Mount Dora Half Marathon

Sometimes I day-dream about quitting my job.  If I didn't have to work (and could afford it), I'd travel around the world and run races in the most picturesque places.  Last month a small part of my dream came true when I visited Mount Dora, FL, for their half marathon.  http://www.mountdorahalfmarathon.com/
Race morning I woke up in my hotel room 15 minutes before my alarm was scheduled.  I felt refreshed and ready to go.  My hotel was 20 miles away, down a country road from the race start.  When I got in my car it started raining.  Halfway there it was pouring so hard that I had difficulty seeing the road.  Close to town the rain let up to a drizzle.  Around the time I finally parked the car, the rain had stopped.  It was 6:30 in the morning, mid December and it felt warm outside.  I check the temperature on my phone, 70 degrees.  The race was supposed to start 7am, so I walked around a bit to warm my legs up.  I drank some water, ate a banana, and stood in line for the port-a-potty.  There was probably around 1000 people lined up to run the half marathon.  As I stood  in the crowd, thinking about how hot and humid it was, my plans of getting a new personal record were quickly changing into just having a nice run.  My previous best time was 2 hours and 25 minutes.  My original plan was to finish in 2:20.  When the gun went off (15 minutes late), we started running, uphill.  It was only a slight incline, so no big deal.  Then we made a right turn and the grade increased drastically.  My heart rate rose and my breathing got more shallow.  At the crest of the hill, I surveyed the decline and decided to let loose.  Usually I try to run downhill in a very controlled manner.  For me this usually means slowing down.  Today I would let gravity do the hard work.  I leaned forward slightly and loosened my hips.  Passing people on a downhill is very unusual for me and I liked it.  My breath was slowing while my heart rate was recovering just in time for the next uphill.  After a few more hills, over the crest we could see the lake in the background.  What a fantastic view.  A runner in front of me stopped to take a picture.  Normally I try to run the first mile 30 seconds to one minute slower than race pace.  This race I was trying average 10:30 minutes per mile. At the one mile marker, I checked my watch.  It read 10:30.  I still felt pretty good, no need to make any changes.  I happily kept running, enjoying the scenery along with the ups and downs of the pavement.  On reaching mile marker two, my watch read 21:00.  I'm really surprised the hills haven't slowed me down.  Just then, the wind started to gust and the rain came in.  It rained hard for about two minutes then stopped.  Mile marker three, I check my watch again, 31:00.  I had done that mile in 10 minutes.  I started to wonder if I was going too fast, especially with the hills.  Getting to mile marker 4 took another 10 minutes.  Every-time I looked at my Garmin watch it said current pace is 9:57.  The undulations in the terrain finally stopped about 6.5 miles in.  From mile two to mile nine I ran pretty even 10 minute miles.  With only four miles left I started calculating the pace I need to keep up to finish with my original plan of 2 hours and 20 minutes.  I came up with 12 min/mile.  Wow, I still felt pretty good.  I'll just keep running and see what happens.  Around mile 9.5 we came to the edge of the lake and made a right turn for an out and back portion along the coastline.  For the next few miles I saw my running pace slowly decline, although it never went below 10:45 min/mile.  With only one mile left to go I tried to predict my finish time.  I'm mostly confident I could finish in two hours and 15 minutes.  As I got closer to the end, I thought how great it would be if I could cross the finish line in 2:14:59, or anything faster than 2:15:00.  We made a final left turn and could see the finish line.  It was literally all downhill from there.  I tried to pick up the pace for the last couple hundred yards, but my legs were exhausted.  At the beginning of the race it took me about 30 seconds after the gun to get to the start line.  I see the clock at the finish line has already passed 2:15:20.  I raised my hands in victory as I passed the finish line.  The elation of a new PR just numbed all the pain.  I lower my hands and press stop on my watch.  It says 2:15:03.  I wonder how much time passed between crossing the finish line and pressing stop.  I walked around some to cool down, then ate some post race fruit and protein drinks that were being handed out.  Eventually I check the board where the race officials are posting finishing times.  Next to my name I see 2:15:00.  Smiling ear to ear, I make my way back to my car, cheering on all the racers who are still out on the course.  Before that day, beating my old PR by 5 minutes previously seemed doable, but difficult.  Beating it by 10 minutes was not even a consideration.  Close to my car I found a dry spot on the sidewalk to sit down and stretch.  My thoughts turned to the chain of events that led to me over achieving exceptions in this race. Two things came to mind.  In May I started doing yoga.  It has definitely increased my strength and flexibility.  Later in the Summer I lost 10 pounds and have kept it off.  This probably has made the biggest impact.  My next big race is a full marathon in Atlanta, http://www.usroadsports.com/Signature/Georgia/.  I hope to loose another 10 lbs before that race in March.

After Effect of First Marathon

Immediately after crossing the finish line of my first marathon, the first thought that ran through my head was "I am never doing that again!" I tiredly walked my way through the finisher's gauntlet, collecting my finisher's medal, food, and then standing in line to proudly take a picture with my new jewelry. Nobody I knew was at the finish line to greet me. This was something I did by myself, for myself. I meandered slightly away from the crowd and found an empty patch of ground so I could sit and stretch. After sufficient stretching time and a few attempts to actually stand up. I made my way to the bus stop for my hotel. The Walt Disney World Marathon is one of the best organized events I have ever been a part of. If you stay at one of the many Disney hotels, they have buses to take you to the start of the marathon, and return you when you're done. Around 25,000 people ran that morning. I finished near the back of the pack, so there was a line for the bus. As I waited and chatted with the other proud marathoners, we all shared our thoughts on the experience of the day. The bus came to get the next round of passengers. I was close to the front and noticed that like most busses, you have to climb a few steps to get on board. I wondered to myself if my legs muscles could climb steps after the strain of 26.2 miles I just put them through. Just then, someone in front of me voiced the same thought out loud. We all chuckled until someone else made the comment "Going up the steps is not the problem, wait until you try to go down." I thought about it for a moment but didn't really understand. I got onboard the bus and sat in the first seat directly behind the bus driver. When the bus got to the hotel I was the 3^rd person to get off. I walked over and looked at the 3 steps to get down. The handrail was going to be a necessity today. I grabbed the rails and extended my right leg. To my surprise I could not feel the step below. The majority of my weight was being supported by my trailing left leg. Although my brain told my left leg to bend, it did not comply. I felt a sudden panic. How was I going to get off the bus? All these people behind me are probably staring at me waiting impatiently for me to get down. I was gazing at the steps for what seemed like an eternity. My only choice was to trust that my arms were not a tired as my legs. I slid my hands down the rails a little more and prepared myself to thrust both legs forward to the next step. Thankfully it worked. I repeated the process a few more times and was safely on the ground. Under my breath I cursed the guy who said going down the stairs was bad. I got to my hotel, took a shower and attended to a few minor blisters. When I finally lay down on the bed to relax for a minute, I was unsure if I would be able to get up again. I made a few phone calls to brag about my accomplishments, and then it was time for lunch.

Coincidently my parents were at Walt Disney World that weekend for a wedding. Although they were not able to see me cross the finish line, I did make plans to meet them for lunch immediately after. I hobbled out of my hotel room, got in my car and drove over the hotel where they were staying. I had the option of taking the Disney bus again, but wanted to avoid any stairs at all cost. Getting out of the car was another challenge. To get in a car is easy. You just lean into it and fall down. Getting out is another story. It was then I also understood why going down stairs was so difficult. The mechanics are similar. Both require a single bent leg to be strong and stable enough to move you forward. It took a few tries until I decided to use my arms. I grabbed the top of the door sill and pulled myself out. I met my parents in the lobby and we decided to eat at the restaurant in the hotel. I was wearing my medal to show it off. As I walked through the hotel, almost everyone there congratulated me. Most of these people I have never seen before. To me they were just random people in a hotel lobby. I was really overwhelmed by how a marathon affects people, not only the runners but the spectators too. Being in or around a marathon just makes people smile. During lunch, I regaled my parents with stories about the sights and sounds of the morning's marathon. My parents are always very supportive. I think my mom was more proud of me than I was of myself. I left my parents and went back to my hotel. I planned to stay another night at Disney and visit the Animal Kingdom Park the next morning.

Back at my hotel, I collapsed on the bed and almost immediately I fell asleep. After two hours I woke up and turned the TV on. It was Sunday in January. Watching football was the plan for the rest of the day. A few hours went by and I became hungry. I debated calling room service so I would not have to move, but realized I need to walk around to stretch my muscles again. I walked to the hotel cafeteria and got some pizza and chocolate cake. Just rewards for a hard earned day. A couple football games later, I turned the TV off and went to sleep.

The morning after the marathon started well. I woke up feeling better than I expected. I got all my stuff together and checked out of the hotel. After breakfast I headed over to the Animal Kingdom. I attended college in Orlando and spent lots of time at Disney, but I had never been to that park before. As I entered the park, my legs started to feel tired. I walked about 200 yards and sat down on a bench for a minute. I made my way through the park stopping for breaks on benches frequently. The park is fun and educational at the same time. The variety of animals rivals most Zoos. Luckily for me the park is not enormous. By time I my legs did not want to carry me anymore, I had seen everything I wanted to. I went back to my car for my four hour drive home.

The next day my life returned to normal. I wasn't training for anything. In fact, I planned to take a couple weeks off from all scheduled exercise. I constantly retold my marathon stories to anyone who listen. I became a kind of ambassador for the marathon experience. I tried to convince everyone that running a marathon is something that anyone with a little determination and a good training plan could accomplish. People would ask if plan to run another marathon. My usually answer was "I think I'm just going to do half marathons." In my mind, the half marathon would be a piece of cake. During my training for the full marathon, I ran 13+ miles at least 7 times. Several of those times, I was not even sore the next day. I found that people who don't run or only run 5k think 13.1 miles is near impossible and 26.2 miles is just plain crazy. Either way, they tell me there is something extraordinary about me that I am willing and able to do it. Even though I loved talking about the marathon, that little voice in the back of my head kept telling me to lie on the couch and eat ice cream. It took two to three weeks for my body to feel normal again. My mind was a different story. Only a portion of the focus and determination stayed with me. On the positive side, I had enough confidence to quit my ok job at a bad company to take a contract position, potentially doubling my income. After six months of the contract, I found a great permanent job at the company I am still with. It also involved a large pay increase from my previous permanent job. The down side was every time I considered going out for a run, the little voice in my head said "You don't need to do that. You are not training for anything right now." A few months later I would overcome that voice by signing up for my first triathlon.

I ran my marathon in January. I started training for an international distance triathlon in April, which was schedule for September. Between January and April, I probably regained the 15 lbs. I had lost while training for the marathon. First I began to run again. Then I started swimming laps in the pool. Finally I bought a road bike and joined a local bike club.

That year I completed a full marathon in January, a sprint triathlon in July, an international distance triathlon in September, and a half marathon in December. It was a great year that kept me on the path to becoming a runner. Even though I said I would never attempt a full marathon again, two years after completing the first one, I would return to Walt Disney World to try it again. Later on, I would even be goofy.

My first Marathon

In the summer of 2005 I made the decision to run a full marathon. I went to the book store and found The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. To this day I think it is still the best training guide I've read. I picked the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 8, 2006 as my target race. I had been running off and on for the past few years and did a few 5k races but nothing longer.

Training

When I first started the 16 week training program from the book, I felt very confident I would be able to accomplish my goal. I religiously followed the training schedule and read each week's chapter at the start of the week. Every week I increased my mileage. I clearly remember my glee the first time I did a double digit run. As that summer progressed, Florida and the whole southeastern United States, garnered national attention because of the multiple major hurricanes that made landfall in quick succession. Four hurricanes hit Florida that year in a six week period. Hurricane Wilma was the last one to hit south Florida in October. My house was without power for 10 days. Luckily the cold front that followed the hurricane made it bearable with no air conditioning. The biggest problem for me was all the trees that got knocked down. My normal training routes now had trees, debris and power lines blocking everything. There was not a clear sidewalk for more than 20 feet at a time. I found it hard to do my weekday training runs. The weekend long runs were a different story. I was able to either go out of town for the weekend or run along scenic AIA in Fort Lauderdale, which did not sustain much damage. For the next few weeks I was lucky if I ran twice a week. I always did the weekend long run, but I missed the majority of the weekday runs. I started to get concerned. The race is the first weekend in January and it was arriving quickly. In the program I was following, the maximum distance for a training run was 18 miles. When I passed that point of the schedule I was elated and sore. For probably the past three weeks I had been limping around everywhere I went. My mind was completely focused, but my body was telling me I should have trained better. Skipping 50% of the runs each week was definitely not a good idea. My friends at work were very supportive. They were amazed every Monday morning when I came in and told them how far I ran the day before. They kept encouraging me to continue, but they also took every opportunity to laugh at me. My office was on the second floor of a two story building. The elevator in the building had been broken for a few months. Every time I had to climb the stairs, I wondered why I was doing this marathon thing. Mondays and Tuesdays were tough. By time Friday came around I would feel much better. On Sunday I would do the long run and the cycle would start all over again.

A month before the race, the taper down period started. They city finally had cleaned up most of the hurricane debris, and I was able to get back to my normal running schedule. My legs were recovering faster and I was feeling strong. Training for this goal transformed me physically and mentally. I lost a few pounds and could stand to lose more, but my mind reached heights I did not expect. My confidence level skyrocketed. Nothing seemed difficult or unattainable. I had just run 18 miles in one morning. A few months earlier it was hard to imagine doing anything like that. The endorphin rush I got with each run was amazing. Who needs drugs, I have runners high! I anxiously awaited the emotions that were waiting for me at the finish line on race day.

I'm a slow and steady runner. My goal for this race is just to complete it. My plan was to run 12:30 min/mile for the entire race. I trained for this event alone. Although I read tons of info on marathons, I never actually had a conversation with anyone who has done it before. I knew that most people hit "the wall" around mile 20, but I did not understand what that meant.

Race weekend

Saturday morning I woke up early and drove 4 hours to Disney World. The race expo was underway. I stood in line to pick up my race packet and immediately felt camaraderie with all the other people there. I talked to the people at the Cliff Bar booth about running with their pace group, but with over 20,000 people running I never found them on race morning. The Disney race is so popular that they separated the half marathon race to Saturday, creating a whole weekend of running. This year Disney offered a new option, Goofy's race and a half challenge. Accepting the challenge meant running a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. I noticed this option a few months earlier while registering for the race. I thought to myself, what kind of insanity would cause someone to want to do this? Even after training for the full marathon I could not comprehend it. The half marathon had already completed that morning. People at the expo were buzzing about how great the run was. I checked into the Disney All-Star Sports hotel and then went to the organized pasta dinner at the Wide World of Sports complex. It was open seating. I sat down at a table with a few other first timers. We discussed how we trained and all agreed our biggest fear was not being able to sleep that night. Everyone was nervously smiling and ready for what tomorrow would bring. I went back to my room hoping to get 6 hours sleep. I laid out all my clothes and supplies for the next day. My alarm was set for 3am. I got about 4 hours rest.

Race morning

I woke up feeling excited and nervous. I got dressed and went to the café area of the hotel to find a microwave for the package of oatmeal I brought with me. After eating and drinking 32 ounces of Gatorade, I boarded the bus to the start line. I had a 24 ounce bottle of water with me so I kept drinking. On the bus I was seated next to a nice woman who had run the half marathon the previous morning. Some of the course was the same and she gave me some great tips about running up and down the many curved and banking roads that connect the parks. The bus dropped us off at the staging area and since I had already drank two large bottles of fluids, I headed straight over to the port-a-potty. The waiting lines were long. It was about 34 degrees outside so everyone was jumping up and down trying to keep warm. In retrospect, my "pee-pee dance" probably just looked like me doing a pre-race warm up. After holding my breath in the port-a-potty, I made my way to the starting coral. Just before the coral area, I stopped to pee in the bushes. Did I mention I drank a lot of fluids that morning? The corals are organized by expected finishing times. I found my coral and made my way over to the fence line so I wouldn't feel so crowded. One minute before the starting gun, I took off my sweatpants. I was still wearing shorts, compression t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, gloves, and a baseball hat.

Race time

When the race started, 20,000 people surged forward as fireworks lit up the sky. It took about six minutes for me to get up to the start line. I felt great right from the gun. I was amazed at the amount of smiling faces all around me. I struck up a conversation with a guy who was running at the same pace as me. We chatted for about three miles until he stopped at one of the water stations to eat a gel pack. I had practiced eating and drinking while running, so I kept going. The only real challenge I had with the water stations was with the paper cups. In my training I used a fuel belt. The bottles have sports caps on them that are very easy to use while running. The paper cup has a large opening at the top and for every cup I tried to drink while running, probably a third of it ended up on my shirt. Later in the race, I would just walk through the water stations. Every couple of miles I would talk to someone near me until one of us slowed down. The camaraderie was great. I had done all my training alone, so talking while running was a nice new experience. My plan for race was to drink Gatorade every two miles, eat a gel every 4 miles, and keep a 12:30 min/mile pace. At mile nine I was right on pace, but I had to pee again (do you see a reoccurring theme here?). The line for the port-a-potty they had spread out on the course was really long. Just before entering the Magic Kingdom, I used a bush on the side of the road. I one of the great things about the Disney is the multitude of fun distractions along the course. They have spectators cheering, bands playing, and Disney characters waiting to take pictures with you. In my prep for the race I read a lot of info. I didn't see anything that said I should carry a camera with me while running. Somehow, everyone else knew. Every few miles there was a Disney character with a long line of runners waiting to take a photo. The lines were longer than for the port-a-potty. I would run by each character wondering how people are going to stop for photos and keep running. The funny thing is, I would see the same people standing in line over and over again. That meant they were passing me between each character. At that point I realized I was a slow runner. Guess what happened at mile 17. That's right, I had to use the bathroom again. This time a bush was not going to work for me. When I got to the next port-a-potty I was happily surprised to find no line and I walked right in. I'll just say cheap toilet paper does not work well on a sweaty body. Also when I started running again I noticed I had a line of toilet paper stuck to my shoe. I laughed at myself while trying to scrape it off on the grass. Soon I was coming up on mile 20. I had read about the infamous "Wall" that most people would hit around that distance. My longest training run was 18 miles so I was in virgin territory. I was feeling great and passing lots of walkers. I thought to myself, if I haven't hit the wall yet, I probably won't. At mile 21, I was still right on my 12:30 min/mile pace. It was 4.5 hours into the race and I walked through the water station for one minute. When I tried to start running again, my legs felt very heavy. I only had a little over 5 miles to go. My mind started to rationalize my options. I thought of two choices: 1) I could keep running and potentially not be able to walk the next day or 2) walk the rest of the way and have a better chance of being mobile the next day. My original goal was only to finish. I'm a very logical guy and I already planned on walking around the park the next day, so option 2 was the winner. It took me a little under 2 hours to walk the last 5 miles. The more I walked, the more my feet would ache. I finally crossed the finish line in a total of 6 hours 12 minutes 36 seconds. I distinctly remember as I crossed the line the feeling of elation that came over me and I said to myself "I'm never doing that again!"

The Day I became a runner

For several years I ran inconsistently. I would train a few days a week for a couple of months and then do nothing for a couple more months. I always blamed it on changes at work taking up too much of my time, but that was just an excuse for my lack of commitment.

The day I became a runner was not when I completed my first full marathon. It was not the day I completed my second full marathon. It was not even the day I completed my 5^th half marathon. I clearly remember it was a warm, breezy winter afternoon and I was on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. On Sunday, December 14^th 2008, I was on the second day of a seven day cruise. The previous weekend I had just gotten a new PR at the New Las Vegas Marathon, running the half marathon. On this day I had spent the morning and much of the afternoon laying on the deck of the cruise ship drinking fruity alcoholic beverages with little umbrellas in them. I had taken the past week off of exercising and decided it was time to start again. I generally do all of my training outside. I don’t usually like running on a treadmill, it is too monotonous. The cruise ship has a tiny running track on the very top deck. The waters were rough. The ship was noticeably listing side to side and front to back. The wind was blowing around 30 knots, and I couldn’t keep my hat on my head without using my hand to hold it. I’m very fair skinned. The thought of being outside in the bright sun without a hat on is very daunting to me. I decided my best option is to go to the onboard gym and use the treadmill. The gym is located at the very front of the ship with lots of windows giving a great view of the ocean. I jumped on a treadmill to run an easy 5k. The rocking of the ship seemed to be in a counter-clockwise circular pattern. It took a few minutes for me to get used to it and realize it was actually the ship motion and not just the several drinks I had earlier. Since I’m not used to running on a treadmill, I neglected to bring a towel with me. When the sweat started dripping in my eyes, I used both hands to lift the bottom of my shirt up to my face to wipe it off. As my hands covered my eyes and the boat rocked to the side, I accidently stepped off of the moving part of the treadmill and tripped. Luckily I was able to catch the handrail and avoided injury. I learned a valuable lesson that day. If you are going for a run on a treadmill while intoxicated on a moving cruise ship, it is a good idea to hold onto the handrail before closing your eyes. I finished the run feeling like I sweated out all the alcohol, so I was ready for a few more drinks. I took a shower, got dressed and went to find my friend lounging on deck. He asked me how the run was. I told him about the wind on the track, the rocking on the treadmill, and the incident of stepping off the treadmill. I then announce “I must be a runner, because I’m really looking forward to my next run.” I proudly sat down and rewarded myself with a few more of those fruity drinks with the umbrellas in them.

Previous to that day, when people asked me if I was a runner I would reply “No, I’m just a guy who enjoys running.” After that day, my answer now is “Yes, I Love it.” Another strange thing happened to me after admitting to myself that I am a runner. I started running faster, feeling stronger and recovery from my long runs did not take as long. I confess that I was always a slow and steady, back of the pack kind of guy. I like to tell people that I have now graduated to “average speed”. My long runs are now a pleasure from start to finish. In the past I enjoyed the middle of the run, but really dragged physically and mentally near the end. Now I feel great the whole time and have to stop myself when I get to that days planned distance even though I want to keep going. Announcing to the world that “I am a runner” has made a big impact on me. I realize that the power of positive thinking really works. I hope to apply this lesson to other parts of my life. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll also say “I’m a cyclist”, but for now I just enjoy riding my bike.