Now this was my second half; and my first one, you may recall with the dreaded calf cramp at mile six, was a frequent reminder of things that could go wrong. I'm a planner, an analyzer and a worrier (yes, really).... and now not only did I have to plan for myself, I had to guide my 3 kids in their own major milestone races. Katie was the most prepared of us all fully completing her race distance and more several times for several months leading up to the event. She soooooo could have done the half with us! The most Nick had ever run was 7-8 miles and that was a full 3 months ago during XC. And I'm not even sure how far Brandon had previously run... I suggested several times about proper or frequent or occasional or maybe just getting in a couple of practice runs before the big day. But they are young and (think they) know more than me and winged it.... and they absolutely killed their races.... so proud!
I am so very happy to say that everyone survived and ran across the finish line injury free this time. That in itself in my own analytical mind will do so much to boost my confidence in whatever the next distance challenge I take on.... BUT I'm getting ahead of myself, as just as with my first half, I do want to capture the mish-mosh of events leading up to as well as during the event.
So, as mentioned, we went to Disney World and Universal the week leading up to the event. Other than to mention that the new part of Harry Potter is just as amazing as the first, I'm not going to discuss the parks much. Suffice it to say, we arrived a week before the race and from Sunday to Saturday, we went to the parks every single day.... EVERY SINGLE DAY. And if you've ever wondered how much you can walk a day in those parks ~ well let me tell you, We averaged approximately 19,000 steps a day. That works out to be almost 10 miles of walking a day.
We went in knowing this, and I brought my running shoes and some other comfortable shoes for walking. Was wondering if I should even use my running shoes on our park days and got several opinions on this. I started out wearing the second pair for the first 2 days, but then some leg muscles started getting tired, so mixed it up a bit and wore the running shoes alternatively on the remaining days. Nick also did the same thing as he was bothered by his walking shoes as well. I think the alternating worked very well.
So nutrition and hydration.... I think to the extent that you are in a Disney park and waiting in lines for hours at a time which can pose a problem if you're trying to properly hydrate (is that TMI -- oh well), I think we all did extremely well. I pretty much followed my normal nutritional supplement program and then stayed away from any Disney food that might upset the extremely delicate balance that is my digestive system!
Katie's race, the Enchanted 10K, was Saturday. It started at 5:30AM. Logistics and timing on this meant, we left the house at 3:30AM, arrived at 4AM, go thru security, take pictures, talk, hug, wish luck until 4:45AM when Katie headed off to her Corral. It was a bit cool when we arrived, so she kept her coat on until then. She had her "throw-away" plastic bag for warmth if needed. She was in Corral D. There were 10 minutes between each corral start, so she didnt actually start until 6AM. We were able to walk right up to the start line and see her start her race. Awesome, proud Mom moment for me, for sure!
We had signed up for race tracking and for the 10K, the only notification we got was when Katie crossed the 5K point, so we had some idea when she would finish. I had figured depending on the crowds, and possibly stopping for photos along the way, that she'd come in around the 1:30 to 2:00 mark. They have multiple photo opportunities ~ as only Disney can ~ where you can stop and get your photos taken with different characters. Of course, there is a time associated with every stop, but this is Disney, and as long as you meet the ultimate course deadline, who cares. We headed over to the finish line and saw her come through. She looked absolutely amazing and was beaming with pride and accomplishment.... Another proud Mom moment!
This was a great practice for the timing of the following day. We knew where most things were, so the next morning although a little chaotic with the three of us (me, Nick and Brandon) all getting up and ready at the same time went very smoothly in part because of knowing what to expect.
We arrived at the same time (this our second day in a row getting up at 2:30AM, yikes) and everything was much more crowded. There were an estimated 12,000 doing the 10K. There were an estimated 24,000 doing the half... so as expected. From our experience the day before, we had picked out a good place to meet Scott and Carol. Carol and I had both submitted Proof of Time, so we were placed in a higher corral than Brandon and Nick. The course deadline, was a 16 minute mile (3:30 overall) from the time the last person in the last corral crosses the start line. This pace is maintained by the Balloon Ladies who if you fall behind, then you may get swept off the course. This also means that the earlier corral you are in, the more time you have to complete the course and stop for photo ops if you choose to do so. Of course, you need to be mindful of time spent during photo ops vs. total time on course and not falling behind those Balloon Ladies.
The miles
The corrals are about 1.25 miles from the meeting area... so before you even start, you're already 1.25 miles in. Along the way we found a great place for a photo ops. Then it was into the Corrals to wait to start. Carol and I decided that no matter what our corral placements, we were going to run the entire race (just as we had trained) together. On smaller races, we do our own thing, but on these longer ones, we both find that we help each other along. Brandon and Nick were in the same corral as well and stayed together for the first half of the course.
The first three miles went well... slow to start ~ there were sooooo many people, and before you knew it we saw our first Magic Kingdom sign. I couldn't believe we had already made it from Epcot to MK! The excitement of running into Magic Kingdom and seeing Space Mountain off in the distance was building. We took pics of the sign, stopped for a ghoul stop (sorry don't know who they are, but Carol wanted to for Katrina) and then finally actually got into the park. There was this group making music on large drums that I just had to stop and take a pic of.
Then,..... then we turned a corner and were running down Main Street USA. The complete rush of this moment and all the moments leading up to this one completely flooded over me. We were running down Main Street USA running a half marathon in Walt Disney World. Completely and totally surreal. Then somehow we wound around the back of the castle and came through it from the back.
Right after the castle was the Beauty and the Beast stop. So many people in line, but this was a good one. We heard that the Balloon ladies were at mile 3 and we had just passed mile 6, so we figured we had plenty of time. There were probably 100 people in line and then Beast takes a break. Then Belle takes a break. Then Beast comes back. And we're still waiting and time is going by. And Belle still hadn't come back. We asked if we could get our pic with just the Beast and so moved to the front of the line and had our pic taken without Belle and moved on. The boys passed us as we were waiting in that line.
So we picked up the next 2 miles to put distance between us and them.... but so many of the slower folks had actually caught up to us by then, and they were going slow or walking and taking up the entire width that we had to maneuver in and out and around. Some of them were walking and swinging their arms so wide (why? why? why?) that you had to go way around them or risk personal injury. We went on the grass several times. I could feel stabilizer muscles (yeah whatever they are called) on either sides of my shins working overtime.... and this was right about the point in that first half where I got that awful calf cramp, so I was being very mindful of not doing too much. Told Carol to stay on the paved part whenever possible.
As for us, on my first half even with that stupid, stupid calf cramp, we came in just over 3, so I have no doubt, that without the distraction of Disney, we could have come in under 3; But that's not what we went for, that's not the race we wanted to run. We wanted to run Disney and experience it all, or as much as we could. And we did exactly that!
And just in case the photos above aren't enough... here's some more taken along the way....