MY Disney Marathon

Even by Sunday, Disney Marathon Day, I didn't have enough consistant energy to run the marathon. So I know that I did the right thing by not running. Still....

I woke up 5:58 Sunday morning, 2 minutes before the race began. Damn! I was hoping to sleep completely through it. Instead, I looked at the clock thinking how great it would be to be at the starting line. Then I fell asleep again....

And reawakened just past 7. About when the sun is coming up, I thought, one of my favorite times in the race. The first part is in the dark and that's kind of creepy. Then, at about 6 and a half miles, the sun appears. A quarter of the distance is covered, I've taken my first Gu and I'm rolling along comfortably at my race pace. All things seem possible and the day hopeful, even optimistic. At least, that's what could have been had I not been still in bed....

When I finished my next, brief, doze it was about 7:30. I would've been in the Magic Kingdom, right around Cinderella's Castle, close to mile 11. A few years ago I saw 2 runners stop there to get married. Last year I accidentally took my double caffinated expresso tasting Gu there (I meant to hold on to it till later and take a regular one there) and surged forward for my fastest 3 mile stretch in the race. Now I could only think of how that felt as I surged to the bathroom, then to breakfast....

Breakfast was over at 9...3 hours in. This is the critical time, I thought. About 21 miles, hopefully a bit more, done and now the real race begins. How I do now, how much I slow (because I've always slowed), will determine how good the race will be. It's the moment of truth, the true measure, the, well, you get the idea. Exciting stuff! Except for today. Today, at the moment of truth, I decided to go back to the room and lay down. My friend Janet went off to MGM Studios alone....

The day was already very warm and humid. That would've taken a toll on the road. As the clock moved closer to 10 AM I imagined coming closer and closer to the finish. Would I gobble down the Chocolate Kisses offered at mile 23 and would that energize me or just upset my stomach? Should I take them with water or whenever I felt like a pick-me-up? The clock ticked....

Would it have been 9:45 when I finally finished? That would be Boston Qualifying Time. Would it be 9:51? That would be a Personal Best. Before 10 and under 4 hours for only my second time? Or sometime, anytime, disappointingly later?

At 10:30 I knew my race would have been over. I'd be in the Epcot parking lot, eating if I could, moaning in some pain and nausea and probably vowing never to do this again. I'd be wondering how long it would take till I felt good again. So now, I thought, I could only feel better than if I had run the race. Perhaps things would only get better now!

At 1 PM I watched the Jets Playoff Game and by 4 PM I was thinking that this once seemingly promising athletic day had certainly become a disaster. And again I was feeling fatigued and unable to maintain my energy. Would I ever feel well again?

Janet and I went off to the movies. As we waited for the show to start I began to feel something odd. Strange. Something I'd never felt before. No, actually, it was something I'd almost ALWAYS felt before, just not recently. I felt...myself! My energy was back! I felt good. Not fatigued. I waited for it to go away. It didn't. Nor did it the next day, the day after that or the one after that. I could at least enjoy Disney. I put off running till returning to New York. But at least I could walk all over the parks and not need to take a nap!

Throughout the parks people wore finisher's medals and I talked with some of them about the race. People recognized me as a runner (either because I look like one or because the T Shirts I wore all had the names of races I'd run in New York) and asked me if I'd run. At first I'd tell them no and explain about becoming ill. After a while, that got me down.

So when they asked me if I ran, I told them about last year's race. And if they asked me about the heat I told them what it was like in the heat 2 years ago. Not EXACTLY a lie and it did make me feel better, though it also made me think:

"Of all the words of man and pen, the saddest are these, it might have been."

Well, there's always next year. And till then, I can always talk about last year!