Goofy Challenge Race Recap

The weekend I had been thinking worrying and training about for months finally arrived and it was all worth it!

Half Marathon
Although the Disney World Marathon weekend is scheduled for the coldest weekend in January (historically) this year was an exception. Not what I wanted for running long distances, but it could have been worse.  Morning temps were in the upper 50s and warmed up to mid 70s.   Because we start so damn early, we run a good portion of the race in the dark which helps on warm days like this.

I don't know if it's the starting time, 5:30am, the number of runners 24,000 for the half and more for the marathon, or the distance you have to walk to the starting line, 20 min walk, but you have to get up so early for these races!  We had a 2:30am wake up time with the goal of leaving the house by 3:05am in an effort to get to the parks by 3:30am and beat the traffic.  The pre-race traffic jam stresses me out and I would rather have a calmer start to the day so it's worth it to get up 30 minutes earlier.

There are many opportunities to run half marathons and marathons, but only one place where you can stop along the way and get photos with all the characters you grew up with. Our goal for this race was to take it easy and take lots of pictures and that's just what we did.

The Mary Poppins pic is my favorite! 

We finished the race in 2:23:46 with one-third of the challenge completed. Then we headed back home to refuel, relax and get ready for tomorrow's race.

Marathon

Waking up at 2:30am for the second night in a row wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it did make me think of the movie Groundhog Day.  Using the same routine, we got to Epcot without too much trouble, but the crowd arrived earlier today.  The big change we made was to head out to the starting line as soon as they opened the chutes.  It was so much better than the giant crowd were  wedged into the day before during the walk out.

Our plan today was to run-walk in 4:1 intervals, take more photos and enjoy the race. The first walk break always feels awkward, because you don't need it then and everyone is hustling past you. We pretty much stuck to that schedule except for photo and bathroom breaks until later in the race when we walked more than ran. 

We didn't want to kill ourselves to finish with a great time.  It was a relief to not worry about the time, something I am not used to, but very freeing. Unlike yesterday, I brought some extra food with me to eat later on in the race. Consuming only Powerade and water for that many miles is not enough for me and I am not a GU person.  I packed Honey Stingers, a Cliff Crunch and some pretzels. 

  

                                                             

The villains photo is my favorite from this day! Gaston cracked me up.

Belle looks sweet, but I think she woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, because she was a little abrupt.  Not very Belle like.

   

Because this was the 20th anniversary of the marathon there were some special happenings at mile 20. My photos don't do it justice.  It was refreshing to have a little excitement at the point in the race you really wish you were closer to the finish line than you are.  

I was very hot and tired by the time we crossed the finish line in 5:31:29.  

We met our goal and completed the Goofy Challenge!  I can't believe I ran 39.3 miles in two days. It was not easy and it took many hours of training, but I'm glad I did it and I'm glad its over. It is definitely a crazy thing to do, but it is such a big deal during this weekend that you feel like a celebrity when people see your Goofy bib and share words of encouragement.

It was an experience I will never forget!

Gearing Up for Goofy

Only 8 days until the Goofy Challenge begins!  I am both nervous and excited.

This will be my second time running a marathon, but that does not make me feel any more prepared because the first one was exhausting and I didn't run a half marathon the day before.  In fact, I remember saying to myself that day that I couldn't imagine running those distances in back to back days.  Yet, here I am about to do that exact thing. Why did I think this was a good idea?  I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could.

 Next Saturday I will run the half marathon and on Sunday I will run the marathon at Disney World. Although this will be my longest distance race, my training plan is not more demanding than my marathon training 2 years ago.  The biggest difference has been the addition of two long runs on back to back days.  Other than that, I have only been running two days a week for 30-45 minutes.  It doesn't seem like enough, but I am trusting the plan. After all it is from Jeff Galloway who knows a thing or two about running.  My goal is not to PR both races but to finish them in an upright position.

I plan to take it easy on the half and enjoy the run and then run a 3:1 run/walk ratio for the full. I just want to finish!

My husband (dessert man) and I will be running this race together.  It will be nice to share the experience and encourage each other along when the going gets tough.  

Right now, the weather forecast is not ideal, but that can change.

I will run 7 miles tomorrow and then a couple 30 min runs next week and that is it!

Other than that, I need to decide what to wear and what to eat on those days and prepare ahead of time anything I can.  I don't think we're going to feel like doing a lot of cooking that weekend.  

We have been planning this race since April and I don't wan't anything to get in our way of finishing it when we are this close.

Atlanta Half Marathon in Review

In March I ran the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon with my daughter Cate.  It was a last minute decision for me, but the timing was perfect. Cate was coming in from Chicago, I was up for a road trip and was looking forward to running the race with her.

Here's a look back at the race through photos...

Pre-race fuel.

I am a fan of these Clif Crunch Bars and this is the newest flavor. 

It is fantastic, but not yet available in Orlando so Cate brought one for me.

We took Marta to avoid the traffic, but so did a few others.  This was a BIG race, about 15,000.  Both the half and full marathoners ran together for the first 7 miles.  

This was my seventh half marathon and I can still remember how I felt after my first.  I thought it was the hardest thing I had ever done.  I couldn't imagine ever doing another, and I was sore for days.  I never imagined I would grow to like them, but here I was running my third one this year. 

We were in one of the last few corrals, but because they had a rolling start it only took 10 minutes for us to cross the start line by the CNN Center.

 The race course took us through many parts of Atlanta starting with Georgia State University campus.

Mile 2 - Publix Mile

Publix was the sponsor of this race and supported us with bands and messages of encouragement along the way.

Sunrise

Mile 3- 

A view of the Atlanta skyline from the Jackson Street Bridge. 

The residents of the 4th Ward dressed up their neighborhood and cheered us on as we passed through.  I learned this is the part of Atlanta that Martin Luther King Jr. is from.

We ran through many nice neighborhoods like Inman Park, Atlanta's first suburb and the course was not crowded at all.

Mile 4

Mile 5

This is where we parted ways with those running the marathon.

Mile 7

This guy gave us a good laugh and we saw  him in the newspaper the next day for his creative idea.

Yes, this is a bunny on a leash.  His owner said he was happy, but he looks a little scared to me.

Generous spectators handed out croissants at mile 8.  We couldn't pass that up.

This course was SO hilly.  This was just one of many.

Georgia Tech went all out and had an exciting section with music, balloons and "special" GA Tech water, so they said.

Mile 12

We made it and we treated to my favorite recovery drink- Chocolate Milk!!

The race ended in Centennial Olympic Park where they had a post race party with a band.

Goodies from the race included this great tech tee and a treat bag from Publix.  

The day turned out to be much hotter than expected, but the course was shady until the last few miles. I ran Cate's race and her goal was to beat 3 hours, she shattered that by finishing in 2:44!  We had a great time running together and sharing the experience. This race was the perfect way to see Atlanta's historic neighborhoods and city parks and I would recommend it.  Great swag, great expo, great medal, great course, hills and all!  

A Sweet Encounter with Dolvett from Biggest Loser

I had been anxiously awaiting my trip to Atlanta for a few reasons.

I would be spending the weekend with my daughter Cate, who lives in Chicago.


I would be staying with my only favorite sister and her family.


I would be running the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon with Cate.


I would be attending the Celebrity Chocolate Buffet at the Four Seasons.


Dolvett Quince, trainer from the Biggest Loser, would be the celebrity host of the buffet.


As Julie Andrews sang in the Sound of Music "somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good" for all of this fantastic stuff to take place in one weekend.


When Cate told me she was flying to Atlanta for the half marathon, I didn't want to miss a chance to see her and decided to sign up so we could run the race together.  I had recently read in Food Network Magazine that the Four Seasons has a Celebrity Chocolate Buffet every Friday in March and wanted to go.  It got even better when I received the following email:

I am a BIG fan of the Biggest Loser and was so excited when I heard Dolvett would be the celebrity host that weekend!! I spend every Tuesday watching him whip the contestants into shape and I like his style. He is a great addition to the show.  


Meeting him was incredible!  He is very good looking and oh so fit! I could tell when I got to stand next to him in the photo and put my arm around him!  

My sister Wendy Dolvett, me and Cate

You can tell by the silly look on my face that I was star struck.  He took my breath away when I shook his hand.  He looks even more handsome in person (if that's possible) and has such a great smile. I just couldn't believe I was talking to him. He was very nice and had encouraging things to say. He looked you right in the eye when talking with you and gave you all of his attention. It was mesmerizing.

Cate had a great conversation with him about her road to fitness and weight loss over the past 2 years.  She has lost over 100 pounds and will be running her 3rd half marathon.  I am so proud of her and it has been incredible to see her transformation both inside and out! 


We didn't get to talk very long, because he was the most popular guy in the room and most of the people at the buffet were women - go figure!
Chocolate + an attractive man are all you need to bring em in!


Yes, it was strange that he was hosting a chocolate buffet and I didn't see him eat anything, but I was okay with that.  I know that eating from a chocolate buffet on a regular basis is not a good idea, but I also know that indulging from time to time is living life.

The buffet was beautiful and decadent.  

with items from the ordinary to the extraordinary...

My goal was to try some of everything.  We each got a plate and shared.

You can tell we're related because we all got some of the same things.

Our second trip was devoted mostly to the chocolate fondue.

The food was excellent and I loved the variety of items.  My two favorite items were the Guinness cupcakes and the Swiss Cake Rolls (not the ones Little Debbie makes).  I discovered them both at the end and didn't get a photo of the Swiss cake rolls.  


I do like chocolate fondue and wonder why I don't make it at home. Maybe it's safer that way...No, I'm gonna have to try it.


I went home full and happy. Between meeting Dolvett and eating all that luscious chocolate, it was a good night!