Never Say Never - Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

Never say “never”- Disney Marathon Weekend 2019

December 2014

 I had just started working with a run coach in an effort to even be able to run to the end of my block.  I was a Couch to 5K dropout (twice) and knew this was going to take a human to keep me accountable.  I still remember my very first run workout in Training Peaks and the brief text exchange with Coach Melanie after.   

Me- are you trying to kill me? 

Coach- did you die? 

Me- no, but that was rough.

Coach- well it will be easier, stick to the plan

Me- 😮

Had it not been for her patience and encouragement, I think I would have walked away immediately. 

January 2015, I stood a long side the course of the Chevron Houston marathon cheering on friends and thought to myself that maybe one day I could run a 10k or even a half marathon, but a full marathon is just crazy. A month of beginner run training under my belt and a little bit of hope... maybe.

Over that first year, I completed my first two 10K races and a Half marathon to complete the Bridge Series and the Run Girl half as a practice for Houston Aramco Half a few weeks later on the first anniversary of “never say never”.  

Fast Forward to May 2018:

I’ve run the Aramco half marathon every year since then, as it makes a great birthday tradition, until this year when I decided to take up an even bigger challenge... the marathon distance.   

Run a marathon at Disney?  That sounds magical!  Run with friends? Even better!  We get to wear costumes!?!? Yaass!!!  I did not grasp what I had truly agreed to do in the beginning.  But the training began...

I’ll spare you all the training details...but this is where I owe a huge debt of gratitude to a few people for pulling, and pushing, and kicking my butt to keep me motivated.  They helped me see the improvements and the successes when I was clearly seeing darkness.  They provided hours of conversations and laughs on long runs and kept me going.  

Marla- my run buddy for two years- you rock.  When I thought this was crazy, you agreed and told me to do it anyway.  

Jennifer- thanks for dropping to my pace to keep me company and pushing me to go faster or farther when I had doubts.  #Chasing41 made that long run worth the hustle and Bucee’s icees are glorious even when it’s cold outside.  

Training became a ritual of running, swatting away the injury beast who kept nipping at my heels, and putting into practice every recovery method I knew until we had the right combination.  Run. Recover. Repeat. I learned a few things... not all training runs are going to go as planned, recovery is so very important, and always have a spare (or 4) pair of shoes!

Race Week Planning:  For once, I put my planning worries in the hands of someone else.  All I needed to do was train and plan costumes.  Thank you Kirsten for being our master Disney planner!!  

Dopey Race Report:

These are the things that happen when you and your friends decide to have a girls weekend race-cation. 

Day 1:  

The Plan:  travel, expo, Hollywood Studios

The Execution:  All flights arrived early and we met up at the airport and traveled to the hotel together. Happy Reunion!!! And yes, we were all dressed alike.  Expo and packet pick up were quick and easy.  Garmin accepting the new time zone?  Not so easy. That took some work and setting changes but I had plenty of time on the bus to figure it out. Hollywood Studios for dinner and a ride or a few (Slinky Dog!!) then back to the hotel.  

Note: this time change thing may not be too bad for the night owl. Or so I thought. 

Day 2:  5K - Inside Out, Epcot

The Plan:  Up at 3am to be on the bus by 4am to take us to the race start.  We are gonna take it easy and walk this race.. taking pictures along the way with all the characters we wanted.  

The Execution: Waking up early wasn’t awful and we managed make up, costumes, and wigs. Perfect!  What the hell Mother Nature!?!? Weather was freezing so we had to find some solar blankets at the start to keep us warm while we waited in the corrals. We ended up in the last corral thanks to some wrong information and ended up having to hustle through the 5K.  We looped the lot and then headed Into Epcot for the remainder of the 5k.  Got to watch the sunrise over the golf ball.  Pretty sure that was a PR for me if you take away the pit stops for pictures.  We were back on the buses getting warm and at the hotel before my kids even woke up (thanks to that time zone difference).  

We spent the late morning and afternoon in Epcot: rides, drinks, and a delicious dinner... before heading back to the hotel to bed to prep for the next race.  (Yes, we even had to do some costume alterations.) 

Day 3:  10K - Fairies, Magic Kingdom

The Plan: The plan was to shake out the legs in an easy paced 10k.

The Execution:  Mother Nature was still dealing the cold temps but the wind was the real MVP.  It was another 3am wake up and a cold morning so we put long sleeves under our tanks for the race and saved yesterday’s solar blankets post race to use in the corrals for today.  I felt great, legs seem to be handling the racing+park time well enough.  I discovered eating breakfast on the bus to the race was a better use of time, and we again made it to some pre race character photos.  Out on the highway for the first half of the race with a few character photos.. stay moving, it’s cold... then back to Epcot for the last part of the 10k.  Another morning where mom has finished her race and the kids haven’t even woken up to get dressed for school.  We hit the buses and we’re back at the hotel for breakfast and a quick change to head into Magic Kingdom.

Again, with such an early race you basically have an entire day to enjoy the parks but don’t wear out those legs!!  There is more racing to do! We took a nap on the Carousel of Progress, ate Mickey Bars, road roller coasters, and had dinner with The Beast in his castle.  We headed back to the hotel early after dinner because the Alarm moves up a half hour for half marathon day. 

*Tip: Google Photos app is awesome.  was taking our photos with my phone and my husband and I have a shared google photos account.  This was perfect!!  While he could track me racing (if/when they were awake), they could see the photos of the races when they woke and all of my adventures during the trip.  

Day 4: 13.1 - Villains, Hollywood Studios

Birthday Racing is the best!!  

The Plan: Easy paced half marathon...easy short afternoon at Hollywood Studios and early bedtime.  

The Execution: we had perfect weather conditions finally!! But good lawd, 2:30am EST is EARLY especially for this night owl.  On the buses by 3:30am.  Cool temps and breezy at the start but stayed cool throughout the run with sunshine!!  Lots of character stops and photo ops.  We ran out on the freeway today into Magic Kingdom, up Main Street, around the castle then through it, then back to circle the Boardwalk and Epcot to the finish.  There were tears when I saw the castle running up Main Street USA.  I took video to send to the kids... and pictures!! Breakdown #1... when I lost it and started crying.  At about mile 8, I thought I was going to have some GI issues ... but they passed and we clicked off the remaining miles without incident.  Finally, I was able to call the fam when we finished... although it was early for a Saturday morning, they were up.  We grabbed a quick brunch/snack and hit Hollywood Studios for a few hours.  Characters, a few shows to stay off our feet, and dinner.

 Back to the room for Normatec time and to bed... another 2:30 am alarm.

Day 5: 

The Plan: 26.2 - Princesses, Dinner with Snow White (no parks!) Hold you intevals for as long as you can… monitor your body with the heat, hydration, nutrition, keep moving forward.  NO PARADE BUS!

The Execution: 

This was a rough night for me.  I’m not sure if it was the dinner that didn’t sit well, the nerves of my first marathon happening in just a few hours, the physical and mental fatigue of the previous three races/days, or the ridiculously early alarms, but Breakdown #2... me crying myself to sleep.  I was a hot mess when the alarm went off at 2:30am.  I felt hungover, legs were like lead weights, and I’m pretty sure I only spoke in grumbles while we dressed and race prepped.  (I’m not a morning person and my roomies were kind and understanding ... caffeine first then important stuff.)  

We head to the buses and we’re scattered about on the bus not sitting with each other. When we arrived at the race site all I wanted to do was drop our bag, get to the corral and sit.  I didn’t have it in me to do the photos and the usual pre race walking around.  The ladies obliged and got me tucked into our corral as far up as we could and I sat down, head in hands, and cried a little again.  I prayed quietly through tears for strength and reminded myself that I was trained for this.  I could barely stomach breakfast (forced most of it down), and sipped water in the corral.  I just kept telling myself “you have to start”.. even if the first mile was a walk, I was gonna go when the fireworks went off for our group. A man a few feet in front of me had on a red shirt with a verse on the back.  

Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1

The corral started moving forward so we stood and inched up. I tapped the man on the back and said thank you for your shirt as i passed...more nerves as we inches closer to the start. 

Another woman running her first marathon asked if I was ready and we chatted a moment .. and another shirt I NEEDED to see:

Be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded. Chronicles 15:7

** you know that moment when you feel like someone has slapped you out of your panic?  This was it. I hear you loud and clear God, I got it.  

Here we go...FIREWORKS... and I took off running!!  Erica asked what was going on because we had just changed the plan when I was losing my mind in the corral.  I said I was going to start my intervals and see what happened. Down the familiar freeway with the DJ at the top of the hill again and under the Magic Kingdom entrance sign.  I stopped at the 5k mark to use the restroom and headed back out.  A few minutes later, I look down to see my left hand is bloody.  It’s everywhere and dripping.  What the heck did i do!?! I knew it wasn’t there at 5k. At Mile 4.25 I stopped at the aid station... she says maybe stitches, I said wipe it first.  Surface gash but not deep so bandaid and medical tape until the finish.  “Keep It Clean!”  I’ll try.  Off I go again.

Into Magic Kingdom and up Main Street USA again.  Yes, I cried again!!  The castle was lit with Christmas lights still and the sun hadn’t quite come up yet.  MAGICAL! We exited out after running through the park then back to the back roads between parks.  Erica has looked up the mile markers for park entrances (mainly to know when we could get an actually bathroom vs a Pot o Gold) so I knew we had a decent stretch before Animal Kingdom.  At this point, I was steadily ticking off my intervals … 1 minute run, 1 minute walk, repeat… I let the people running along with me carry me forward steadily.  There were numerous little spots along the course with high school bands, DJs, character pit stops, a few movie characters out on course to help pass the time. 

It wasn’t until mile 15/16 that the heat finally started to catch me.  It was HOT… 80+ degrees plus asphalt are not a runner’s friend during a marathon.  I thought back to training and my 70.3 relay run from 2016…. Stay HYDRATED, ice down the shorts or in the sports bra, keep your body cool, reapply sunscreen.  All of the aid tables were out of sunscreen… not a cloud in the sky in sunny Florida, big shocker, and this fair skinned redheaded needed it!  While running around mile 19/20, I ran across a MOMS RUN THIS TOWN chapter out cheering.  As a member of the League City chapter, I had to stop and say thanks and grab a quick picture.  They were out of sunscreen unfortunately, but offered up gummy bears… stashed in my pocket for later I pressed on.  Right before the exit of Wide World of Sports, I saw families cheering… and a can of sunscreen sitting on a tree stump.  “Hey can I borrow your sunscreen?”  This kind family sprayed all three of us down (assume the position) and after a bunch of thanks, we were off again.  Final Destination: EPCOT!

The last 6 miles were the hardest.  The heat index was similar to the surface of the sun.  We were out on the connecting highways so there was ZERO shade.  At mile 23 we passed the Green Army Drill Sargent from Toy Story at the top of an overpass/turn.  He was shouting and cheering and barking at everyone who passed … even challenged a few people to pushups.  Me?  Nope, I made sure to keep moving by, no photos, in fear I would be the next pushups.  Just keep moving… just keep moving.  We entered the Boardwalk where things looked familiar from previous days.  There were signs “If you can dream it, you can do it.”  I was walking but I was still moving.  I knew we would enter Epcot soon enough and that would lead us to the last MILE of the race… the World Showcase. 

I could hear the music and we started singing along to the songs as we passed the different countries.  “You Aint Never Had a Friend Like Me”, “Part of Your World”, “Beauty and the Beast”… all gave me some pep in my step as I inched closer.  With one last “required” photo stop at the big golf ball, we rounded the corner to a fully dressed Choir singing Queen’s “We are the Champions” … yes I am.  One last push from our favorite security guard at the gate to round the corner to the finish…. And the most MAGICAL finish line ever.  My phone blew up… texts from Coach Russ, my husband, and a phone call from the kids to say Congratulations.  I had to let them go quickly so we could get through medal pick up, pictures, and a snack.  I ran through the med tent area to grab some more ice for all the things that ached (and that needed cooling down) and a clean up of the busted hand from mile 3.  We took our pictures with the characters at the finish with our medals then split up.  My run buddies headed to grab a celebratory drink.  I headed to the bus line to sit and lick my wounds while I waited for the others.  One blister on the bottom of my foot from form falling apart at the end and some sore feet that were very happy to be in sandals.  I also had some time to reflect… what the heck had I just done.  48.6 miles (plus the race morning hikes to the starting lines), 4 races, 6 medals, and I DID IT!

We spent the afternoon napping, laying by the pool, and snacking.  We went to see Snow White and Dopey for dinner… with our medals around our necks of course!  Early bedtime wasn’t a problem at all… Normatec recovery was a must.  

 



Day 6:

The Plan: Wake up, pack up, Magic Kingdom, Travel 

The Execution: 

Of course we were all awake early.  If there is anything Disney Marathon Weekend can do, it can train wreck a normal late sleeper’s habits and force you into being a morning person, at least for a week.  I was up by 6am laying quietly in my Normatec boots one more time before we hit the ground running.  We packed up, dropped off luggage, and had breakfast.  Then off to Magic Kingdom for our MEDALS TOUR… yes, we carried them with us and took pictures everywhere.  It was amazing to see the number of people in the parks wearing those medals and their tshirts with pride… all of us walking a little slower than we did when we showed up at the Expo to pick up our bibs just a few days before.

Final Thoughts:

Completing a marathon was always on my bucket list, but I never really put much thought into when and how I was going to make that happen as a “baby runner”.  I am not particularly fast nor are any of my half marathon times in record books, but the desire to try something new pushed me to see how far I could go.  While I was training, I tried to just look at what was next on the schedule, not so much what was down the road.  Thinking about the monumental task of completing everything loomed in the distance… and that’s where I wanted it.  I didn’t want to carry the burden of numbers and paces and worry down the training road.  When I look back, I think that was probably what hit me on marathon race morning.  The final task at hand… the BIG thing I had been training for… my first marathon (and on tired legs) …that is what weighed on me.  I knew in my head and my heart that I was ready to do it.  I knew my legs would go when it was time… I knew once I started, I would be ok.  I needed to get out of my own way and out of my own head and just let the training take over, and it did. 

This was my first marathon and it just so happened to be the last race of the set of 4… go big or go home!  I went big and I am forever grateful for the friends who kept me going on the course and made it one heck of an experience that I will never forget.  I am thankful for the friends who reminded me the end results would be worth it and kept gently nudging me on the days where I just didn’t think I could do this.  I am thankful for the cheerleaders at the end of the driveway every time I had to run past my house … they wouldn’t let me stop til the run was done.