I deserve to be committed... I am Dopey again after all...

So what do you call someone who not only has completed a running challenge called the Dopey challenge three years in a row?  Crazy is how I heard it expressed just a few times, and I guess it is., thought with each repetition its becoming much less so to me.  I would NEVER call it easy, but knowing what to expect helps get you through all the crazy miles. 

   

Polynesian with some south seas Christmas decorations (still trying to figure that one out..) 

This year was different though, this year we would not only be going down on vacation (a MUCH needed vacation) but also begin the process of permanently moving to Orlando, Florida, a process that became more convoluted and involved with each passing day. 

Unlike previous years were we arrived Tuesday night prior to the WDW Marathon expo opening on Wednesday, this year we arrived the prior Sunday, really for two reasons.  One, we were planning on heading to California the following Thursday and wanted a longer time in Florida, and two, we now had a significant amount of points to use for DVC and didn’t have to worry about the room night cost… LOVE DVC.

   

Christmas decorations at the Grand Floridian

So we arrived Sunday with very little problem, rented a car through Alamo, I rented a compact but we ended up with a Chevy SUV, which I ended up loving.  Sunday was a pretty uneventful day, no parks, drove to the apartment, explored the area, ate at the Boston Market across the street (I loved it!), and bought a few groceries at the Publix next door.  About 4 pm we checked in at the Polynesian, our home for the next 8 days.  We were in Moorea, 3^rd floor, only two doors down from the exterior door facing the TTC and ferries, it was about a 2-3 minute walk to TTC which we loved, and only about 5 minutes to the Great Ceremonial House (GCH).  Since Christmas decorations were still up (and I assumed this was the last night they would be), we decided to monorail hop to the Contemporary and Grand Floridian.  We had a quick dinner at Gasparilla Grill at Grand Floridian and headed back to the room to go to bed. 

Monday was pretty much more of the same, Jeff had to stop by Universal to be processed into their system (get his name badge) while I tried to get fingerprinted for my Florida license.  It turned out I needed an appointment so I called and made one for the next day (Tuesday).Universal released Jeff around 10, so our next stop was back to the apartment to sign the lease, which turned out to kill two birds with one stone.  Jeff had found out that for orientation he would need a Florida Drivers Licesnse, something he did not currently possess, and to obtain one would require two proofs of Florida residency.  Once we paid the deposit on the apartment we had one…

 

Star Wars Monorail, and Jeff with the Fire Marshall of Main Street USA.

We made it back to Poly about Noon and spent the next hour at the concierge desk getting a ticket issue resolved, we had a dining reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern around 2, and I made a few FP’s for Magic Kingdom, I believe we ended up riding Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, of which I finally saw the nod to the old Mr. Toad’s, which is the oval hanging portrait of Toad handing the deed to Pooh, its in the 2^nd room of the ride.   I had wanted to get my hair cut, so on the way out we stopped at the Harmony Barbershop to see if they had a wait, turns out it was not busy and all and they got me right in, they do a great job and its really inexpensive especially being in a Disney park, $19.    Being a little after 5, we decided to head back to the Poly, I wanted to see the Polynesian Torch lighting ceremony, something I had wanted to see for years but had never gotten around to doing.  It was very short, but enjoyable.   Later that evening Jeff and I went out and ran about 2.5 miles through Polynesian, to the Grand Floridian and back, it was wonderful weather to go out for a run.

 

Torch lighting Ceremony at Polynesian.

Tuesday morning I had an appointment for fingerprinting at 10:30, so once again we headed out to Turkey Lake Road again.  (it was at a UPS store about a mile from Universal).  After being fingerprinted, our next step was to get Jeff a Florida license.  He had set up our electricity the day before, so we now had the two proof of Florida residency, the trouble was… yep DMV.  We all love them so much right?  The nearby DMV’s were all showing a 2 hour wait (yikes!), but one 30 min. away had only a 5 min wait so we headed there instead.  Once we got there is was really about a 10 minute wait, but was fairly painless, and we found out while there at Florida has no personal property tax on vehicles! SCORE!  I knew there was a reason I loved this state.

At this point we were pretty worn out from running around town, and it was already Noon, so we headed back to Poly, I grabbed some lunch at Captain Cooks and brought it back to the room to eat.  Not long after we decided to head over to Hollywood studios and spent a few hours there.  One of the attractions I was looking forward to the most was Star Tours, which had been recently updated to include scenes from the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens.  We used a Fast Pass so it was a quick wait, we stopped at the new Star Wars Launch Bay (where the old animation tour was located), I wasn’t too impressed but it was interesting.  Our last stop was Tower of Terror, now depending on the day I will sometimes suffer through TOT with Jeff, today was not one of those days.  Jeff used a FP for it, and I walked through the queue with him, but didn’t actually ride.  We left around 4pm and headed back to the Polynesian, Not to long afterwards Jeff got a call that a friend of ours, Mark, who was also running the Dopey challenge for a third time (see its not Just us!) had arrived at the Polynesian.  He was staying with us through the races, along with Jeff’s sister, so it was going to be just a little crazy.  Later that evening we watched Wishes from the Polynesian beach (and I learned the value of Lake View studios, might do that next time!), and then the Water Pageant.  Old but I love it.

Wednesday

Panorama of the Expo/Josten's Center

The day the race excitement really began!  Expo day!  We slept in a bit but ended up getting on a bus around 10 am (I believe the first bus was at 9:30), we have driven to the expo before but have found the buses so much easier to use.  It was still cool out and a little rainy out; it would have been perfect running weather… dum dum dum.  You can probably tell where I am going with this right?  Moving on, we had an agenda, get our bibs, our shirts, and not spend too much money.  Well we actually ended up doing pretty good especially compared to previous years.  We picked up our bibs, and then went to the lines for shirts, or should I say the crowded mass line for shirts?  It was a little chaotic, but it didn’t take too much time.  We met up again and headed for the nearby Josten’s center next door to do a little shopping, I ended up buying a pair of Oofa recovery sandals (which was what I had planned on buying), two car magnets, and I did buy a Dopey hoodie.  


 

ESPN Wide World of Sports, with the "line" (more like mash pile) for T-shirt pick up.

Stuff in hand we decided to head back to Poly.  We had plans to meet Jeff’s sister, Suzy at Beaches and Cream but that wasn’t until 2:30, and it was barely around Noon by this time.  One of the things that surprised me this trip is that though we had a rental car, we really relied on Disney transportation, which was extremely easy to do from Polynesian, and being such a close walk to the TTC!   We did the obligatory shirts and bib photo  (or photo shoot, you know who you are) and not long after decided to head to Beach Club.  This is where the Disney transportation comment earlier comes into play, we decided the best way to get there was to take the express monorail from TTC to Magic Kingdom, and from there a bus to Beach Club.  I think the whole process took about 30-40 min?  Not too bad.  We got to Beach Club about 2, and Suzy wasn’t far behind us, we took a few pictures of the Beach Club lobby still decorated for Christmas (and by now I was thinking how long is this going to last?!) and headed to Beaches and Cream.  Beaches and Cream has quickly become a race tradition for us, we have eaten there after all three of the Space Coast 1/2/Full marathons, and before all three Dopey’s.  Ever since we had our first kitchen sink there in 2006, it’s been a favorite!  I had my normal routine, tomato soup and grilled cheese, though I forgo’d my normal 2-scoop No Way Jose (Chocolate/vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and hot peanut butter, amazingly good, but I am sure tons of calories!) I had a simple scoop of ice cream.  It was a good time as usual. 

 

Beach Club Christmas decorations are still up!  (Gingerbread Carousel) and Dopey Challenge Shirts #13-18 (Shirts #1-#12 were obtained in year 1 and 2)

Suzy who had driven in from Miami that morning had her new Toyota Prius parked at Beach Club so we all piled in and headed back to Polynesian.  From there we headed to Magic Kingdom, it was the first and last time we actually used Fast Passes I had scheduled at exactly 60 days out, which means… 7 Dwarfs Mine Train!  I still think it’s a little short, but its great riding at night in the very back!  Our last FP was for Big Thunder, which was… Big Thunder, it was fun.  Of course it was around 8 about this time and we had our first run the next morning… so we did the prudent thing and headed back to the room.  The monorail line was gigantic so we opted for the boat ride back to the Polynesian.   We had a GREAT boat skipper, he should have been on Jungle Cruise, I especially liked the line about stopping by Narcoosee’s for carry out!  (as the boat stops at Grand Floridian first)

So we headed to bed for the first race of four the next morning…

Thursday
 

THIS is what paying $500 to get up at 3:30 am in the morning four days in a row looks like... 

5K time!  The 5K is the “latest” start of the four races starting at 6:15, I believe we were up around 4, dressed and on the bus by 4:30 when we arrived I noticed a lady from our old Independence, Missouri running group had posted she had arrived for her first Dopey.  Now, I hadn’t thought about it for awhile, as the running group had rather disintegrated the last 6-9 months, but prior to that we got together almost every Wednesday night, and among those get-togethers we had discussed the Dopey challenge and specifically how to register for the Dopey challenge with one specific lady in the group.  I had forgotten about that long ago discussion until I saw her post.  I replied to her, and we met up the corral C for the 5k! 

 

Monorail back after the 5k, EMPTY! Monorail car!

Our plan this year was pretty much the same plan as the last two years (hey its worked!), run 1 mile walk 1 mile for the 5K.  Weather was good for the 5K probably the best running conditions of all five days, high 50’s, 70-80% humidity.  We ran the first mile, which is actually pretty boring, running through the EPCOT parking lots, right before Mile 2 runners actually enter EPCOT, in this case past the Norway pavilion, which was fun to see since construction is continuing on the new Frozen ride.  One aspect that really disappointed me this go around is the seemingly reduction of characters, I wanted to stop but there was nobody I was intrigued enough to stop and wait.  Mile 2 went through World Showcase, we stopped for a REAL bathroom stop somewhere around this point.  Following the plan we ran Mile 3, which weaves from World Showcase and through Future World before making the turn that is identical to the following three races, and across the finish line for the first time.  The medallion (it’s a rubber pluto icon) was as in the past pretty uneventful.  We grabbed our snack boxes and headed for the bus back to Polynesian.  An important point is that we had picked Polynesian primarily for its location on the monorail yet the first two races weren’t serviced by the monorail only by bus.

     Mark, Suzy, Jeff and I at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.           

Once we made it back we showered, and got ready for the rest of the day.  Our first stop was Animal Kingdom Lodge, the previous year we had done breakfast after the 5K and 10K and it was a great time, so I figured this year I would do that too, and made reservations for Boma for breakfast after the 5K.    I was surprised as we approached that it had been probably five years since we had been to Animal Kingdom Lodge, it was pretty much how I remembered it.  I can’t even remember the last time we had eaten at Boma, but it was good, and I really enjoyed it, I loved the mix of traditional breakfast items and more exotic African flavors.  After eating we headed over to Animal Kingdom, I had made FP for Kilamajaro Safaris, Everest and the Finding Nemo stage show.  We didn’t end up spending a lot of time at Animal Kingdom experiencing only the Safari while Jeff and Mark rode Everest.  Suzy wasn’t feeling all that well so we decided to cut the day short and head back to the room so she could get some rest.     I probably should interject here for those familiar with Polynesian studios Suzy slept on the pull down trundle bed under the TV, for those not familiar Poly studios has three “beds” a normal queen bed, a pull out sofa bed (also queen size) and twin size trundle bed.  I wasn’t sure how well it would work ahead of time, but Suzy seemed to like it, and though we were a little cramped it wasn’t too bad.

Once back in the room we all took a little nap, and I first noticed there was no DVD player in the studio.  I have stayed in almost every DVC studio option at WDW and every single one had had a DVD player.  So I decided to call the front desk to check and see if one was available.  They put me on hold for about 10 mins and I figured at that point it wasn’t that big of a deal so I hung up. 

So it was about 3-4 in the afternoon I decided to do laundry, nothing exciting but its free to DVC members (free is such a nice word!), and we were in the same building as laundry facilities so it made it very easy.  Next, with everyone relaxing I decided that I would run to the grocery store and get some more grocieries.  If you remember Jeff and I had grabbed a few things on Sunday, well we were pretty depleted so I figured I would stock up… yeah stock up.  I stocked up all right, cereal, bagels, butter, chocolate milk, orange juice and several other things later (I figured whatever didn’t get eaten we could take to our apartment) I was back in the room and it was about 7 pm… Time to start thinking about food.  Ever since DVC we have stayed at Contemporary, Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge (two of which I never thought we would be able to do, due to cost), and I have had the chance to try out all the quick service options available at every resort.  I knew that Contemporary had the best options and due to the quick walk to the TTC and monorail it would be easy to get there.  So all four of us headed over, we had a combination of spaghetti and meatballs and chicken parm, not gourmet, but not budget killers either, it was actually quite good.   I’m guessing, Mark, who was along for the ride (and a good sport about it!), thought it was good as he went back for seconds the next day.  Being around 8-8:30 pm and with our first of three O Dark Thirty (5:30) races starts the next morning, we figured bed sounded like a good idea.  Prior, I had laid everything out… including a poncho as there was a 40% possibility of rain…

Friday Morning.

 

Margaret and jeff and I meet up before the 10k, and both of us... both no Dopey...

This time we were up around 3:30, a little bit earlier for a little bit earlier race.  We got ready for our second race of the series, this time the 10k (6.2 miles).  Remember that 40% rain weather forecast?  Well we looked out on the deck and it was more like 100% chance.   It wasn’t pouring but it wasn’t dry.  So finally got to use the emergency ponchos I had bought for the previous year Dopey Challenge.  Honestly, I know a lot of people don’t like running in rain… but it doesn’t really bother me and I kind of like it.  That is unless thunder, lightening and hail get involved, then I am not so gung-ho about it.  (Not that I would have experiences with any of those things… Garmin marathon I’m looking at you).  For the 2^nd morning we rode the bus over to EPCOT’s parking lot where the 10k would start and finish.  We actually arrived early probably around 4:15, over an hour before race start.  Mark was a bad influence is all I can say J

 

Finishing up the 10k in the rain...

The “good” news to this is that if it wasn’t raining we would have had plenty of time for pictures with Dopey, which usually has a massively long line.  But it was raining, so no Dopey.  Instead we took this great picture with his empty backdrop!  Probably about 30 minutes prior to race start we headed to the corral again and met up with Margaret from the KC running group again.  We discussed our plans, and decided to continue with the original plan which was run two miles walk one mile, we also warned a few people about the slick wood on the Boardwalk which came as a surprise our first year we ran and it was also wet and slick!   Not to long afterwards the race started, and the cyclists and corral A went off.  Being in Corral C it wasn’t too long for us to get going too.  The 10K at WDW is honestly… not all that exciting it’s mostly roads, and only enters EPCOT twice and spends maybe a mile to a mile and a half in the park.  We tossed off our ponchos at the start, it was still very dark out, and with it still raining it was actually kind of relaxing, I really enjoyed it.  The race started heading out of the EPCOT parking lot past the toll booths, and then makes a turn and heads back towards the park.  

About a mile out you can look down and see the race start, at this point still sending corrals and runners off to the start.  At around mile 2, it was still dark, we were still running on an EPCOT outer road, and it began pouring, it was also about that same time I was glad I decided to wear my new Clifton 2 which added a nice few inches between the ground (and water) and my foot.   It continued to rain pretty hard for the next two miles or so, and only started tapering off by the time we hit the Boardwalk.  It was actually kind of fun playing avoid the puddles!    Around Mile 5 a friend of ours, Jen who was running her first Dopey challenge passed us, and we found out later PR’d on the 10k distance!  Wow, I am still, three years later, focusing on finishing let alone PRing on any of the distances, great job!  The 10K ended where all the other races end, we received our medal, snack box and my immediate thought was… Iwant to get back to the room where it is dry!  We headed for the monorail and had a quick return back to Polynesian.

I want to go somewhere were it is dry and warm... but I am smiling because... well I haven't figured that out yet.

After taking a shower, and getting DRY, we had a breakfast at Kona, we had done this the previous year after the 10k too and it seemed like a good traition to keep, it was very good!  Since its been so many months since this trip I am a little foggy as far as what happened right afterwards, but I do remember we went shopping.  Now this trip and the room had been booked for almost a year, but a good portion of the trip was “planned” only weeks prior.  Reason being, Jeff got offered a position at Universal Orlando resort, so we had to jerry rig his orientation, training and my job interview and nursing licensure paperwork into our vacation time.  Many parts of which were not even “planned” until we arrived, including obtaining a Florida Driver’s License for Jeff, and obtaining proper business casual clothing for Jeff’s orientation.  (don’t ask why we didn’t come prepared for that).  So a “plan” was made to get Jeff an sutable “business casual” outfit, for his Monday Orientation on Friday after the 10K.  So we headed to the Orlando Outlet, and spent a few hours shopping like mad.  We walked out with new slacks, new shoes, and a new lululemon running skirt for me.   Once we got back to he room we relaxed a little I believe, and not longer after decided to start heading over to EPCOT for our reservation at Via Napoli.  Funny enough the reservation was originally for four (Suzy, Mark, Jeff and I) but only Jeff and I ate there, thankfully we didn’t get charged for the no shows!  Mark did meet up with us a little later, and we rode Tron Track, as I have started calling it.  Soon afterwards we headed back to the room, to get ready for the next morning, half marathon time….

Saturday Morning… the day as I like to call in Dopey, that S&^^#T is about to get real.  I had laid out my clothes the night before I knew it was going to be warm, and humid, so I prepared with a semi-transparent top, purple running skirt, and… thinking dry shoes as opposed to slightly wet Clifton 2 from the day before would be better…  After all my Guide 9’s were new, but not THAT new.  I had run 9 miles in them previously with no problem, and had sworn by the Saucony Guide’s for the last 2-3 years… dum dum dum.  Yeah.

 

*cue*... JAWS theme... da da... da da.... Balloon Ladies.  Jeff, Natalie and I before the Half!

The monorail was running this morning to take us to the race, so no more buses, which after last year, and the almost hour long bus ride I was thrilled for a hop on the monorail!  I already knew the running conditions wouldn’t be spectacular, the fog or humidity or whatever it was, was like pea soup.  The goal today was the same as the ½ marathon’s the other two years, slow and steady.  Our plan was run 2 miles walk 1 mile, I was also thinking about stopping for Jack Sparrow at Mile 2 if he was there…  Since we had left early that morning we did get a photo opportunity with the RunDisney race’s most terrifying character stop… the balloon ladies.  They strike fear in the hearts of runners everywhere, but really like most people have reported they are VERY nice people with a VERY hard job!   We headed for the corrals not long after and met up with Margaret again,  and discussed our plans for running the race.    I honestly don’t remember too much about the start, but I do remember hitting mile 2 and there were no pirates to be found anywhere!  WHAT!?!  Now there was this cool hot air balloon… but NO PIRATES.  Oh well, probably not a bad thing, because we would have stopped and spent time with a photo.  So we carried on. 

 

Instead of Pirates we have a hot air balloon... yeah.  :(  Grumpy Jen.  Next.. is that the toll gate ahead?  

I have always wanted to make it to the Magic Kingdom while it was still dark, but due to our slower then usual run/walk method we never make it in time.  This year it was actually still a little past dawn, it wasn’t completely light yet… but thanks to mother nature you could barely see the castle!  Thanks fog!  The course wove through tomorrowland and back through the castle.  Jeff mentioned that the exit from the castle had changed, but I didn’t notice it until I thought back to previous years and I guess, yes, it was much more narrow this time around.  Suzy was there to meet up with us right outside the castle and we got our picture with the castle!  Then we headed off again.  

  

There is a castle at the end of Main Street USA... Right?  Oh there it is!

Now for 2016 we had moved up two corrals I believe we were in I, instead of K the two previous years.  I REALLY noticed the difference both at the castle and around mile 7-8, which while still congested was not near as bad as I had remembered from the previous years.  I didn’t have to run in the mud as much, a good thing.  Right around mile 10-11 I noticed I was feeling really sluggish, like much more then usual, and my feet had started to really hurt, and I began to worry about the next day.  Surely I would be able to do it the third year around right?  

Narration... My feet really hurt and I just want to get this over... and 2nd... I am smiling though my feet want to kill me and I want to kill everyone around me too... Not really.

By the time I crossed the finish line my feet were in agony I felt like I had just run a marathon, and yet I had to do one the next day, I also knew for sure I had atleast one blister on my foot, something that had not occurred for atleast 1-2 years.  I was angry at myself, and frustrated, and knew if I was going to make it the next day I would have to do some serious foot and leg care the rest of the day.  When we got back to the room we had breakfast there, (bagels, cereal, snack box stuff, pretty filling).  We relaxed around a little, I went to the hot tub for an hour or so, and talked with a gentleman there about DVC, which was a lot of fun, and felt great on my legs. 

A Turkey Vulture finds a perch outside our room, I was thinking this might be a bad omen.

I know afterwards we spent some time relaxing, we then had a group dining reservation at the local Macaroni Grill, Mark and a few of his Florida friends had organized a marathon weekend runners pasta dinner and we were invited, there were about 15-16 total there! Service overall was a little slow, but it wasn’t too bad as there was plenty of good conversation, a lot of it specifically about the marathon the next morning.  When we left it was dark, and … raining.  I ran over to the walgreens next door and bought more Epson salts and we headed back to the Polynesian.  I ended up soaking my legs one more time before going to bed, and laid out my running clothes for the next day.  It was forcasted to be humid so I was prepared.

Jeff, Natalie, Margaret and I... notice how SHORT I am?!  Wow.  No wonder I order kids meals all the time. :)

Sunday morning, really early dawned.  My legs and feet were feeling much better, and I made the wise decision to go back to my trusted Clifton 2 shoes, which ended up being a GOOD decision.  This was to be my 6^th marathon, and no matter what, no matter how many times I have run a marathon there is always something absolutely terrifying about them.  This morning was no different and was reminding me weather-wise a little of Chicago, where the temperatures topped out at 82 degrees with no humidity and I thought I was going to die.  I wasn’t realy looking forward to a sequel, but was thinking that might just happen today.  I dressed and was ready to go,  and on our way to to EPCOT Jeff and I started discussing our plans for running this race.  Now the last two years we have ran the first half of the marathon at a 2 mile run 1 mile walk, and the 2^nd half at some variation of that.  (sometimes slowing to a 1/1 ratio).  We knew with the weather being what the weather was that 2 miles run 1 mile walk might just kill us during the first half so we decided to go with what felt the best, and if we needed to do 1/1 the whole way we could and still come in under the 16 min mile.  Once we got to EPCOT we met up with Margaret, and Natalie, who was also from Kansas City but “only” running the marathon.  (the “only” part seems SO wrong!). 

 

And SO it begins.. Margaret photobombing us...

We discussed with them our plans, and talked about the need to slow down due to unfriendly weather conditions.  We had a good time chatting and it always makes for a better race experience when you can have a fun time with others I think.  Not long after the fireworks started going off which signified the start of the race, and with us being in I it took about 35 mins before we were let free to run.  I have to say that first mile out I knew immediately how right Jeff was about needing to run this race slower then usual, it was humid.  By Mile four, we were passing by the old Speedway and approaching the Ticket and Transportaiotn center and I was already bathing in sweat, and I had the dreaded thought… I have 22 more miles of this?!  But then, I knew I could do it, because I had done it before.  So I trudged on and tried to think happy thoughts. 

After having stopped at multiple porta-potties the first two years of the dopey challenge I had learned to limit my fluid intake to one or two swallows a cup.  I had also learned about the fabulous world of salt pills.  One BIG problem I had had with marathons is low sodium, which always hits right around Mile 20-21, my mind gets blurry and I feel like I am in a time warp.  Mark had bought a few extra salt tablets at the expo and given them to us so I figured I would try it.  We took three total, I believe I took one at the start, one at 6 miles, and one at around 12-13 miles.  Uh… THEY WORKED.  Especially with how much I was sweating, and the drink stops? I didn’t have to stop and use a porta pottie once. 

As far as the humidity? It finally broke and clouded up just a bit to make the rest of the race as pleasant as a amarathon really can be right around mile 8-9.  I just remember feeling the cool breeze right at the flat boring section around mile 11, and thinking, Thank you God, I have got this one!  Animal Kingdom flew by, and once again my shot to Everest was boarded up (the first year we got a great picture with Everest in the background), Jeff who is always saying he wants to ride Everest on the marathon baulked at the idea once again (it was perfect timing as it had just opened).  We hit the ½ marathon point coming out of Animal Kingdom and up ahead was 7 miles of sheer boringness.  I figure at this point I should stop and talk about nutrition since I really haven’t mentioned it much but of course we use it!  First, as I mentioned previously on this marathon we used the salt tablets, once at the beginning of the race, once at 6 miles and once at the water stop at 13-14 miles.  We also use Spark, an advocare product, basically a powder mixed in with 8 ounces of water.  I drink it once before every race, and on marathon’s a second time at the half marathon point, it seems to help.  Last, I also use Clif Shot Bloks, I take one block at the beginning, and then one every 3 miles.  Sometimes when races give away the gels I take those too, they don’t bother me, but I don’t need them.  So there you go, I now return you to your regularly scheduled marathon. 

Yes its mile 13, and yes I am walking, so what?! Say it with me, stick to the PLAN.

 Osceola parkway came up next, and as we past the All Stars McDonalds exit I asked Jeff if he wanted some ice cream… I don’t remember the answer.  It was pretty non committal.  We didn’t stop.  Someday…

So Osceola was pretty boring, I saw a runner in a really cute “It’s a Small World” running skirt, but that was the highlight of the street.  Two miles down and we were turning into ESPN WWOS.  Those who have run this marathon know that it’s the next three miles you really REALLY want to shoot yourself.  Like PLEASE .. LET… IT … END.  For me the first year, it was horrible, the second year, marginally horrible, this year.. wasn’t too bad actually.  Maybe this marathon thing isn’t that bad afterall?

its Mile 20ish the smile is an act. I think.  

As we exited ESPN I saw the balloon ladies, but they were on the opposite side, so about three miles behind us.  I will tell you it never fails people around us freak out when they see them at this point.  For me its always a huge relief knowing that they are that far behind us, as think about it.  They are 48 mins behind us at this point, there are about five miles to go, meaning you would have to complete the next five miles at 25 min miles in order for them to catch up.  Basically, you would have to crawl.  As long as you can walk it, you are fine.  So no reason to freak out.  Turning out of EPSN a short way down is Mile marker 21.  At this point the course turns right, briefly onto World Drive, and then up the hill to turn right again into Hollywood Studios. 

Can we get this over with yet?

Now a lot of people think that once you are in Hollywood Studios you are safe.  Not so I found out.  The last sweep point is right outside of Hollywood Studios on the OTHER side, before heading towards the Boardwalk, there was one “Parade” bus sitting there.  Again, we were almost an hour ahead of the sweepers so I wasn’t worried.  In 2015, Suzy had met us at Beach Club with a Coke.  She had texted me earlier and said she would be in that area.  Instead, she was in EPCOT, by the France Pavilion.  Not that I don’t love the fact that she was there, with a Cold, Sugar Filled, Coke and some beloved Swedish Fish (my new favorite candy love), but atleast for me, there is a HUGE mental distance between Boardwalk and EPCOT.  Once you are in EPCOT, atleast in my mind, I’m almost THERE.  Boardwalk isn’t even to Mile Marker 25.  Its really less then a ½ mile distance, but mentally ITS HUGE.  So anyway, it was great.  We love you Suzy.  Thank you.

 

Shinnnnyyyy....

Now at this point I was ready to go, believe it or not I was still feeling pretty dang good, but Jeff wanted to walk so we walked.  My feet were killing me, I had some choice words in my mind… but I walked.  Finally once we got to Mexico I veteo’d walking and was like, we are going to run this last part, because all those people you are going by you have to look like a runner right?  Well away we went, through Future World, and past the hidden bathroom turn (yep you who have run any of these races know exactly where I am talking about).  Past the halleluyah choir, and once again for the third time, crossed the Disney World Marathon finish line.  It wasn’t a pretty finish time but it was under 6 hours so that’s all that matters.  We got our Goofy and Dopey Medals, and for the first time after the WDW Marathon… I felt actualy ok.  (except my feet, they hated me).  I was thinking I can get a photo with Dopey!  But Jeff vetoed that idea (dang it!), and we headed towards the buses.  Now we could have rode the monorail back, but the buses are a lot closer, and as crazy as it sounds that small, quarter mile after 26.8 miles is a HUGE distance.   Funny thing is that our bus, that was going to take us back to Polynesian, had a fender bender with a bus behind us, I cannot tell you how many were praying that we didn’t have to get off the bus and wait for another.. but I knw there were atleast two.

 

Looking back overall, it was a great race experience, I finished feeling really good, and though I had worried, A LOT, about the weather, overall except for the first four miles of the marathon, it really offered a nice overall experience. I have to say though, I wish I had run it harder.  I was in such decent condition I decided to run 6 miles at Wilderness Lodge only a few days later, and then of course the Star Wars ½ marathon the weekend after that.  Not horrible things by themselves.  BUT.  In the end a few weeks later I ended up with a stress fracture because I overdid it AFTER Dopey.   Which explains why it took until May to finish this trip report, I have finally reached the point that I have been allowed to walk and am still facing a long recovery process to come.