Salem Wild Turkey 5 miler

We had decent weather for the Salem Wild Turkey Run. A little cold but no rain (or snow!). This is a big race, about 2,000 participants, so we arrived an hour before the race to get a good parking spot right off Salem Common.

Here is the gang on the Common before the race:

Aaron, Ellen, Ethan on Salem Common

I planned on running with both Aaron and Ellen, but Aaron and I lost Ellen right at the start in the big crowd. I spent part of the first mile running backwards looking for her, which turned out to be a mistake as she started faster than us and was well ahead by the end of the first mile. So Aaron and I just got into a comfortable groove. Our first mile was over 10 minutes, and we negative split it from there, ending with an 8:44 mile and a time of 47:17. Ethan happened upon his old physics teacher, Mr. Black, and they ended up dueling each other with Ethan finishing on top with a time of 38:33. Marianne continues to crush it and banged out 7 minute miles, finishing in 35:01. And, along the way, implicitly beat my 5k PR. Looks like I'll have to crack down at the Danvers 5K and run a new PR!

Here is Ethan at the finish. Aaron, Ellen and I didn't manage to get any finish line pictures as we finished in too much of a crowd.

Ethan at the finish

That's it for formal racing until Disney. I'll still run the weekly D5K, hopefully taking it easy so I don't risk injury in the runup to Disney, but I haven't yet managed such discipline. Here's hoping I get lucky.

The Weight Battle and Wild Turkey Run

Thanksgiving is going to start out fun with all 3 kids running with me in a 5 mile "Turkey Trot" in Salem. Marianne and our friend Jeff will be running it as well so it should be a good time. I'll be treating it as a training run as I'm still nervous about my calf injury (although it has felt perfectly fine for a few days now), and I will have run 8 miles about 12 hours earlier. Plus I'd like to run it with Aaron, Ellen or both. (I assume Ethan will be ahead of me in any event).

I'm pursuing my "white whale" weight loss goal, which is to weigh 175 lbs. Given that I was 163 lbs when I graduated Marine Corps OCS when I was 23, and was so lean that my mother was shocked on seeing me, 175 lbs is probably pretty close to the limit for me these days while still staying healthy. I'd love to be 175 when we head off to Disney World in January.

I started keeping track of my weight again back in July when it had started to creep back up. Here's the history since then:

I ran the Clarence DeMar marathon in September about 187 lbs. For some reason, I had a lot of nervous energy in the runup to the Harborside Half last week, which both burned calories in itself and suppressed my appetite, leading to a big drop in the space of a week. Since then I've managed to break through the 180 barrier to 179 but it's definitely hard going from here. Hopefully the return to faster training paces after the injury recovery will knock off those final few pounds.

Injury Recovery and Training Update

I was pretty sure I didn't actually pull my calf muscle at the Harborside Half Marathon, and instead just strained it. I've had this injury before on that same calf and it felt the same way. A slow tightening with some increasing pain, but something I could run through if necessary (like in a race!) In the past my recovery from it has been pretty quick, a matter of days.

I tried a couple very slow miles Tuesday evening and it felt OK- a hint of tightening that convinced me not to try anything more. Wednesday I did another very slow 3 miles with Marianne and it felt pretty good, and again on Thursday with a 5 mile run. Saturday I went 10 on a flat 5 mile loop starting from my house and had no pain, averaging a little over 9:30 per mile.

So I went ahead with a scheduled 20 mile run this morning with Marianne. We stayed with my flat 5 mile loop, with me determining the pace. Everything felt fine and we gradually worked our way into a bit over a 9:00 mile pace, which is what we had targeted for this run pre-injury. So it looks like the training program is back on track where it should be.

20 mile run in 3:05:45 for a 9:17 pace.

1. 10:08
2.   9:24
3.   9:15
4.   9:28
5.   9:32
6.   9:18
7.   9:08
8.   9:11
9.   9:13
10. 9:17
11. 9:00
12. 9:08
13. 9:14
14. 9:08
15. 9:19
16. 9:12
17. 9:02
18. 9:11
19. 9:10
20. 9:23

Shiny New 5k PR

I found out one thing last night - the increased training pace I've been running with Marianne isn't hurting my shorter races. I PR'd the 5k by 9 seconds at the weekly Danvers D5K fun run, dropping my PR to 21:39.

Five of us from the D5K will be running the Harborside Half on the 15th. This should be a lot of fun as we are all in the same ballpark time-wise for the half, and there is some friendly competition growing. Hopefully my new-found speed will at least allow me to put a scare in some people!

Training Update

A big change in my training the last few months is I've been running the longer runs and some of the pace runs with Marianne, with whom I'll be running the Disney Marathon. We are well-matched for pace (she has been a bit faster than me on race day) and complement each other well - I tend to start slow and finish fast, and her tendency is to start fast and finish a little slower. So she speeds me up at the start and I speed her up at the end, and overall, we run faster together than alone.

Today, for example, we ran 16 on the course looping around Iron Rail Park in Wenham, a run a few months ago I would have done at slower than 9 minute miles. Today we did it at an 8:39 pace without pushing it too hard (it was not a pace run, after all):

1. 9:01
2. 8:33
3. 8:29
4. 8:39
5. 8:40
6. 8:44
7. 8:37
8. 8:42
9. 8:40
10. 8:37
11. 8:24
12. 8:35
13. 8:39
14. 8:47
15. 8:36
16. 8:42

The team training has definitely made me stronger - we'll see if there is a payoff in two weeks at the Harborside Half Marathon.

Not Quite 15 miler today

After yesterday's hard 10k, I intended an easy 15 mile run today on a new 5 mile loop route I made in Beverly. By "easy" I intended 9+ minute per mile pace. The route I planned loops around Endicott College, a beautiful area with nice views of the ocean as well as of the campus. Endicott College looks like it was made as a movie set for the ideal small New England College. My dream job would be philosophy professor at Endicott.

Dawn over the beach near Endicott College

Things were going fine till mile 14 when I felt a small tweak in my right quad. I noted it, slowed down a bit, and continued. A quarter mile later I felt it again so I shut it down and walked the rest of the way in. I have no pain in that quad walking or climbing stairs. Tomorrow is a rest day, so hopefully I won't feel any more of it on my next run on Tuesday.

1.  10:38
2.    9:31
3.    9:38
4.    9:05
5.    9:08
6.    9:02
7.    9:08
8.    9:27
9.    9:30
10.  9:30
11.  9:30
12.  9:40
13.  9:51
14.  9:47

Another Look at the DeMar Marathon

 Post-race one naturally wonders whether you ran properly in a strategic sense and maybe, if you did something differently, you could have run faster. One thing that sticks in my mind is that during the first half I fell in with a group of runners all attempting to run 3:40 marathons (my goal time). We started to drift apart between miles 8 and 11, with some moving ahead of me, and some falling back. One guy moved ahead of the group, I ended up passing him at mile 25 when he stopped on the side of the road to throw up, and he later sprinted past me at the finish, finishing 2 seconds ahead of me. Another guy noted around mile 9 that we were running too fast for a 3:40 and he backed off. He gradually caught up to me and slowly passed me about mile 21. He finished in 3:39:42, so he ran a very disciplined race, holding that 3:40 pace throughout. When he noted that we were running too fast for a 3:40, that was in the first half when we were running sub 8:20 miles. I knew we were fast, but I also knew we were running downhill and I felt very comfortable at the pace; I was worried that if I slowed down I would be actively braking myself, which you shouldn't do on downhills and is just as tiring as trying to run faster. In retrospect I don't think I would have changed that.

Another interesting exercise is comparing my split times at DeMar with the times in my first marathon at Disney. I put them in a chart with Disney in blue and DeMar in green:

Marathon splits - DeMar Marathon in green, Disney 2015 in blue

Disney is very flat course and DeMar is more rolling, with significant downhills in the first half. The spike at mile 10 in Disney was stopping to visit a port-a-potty, and the spike at mile 20 was exiting the ESPN Sports Center with some congestion. The spikes at DeMar in miles 11, 20 and 23 were all hill sections. It's interesting that I ran a faster pace on miles 11 and 12 at Disney than at DeMar. Also interesting is that the second halfs for both races have a very similar shape. Steady up to mile 20, a slowdown there, recovery, then a significant slowdown in the last 5k, the slowdown at Disney being more severe than at DeMar. Perhaps what I should strive for in my next marathon is to work on smoothing out that last 5k. If I could have maintained an 8:30 pace the last 5k I would have shaved something like 50 seconds off my time.

In retrospect, I ran the race about as well as I could have and I don't think I would have changed much. I went out in 1:49:07 in the first half on a downhill course, and came back in 1:52:28 on a second half that was more challenging than the first half. The last 10k I was in a position to put up a very good time if I could hold it together, and I had not spent so much energy that I fell apart in the last 5k. After the hills in mile 23, I recovered a little and I had some hope to hold that pace to the finish, but the pain was bad enough that I was worried I might cramp up or collapse like at Disney. I slowed down, but did not collapse like at Disney. Hopefully with some more miles in the training bank and experience, I'll be able to maintain pace over the last 5k.

Clarence Demar Marathon Recap

I changed the title of my blog since it's not really any longer about my running the Disney Marathon as a way to motivate myself to become healthier... now it's just a general running diary.

Pre-Dawn check in at DeMar Marathon

My goal for the race was 3:40 and I ended up running 3:41:35. In retrospect, a 3:40 time was pretty ambitious for this course. It represents a 12 minute PR over my Disney time on a harder course. The DeMar Course is not strictly speaking "tough." But it's not an easy course, either. It is net downhill and there aren't really any killer hills, but there are a lot of rolling hills that, I discovered, are very taxing over the marathon distance. And there is a long uphill in mile 12, a couple of short steep hills in mile 23 (the famous cemetery section) and some other non-trivial climbs scattered throughout the course. It all adds up to the fact that you don't really ever get a good chance to settle in to a long, extended flat cruise.

Rather than another mile-by-mile recap, I'll just give my splits with some notes with what I can remember of the race:

1. 8:06        8:06 all downhill
2. 8:18      16:24 down with short uphill 
3. 8:09      24:33 downhill
4. 8:08      32:41 downhill
5. 8:07      40:48 downhill
6. 8:17      49:05 rolling 
7. 8:21      57:26 rolling
8. 8:24   1:05:50 rolling
9. 8:22   1:14:12 rolling
10. 8:21 1:22:33
11. 8:37 1:31:10  Hill up to dam then flat
12. 8:29 1:39:39
13. 8:28 1:48:07 long uphill
14. 

half split 1:49:07 - about where I wanted to be, 1 min ahead of a 3:40 marathon.

15.  8:27    2:05:02 missed mile 14 split, so this is average pace for miles 14,15
16   8:19    2:13:21 flat
17   8:30    2:21:51
18   8:32    2:30:23
19   8:31    2:38:53
20   8:42    2:47:35 Need 52 minute 10K for 3:40 goal. Don't push for it.
21   8:26    2:56:21
22   8:23    3:04:22 Flat
23   8:47    3:13:23 Cemetery hills, steepest on course. They hurt.
24   8:34    3:21:47 Flat. Recovered a bit and picked up pace a little
25   8:48    3:30:36 “Why am I doing this?”. Pain but no crash
26   9:05    3:39:41 “God just make it end”. Pain but no crash

 

Finish 3:41:35  “Can’t believe I have something left. Little sprint to end.”

At the 2:47:35 split at mile 20, I knew I had to run a 52 minute 10k to get a sub 3:40 finish (marathons are a 10k with a 20 mile warmup, right?)  That's about an 8:22 pace. Which meant I was just about bang on my 8:23 overall race pace. But I knew 3:40 was a tall order given the cemetery hills in mile 23 and the typical end of marathon slowdown, hills notwithstanding. So I forgot about race time and just attempted to hold my form together. The last 5k my legs really hurt, not just the quads but everything: Glutes, hamstrings and calfs were all screaming. I was really hoping to avoid the hard crash I experienced at Disney, and fortunately that never happened. I never got any numb muscles, or felt sick, or the emptiness I felt at Disney. In fact, despite the pain I was able to put on a mild sprint in the last tenth of a mile.

Some amusing stories from the race:

- It was a good thing Tricia and toured the course a few weeks ago. The bus from the finish to the start took a wrong turn (which I recognized) and I had to guide the driver to the right destination.

- I passed a guy puking on the side of the road at mile 25. He sprinted by me just before the finish and beat me by 2 secs. I congratulated him.

My overall impression of the DeMar Marathon is that it is a great small marathon (300 runners), well-organized with very enthusiastic volunteers. The morning check-in at the finish is at a very nice college fitness center with bathrooms, you wait for the start in a heated gymnasium in an elementary school (low 40's temperature at the start), and the first half of the course is absolutely stunning in the early morning light. The second half of the course is not so scenic but I don't really care since at that point I'm all about racing. The whole event has a friendly, small-town New England feel to it that is charming. I might do it again sometime, but next Fall I'd be more interested in a flat race I could go again for a sub 3:40 time.

Clarence DeMar Marathon Results

Half: 1:49.07
Full 3:41:35
I'm happy. Left it all out there

Clarence DeMar Marathon Results and Schedule

The Clarence DeMar Marathon does not post live results (I emailed the race director to find out). They will text my official time to my iPhone after the finish, however. I'm planning on posting the time to this blog as soon as I can after the race. That should be between 12:00 and 12:30.

The race day schedule planned is this:

3:00 AM - Wake up and get ready for the race. I might be awake already since I couldn't sleep the night before the Disney Marathon. Hoping that doesn't happen here.

3:30 AM - Leave for Keene, NH. It's a two hour drive and I'm not planning on staying there overnight before the race. Thus the early morning drive.

5:30 AM - Arrival at Keene. Get my race bib, prep everything (apply glide, pocket gu gels, etc.)

6:30 AM - Board the bus for the start line in Gilsum. You leave your car at the finish line at Keene State College, they bus you to the start in Gilsum, then you run back to Keene. Should get to Gilsum by 7:00 AM

8:00 AM - Marathon Start.

11:00 AM - Finish Clarence DeMar Marathon. (Just kidding. I won't be running a 3 hour marathon)

11:30-12:00 PM - Finish Marathon. My goal is a 3:40 so I should be done before 12:00

12:00-1:00 PM - Text result to my blog, take some pictures, drink water and eat, take a shower (Keene State College will be open for this), hang out a bit and enjoy the finish.

1:00 PM - Head back to Danvers.

3:00 PM - Arrive at Danvers. The most important part of Marathon planning is arranging the post-race feast.

After the DeMar marathon I plan on taking Monday off work. Tricia and I are going to head into Boston and I plan on eating my way through the North End. Can I put on 5 lbs in a week like I did after Disney? Just another PR to chase.

Louisa May Alcott 10k

Aaron and I ran a 10k in Concord today, a benefit for the Louisa May Alcott Orchard House (the historical home of the Alcott's). The idea here was to improve our 10k time to get a better corral at the Disney World Half Marathon in January. We both wore our "I'm training for the Disney..." tech shirts. A few other runners noticed them and mentioned that they were running Disney as well. No one else was running the Goofy Challenge but one was signed up for the Dopey. We also ran into Dean from the Danvers 5K, who I see every Wednesday at the weekly event and for the follow-on beers. Dean started pretty quickly and we didn't see him the rest of the race.

The race featured some organizers in period costume and a pair of Minutemen firing muskets to start the race. Also the start line is at an elementary school so there are indoor bathrooms rather than port-a-johns. A nice touch.  Pretty good free food pre-race as well. Tricia came and took pictures along the course. Here we are at the start line:

The course is relatively flat with a few rollers but no serious hills. It was in the 60's and a misty rain so it was pretty good running weather. Here we are midrace:

And crossing the finish line:

We ended up improving on the 57 min 10k from the North Andover 10k in July, but only by about a minute. It's all good, though, as a sub-hour 10k will give us a pretty decent Disney corral.

Next stop: Clarence DeMar Marathon on Sept. 27

Marathon and Predicted Results

I've already sort of settled in on 3:40 as my goal time for the Clarence DeMar Marathon. As a sanity check on the realism of this goal - and also because it was just fun - I decided to plug in my recent results into the estimated finish time calculator at Marathon Guide. What the calculator does is take your time from one distance and estimate your finish time at other distances. It does more than just a simple linear projection based on mile pace. Based on how runner pace typically varies between distances, it either discounts your pace estimating a longer distance or increases it for a shorter distance. My most recent result was the Seacoast 10k. Plugging in the 46:23 I ran at that race I got the following results:

Distance	Guide Estimate	PR	Delta (PR-Guide)	Delta %	PR date
5k	22:08	21:48	-00:20	-1.5	6/3/15
10k	--	46:23	--	--	8/22/15
10 mile	1:16:34	1:16:52	+00:18	+0.4	6/21/15
Half	1:42:51	1:44:15	+01:24	+1.3	5/3/15
Full	3:35:25	3:52:35	+17:10	+7.4	1/11/15

The second column is the estimate from Marathon Guide. Following that is my personal record (PR), the difference between my PR and the Guide estimate, that same difference as a percentage, and the date of my PR. It's impressive how close the estimates are on my 5k, 10 mile, and Half results - all within 1.5%. So the formula they are using seems pretty good.

Marathon Guide estimates me at a 3:35 marathon based on the 10k result. So that should give some confidence that I can get sub 3:40.  Assuming the "error bars" are the same on the marathon as they are on my other races, let's assume +/- 1.5% on the marathon time, which gives a range of times from 3:32:12 to 3:38:38.

Another way to do this is to plug the 3:40 marathon time into the estimator and see what it says I should be doing for other races:

Distance	Guide Estimate	PR	Delta (PR-Guide)	Delta %	PR date
5k	22:37	21:48	-00:49	-3.7	6/3/15
10k	47:22	46:23	-00:59	-2.1	8/22/15
10 mile	1:18:11	1:16:52	-01:19	-1.7	6/21/15
Half	1:45:02	1:44:15	-00:47	-0.8	5/3/15
Full	3:40:00	3:52:35	+12:35	+5.4	1/11/15

The interesting trend here is the way my percentage decrease on the estimated time gets higher the shorter the distance, -0.8 for the half all the way up to -3.7 for the 5k. This would seem to imply I have more speed vs endurance than the "formula runner" used in the calculation. A little surprising since I think of myself more as an endurance runner than a speed runner.

The advice the experts give for a marathon is to "let the race come to you", meaning don't start with an aggressive pace but rather one more comfortable, and if later in the race you are still feeling it, then the race has come to you and you can safely increase your pace. This is my preferred approach to racing in any case. I think I can safely start with a 3:40 goal time (about an 8:20 pace), and go with how I feel later in the race.

Last 20 Mile Run - Taper Ahead

I had my last 20 mile training run the DeMar marathon this morning. After this it's a gradual taper to race day. I ran my (now) usual Wenham course with its rolling terrain and hills. After touring the marathon course, it's clear that the Wenham course is good training for it. Similar to the DeMar course but slightly harder.

The 20 felt very good and I felt strong enough to pick up the pace a bit in the last 5 miles. My mile splits:

1 10:57
2 10:08
3 9:39
4 9:42
5 9:37
6 9:36
7 9:47
8 10:16
9 9:55
10 9:59
11 9:31
12 9:17
13 9:41
14 9:20
15 9:31
16 9:15
17 8:56
18 9:01
19 9:05
20 9:12

I thought about going further then thought better of it in favor of sticking to the program. When realized how sore I was when getting out of the car later, I'm glad I did!

Clarence DeMar Marathon Tour

We dropped off Ethan at UMass for the Fall Semester yesterday and decided to head up to Keene, NH to tour the Clarence Demar Marathon course. The race starts in the tiny town of Gilsum at the Gilsum Historical Society. We had a bit of difficulty finding the race start - it's easy to drive right by Gilsum - but after a couple of wrong turns we eventually found the start. Not long after the start the course crosses the Gilsum Stone Arch bridge:

It's a beautiful bridge that my pictures don't really do justice:

Here are some views looking off the bridge at the Ashuelot River. The course continues down the road at the right and follows the river:

And the other side:

The course winds its way along the river generally downhill (rivers don't flow uphill) through some very pretty, shaded country. It's not all downhill but rather rolling and the pavement isn't always good so I'll have to watch my step. We didn't stop and get any pictures along the river but here's one out of the car that gives a taste of the scenery:

 Around mile 9 you come to the Surry Mountain Dam and do an out and back along the dam. Some shots off the dam:

more of the dam:

more of the dam again:

The second half of the course flattens out and is not quite as scenic - you are no longer running along the river but it's still a nice course:

We drove through the famous cemeteries (famous if you follow the DeMar marathon) with their steep but short hills in the 23rd mile. Eventually you end up at Keene State College for the finish. The town of Keene already has banners out welcoming marathon runners:

One thing I didn't realize about the course was how twisty and turny it is. There aren't many long, straight stretches like you find at Disney World. There are also a number of loops and double backs where you will see other runners coming in the opposite direction. I kind of like that because it keeps things interesting to see other runners. It's a good thing I've been running hills up in Wenham because, while there aren't many big hills on the course, a lot of it is rolling.

The course is very scenic, about which my pictures don't do justice, and I can't wait to run it. Three weeks to go.

Lynn Woods 10 Mile Relay

On Tuesday afternoon, I got a text from my friend Jeff that he had lost a member of his team that was running a 4x2.5 mile relay at the Lynn Woods reservation on Wednesday night. I wasn't aware there was such a race, but it sounded like fun, so I agreed to fill in. I held back a little because I was worried about getting hurt - not something you really want to chance this far along in marathon training. The last time I ran trails was almost thirty years ago in the Marine Corps, and I had a vision of dodging roots, stones and branches. At least this time I wouldn't have to do it wearing boots and carrying a rifle.

Jeff assured me it wasn't that bad, and for the most part it wasn't. There's one part called the "goat path" that is a short climb straight uphill over roots and rocks, but other than that it's mostly about dodging rocks on the path. The path itself is more an old dirt road.

I ran the second leg on the team, and I was happy I was able to run it in 19:42 at slightly less than an 8 minute mile pace.

Our team didn't place (we competed in the "senior men's" division - even older than the "master's" division. Ouch.) but the whole event was a lot of fun with a great atmosphere. About 100 teams competed, so at any time there were 100 runners on the course and 300 hanging around the start line cheering on teammates. 

One of the nice things I like about running (and this it shares with Irish music) is the way it brings together people of a variety of different ages. Just like the Danvers 5k, this race featured runners from high school age to those in their 70's. I hope to do it again next year.

Seacoast Running Festival 10k

If the Triple Threat Half Marathon was a killer, the Seacoast 10k course is built for speed. Very flat, and a slight downhill from start to finish, with a couple slight uphill sections. It was a pretty good day for running as well, in the 70's and cloudy for most of the race.

I had planned on running with Ellen, but I felt a lot of juice in my legs during the warmup so I decided to try for a PR. The race was timed by Racewire but, oddly, the start did not have the timing mats. So we pushed to the front of the corral and got off right with the gun.

The course, while flat and fast, is a little odd. It includes running along roads, a rail trail, a wooden bridge, through parking lots and a park. The mile markers were not correct according to my GPS, which is not always accurate but never two tenths of a mile off. And my GPS recorded 6.2 miles at the finish so it was accurate assuming the course length was correct. The bad mile markers set up a bit of a false hope as I thought I had a chance to break 46 minutes as I passed the 6 mile mark. But when I turned onto the homestretch I could see the finish line and it was clearly more than 1/4 mile away (when it should have been two tenths of a mile).

In any case, I ran a good race and PR'd by three minutes finishing in 46:23. My splits:

1. 7:42
2. 7:39
3. 7:22
4. 7:29
5. 7:28
6. 7:20

It was a good day all around for the Tye family, as we all PR'd by several minutes. Ellen knocked 5 minutes off of her North Andover 10k down to 52:33, and Ethan took about 3 minutes of his N.A time to 45:12.

Peak Mileage and Preparing for the Clarence DeMar Marathon

Well it's the Triple Threat Half Marathon last Sunday and right into a peak mileage training week for the marathon - 50 miles this week including a 20 mile run next Sunday. This is all in preparation for the Clarence DeMar marathon on Sept. 27 in New Hampshire. A big concern for me is getting rid of most, if not all, the weight I put on post Disney. Here is my weight record since last November:

11/10/14    180.0
12/1/14      181.0
12/8/14      181.0
12/15/14    180.5
1/10/15       Disney Marathon
1/19/15      185.0
1/26/15      184.0
2/2/15        187.0
2/9/15        186.0
3/16/15      191.0
7/6/15        192.5
7/13/15      190.0
7/20/15      189.5
7/29/15      188.5
8/5/15        190.0

I intentionally pigged out at Disney World in the week after the race so I'm not surprised I put on a few pounds. And not all the weight is fat since I've definitely become stronger since last winter - including running a 1:44 PR half marathon in Binghamton when I weighed at least 190 lbs.

If I want to get in the 180 range for the DeMar marathon, I'm going to have to get medieval between now and then. I've gone to the steel cut oatmeal for breakfast and I think I've decided to cut the alcohol completely - so no more Osborn Tavern after the weekly Danvers 5k until October.

What are the marathon goals? Given the 1:44 marathon PR and the 1:46 I did on the challenging Triple Threat course on a hot day, I think a 3:40 marathon is not an unreasonable goal. That's a 1:50 half marathon pace.

But I don't want to be carrying 190 lbs on Sept. 27 when I try to meet that goal.

Killer Courses and the Triple Threat Half Marathon

My first half marathon was this race - the Triple Threat - at just this time last year. It wasn't until I had run some other half marathons that I realized just how difficult a course this is. Looking back at it this year, the course almost seems designed to break your spirit. It's an out and back course, net downhill on the out and (naturally) uphill on return. It's rolling hills most of the way, and the final 5k is mostly uphill, including some very steep sections. And just when you think you have climbed the final hill, and make the turn for the last quarter mile back to Rockport High, what greets you but a final insult in the form of one more small hill to overcome. I have seen far more runners walking the hills on this course than any other, and I'm talking about runners who were on pace to finish sub 1:50. Here I am on the first half of the course before the beatings began:

Another unique feature this course has is a 100 yard stretch running through sand as you go past Pebble Beach at about the 3 and 1/2 mile mark. Of course, as an out and back course, you must run through the sand again just before you take on the final 5k. Thanks Rockport!

If you want more, the race is called Triple Threat because there are 1 mile and 5k races before it, and you are invited to run all three. The half is plenty for me, but even if you don't run the earlier races, their very existence pushes the half marathon start to later in the morning (10:15) so the weather gets a chance to become nice and hot - mid 80's in this case, significantly hotter than it was last year.

I normally don't take any water on half marathons, but given the heat, I thought it would be the better part of valor to take water every chance I had. I'll have to work on the technique, because I had trouble drinking while running and eventually just stopped briefly at the water stops and walked while taking water. That's something I'm going to have to work out before the Clarence DeMar marathon in September.

I ran a 7:50 pace on the way out, which put me about a minute ahead of a PR pace. I had no illusions about PR'ing, however, knowing what was facing me on the way back. One thing I was determined to do was to keep running up the final hills and not bail out and walk like I did last year. And I managed to do that, eventually finishing in 1:46:49, a couple minutes slower than my PR but more than 3 minutes faster than my time on this course last year.

Tricia came to cheer me on along with our friends Jeff and Dianne (who took the picture above). This race is well run with cheerful volunteers and a lot of spectator support along the course. At least three times I ran through sprinklers people had thoughtfully put out. And it certainly is a beautiful course. But the best summary is one an older female runner made as we were walking to the car and cheered her on as she passed still on the course. Her comment: "This course is harder than childbirth."

Sometimes, however, it's good to take on a challenging course rather than just looking for a PR course every time. If you can take on this beast and finish running, you can feel satisfied you slayed the dragon and your other half marathons will seem easy.

Officially into the Higdon Intermediate II Marathon Training

Last week I started explicitly training according to the Higdon Intermediate II plan - the same one I did for the Disney Marathon last winter. This is in preparation for the Clarence DeMar Marathon on Sept. 27. I'm jumping into week 8 of the training plan.

Yesterday (Sunday) I ran a 17 miler, using the 5 mile loop I created around Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Wenham. This is a run along leafy country roads, occasionally meeting other runners and seeing a lot of competitive bikers - these roads are very popular with the bikers. Also the occasional horseback rider.

Sunday was very hot and humid so it was a good thing I ran in my usual early morning timeframe. The loop format allows me to place a water bottle at my car so I can drink without having to carry water. Even with drinking every 5 miles, I lost close to 5 pounds in water by the end of the run. But nonetheless I was able to run at a pace of 9:45 per mile, which is pretty fast for my training runs. Next Sunday a 19 miler is on deck.

North Andover July 4 10k

The three kids and I ran the 10k in North Andover this morning. It was a real treat to have the whole crew along for the race. A couple of Ellen's friends came along as well to cheer her on.

The weather was good but the course, as I remember it from last year, is very difficult. Pretty much nothing but hills from start to finish - starting with a nice juicy one over the first mile. My goal was to PR and hopefully pull a 7:30 pace - doable I would think as I ran a 7:41 pace for the 10 miler in Beverly two weeks ago. Aaron and Ellen were hoping to break an hour (they are running for a qualifying time for the corrals in the Disney World Half Marathon next January).

Here we are we are prior to the start of the race (all pictures courtesy of Tricia):

And here are Ethan and me waiting for the start of the 10K:

and here is Ellen getting a good start:

I stayed with Ethan for about the first 3 miles when he gradually began pulling away. He was a few hundred yards ahead of me by the last mile, then took it up a notch in the last half mile and I lost sight of him. The hills on this course really do a number on your pacing. It's just impossible to get into a solid groove because you are either working up hill or falling downhill. I never really got settled and never got close to the 7:30 pace I was hoping for (my best mile was about 7:45). In the end, I barely ran 8 minute miles and finished in 49:28, about 50 seconds faster than I did the course last year, which isn't saying much as I've dropped my half marathon time by more than 6 minutes since that time.

Ethan ran steady and strong and finished well, posting a time of 48:17. Aaron and Ellen both broke an hour, Aaron finishing in 57:19 and Ellen in 57:24.

Here is Aaron, me and Ethan passing the same point about a quarter mile from the finish:

 

 

Next up for me is the Triple Threat Half Marathon on August 2. Another difficult course. Aaron, Ellen and I are also planning to run one more 10k before October - this time a flat to get the best time they can. I imagine they can drop a couple of minutes off of their 10k times simply by running an easier course.

New England Running Company 10 Mile Road Race

That was the wettest race I've run so far.

Fortunately the rain let up before the start, so I could get the warmup in and the pre-race standing around without getting soaked. But it wasn't soon after the start that it simply poured, and it stayed that way most of the race. By midway I wasn't bothering running around the puddles anymore.

I started with Marianne and a friend of hers, and we took the first three miles at an 8 minute mile pace. That really helped me, as I never start races that quickly and it felt good. Marianne moved ahead after 3 miles and later finished about a minute ahead of me.

My final result was 1:16:52, which was close to a 10 minute improvement over the 1:26 I did at Lazy Lobster about this time last year, and represents a 7:41 mile pace. It was a lot of fun and a very well organized race.

Beverly 10 miler pre-game

Tomorrow morning I'm running a 10 mile race in Beverly, probably in the rain, and hopefully not in a thunderstorm.

My PR for 10 miles is 1:26, done last June. That's an 8:40 mile pace. Given that I did a 7:57 pace for the Half Marathon in Binghamton in May, I certainly hope I can PR the 10 miles. I'll be happy if I can at least match the 7:57 pace I did in Binghamton.

5k PR

My knees felt good last night, so I went for it at the weekly Danvers 5K and tried for my first sub 22 5K (well, at least since I was a young man!) I made it and set a PR with a 21:48 finish. But I still couldn't catch Ethan who also lowered his time with a 21:33. A good night followed up with the usual good time at Osborn Tavern.

Danvers 5k

I finally decided to run a 5k for time last night. Since Wednesday is typically my day for a longer midweek run, and I take miles to warm up, I decided to run 4 miles then run the 5k race as fast as I could. It looks like that approach paid off, as I ran the 5k in 22:06, getting close to a 7 minute mile pace. After the race I added a slow mile for good measure to get to 8 miles for the day. Ethan and Ellen ran the race as well, Ethan beating me by 2 seconds and Ellen finishing in 25:xx.

Afterwards, beer at Osborn tavern.

Revised Running Plans

The rest of the year looks like this:

Ongoing - Danvers 5k, Danvers MA. Weekly run on Wednesday evening, followed by beer at Osborn Tavern

June 21 - New England Running Company 10 Mile Classic, Beverly, MA

July 4 - North Andover 10k, North Andover, MA with Aaron and Ellen (at least)

Aug 2 - Triple Threat Half Marathon, Rockport, MA

Sept 27 - Clarence DeMar Marathon, Keene, NH

November ?? - Air Force Association 10k, Bedford, MA

Jan 9,10 2016 - Goofy Challenge, WDW Orlando FL. I'll be running the half marathon on Saturday with Aaron and Ellen followed by the full marathon on Sunday.

Binghamton Bridge Run

Well that was fun.

And not just because I blew away my half marathon personal record by almost five minutes (which I did!) This run is very well organized, traces an interesting route through downtown and the west side of Binghamton, and is well-supported by spectators. Peculiar to the race are six bridge crossings over four different bridges spanning the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers. The weather was wonderful, about 50 degrees at the start and warming as the race wore on.

It was also special for me because Tricia, my father-in-law Walt, and my brother Ed all turned out to support me at the race. Because the race winds back and forth through this area of Binghamton, it's possible for a spectator to see you multiple times. I saw Tricia, Walt and Ed at least three times each, never together and I was never sure who would pop up next.

The race starts and ends at the NYSEG stadium, home of Binghamton's Double A baseball affiliate:

Here is a picture Tricia took of me running up Court Street, just after one of the bridge crossings:

 

 

and here is a video Ed took of me hoofing it up Grand Boulevard, somewhere around mile 9:

 



 

I did my usual slow start and strong finish. My splits from the Garmin GPS watch:

 

1. 8:29

2. 8:10

3. 7:58

4. 7:51

5. 7:48

6. 7:58

7. 7:56

8. 8:04

9. 8:13

10. 7:57

11. 7:50

12. 7:35

13. 7:23

 

The course is relatively flat, with some long gradual hills at miles 6,7 and 8, and a steep but short hill at mile 9. The final two miles are a small but steady downgrade along Main St. to the finish. As I settled in to the racing groove at miles 3 and 4, I was pleased to see I was pulling sub 8 minute miles without straining. I figured to hold that pace, then reevaluate at the 10 mile mark and see if I perhaps could take it up a notch for the final 5k. As it turned out, with 4 miles to go I was feeling strong and, not wanting to leave anything in the tank, I decided to turn it up then instead of later at the 5k-to-go mark. The downgrade to the finish is a real boost, and I ran the last mile just about flat out (pulling the same mile time I did for the final mile at the Tapleyville 7 Miler). Unlike the 7 miler, I didn't have much left in me at the finish so I think I paced it about right.

 

Near the finish you turn left off Court Street toward the stadium and the street is lined with cheering spectators, the buildings on either side (and later the stadium itself) providing the stadium effect I so enjoy. Another nice touch is the announcer broadcasting your name and hometown as you cross the finish line. That's me in the middle running more or less along at the finish:









 

 

The post-race goodies include water, Gatorade, fruit and, a nice local touch, Nirchi's Pizza. Another goodie: I ran a 1:44:15, PRing by four and half minutes. The finisher medal is also nice and heavy and will look good on my medal rack. Finally, there was a good little race expo the day before at packet pickup. All in all, a great race and I hope to do it again next year.



Tapleyville 7 Miler

This past Sunday there was a 7 mile race (actually 7.1 miles) here in Danvers that I signed up for at the last minute. The course runs along streets I run regularly and along the rail trail (an old railroad bed that has been turned into a cinder-based walk and bike path). An out and back course, the first half is generally uphill and the back half generally down. This exaggerated my normal tendency to start slow and finish fast; I did the first mile in 8:33 and the last in 7:24, going flat out at the end. In the end I did the course in 56:01. Next up - the Binghamton Bridge Run Half Marathon the first weekend in May.

Running Plans 2015

So far what I've got scheduled for this year is:

March 15: Hampton Half Marathon (Hampton, NH). Rescheduled from Feb. 22 because of the weather.

March 29: Run for the Border Half Marathon (Kittery, Maine)

May 3: Greater Binghamton Bridge Run Half Marathon (Binghamton, NY)

June 21 Rockport Father's Day Road Race 10K (Rockport, MA)

July 4 North Andover Fourth of July 10K. Not sure yet I will do this one, and the registration isn't open. Not sure they are holding it this year.

Aug 2 Triple Threat Half Marathon (Rockport, MA). This was my first half marathon. A nice but hilly course along the Cape Ann coast.

Sept 27 Clarence DeMar Marathon (Keene, NH). I'd like to PR this one, especially because I plan on running the Goofy Challenge (half marathon plus full) at Disney in January, and so will have to be careful about my pacing.

Medal Hanger

I picked up a medal hanger and put it up today. So far I have one full and two halfs:

Lately I've had to run on the treadmill but I'm hoping to go out for a 12 miler tomorrow. Three weeks until the Hampton Half.

Disney Marathon - Looking Back and Looking Forward

My journey started about this time last year, weighing 223 pounds, not having run much in a few months, and subject to increasing back and joint pains. I made the decision to make the Disney Marathon a goal that would motivate me to get myself in shape and avoid becoming prematurely old. A year later I had lost 40+ pounds and run a sub four hour marathon.

I thank God for giving me the health to make this possible. I knew from the start that there was no guarantee my body - especially my knees - would hold up to the training. Losing some weight before starting the real training mitigated the situation, but several injuries throughout the year, including knee problems and strained muscles, made it clear just how quickly injury can stop you in your tracks. Right now I'm amazed at how good my knees feel. Even after the marathon they were not sore at all, and I know I am very fortunate in this.

It's obvious as well that I need goals to keep me motivated. It was only the goal of the Disney Marathon that motivated me to make the necessary changes last year. After the marathon, I let myself go at Disney and put on a few pounds last week - for which I have no regrets. But I certainly don't want to slide back to where I was.

Why not repeat the same formula? One reason is that doing it on your own is a little lonely, when most of the runners at Disney are in groups or pairs. I really wouldn't want to go down again as a solo runner. Fortunately Ellen has come to the rescue and agreed to run the half marathon next year. That gives me the opportunity to do the Goofy Challenge, running the half with her on Saturday and then the full myself on Sunday. I'm already fired up about it and I know this will provide the motivation I need to stay on track.

Short term I'm running the Hampton Half Marathon in February, joined by Marianne, the runner who inspired me to take on the Disney Marathon in the first place. I'll be trying to finally breakthrough that 1:50 half marathon PR.

Disney Marathon 2015 Recap

Well the big day finally arrived this past Sunday.

 

On Saturday we flew down from Boston, took the Magical Express to the Polynesian, and immediately headed to the ESPN Center to get my packet and explore the Health and Fitness Expo. I was a little nervous about this because of the compressed timeline but it all worked out. We picked up my packet and marathon shirt, which is long sleeve black. I like it and I'll likely wear it for the Hampton Half Marathon in February. I also bought a yellow short sleeve 2015 marathon shirt. There is a lot going on at the Expo, much of which we didn't explore as we got there late and I needed to get back to the hotel to rest up for the race.

 

We headed back to the Polynesian and checked in, and I ate my pre-dinner race at the Contempo Café in the Contemporary Resort, which has a pasta and meatballs offering. I was hoping to sleep that night since I hadn't really slept Friday night, but I didn't really sleep much Saturday night either. I tossed and turned for a while, went down and hung around the Great Ceremonial Hall, came back and tossed and turned some more, then decided to get up for good at 2:00 AM. I ate my pre-race breakfast of peanut butter on saltines, got suited up, and headed out for Epcot at 3:30 AM on the monorail.

 

The setup was just as described in various blogs (and documented in Lee Hoedl's videos). The staging area was a parking lot at Epcot with rock music playing and MC's firing up the crowd. One funny element was the Green Army Man from Toy Story, stationed in an elevated bunker and yelling down at the runners to motivate them. More on this guy later.

 

At around 4:30 we started the long walk to the start corrals, which again went just as expected. I was glad I listened to Lee Hoedl and brought a towel to sit on while waiting in the corral, which lasted till 5:30. One disappointing thing I noticed were people climbing the barriers to get into corrals, presumably ahead of the ones they were assigned. There are always the 10% in any group that have to ruin the situation. I was surprised at how relatively close I was, in the E corral, to the absolute start of the race. This is a consequence of the fact that the early corrals are the smallest and get larger as you go back (all the way to P), getting to a thousand and more for the ones in the back. The corrals in front of me had a few hundred at most (at least until people started climbing into them!)

 

Most of the runners were in groups or pairs (with several newlywed couples with the bride running in a white dress and veil), but people were pretty friendly and I chatted with some other singles like me.  We agreed we were lucky with the weather, which was in the high 50s at race start and was forecast to not get out of the 60s during the race.

 

So Mickey did the countdown, the fireworks went off, and a few minutes later my corral had moved up to the start line and we were off.

 

Mile 1. 9:49 (these are splits from my watch)

 

I did no warmup but stretched out in the corral, and given my naturally slow starts, I wasn't too worried about taking it out too fast.

 

Mile 2. 8:55

 

A lot of jockeying for position and it was fairly crowded. The corral runners are still more or less in a big clump. I had to run on the grass to get around some runners to maintain pace.

 

Mile 3. 8:57

 

It opens up and people spread out and position is no longer an issue. I was passing people even from the start and I have to wonder how some runners got the corral placement they did (other than climb the barriers). A lot of these runners could never have done the 1:50 half that got me into the E corral. We also started getting the cheering squads. There are a lot of high school marching bands and cheerleaders scattered throughout the course and cheering you on. One of the nice Disney touches. Also the Disney characters along the route started showing up. You can stop and have your picture taken with them (either with your own camera or a professional photographer). Some of the setups are very elaborate, like a pirate ship behind Captain Jack Sparrow.

 

Mile 4. 8:50

 

I'm making no effort to control my pace. I know the cruising stride I want and I've just adopted that gait and let nature take its course. From experience I know I'll speed up even if it doesn't feel any different and this was happening. We're also approaching the Magic Kingdom and there are now crowds along the road cheering us on. I notice one of the newlywed couples running hand-in-hand and I wonder if they will make it the whole race like that.
 

Mile 5. 8:46

 

This mile includes the entry into the Magic Kingdom proper and the famous turn down Main Street USA. And it really was just as thrilling as advertised:

 

  

 It's still pre-dawn when you get to this point and Main Street is lit up with both sides jammed with cheering spectators. The buildings create a stadium effect with all the noise and it really does give you a jolt, with the Cinderella Castle lit up straight in front of you. You then circle around through Tomorrowland and run back through the castle:

 

 

Mile 6. 8:53

Mile 7. 8:44

This mile takes you behind the Polynesian and I knew my family would be waiting for me to run by. And there they were... but a large bus cruised between us just as I ran by! I also ate my first gu gel packet.

 

Mile 8. 8:40

This takes you around the WDW Speedway. The track is lined with classic cars (like a classic car show) with the owners encouraging you to take a look. And they are blasting racing sounds over the sound system. By this point I had settled in to my racing groove.
 

Mile 9. 8:40

Mile 10. 9:06

Stopped for a quick bathroom break here, which pushed the split over 9 minutes.
 

Mile 11. 8:28

Mile 12. 8:29

These miles take you on back roads past the WDW Water Treatment Plant. The most boring section on the course as there are no marching bands or cheerleaders and it smells. The only items of interest are a series of signs that tell you how much filth the treatment plant processes. Better than nothing I suppose. When I saw the 11 mile split I noted it was too fast but wasn't concerned over one mile. When mile 12 came in at the same split the "danger Will Robinson" flash went off in my mind and I consciously backed off the pace a bit. There was no way I could keep that up for 26.

Mile 13. 8:37

This mile takes you through Animal Kingdom. I was having a ball, running comfortably, chatting with other runners, waving at spectators and thanking the volunteers.

 

  

Running through AK I turned a corner and who was there but Baloo from my favorite Disney movie, Jungle Book. He had the the things I required for a character stop: 1) Be a character I was interested in. 2) No line and 3) A professional photographer (not all the characters along the way have them, so unless you carry your own camera, you can't get a picture).

 

 

Mile 14. 8:38

Ate my second gu gel packet. My left knee started to bother me, an ominous sign. But a few miles later it felt fine and didn't bother me the rest of the race. My right little toe was hurting a little bit as well but I just lived with it the rest of the race. After the race I discovered that I had blisters between all the toes on my right foot (something that's never happened before) so maybe that sock was too tight.
 

Mile 15. 8:32

Mile 16. 8:39

Mile 17. 8:35

 

These miles take you from Animal Kingdom to the ESPN Center. I was still feeling strong, running easily, and having a ball. At the water stops I would crush my cups and try to score a basket in a trash barrel while running by. At one stop here I threw the cup between two runners and bounced it off the rim of the barrel; the runner in back yelled "Denied!" This guy had his name "Kevin" in big letters across his back and was really living it up, yelling to the spectators and other runners. He was a good runner and was easily handling the pace. I would pass him at character stops and then see him a while later as he caught up. We joked now and again until the last time I saw him in Hollywood Studios - but more on that later.

 

Mile 18. 8:47

Mile 19. 8:42

 

The course winds around through the ESPN Center on these miles. The slowdown in pace didn't concern me because there are a number of hairpin turns and bottlenecks going in and out of the stadium, the track and the like. 

A lot of runners don't like the ESPN Section of the course because some of the running can be difficult, but I had no problem with it and it's a lot more interesting than other sections of the course.

Mile 20. 9:00

At the end of Mile 20 we exited the ESPN Center and headed to Hollywood Studios. Again the split didn't bother me because I felt good and there were bottlenecks on this part of the course. Ate my last gu gel pack.

Mile 21. 8:45

I knew I was in uncharted territory here as my longest training run was 20 miles. I reminded myself of one of the marathon tips, which is to trust your training. I had followed the Higdon plan religiously and so should be confident going forward.  I was still feeling strong and a quick calculation showed that I could break 3:50 if I could stay under 9 minute miles for the balance of the race.

This mile includes a long on-ramp to a highway overpass and I saw one of the characters I was hoping for, the Green Army Man from Toy Story. Unfortunately he didn't have a professional photographer with him. He wasn't standing still either, as he was running out on the course alongside runners and yelling "Move it, Move it, Move it, soldier!" and "Get up that hill!" as we ran up the on-ramp. I thought this was hilarious and hoped he'd pick on me but no such luck.
 

Mile 22. 8:48

Here I was able to hold the pace but it was starting to become work, so I became a little concerned. I was no longer smokin' and jokin' like I was earlier.
 

Mile 23. 8:54

This mile includes the arrival at Hollywood Studios and I could tell I was starting to actually become tired, but I still had confidence I could make 3:50. Only 5k to go!

Mile 24. 9:15

And then the bottom dropped out. I'm familiar with the phrase "hitting the wall", but if that's what happened to me here, the phrase doesn't do it justice. I've never felt anything like it, including any of the Marine Corps training. A better word would be "devastation." "Hitting the wall" implies you have encountered a barrier and are trying to break through to the other side. Whatever wall was in front of me could have been paper thin because I had nothing left to get through it.

 

 

What shocked me was the speed with which it happened. I could detect a slow decline in my pace and my strength over the previous few miles and I was prepared for that. I even thought I could make the 3:50 if things continued to decline at that rate. But this was just a complete emptying of the checking account. My thighs were thoroughly thrashed and were hurting badly, I was laboring in my breathing - all of which had happened at the end of half marathons. But there was a big difference between this feeling and how I felt at the end of half marathons. Here I felt a general bodily resignation I've never felt before. Any thoughts of the 3:50 went immediately out the window and I knew I was in a struggle for survival until the finish. I saw Kevin again and he started to talk to me but I just looked at him and shook my head. He said some words of encouragement and moved on. The last I saw him he was getting a character picture with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.

25. 9:33

This mile takes you along the Boardwalk from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT. I was familiar with it from staying at the Yacht Club back in 2011. It would have been nice to enjoy the sights and sounds but the only thing I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other. A few weeks ago we watched "The Spirit of the Marathon", a documentary that follows several runners training for and running the Chicago Marathon, including ordinary runners and elite athletes. I remembered the commentator saying that the elite female runner was "nothing but arms" as she approached the finish line (she won the race). Throughout the race I had been reminding myself to relax my arms, especially my left, which I tend to run with in a fist (see the pictures). Now, remembering what that runner had done, I began pumping my arms a bit and that seemed to help.
 

26. 9:40

 

I finally made it to EPCOT where you run through the World Showcase. Here I am struggling through Morocco:

 

 

I kept my head up enough to spot my family at Norway and cruised over to give everyone a fist bump. I managed to put on a brave smile:

 

 

 

As I closed in on the finish my thighs went numb and I started to feel a little sick. I knew that when I heard the Hallelujah Choir (a gospel choir singing near the finish) I was almost home, and it gave me a little bump when I heard them, knowing I was going to make it on my feet.

 

As I approached the finish line I didn't feel any elation, just physical emptiness and a determination to make it across the finish line running. Although I didn't feel any real desire to, I decided to throw up my arms in some sort of celebration for the pictures as I crossed the finish line. All I could manage, however, were a couple of feeble fist pumps:

 

 

I finished in 3:52:35, reaching my goal of a sub four hour marathon. After the finish I could barely walk and probably should have headed to the medical tent. But I was not dizzy or disoriented, just a physical wreck, and I figured the medical help was for the runners with potentially dangerous issues. Mine didn't seem dangerous, just painful.

 

I managed to work up a smile for the medal photo:

 



 

Unfortunately, the ordeal wasn't over because I now had to somehow make it to the monorail. I hobbled out of the finish area and saw signs for "bag check to the left" and "no bag check straight ahead". I had not checked a bag so I went straight ahead, which brought me to the buses, and only then did I realize the monorail was in the opposite direction. Cursing Mickey for his poor signage, I backtracked and started out across a large parking lot. One other thing that was annoying was the complete absence of seating in the finish area. I guessed that this was because they wanted to hustle runners out of the area with thousands more coming in and a desire to break down the marathon setup as soon as possible. But come on, I just ran 26.2 miles! The only place to sit is on bare blacktop?? In any event, I struck out across that parking lot and after 50 yards stopped and rested on a concrete lightpole base. Heading out again, I managed another 100 yards before I was forced to ask some women at a Downs Syndrome charity tent if I could rest in one of their chairs. They were runners themselves and understood. I plopped down for a 5 minute break, then couldn't get out of the chair to move on. One of the women had to hoist me out of the chair and push me in the direction of the monorail. After a 40 minute odyssey that was as painful as the marathon, I managed to collapse in the monorail and get carted back to the Polynesian. Again, I should have had the sense to ask for a golf cart ride right after the finish, but nonetheless I wanted to punch Mickey in the nose while I was struggling across that parking lot.

I figured I might be down for the rest of the day, but a hot shower and a 20 minute rest did wonders, and we spent the rest of the day in the Magic Kingdom. I almost fell over a few times getting on rides, but everything went well, including the evening feast at the Liberty Tree Tavern.

I have to say the Disney Marathon was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done. Some runners feel elation approaching/crossing the finish line, but I was feeling nothing but pain and had to fake the elation. A few hours later the elation set in, however, and I never got tired of wearing my medal around the parks all week.

This is something I'd love to do again and I'm already anticipating doing the Goofy Challenge (the half and full) next year - this time with some company.