Race Recap: 2014 Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon!

If the 2010 Disney Marathon Weekend is forever known as "The Year it SNOWED!", then the 2014 Wine & Dine Half-Marathon will now be known as "The Year it RAINED!" Admittedly, not the same caliber of challenge, but still... this was one tough race.

But before I get to the race itself, I have a few pre-race tidbits to discuss!

First of all, I have pretty much nothing to share about the expo. I went, I saw, I got my stuff, I socialized, I got out. ~yawn~ See, I'm not a shopper, and I've been to a bunch of runDisney race expos: they're all about the same after a while. I wanted only three commemorative items for this particular race: a mug, a wine glass, and a mini 2014 Wine & Dine medal. Bib and packet pickup was a breeze, as was paying for the few things I wanted to purchase, so I was done in no time!

Clockwise from bottom left: race program, free $10 gift card, wristband for after-party, free coaster, purchased mug, purchased wine glass, purchased  mini medal, free race shirt.

Pre-race item #2: my hotel. I stayed off-site for this one to save money and gain a kitchenette... and I'm so glad I did! I went with a super deal through Orbitz for Buena Vista Suites (BVS). It's not the fanciest place in Central FL, but I didn't need fancy: I needed cheap, safe, convenient and comfortable. BVS hit it right on all points. The beds were very comfortable, with fresh mattresses and down comforters, I was only about a 10-15 minute drive from Walt Disney World, and I paid less than $100 a night. Having a microwave was wonderful - I used it to make oatmeal for breakfast and to heat my pre-race dinner. I did have to park pretty far from the building when I returned at night, but I felt perfectly safe: everything was well lit and there weren't any shady looking characters lurking about. My only gripe is the $8.99/day charge for wifi. That stings. Still... I only used it two of my days, so my nightly cost was still MUCH lower than any WDW property with "free" wifi. I definitely recommend BVS and will likely go back in the future!

Pre-race item #3: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! 
I got talked by a couple of super friends into doing this party the night before the race... and we had a BLAST! With Wine & Dine being a night race, I had no concerns about being out late and on my feet the night before; I would never consider this before a morning race. I haven't been to the party since my son was little, so it all felt new and fresh, and experiencing it with a couple of pals, minus any offspring, was the perfect way to get a racecation going! Spoiler alert: If you're heading to the party, don't click through to the video - let it be a surprise!

Okay with all of that pre-race fun out of the way, let's talk about the 2014 Wine & Dine Half-Marathon, shall we?

I slept in a bit the morning of race day, though not as late as I'd have liked; a nap later was a must. My goal for the day was to lounge around a lot, relax, do some reading, watch some TV and eat. Exactly what I did for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler a month prior. I think I did an admiral job... after a leisurely breakfast in my room, I indulged in a hot bath, got dressed, and eventually made my way out for lunch. And dinner. All at once. I had a Plan... I opted to visit one of my favorite WDW resorts, Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR), where I grabbed a turkey sandwich and ate it there, at the food court. But I also got a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a croissant - to go. Dinner! Not just dinner... the BEST pre-race dinner I've ever had. CBR makes a mean chicken noodle soup: lots of white meat chicken, a delightful broth that was just salty enough without being too salty, and penne pasta cooked perfectly al dente. A small bowl of that plus the croissant for extra calories and carbs was just right.

So after a good nap and dinner, I took one last look at the weather forecast before dressing for the race...

~sigh~  No change. A front - a 600-mile-wide front, to be exact - was moving across Florida and was forecast to be smack dab over WDW for the entirety of the race and after-party.
Now, let me be clear: rain doesn't scare me. I've run through more FL summer rainstorms than I can count. I ran through a lovely light rain in the NC mountains. I even once ran through a named storm, complete with ankle-deep flooding - for 10 miles! I'm down with rain running. But the forecast did alter my expectations of the race. My phone would be protected by several layers of plastic wrap, so no picture stops. Which could mean a fast race... but for the fact that I was starting from a pretty late corral (I, out of A-L) and would likely be slowed by lots of folks who are not used to running in the rain. I was also concerned about the temperature, as my rain runs are usually in the scorching heat of summer. I'm still acclimated to the heat and wasn't at all sure how I'd feel in lower temps and rain. So I adjusted my expectations, decided that I'd run for as long as I was feeling into it, allow myself to quit if I was miserable, and do what I could to mitigate the cold wet.

Flat V was ready for the rain!

Luckily, the rain held off during the wait-around time before the race, when we were most likely to be miserable. I met up with my running group for some quality social time before the race and the most it did was mist a bit. Yay! I even managed to visit the porta-potties before the rain really hit. Double yay!

By the time my race buddy, Anne (go visit her blog at outrunningthefork.com when you're done here), and I got to our corral, it had officially begun to rain for real. I've never seen so many ponchos, rain jackets and trash bags used as cover-up in one place! I had my rain jacket and an umbrella, which helped keep me pretty warm and dry until we started.

It felt like runDisney sped up the start process, leaving little time between each corral. I kind of suspected they'd do this, in the interest of getting the race started sooner due to the weather. In a short while, it was our turn - I ditched the umbrella, zipped up my jacket and gave a good "Wooo hooo!" as our fireworks went off and we got the party going!

Knowing we'd likely see precious little entertainment on the soggy course, Anne and I decided to count discarded ponchos and trash bags along the roadsides, much as one might count road kill on a car trip. (What - not everyone counts road kill on car trips? How do you people pass the time?!) We hit 100 before we'd gone half a mile. And couldn't keep track anymore. So much for that game.

The first few miles passed easily, if slowly. The pack wasn't moving particularly fast as we all tested our footing and adjusted clothing and accessories. I didn't find the highway asphalt to be slippery, but my Newton Gravity shoes were proving themselves to be not so great in the rain: they filled up with water quickly and didn't drain well. Fortunately, they are very lightweight, so the extra water weight wasn't too bad. And my Smartwool socks are the bomb-diggity: I had NO fear of blistering. I took off my jacket after about a mile; I was getting hot. I tried wearing it around my waist, but it wasn't repelling water and was getting heavy... off it went to the side of the road. And surprisingly, I wasn't cold. I felt pretty great, actually!

By the time we entered Animal Kingdom (AK) around Mile 4, the rain was really coming down and Animal Kingdom was experiencing some flooding. After hurdling a couple big puddles I gave up and decided to run through whatever came my way. That was very liberating and I felt like a kid playing in the rain as I splashed through the park and its parking lot!

AK wasn't very thrilling in the rain. The paths there are lumpy and bumpy to start, and a bit slick when wet, so I spent most of the time there with my head down, being extra careful with where I placed my feet. Many construction walls were up, blocking some of AK's best views, like those of the Tree of Life and Expedition Everest. Even poor Everest looked dark and dreary in the rain, despite its nighttime lighting. I bet this is a fun part of the course when it's not pouring, but it wasn't particularly exciting this time.

My feet were hurting a bit as we left AK and reentered Osceola Highway, but nothing unmanageable, and a quick assessment told me that all other body parts were still in good working order. My ears, nose, elbows and fingers were getting cold, but my core still felt warm enough. So when we passed the buses parked outside AK, ready to take on any runners ready to be done, or who fell behind pace, I had no interest in stopping. Onward!

It's odd... I felt like I picked up my pace quite a bit in the next couple miles, but my stats don't show a dramatic uptick in speed. I don't know if I just felt faster than I was due to the weather, or if my GPS was off. In any case, I still felt good as we approached Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS). I felt even better as we entered the park... and it stopped raining - like Magic!!!

For the short time we were in DHS, the rain did nothing more than drizzle lightly. Which meant two things: 1. I could safely take my phone out of its wrappings. And 2. I could get the pics/video I'd wanted most from the race!

I adore the Osborne Lights. It's been a family tradition to visit them every year that my son's been alive, and it simply doesn't feel like the holidays until we've seen them. We missed them last year, for the very first time, and it was a major downer, especially for my son. So I took a few moments during the race to really enjoy the ticky-tacky splendor that screams "CHRISTMAS!!!" to my family and gave a big mental shout-out to my boy, who should have been sound asleep, but was probably hyped up on candy, watching bad TV with his Gramma.

As we prepared to leave DHS, the rain started back up and I pulled over under an awning to re-wrap my phone. Which would not cooperate. I told Anne to "go on without me!" as I spent five minutes swearing at and struggling with my stupid, wet, armband and finally got it wrangled back in. And then... I took off. Seriously - I may well have run my fastest split ever (though I'll never know, because the time I spent getting my phone settled is mixed in - GAH!) as I booked past people to catch up with Anne.

I was on the walking path from DHS to the the Epcot resorts, which was pretty narrow, and had fallen behind a whole lotta folks who'd given up running altogether. Lots and lots of slow strolling through there. I initially felt badly about my constant calls of "Excuse me!" and "On your left!", but folks were very nice and a few thanked me for being so polite about my desire to move faster than the overall speed of the crowd. That made me smile!

I caught up with Anne shortly before we entered the resorts boardwalk and found that she was ready to pour on some speed, too. It was getting chilly, the end was almost within sight, we were still feeling strong and happy, and wanted to finish on a high note. The folks around us were decidedly not feeling the same way. I remember thinking that the very air smelled like dejection. We did our damnedest, Anne and I, to whoop and holler and clap and cheer and get folks feeling some excitement - we'd all come so far in less-than-ideal conditions! But it fell flat; very few were ready to party at that point.

We powered through Epcot, running flat-out with only a couple short walk breaks, and then, there it was... the Finish!

As I ran through the finish line, it hit me... I'd just completed my very first UNINJURED half-marathon!!!!!!! Not so much as a wink of IT Band Syndrome for what turned out to be 13.82 miles. To say I was overjoyed is a major understatement!

But something else hit me, too, as I tried to hang on to the Powerade, snack box, medal and Mylar blanket being thrust into my hands... the COLD. I'd felt fine while running, but as soon as I stopped, frigid tendrils of cold began snaking through my limbs and by the time I'd added a free cup of wine to my pile o' free stuff, (seriously, runDisney - BAGS! We need bags here!) and we had our checked bags back, I was shivering nonstop. All I wanted was a warm, dry place to get into my warm, dry change of clothes - I had no attention for any other matter.

The changing tent had what looked to be a 20-minute wait to get in, and we figured we'd get more chilled standing there in the rain than by continuing to walk, so it was off to Epcot we went. We landed in the Land pavilion, where we waited in line in the heat, out of the rain, and finally got out of our drenched running clothes and into the stuff we'd brought to change into for the after-party.

That's right - party. The Wine & Dine Half-Marathon ends at Epcot, where the annual Food & Wine Festival is held at the same time of year. So once finished with the race, participants can spend the rest of the night (or, really, morning, as the party ends at 4am) strolling the Festival and/or enjoying Epcot's attractions. Friends and family members, too, can buy tickets to the party and enjoy it while their runners do their race.

I felt surprisingly good and was getting very hungry, so yeah - I was ready for the party! 

Finished, bundled up, and ready to party!

Right up until we left the building... and found that it was still raining. I was still hungry, but had no interest in standing around in the rain, visiting the Festival food booths. We found what was left of our running group in the Mexico pavilion - most folks had opted out of the party altogether and those who were left were ready to head back to hotels, too. It was after 3am, but Anne and I were ravenous. So this happened...

Big, steaming heaps of nachos, covered in ground beef, cheese, tomatoes and guacamole, with a side of hot cocoa. Best post-race meal ever! Eaten under a roof, no less. Booyah!

By the time we were done eating, everything was closed and the poor Epcot Cast Members working that night were cleaning up, trying to shut the place down. So we took off for the exit in an oddly empty Epcot, along with the few other stragglers, and Anne hopped a bus to her resort, while I made my way back to my car. Which I only knew how to find thanks to this pic I'd snapped before the race...

Take note, future drivers to Wine & Dine: snap a pic of your parking row! Trust V.

After a hot shower and some necessary foam rolling, I finally crashed into bed at 5:30am... when I normally get up each workday.

~~~~

So the obligatory final question: would I do this again? I'm giving the Wine & Dine Half-Marathon a definite YES! After the Tower 10-Miler I thought I might be done with night races, but wanted to see how Wine & Dine went. Well, I'm still not a fan of the night race - at least not when they don't start until 10pm. But I think I can manage one a year, or every other year. And despite the unfortunate weather, I really enjoyed this one. I REALLY enjoyed cooler weather leading up to it; it was so nice to go into this race feeling strong and energized, as opposed to wilted and tired at the Tower 10-Miler, after a long, hot FL summer. And running through three parks is a major perk - can't do that in any other WDW race other than the full marathon! And with the Tower 10-Miler canceled indefinitely, well, I don't even have to choose one over the other. Chances are, I'll be back to Wine & Dine again next year. 

2014 Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler - Race Recap!

You know the saying "Third time's the charm" right?

Well, it was!

This was my third running (2012 here, 2013 here) of the runDisney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler (TOT from here on out) and I don't think I could have have asked for a better race. Why? What made it the "charm"? Let's start at the beginning...


Best Race Hotel Stay Ever!
A week before the race, I decided to head to WDW a day early. Which meant hotel shopping. And long story short, I wound up adding a night and moving to a new resort for the whole stay. I booked three nights at the Hilton Bonnet Creek (HBC) resort. I've stayed at HBC in the past, but never for a race... but I'm ready to book ALL of my race stays there now! It was a superb choice... I felt so pampered the whole stay, between a lovely room, comfortable bed, fluffy towels, and deluxe amenities. But what really made the stay special was the staff: every single employee there was friendly, eager to assist, and clearly dedicated to making each guest feel welcome. It was a HUGE departure from my recent stays at WDW resorts.

My room view! See Tower of Terror back there? Motivation.

HBC offers race transportation and it looked easy and efficient. I opted to drive, though, because I wanted dinner elsewhere before heading to the race. Returning at almost 4am, I was a tad concerned about walking from my car to the hotel in the parking garage, on my own, but I needn't have worried: it was well lit and open and I felt perfectly safe.

 

Info and swag for runners!

HBC offers Marathon Weekend rates for WDW race events. Check them out - I highly recommend the place!


Killing time...
Arriving a day early worked out beautifully! I spent Friday driving to WDW and hitting the expo. The expo was, as with previous years, quite calm compared to other, bigger races, and I was able to get what I needed (namely my bib, race shirt and a new Sparkle Skirt, thanks to a coupon in the iGiftBag!) quickly.

This was a welcome sight - the weather forecast called for a cold front to come through!

Love, love, LOVE this year's race shirt! I think the design is fantastic and... LADIES' CUT, finally!!!

I spent the evening at Hollywood Studios with friends, which wound up being a great way to calm pre-race nerves, stretch the legs, and get a few motivational rides on. 

I got to bed around 10pm that night and slept until 8 the next morning.  I woke up to this:

and agreed 100%! I spent the morning lounging around my room, watching ESPN Gameday uninterrupted by chores or child. I wandered off to Saratoga Springs Resort for some lunch, then went back to my room for more lounging, napping and resting before getting up around 5pm to start getting ready. Yep, arriving the day before the race was a good decision!

Time to race!

After grabbing dinner at the Caribbean Beach Resort, I hopped a race bus and was off to the pre-race staging area to meet my running group. As with the previous two years, I found the TOT pre-race area to be relatively open and unstressful. I think the late hour makes TOT feel more like a big party than an uber-competitive race, and the dark skies and DJ spinning tunes adds to that. Spending time chatting with folks I haven't seen since Princess Half-Marathon weekend was wonderful, and the time went by much too quickly - before I knew it, it was time to get into corrals and we were off!

I was assigned to corral E... and I was a little nervous about that. The great thing about E? A large number of my friends were in it, too, so we all got to start together. Yay! But I planned to run slower than any of them, and I presumed slower than most of the corral. I was concerned about being the "slowpoke" everyone in E would leave in their dust. But runDisney knew what they were doing; I never felt too fast or too slow during the race and think I was seeded just right! I always had room to maneuver to pass slower folks, and they always had room to pass me when I slowed down. I know that's a major concern for lots of folks, and I'm happy to say I thought there was ample room for us all out there. Good job, runDisney!

I had a Plan for this race: First, it was a training run above all else, NOT a race. I have the Wine & Dine Half-Marathon in five weeks, so no need to push hard at TOT and risk injury, right? Second, I wanted a few pictures. As you may recall, I've yet to stop for pics in this race. And I was determined to change that this year. So I had it in mind to aim for an easy first mile to warm up well, pick up the pace down Osceola Parkway, and then take my time through Wide World of Sports (WWOS) and Hollywood Studios.

Miles one through five? Nailed it! Hit my times right where I wanted to. Even with pulling over to take this very bad photo, which took 3 tries to achieve...

Scary inflatable spidey

And this equally bad shot of mile 5...

Halfway there!

Mile 5 began the "trail" portion of the course, which is actually a dirt and gravel road into WWOS. I was feeling pretty good at that point... my stomach had not felt its usual self all day and was fairly uncomfortable through the first few miles, but seemed to calm down by mile 5.

I love the short trail portion of the course. It feels good on my feet and legs after so much time on the asphalt, it's dark and creepy, and if you're very lucky, you can end up in there with a fun crowd willing to poke fun at silly decorations and make scary-monster-in-the-woods sounds!

Once through the trail, it was time to prepare for the second half of my plan... photo opps! My race outfit paid homage to the Haunted Mansion, and I had my heart set on a couple of special pics to mark the occasion. 

I was expecting the Haunted Mansion Undead Butlers to be in the track oval, as they'd been the past two years, but they surprised me by showing up on the right, before the track. Luckily, I saw them before I passed and pulled into line. It took a few minutes for the folks ahead of me to get their photos shot, so I had time to wrangle my phone out of its armband, pause iSmoothRun, and disconnect my headphones. And then, this...

I wanted to pose with a shovel, but they weren't giving those up. Drat.

Next stop was Champion Stadium, where the official cheerers for my running group were stationed with sweet treats to lift us up and put some pep in our step!

i haz gummy bearz!!!

I was running ahead of my expected pace at that point, and was getting lonely out there on the course by myself. Running by myself isn't normally a problem, but I've run this course twice already; the thrill of wondering what might be around the next bend was gone and I was - dare i say it? - a little bored. So when I saw my awesome, sweets-sharing friends, I pulled over to chat. For about 5 minutes. Uh-huh. I pulled over, chatted, waved at other runners as they passed, and was totally unconcerned with the fact that I was, you know... in a race. And THAT is why I like running Disney races! No pressure, people.

Eventually, though, I was told to get a move on (thanks again friends!) and I hustled on out of the stadium and on to my next planned stop.

But before we get to the epic result of said stop, let me pause here to talk about the weather. Because if you've read my 2012 and 2013 TOT recaps, or if you've heard pretty much anyone talk about those races, you know the weather has historically been... HOT. And. HUMID. Insanely HOT and HUMID. Beastly HOT and HUMID. Now, this year was a little humid; I mean, there was legit fog banked over the fields of WWOS. The air was damp. But a cold front chose the hours of the race to move through: it was comfortably warm at the start and through WWOS, but when we exited back out to the open road? HOLY ZOIKS! Hellooooooo cold front! My clothes and hair were soaked with dew and sweat and when a blast of chilly air hit, I was cold. Like, goose bumply, shivering cold. To be clear, I'm not complaining; it's been a loooong summer here in Florida. But the unexpected cold, to which I was in no way acclimated, did impact my running. My knees don't enjoy being chilled and they got pretty achy pretty fast. My shoulders tightened up to keep from shivering and that became increasingly uncomfortable. I was really ready to be DONE with the race and changed into dry, warm clothes by mile 8. Which made for a rather long feeling 2 final miles...

Still, there was the EPIC photo stop. And it, alone, was worth running for.

Undead at the ball, y'all. Booyah!

Seriously, I adore this shot. LOVE it! There were a few people in line ahead of me and a couple of the undead dancers left their post to start roaming and interacting with us in line, as well as with folks who slowed down to see, but didn't fully stop. Hanging out there for a few minutes was a BLAST! Totally worth a painful right foot, cranky tummy, and cold limbs.

With that stop accomplished, I had only to pick it up for another mile, then relax through the final one in Hollywood Studios. 

Last year's fireball, that would have been so welcome with its blast of heat as the temperature plumeted? Was absent. Replaced with a big, inflatable... eyeball. D'oh!

It didn't even growl. (RIP growling plastic gator.)

Hades was stationed on the overpass leading into the park, shouting out "encouraging" words like, "What're you... walking?! This is a RACE, people, let's get going!"

I made a point of taking my time through Hollywood Studios, soaking it all in. We ran through the Lights, Motors, Action! soundstage...

...and up the New York street scene...

If I can make it here...

...through the "Disco Hallway", full of actual disco tunes, mirrored balls and lotsa lights, a few turns, and then... the Finish! Of which I have NO picture. Camera was on the right, I was on the left, no photo for V. <sad trombone>

It ain't over yet!
I thought the finish chute went smoothly this year and I had my bag retrieved and was on my way to a restroom to change in no time. I couldn't stop shivering at that point and getting into dry clothes was my #1 priority, though I did down a bunch of glucose on the way to stave off a big ol' sugar crash.

Warm and dry in several layers, I reunited with my friends and we proceeded to take group pics, ride rides, eat snacks and have a really, really fun time at the after-party! Unlike last year, I wasn't nauseous or dizzy, I wasn't in pain, and I wasn't even all that tired. I ended the race day with a hot shower back in my room, a glass of cold milk and a cookie the size of my head. Grand rewards for a grand effort.

Final thoughts...
The third time really was the charm. My first run of TOT was hampered and blighted by the intense pain of injury. Last year saw a massive PR, but also heat illness and a distinct lack of the elements that make a Disney race special. This year? I finished in a time that, excluding photo stops, would have been a PR. I got a few really cool photos. I had fun with friends. I didn't suffer from the heat. And I finished UNINJURED! What more could I ask of the race?

Nothing. I can ask almost nothing more. Which is why... I think I really am done with this particular race. I feel like I've gotten from it everything I wanted and feel no need to do it again. I know, I know - I've said "no more!" before. But that was out of frustration. And discomfort. And fear. This is different. This time "no more!" is about having met my goals, and feeling good about my performance, and a calm, deep sense of accomplishment. I would love to go back next year to cheer for friends and celebrate their racing, but I think I can happily walk away from racing this one again for a while. And that's a pretty neat feeling!

So now, it's time to set my sights on the next race in my lineup: the Wine & Dine Half-Marathon - my first time running it! Stay tuned...

Tower of Terror in T-minus One(ish) Week!

Sorry – I’ve been MIA for a while. Only because, what’s to say, really about distance training through a Florida summer?

It’s hot.

And humid.

And also HOT.

Lather, rinse, repeat.  Endlessly.

My summer has involved a lot of cursing the elements, but there's been one glaring thing missing, compared to previous running summers...

INJURY!

I'm almost afraid to say it out loud, it seems so impossible. I have somehow managed to go through a training cycle without incurring any pain significant enough to require time off and rehabilitation. My poor chiropractor hasn't seen me in months and probably thinks I just quit running altogether.

So, how'd I do it?

I have NO idea. Okay, I have some ideas, just no way of knowing for sure if any one, or a combination of them, actually prevented injuries, or if it's just dumb luck. But I'm not a complete dummy; if doing what I have these past few months got me here in good shape, you can bet I'll keep doing it.

First, I found the right shoes. Again. And... again. Listen, you know me by now - I won't lie and say I haven't tried a few shoes that weren't right. I did and I'm humble enough to admit it. But I knew immediately that they were wrong and sent them back. That's progress, people. Since May, I've run most long distance miles in either my Newton Gravity or Newton Fate shoes. I've used the Newton Distance on short, speedy runs, too. Between them all, I've got about 200 miles logged in Newton shoes and no injuries. Not a bad return on investment. 

Second, I changed up my training plan. Long, hot distance wasn't resulting in anything good, so I tried something different: I went for more running days, higher intensity, and less long distance running. Most of the summer saw me slowly increasing both the distance of my twice-weekly short runs (from around 2.3 miles to my current 3), and the length of my run intervals (from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, 30 seconds), adding a day of mostly walking with a few short run intervals, and keeping my long runs to 4-6 miles. I also dumped traditional strength training and went with two days a week of high-intensity yoga and/or Pilates. The effect has been amazing! I feel stronger than ever, my lungs, when not tormented by allergens, are operating well, and... no injuries!

Third, I made a vow to listen to my body - and I stuck to it. There were a few days when I was exhausted, or achy, or sick to death of being overheated, and I took them off. With no guilt and no reservation. And y'know what? It worked. Instead of pushing and potentially doing damage, I gave my body time to restore and went back to the next run feeling good.

Lastly, I respected the heat. I did need to start bumping up the distance of my long runs in preparation for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler, and in the worst heat of our long Florida summer. In previous years, I repeatedly flirted with heat exhaustion, trying to pound out the mileage... this year I ran to the point at which the heat began taking a toll, then walked the rest of my planned distance. Some days, taking 5 minutes to walk was enough to feel good and start some easy running again. Other days I walked until I was done. It worked. So well, in fact, that I was able to run my short runs with much greater effort than in previous years. A lesson learned there, to be sure.

In conclusion, I am very happy to report that I made it through the summer without incident and am actually feeling ready to tackle the fairly insane race season ahead of me. I'm not foolish enough to think I can now throw caution to the wind, and my IT Bands like to remind me of that toward the end of my longest runs, but I feel better equipped than ever to pay attention and do what I need to do to stay healthy. I guess I'll find out in just over a week...

~ ~ ~

FYI, I'll be posting updates from the Tower of Terror 10-Miler weekend on Twitter at @VsFuzzyWorld. Follow along, and chime in if you'll be there, too!

Change of Plans. Again.

With the Tower of Terror 10-Miler behind me, it’s time to look toward my next race.  Which was supposed to be the Halloween Halfathon on Oct. 27.  It’s not anymore.  The race is still happening… but without me.  

After training hard through the HOT summer for the 10-Miler and dealing with my recent hip problems, I felt beat-up and tired.  Bone-deep exhaustion.  I felt physically ill at the prospect of tackling a half-marathon three weeks out from the 10-Miler.  I knew what I needed most was a rest, for both my body and my mind.  Fortunately, Florida Gulf Beaches Road Races offers a stellar refund/transfer policy and, while I’m a little bummed to miss the Halloween event, I am pleased to say that I’ve transferred my registration to the Beach Halfathon in late March.  A mere four weeks after the Glass Slipper Challenge and its cumulative 19.3 miles.  Whatever; I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

So now my next race is the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon in early January.  That little change gave me a few weeks to scale back mileage and recover from the summer.

And…

To develop a new training plan.

Yep, another one.

My last plan was entirely too ambitious for the summer heat and got scrapped a while ago.  Add in my change of race plans, and the rest needed some tweaking, too.  Also, I listened to an awesome Another Mother Runner podcast interview with Greg McMillan, in which he explained the ins and outs of his training approach.  What really struck me was the conversation about how important the need is for slower-paced runs in one’s training program.  That’s something to which I’ve never before subscribed, other than when hobbled by impending heat stroke; on the contrary, I’ve spent the past year and a half thinking every run needed to be run at the fastest pace I had in me in order to get faster.  Well Mr. McMillan?  You talked some serious sense into this lady.

I spent some quality time on www.mcmillanrunning.com, where I first used McMillan’s world-famous calculator to find my best training paces.  It works like this: enter your best time at a certain distance, preferably a distance as close as possible to the distance for which you wish to train, and then enter the distance you plan to race and the time in which you hope to finish it.  I entered my last 10K finish time of 1:16:23 and a hopeful 2:31:12 finish for the upcoming WDW Half, identified myself as a “Speedster” (easily able to go short and fast, but challenged by endurance) and got this list:

Pretty nifty, no?!  But… what do I do with it???

First, each type of pace – Steady State, Long Run, Tempo, etc. – has a video explanation here: www.mcmillanrunning.com/tips.  I took a few notes on each, to have as a handy reference when my mom-brain stalls next week and I can’t remember what in tarnation heck I’m supposed to do with "Tempo Intervals."  Then, I moved on to McMillan’s detailed explanation on how to create a training plan.

Okay, let me say this: it’s intense.  And complicated.  And riddled with ~shudder~ math.  Of the non-Fuzzy variety.  But as I read on (and glossed over the math, as I realized it wasn’t really imperative that I understand the numbers, only that I trust them to work), things started sliding into place in my mind. 

1. Figure out my weakness – stamina, for sure.  And make strengthening that the core of my training plan. 
2. Add in some speed because A. that’s my area of some talent and B. increasing speed can only be beneficial in the long run.
3. Figure out how many weeks I have until race day and create a spread sheet listing each week; include columns for long runs, main workout short runs, secondary short runs, and, for the Glass Slipper Challenge, back-to-back runs later in my schedule.
4. Assign each week’s training runs, based on a couple weeks of base-building, a larger portion of stamina-building weeks, a small chunk of speed-building weeks, and a couple weeks to taper.

At the end, BOOM!  I’ve got a plan that looks very do-able, is very specific to my individual needs, will fit in nicely with my cross-training days, and just may lead me to a nice PR.

McMillan also offers training plans for purchase, which I imagine takes out a lot of the work, and I’ve heard very, very good things about those paid plans… but I’m broke. And I really think my customized plan will be good for me.  I started using it already and I can’t say enough good things about knowing what pace range I’m aiming for before each run, depending on what type of run it is.  Knowing that an expert says to aim for a certain pace removes from the equation the mental anxiety of worrying that I'm not doing enough.

Last Saturday, for instance, was a 6 mile long run; I checked my chart before heading out and knew I should aim for a pace between 13:17 and 14:17/mile.  It was hot and humid, so I aimed to hit the slow end of that range… and I did!  Before, I’d have tried hard to push my pace down to where I hope to race in January, and would have spent those 6 miles courting heat exhaustion.  This time, I felt like I was putting in some effort, but comfortably so; no gasping for breath, no muscle cramping, no dizziness.  It was a tough run, thanks to some overgrown trails and scorching sun, but I recovered from it quickly and was able to spend the rest of my day getting non-running things done and enjoying some quality time with my son.  This new methodology may make me a better distance runner… and a better Mother runner!

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Recap, Part Three

To conclude this very log-winded race recap, I want to offer my thoughts about the race from a personal perspective, as well as a list of pros and cons that may help others considering a future Twilight Zone Tower ofTerror 10-Miler race.

If you read my recap and its follow-up from the 2012 Tower 10-Miler, you know that the 2013 race carried a lot of emotional baggage, through no real fault of its own.  I wanted redemption this year, and I wanted it badly.  So, did I get it?

Yes!  Kind of.  My fantasy goal was to run this in two hours or less, but I knew with a bum hip that was highly unlikely.  My wish goal was to run it in less than two hours, fifteen minutes.  I didn’t quite make that, officially… but Disney’s timing chip and my Garmin have different ideas of how much time it took me to finish the race: my Garmin reported 2:14:48. That’s despite turning it on just before crossing the Start line, and turning it off at least 30 seconds after crossing the Finish.  So, while my official time may say otherwise, I know that I did, in fact, make my wish goal.  And I beat my base goal of sub-2:30:00 in any case.  So redemption?  Yeah, baybee!

I've had my eye on a Hollywood Tower Hotel bell for years - I got one for my work desk
to celebrate this year's race finish!

I’m so glad I opted to run this race again.  In addition to feeling like I got a second chance at running it more like I know I can, I also got a first-hand look at the changes runDisney implemented after receiving feedback last year.  More on that below, but they got an awful lot very, very RIGHT this year.  I absolutely recommend this race going forward!

That said, I have no plans to run it again next year.  I think the race itself was great, but the late start combined with my pre-race anxiety and early-to-rise schedule, plus my body’s total breakdown in the face of too little sleep, is a bad mix for me.  I don’t love the super-early start races, either, but I can at least take a nap after those and recover pretty quickly.  I also don’t want to train hard through another Florida summer.  I’m convinced that the heat takes a major toll on my body and makes me more susceptible to injury.  I look forward to scaling back both the distance and intensity next summer to give my body the break it deserves.

But for those thinking of running the 2014 Tower 10-Miler, here are my Best and Worst parts of the race this year...

Best

• Photo opps: Disney listened and added a TON of photo stops to the course.  I don't stop for character photos in the parks, let alone in a race, but I was glad to see they stepped it up, anyway.  
• New corral system: Breaking up the field into more, smaller corrals really seemed to help with course congestion.  Nancy and Peter reported that they had ample room to run without much weaving in corral D.  Starting from G, I encountered some congestion, but less than last year, and MUCH less than I found starting in C for the Princess Half-Marathon this year.
• Bag check: As with last year, dropping off my bag pre-race was quick and easy.  Unlike last year, picking it up was also a breeze this year!  Instead of going through the park and then down and back up entirely too many stairs at the Indiana Jones amphitheater, this year we passed through a backstage finish chute right into the amphitheater's floor, where a super-efficient crew retrieved our bags.  Brilliant!
• Post-race snack box:  Okay, I'm still not a fan of the box format, but this year?  The boxes had HANDLES!!  Much easier to hang on to, along with water, a banana, a medal, etc., as we made our way through the finish chute.

Worst

• New corral system: Yeah, I just listed this as a best, and it was... but Disney let me down by not having porta-potties in every corral, as they did last year.  I guess they really couldn't make them smaller and keep banks of potties in each, but it was a really nice feature and I was bummed to see it gone.  
• Weather: This is beyond Disney's control, unless they change the time of year they hold this race.  But it was still a negative to me.  The weather just changed down here in FL - finally! - and I'm getting a taste of what 5-10 degrees cooler plus lower humidity does for my running experience... it's nice.  Really, really nice.  I never want to run in TOT 10-Miler conditions again.
• Gear bag:  Disney cheaped out on gear bags this year.  They look the same - clear plastic with a nylon drawstring - but they were nowhere near as sturdy.  Peter's tore almost immediately after he got it.  Nancy's not long after.  Mine survived the race, but tore all down the side as I walked away from bag pick-up.  Fortunately, I had all of my things inside a backpack, inside the gear bag, so I just tossed the gear bag and carried on.  But it would suck to lose all of your stuff if it was loose in there.
• Loudness: I think this is probably just my hang-up.  But the sound level of pre-race festivities did a number on me; I was battling a fierce headache by the time the race started.

I think my "bests" far outweigh my "worsts," even if I have no interest in running this one again.  Angry Running Mickey agrees.  If you ran it, what was your Best and Worst?

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler Race Recap, Part Two

Part two: in which I actually, you know, run the race.  And other stuff.

Okay, before I start, I have to ‘fess up:

I had pretty good intentions of taking a bunch of photos this time.  That didn’t happen.  I'll post what I got and add some from runDisney where applicable, but if you want a better visual trip through 10 miles of “terror”, check out runDisney’s Facebook album.

Also, this is going to get long.  Very long.  Because I'm going to make up for the lack of actual photos by painting a visual with words.  Or something. 

Still with me?  Okay, here we go…

Nancy, Peter and I grabbed a light dinner at the Caribbean Beach Resort’s (CBR) food court around 6:30pm and hopped a bus to the race shortly after 7pm. 

(For those, like I, who stress about how the whole race bus system works, note that the race buses were fancy Mears-type coaches, not regular WDW buses. The race buses had signs in their front windows denoting them as race transportation, and at CBR, those buses went around to each of the regular resort bus stops.  This is not necessarily the case at every resort, so it’s best to inquire about how your WDW resort will be handling race transportation.)

I tend to become Piglet when planning my arrival to something with a firm time target: very worried and terribly nervous.  I’ll always choose to be early rather than chance being late.  So I was quite pleased when, after picking up a few more people at other stops, we took off and quickly arrived at the pre-race staging area, located in a parking lot at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS).

By then, it was maybe 7pm… and I had until 9:15 before getting into my corral… to wait another hour before my start.  We were so early, the DJ hadn’t even started doing his thing.  But, Disney listened and there were many more photo opportunities than last year, so we indulged.

Help, I’m slipping into the twilight zone…

Or is it, “Help, I’m about to be eaten by these giant clumps of sea grass, which have nothing at all to do with the Twilight Zone, the Tower of Terror, or running!”???  The mind boggles.

A few people complimented our awesome shirts, and one simply didn’t get it.  That would be the photographer in front of a large, lit screen.  He had a fairly short line, so we got in and waited, not really knowing what it was all about, but pretty sure something cool would come of it.  As we waited, an assistant came through, telling folks who weren’t in costume, “This is for costumed racers only.  If you’re not in costume, you can’t get a picture here.”  We thought that was weird, but he didn’t tell us to leave, so he clearly got our LOST theme.  The photographer, though, did not.  Get it.  He took one look at us and said, in a disdainful tone, “This is for costumes only.”  To which we replied, “We are in costumes!  Team DHARMA?  The DHARMA Initiative?  You know, LOST – on ABC, a Disney affiliate?!”  Nope.  Not a sign of recognition in his face.  Unwilling to argue, he waved us up to the screen and we posed for our magical picture.

Guess what?

No picture.  Not in my official race photos, not in Nancy’s race photos.  Not in Peter’s race photos.  That jerk-head photographer probably never even clicked the shutter.  Hmmph.

Anyway, we took some pictures, then milled around until we found a good spot to sit and wait.

(Note: I brought with me an "ear" from the Mickey towel art in my resort room – for sitting.  And I was glad I had it: the DHS parking lot looked to have been coated in Brill Cream.  It was shiny and, as I discovered upon pulling up my towel an hour or so later, sticky.  I was pretty glad the fresh blacktop stuck to an easily laundered towel and not my running skirt.)

The DJ had started spinning his very, VERY loud tunes and a ton of people were dancing up a storm.

“Place your hands on your hips… and pull your knees in ti-ight!”

And I once again wondered how they could possibly have the energy to run 10 miles after a two-hour dance workout in 77 degrees and 86% humidity.  I’d love to know the percentage of non-finishers and finishers who danced first.

As the time neared to start loading corrals, we took our show on the road, hitting the gigantic bank of porta-potties near the corrals.  I’ve read complaints from others about waiting a long, long time in potty lines that night, but I waited a grand total of 30 seconds.  Disney had the potties laid out in a T formation, but you really wouldn’t know that unless you went around the bottom of the T and discovered the nearly empty left side of it.  Back in that corner, there was virtually NO waiting at all. Always tour the full spectrum of potty options at a race; you never know where there may be an overlooked bank of ‘em.

Last year, the Tower of Terror 10-Miler divided runners into four huge corrals, each holding about 2,500 people.  The result was massive congestion and rampant frustration when faster runners couldn’t get by much slower people ahead of them.  This year, the slightly larger field was divided into 10 corrals, A through J, with about 500 runners each in A, B and C, 1000 each in D and E, 1500 each in G and H, and about 2000 each in I and J.  I was seeded in corral G, which was designated as the corral for expected finish times under two hours and five minutes, a 12:30/mile pace.  With all of my hip issues going into the race, I knew I wouldn’t be moving that fast, so I placed myself toward the back of the corral.  But when I heard a girl behind me say that she’d never – NEVER! – run before that night, I thought twice about my plan and started moving toward the front of the corral as we all, A through J, began the move from the staging area to the start line.

Photo courtesy of Larry Wiezycki

(This is different from other WDW races and it gets mixed reviews.  For this race, we entered the fenced-in corrals and hung out for a while.  Then, about 30 minutes before the first wave started, the far ends of the corrals opened and we all moved onto a road, still in our corral groupings.  As a whole, we all walked about a quarter-mile down the road, to the DHS parking lot tollbooths.  As each wave started, the other corrals moved up for their own starts.  I liked that walk to the start.  It gave my legs a chance to loosen up and felt more productive than sitting around any longer.  Yes, it did add to the overall distance, but in a relaxed, untimed way, just like I warm up before each training run.  I’d love for every race to start that way.)

Unfortunately, somewhere during that long walk to the start, I lost my place in the middle of the corral and wound up in the very back.  I still can’t figure out how that happened!  I kept up with the people ahead of me, and I thought we kept pace with everyone else, but when the fireworks went off (fireworks for every corral’s start – yay Disney!) and the announcers called out for corral G to “GO!”, I found myself in the very back of the group.  “Oh well,” I thought, “less pressure to go out too fast.”

As you can see on the course map…

… we quickly came to the first of two trips up and around a cloverleaf ramp.  My plan for the cloverleaf had been to hang toward the outer edge and leave room for the fast folks to run the inside tangent.  My plan got tossed faster than a liberal bill on Capitol Hill.  There really weren’t any faster folks running the inside tangent at that time, and the outer edge’s extreme angle was killing my right hip (the bad one) and my left ankle.  So I angled my run down toward the inside curve as I kept moving forward, passing a good many folks in the process.

(About that cloverleaf… in the center of it is a retention pond, used in Florida to capture stormwater runoff.  In the center of that pond, a large fireball was being sent up into the sky at regular intervals.  I have to question the thought process behind that “entertainment” – who thought it was a great idea to send more ambient heat into an already very warm race?!)

Okay, it wasn't that big – but maybe that hot.

My intention for this race was to take my time, enjoy the sights, and use it as a training run heading up to a half-marathon later in the month.  But at the end of the first mile, I felt really good.  After two miles, I felt great.  Bye-bye slow and scenic – hello redemption!  I knew at that point that I had a really good shot at beating my base goal (to finish under 2:30:00), and to maybe meet my wish goal (to finish in under 2:15:00.)

So, yeah – no pictures.  From start to finish, I never stopped.  Not to take pictures, not to use a porta-potty, not even to smear some Biofreeze on my hip.  (Yes, I was that chick walk-running past the med tent  with her hand down her shorts, trying to get Biofreeze on her hip.)  I recall seeing MANY more photo opps and props along the way.  The Queen of Hearts was out, as were the Haunted Mansion butlers and dancing ghosts, a ghostly football team, the Hag from Snow White, Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, and the hyenas from The Lion King.  I also saw a giant, inflatable spider hanging above us and the Evil Queen sending curses our way from overpasses.  There were laser lights and strobe lights and twinkling lights and spider web lights and balloon-y lights. 

Even without stopping for pictures, I found my head turning and my eyes darting here, there and everywhere, just trying to take it all in.  Disney clearly listened to last year’s complaints of less-than-expected course entertainment and stepped things way, WAY up.

As for me, up to mile eight, I kept feeling better with every passing mile.  I kept skipping walk breaks and my speed kept increasing.  Every ten minutes or so, I’d feel my heart beating a little too hard, and that cool, clammy sensation that screams impending heat exhaustion, so I’d slow down and drink my Nuun until it passed.  I picked up water at almost every stop: one cup went over my head and down my back, and two more went into my bottle. 

I really enjoyed the out and back on Osceola Parkway, and especially loved shouting out to Nancy and Peter (who had started ahead of me in corral D) as I saw them pass on the opposite side of the road.  The dirt road leading into the Wide World of Sports (WWOS) complex was my favorite portion of the race this year.  I had room to run, the dirt gave my joints a break from the asphalt, and it was way, way cool and eerie in there.

Photo courtesy of runDisney

Running through WWOS was a lot more fun this year, not being in gawdawful pain, and I appreciated the spectators in the baseball stadium with funny signs that gave me a few good laughs.  Apparently the big thingy in the middle of the baseball field was a tesla coil.  I didn’t know that at the time, though – it wasn’t working and I just saw a couple official-looking guys standing near it.  Apparently, it looked like this when it was working:

Leaving WWOS, I’d been rolling along, feeling terrific for eight miles, and then…

WHAM.

I hit a wall.  Not a typical, glucose crash wall, but an oh-my-god-I’m-freaking-EXHUASTED-from-too-many-days-of-anxiety wall.  I was properly fueled and hydrated, and no muscle groups or joints were protesting loudly, but I could have pulled over and been asleep on the pavement in seconds.  I could actually feel days of built-up adrenaline flow on out of my system, as if someone had pulled the stopper in a sink full of water, leaving me feeling drained of all remaining energy.  I swear, I think my brain concluded that I was totally going to finish and there was really no reason to continue its work keeping me awake.  It took monumental effort to get through those last two miles, more than I’ve ever put into a run.

In a daze, I powered through the cloverleaf again and through DHS, trying hard to find a little extra juice to run all of the final half-mile; I was within minutes of beating my wish goal.  There just wasn’t anything left to give, though.  I allowed myself to walk ten steps, then pick up the run again, only to find my legs walking again a minute later.  As I heard a volunteer shout “You’ve got this – the finish line is just around the corner!” I walked a few more steps, took a deep breath and willed my body to run just once more, around the corner, past the Tower of Terror, and to the finish, giving Goofy and his filthy white glove a big ‘ol high-five just before I crossed.

At that moment, I didn’t even care about my time goal.  All I wanted was to get my medal and sit.  Anywhere.  My hip began to hurt immediately after finishing, I'd been battling a headache since before the race started, and that tremendous exhaustion was being supplemented with a fine shaking of every muscle in my body.

Disney, wisely predicting a good many people would feel the same way, did not let me, or anyone else, flop down after the finish line.  We needed to keep moving and Disney made sure we did... A medal was placed around my neck, a bottle of water pushed into my hand, and I grabbed a banana and tore into it like I hadn’t eaten in a week. 

I honestly had no idea where I was or where I was going at that point, but I just kept shuffling along in the direction pointed to me by the volunteers.  I saw a man to my left, leaning against a metal barricade, head down as his companion rubbed his back and looked intently into his face.  And then he went down, head slamming into the barricade as the woman with him began screaming for help.  My brain woke completely with that and sent a message to run to the couple, but my legs just stopped in place.  That was really, really weird – they just didn’t respond.  I saw that a man in much better shape and size to handle things had gotten there, anyway, and we were all screaming for a medic, so I kept shuffling, knowing I’d only be in the way.

It was scary, seeing that go down, and was a reminder that running in our special brand of heat here in Florida can be dangerous. 

At the end of my long walk from the finish, I found, was the bag check retrieval point.  Disney listened again: no stairs to climb this year!  Bag check was still in the Indiana Jones Theater, but we’d been funneled to its floor from backstage, avoiding the gazillion stairs in the theater itself.  Well done, Disney; well done.  My bag retrieved, I grabbed a seat on the pavement, a little way past the theater, still backstage, to swap my running shoes for flip flops before finding somewhere to change into dry clothes.  Between shoes, I took a moment to slug down more Nuun and looked around… bodies, everywhere.  Some sitting, some prone, some looking as if they’d been cast there by tornado.  A few looked like me, industriously, if slowly, getting things together before moving on.  Most looked catatonic, like they might not move until sunrise. Again, scary.

My feet freed from their confines of socks and laces, I hobbled off to the changing tent, where I sweated more in five minutes than I had all race.  Epic fail, there.  Really, no one thought to put a FAN in there?!

Shortly after, I met up with Nancy and Peter and we went to grab some food before meeting up with our running group.  It kind of all went south for me at that point.  I was standing in line with Peter, chatting, when I felt myself go cold from head to toe and my hearing suddenly felt muffled.  I was going to faint, I could tell.  So I went to sit at our table, head down until the world stopped spinning around me and the light-headedness passed.  Food no longer sounded good, but I managed to drink some chocolate milk and perked up enough to go to the Tower of Terror for group pics and a ride.

I made it through some pictures and conversations, but it hit again – the overwhelming sense that I was going to faint.  I sat down until it passed again and then pulled the plug; I was DONE.  I took an unofficial finisher’s photo in front of the tower, hopped a bus to CBR, drove back to my resort, Coronado Springs, took a shower and fell into bed around 4am, 24 hours after I'd started the day. 

Still to come: final thoughts, my official time and will I race the Tower 10-Miler again?  Stay tuned! (Part Three here...)