On Thursday night I took a red-eye flight out of LAX to Orlando on AirTran. It was my first time flying with this airline. I've heard horror stories about AirTran, but it was a good flight with a layover in Atlanta. Once I reached Orlando, taking the Disney's Magical Express was painless. Disney is indeed a very well-oiled machine. Everything was very well organized for the entire race weekend. It was really easy to get around without having to rent a car.
Disney's Magical ExpressI stayed at the Pop Century resort, one of the cheapest Disney resorts. I've read some bad reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got to my room. Everything was new and I was definitely pleased with the room.
Pop Century Resort
1950's Jukebox
1950's Hotel Rooms
My RoomPacket pickup & Expo
After I dropped my stuff off in my room, I took the bus over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to attend the expo. I picked up my race packet in the HP Field House. Goofy runners had their pickup separately upstairs. I then headed over to the Jostens Center to pick up my shirts and peruse the expo. I did pretty good. I only bought a Goofy's Race and a half Challenge polo shirt and signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon to avoid paying the Active.com fee.
ESPN Wide World of Sports
ExpoPre-race#1
For dinner, I met up with my friends and their family to eat a pre-race meal at the House of Blues. I ordered a Smokehouse BBQ Burger and a Guinness. We stopped by Ridemakerz which was pretty cool... like a Build-a-bear for little boys.
Downtown DisneyI woke up a little after 2am to get ready for the race. I got on the shuttle around 3:30am. It was a nice walk to the gear check area. I checked my bag around 4:30am and headed over to the starting area. I got into my corral A at around 5am and jogged around to warm up. Then I lined up near the front. I was able to spot my friends. They showed on the screens the race that was simultaneously taking place in Baghdad. After the usual Disney pre-race show and the national anthem, the race was ready to begin.
Saturday Donald Duck Half Marathon
The pyrotechnics was nice and warm. I started off at a comfortable pace and tried very hard not to follow my two fast friends. It was a gradual incline for most of the beginning two miles. I took walk breaks at every 5k. I took a salt cap at 10k and a Clifshot gel at mile 10. I struggled on a heavily cambered off ramp around mile 11. It really exposed my weak right ankle. Snow White passed me here. Somehow I broke through the struggle in trying to stay in front of her. But I didn't let it get out of hand and paced myself since there was a very noticeable discomfort in the ankle. Snow White passed me again briefly after we crossed the mile 13 marker. I overtook her when I kicked it in for the finish line. I turned around at the finish and thanked her for pushing me from mile 11 to finish sub 1:50.
1: 7:40
2: 7:45
3: 7:50
4: 8:21
5: 7:54
6: 8:17
7: 8:33
8: 8:21
9: 8:45
10: 8:46
11: 9:15
12: 8:40
13: 8:31
.1: 0:44
Finish: 1:49:29 (according to the official results I finished in 1:48:59)
Shortly after getting my Donald Duck medal, I headed over to the refreshment tent. I grabbed a bottle of water, a blueberry muffin, banana, can of Coke, and a Powerade. Then I headed over to the gear check tent to get my bag. I put on my jacket and threw all of the treats into my bag. I walked over to the bus stop and headed back to my hotel.
Postrace#1 and Pre-race#2
I cleaned up and headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch. I got a chicken Caesar salad, potato chips, and a juice drink. I went back out to expo and bought a pair of shorts.
For dinner, I went back to the cafeteria to eat a bacon cheeseburger, potato chips, and juice. I watched the football game on TV before falling asleep.
Pre-Marathon Carboload mealAgain I woke up a little after 2am to get ready for the race. I got on the shuttle around 3:45am this time. As we got off the bus for the walk to the gear check area, I was mistaken for a Japanese by two Japanese girls. I kind of wished I had kept up with my Japanese since this happens quite often. I checked my bag around 4:30am and headed over to the starting area. I got into my corral C a little after 5am. Then I lined up near the front with the 4 hour pace group. After the same Disney pre-race show and the national anthem, the race was ready to begin.
Sunday Mickey Mouse Marathon
Not much going on here. It was just a survival race so I used my usual strategy. Run the first half in under 2 hours and take walk breaks every 5k until the halfway point. For this race, I started out of corral C. Things felt okay and a bunch of us in the 4 hour pace group ran into the back of the corral B walkers within the first mile. They had a 5 minute head start and it boggles my mind why they started in corral B. Then by about mile 7 there was discomfort in the right foot. The 2nd half was just pain management. Whenever my right foot hurt too much, I took an extended walk break of about 2 minutes. Since I wasn't running much, I stopped a few times to take pictures with characters. I took pictures with Russell from Up and Frozone & Elastigirl from the Incredibles.
1: 8:41
2: 8:47
3: 8:34
4: 9:13
5: 8:37
6: 8:46
7: 9:17
8: 8:59
9: 9:17
10: 9:37
11: 9:23
12: 9:05
13: 9:47
14: 11:06
15: 10:59
16: 12:58
17: 12:27
18: 13:29
19: 12:02
20: 12:06
21: 13:23
22: 11:58
23: 12:22
24: 14:37
25: 12:47
26: 13:08
.2: 2:04
Finish: 4:43:27
I picked up my Mickey Mouse medal and the Goofy medal. Took a picture. Then headed to the refreshment tent. I picked up water, Clif Builder's protein bar, a blueberry muffin, banana, and Powerade.
The 3 medalsPost-race#2
I took the bus back to my hotel. After getting cleaned up, I stopped by the cafeteria and ate a Beef & Bleu sandwich and chips. Then I fell asleep watching TV again. I woke up to eat dinner at the Fulton's Crab House at Downtown Disney. I had 2 Black & Blossom beers, the scallops for appetizer, and the New York strip steak medium rare & crab claws. The waiter said that they were known for the crab claws and yes, they were good.
Beef & Bleu sandwich
Black & Blossom
Scallops appetizer
New York strip steak and crab clawsMy return flight went through Atlanta. I received an email telling me that my flight was canceled due to a severe snow storm. I called the airline and booked a new flight 1 day later. Which in hindsight turned out for the best. Originally I was going to spend just a few hours at Epcot before heading to the airport. Instead I extended my stay 1 extra night and spent all of Monday at Epcot. It was a pretty good experience for my first trip to Disney World.
Free Marathon Monday at the Epcot centerAs long as I can afford it, I will try to run Disney World every year! If you call yourself a Disney fan and run marathons, this is a must-do race!
2 comments:
Way to go Emil. I think that little bit of rest is paying off. Time to kill BQ this year.
You always do such a thorough job with your recap. I love it! I want to do this next year. Maybe I see you there?
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