Déjà Goof!

After my yelling fit at the kids the night before, Scott took the children home so I could have the hotel room to myself. And so the running ritual started yet again including the routine of my pre-race meal of a hamburger and fries. Lights were promptly out by 8:30 PM, and my body crashed just seconds after that. I was awoken by the sound of my watch alarm. Never once did I wake up to check the time! I was well-rested and ready to go! Thankfully no snow, sleet nor rain was in the forecast. Unfortunately it was 10 degrees colder with the wind chill factor bringing the temperature down in the 9’s. (I am NOT kidding!) Placing the layers of clothing on my body, opening the door and heading to the bus was simply déjà vu. I felt pretty confident that this time I would find my cousin out in the 17,000 plus crowd since one of her fellow Bradenton friends had a phone! Yeah! And sure enough we were able to meet up. I got to meet her awesome running buddies: Lisa and her husband, Brian along with Jillanne. I’m not sure about Brian, but for Lisa and Jillanne, this was their first marathon! My cousin has become a running coach! How cool is that! I enjoyed talking with Jillanne as we walked yet again, the Trail of Fears, and yet again, I was distracted by making a new friend and the EXTREME cold. Before venturing off into our corrals, Melanie and her entourage hit the port-a-potties. Even though I was holding two snuggies while everyone was gone, I was still freezing. At this point, I could not feel my feet at all. We had just enough time to get inside our corral and shed our sweats and snuggies before our wave started. As I crossed the start line, it hit me. I never got a chance to stretch! Needless to say I would be keeping close tabs on my muscles!

For the past three years, Melanie and I have run together in the Disney Marathon Weekend events. 2007 was the Pirate and Princess 5K, 2008 was our first half marathon, and 2009 was our first full. My cousin is much faster than me; can even hold a conversation while maintaining speed. I, on the other hand, must use all of my energy, focus and concentration to keep these legs moving. Even though she can easily run circles around me, Melanie sacrifices her personal best to stay by my side. Little did she know that between conversing and her pace brought me anxiety. It was a hard decision; but with the two major races back to back, I had to let her know of my necessity to run on my own. Thankfully she understood, and I was thrilled to know she had not just one but two lovely ladies to run with for the longest run of the two. I had the opportunity to hang with them for the first six miles. Somewhere after that point when they zigged one way around a crowd, I zagged the other which put me smack dab in the middle of congestion. I was blocked and could not get around the pack of slow runners in time to see where Melanie and the girls went. No worries, though. I simply enjoyed the course and kept the best pace I could except when entering a water station. Due to the extremely frigid temperature, the spilled water and Poweraid quickly turned into ice. After slipping the first couple of times, I thought it best to walk safely through the rest of them. My only other concern was yet again any uphill road or tilt in the pavement. My IT bands made sure I walked them, but I put my heart and soul into each and every step. I think the best part of this course is getting to run through all four parks: first through the Magic Kingdom, then Animal Kingdom (but the distance in between those parks can get boring), next Hollywood Studios and back at EPCOT. A couple of miles before Hollywood Studios I got the best boost of energy anyone could ask for. Low and behold stood Annette and Amy screaming my name! How in the world they recognized me covered up like a ninja Smurf was beyond me! I was so overwhelmed with emotion, so happy to see them; I just stopped and gave them both hugs. Little did I know that there was a third member of their party, another dear friend of theirs, Shawndell, whose sister was running the Goofy as well. She was kind and thoughtful to capture the moment with her camera. I will always be grateful for that. Normally it’s around mile 20 or 21 when a runner hits the wall. For me, it wasn’t a wall, but an uphill overpass that caused some issues. My left knee and arch were showing signs of fatigue and failure. While pushing on to mile 22, I kept weighing the decision back and forth in my mind… “Do I push on running and risk a major injury? Or Do I walk the remaining four miles?” My goal for this marathon was to finish between 5 and 5:30. If I continued to run, I could make 5:15 but jeopardize chances of running races in the future. By the time I reached the mile marker, I smiled with contentment knowing I made the best decision and began to walk. At mile 23 I heard a familiar voice call out my name! It was Melanie along with Lisa and Jillanne. Here I thought they had probably already finished the race, and there they were just catching up to me. I wished them well on their last 3.2 miles of their marathon journey as they passed on by. I wish I could describe exactly how I was feeling during those last miles approaching the finish. I held back tears of joy knowing that I would complete yet another personal goal in my life. I don’t know if it was the big smile on my face or the fact I was walking like a maniac that caused numerous spectators along those last three miles to shout out my name with encouragement and praise. (Our names are printed on the racing bibs.) When I could see the finish line, I could not help but start running – slowly of course to ensure safety, and yet again, there Amy and Annette were still cheering me on to my Goofy goal. I remembered to stop my Garmin this time and was shocked to see that regardless of walking mostly six to seven miles of the 26.2 journey, I finished at 5:27:12. I had reached my goal despite my obstacle. I had won my race! Putting on the Goofy medal was so surreal. So much time, energy, effort and funds had gone into making this dream come true. I immediately called Scott to let him know I was officially Goofy! Of course his response was he already knew that, but now I had the medal to prove it. (Thank you, Scott, for making this aspiration a reality. You sacrificed so much for this to happen, and I will never forget that!) And as I requested, my hubby and kids were nice and warm back at the hotel. I didn’t even have to place my post-race drink order. It was already waiting for me. Before standing in line for my Goofy photo, Amy and Annette congratulated me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I was so overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness and support. True friendship is hard to find and definitely a gift from above! When I attempted to remove my body from the bus, I noticed the adrenaline had begun to wear off. The hotel staff came to my rescue as I slowly took each painful step off of the vechile. Apparently the noises coming out of my mouth brought forth quite a crowd. I didn’t care. I just finished 39.3 miles! Even with the extreme cold weather, the limited movement of my legs and the hunger pains developing in my stomach, I still took time to talk with several hotel guests, spectators and fellow racers about the amazing journey. And that it was. An experience I will never forget and will talk about to my grandkids for years to come… how I ran the Goofy, with record low temperatures in Florida, in the sleet and snow, uphill – both ways, barefoot, … ;-) And so it looks like it is time to start planning for a new goal or two… maybe the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon series or training for a triathlon. But for now, for the next week or so – I’m doing nothing!