Just before we reached Cinderella's Castle (the spoke in the kingdom where all roads lead to another land), I heard shouting and saw emergency personnel pushing their way through the crowd. I stood frozen watching as a stretcher roared by carrying an overweight man and a paramedic administering CPR. I was transfixed by the image and could not look away.
From that moment on, the realization of what I was planning to attempt that night began to sink in. I was not at all prepared to run 1.1 miles, let alone 13.1. I shook the image of me on the stretcher out of my head and followed my friend Michelle into the ice cream parlor for the largest ice cream EVER! So delicious too. Walking and eating is never easy, especially with ice cream running down your arm. We both finished right before we reached Space Mountain and were thrilled the wait was only 15 minutes. I hadn't ridden Space Mountain in a while and the darkness is a little unnerving. It was, however, fantastic to be able to scream for 3 minutes as we rose and fell, soared and raced. This release helped to ease my nervousness about the evening's events. Michelle and I then proceeded to go on the roller coaster tour of Disney World for the next 4 hours and we had a blast!
In an effort to avoid the gear check nightmare, we decided to rent a locker at Epcot (the finish of the race) and leave all items we would need after the race in said locker. Things were going too smoothly that I knew there were bound to be issues that night. We headed back to our hotel (35 minutes on the bus) and took a 2 hour "nap" prior to lining up to leave for the start line.
After we were dressed and sufficiently moisturized so as to prevent chafing, we left for the bus corrals. We were able to squeeze on the first bus and the excitement set in as the other runners boarded the buses. I tried to calm my nerves, but realized I should have gone to the bathroom. (This would prove detrimental later that night.) We were told we have to be on the bus by 8pm, yet the race didn't start until 10pm. This meant a lot of sitting, lying, and standing around waiting. I am never good at waiting and wished we had been on one of the last buses as then I would have gone to the bathroom prior to arriving at the starting line.
One thing I did right, I was properly hydrated...perhaps too hydrated. The temperature was 67 degrees and 100% humidity when we arrived at the grazing field. We stretched for a while and waited. And waited. To Disney's credit, they did try to keep us entertained, but two hours is too long to stay in one place waiting for a race to begin. At about 9:30, Michelle left for Corral A - the fast runners. She also wanted to use the port-a-potties before the race. This is something I should have done as well.
After Michelle left I began talking with a mom and her daughter next to me. They were old hands at Disney races and were giving me some tips. At the Princess Half Marathon earlier this year, the daughter, who is about 20 pounds heavier than me wasn't keeping under the 16.00 pace. She was later "swept" up by the Team in Training people, who, in her opinion were quite rude. Both the mom and daughter told me that if I was feeling like I wasn't going to make it, I should go to a medical tent and avoid the sweepers. This advice proved vital later on.
Finally we were allowed to line up in our back of the pack "Corral D". Fear and anxiety set in as I realized I would soon have to run 13.1 miles, or at least walk it really fast. The National Anthem boomed over the sound system and the fireworks signaled the start of the race. At first I ran with my new buddy and I managed to keep up with her for about a mile. At that point, I realized I couldn't run this whole race and indicated that she "go on without me!" My pace at the first mile was 17.00 but that was because it took 4 minutes to get to the start line from the end of the line.
I then began alternating walking and running in splits of 30 seconds. I was hoping this would help me stay ahead of the sweepers. Each mile marker had a special sign and I would have loved to have stopped, but I didn't have any leeway with timing and needed to keep on, keeping on. About mile 2 I realized I needed to pee...bad. I didn't want to stop because that would add 5 minutes and I would never have a chance. So I kept going. Running/walking along a steeply banked road that only inflamed my damaged ankles and the road was so dark I was afraid someone would jump out at us.
As I hit the 5k mark, I received a text from Disney indicating my current pace: 16:38. At this point the build-up of fluid was affecting my fingers and I began to lose feeling in the tips. Given my recent high blood pressure diagnosis and the advice from my former race buddy, I decided to stop at the next medical tent, which thankfully was a mere quarter mile away. The medical staff were amazing and comforting as I lost it when they asked what was wrong. I couldn't talk at first and they asked several times if I needed an ambulance. The tears flowed as I realized I wouldn't finish this stupid race and would look even sillier for even attempting it at my weight. Three Powerade bottles later, I felt restored and less of a failure (I also think there were other issues at play.) The staff was worried about my blood pressure, so a van was called to take me to the tent with more high tech machines. I profusely thanked the doctor and nurse and with the help of the van driver climbed aboard.
I wasn't alone in the van, as another overweight runner fell victim to the sweepers. She seemed pretty upbeat and we discussed what went wrong with our races. We both agreed the humidity was the number one factor. We also admitted we didn't train as we should have. Standing around for the two hours prior to the race might also have played a factor. After the bitch session ended, my new BFF said that all was not lost as we would still get a medal. I don't know if they felt sorry for us, or if it was because this was the inaugural race, but I didn't care. We were dropped off at the next medical tent, I was given more Powerade and a nice bag of ice on the back of my neck while we waited for the cute paramedic to take my blood pressure. 130/90 and I was released to Epcot with my fraudulent medal around my neck. I wore the medal initially until I felt like a liar and put it in my bag.
Michelle finished 16th in our age group and deserves her medal. I am so proud of her and have been inspired even more to get my ass in gear, train, diet and go back next year and finish the damn thing. The medal is in my hope chest right now, because next year, I hope to finish many more races.
One thing that will be different about next year: no visiting the parks. No excessive walking. This is all we will do:
Thanks for writing about your experience at the Wine and Dine. I'm so sorry you had to stop, but you made the right decision to take care of your health. I came uncomfortably close to a sweeper during my time at the Wine and Dine.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting back on track and training again. That takes a lot of determination!