January 2018 Trip Report Part 5
So, we finally made it to the races. Even in a year where I knew I hadn't prepared myself well to run I was still excited for the races. When I got out there each morning the weather did little to justify this excitement. It was just straight up cold. After we were running each day it felt pretty good, but the waiting was very difficult. I completely understand the necessity of being out there that long because of the size of the event, but it's still rough. As you'll see, I attributed the weather as a primary factor in me contracting a bad cold that affected my last two races pretty negatively.
5K
The 5K went fine. I was being very cautious with my pace for the 5K and 10K because I knew I needed something in the tank for the last two races. I finished in 34:12. I wasn't surprised that there were very few photos of me and that the few I had were not very good. I was running in crowds basically the whole time and I refuse to break pace or potentially ruin someone else's photo by jumping in front of them. If it looks like a photographer has a clean shot of me on the path I'm running I'll sometimes flash a thumbs up or something, but I try really hard not to ruin other people's photos and was not all that concerned with getting any new ones this race. I also didn't stop for a medal pic. It was crowded and I wanted to find a place to get wrapped in mylar while we waited for my mom. Saw
@DopeyBadger as we headed to the viewing area and he was headed out and confirmed that he had achieved the first part of his goal to PR all 4 individual races. My goals were just to finish this year, but I was cheering for him to achieve his much loftier goals. My mom finished and we headed home.
We spent the day at Disney Springs and returning to the Expo. I had ordered my mom the 25th Anniversary Dooney and Burke Purse for Christmas/her Birthday and we weren't going to let that go unclaimed. We started by doing a little shopping in Disney Springs and having lunch at the Polite Pig. It was the first time we tried the food there and we were quite impressed. Very timely and a nice selection of barbecue. I'd definitely eat there on future trips when looking for a quick-ish DS meal. The Expo was much nicer the second time around. There was about a 5 minute checkout line for Official Merch, but no waits otherwise. I picked up the purse for my mom and then got a shirt for myself in official merch before heading to the vendor floor. There I purchased a belt with bib clips (I don't like safety pins and those button things weren't any better, I can never get them centered) and some Balega Enduro Quarter Socks. I rarely rave about things, but I'm loving the socks.
My mom and I went back to Disney Springs that afternoon and watched Downsizing. It wasn't bad, but I can't help but feel there was a better movie in there somewhere. It felt like two different movies and that they couldn't decide which one they wanted to make. We were back to the house and I was asleep by 9:00. No matter how hard I try I can never seem to get to sleep as early as I'd like during Dopey.
10K
The 10K was a lot of fun. Once again, I erred on the side of caution with my pace and finished in 1:10:52. I had a couple of decent photos during this race (for me):
My mom had her best 10K ever. She walks her races, but she has lost quite a bit of weight in the last year so these were her best times in the 5K and 10K since she started doing them a couple years ago. She was really happy so I was happy for her.
My sister and I were headed back to Hollywood Studios with her friend and her friend's children. I hadn't planned on going, but having an AP and wanting to meet everyone at the DIS meetup I decided to go. It was a pretty standard Hollywood Studios day. We did the Mama Melrose Fantasmic! dining package again. This time I had the season chef's special Pork Osso Bucco that I had seen the last time. It was one of my favorite meals of the trip.
After lunch I headed over to Hurricane Hanna's for the DIS meetup. It was so nice to meet everyone. I tried my best to be sociable, it's something that is very difficult for me. Everyone was very nice and I'm sorry that I don't remember everyone I met. I'm going to err on the side of not mentioning anyone by name so as not to forget anyone. Social interaction is also kind of a blur for me, so remembering names is not a specialty for me either. I'd like to apologize to everyone as well, I know I was coughing quite a bit. I was very careful to try to direct it into my elbow and away from others, but I'm pretty sure my cold was starting to take over at that point and I'm hoping I didn't negatively impact anyone else's race.
Afterward I headed back to HS hoping that the group had decided to forgo Fantasmic! after our Toy Story Mania FP+. They were all looking forward to the show and I couldn't begrudge them. I was cold and ready for some sleep and if we had another vehicle I definitely would have gone back to try to get some sleep and maybe stave off getting sick. As it was we watched Fantasmic! sitting three rows in front of Brazilian football legend Ronaldo. As a football fan this was awesome, as a Dopey runner I would have rather been sleeping. We headed home and waited for my mom to arrive with my dad (he flew in to celebrate her races). I didn't get to sleep until 10:00.
Half
When I woke up I knew I was in trouble. My sinuses were completely stuffed and I was coughing a lot. Still, the race had to go on. I don't remember a lot about the Half. I finished in 2:55:20, which is my slowest Half ever outside of my first rD race in 2012. Worse, I was exhausted and basically completely sick at that point. I did make a stop for the Castle pic. I don't think it looks nearly as bad as I felt:
After returning home I took a 3 hour nap while my parents and my sister went back to the Expo. My sister was Perfect Dopey as well, but she hadn't gotten the perfect bibs. The second year she accidentally entered her birth date off by one day. I think that caused the system not to recognize her. Anyway, runner relations fixed it for her and she had a sticker for her bib to make sure she got that extra ribbon when he finished the Marathon (obviously the extra medal ribbon wasn't important, but it's a cool accomplishment and felt like it deserved recognition).
My grandparents came in that afternoon to have dinner with us. We went to Disney Springs and ate at Raglan Road. That cuisine fit my dad and grandparents, they tend to be less adventurous than the rest of our group. I had some french fries, but I wasn't feeling great and didn't want to have anything that would negatively impact the Marathon. I was in bed at 8:00 and asleep by 9:00. Like I said before, never as much sleep as I know I need during Dopey.
Marathon
The Marathon ended up being the longest 7:30:04 of my life. I was exhausted from the first step and never found anything approaching a groove. By mile 10 I was ready to call it quits and get out of there. Going through Animal Kingdom I was walking 20+ minute miles and getting pretty emotional about everything that was happening. I wasn;t processing things well. I kept going, just kept putting one foot in front of the other. As much because I didn't know how to quit and how to get back to Epcot as it was because I didn't want to give up. Being Perfectly Dopey has become something very important to me and I wasn't ready to throw it away just yet. I nearly stopped at a couple med tents on the way to WWOS, but there wasn't any relief in sight so I kept going. After entering WWOS I had decided to call it quits. I figured they'd be equipped in that area for me to find a place to sit and wait for a ride to Epcot. Things didn't work out that way. First,
@ZellyB stopped and talked to me while i was slowly winding through the complex and even as I told her I was done I felt like I was letting more people than myself down. Despite knowing that (and texting with my family who was also encouraging me) I stopped at the med station at mile 19 and thought I was done. I sat down and they offered me some water, but generally treated me more as a nuisance than anything. The first person to actually talk to me was
@Keels. That anyone recognized me and took the time to talk to me during that time was incredibly kind and that two DISers had been so kind was more than my pride could bear. It wasn't just these chance meetings, I know deep down that I never wanted to give up and was just disappointed with how things were going, but I've never been so physically exhausted in my life and I needed the reminder of how much finishing meant to me. I could hear the disappointment for me in their voices and I knew my own disappointment in not finishing would have been even worse. I got up and was determined to finish.
The last 7 miles were incredibly painful, but I ran in places and kept my pace under 16:00 for that stretch. I wasn't re-energized, but I was determined to give everything I had left. I crossed the finish line walking for the first time in my life. I could no longer feel my feet and knew I had some blisters from all of the walking (my feet shift in my shoes a lot more when I walk than when I run). Here is the pitiful sight:
I knew I only had minutes left before I collapsed. I was shivering uncontrollably and shouldn't have been as cold as I felt. I skipped pictures and eventually found my family. My blubbering while walking to the car wasn't one of my finer moments but I knew I was in a bad way and just wanted to sit down so badly. Eventually we found the car and headed back to the house. I tried to replenish as much hydration and had a little to eat before crashing. I spent the rest of the day trying to sleep as much as possible and recover. We had a dinner reservation at Boatwright's (our tradition) for 5:40, but I had developed a migraine to go with my cold so I missed going with them. They brought me back a big batch of cornbread (my favorite) and the crawfish etouffee, so I ate well anyway.
My flight was at 7:20 AM the next morning (not a lot of time for celebration), but I needed to be back at work as soon as possible. The only upside was that got to pick up McFly and head home for a good night sleep before work the next morning.
I'll be back with a post tomorrow with some fallout, conclusions and resolutions heading forward. I think I'd write this just for my own satisfaction and curiosity even if no one was reading, but I can't thank everyone who has followed along enough for the support!