Well, 2008 was a very interesting year, so I decided to go to Disney World!
This race was different on multiple levels, first of all it included 2 races instead of 1. I would end up running a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday, January 10 and follow up with a full marathon on Sunday for a total of 39.3 miles in 2 days.
The second difference was I was not the only one of our group running a race that weekend.
I usually make my marathons into a vacation and this was to be no exception. The thing is, we started this trip with getting up at 4 AM on Thursday to fly to Orlando, followed with Friday's race where Kimberly and Candice were set to run a 5K - that meant getting up at a very early time to get to the 7 AM start. This was a great first race for Kim and Candice, my son Andy's girlfriend, and was presented in true Disney fashion as thousands lined up to start the race. 
It took 10 minutes for the back of the pack to just reach the starting line. Of course once the women were out of sight, Andy, Andy's daughter Bella and myself bee-lined it for the car to get some much needed heat. We almost missed Candice and Kimberly crossing the finish line and I did miss getting a picture at that exact moment - hey, I am not used to being the spectator!
Day 3 was no exception as my 1/2 marathon started at 6 AM, and once again we needed to get up about the time young folks go to bed. I have never seen so many outhouses in one area. It seemed like each one of the 14,000 plus runners had their own! It was cold so I had stayed in the warm car as long as possible and then started for the starting line 25 minutes before gun time - well they make you walk a long way before you get to the starting line and I ended up missing the corral B's start, but soon we were off and running.
For the first hour we enjoy the light of the full moon to light our way and everything was perfect. Each water station was well manned and they were picking up cups as fast as we could throw them on the ground. At mile 4, we cross a road where you can hear the loud speaker announcing the runners that are past the half way mark - those are some fast runners to be 3.6 miles ahead of me, but I am not running for time since I need to save some energy for Sunday. Right before sun rise the dew drops and it is especially damp and chilly and for me, the only way to keep warm is to speed up a little. My final 5K of this race was my fastest and I finish.Once the sun is up, Florida in January warms up quickly and we hit low 70's by lunch time.
Day 4 was my marathon and started at 5:50 AM, damn it was like we would never get a chance to sleep in!
Years ago I had the family participate in a marathon at Mrytle Beach via a Relay where we all did a section of the race, that was fun and we did it a couple of years in a row.
But this time it was the full marathon and I was not alone. Andy, my son, decided to join me in running this marathon. He has some experience as he has run a 1/2 marathon in the past, but his training regiment for this race is not like his dad's, to say the least. Sufficient to say that I worked a lot on the physical part (you know, where you actually run to prepare) and he worked on the mental part(he told his friends about this, so he had to cross the finish line to save face).
Because of our expected finish times, we are in different corrals as the fireworks go off and 14,500 people start this great race, but I knew Andy was out there just like me.
If you want to run your first marathon, you can not do better than this! I think for something like 40% of the runners, this is their first full marathon! For someone like me, this becomes an ego booster as you pass thousands and very seldom get passed yourself. This race takes you through all the theme parks and many runners have brought cameras and stop to get their pictures taken with Mickey or Minnie or Goofy.
I end up seeing Kim and Candice a few times during the race as they scrambled to catch the monorail to the next viewing area, but after mile 17 you are on your own.
Sunday ends up being warmer and since you run so much more of the race after sunrise than the Saturday run, you feel it and it gets to wearing you down. These later stages of the race they have Icy-Hot that you can grab and rub on your thighs, knees and calves to relieve a little of the pain. By the way, do not rub your eyes right after handling this goop or you will have Icy-Hot eyes and eyebrows, which remarkably, helped me get it off my mind that I was over 35 miles at that point (in 2 days)!
I end up seeing Kim and Candice a few times during the race as they scrambled to catch the monorail to the next viewing area, but after mile 17 you are on your own.
Sunday ends up being warmer and since you run so much more of the race after sunrise than the Saturday run, you feel it and it gets to wearing you down. These later stages of the race they have Icy-Hot that you can grab and rub on your thighs, knees and calves to relieve a little of the pain. By the way, do not rub your eyes right after handling this goop or you will have Icy-Hot eyes and eyebrows, which remarkably, helped me get it off my mind that I was over 35 miles at that point (in 2 days)!
I end up pacing myself and finish without any real visual damages.
Where is Andy? We find out that he still had a ways to go, so we rush back to our rented house with a pool and I shower and change - requested by Kim, and head back to Disney to find Andy. It is still a zoo, with more spectators in the stands than I normally have in the entire race. Kim, Candice and I split up to try to spot Andy. No one sees him as hundreds cross the finish line, my hand gets tired from shading the sun with one hand and holding my camera up with the other. Some are in tough shape as they lean on each other to get over the finish line and then collapse in a heap, yet smiling ear to ear.
They are announcing that the race is about to finish, yet no sign of Andy. I tell Kim that I am going over to the information tent to see if he was found past out in the Tea Cup ride or something. Two seconds later I get the word from Candice and Kim, that Andy was spotted and was shuffling to the finish line! Andrew finished his first marathon and joins the group that can say "Yea, I did a marathon!" It is a select group and he should be as proud of it as I am in him.
What a great weekend, we had 4 runners log almost 72 miles through the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot, it was awesome. Oh, we also ended up sleeping in the next day and have an actual relaxing, vacation.
I need to blame Global Warming on my performance in 2008. That can be the only reason why my times were so bad. I figured that because of the warmer, wetter weather, I was always running against the wind, which can only slow you down, you know. It couldn't possibly be because of getting older. I ran in 7 different states in many different races and can say now that I enjoyed them all now that the pain is gone and wounds have healed, though the non stop training gets old. I look forward to some non-racing months to decide where my running interest will take me this Spring. 
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This race has been over for 20 days now. Still, even today, walking down the stairs makes my left knee ache. The amount of pain I went through during the race was nearly unbearable. I had taken over 4000 mg's of Tylenol, used about 8oz of Bio-Freeze, loaded up on 9 Salt tablets, and had taken almost 5000% of my daily recommended Bvitamin intake during the race. As my walk/run ratio slowly turned to a walk/stop ratio, my pace went to about 1 foot per step. At mile 20, one of the three blisters that had been forming all afternoon finally gave way and popped, making each step that much more unbearable. As mile 25 came and went, I attempted to run. 'To finish strong I said to myself'. I took 3 steps of a girlish jog and was amazed that my legs were not going to do this. Stopping them from buckling caused them to cramp. A real lose lose situation. So, walking was my only option. The paramedic guys on their bikes kept swarming around me, waiting for me to collapse, but I just kept on walkin. Inch by inch.
Finally, I see the finish line. I inch my way up and see Donald Duck, the Chipmunks, and some princess from some cartoon I was forced to watch when I was a kid. I look over and see Candice holding up a sign. She wrote some good spectator stuff on it, it made me laugh on the inside. I walk across the finish line and a paramedic lady comes up and asked what was wrong. I told her my legs weren't working. She got some ice and more Tylenol. I was thinking, if I don't lose my legs from this race, my kidneys are going to fail from all the Tylenol. All drugged up and banana in hand, I am pissed I have to keep walking. I make my way through the endless path of gates and fences. I walk through and there is the old man. Changed, cleaned up, looking like he just went for a swim.
I had always respected and admired him for doing this, running a marathon. Today I fully appreciated it. I gave him a big hug and we started to walk.. yea, more of that, me with my one medal on, Dad with his three. Dad received a Daffy Duck for the half marathon, and Micky mouse for the full, and the Goofy for doing both. Because that's just Goofy.
I got to the house and this is where the real marathon began. First on my to do list. Ice bath. Gentlemen, let me tell you about an ice bath. It's cold. One can sit in this cold hellish water and as your legs may grow accustomed to the near freezing temperature, a mans junk does not. I cupped my guys hoping to keep them warm. After about 10 minutes, I eased my way up and took a hot shower.
I get out and Dad was already in the spa part of the pool. I join him and we take shots of Patron. Then more. A few hours go by and my legs are not doing well at all. Everything hurts. From my hips to my feet, everything is just in pain. I take an anti inflammatory/pain reliever. Still, no change. We all hit the sack at about 9pm. Lights out, sleep in. The next day Dad is up milling around like yesterday hadn't happened, meanwhile, I can't get out of bed. I can't bend my legs. The act of sitting and standing was so ridiculous, I resorted to just standing half the time.
Like a fool, I let myself get talked into going to Universal studio's. Everyone wanted me to use a wheel chair so they could cut in line. So I walked around all day again. Probably too much too soon. I can't move my legs again and each step is getting shorter and shorter. Dad, is just walking around, carefree, happy as anyone can be. I wanted to slap him. Not only did he run 40 miles in 24 hours, he was just 'a little sore'.
After returning back to Mass, my left leg developed a lump and kept swelling. I was getting worried after about 7 days of this. But like the typical fool I am, I just waited longer. All in all, it took about 10 days for my legs to actually work normally, my limping to stop, and people to stop asking if I sat on a piece of corn on the cob. Today, my knee still hurts. I'm hoping that after another week or so, I can actually go running and actually train for another one.
So, in spirit of doing what I do best. Please train for a marathon before doing one. Can you cross the finish line while smoking and drinking and doing nothing for a year? Yes, but the pain is not worth it. Learn from my mistake.
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