TriDi: Jodi's Race Report

Here's my Canadian friend Jodi's race report from the Goofy - a half marathon on Saturday followed by a full on Sunday. She's amazing!

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Disney daze... days...

I tried to sum up my Disney 2008 Race and a Half Challenge with one word....anticipation.

Anticipation, not really nervousness, was the feeling or emotion that was most present for me in Disney. The other feeling was calmness but that doesn't make a good story so I'll stick with Anticipation.

The Anticipation started the week before we left for Orlando. The phone calls & emails started to come in with well wishes & excited enthusiasm. That's right around the same time I got my first and only set of nervousness. I wasn't nervous because I knew I was healthy. I had trained properly and felt strong.

This marathon experience was almost perfect. Everything went according to or better than we had planned. Here's a snippet of my story. The pictures should tell the rest. I hope you enjoy!

Anticipation: Day 1

- always before the plane takes off but nothing serious

- waiting for baggage - no problems - I had all my gear in the carry-on just in case

- waiting for the others to arrive & touch-base (we are a group of 8 runners & many Sherpa's)

- the night before race 1 (21km) - will we sleep? will we poop? will the alarm go off at 3am?

- waiting for bus to arrive to take us to the starting area at Epcot - race start 6am

- at the starting line - will our group find each other? stay together?
- we knew we looked good (we wore orange & red sleeveless shirts) (NOTE from Tri-Di: Jodi is the cutie on the far left)

- exhilaration started when we ran into the Magic Kingdom (my favourite part of both races!)

- exhilaration continued until the anticipation set in wondering if the 42km race on Day 2 will go as smoothly

- Race 1 was over & we were 100% happy. Back to the hotel, eat, relax & do the whole thing over again in less than 24 hours.

Anticipation: Day 2

- the night before race 2 (42km) - will we sleep? will we poop? will the alarm go off at 3am?

- will I hurt as much after I did in Chicago? I assumed I would be hobbling around Orlando for 2 to 3 days if I was lucky

- at mile 1 - my knees hurt - never happened to me before - will it continue? Not good- at first large water stop, we separated. Will we re-group? How will we prevent it from happening again? (we had another minor separation for 5km but re-grouped for finish)

- my legs felt great....will it come back worse? Will my achilles or hips ache later?
- it was getting hot. Will the heat zap our energy? Are they re-using the sponges on the course? It's Disney..they better not.

- at 25km I felt I was the weakest of all our 6 so I inserted my ipod into my ears & turned up volume

- I had never run with ipod & the group before...I had run with music while by myself but wondered if it would change the dynamics? Does someone else need the chatter of our group to keep them going? All I could do was monitor the others while being serenaded by my sweet, soulful music!

- at 32km - I knew I was OK - only an hour left and plenty of good music left. I played Rockstar by Nickelback and thought of my friend, Dee Dee. (NOTE from Tri-Di: THAT'S ME!!!) I cranked up Rappers Delight and thought of all the friends who have enjoyed that song with me on holidays. Michael Buble's 'Everything' was a surprise favourite. Kung Fu Fighting reminded me of Mare. Barry White transported my back to a wedding in Mexico. The Black Crowes ran right along with me, as did the Hip.

- inspiration ran right by me: a women in a grey sports bra with one large breast and a hollow where her other breast was prior to surgery. She was not afraid to share her story, even just by what she chose to wear or not wear...

- what is that feeling in my toes? I was not looking forward to taking my socks off....

- at 38km I had an emotional burst that cranked up the pace for awhile. I reined myself in to give my infamous 'One More F__KING' Mile' rant at 40km.

- We all tried not to look at the man being taken away on a stretcher with an IV but all were rattled by the impression it left on us...

- I had saved 'Lose Yourself' by Eminem for the last mile. Would it change my mind-set? Would it give me that boost to run strong into the finish? Yup. It always delivers. I saw Vicky needed a little motivation so I put the music in her ears & then tried to keep up to her!

- Would I feel nauseous like I had after other long runs?

- Would my socks be full of blood from lost toenails?

- How do the medals look? We got one medal for completing the half, one for completing the full and one medal for completing both

- Would we see our friends at the finish?

- The finish line...what a sweet sight!! All that anticipation was gone in an instant. We picked up our medals (which are awesome), had some pictures taken & gingerly walked over to the food tent in our silver blankets. I saw a Coke which I never drink but know that the Tour de France guys drink it while riding so I give it a slurp. Yummy. It may have been just the ticket. No post-race nausea. Other than those darn toe nails which I was sure were unattached, I felt great. The anticipation crept back. I wasn't expecting my legs to feel so good. When would these legs cry 'uncle' and seize? We had a 15 minute massage in our recovery tent and ate soup, sandwiches, etc. Still waiting for the seize. We took the buses back to our resort and still waited for the seize; both of our legs and of our bodies. I gently removed my socks....just blisters!!! Blisters on both sides of my nail & underneath but no blood & they were still attached! Yippee.

My friend, Dr Mike, is also my chiropractor. He suggested that vitamin C was good for post-race recovery. Well, guess what's in a mimosa? That's right. Vitamin C. It was dreamy. We drank 2 bottles of champagne with fresh-squeezed Florida OJ after our showers and never had a post-race nap. We met up with the other 'superstars' (thanks, Jamie!) have another bottle of champagne that Magic Judy sent down for us (thank you) and went out to Downtown Disney for our celebation. Surely we would need to rent a wheelchair to get us home. Nope. All good. Some of the girls actually danced as was discussed in our pre-planning goal session. Vicky wins the dancing award...that girl will do anything for music!

That darn anticipation didn't leave my legs for 2 days. I kept waiting for the pain but it surprisingly never came. Those 2 magic Tylenol pills we took on the course must have worked miracles. Hey, this wasn't so bad....maybe I'll even run another one of these things!