Sometimes it is not about finishing a marathon, it is about even starting.

I finished my first marathon today. This was another one of those things on my life list to accomplish at some point, and now after the fact I am glad I did it. I had a chip-time of just under 4:40 for the 2010 Walt Disney World marathon. I would like to say that it took a lot of preparation and planning, but truth be told I wasn't nearly as trained as I should have been. Though I run just about daily, I only do about 4.5 miles or so, which doesn't lead to a lot of long term endurance. For me, this run ended being just over twice my longest previous ever straight run. I made it to WDW on Saturday afternoon to get my race packet at the health expo and once that shut down for the evening ended up just staying in one of the remote parking areas nearby to car camp for the evening. I had my cold weather sleeping bag, plenty to drink, and a comfortable position. One thing I've loved about my Xterra truck is that a twin sized inflatable bed fits perfectly in the back. At 3AM I headed over to the EPCOT parking lot to drop off my bag for the end of the race and head over to the starting point for a 5:45AM race start. Although a bit chilly, the chemical heat packs I brought along really helped keep my hands toasty.

The first part was pretty easy. I wanted to maintain a 10 minute pace the whole course so I wouldn't over expend myself and had to keep myself from trying to maintain a normal 7:30 pace. It didn't take long before the first pieces of throw-down clothing came off, including a pair of very warm flannel bottoms (among an awesome set of 4 others I had at home) and were left behind. The first part of the course went under the Spaceship Earth ride at EPCOT and around the back area before heading of the long road towards the Magic Kingdom. At one point after just passing mile 2 I dropped my glove, only to realize it after a hundred feet and needed to run back to find it in the dark. I almost thought of leaving it since I was feeling warm, but am glad I did going back to search and retrieve it since towards the end winds had picked up, and as my energy level dropped I need it to keep my hands usable. I wasn't feeling any pain at all until right at mile 12.5 when my left knee decided to let itself be known for just a few minutes. It wasn't bad until right after it settled down the right knee starting to complain a bit, before easing off. Unfortunately they apparently started colluding and right at mile 14 they both decided to go on strike for the rest of the course. From that point on, even a 10-15 second stop to take a picture or make a quick pee break resulted in some pretty excruciating pain for the next 45 seconds after I started off again. I took advantage of every sport drink/water station as I wanted to keep well hydrated. I took a single Motrin every 5-6 miles along with an energy gel packet (which were pretty good and very easy to digest) and never really felt a wall in terms of plummeting energy. I was getting slightly punchy at one long road stretch and actually could not remember how long a marathon was, 24.2 or 26.2 and had to ask another runner. The most difficult stop by far was a 15 second bathroom stop at mile 20 after which the pain shooting through my knees lasted for a little over a full minute of running. Had I not been in the middle of nowhere with no shelter from the wind or any resources at hand, I'm not sure if I would have wanted to continue, but after things calmed down I resolved to not stop until it was all finished. There were a few nice banana, energy gel, and even a chocolate bar stations that surely helped keep the energy levels up. After starting the race I realized that I had forgotten my ear buds, so I didn't have any music for the entire course, which actually didn't end up being that bad. I had a lot upon which to reflect upon the previous year and was able to release a lot of pent up energy and emotion so I can hopefully make this a fresh year's start. The course continued through the Animal Kingdom, and though I knew I wouldn't because of their being too cold, I wish I had seen one of the old happy monkeys on trail, even if just a fleeting glimpse. We went past the Tree of Life and the Everest ride and on to Hollywood Studios. There the trail went by the Tower of Terror, though the backstage tour, and down the streets out the front entrance. The last bit seemed to be the longest as we shuffled along the Boardwalk and then into the rear of the World Showcase and loop the entire lake and past Spaceship Earth on last time and then on to the nearby finish line.

As I type this just a few hours after completion, I'm actually feeling pretty good. My knees are pretty stiff and when I stand it feels like Tonya Harding had clubbed me a few times. To pick things up I have to bend over like a giraffe with my legs spread in a wide stance. Except for a decently impressive blister the size of a gumdrop, I'm otherwise doing well. I don't see any evidence of losing a toe nail this time, yet, which from just personal observation of others makes me sure I don't want to go through such things. At mile 20 I was thinking that if Philippides had dropped dead at that point I would have been finished.

I'm contemplating doing the Gasparilla Marathon in a little over a month and seeing if I can greatly improve my time since I won't be taking pictures or updating Facebook during the run, maybe; but we'll see. It was nice to have spectators and general supporters out there yelling encouragement such as "You're looking good and doing great". Now I know they were lying since I must have looked like crap, but white lies are alright on occasion. I'm also going to have to trust the official chip time. I started my GPS a minute before going through the start line and then stopped it as soon as I crossed the finish line and I had a display time of 4:35, distance of 26.56, and average pace of 10:20.

When I finally got back into the car I was shocked at the crud on my face that made me look like I had been through an ice storm on a king crab fishing vessel. Apparently this was all just salt accumulated from the evaporated sweat. Seeing the amount of the stuff on my face made me glad that I forced myself to stay hydrated, even if it did necessitate a few painful stop/restarts. The run wasn't nearly the hardest thing I've endured in the past year or so, but it was at least somewhat satisfying for me to feel that I really can push myself hard and simply deal with the pain when necessary. Yeah, I needed that.

Here is the track as recorded by my GPS device. You can download the .gpx file and open it with Google Earth to see the entire course. Disney 2010 Marathon GPS Track