Mrs. PaDC Race Report:
Training:
At the beginning of Feburary, I found out I tore my right meniscus AGAIN. This was not a surprise. Despite diligently doing physical therapy, and only running 3x/week, my knee was getting more and more swollen. The surgeon said I needed surgery again. We decided it would be best to wait until after the April WDW vacation, based on my unusually long recovery from the surgery in September. I gave up on the idea of doing the half marathon. I just wanted to be able to walk around WDW and enjoy vacation. I kept active by doing non-weight bearing activities like stationary bike, swimming, deep water exercise, and Pilates reformer. At the end of February, I tried to walk again, but the fastest I could walk was a 20-minute per mile pace, and the swelling returned.
In March, I was able to see a sports-medicine doctor I'd seen in the past. He ordered an unloader brace, and when I got it, I was able to start weight-bearing exercises (walking) again. At this point, I decided that I might be able to participate in the race, though not necessarily finish. I started to look forward to it, and planned my race outfit. I had 2 weekday walks per week of 1-1.5 miles. My weekend walks were: 3 miles on 3/25, 5 miles on 3/31, 10 miles on 4/8, and 6 miles on 4/14. Three of the 6 miles were run/walk at a 16-minute per mile pace. I also continued Pilates reformer 2x/week and stationary bike 1-2x/week. After I completed the 10 mile walk, my goal became to finish 10 of the 13.1 miles in the half marathon. After I did the run/walk, I decided I could do some run/walk during the half marathon.
WDW:
We went to Epcot on Saturday, the day before the race. We both agreed that, in hindsight, it might not have been a good idea. My legs were already feeling heavy/tired. What WAS a good idea was going to the DIS meet at Hurricane Hannah's (thanks
@Keels ). It was nice to meet the other runners we'd been communicating with on the DIS.
@BikeFan told me he'd be in the same corral as me (E), to run with his daughter and brother.
DH and I got the bus from the Beach Club shortly after 3am. Once we got near the MK parking lot, our bus sat in a long line of buses, waiting to park. We made our way through the unsecured area, past the stage, and talked to some friendly DISers we met the day before. We checked our bags, entered the runners only area, and hit the porta-potties. We hung out, stretched, and then headed to our respective corrals. I was in the corral for just a few minutes when
@BikeFan found me. He said that he, his daughter, and brother were a few feet away, and motioned for me to join them. I talked to them during the pre-race activities, and the time flew by.
The Race:
When the race started, I felt confident, and ran the first 0.5 mile at an easy pace. Then, I decided to run/walk. Unfortunately, I'd checked my timer in my gear check bag. No problem, I'll find someone else doing run/walk, and pace off them. I spotted a lady ahead of me to pace off of. Her running pace was faster than mine, but my walking pace was faster than hers. This enabled me to catch up to her occasionally. However, her overall pace was faster than I was capable of, so when I hit 2 miles, I let her go and decided to walk until backstage AK. I came to regret this decision. When I decided to run again, my feet were momentarily "tingly". I knew that if I wanted to run/walk, I would not be able to take any more extended walk breaks. For the rest of the race, I did run/walk as tolerated. Around mile 8, I decided to listen to some podcasts. I had some from ZdoggMD. The second one was Doc Vader, which got me through DHS and to YC. Not only was it amusing, it very race appropriate.
As I passed the BC, I thought to myself, "I can just stop now, and head to our room." Then I realized that I wouldn't get my medal if I did that. At Japan, I stopped so a CM could take a photo of me with SSE in the background. In Future World, I stopped at the restroom. I figured, I'm going to PR today, so better to use a restroom than another porta-potty.
I can't remember when it was in the race that my calves started to ache, but this didn't come as a surprise. Three years ago, when I first injured my knee, I switched to a midfoot/forefoot strike because it felt much better for my knee. Unfortunately, due to training less than I normally would, my calves were not prepared for what I asked of them. By the end of the race, my feet and calves were hurting. My knee felt fine. I crossed the finish the line in 3 hours and 28 minutes. I had told DH that, if I finished the race, I was going to get a character picture. We chose Kylo Ren, because he had the shortest line. It was around 10 minutes, though posted as a 20 minute wait.
We planned to enter Epcot afterwards, get breakfast at Sunshine Seasons, use our FP, and then head back to BC. However, we decided to take the bus back to the BC. I felt spent, and felt like I just wanted to go back to the hotel to shower and change. Ultimately, the deciding factor was the distance to the front gate of Epcot versus the distance to the bus. Of course, the bus won.
Needless to say, my calves hurt for the rest of the vacation; especially when getting out of the bed in the morning. I did some yoga each day after getting out of bed, and I made sure to use the pool to help my recovery. We got home 4/25, and I was able to get a massage on 4/27, which alleviated all of my muscle pain.
Conclusion:
I am not a Star Wars fan, but I very much enjoyed this race. I saw only 1 shirt at the expo that I liked, but they didn't have my size, so I only bought a race headband. I enjoyed HH, and it was nice to put faces to DIS names. I would have liked to have run a faster race, but in the beginning of February, I was unable to walk a mile without excessive swelling. I'm very happy that I not only participated, but finished!!! I can definitely see doing this race again, if we're able.
Thank you to everyone on the DIS for your support and encouragement. Reading the race reports of others motivated me to set a goal and keep working towards it.