Goofy, Part I

Saturday came way too early. I’m sorry, but anytime you have to set an alarm for 320am and a backup for 330, that’s just wrong. Especially when you’re heading out into freezing temperatures, sleet, and freezing rain. One look at the radar picture, with a large green mass heading straight for Orlando, was enough to send Heather right back to bed. Can’t say as I blame her. She and her mother would have been starting half an hour after the rest of us due to their corral and been out there an hour longer due to their pace. Given how the weather turned out, they made the right choice.

I wasn’t too keen on the forecast either (low 30s, sleet and rain, 10-15 mph winds), but there was no way I was going to miss out on the race. I worked too hard and put too much effort into training for this that nothing was going to keep me from getting out there. I pulled on my tights and shirt, zipped up my jacket, loaded up with two goos and a camera, donned my hat and gloves, threw on my throwaway sweats, and trudged off to catch the bus. In case you’re thinking “this doesn’t sound like a race in Orlando,” you’re right. It doesn’t. This is the longest and coldest streak this area has ever seen. We even supposed to hit record lows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. I felt more like I was going out for a run in Yuzhno than in Orlando. The line for the bus wasn’t too bad. It snaked through the lobby and down the hall towards the cafeteria and back entrance to the building. Thankfully, it ended inside rather than outside. It was quite the collection of people. Some were in full Tyvec suits with their numbers pinned on the outside (seemed a bit extreme to me), other were in shorts (also a bit extreme), but most were like me - bundled up to be not-too-cold while standing around before the start and then comfortable while running the race. The funniest group was the Brazilians. A Brazilian man has won the Disney marathon for the past five years (now six), and I think all of his running supporters were staying at our hotel. They were dressed all in green and gold running gear, waving flags, and carrying on like they were at a soccer match. They made such an impression later in their corral at the start that the announcer even commented on how it’s a national law in Brazil that all Brazilian runners have to wave flags and sing songs everywhere they go.

The bus ride over to Epcot took about 15-20 minutes, and then it was out into the cold for about an hour until the start. I dropped off my bag and went to find a place to hunker down out of the wind. At 5, I got in line for the porta-potty and ate my Clif Bar for breakfast. I had a bad experience with food and thus lots of porta-potty stops along the way when I ran San Antonio a few months ago, so I tried to be very careful about what I ate the day or two before the race this time. This morning, my plan seemed to be working well as a good cold-induced pee was all that was needed. While in line, I chatted with some people down from Philly and ended up giving them my camera. They had forgotten theirs (you get one in your goody bag), and since I was running on Sunday too, I figured I could get by without it on Saturday. They were really happy and let me go in ahead of them. It’s the small karma things that make all the difference in the world.

After the long (0.6 mile) walk to the start where I thought the Hasher I was talking to was from Europe but turned out to be so cold he couldn’t enunciate clearly (that’s what he gets for wearing a singlet, shorts, and arm warmers), I was getting really excited. There were thousands and thousands of people around, fireworks going off as each wave started, a DJ playing kicking upbeat music, two announcers keeping us all entertained, and then it was our turn! We were off! Waved at Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy as I crossed the line. The corrals were spread out enough at the start that it wasn’t too hard to get settled into race pace. I dropped in behind the 2:15 pacer and started to cruise. I wanted to make sure she was in front of me the whole way in order to keep myself from going too fast the first day. Running Goofy is not the time to drop the hammer, and my plan was to finish in 2:15 or slower. Much slower than I normally run, but perfectly sensible when running a half and a full back-to-back. Turns out staying behind her was no problem. When the road narrowed from two lanes to one going up the first overpass around mile 2.5, she used her pacer status to work her way through the crowd and never drop more than a second or two off her 10-minute per mile pace. I wasn’t that aggressive and just ran as fast as the crowd in front of me until I could get past them.

About mile 4, I started talking to and running with these two women, one of whom I thought was a Hasher. She was wearing a shirt with her name (Kathy), a picture of a group of people doing Jello shots, and the saying “my drinking club has a running problem” on the back. Since that’s the world-wide Hash saying, I began asking them questions about their hashing. I didn’t find out until 3 miles later that the guy who made the shirts borrowed the phrase and the two of them couldn’t understand why I was asking them about smoking pot. Too funny! I’m glad they didn’t just ignore me, though. I hate, hate, hate racing alone. I do much better having someone alongside me to talk to, joke with, and help keep my mind off the boring stretches of road that I happen to be on at the time. If I’m by myself, I’m that much more likely to slow down or walk or just get mentally down. It’s something I know I need to work on, and would appreciate any advice from the tri experts and new coaches reading this (hint, hint <g>). Anyway, Kathy and her friend Dawn were absolute joys to run with. We had a blast just telling stories and getting to know each other as we ran along. Kathy couldn’t talk too much since she gets asthma from cold air, so Dawn served as a “translator” whenever we needed to talk about Kathy’s kids, job, etc. It was Kathy’s first half marathon, and I was really impressed with how well she was doing. She was totally focused and determined to finish between 2:15 and 2:30. I promised her I’d get her there in that range since they both forgot their Garmins in the car and spent the rest of the race with them as their unofficial pacer.

The race course itself isn’t the most interesting. You start outside Epcot, run along the roads to Magic Kingdom, and then back to Epcot. The best part of the race is going through Magic Kingdom. You get there at mile 3, in the dark, so it’s all lit up and just gorgeous. There are lots of spectators and Disney cast members along Main Street cheering you on, but I found it more enjoyable in the areas where it’s quiet and you’re just running under the lights with Cinderella’s castle lit up in the background. It’s beautiful and a wonderful experience and sight to see. Definitely the highlight of the race. The trip back is another long slog along the roads, highlighted for me by the accordion players (had to be freezing), the lounge singer, and the cute Burma Shave-esque signs. Did you know that Kramer came through Jerry’s door without knocking 285 times in Seinfeld? Now you do. Really, there’s nothing else to do while running along the road back to Epcot than read the signs and thank the volunteers. Being out there in the cold and sleet is a thankless job, and every one of them was a friendly and upbeat as they’d be if it was sunny and 70. Needless to say, we thanked all of them at every stop as we went by. The race wouldn’t happen without them.

The finish back at Epcot is notable only for the gospel choir at mile 13 and the nice long finishing straight. The choir sounded amazing. Even though they were on tape at the time, it’s nice to hear all those voices singing and harmonizing as you approach the finish. Aside from the people cheering along the road, it’s the only real noise you’ve heard since leaving Magic Kingdom 6 miles ago. As Kathy and I approached the finish (Dawn was about 100 yards behind us since she had to walk up the overpass at mile 12), she started getting emotional. I told her to just enjoy it and do what she needed to do and sent her off in front of me a few feet so she could get a picture crossing the line all by herself. When I got there a few seconds later, she give me a huge hug and dripped tears on my shoulders. I started getting emotional too since I was so happy to have been able to help her finish her first half. We crossed the line in 2:20, a perfect time for me and exactly what she was looking for.

And that’s when I started to get cold. The sleet and freezing rain didn’t bother me at all during the race, but once I finished and started moving slowly or not at all, I began to get cold. I passed through the Goofy tent to get my wristband for Sunday, went over to the food line, and started shaking with the chills. Even after putting on the jacket and fleece pants I had in my checked bag, I was so cold that I skipped the 200+ person bus line to go back to our resort, grabbed the one for another resort instead, and called Heather to ask her to come and pick me up. All that sweat just evaporated off me in the cold and I was frozen to the core. Even after waiting 20 minutes for her to drive over to get me, it took a 20-minute shower for me to get back to a normal temperature. I spent the rest of the day resting, napping, and eating. Well, and still being nervous over Sunday. I didn’t decide what to wear until that night, but that’s a story for part II.

Lessons learned from the half: 1) get in line later for the bus. Standing around in 30 degree weather, strong winds, and sleet is no fun. 2) eating right the few days before the race (ravioli is a much better dinner than duck confit) pays huge dividends. No stops makes for a more enjoyable race. 3) Stick to the plan. Not following the pacer through the crowd and running my own race turned out to be the best thing I did. Run what feels right at the time, not what you think made sense at the start. If I had pushed through with the pacer, I never would have met up with Kathy and Dawn, who really made the race as enjoyable as it was. Must be that karma coming back from giving away my camera.

Here's my GPS track from the half.