan/Dolphin Hotels. This meant I could get all sorts of fireworks from the balcony every night.
I dropped off my luggage and ran off to Wal-mart to get groceries before heading to Hollywood Studios for the afternoon/evening.
I left and went to Hollywood Studios. They extended the closing of the Osborne Lights until today so I was excited to get to see them one last time before they take them away forever.
I enjoyed a nice leisurely day at Hollywood Studios doing things I might not do normally. I spent time in One Man's Dream and found some inspiration for the half marathon while I was walking around.
I had fast passes for Toy Story, Star Tours and the Little Mermaid (something I had never been to for one reason or another) and rode Star Tours again in the Stand By line.
I did forget one crutial detail for the day - lunch. I was planning to grab lunch when I went to get groceries and somehow forgot. So by about 5pm I was feeling a little light headed. This is not the week to forget to eat. So I tried to get dinner. I had the worst meal and service I've ever had at Disney, but I did get some food in me before walking to the Osborne lights.
I love these lights. I spent my time walking around and looking at all sorts of little details and just soaking it all in.
Soon enough it was time to head back to the room to try to rest and unpack as the craziness started in the morning.
View from the room - it was a little cloudy, but you can still see Space Ship earth, the Castle and the Contemporary from this picture. I made it back to the room in time to watch the 8pm fireworks of Wishes and whatever they did at Universal at 8pm and the 9pm Illuminations before going to bed.
And because it gets ridiculous later in the week - Steps 17,424 ~ 7.4 miles
The 5k would come way too early in next morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment