Saturday, February 1, 2014

An Unexpected Journey: Part II, Are we Dopey enough for this?

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Queue the dark foreboding music…

I can have some severe anxiety, I admit it.  There is no way for me to go back and remember the feelings I had leading up to Dopey, after all I know now I actually did it.  It was 48.6 miles, 4 races in 4 days, and I was POSITIVELY SURE Jeff had officially talked me into trying to do the impossible, one of the craziest things I had ever tried to do.  After all a well-seasoned runner who was paid (sort of) to give (sort of) sound running advice had told us it was impossible. 

But we had paid the money, I had said OK, and I was going to at least try.

We prepared as best we could for it, me and my treadmill spent some serious quality time together those last few weeks, probably too much quality time the last week (for long races you are supposed to taper, or ramp down your running the week or two before).  I had sent Mark, our unofficial running coach in Florida our waivers just in case of bad weather to pick up of swag for the race….

We even changed our flight so instead of flying down Wednesday, we would fly down Tuesday to dot our “i’s” and cross our “t’s” so to speak.  

 Yep... ESPN Wide World of Sports...

We woke up Wednesday morning at Disney… it was time to head to the expo, pick up our stuff from Mark, and of course do like any good well trained Disney fan does… SHOP.  (Disney has a remarkable way of taking all the money you have, and making you smile about it)  It was chilly that morning, I remember thinking why couldn’t it be this temperature on RACE DAYS!  (at that time the forecast was for the low 80’s on Saturday and Sunday, not good running temps at all).   We drove to the ESPN wide world of sports complex, and did the long walk in…

 Just PART of the Expo.

Mark was working at the Fit2Run booth at the Expo (he was running the Dopey too, when exactly did he REST?) he had picked up our stuff already.  For our $525 registration fee (yes, you read that right, that’s EACH!), we received the right to torture ourselves through 48.6 miles of “magic”, 6 tech shirts (nice!), two bibs, and a partridge in a pear tree.  We were in Corral K. Disney in their infinite wisdom had also created more corrals for this years Marathon weekend.

First though let me explain a couple things for those non-running initiated.  Bibs are the paper numbers that runners wear to be identified in races, in Disney’s case (and some other races too), they also have a sensor attached to track your time along the course.   Corrals are quite literally just that, just like cow corrals, but with people, large races use them to stagger the runners, so that they are not clogging road ways and so that people are hypothetically running with those of around the same speed.  In Disney’s case there were 10,000 people alone running the Marathon, 70,000 participating in the Marathon weekend events, So corralling people, to control traffic was probably not only sane, but completely required.  Runners are placed in corrals based on how fast they should be running said race, based usually on a previous race time (In our case the Kansas City half marathon). In the past Disney had had about 7-8 Corrals, this year there were 16 corrals, we were in K, so quite a ways back.  Just to show you how Mark runs circles around us in our sleep he was in Corral C.  Now with that being said, all of us should have technically been in higher corrals.  What Disney did, is for those that were running the Dopey challenge they pushed those runners back into farther corrals, assuming that those running four races, would probably be running slightly slower then those only running the one individual race.  Probably somewhat smart, but rather annoying too.

 Jeff laid out his shirts and bibs the day before the races started..

So going back to our 6 tech shirts… that just wasn’t enough swag for us.  Remember the comment about Disney taking ALL your money and making you smile while doing it?  Yeah I wasn’t joking.  IM SERIOUS.  I swear they put something in the water.  So we walked out the expo about 2 hours later, with 2 more tech shirts, a whole bunch of pins (don’t even get me started), and a few more accessories (sweat bands, car magnets etc.).  Those two tech shirts… were… drum roll… “I DID IT SHIRTS”.  Now seriously, I knew I was jinxing myself with that.  I mean who buys an “I DID IT” shirt, before they uh.. DID IT?  Yep us, and about several thousand others.

Now with that being said Disney also made special New Balance Disney-themed running shoes (no I am not kidding, check EBAY), as well as Dooney Bourke Run Disney purses, neither of which I bought, and our bank account is forever thankful for.  Though I have to say next year those shoes might be something to consider. 

Ready or Not... Here we come!

So we left the Expo and headed to Beach Club to check in, what’s great about Beach Club is that it is literally in the backyard of EPCOT, its less then a five minute walk to the back entrance.   We spent some time at EPCOT and then headed back.  Tonight we headed to bed at about 9pm… to begin the four day series of up at the crack of dawn for races…


 
 From Left to Right: Bus ride from Beach Club to the 5K, Selfie... and Jeff and I all smiles... smiles of insanity possibly?

Thursday, the first day of Dopey, today was only a 5K so I wasn’t worried to much, we were up at about 5am that morning, it was chilly that morning, so I wore my Space Coast marathon running jacket, pinned the bib on and we headed out for the bus.  With Disney races, its convenient to stay on site as they pick you up for the races on buses and take you back.  Space Coast did something similar but Disney was MUCH more organized about the whole affair.  The official start for the race this morning was the latest of all four, 6:15 am in the EPCOT parking lot.   For the first two races there were only five total corrals.  So I had mentioned previously we were corral K? That was only for the two longer races, the first two, the 5 and 10K we were corral C, so about the middle of the pack.  

 From Left to Right: No matter how pretty the white bubble is... its still a corral... and Starting Line all ready to go for the 5K.

Due to my overt worrying about whether we could even make it through four races in four days we had decided to go VERY VERY slow on all the races, to conserve energy for Sunday.  So our plan was the run 1 mile, walk a mile, run the last mile.  The 5K at Disney only features one park, in this case EPCOT, and starts in the parking lots as I mentioned.  It turns then and heads towards the back side of test track (a view those in the park don’t get to see which was cool), past security and then into the park through the Mexico Pavilion.  This was about the Mile 1 marker.   


 
From Left to Right: China Pavilion, Germany Pavilion and Italy Pavilion. All normal photo opportunities... though not usually at 6 AM in the morning.

We walked through the World Showcase, the course exited EPCOT at the international gateway then looped around and re-entered by the UK Pavilion.  By this time we were running again.  All the races end in about the same fashion exiting the park through Future World, under Spaceship Earth and then out back to the parking lots for the final push.  We tried to pick up speed at the end, but it was hard due to the congestion of the race course.  For the 5K we received rubber medallions featuring Pluto, picked up our powerade and banana and headed for the buses.  Overall the 5K had become a “warm up” race, if that.

 
 Left to Right: Official "running" photo, Jeff and I in front of Spaceship Earth the final mile of the 5K, and Jeff and I with our 1st set up medals(medallions) 

When we got back we stopped and grabbed breakfast at a quick service place at Beach Club, overall wasn’t to bad.  We also went through our bag of goodies from the expo at the day before and found out the magnet and window cling we had bought were missing… So our first stop was BACK to the expo.  This time though we took the bus.  We met up with Mark there, and decided to meet up later for dinner. We then headed over to EPCOT and spent almost a full day in the park.  We met up with Mark as well as some friends from Kansas City that were down at Disney at the same time.  We pretty much conquered almost all the major attractions in Future World, and then had a dinner reservation at one of the Italian restaurants in World Showcase, Tutto Italia.  One of the main points of agreement when it comes to prepping for races, is what is referred to as “Carb Loading”, or eating foods with lots of carbs, which your body turns into sugar and uses for fuel.  We have pretty much followed that advice since day one, and Thursday night started the preparation. 

Left to Right: At Dinner with friends at Tutto Italia.  (Left to Right, clockwise, is Mark, Jeff, Jennifer (me), Bill and Anita Valiant), Beach Club at night.

So with full tummies, we headed back to Beach Club, tomorrow morning was going to the 2nd day of early awakenings, and the beginning of the REALLY early alarms.  In fact we were so worried about whether we would get up in time, we not only set the alarms on both our iphones, the alarm on the ipad and arranged for a wake up call.. Not at 5am, not for 4 am, but for 3 am! Is there really even a 3AM in the morning? We were about to find out.  We went to bed at about 8PM, and believe it or not 3AM wasn’t to hard to take.  Time for the 10K!  (or 6.2 miles).  This morning was basically a carbon copy of the day before (but an hour earlier), the race was scheduled to start at 5:30 and we again found ourselves in corral C.  We ran into Mark headed for the corrals, and talked a bit, then we headed for our corral and sat out the next 45 minutes or so waiting for the race to start.

From Left to Right... Jeff and I selfie waiting for the bus for the 10K.  Starting line for the 10K (the lady with the laurel wreath on our head we ran into at KCI airport..) and another pre-race shot.

Today would be double the length of the previous day, but would start in exactly the same place the EPCOT parking lot.  I made a somewhat bad decision this morning… I ingested a whole bottle of powerade before the race along with a bottle of water.  Word to those looking to run… DON’T DO THIS.  The first two miles of the race I felt like a slug, we were running, but all I could think about was finding a bathroom.  Finally about mile 2 I bit the bullet and visited the port a potty.  What’s humorous about this is the day before we were making fun of the runners stopping during the first mile of the 5K to use the bathroom.  Here I was doing the same thing…  Our plan today was run two miles, walk a mile then repeat.  Because of the err… potty stop we decided to run the first 3 miles, and then walk the 4th.  The first two miles were pretty boring, they took us out the EPCOT entrance roadway and back again, we then followed a path very similar to the 5K the day before. 

Left to Right: EPCOT security gate with Test Track behind... close up on the sign and another
"official" running photo.  Not sure who the guy is behind us...

One point I wanted to mention, we were … surprised (though I am not sure that’s the right word, more like it was a little Disney magic) that so many of the Disney Cast Members (what WDW calls its employees) were so involved in cheering us racers on.  And not just those that were directly involved with the race, everyone from the security guards, Toll Plaza attendants, Merchandise Cast members, ground sweepers EVERYONE cheered us on and had amazing bright smiles on their faces for being up so early in the morning.  Seriously Disney does not pay these people enough for the amazing job that they do.  That was worth the registration fees just in itself. 

 EPCOT/Illumination torches, on the left during the 5K on the right during the 10K

So we headed back up the same road towards the back of Test Track, entered EPCOT through Norway this time.  One minor element I noticed that was missing from the previous day is that today the torches around the world that are lit right before Illuminations (and go out in the “puff” right before the show begins), were all lit.  VERY COOL.  So again we  ran through World Showcase, and exited at the International Gateway.  Another big change here is that we then proceeded to run around the Boardwalk area.  Again big thanks to all the supporters along the way!  The Boardwalk is about a one mile loop, and then it was back into the park and like the day before exited through Future World with the finale of the race ending the EPCOT parking lot.

 The "Yeah! I finished arm bands from the 5K, and "official" medal photo from the 10K.  The poising was the photographer's idea. :)

Now part of the Dopey challenge is that after each race you received a wrist band special to that specific race, to prove that you ran each race so that you can receive your Dopey medal at the end.  On the first day obtaining our wrist bands could best be described as moderately confusing… meaning everyone seemed confused.  The second day as a tribute to Disney (and how even they can make mistakes, but the big difference is that they fix them), is that the 2nd time around was MUCH MUCH more organized.  We received our Inaugural 10K medal, a real medal this time around. 

Interesting next chapter was the phone call… see the job that I work currently I was able to schedule vacation days for every day of the trip except for THIS SPECIFIC FRIDAY.  So guess what? I had to call AT&T to try to schedule what they call Flex, or same day vacation.  Since it was Friday, and it was the beginning of the year (when everyone has flex left), I knew that it would be a challenge.  I did not expect to have to be on the phone for 30-45 minutes continuously dialing to get through, and later find out I was choosing the wrong option… Thankfully I was able to get flex and everything was good, but it was a stressful hour or so. 

So back at BCV, we got cleaned up and ready to check out.  We drove over to Bay Lake Tower, which was to be our home for the next 10 days.  Our room wasn’t ready (which I didn’t expect it to be), so our next stop was Target.  If calling AT&T for an hour or so wasn’t a weird enough side note, then our next story is going to seem even more odd.  We went to Target so that I could get new glasses.  Now my old glasses, were truly old, probably atleast 4-5 years old, with transition lenses.  I just hadn’t had time to go out and get new ones!  Well I am guessing that the change in temperature from KC to Florida (probably a 60 degree swing), just threw one final loop at the transition film on the glasses and caused the darkening film to crack which really altered the quality of my vision in daylight (when transition was activated).  It was AWEFUL.  That happened on Wednesday.  So after a completely unplanned call to Target optical we made an appointment for Friday, and that’s were we found ourselves on Friday at 11AM.  Now of course this worked out well because we also wanted to pick up some groceries for our room.  Considering I hadn’t seen an eye doctor in several years, it wasn’t a big deal seeing an eye doctor I had never visited and she seemed very knowledgeable.  I have an odd distortion to the epidermal layer of my eye, where the fluid of the eye doesn’t drain like it should (not to be confused with glaucoma which is similar but is the inside of the eye), it only causes flair ups only about every 4-5 years, so not a huge deal, but has some interesting side effects when it does.  I already knew this distortion was worse in my left eye then my right eye, but as I was a new patient, she didn’t know that, and not only was able to recognize it, but provided me more insight into the disorder that I was not aware of.  So in the end I ended up with a new set of contacts (I had worn them several years ago so wasn’t an entirely new concept to me), and we were on our way.  Immediately I could tell that my eyesight was VASTLY improved.  So a good decision.  Thanks to insurance it didn’t cost a fortune either.

So we had our groceries, and on our way out received the text message that our room was ready, so we headed back, and checked in.  We really liked our room location, which was on the 5th floor, overlooking the Magic Kingdom, which had great views off our balcony of the fireworks every night, and also was on the same floor as the skywalk over to Contemporary.  GREAT location.  We got everything moved in and I texted our friends, who we had met up with the day before.  They were at Magic Kingdom today and we set up to meet them around 3:30 that afternoon at Magic Kingdom. 

We started with lunch in as close approximation to carb loading as we could get in the Magic Kingdom Counter Service, at Pinocchio’s Village Haus,  Bill and Anita (the friends from KC), meet up with us there and we hit several Magic Kingdom rides, Big Thunder, haunted mansion, pirates, before we ended up heading back to our room around 6PM.  I wish we had had more time to spend with them, but with the Dopey Challenge already booked 11 months prior, its hard to run and have fun at the same time.  Still it was fun!

So we laid out all our stuff for the next day, Saturday was the half marathon and the beginning of the REAL races, and after retiring our 1st bib, we pulled out the bib for the half and full marathon.  (For Dopey we were assigned two bibs, one of the 1st two races and one of the second two).  We again set our Iphone and Ipad alarms and wake up call…. For 3AM…

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