Ah well

The marathon came, the marathon went. I ran a grand total of 11 miles in December, due to the chest infection that required antibiotics, then recovering from the antibiotics (amoxicillin rash is not cool), then picking up another sniffle that promptly closed my lungs right up again. I did 6 of those 11 miles in Florida, and I was quite seriously worried about starting the marathon. My lungs just weren't working with me. Fortunately the marathon was another week and a half away at that point, so I dedicated myself to attempting to eat more food than I would normally see in a month (a slight exaggeration, but not much), soaking up the Disney vibe and generally healing as best I could. My support crew was in a much worse state than me and distracted everyone from noticing that I wasn't entirely well either!

Starting a race at 6am is no picnic. We stayed in a Disney hotel to make transport as painless as possible, but still got up at 3am, to catch a bus by 3.30, to be standing in my corral by around 5. It got colder between 5 and 6, down around 10 degrees Celsius. That hour before dawn is not just the darkest. Then we stood and waited while the sponsor talked at us (normal), the race organiser talked at us (normal), and the national anthem was sung (not normal for the UK, apparently normal for the US). And then they started letting the waves go. That bit was awesome. Each wave went at around 3 minute intervals, and each wave got fireworks.

The first 4 miles were along to Epcot and through future world then back to the start. The lake was steaming gently, all the lights were on. It was beautiful. I remember thinking "next time I'm here I'm nearly done", but it was just a lovely thing. I spotted Clarkie at the 4 mile mark, so I (slightly prematurely as it turned out) gave her my thermal. I felt pretty good after 4 miles.

From there it was along more service roads to the Magic Kingdom. I got a bit cold on that section. I was sweaty, but my legs felt cold and I started to feel a little less happy. Clarkie took the monorail across to Magic Kingdom and saw me at 9 miles. Then she had to go and checkout of the hotel and stuff, so that was the last time I saw her before the finish. 

After Magic Kingdom comes a loooooong stretch of service roads before you reach Animal Kingdom. We went past the halfway mark on that stretch, and I was feeling ok. Starting to struggle, but I'd warmed up. I was slower than on a good day at the halfway mark, but I was still on track for my PB. I was quite jealous of the relay runners though. (Disney were doing a new thing this year, the Chip and Dale relay where two runners each do 13.1 miles. The first leg get their own finish and everything. I think it sounds brilliant, personally. Just have to persuade a certain someone to run it with me!)

Disney had done their best to liven up the dull bits. There were characters, boards with random facts on, cast members cheering... And really, it was a run through green trees and on flat terrain, so it wasn't too bad. It was warming up but not hot yet, almost perfect. Trouble was I got through 15 miles in slightly over 3 hours (well down on normal) and my legs and feet and brain stopped coordinating really well. After that it was pretty much a battle the whole way. My PB dreams went out of the window, and it became totally about finishing by any means I could. Which meant a lot of walking. 

I can tell you that the pavement in Animal Kingdom is quite textured. The park was open by the time I got there, and I saw people stop running to go on the Everest ride. More people meant more cheering, and that was definitely welcome. Having our names on the race number meant loads of people shouted for you directly, and that was such a boost. I'm not sure spectators really appreciate the difference they make to the average runners. They really do. Should you ever find yourself spectating, take something to make some noise with! Clapping hurts after a while...

The section between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios was my personal hell. We were out on some of the main roads in Disney at this point, in direct sun, on overpasses with no shade, with one lane still open to cars. The car drivers were miserable and seemed intent on ignoring the running. No horn beeping, no windows down and cheering, nothing. Just the exhausts making it worse. (Coincidentally, this was between around 19-23 miles. Never good. So my report may be coloured by that.) A high point was 'Sweet Caroline' coming on over the speakers, and a load of the runners started singing along! 

Hollywood Studios to the end was much more pleasant. We went along the edge of water back through the Beach Club resort and into Epcot World Showcase around the back of the United Kingdom (I know that means nothing unless you've been there, but this is for my memory as much as anything else), and it was so nice to get away from the cars and back amongst people. I saw my parents at the Christmas tree where World Showcase meets Futureworld (around 25.5 miles), and nearly started crying and gave them my sweaty camelbak. Another runner there cajouled me into running for a bit more - I wasn't sure my legs were on the right way round by this point - and the finish was a lovely, lovely sight. 

In the end my chip timing didn't work (no record of my start), and I forgot to turn off my watch at the finish (other things on my mind). But it was around 6 hours 9 minutes, or 10 minutes slower than my already incredibly slow PB. I am happy that I did the best preparation my body could do, and the best on the day that I could, but I'd have given an awful lot to not get that chest infection. 

The thing that really made this marathon for me was all the people. The cast members who were out in the dark at 6am to cheer us on, all the other runners, the volunteers who ran all the food and water stops, the people who were sweeping up the cups after us and the spectators were all awesome. The atmosphere was fantastic. Every waterstop, runners were thanking the volunteers for being there, and they were telling us back to keep going because we were doing fine (even when we patently weren't!). 

(Very little makes me as emotional as long distance running, so forgive me if I'm gushing.)

The other thing that makes this marathon unique is the day after. I was ok - very stiff, some chafe marks, a couple of tiny blisters - so we went into Epcot mid-afternoon. I'd been told I had to wear my medal and tshirt, which felt a lot like showing off for this Brit, but I did it. I am so glad I did. There were lots of medals at the park. We congratulated each other, with nods and smiles, and other people congratulated us too. Half marathon, full marathon, Chip and Dale or Goofy (half on the Saturday, full on the Sunday) didn't matter. It was really special. Clarkie said it was like I'd joined some cult club. 

I am really glad I did it. It helped me put my London result in perspective, and was an amazing experience in it's own right. I feel like a runner now, like I've worked that into my life rather than just training for the one thing. A very slow runner, but that's ok. Would I do it again? One day. I'll finish the PhD first, and work on my half-marathon time. But one day I'll do another.

Links: 

Walt Disney 2012 marathon map

The rest of Clarkie's photos of the day

Disaster!

Well, ok, that might be a little strong. In terms of my running it's been a bit disasterous, but actually it's just a cold. 

Yep, after feeling so positive in my last blog post, I managed a 2 mile treadmill run on Monday, then half an hour on the recumbant bike on Tuesday (no treadmills free!), then Tuesday night I started feeling horrible. Spent most of Wednesday asleep, other than when I woke up hungry, and have been more or less out of it since. I'm just getting to the stage where I feel mostly human again - I managed a day in the office yesterday, but didn't really achieve much. This morning I've woken up with no voice and a nice cough, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

I mean, I say disaster, but really last week was supposed to be a light week. Not THAT light maybe, but still. And I had another two long runs planned, so one of them will just have to bite the dust for me to recover this week. Hopefully I'll get a couple of shortish runs in by the end of this week - 3-6 miles maybe - then next week will be back on track for a 20 miler. After that my taper is supposed to start (eek! Getting really close!). 

I knew I couldn't stay healthy for September all the way to January. I'm just glad I got as much of my training plan done as I have. There's no point giving myself a hard time over this either, there's nothing I can do about it that I'm not already doing (lemsip, sleeping lots, staying warm, good food...) and stressing will just make it worse. So fingers crossed this is just giving my legs time to recover, and I'll be back up and running soon as. 

6 weeks to go

I can't quite believe it's only 6 weeks to go! How on earth did that happen?

The last four weeks of running have been quite interesting. I did another 15 miles the week after I last blogged, which was difficult. I was fine for about the first 2.5 hours again, but then I got tired. The difference seemed to be that this time it wasn't my legs. My head went for the first time, and I couldn't make myself do it any more. I ran more slowly than the previous week, which really wasn't what I'd been expecting. I came off that week so flat, I didn't even want to think about running for most of the next week, and as you can see I didn't do any. I managed to force myself to go for a run on the Sunday, but it was a bit of an effort. 

It helped though. By the Tuesday I went for my first run home along the seafront in the dark. I was at my desk dreading it, but as soon as I got out of the door I felt great. Turns out it's not quite as far along the top of the cliffs as it is along the undercliff walk, but it's not as flat either (and windier) so I think it cancels out. I've got a new plan for Thursdays too. I now come into work with Clarkie, then turn round and run home and work there all day. That makes the trail running easier than trying to do it in the dark - it's not a good surface, I come close to turning an ankle on it when I can see, so a head torch probably won't cut it. 

The weekend of the 19th-20th we were up in Cambridge. I was supposed to be doing an 18 mile run, but after 13 miles my feet decided to let me know they'd had enough. There didn't seem much point in pushing them further for risk of injury, so we stopped and Dad came to pick me up.

The really strange thing is that bailing out on that run seems to have really made me feel much better about the whole thing. I can't work out why. It's almost like my legs responded to that 13 miles like a weekend off. I felt so much stronger and better this week. It could be that the weekend spent being looked after by my parents and doing almost nothing more than sitting in the sun in their conservatory is what really recharged my batteries, but the run this Saturday felt awesome. I did 16 miles in 3 hours, not the 15.2 or so I did a couple of weeks ago. Ok, the extra 25 minutes felt quite long, and my legs were glad to stop, but I've been in much worse shape after fewer miles. 

It feels like my calves and feet have finally given in. It feels like I can do this now. This week is a rest week, and then there are two more long runs to practice before I taper for the race.

Bring. It. On.

10 weeks to go...

I meant to post last week, really I did. But last week was not a good running week. 

Two weeks' trainingThe first week was supposed to be a nice, restful week. Low mileage, just a 1 hour run on the Saturday. Well, I missed the Thursday run. I had really, really sore calves, and was just starting to worry about shin splints (yeah, probably hypochondria.) so I skipped and started stretching and so on. Clarkie dug her thumbs in a few times too, with interesting results where I nearly went through the ceiling! I thought I might need to do some miles in slightly more supportive shoes, to give my calves a break on the longer runs, so I tried to do the Saturday run in my Asics. I also mostly felt like staying on the sofa drinking tea.

It did not go well.

I hated the shoes, which felt like they were really squishing my feet. I lost the feeling in my toes after about 10 minutes. The wind was in my face, and the undercliff walk was full. It was extremely demoralising. 

This week started much better. Tuesday's run was awesome in fact. I felt good after my 8 miles. Then Wednesday evening I suddenly went very tired, and Thursday and Friday were spent at home fighting off a sore throat that was threatening to turn into a cold. My long run was supposed to be Saturday, but we went to Hailsham (I've been running on the Cuckoo Trail for these long ones) and Clarkie's mum needed some help shifting stuff and I was feeling a bit under the weather still, so we postponed. 

Today's run was great! Well, for the first 2.5 hours or so. This is a good sign. I've been extending my long runs by 30 minutes at a time, and I seem to die 30 minutes later on each one. My tactic is to try and push the bad miles as far back as possible, and it seems to be working. Only down side is my phone (which is what I've been tracking my runs on with GPS and an android app) died after 2 hours 55. So I think I actually did closer to 15.5 miles, because I kept going for the full 3 hours. Not sure what I'll do on the longer runs I've got planned. 

I should also point out that Clarkie is an absolute trooper, who comes with me on all these long runs on her bike. She carries the refreshments, chats at me, keeps me going when it's got tough and generally makes the long runs possible. Then when we make it back she feeds and waters me, runs a bath or puts me in the shower, and looks after me. There is no way I could do this without her. 

Next week is supposed to look a lot like this week. No Monday run because of the shunt of today's run onto Sunday. I might shift the 8 mile run to Thursday too. We'll see how it goes. Other than the long run, everything else is negotiable!

12 weeks to go...

12 weeks today, all being well, I'll have completed the Walt Disney World marathon. I figure I'll do a bit of a weekly training update from here on. 

Last week's training:

I'm pretty pleased with that, I did all four runs and did the distance I was hoping to on each one. More or less, anyway. The Saturday run is done on time more than distance. The last 30 minutes was a bit painful, but that's better than the two hour run I did a couple of weeks ago. Slightly more than a half-marathon. Actually, before I uploaded it said 13.6 miles on my phone. Not quite sure what happens when I upload the GPX file!

Next week's training:

Next week is a light week. Should be easy enough, if my legs have recovered enough for a couple of miles tomorrow. Fingers crossed!