Race Recap (Finally) - runDisney's 2013 Wine & Dine Half Marathon

It has now been a month since runDisney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon, so I am certainly well beyond a decent and acceptable time frame for getting a full recap of the race out here on my blog. As such, I guess I'm just flying in the face of blogger protocol as I write down my thoughts from the race that took place way back on November 9th.

So where was I (in my last post)? Oh right, it was somewhere between 7:00 and 7:30, and I was headed down to catch the bus to the Start at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex. And thus began the night's first mini adventure...waiting for the bus to take us from the Beach Club Resort to the Start. As I arrived at the bus stop, one bus was just leaving, so I was fortunate enough to be first in line for the next bus, which was supposed to be along in about "five or ten minutes" (for those of you who are fans, think Seinfeld). Well, after about fifteen minutes, the line waiting for the next bus was now probably about 200 deep, and needless to say, we were all getting a little antsy. The poor volunteer - who's "job was merely to count us as we boarded the bus" - was starting to catch some heat from the crowd, and he wasn't having too much luck with his radio. While we waited, two completely empty "Event" buses (the ones to take runners to the Start) just whisked past the bus stop without picking us up...we were getting dangerously close to an all-out riot when a third bus showed up and opened its doors. Whew!

I already wrote a post about some of the thoughts and emotions I was feeling when heading to the starting corral, so here I'm going to keep things a little lighter and focused more on the race itself. But first, though, I need to point out that I had a chance to meet and have a group picture taken with a bunch of online friends from the pbrc, which is the Disney PaceBook Running Club on Facebook. It was great to put faces with names, and although it was my first chance to meet all of these folks, it still had the feel of a family (of runners) reunion...

With the pbrc...Can you find me?

After the group picture and a few fun "catch up" conversations, it was off to the races...well, after my final restroom (porta-potty) break. Finally, around 9:00-ish, I made my way over to Starting Corral G.

In the starting corral, I found a couple of pbrc people with pacing signs (one for a 3-hour finish, and the other for 2:45), so I decided that I would start the race with them and then (hopefully) pull away as the race progressed. While waiting the final forty-five minutes for the start, it was fun to have some time to visit and chat with the other runners...the camaraderie in the running community is awesome! In addition, I ran into Leigh Rosica from Mousekeplanner, who happens to be the person who set up my travel arrangements not only for the Wine & Dine weekend but also for the Full Marathon weekend next month...great meeting you, Leigh! And thanks for the tremendous deals!!!

With each minute, the race got closer, and all of the sudden, the first corrals were on their way...and finally, the fireworks went off for Corral G at 10:15!

Here we go!

Things were pretty crowded as we got underway, but we moved slowly and steadily as we made our way out toward the first three-mile stretch of highway.

A sea of runners moving out to the course!

The first few miles of the race were all highway. After taking a left out of Wide World of Sports, we headed down Osceola Parkway toward Animal Kingdom Park. Along the way, there were a couple of spots to get pictures with characters, but I opted against taking any of these because I really wanted to just run the race and see what I could do...while still keeping a easier pace and remembering that this was part of the training plan for the Full Marathon in January. As such, I had targeted a training pace of 12 minutes per mile for the race...which would put me across the finish in about 2:37.

Before entering Animal Kingdom, we crossed the 5K timing mat, and I was pretty much right on my goal pace with a split time of 37:35, which had me at a 12:06 pace. I was feeling pretty strong with ten miles to go, and it was exciting to be headed into our first park.

Dinosaur teeth guiding us into Animal Kingdom!

After snapping the picture of the Dino Teeth, I decided that it was just too hard to take pictures and keep running my race; as such, my camera (phone) took on the official role of playing music for the remainder of my run.

Running through Animal Kingdom at night was pretty cool - Everest and the Tree of Life looked amazing - and it was definitely an awesome experience winding our way through this park at night...because it usually isn't open after dark. The cast members and volunteers were - as always - so awesome and supportive to all of us, and if I didn't have a smile on my face, I was definitely thinking happy thoughts. Now, with the animals tucked away in bed, we didn't have the blaring music or laser shows that would be coming up in the other two parks...but I was having a blast.

Definitely having a good time!

Coming out of Animal Kingdom, we got back onto Osceola Parkway and headed back toward Hollywood Studios. During this stretch, I ran over the 10K timing mat and saw that I was maintaining the same 12:06 pace and had been running for an hour and fifteen minutes. At this time, I was feeling pretty good and decided to pick up my pace a little bit - maybe it was because I had just eaten my first energy gel - so I shortened up my pace a bit while picking up my cadence.

Well, the next thing I knew, I was on the race's biggest "hill" (the overpass taking us off of Osceola and pointing us toward Hollywood Studios) and a faceless green army man from Toy Story was yelling at all of us to get our butts up that hill...I laughed and gave him the thumbs up as I passed, and he saluted me for my efforts!

About a mile and a half later, we were running into the north end of Hollywood Studios...and boy was that park a-hoppin'! The course was moving us to-and-fro through the park on routes unfamiliar to me as a park guest, and the next thing I knew, a DJ had the music blaring as I ran toward the huge Sorcerer Mickey Hat in the center of the park. A few minutes later, we were running through the costume tunnel, and that too was filled with artificial fog, blaring music, and disco balls...quite honestly, it was fun but at the same time a little disorienting (since we had run around 10 or so miles at that point).

Having fun in Hollywood Studios!

At some point in Hollywood Studios, we crossed the 15K mat, and my picking up the pace a bit had worked...my average pace moved up to 11:55 per mile, and I kept moving a little faster every mile.

One of the most awesome parts of the entire race was running through the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in Hollywood Studio's Streets of America. A lot of people have expressed disappointment that I didn't stop to take at least one picture here, but to be honest, a picture wouldn't capture how awesome a sight it was...great motivation for the last couple of miles!

After leaving Hollywood Studios, it was time for another energy gel, and I only had a couple of miles to the finish! Even though it was past midnight, there were a LOT of spectators watching the race along the Boardwalk, Yacht, and Beach Club Resorts...and their cheers helped my legs to move even faster (even though they were certainly starting to hurt).

What kept me going, though, was knowing that all I had left was a quick jaunt through EPCOT's Future World, under the big ball (Spaceship Earth), and back out to the Finish Line! I was tired and sore, but right near the end, I ran past Michelle and Mary, and they provided the spring in my step that took me to the Finish!

Almost There!!!

Tired, Sore...and Very Happy!

At the end of it all, my official time for my first half marathon was 2:33:23, and my official pace was 11:42. As such, I was pretty happy that I had sped up after the 10K point and that I had run a negative split! Most importantly, with the exception of walking for ten or fifteen seconds through each drink station - every 1.5 miles - I ran the entire race from start to finish...and regardless of the time it took, a big goal of mine was to run the whole way.

The Race According to Garmin

Now, I should divulge that my Garmin statistics showed that I didn't run the quickest route by which a race course is measured...in fact, I'm even more proud of the fact that I actually ran 13.35 miles in 2:33, which actually put me in at an 11:31 pace, broken down as follows:

Mile 1 - 12:01

Mile 2 - 11:58

Mile 3 - 11:56

Mile 4 - 12:15 (Got a little bunched up in Animal Kingdom)

Mile 5 - 11:37

Mile 6 - 11:30

Mile 7 - 11:08 (Energy Gel Boost)

Mile 8 - 11:28

Mile 9 - 11:38

Mile 10 - 11:21

Mile 11 - 11:09 (Energy Gel Boost)

Mile 12 - 11:18

Mile 13 - 10:54 (Running through EPCOT; Seeing Michelle and Mary)

0.35 Miles - 9:58 (Racing to the Finish Line)

Still Standing!

 Overall, I was happy with my first half marathon, as well as my choice for my first half to be runDisney's Wine & Dine! After making my way through some crowds to catch up with Michelle and Mary, I grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Greece kiosk in the World Showcase, and then it was back to the hotel for a nice bath and some sleep.

Since that wonderful day a month ago, my mind and my training have been focused on one thing, which was actually my first thought after I crossed the Finish Line:

Time to Double the Distance!

But let's get into that next time. Until then, enjoy your journey...

Pre-Race Recap - RunDisney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon

Well, since it has now been three weeks since I ran my first half marathon, I guess I should provide another recap, huh? I haven't been avoiding it...I guess things have just been a bit hectic.

Anyway, in my last post, I talked about Friday, so let me run through Saturday's preparations before my final post about the race itself. In short, this was my goal for Saturday...

Rest Those Legs!

With a night race on the docket (I mean, who runs at 10:00pm?), my focus was on two things: eating properly and getting enough rest. After taking our time getting up and ready, Michelle, Mary, and I headed down to the breakfast buffet at the Yacht Club's Captain's Grille, which is a great (and less busy) alternative to the Beach Club's character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe. Since it was late morning, I decided that this was going to be the "big meal" for the day, so I did help myself to a few helpings of this, that, and the other...although I kept it pretty simple and stayed away from spicy and/or adventurous foods.

After breakfast, I went back to the room to lay down for a little bit and to contact a blogger or two whom I was planning to meet over the weekend. Well, I got in touch with Jen Lefforge from Running for my Life! and Michelle, Mary, and I had the opportunity to meet her for her lunch right back at the Captain's Grille! It was awesome getting to spend some time with Jen, and we are hoping to get together with her and her whole family at some point during the Marathon Weekend in January...she's done the Full at Disney before and will be running the half marathon this year; her husband Scott, however, will be undertaking the Goofy Challenge! 

Although taking a picture at the time slipped my mind (I guess I'm still not used to this whole blogging thing), later that night, Jen and I did remember to get a pre-race shot...

With our Newest Friend - Jen Lefforge!

After lunch - well, Jen had lunch, Mary had ice cream, and Michelle and I had iced teas - it was off to the pool for some R&R. Fortunately, it was a bit of a cloudy day, so finding a shady spot (and staying out of the energy-draining sun) was not difficult. Oh, and on the way to the pool, I ran into a couple of other bloggers - Pam and Christine, the mother-daughter running team from We Run Disney - who happened to be staying at the same hotel. It was great getting to meet them as well; in fact, we also ran into them on Sunday night at Thunder Mountain in the Magic Kingdom, and Michelle put it best when she said, "it just feels like we know you already because of your blog!"

From a food standpoint, for the remainder of the day, I ate small snacks every couple of hours (a banana here, a yogurt there, a CLIF bar here, and a peanut butter bagel about three hours before the race)...and, most importantly, I kept drinking water, and I mixed in a few waters with nuun tablets for some pre-race electrolytes.

I was able to lay down and get an hour or two of (very light) sleep around 4:30 to 6:30-ish, and then it was time to suit up...

Flat Pete - Ready to Run!

And at around 7:30, I headed downstairs to catch the bus to the Starting Line. 

My first half marathon awaits. Let's do this...

I'll tell you the rest next time. Until then, enjoy your journey...