Well, the marathon is over! I finished in 3:56:06 - not quite as fast as I would have liked, but I finished in under 4 hours, which was my ultimate goal. So, here's the long version. I got up at 3AM (after sleeping poorly and getting up at 2am to give Jax a neb treatment because he was coughing non-stop) and met Hilary at 3:30 so we could board the bus to take us to the start. Once there we joined the 19,000 other participants in the parking lot at Epcot as we waited in line for port-a-potties (and there were HUNDREDS of them, and ALWAYS about 20 people in line for each one) , stretched out, ate GU and had our chests bombarded with early morning LOUD rock music from the only cover artist they could convince to show up at 3am (there was far too much base, and he was far too often off-key). It was VERY VERY VERY VERY humid. At about 5:30 we all filtered down to the corals, made another port-a potty run at the bank of port-a-potties there (for a grand total of 6 trips between the 2 of us...) and were then sorted into our corals (Hilary - who is blazing fast and was hoping to run about a 3:30 race was in A, I - not so fast, hoping for under 4 - was in B.... the corals went to H). Once in my slotted coral, I wound up striking up a conversation with a group of runners - one of whom was doing the "Goofy Challenge" Half Marathon Saturday, Marathon Sunday, and had just completed a triple marathon (3 marathons in 3 days around Lake Tahoe). He was from California, the other two were from Minnesota and Texas. All the while I found the base from the blaring speakers to be really getting to me. I could really feel it in my chest. So, I checked my pulse, and my heart was doing this thumpthumpthumpthump.....thump...thump...thump..thumpthumpthumpthump.... rhythm (I chalk it up to too much caffeine and anxiety, and too little sleep - and it's gone now). When it finally came time to start, Mickey and Goofy got up on stage (broadcast on a big big screen TV) to wish us well (and something about Dreams and Wishes and the like). Then there were fireworks, and we were off... very slowly. It took about a minute to reach the Starting line (everyone wears timing chips on their shoe so you can get an accurate time). We wound around a bit and then ran through the World Showcase of Epcot, and then it was several miles of back roads - and somewhere along the line we passed the waste water treatment facility (phew!) and the compost heap. On one of these roads, just before the Magic Kingdom, I turned the corner and WOW! There in the distance was Cinderella's castle. That was my favorite vista.... and running underneath and out the other side was cool, too. (Remember, this was my first time in any of the Disney World theme parks). After we exited Disney, we ran by our hotel, where Brian and the kids were waiting for me. I gave Riley a quick hug and kiss ("Mommy! you're sweaty..) and was off to Animal Kingdom - which was mostly a blur. Then there were miles and miles of service roads, one hairpin turn. There was lots of music along the way - some radio stations, a couple of rock bands, but I must say, my absolute favorite were the high school bands. And then I hit a wall at about mile 19. My time for the first 20 miles was averageing out at 8:42 splits, but I dropped to over 10 minute miles for the last 6. Hence, not as fast as I would have liked. Not sure how to fix that one. Maybe a couple of more long runs, but that last 6 miles was MISERABLE. I came into the Studios initially thinking - "at least this is Epcot, finally" but then NOOOOO! The last 3 miles are along some body of water by the Swan hotel, at this point I was appreciative, but not acknowledging all the well-wishers. When we finally got to the end, someone puts this BIG, CLANKING Mickey mouse medal around your neck (it's gargantuum, no kidding. I mean, for all my previous race medals, Riley's been right there to claim it and wear it for the rest of the day, not this one. I offered it to her and she got this look of fear in her eyes and just backed away, eyeing it warily. Just before that someone gives you a mylar blanket (not sure of the point of that one - it’s Florida, and it’s 80 degrees, and I just RAN A MARATHON! I wasn’t chilled) and someone else cuts off your timing chip. At this point all I'm thinking is "What was I thinking? and Why do my arms hurt?" I passed the medic tent, as various runners were collapsing into wheelchairs and being taken away, and considered going into the massage tent - but didn't have any money on me... having just run a marathon and all. So I pushed on, back to the family area where there was a legion of photographers waiting to photograph everyone with their medal. ("Say Geezmylegshurt") and then met up with the family before treking back to the monorail ("Um, Brian, I can't walk that fast") and to our rooms. My legs still hurt, but my back and hip and arms feel better. And my toenails have blisters under them, but other than that, I'm relatively unscathed. Tomorrow may be another story.
We spent the rest of the day at SeaWorld (we didn't want to waste a Disney ticket on a half-day, and SeaWorld is free for military. It rained... a lot, and at one point Riley actually said - Mommy, this is the best day I ever had.
All in all, it's a well organized race, but there were a lot of overpasses, and not really that much time in the parks. I would say that the half marathon is probably better, because you get to go through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot but there is a lower percentage of time spent on back roads.
Tomorrow we brave the Magic Kingdom... Riley is all abuzz with princess talk.
