Proud of you! Congrats on getting it done! Now go get some sigs with your medal collection!
Thanks Coach!
A more detailed recap will follow, but here's a short version of the chaos that descended upon my life shortly before the marathon.
On Wednesday the 2nd, I noticed at work that I had a really nasty cough. I began to worry that I had a cold, but as I then had none of the other symptoms of a cold, I hoped it was just a cough. Well Thursday morning the cough got worse. I concluded that discretion was the better part of valor and took the night off running with the hopes to return to running on Friday. When I woke up Friday morning, I discovered that I had gotten a whole lot worse. I was absolutely miserable and every time I coughed I felt like my head was going to explode. Suffice it to say, I took the day off work and did nothing.
Saturday came around and I felt a little bit better, but still nowhere near feeling good about running. Of necessity, I did my final shopping before the race and packed. I decided to sleep until whatever time I woke up on Sunday and not worry about going to church and slept until about 11:00am. I finally felt like I was starting to feel better. Monday rolled around and featured the chaos of going back to work after missing a day of being sick with the chaos of the last day of work before leaving for a long time.
Suffice it to say during those few days, my sole focus became rest, recovery, and preparing to run Dopey. At one point, I even gave myself permission to bail on the 5K and 10K if necessary and aim for Goofy. I woke up Monday feeling like I was finally starting to turn the corner, but knew that the one mile run for that night would not help the marathon, but might make matters worse. I felt a little bit better Tuesday and was now off cold medicine for 2 days in a row so that was good. My flight left for Disney World and I arrived in Orlando that night and since Epcot was open until 11:00pm for extra magic hours and I had an AP, I went to Epcot for a little while.
Wednesday was taken up by the Expo. Honestly, I really wanted to play in the Magic Kingdom until late that night, but concluded that between recovering from a cold and Dopey on the horizon, this was not the weekend to mess with my early to bed strategy that has helped me successfully finish my previous 5 multi race challenge weekends and this one would test far more than those 5.
I woke up Thursday morning and could tell I was getting better. The lingering cough annoyed me, but nothing more. However, not wishing to aggravate it in the cold morning air and working on rebuilding and conserving my strength for the marathon, I leisurely walked the 5K. I set a 5K PR due to the fact that this was my second 5K ever and did not have Star Wars characters like the 2018 Dark Side 5K.
Friday morning rolled around and I felt better than Thursday. Again I took the 10K real easy, stopped for photos as I desired and finished with my slowest 10K time ever, but again I didn't care. Don't get swept and save energy for the marathon. Now I really started to feel good about the marathon. I was getting stronger with each day.
Saturday came and I knew the test would begin in earnest today. Really enjoyed running through the Magic Kingdom for the first time ever. Stopped for a lot of photos again mostly because I deemed the lines short enough and knowing that they would warn me if I was in danger of being swept, I walked. Got a kick out of seven chipmunks and lady chipmunk. I love that animated short so much that I stopped for that photo. Plodded along during the half as well. I knew I was doing okay and honestly there were several times when I wanted to push myself, but decided to save all the pushing for the marathon. Finished with my slowest half marathon ever, but far more importantly, I knew something was different this time. Normally when I finish a half marathon, I'm pretty tired and ready to be done. This time I knew I had a whole lot more in the tank. I said to myself, "this was so much fun, let's do it again tomorrow. Twice." My confidence for the marathon soared. I knew how strong I felt and the cold was essentially over. All that was left now was to take it easy in the studios (watching lots of shows, sitting down, etc.
Sunday came and I was feeling good. I slept surprisingly well as first marathon worries were not plaguing me too badly. I know from experience that I have little trouble getting decent sleep in the night before a half if I did the 10K that morning and this trend held for me as part of Dopey. Soon enough the race began. I took the first few miles easy. I got mildly annoyed whenever I overheard someone comment less than x miles to go at each mile marker.
@OldSlowGoofyGuy and coach
@DopeyBadger have taught me well about not counting down the miles. At this point I aimed for the Star Tours luggage droid approach of "clear the thought, clear the bag" and went along my way. More photo stops as desired and obligatory picture in front of the castle. Now I was feeling it. Goal of one character photo and a castle photo accomplished. Now to finish the thing.
The miles continued to mount, but I was doing just fine. Somewhere before Animal Kingdom, I found myself hanging out with the 6:30 pace group and stayed with them for a few miles. Stopped for more photos (better recaps with said photos coming), but always managed to catch up to them without too much trouble. I lost them after the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers photo. Coach had warned me to not try to catch up with the pace group, so I didn't worry about it too much. I just kept going.
I believe around mile 16 I finally started to feel some fatigue. I decided that now was a good time to deploy my iPod and use the playlist to pick up my energy. The BYU Fight Song started me off and I could feel some pep in my step. And then Wide World of Sports hit. I'm not really sure at what point I actually met the wall, but I think it was somewhere in here. Now the difficulties began. But as they did, I could hear Coach saying relentless pursuit of forward momentum in my mind. I remembered
@OldSlowGoofyGuy saying that the marathon is like a long day in the theme parks. You only live once and the bus ride back is no fun. So I kept going. The cold sponge felt great. Eventually I escaped Wide World of Sports and the moment of holding on for dear life began. At some point, my body tried to tell my brain that it wanted no more of this, but once again "clear the thought, clear the bag." Or random Rhino the Hamster moments from the Disney movie Bolt. Enduring became the key.
The green army man at the hill provided some laughter. The fatigue really began to set in now. I took an ice bag and wore it on top of my head. Decision to wear the visor completely justified now. The march continued on. Difficult, but doing it. Still no word about how far ahead of the balloon ladies I was, which meant that I was safe. Just keep going. Things got a little bit better once I entered Hollywood Studios. Now I knew that I was looking at the end of the Dark Side Half course. The cheering crowds here helped out and along the Boardwalk. I got another ice bag for my head. This one was smaller and didn't last as long and the medical tent was out. Somewhere in here I felt a blister coming on, but knew I could power through it. Pain is temporary. Finishing the marathon is my priority here. At this point the greater challenge was not the heat so much as the fact that I was really, really, really, really tired of powerade and water. They more or less began to taste the same. I still kept taking them because I knew I needed to. And then I got into Epcot and found the Morocco pavilion open wherein I finally used the cash I always carry during a race. That icy cold fruit smoothie tasted like the single greatest fruit smoothie I have ever had in my life. It was cold and different on my throat and it felt incredible. Around mile 25 they started playing "Let's Go Fly a Kite' over the speakers and I actually began to sing along with about as much voice as I had at that moment. It was either the runners high or a hallucination. I finished my smoothie shortly after leaving World Showcase and the home stretch had come. Now finishing it off was all that remained.
I high fived Chip and Dale at the finish line. They were there when I finished my first half and it was appropriate that they would be here as I finished my first marathon.
I did it! The running thing that I was believed impossible had now become something I did.
I have many people to thank. So many here offered encouragement and thoughtful feedback. Coach made a point of answering my questions, sometimes the same question repeatedly and never once made me feel like I was wasting his time. He offered encouragement and reality checks so as to keep my confidence at the appropriate level of I can do this, but don't get cocky. Others shared their stores of triumph and disappointment, which helped me make the decision to run a marathon on my own terms and make my peace with a worst case scenario.
In many ways, I ran my first half marathon with no real support. But that was a mistaken choice I made. I feared failure so much that I didn't really tell people I was running a half. I didn't tell other runners because I feared they would tell me I was going to fail. So I was left by myself more or less to battle my inner doubts. Those doubts almost got the best of me and I nearly had to withdraw less than a half mile into that very first race. Now, I can honestly say that my first marathon was a much more enjoyable experience than my first half. So much of that is due to this community. Encouragement, counsel, support, and well wishes helped me understand that when difficult training patches came, I could share my fears and find people willing to either cheer me up or give me a swift kick in the rear if necessary. To the many of you who shared your experiences and advice, thank you so much. The experience was so much better.