Writing all of these race reports is exhausting! Almost as exhausting as training for a half marathon (if I did silly things like train for half marathons).
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Yep, that's about right. |
So, anywho, here's my race recap from the WDW Marathon Relay. After taking it pretty slowly the day before, I wasn't nearly as sore as I thought I might be. Both relayers have to be at the start at the same time, so
Run On The Sun and I were both on the bus at an insanely early hour for the second day in a row. I had the first leg and T had the second. Sorry, T, that you had to wait around for ETERNITY for your leg of the race!
Starting with the marathoners is a completely different experience from starting with the half marathoners. While all of the Disney races have a lot of excitement, the marathon is more serious. Less costumes and less chatter.
I was actually nervous about being able to finish for the first time since the first half marathon I ran. Having never run two half marathons in one weekend was a little scary. But I still stopped to take a few pictures.
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Running into Epcot |
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Mexico..well, Mexico in Epcot |
I took this picture because I started with the back of the pack. Since we waited so long to register, I was in the last corral. I'm slow, but not THIS slow. This is only maybe 5 miles in - I could be wrong about that - and everyone was walking. Although, I do realize most of these people are doing the full 26.2, so they deserves kudos because I can't (yet!) say that I've done that.
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I won't lie, it felt really good to be passing everyone... |
T was bored in the little prison set up for the second leg runners and sent me pictures from the holding corral.
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Kinda cool to see the finish line before anyone was there, |
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Poor T is freezing. And bored. And apparently making
friends with strangers that don't mind taking her picture. |
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Bbbbrrrrr! |
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I stopped to take my traditional mile 10 picture. |
Believe it or not, I actually had negative splits! I was still slow, but I managed to actually gain speed, which is pretty cool. So yeah! We totally did it! Back to back half marathons. 26.2 miles in 2 days. I'll admit it: I got teary eyed when I crossed the finish line. There weren't many relay runners, so the finish area for the first leg was very quiet. T and I shared a gear bag that she was able to keep with her until her leg and I was able to pick it up with no wait.
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Made some new friends! |
All in all, this was a really cool experience. It was great for my self esteem to be able to pull it off. But I also got a wee bit jealous of all of the Goofy medals I saw in the parks during the vacation part of our trip!
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How cute is this medal?! |
So yeah. Guess who's doing the Goofy Challenge in 2013? Moi. I've also conned
Run on the Sun to join me and possible my friend, A. I guess I better stop Google Image searching medals and go train a wee bit.
I got teary at the relay finish, too! But I had the second leg, so I was lucky enough to hear the cheer of strangers. But wasn't it such a great feeling seeing that you could back to back half marathon it and survive?!? I think it was in the middle of that relay that I knew I'd be doing Goofy next time!
ReplyDeleteWE HAVE TO MEET UP!!!
Yes, definitely, let's meet up!! We need a Goofy support group. Are you doing Disneyland in Sept? I'm really hoping to PR there, since I've been actually training and it will be my 3 year half marathon anniversay! Woot!
Delete3 year anniversary - that's awesome!! I'm not doing Disneyland. Last year was enough for me ... for a while. I bet I do it again though. Instead I'm doing the Tower of Terror 10 miler and the morning 5k!
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