Trip Report Flabby, Fat & Lazy, Run A Race And Oopsy-Daisy! A 2013 Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

Hellooooooo humans! It's another runDisney trip report!

The cast is a small one this time around...just my husband Will (28) and me, Shannon (29).

This runDisney trip was different from my other ones in a few ways, the biggest being that the primary motivation was not to run the half marathon (although I did sign up for the half...I can't pass up the opportunity to earn some runDisney bling ). No, the main reason we booked this trip was to run Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K...together! It was Will's first race at Disney...actually, his first race ever!

We originally had our sights set on May's Expedition Everest Challenge, but quickly realized that the race would more than likely fall during a big tennis tournament that Will coaches each year. It seemed stupid to sign up for such an expensive race ($210 for both of us to do the 5K! ) with such a strong possibility that we wouldn't actually be able to participate, so that's when we switched gears and planned on the Wine & Dine weekend.

If any of you have read my other runDisney race reports you may be wondering what happened to my normal runDisney partner-in-crime, Princess Craiggy (my brother Craig, 27). Why didn't he come along and run the half with me? Apparently the idea of doing a night race really freaks him out for whatever reason. Plus, he's pretty busy - and broke - being a smarty-pants graduate student in a rigorous nursing program. (He IS still running though, and he's mentioned doing another runDisney race weekend more than once.) And finally, I sort of thought Will and I needed a little getaway, just the two of us.

The other big way that this trip was different was that it was the first time I've ever come into a runDisney race trip thinking there was a strong possibility that I'd either not start a race or drop out due to injury. My last long run during training was a 12-miler on November 3, the Sunday before the race. Out of nowhere I had weird knee pain at mile 9 and changed my stride to compensate for it. I felt okay once I was done, but as the night went on I increasingly felt like I had an intense cramp in my left foot. The next morning it felt like I had a serious strain, and I spent the rest of the week hobbling around work, popping ibuprofen like it was candy, icing my foot, and researching compression socks and taping methods that I hoped would help me quickly heal or at least successfully limp through the race. (My knee, the thing that had started this whole mess, felt perfectly fine.) Monday and Tuesday were the worst - I was in serious pain and wasn't even looking forward to the trip. What if I couldn’t start the races? What if I started and got pulled off the course? I know they give out medals to people even if they don't finish (no comment on that policy...), what would I do with the medal? There's no way I'd keep it. What if I tore or ruptured something? Would I cause serious damage here? WHAT ABOUT MY TRIP REPORT?! Seriously though, it was a pretty miserable week.

On Wednesday I felt a little better and was starting to think that maybe I could make it through. By Thursday I was pretty sure I was going to at least try both races, knowing full well that due to my stubbornness (and, let's be honest, stupidity) there was no way I'd willingly leave the course once I started unless something serious happened.

It was just a really weird time...by far the least excited I've ever been for a Disney trip.

 

[Ariel484]

After some much-needed sleep we caught a bus going to Epcot. I forget how long this drive took, but this was when we figured out that French Quarter and Riverside share a bus for Epcot. I think it was maybe 20-25 minutes with the extra stops.

We power-walked to Italy by way of Mexico, Norway, etc. Epcot was PACKED. Possibly the most crowded I've ever seen it...and we were in Disney over Thanksgiving a few years back. I guess the combination of it being a Saturday night + the last weekend of Food & Wine + Veterans Day Weekend + Wine & Dine weekend made for some huge crowds in the World Showcase. It was kind of overwhelming.

Eventually we made it to Italy and checked in for our 4:30 ADR at Via Napoli about 5 minutes late.

In the months leading up to the Wine & Dine half (which I still planned on running at that point - I think I remember my foot feeling pretty good post-nap) I'd done a bit of research about how people recommended eating during the day before the night race. I read that most people had a bigger lunch followed by a "snack" for dinner. I've never run a night race before (I did do a couple of longer training runs in the evening to try to prepare...I don't think it helped much though) but I knew that just a "snack" for dinner would not cut it for me. So even though this dinner reservation was early I still felt like I was sort of taking a risk. Hopefully I wasn't setting myself up for serious stomach issues later that evening.

We were seated in the big dining room and Will goes, "Is it just me, or are the servers here a lot better looking than normal people?" He wasn't kidding...the guy that brought our drinks looked like a male model!

Will ordered a Moretti in what he deemed a "witchin' bear mug!" (Except replace the "w" in "witchin'" with a "b." This is a family site, you know. )

I stuck to water, and lots of it. Our Male Model Water Guy was really good about re-filling my glass a lot...at some point he commented, "You must be thirsty!" and I giggled and batted my eyelashes. Okay, not really.

We put in our orders (pizza for me, pasta for Will) and our server warned us that since our entrees were cooked in different ovens, they may not come out at the same time.

Sure enough, Will's arrived first - the Candele (candle stick pasta, sausage ragu, polpettine meatballs, mozzarella, ricotta). You can see that he is poised to dig in ASAP:

It came out piping hot and Will really liked it!

My pizza came out 5-7 minutes later (which was not a big deal since we'd been warned about it ahead of time). I went for the individual pepperoni:

Since I was nervous about how dinner was going to affect the run later on I originally planned on eating 1/2-3/4 of the pizza...instead I stuffed the entire thing into my face and it was awesome. LOVE Via Napoli.

 

[Ariel484]

After dinner we took a left out of Italy to walk through the other half of the World Showcase and get a preview of the Food & Wine booths. This would be our first time attending the festival, and we'd SO been looking forward to it...but those Saturday night crowds were giving us second thoughts. There were SO many people - many were drunk and some were smoking right out in the open. No one was being belligerent or anything, and I think it wouldn't have been as big of a deal if there were less people and less smoking...but we were really surprised and sort of nervous for our planned Food & Wine explorations the next day.

Eventually we made it out of the World Showcase and to the cranberry bog.

What a weird job that would be, to just stand in the bog for a few hours answering questions.

#blessedball

We were back at French Quarter a bit after 6PM.

Rawr!

We took a lap around the pool area to find the hot tub because I was pretty sure I'd want to soak after the race later on. For whatever reason I could not for the life of me remember where the hot tub was, even though I'd seen it earlier that day. Turns out it was right at the pool entrance and we walked past it like 5-6 times. We still didn't realize where it was until the next day, even though we were actively looking for it. DUH.

We headed back to the room and I started getting stuff together for the race. This was the first time I was planning on checking a back and I double- and triple-checked to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything - clean clothes, flip flops, new KT Tape to re-tape after the race, Wet Ones wipes (since I wouldn't be able to shower after the race if I wanted to go to the after-party, which disturbed me greatly ), shampoo and conditioner (because if I couldn't shower maybe I could at least wash my hair in a bathroom sink???? Maybe???). Eventually I was afraid I had so much stuff that the clear plastic gear check bag I'd been given at the expo would rip, so I put half in a separate bag that Will promised to bring to the after-party (he planned on relaxing in the room during the race).

By now it was almost time to get to the bus stop, so I got changed, taped the crap out of my foot (which was feeling pretty good at that point) and taped my knee. Since my knee was what started this whole mess, it seemed like a good pre-cautionary measure. Besides my checked bag I also took my camera - of course - my phone, some Gu Chomps for fuel, and another bagel with peanut butter from home. I'd been hoping to get on the first bus to the starting area at 7PM and be first in line for character pictures, but I ended up getting on the bus later than planned at 7:30.

Wine & Dine Half Marathon Race Recap is up next!

 

[HollyBelle]

I've had those pumpkin pancakes at Kona. And I'm with you... they were such a letdown compared to my expectations!

Weekend nights + Food and Wine Festival = Total Drunkfest in World Showcase. Wait a second, considering this little equation, maybe we should take the "cabana" to Epcot next year?! Who's in? @Howe @plaz10 @sweetpee_1993 @Tiggerish @Tiggerfanatic ??

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

@HollyBelle I'm in!

 

[imagination30]

nice Shannon getting me exicted for Jan... ( btw weve bitten the bullet and looking at ars ,) bc dad mention something about it!

 

[Ariel484]

I've had those pumpkin pancakes at Kona. And I'm with you... they were such a letdown compared to my expectations!

Yeah, I mean, they were good but not great. You get it.

Weekend nights + Food and Wine Festival = Total Drunkfest in World Showcase. Wait a second, considering this little equation, maybe we should take the "cabana" to Epcot next year?! Who's in? @Howe @plaz10 @sweetpee_1993 @Tiggerish @Tiggerfanatic ??

Now THAT'S an idea!

@HollyBelle I'm in!

Me too!!!

nice Shannon getting me exicted for Jan... ( btw weve bitten the bullet and looking at ars ,) bc dad mention something about it!

AHHH less than 2 months to go!! You're getting close!

 

[Ariel484]

2013 Wine & Dine Half Marathon

Up to this point I’d run 2 half marathons and 2 marathons at Disney...all started in the morning from the same Epcot parking lot. Wine and Dine was totally different.

The starting area for Wine and Dine is at Wide World of Sports. It's nice because all that separates the staging area (where there are porta-potties, gear check, a DJ, character meets, etc.) from the starting corrals is a row of trees. During the morning races there's a 15-20 minute walk from the staging area to the starting corrals. Here it was as easy as walking around the corner.

For Disney races I've become used to the routine of waking up at some ungodly hour of the "morning" (i.e. 2:45AM to make it to the corrals by 4:30AM ), rolling out of bed and stumbling onto the bus in complete darkness. This time it was still pitch black out, but it was 7:45ish PM. It was surreal.

The bus let us off pretty close to the staging area and I went to check my gear bag. Runners get the clear bag at t-shirt pick-up during the expo...there's a sticker with the bib number printed on that attaches to the bag. The bags are dropped off at the staging area and arranged by the first letter of the runner's last name, then by bib number. All of those bags are then transported to the finish area at Epcot on rented trucks, and before that (new for this year in the wake of what happened in Boston) they are inspected by police and police dogs. Quite a process, and one that I know was a huge mess during the first Wine & Dine half a few years back.

After dropping off my gear I had 2 hours to kill until the race started. There were 4 character lines, one each for Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Chip & Dale. Since I had nothing better to do I hopped into the Mickey line, the biggest line I've ever waited for, for anything at Disney. It didn't bother me at the time because the corrals were only, like, 100 feet away and I didn't have anything to do or anyone to talk to (in general I'm not very good and striking up conversations with strangers unless I'm in a super-great mood), but looking back that line was completely insane and I wish I'd waited for a different character, as the other lines were far shorter.

I never got a good picture of the full Mickey line, but here's, like, an eighth of it:

It wound around 4 TIMES. ALL of those people were in the line.

During my time in the line I was approached by 5-6 official race photographers who wanted to take a picture of me just standing there. I humored the first 3...for the 4th and 5th I pretended to be talking on my phone when I saw them approaching, and for the 6th I just flat-out told them "no thanks." It was really getting on my nerves.

Speaking of getting on my nerves...all day I'd been slightly concerned about how my cell phone battery would hold up this evening, because I wanted to still have some juice left to be able to contact Will once the race was over. It made me nervous because with 2 hours to kill I knew I'd spend most of that time messing around on my phone. This turned out not to be an issue, because cell phone reception was terrible in the staging area. I couldn't use the internet at all (meaning NO INSTAGRAM! ) and text messaging was very sporadic with my having to turn the phone off and on to successfully send any messages. Eventually I just gave up on it, so hey, no worries about the battery!

So anyway, Mickey picture...after an hour and twenty minutes of waiting in line (seriously, I kept track) I was about 10 people away from my Mickey picture...and HE LEFT. And didn't come back! ARRG! Somehow I wasn't even that mad about this, just a little annoyed. I guess because I really had nothing better to do beyond stand in line, eat my bagel and watch the DJ work the crowd (seriously, that guy was awesome. Totally cheesy but he danced his butt off and kept the energy up for 2 hours. Kudos, sir). If this had happened in a park I would have been livid...of course, I wouldn't have ever waited 1:20 for a character picture unless it was someone SUPER RARE...but still.

Let's see, what else from staging...oh! I saw 2 runners get engaged, so that was fun.

 

[Ariel484]

My Mickey dreams were dashed at about 9:20, so I decided this was probably a good time to visit the bathrooms and head over to the corrals. Later on I heard horror stories of people waiting 45 minutes for a porta-potty, but by the time I got to them most people were already in the corrals (we were supposed to be in them by 9:15...oops ). So by the time I got to the porta-potties I only had a 10-minute wait and was in my corral by 9:30.

This was my first runDisney race with the new corralling system. Now there were more corrals (12 of them lettered A-L, plus the elite corral compared to, I think, 6 for last year), they were smaller, and they started 2-3 minutes apart, all in an effort to reduce course crowding.

I have to say, I am a HUGE fan of the corral changes. Running the half marathon in January (which is a much bigger race than Wine & Dine) was SO frustrating - it was a packed course and we came to a complete stop more than once because it was so crowded and there was poor runner etiquette throughout. This race felt different right away - yes it was a much smaller groups of runners (14,000 here vs. 20,000 in January) but I felt like the corral was so much less crowded with 1,000 of us there compared to what I remembered from January when the corral was easily twice as full.

The view from Corral E!

By now my phone WAS working again! Apparently the reception was much better on this side of the trees.

Instagram video! In an mmmbop they're gone, in an mmmbop they're not thererrrrreeee yeah yeah, until you lose your hair!


I texted a bit with Will and got a few funny messages from @Howe and @plaz10. They were GREATLY needed because I was becoming increasingly nervous about completing the race now that it was almost time to go.

A Disney vocalist sang the National Anthem and the wheelchair corral was took off at 9:58PM...ahhh it's almost go time!!!

Each corral was sent off with fireworks. One of my favorite things about Disney races!

SEEETTTTT GOOOOOO!

 

[Ariel484]

I had forgotten that the corrals were being sent just 2-3 minutes apart this year...before I knew it, it was 10:09PM and it was time for Corral E to get started!

3-2-1-GOOOOO!

The fireworks went up and we were off, and for those first two miles running felt effortless. I felt strong and pain-free. I've had sort of a weird year with running - ever since I came home from the marathon trip in January I've had trouble finding motivation to really stick with it, and as a result almost every race I've done this year has been pretty miserable. But for these first two miles I felt amazing, and it made me realize that I can't give up running altogether. It's a very fond memory I have from the race.

I don't remember much in the way of entertainment for that stretch, but I know I passed up a Country Bears meet & greet. I also know that I quickly forgot that Corral F was going to be starting only 3 minutes after we'd been sent off, so we were still pretty close to the starting line when they began running. Their fireworks went off and I, along with pretty much everyone around me, jumped about a foot in the air. It scared the crap out of us!

At some point during those first two miles there was a big screen up playing classic Disney cartoons. I obviously enjoyed that.

Just like that morning's 5K, a switch seemed to flip right after Mile Marker 2, and suddenly the pain was back in my foot. Any hopes I had of a completely pain-free race after those successful first 2 miles were gone.

Rare character love will make me feel better! The ostrich was hilarious doing her warm-up exercises, just like in Fantasia. I wish I'd taken a video.

Action shot!

Ugh, I wish this one had turned out better.

 

[Longers]

Darn, too bad! How did you like the 5K? I hope you had fun! I'll post my 5K stuff sometime today. Thanks for reading!

It was fun and for my first ever race a Disney race was the way to go. We started in corral C as when I registered I hadn't done any running but think we could have moved up the corrals as most seemed to want to walk. The queues were long for characters so we only stopped for 1. I think I just wanted to finish in the end (as I wasn't sure we could do it) but we went over the line at around 45 mins on their clock and given that the clock started when corral a left I was happy with that. I was excited as we went over the line and was interviewed by run Disney so not sure where that might turn up. I am sure at some point we must have seem you?

 

[Ariel484]

Darn, too bad! How did you like the 5K? I hope you had fun! I'll post my 5K stuff sometime today. Thanks for reading!

It was fun and for my first ever race a Disney race was the way to go. We started in corral C as when I registered I hadn't done any running but think we could have moved up the corrals as most seemed to want to walk. The queues were long for characters so we only stopped for 1. I think I just wanted to finish in the end (as I wasn't sure we could do it) but we went over the line at around 45 mins on their clock and given that the clock started when corral a left I was happy with that. I was excited as we went over the line and was interviewed by run Disney so not sure where that might turn up. I am sure at some point we must have seem you?

Haha! If you finished in 45 minutes you certainly passed us on the course at some point. The races can definitely get frustrating if you're not in the right corral. Very cool that you got interviewed, maybe they'll use it in a video later on!

Congrats again on finish your first race!

 

[Ariel484]

Just before Mile Marker 3 I saw the lead runner heading back the other way down Osceola Parkway...he'd already made his way through Animal Kingdom and passed the 10K mark. Oh, to be fast!

(Ate 4 Gu chomps here.)

So I had a little over 10 miles left at this point, a distance I've successfully completed many times. And my foot was just freaking killing me. Finishing this race suddenly seemed like a herculean task.

Due to the foot issue I'd set my watch up to do run 5 minutes/walk 1 minute intervals. Normally I'll run a mile/walk 1 minute (and I'd been able to do that for the first 2 miles of this race), but I quickly found that now I could very rarely make it to the end of the 5-minute intervals before having to stop and walk because the pain was too much. This race was really becoming a battle more quickly than I'd hoped, and right after Mile Marker 3 was when I started to set small goals for myself to sort of break up the remaining distance and get my mind away from "10 FREAKING MILES OMGWHHYYYYYYYY!" I think this is really what saved me from panicking throughout the rest of the race.

"Just make it to the 5K mark…just make it to the 5K mark..."

In my mind, making it to each kilometer flag (5K, 10K and 15K are marked on the course...20K might be too, not sure) was super important. I knew from past Disney half marathons that these points were where text message updates were going to be sent out to Will to inform him of my progress, and if he didn't get them I didn't want him to think I was holed up in a med tent or something. I knew he was really uneasy with my running the half with an injury, and throughout the day he'd made me promise that I'd stop if it got really bad. I told him I would...but I knew there was pretty much no way I was going to quit once the race started, and I was pretty sure he knew that too. (He later confirmed that yep, he knew.)

So the first text message split went out at the 5K mark at 10:49PM:
5K in 39:35, a 12:45/mile average pace.
Predicted finish time of 2:46:59 at 12:56AM

I had the splits sent to my phone too and was encouraged at the decent 5K split...it made me feel like I'd banked a good little chunk of time in case of some sort of disaster later on the course.

"Just make it to Animal Kingdom...just make it to Animal Kingdom…"

Yay, small goal achieved!

Just about to enter the park...asante sana squash banana!

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo!

Loved these light-up tusk balloons in the park:

I passed up Baloo, who was out in the same spot as that morning's 5K. I don't think he was wearing his Jingle Jungle gear this time.

As we approached the Tree of Life, I heard quite a few people gasp behind me. Throughout the Animal Kingdom portion of the race I got the impression more than a few times that some of the people around me had never actually been to the park before, and it was really cool to hear their reactions upon seeing everything for the first time. Everyone was just amazed...it really helped keep me in good spirits even when the run wasn't going very well. It's another one of my favorite memories from the race.

Too bad I couldn't drink away the pain right then and there (had to make sure to send a group text out to @HollyBelle, @Howe and @plaz10 with a Dawa Bar picture! ).

Timon! That's a new one for me!

Single digits left!

The runners around me seemed to have another "wow" moment when they (I assume) saw Everest for the first time. Again, I loved hearing their reactions.

I thought about stopping in the bathrooms here but chose to soldier on instead.

I think I passed King Louie at some point. I know I passed up Pluto in his normal meet & greet spot in Dinoland. I remember starting to really feel the pain near the Finding Nemo show just before leaving the park and getting pretty down in the dumps over it. And I'll be honest, I was also sad that this part of the race was over already. I really like running through Animal Kingdom...it's just so calming.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

WHAT ABOUT YOUR TRIP REPORT?!!

That cracked me up!

I can't believe you got on a DME bus! I can't believe they let you on one!!

Totally agree about the Vera's!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Mickey left??!! Whaaa?

So impressed you are running with an injury!!

 

[diddy_mouse]

Shannon! Always love your runDisney reports

Dude, your arrival day sounded just awful...never fun to have a stressful start to any trip. Glad to know everything turned out alright for Will. I like when you were at the expo and, similar to your Vera experience, walked up and were like "Shoes please!" and bam! there they were. I remember reading online about how hard those things were to get being limited editions and all, so good for you that it was an easy experience! And I agree with you...I would never run in them (ironic?)

Holy cats did your pictures make me miss POFQ! Such a lovely lovely resort.

Congrats to Will for finishing his first 5K and it's so great that you were able to run it together! *applause*

Hooray for Wine and Dine reporting!

 

[Sumrdog]

I am so glad you started a running report! I was just itching for a good trip report and running ones are my favorite. I am so sorry about your foot, injuries are the worst. I was lucky that the KT Tape saved the day during the Princess Half for me. It sounds like you weren't as lucky. I am so scared that some little injury is going to mess up my marathon in January...

The 5K looked so fun and it made me smile reading about how much fun it was to run with your husband! And running through the Animal Kingdom at night looked so awesome, I might have to do the Wine and Dine one of these days, although your description of the crowds sounds a little frightening. And the smokers? What's up with that...Yuck!

I am eagerly awaiting your next installment...Will you finish??

 

[Ariel484]

WHAT ABOUT YOUR TRIP REPORT?!!

That cracked me up!

I can't believe you got on a DME bus! I can't believe they let you on one!!

Totally agree about the Vera's!

YES, WHAT ABOUT MY TRIP REPORT.

Looking back I can't believe I got on the DME bus either! I must have just ran in when the driver's back was turned!

OMG, that new Vera pattern is on the Disney Store site now! I ordered a hipster and I think it shipped today!

Mickey left??!! Whaaa?

So impressed you are running with an injury!!

He left! So sad.

Thanks!...although running injured may not have been the smartest thing I have ever done.

Shannon! Always love your runDisney reports

Erin!! Thanks!

Dude, your arrival day sounded just awful...never fun to have a stressful start to any trip. Glad to know everything turned out alright for Will. I like when you were at the expo and, similar to your Vera experience, walked up and were like "Shoes please!" and bam! there they were. I remember reading online about how hard those things were to get being limited editions and all, so good for you that it was an easy experience! And I agree with you...I would never run in them (ironic?)

It was SO stressful! It made me realize how lucky we've been to have good travel experiences up until this trip.

Oh yes, apparently the Cast Members can sense me approaching and know to have the good stuff ready! I really think I lucked out because this was the last chance to get them, so they probably brought everything they had from the warehouse or whatever. Next year's model is pink...I may have to grab a pair of those too. (I think I'm very much alone in being a fan of the pink!)

Holy cats did your pictures make me miss POFQ! Such a lovely lovely resort.

Holy cats!! Hahaha!

I'd say we definitely consider ourselves to be deluxe resort snobs, but we really, really liked French Quarter a lot. We'll definitely be back at some point!

Congrats to Will for finishing his first 5K and it's so great that you were able to run it together! *applause*

Hooray for Wine and Dine reporting!

Thanks! It was so fun to do that race with him.

I am so glad you started a running report! I was just itching for a good trip report and running ones are my favorite. I am so sorry about your foot, injuries are the worst. I was lucky that the KT Tape saved the day during the Princess Half for me. It sounds like you weren't as lucky. I am so scared that some little injury is going to mess up my marathon in January...

I love reading running reports too!!

I DO think that the KT Tape helped. I could definitely feel the support when I had it on...I think maybe I just needed extra? Maybe I should have taped my ankle 3 more times or something. Really, I probably should not have done the races at all, but what can ya do?

The 5K looked so fun and it made me smile reading about how much fun it was to run with your husband! And running through the Animal Kingdom at night looked so awesome, I might have to do the Wine and Dine one of these days, although your description of the crowds sounds a little frightening. And the smokers? What's up with that...Yuck!

It really was a blast to do the 5K. Animal Kingdom is a fun park to run through (as you'll find out in January!).

As for Wine & Dine weekend - the race experience itself was fantastic and I definitely plan on doing it again. And what I read about Food and Wine here on the boards was spot-on...weekend nights just seem to be bad. We ended up going back the next day (Sunday) around lunchtime and it was totally different in a very good way. So I wouldn't let that scare you off if you really want to do the race.

I am eagerly awaiting your next installment...Will you finish??

 

[Ariel484]

There was a pretty elaborate (and popular) pirate meet & greet just before Mile Marker 5 that I skipped. I think I’ve seen this exact same set-up at every half marathon and marathon I’ve ever done at Disney.

I was really struggling at this point. There were times where I could run 2-3 minutes (rarely getting up to 4 or 5) but as the night went on my foot would occasionally start popping and I had to slow down. Somehow I was convinced that stopping for any kind of break was a very, very bad idea (except for character stops, of course - that's never a bad idea ) and kept moving forward, whether it was at a run, walk or shuffle.

"Just make it to the 10K mark...just make it to the 10K mark…"

They had these same puppets out that were part of the marathon's mile 20 "spectacular" this year I have bad memories associated with these guys but I was looking for any excuse to stop by now. Tigger was the only one I got a photo with but I remember seeing Sebastian, Lumiere and Genie puppets out on the course, too.

I was definitely slowing down significantly at this point. My 10K split went out at 11:35PM:
10K in 1:25:26, a 13:45/mile average pace.
Predicted finish time of 3:00:14 at 1:09AM

So my second 5K had taken me about 15 minutes longer than the first one had. Ouch.

 

[Ariel484]

I forget what happened between miles 6 and 7...probably because I picked up the speed so much that I ran a 7-minute mile BOOYAH. HAHAHA!

(Ate 4 Gu Chomps here...I'm thinking maybe the Mile Marker 6 clock was a little off? )

I do know that I still was feeling pretty down at this point. Not like I needed to drop out of the race, just discouraged and disappointed by how things were going. I thought (and still think) that if my foot had been in tip-top shape I could have had a really good race, but it just wasn't in the cards this time.

I had, as usual, done a poor job of reading the course map before the race. The only thing I'd remembered beyond the obvious stuff, like which parks we'd go to, was that the first 3 miles looked like they'd be pretty crappy. I knew the next park was Hollywood Studios but had no idea how far away we were. As I stopped to wait for my next character meet, I peered through the trees and saw the one part of the course I was most excited for - The Osborne Lights were off in the distance! I cannot explain how happy I was in that moment. It was just the pick-me-up I needed. I was so thrilled I wanted to hug the girl behind me! Rather than hug I babbled excitedly to her and she was kind to not verbalize how much of a freak I was being.

So that was my next mini-goal. "Just get to the Studios...just make it to the lights…"

But first, a freaky picture with Sarge. This was right around midnight:

Speaking of midnight, maybe this is a good time to talk about running a night race. I think it's different for everyone, and going into this weekend I was worried about how I'd handle things because I do almost all of my runs in the morning (often before 7AM). So it was surprising to find that, injury aside, I was feeling totally fine during this race. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was more focused on my foot, maybe it was due to the fact that I was walking so much...who knows. It was funny that it wasn't a big deal after weeks of sort of worrying about it.

Something that I KNOW was helping me a lot was the weather, which, to me, felt practically perfect in every way. There was no sun beating down and I found the temperature to be pretty comfortable. I've heard that others struggled with the humidity, and I think I handled it okay because I went so much slower than I normally do and walked so much. But I also think I'm somewhat used to it since I do 30-40% of my weekly mileage on a treadmill in a stuffy cardio room at work. The Wine & Dine conditions felt amazing compared to my normal treadmill scenario.

Sloooooow walk up the incline...at this point I was still thrilled at having glimpsed the lights.

Flyin' by on the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride!