Guana River 50K

This morning’s race was one of the most truly fun races I’ve ever done.  It was out on the Guana River trails about 45 min out of town right next to the beach.

For me, there was no normal pre-race anxiety.  It was very low-key with very few runners.  The race (both the 50K and the 25K relays) had been capped at 125 runners.  It didn’t look like there was that many there this morning.  Also, no timing mats and no chips.  Just a big clock at the Start/Finish line.  It was a little cold pre-race ... 56 degrees with a light breeze and clear skies.

The loop through the trails is 8 miles long.  Those of us running the relay would run 2 loops.  Those running the 50K, 4 loops.  Although Monica and I were a relay team, we were allowed to run it together.  That was nice.  Most relay teams did that - ran it concurrently.  Some of the really fast runners ran it as a real relay - consecutively. 

Map of the trails.

The man in charge of the race this morning had the appearance of an old grizzled mountain man.  He explained the trails making up the loop we would take, and where he had placed flags to show which way to go as the trail branched in different directions.  He pointed to painted trails on a wooden map as he said, “Now at this part the trail branches.  If you take the left branch you will go straight into the ocean.  You can see that from where the trail branches.  I didn’t flag it because I figured that as primates this would be an instinctual thing for you NOT to run off into the water.  Stay to the right.”

Getting pre-race directions from RD - Bill.

Dawn was just starting to break as we made our way to the starting line.  The big start?  Mountain man looked at us and said, “OK. Go on!”

And we were off!

Race start

I haven’t run on trails in well over a year.  Immediately, I remembered what I don’t like about FL trails.  They are very soft and sandy and laced with Cypress and Live Oak roots.  I had to remember to run slower and look at the ground just a few inches beyond my feet.  Anytime I would look farther ahead than that, I would trip or turn an ankle.  This seemed to be a common problem among many runners this morning.  We saw several as the day went on covered in dirt from having fallen.

Falling is one of the perils of trail running!

Needless to say, I tripped many many times out there on the first 8 mile loop around.  I never did fall, though!  As we finished up the first loop, people were there to cheer us in.  We stopped there for a restroom break, and to re-fuel.  One of the picnic tables was covered with candies, gels, electrolyte capsules, bread with peanut butter, pretzels, etc.  And, there was plenty of water and gatorade.  After a refreshing, we were back out on the trails for loop 2.

The Sun was fully up now, and visibility was much better.  Because of that, or maybe because I had just gotten used to looking down while running, I had much less tripping and ankle turning on the second time around.  And, the distance was OK.  The breeze stayed with us and the temp stayed down.  It was only 68 degrees when we came in.  

More cheers as we finished our second loop, and a nice race shirt!  Yes, we got the shirt on completion of the race.  I really like that practice!  ALL races should do that.

And, then there was food!  Much food.  BBQ, baked beans, cole slaw, bread, tea, soft drinks, water.  A very large feast. 

All in all, it was a very nice morning run.  I will probably run this one again.

2010 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

On Friday, March 5, Tj and I met up at Panera’s in Jax at 6:45 AM to grab some coffee then head down to Disney.  Our plan was to avoid as much Orlando traffic as possible and get to the Expo when it opened at 10.  We made great time, and arrived at the Expo at about 9:40.

It was sunny in Orlando, but COLD and windy.  And, there was a HUGE line already waiting to get into the Expo.  After getting inside, we went to pick up our race packets and shirts.  There were 5 Corrals (A - E).  This year, I was put into Corral C based on my last year’s time.  That was fine with me.  I hadn’t run much since the Donna, and wasn’t sure if I could match my half PR from December to justify a move into Corral B.  Tj was assigned to Corral B.  Next, we went to shirt pick-up.  The shirts were huge and blue!!!  First of all, Princess shirts NEED to be pink!  Secondly, last year the shirts were all too small; so, we had all ordered up a size this year.  Then Disney went up a size from that.  I didn’t want to go through the shirt exchange hassle since I wasn’t planning to race in the shirt anyway.  So, I kept the gigantic shirt to use later as a top layering piece. 

With the required stuff out of the way, we went shopping at the Expo!  We got some wonderful Rider after-run sandals and a few other things.  At the official Disney store we found a couple of really nice tech shirts (pink, of course) to wear for the race.  And, a Disney Princess half Marathon wineglass to add to my collection. 

Then it was time for me to go to the Orlando airport to pick up my friend, Renee.  Renee is one of my best friends from HS; and, a runner.  Last May, I had talked her into running this half marathon with me.  Renee is fast; but, had never run anything longer than a 10K.  So, she started training and building up mileage over the Summer.  In November, she hired a Personal Trainer to plan out long runs for her.  Even though she doubted her ability to finish the half, Renee was ready.  On her longest training run, she had completed 12 miles in 1:45.

After picking up Renee, we returned to the Expo.  Renee had been assigned to Corral E!!!  That was the Walker’s Corral!  She could not change her corral because she did not have an official race time to submit.  So, she devised a plan to start as close to the front of her corral as possible, and just keep moving forward. 

We left the Expo and checked into our Hotel - the Disney AllStar Movies - Love Bug area.  We got to the room, and noted an immediate problem ... NO COFFEE MAKER!!!  Renee was not having that!  This is a woman who needs her pre-run coffee!  Back to the Front Desk to request coffee before the race.  We had to leave the hotel via shuttle before 4AM on race morning.  That’s when shuttle service to the race would be stopped.  How would we score any pre-race coffee?  The Front Desk was clueless and no help in the coffee situation.

Disney's AllStar Movies Resort - Love Bug Area

Moving on, we met up with Tj and her friend, Rosemary, for dinner at Fulton’s Crab House.  Excellent company, meal and wine!

Tj, Renee, Me, and Rosemary at Fulton's Crab House

We slept in on Saturday.  Then, decided to go back to the Expo for a little while.  The Expo was a zoo!!!  It was incredibly crowded.  I picked up a 13.1 magnet for Renee’s car.  I didn’t tell her about it, of course.  I didn’t want to jinx her!

We arrived at Downtown Disney around 2PM, and did some more shopping for friends and family.  The only thing we needed to accomplish on Saturday was meeting up with several other running Princesses for dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s at 5PM.  We had to eat this early due to the un-Godly hour we would have to get up on Sunday morning for the race.

We arrived at WP a little before 5, and met up with Jenna, Joanne, Brenda, Patti and her husband.  Soon after, Tj and Rosemary arrived.  Libby joined us for a little while once we were inside.  We all had a nice dinner and conversation; then headed off to our hotels for bed.

Me, Jenna, Joanne, Libby, Patti, Brenda, Tj, and Rosemary at Wolfgang Puck's

After a sleepless night, the alarm went off at 2AM.  Insane hour to be getting up!  But, get up we did.  At 2:30, Renee headed over to the Food Court of the hotel to heat up coffee from the night before.  Amazingly, there was fresh coffee available in the Food Court!  YAY!  The only problem now was the temperature.  It was 41 degrees out with a wind chill of 37.  Too cold.

I had a throw-away zip-up hoodie that I put on over my regular running clothes.  Renee devised running pants out of black garbage bags.  Hilarious!

We got on the shuttle bus at 3:20 and headed over to the race.  It was sooooo cold outside.  We had to go through bag check by 5, then on to our corrals.  We HAD to be lined up in corrals by 5:30.  We all stood around freezing together until the start of the race.  FINALLY, the National Anthem was sung.  Corral A started at 6AM with fireworks exploding.  Then, we were all held in place until 6:07 when Corral B was allowed to start.  More fireworks, and Corral C (mine) moved to the Start Line.  At 6:14, we were sent off with fireworks.  Ditto for Corrals D (at 6:21) and E (at 6:28).  Tj was not feeling well that morning and dropped back to run with Rosemary who had been assigned to Corral D.

Fireworks at the START!!!

What a difference 2 weeks makes!!!  Two weeks ago, I had been running the 26.2 with Donna and had felt so bad that I was ready to quit running altogether.  But, this morning, I felt good.  Cold, but good.  Before I even realized it, I was crossing the 5K timing mats.  As I did, I noticed Renee crossing the 5K mats also.  She was flying!!!

At mile 4, I felt warm enough to toss my hoodie.  The sun was just coming up.   The air temp had not really warmed up, and my feet were still cold and numb.  Somewhere between miles 4 and 5, was Captain Jack Sparrow - a Johnny Depp look-alike!  I HAD to stop and get my picture taken with him!  :)

Then, into the Magic Kingdom!  It was great running up Main Street towards Cinderella’s Castle!  After that, we turned right and ran into Tomorrow Land - made a loop through there and headed back into Fantasy Land.  We passed the Carousel, ran into the Castle, and out the front side.  This is one of many places where things got tight and narrow running-wise.

We ran into Adventure Land, then past Splash Mountain, and out of the Park.  After that, it was all highway back to Epcot.  By now, the sun was up and strong.  Fortunately, the air was still cool because there was no shade.  By mile 8, several Princesses were wearing out.  I was still feeling good and happy to be running!

Mile 10.5 brought us to the on ramp of an overpass.  Many people were walking.  A Toy Story soldier was yelling orders to all the walking Princesses to “Keep running, Soldier!  There’s no walking here!!!”.  Too funny.  I ran up the on-ramp towards the Mile 11 Marker at the top of the bridge.  At the top of the bridge, I looked at the road where I had just been.  There were thousands of runners still coming behind me!  What a sight that was!

From there, it was mostly downhill and on into Epcot and DONE!!!

I checked my Garmin at the end, and had a distance of 13.35 miles.  I know I did some lateral running that morning.  I just didn’t realize how much.

I met up with Renee afterwards; and, we waited for Tj and Rosemary to come in.  Renee had totally rocked it with a time of 1:55:59!!!  Me?  I did OK with a time of 2:56:42.  Not a PR; but, it was a course PR for me; and, a good run.  And, a really really good weekend.

Me, Rosemary, Tj, and Renee after the race.

26.2 with Donna 2010

After another sleepless night, the alarm got me on my feet at 3AM. It was surprisingly cold outside (40 degrees). But, I knew it was supposed to get up into the low 70’s once the sun came up so I dressed accordingly. My head still felt heavy and stuffed with this annoying head-cold. But, I knew I couldn’t take anything for it today. Just have to deal with it.

Jesse got up at 4:15 and drove me to the shuttle pick-up point. I got on the bus at 5AM, and Tj was there. Just like last year, we ended up riding the same bus over to the marathon! Both times, completely unplanned.

We arrived at the Runner’s Village at about 5:30, and checked our bags. We had 2 hours until race time and were freezing!!! I still have no idea why the last shuttle for the runners leaves at 6AM. Anyway, we tried to stay warm as more and more of our friends arrived. We all got together for a few group pictures, then I told Tj and Monica that I planned to run with the 6 hour pacer. They had wanted to run with the 5:30 pacer. They both said fine, and decided to run with the 6 hour pacer as well.

Finally, we were all being herded into our corrals and we found our Pacers, Socks and Bethany. More standing around and waiting. The Donna Marathon theme song was sung. Then, the National Anthem. Then, the cannon at last! And, we were still standing, not moving. We finally got across the Start Line at 4 minutes after the gun. The sun had started to come up by now. I noted a completely cloudless sky.

It was very crowded this year with over 10,000 runners in all events (marathon, half-marathon, and marathon relay). The beginning turn onto the bridge is very tight, and it was tough to keep up with our pacers in the crowd. As we passed the 1 mile mark, we were exactly on pace! Cool.

Then the sun came up in full force. It was still cool temperature-wise, but the sun blaring down made us all warm very quickly. Miles 1 to 2 was the uphill side of the bridge. It was getting tough. By mile 2, I was feeling exhausted! Mile 2? Really. It felt more like mile 20! I had my 1st bad feeling about the marathon at that point. But, since that was a tough uphill, I decided to wait until we had gone a bit farther. Mile 2 to 3 was mostly downhill, and I felt a little better, but still far too worn out for so early in the race. I checked my Garmin; our pace was dead on. That wasn’t the problem.

Miles 3 - 5 brought more of the same jockeying around walkers and trying to get to some open road. We crossed the timing mats at mile 5 on pace then turned onto the beach. The beach was rough. No shade, full sun, and soft sand. My earlier feelings that I was done came back strong. I told Monica and Tj I was turning at mile 6.5 and doing the half. I was, at that point, so tired that I knew I could not make the full 26.2. I wondered whether I could make 13.1. Monica wondered that out loud. Apparently, my face was really really red. She’s used to running with me and seeing me with pink cheeks from heat and exertion. This, she said, was different. The half point came up. Monica hugged me, told me to stop running and get help; and we went our separate ways.

So, I turned off for the half. I had mixed feelings. I knew I just could not run the full today. No way. On the other hand, I was really disappointed in myself for not being tough enough to go on.

The next few miles were long, hot, and rough. I was not enjoying it. At mile 9, four Kenyan elite marathoners passed by. They were amazing. Mile 9.5 brought me back up the on ramp to the bridge. At that point I passed one of the Kenyan elites! What? He was walking.... either injured or ill. That was really the saddest thing to me.

On my way uphill to mile 11, I decided that I was never going to run again. Ever. I was DONE. Then, I had to stop and figure this out. I had had two 20 mile training runs that were fine. I had run 7 half-marathons that were all a blast. But here today I was struggling, really struggling. And, I felt ... bad. Something was wrong. Yes, the full sun was unrelenting. But, something more was wrong. I decided to walk for a while. The bad feeling didn’t stop. So, I resumed running on the downhill side of the bridge. It didn’t feel much worse than walking, so why not? Finally, I passed mile 12, then 12.8, then the turn at the bottom of the bridge towards the Finish line.

After crossing the Finish Line, I didn’t care about anything. I forgot to turn off my Garmin, and someone had to force a medal on me. I walked straight up to a man in a red shirt with “MEDIC” written on it and said, “I need help”.

I was taken quickly to the Med tent and checked out. My BP and HR were scary high. BP was 189/81, HR was 150. Being sick + the hot sun had increased my hydration needs more than I could supply. And, I was overheated. After they rehydrated me and cooled me down, I felt much better and ready to run again! Ha!

If only.

I stayed and watched Monica and Tj come in at ~6:15. They said it had been very tough, and were never running a marathon again! I’ve heard that before. I've SAID that before!

So, it was a rough day for me and not what I had planned. But, I am happy to have finished the half.