Today I had a pre-race panic. Disney's Marathon Weekend is a HUGE race. It's shear hugeness is better said with the made up word GIANORMITY!
(gei-norm-i-tie)
Looking at other known GIANORMOUS races like the Boston Marathon at about 29,000 people and the New York City Marathon at 47,000 participants, Disney's Marathon Weekend draws over 50,000 racers alone - 55,000 in 2010. This doesn't count the families and spectators with them.
Now, the Disney Marathon Weekend is just that, a weekend of several races. Friday begins with 5k and 10k races for adults and children races. It moves onto Saturday with the Half Marathon and Sunday the Full Marathon. The portion that I am numbered in is about 22,000 in the Half Marathon race! Yikes! That is a daunting number for a first time Half Marathon Runner.
But that is not what got me frantic today. It wasn't trying to run with that many people...it was reserving a room on Disney property so I can catch a shuttle at 3:30 AM- yes, that's A + M - to the start gathering place and the race begins at 5:30 AM. (I don't think I've seen 5:30 AM since Austin was a baby!)
My hubby has been so confident in waiting until four weeks before the race to do this it put me in a panic today...sheer utter panic. The kind of panic that makes your stomach tight and your heart rush.
I was never MORE relieved than when he opened his laptop and in 5 minutes on travelocity.com found several rooms available without having to sell my first or second born to afford it. Ah, I think I will be able to sleep tonight.
Now that my training has hit a stride and the room is reserved, I only have to mull through all the pre-race and post race logistics. They are as follows:
1. Having some supernatural ability to predict the Florida winter weather on January 7th, so as to decide what I should be wearing in the early morning hours of the race and what I can discard (to literally throw away on the race curbs) as I peel those layers off as the sun rises. (Disney actually picks up all discarded clothing and donates them to charities).
2. Picking up my race packet the day before at a Disney Property location (ESPN World Sports Complex): checking in, getting my race number, getting the race chip and testing it. Then walking around exhibit hall in a dazed awe.
3. Deciding specifically when we need to catch the shuttle bus to get to the Epcot starting point. This will determine the wake up time - did I say it was probably around 3:30 A - M?
4. Knowing exactly what I will need to bring to the race, regarding any "luggage' that I will want at the end of the race- like a change of clothes, or water or in my case fresh lip gloss and other makeup. Those are checked-in and transported to the finish location.
5. Getting a grip on the time line and the race route.
6. Trying to firm up where my family should be and when....they are thrilled at the early hour! This year I hope to be able to not look like I'm disoriented and retarded like my TRIATHLON pics when I came out of the water. I still can't bear to make that public but here it is. Go ahead and get a good laugh at my expense. I'm middle-aged I can handle it. (btw- I've lost weight since that TRI!)
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I am literally hearing my husband call my name but not able to mentally associate where it was coming from
I just swam in the Disney's nasty lagoon for a 1/2 mile...I'm in post traumatic shock! |
7. Working on a plan of what to eat and when to go to bed and knowing I won't sleep well and just trying to stack up sleep the week before like a hibernating bear hoping that will work instead.
And that's about it. It's almost like the training was the easy part!
