Any Idiot Can Run. It takes a Goofy kind of idiot to run a marathon and a half! About This Page:

[disney_duke]

That’s the saying on the back of my shirt that I wore for the marathon. I got a fair amount of comments on it too during the race! But I’m getting ahead of myself. This journey starts back at the end of the marathon race, January 2011. I had just finished my first full marathon and had no ambition to do it again. Ever. But as any runner will tell you, once you recover and feel normal again, your goals change. As the next few days unfolded, I saw the folks proudly wearing their Goofy medals and shirts and I realized that I probably could do the Goofy. No, I knew I actually could do it. I decided to do it in 2012. Until I twisted my knee while putting my shoes on. Don’t ask.

After the MRI confirmed a torn meniscus, I knew the Full was out. However, I had already signed up for the Expedition Everest Challenge (which I had to cancel… so very sad) and the Wine and Dine Half Marathon on October 1st. Well, after surgery in May and nearly 2 months of physical therapy, I was able to run again come mid-July. I thought I could just walk the W&D if necessary, but as it turned out I actually ran about half of it! I finished with a time around 3:02 or something, and meanwhile also signed up for the Marathon Relay in January 2012! And that was a blast. I had my best time yet, up to that point, with a 2:44 finish. Take that, bad knee!!! With that, I knew I could finish the Goofy, so I signed up for that, and I finally did get to do the Expedition Everest Challenge in May 2012. And even better, with my 9 year old daughter right next to me!! It was her first 5K and she had so much fun (even if it was insanely hot and crowded!)!

I started training during the summer for a local Half marathon in the hopes of getting an even better finish time than 2:44. I’d heard from others that if you can finish sub-2:30, you have a better chance at being in a better corral, C, D, or E. The last 3 WDW races, I had been in the very last corral because my finishing times are not spectacular. It’s not a big deal for me, really, because I know I’ll finish in the allotted time. But what’s annoying is that you don’t get to start right away. Since they send off the runners in waves 5-7 minutes apart, this means those of us in corral H don’t cross the start line until 40-55 minutes after those in corral A. It means you don’t finish until just that much later in the day. Not terrible, just annoying.

Anyway, I trained hard to get a 2:30 finish and come September 1st, my husband and I (he ran it with me!) finished in 2:28!!! Turned out that this awesome finish time put me in corral D. I was stoked!!!

The next four months were a blur of running, running, kids stuff, running, Thanksgiving WDW trip, and more running. Come Christmas time, I was burned out. Totally sick of it. I had gotten in my longest runs of 10miles/20miles (on consecutive days because that’s how you train for Goofy) and was so glad it was over with. I didn’t have another long distance like that until the actual race. And as the actual race approached I kept a watchful eye on the weather forecast. It looked like it was turning out to be some of my favorite weather: hot and sunny!! Not ideal for most runners, but perfect for me. I sat back and enjoyed the taper time of just running 4 miles here, 8 miles there. Easy peasy.

Coming up: Hotel choices and departure day!

[lauriep]

Another marathon report! Great start.

[lsugirlinutah]

Yay, yay! So excited to hear about your experience!

[cubfancolleen]

I am in awe of you! Having done a half, there is NO way I could've done a full the next day!
But I'm looking forward to hearing all about it!

[chezp]

Great start! Congrats on getting over that knee injury and being able to get fit enough to do this.

[shazza]

I'm impressed with the fortitude that goes into training for this. Great job.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

I'm going to be in this report a lot!

Congrats on the 2:28! I was able to get 2:30 during a half in March of 2011 and haven't come close to that time since then! I need a new goal, so maybe that will be it: a new half marathon PR!

Looking forward to more!

[misty hailey]

I'm here and ready to hear more

[disney_duke]

So when I first started thinking about the Goofy I thought I wanted a couch in the room to better relax. That meant DVC somewhere. As I couldn’t stomach the prices (I’m not DVC member), I started to lean towards my favorite resort, French Quarter. The couch wasn’t that important after all. I started talking with another running friend of mine from another board who I usually meet up with at these races. She said she heard about walking over to the start line from the FQ/OKW area as it’s literally across the street. We went back and forth on this issue as runDisney strongly discourages you from doing this. The thing is, we don’t bag-check prior to the race. So there’s really no need for us to be in the pre-race staging area. It’s about a 1 mile walk from the pre-race area (Epcot parking lot) to the corrals (on Epcot Center Drive). It’s about the same distance, if not shorter, from the FQ to the corrals. We decided to live on the wild side and attempt this walk. So FQ was my choice of hotel!

The more I would talk about this trip, the more my BFF, Amanda, started inquiring too. She was wondering if I really and truly wanted to go solo or if I wouldn’t mind a friend tagging along. Since that would mean a split in the cost of the hotel room, sure I didn’t mind if she came along! She came with me for my first WDW Half in 2008 (and ran that one too) and also came with me to Disneyland for that Half marathon. So she understands the craziness that goes along with running such races.

And then the hotel discounts started to be released. It actually proved to be cheaper to stay next door at POR in a Royal Room, Garden View no less!! So I switched. This would mean more walking to meet my friend for the start of the race though. She was staying at OKW. Then I thought I’d drive my rental car to FQ and then walk to meet her. I may be a marathon runner, but I’m still pretty lazy.

It probably took me over a week to pack because I just didn’t know what to bring. The forecast did say warm temps, but it kept wavering between rain and sun as well. So I packed just about everything. Shorts, ponchos, gloves, you name it. Come January 10th, I was all ready to rock and roll!! I dropped the kids off at school, hugs and kisses all around, and then my husband drove me to the airport. After a little stop along the way to pick up my BFF, Amanda! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she had decided to run the 5K on Friday. So I signed up for that too. The unofficial Dopey – all 3 races.

Surprisingly, there were no delays for the flight and soon enough we were up in the air! It was an uneventful flight, which is just the way I like it, and we landed a few minutes early. Since I’m impatient, I always rent a car. I like to think I’m in control of my journey time rather than someone else, even if I’m not. It’s all in my head, I suppose. I scored a stellar deal with Budget for $75 for all 5 days, so that’s worth it! Besides, we had a lot of ground to cover in the next few hours: race expo, grocery store, check in to the hotel, and finally dinner. Whew! That would take forever with Disney transport, never mind the grocery store. But we got it all done and in time to meet Beth and friends at our resort for the make your own pasta dinner and a little Yeehaa Bob!! The pasta was delicious, but as mentioned in Beth’s report, a huge serving! I barely ate half of it. We enjoyed the beginning of the Yeehaa Bob show, but had to hit the hay early since our first early wake-up call would be by 4:50 the following morning.

We headed back to our Royal Room while seeing the Illuminations fireworks over the tops of the trees, got our clothes ready for the race the next morning (which we would be taking the bus to, not walking to this one) and went to sleep.

Coming up: Race 1, the 5K family fun run!

[disney_duke]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Another marathon report! Great start.

Originally Posted by lsugirlinutah

Yay, yay! So excited to hear about your experience!

Thanks! I don't write many reports but it does help to remember your trip and experience that much better.

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

I am in awe of you! Having done a half, there is NO way I could've done a full the next day!
But I'm looking forward to hearing all about it!

That's what all the training is for!

Originally Posted by chezp

Great start! Congrats on getting over that knee injury and being able to get fit enough to do this.

That was tough, more mentally than physically. The first Half after the surgery, the Wine and Dine, was a huge impact for my mind. Knowing I could continue doing these silly things!!

Originally Posted by shazza

I'm impressed with the fortitude that goes into training for this. Great job.

Oh, it's a LOT of training!! But there's a reason for it - it works!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great start!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince

I'm going to be in this report a lot!

Congrats on the 2:28! I was able to get 2:30 during a half in March of 2011 and haven't come close to that time since then! I need a new goal, so maybe that will be it: a new half marathon PR!

Looking forward to more!

Always gotta have those goals. At least for me, anyway, or the motivation goes away quickly!

Originally Posted by misty hailey

I'm here and ready to hear more

There ya go!!!

[lauriep]

Sounds like a great plan to stay within walking distance of the corrals. Do they not recommend doing that because of safety issues crossing the streets? It's great that your friend came with you.

[chezp]

Oh my goodness - all three races? Wow, you really are a sucker for punishment, aren't you?!

I can't wait to hear all about it and I hope the idea of walking over to the corrals all works out for you.

[cubfancolleen]

I think runDisney SHOULD add a Dopey medal for doing all three!!

[roaminggnome]

Great start can't wait to read more.