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News from the Disney Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon
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TST members Tracy Arambula, Paul Carmona, Joe Grennan, Anna Martin, and Diane Sager
all completed the Houston Marathon on Sunday, Jan. 14. With 100%
humidity and temperature climbing to the mid-60s, it was a challenging
day. Congratulations to Joe and Anna who both set phenomenal PR's in tough conditions.
One week earlier, TST members Ron and Deanna Thoma finished the Disney
Marathon in Orlando, Florida. In Orlando on the same weekend, Suzanne Yashewski finished the Goofy Challenge - a half marathon on Saturday followed by a full marathon on Sunday. (Read Suzanne's race report below. )
Congratulations to our most recent marathon finishers!
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Suzanne's Goofy Challenge Race Report
January 6 & 7, 2007
I AM GOOFY, hear me roar...(or maybe bark is more appropriate)
Thank you all for your well wishes leading up to the race. I SURVIVED. The support from everyone and Panther's dedication as a coach no doubt contributed to an amazing race experience.
Short version: YOU HAVE TO DO THIS RACE. And sign up now.
Very long Version:
So, my race story "should" sound like all the race reports from the 20 miler here, in fact worse. It was record highs this weekend in Orlando. All I could think of was the Austin marathon a few years ago when it was so hot and humid. I ended up cramping up so badly I crawled to the finish line. I prepared Friday (and earlier in the week) by dosing up on electromix and electrolyte stamina.
Saturday: The half marathon
I woke up Saturday morning at 2:30 am to extreme heat (high of 85 degrees) and extreme humidity. Why 2:30am you ask? Because the race started at 6am and we had to board the bus between 3 and 4 am. One of the may reasons why they call this race Goofy. And of course, I had maybe 4 hours of sleep. Ugh.
Transportation to the race was seamless, porta-potty lines short, live music to rev us up. Everything was great. Except the weather. When the announced at 4:30am that we had to start lining up for the 6am race start, I thought they must be crazy. As it turns out, we had a good mile to mile and a half walk to the start from the staging area. As if 39.6 miles in a weekend weren't already enough...
In the porta potty line I saw a fellow rogue female that I didn't know, but introduced myself and wished her luck. Hope all went well for her.
Had I stayed in my original early corral, things probably would have been ok. However, I dropped back a corral to run with family (first time half marathoners, so they got stuck with the slow crowed despite their speed). The gun went off, and we pretty much ran in place for a half an hour. It was so crowded I soon realize that my jog was slower than my usual walk. So walk we did. Maneuvering through the crowd was impossible. We picked it up to a very slow jog between mile 2 and 3 and left it at that.
The humidity was brutal. I was soaked by mile one, and I wasn't even running. Luckily I ran with a water bottle, NUUN tablets, and lots of electrolyte stamina. I can't drink powerade, so this was essential to avoid a quick demise...The only saving grace was that it was overcast, protecting us from the sun, but sealing in the humidity.
I took it as slow as possible, painfully slow at that. Stopped for a quick picture with Donald along the way, and my running partners had a couple potty stops too. Christopher left us in the dust around mile 5, and Kevin sacrificed running for a time goal to keep me entertained. Meant the world to me, as it was a loooong weekend.
We finished in 2:25, about 20 minutes slower than my 3M time last year. No PR today. But that was the plan, The big challenge was yet to come.
The course for the half was a bit boring, but not too bad.
After the race I took the standard ice bath and lounged around all day. I drank about 3 liters of electro mix and was still thirsty. I took many electrolyte stamina pills. I stressed out like crazy about Sunday's weather.
Sunday: the Marathon
Saturday night, about 4 hours of sleep again. Up at 2:45am Sunday morning (woohoo, slept in a bit). Off to the race on my own. Family woke up for a quick good luck before heading back to sleep. Why aren't more people as goofy as me to sign up for this?
Although still reaching record highs, there was a hint of a cool breeze, bringing some hope to my morning. Not quite as humid as Saturday. The start included an array of fireworks. And we were off. Much smoother this time. Seemed like my corral placement was perfect. I wasn't really passing anyone, and not too many were passing me. First mile was a bit fast, so I slowed it down.
We had about 50 minutes of darkness, and the whole time I stressed out about the sun. My overhydration hit, and I ran into the woods for a quick potty while it was still dark, avoiding the lines at the designated stops. Still a little nervous about another poison ivy outbreak...
Before 7am, the sun came out, and came out strong. No clouds to be seen, and record heat. It was brutal. I carried my water bottle with NUUN and traded off between electrolyte pills and Gu. After a few miles in the heat started to over come me, and I stressed about bonking early on. I decided to walk for about 30 seconds every couple of water stops in the beginning, and then every stop the second half.
We ran through epcot, magic kingdom, animal kingdom, MGM, and the boardwalk. It was amazing. The waterstops were well stocked at every mile. Added benefits were the cold wet sponges at one stop, bananas and oranges at a couple stops, chocolate bars near the end, and of course, the standard beer stop. But more about that later.
I was pleasantly surprised to find some shade on the course (I was really worried about that). And the cool breeze made a repeat performance through out.
Some where along the way I heard someone say my name. It was another Rogue, Amy. What a joy to see a familiar face. She passed me with a cheerful wave. Hope she did well. She expressed her sadness that Goofy sold out before she registered (reminder to sign up early).
When I made it through the halfway point feeling good, I was elated. I kept anticipating the wall, wondering when it would hit, stressing over it. But then came mile 16, no problems. Mile 18, called the family to share the good news that I was still on pace. Mile 20, still feeling good despite the heat. At about mile 21, I was so excited about how I felt, I gave into temptation and took the beer at the beer stop. Not smart, but I wasn't running for time, so what the hell. Life is good.
Around mile 21-22, people started falling apart. Everyone was walking. I was cruising past hundreds of people, loving rogue and the training program (and the brutal summer training this summer for NYC) the whole time. I had it in the bag.
By mile 24, it became a game of frogger due to how may people I had to pass. I couldn't believe how good I felt. Still strong through mile 25, probably could have picked up the pace, but what's the point, I wasn't going to PR anyway, and these legs have never seen 40 miles in a weekend.
The last mile had the feel of running on a treadmill. I was just flat out ready to be done. Not bonking, but just done. I looked at my watch a million times trying to guess how much further I had to go. And then I coasted into the finish line with a HUGE smile on my face. I held a steady 11 minute mile pace throughout, and finished in 4:47:58 feeling great. No boston qualifier here, but considering my PR was 4:41 and change in Austin last year, and I had just run a half marathon 24 hours before, I was quite pleased.
I was ecstatic to learn that they had cold diet coke at the finish. I was craving one. And they had a special photo area for the Goofy Challengers, and three medals, Donald, Mickey, and Goofy, woohoo.
The after party at Downtown Disney was a blast. Everyone was so friendly. I met people from all over the world. We shared stories and drinks.
For all of you out there who have done several marathons, this is the next challenge for you. It was an amazing race. I think my favorite so far. The course was flat and interesting. Music about every half mile to mile. Everything about the race was great. Smooth start. Smooth finish, no lines to take pictures or get drinks or food. From everyone I talked to, the heat this year was abnormal. It's usually cold and great racing conditions.
Sign up early, the Goofy Challenge race fill up quickly (spring time). THIS IS A MUST DO.
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