Goofy Race and a Half

In 2008, I signed up for Disney's Goofy Race and a Half Challenge. Basically, you go to Disney World, run a 1/2 marathon on Saturday, then return to run a full marathon on Sunday. I didn't train very well. I finished the 1/2 and my hips were killing me. I decided to try the full marathon anyway and had to stop at 14 miles. Not liking the feeling of defeat, I decided that I would make it back one day to try again. This year was my year to do that. I only got 3 hours of sleep Thursday night. I flew to Florida Friday morning to pick up my race bib. Again, I only got 3 hours of sleep Friday night because I had to wake up at 3:30 for the race. I love running at Disney. All of the volunteers are amazing. I love reading all the signs they make up. One couple around mile 4 had signs that read "you're over half way there" and "<- he's really bad at math". And of course the characters are a fun distraction as well. Unfortunately, during the 1/2 marathon, they ran out of food for the racers. That means that I ran the entire thing on an empty stomach! Not good! By mile 12, I was very close to quitting. I felt my feet not responding the same and I was starting to feel delirious. I knew that they had food at the finish line, though, so I pushed myself to finish. I made sure I purchased snacks that afternoon for the race the next day. I was not going to be without food again. Once again, I got 3 hours of sleep before my 3:30 wake-up call. Starting off the full marathon, I was keeping pace with the pacer that was set to finish in 6 hours and 30 minutes. Though I felt a little sluggish, I stayed with him until about mile 5. All of a sudden I was drained. All of my energy left. I was thinking it must be that my body didn't have time to recover from the lack of food the day before. I decided to walk the rest of the way. By mile 13, I couldn't go on. I told the volunteer at the mile marker that I had to stop. I didn't feel defeated this time because I felt that I really proved how strong I was the day before. I was very proud of what I had accomplished this time. Besides that, except for the lack of energy, I felt fine. My legs and hips didn't hurt at all. When I got to the airport that night, I noticed my throat was scratchy. Not even 45 minutes later, I was shivering on the plane. By the next morning, I was running a 104.2 fever. Turns out the reason I was so sluggish during the race was that I actually had the flu. That made me feel even better about things. I mean, I ran 13.1 miles on an empty stomach and 13 miles with the flu. I am one strong chica. ;) I will probably be heading to Disneyland in August for the Dumbo Double Dare, a 10k followed by a 1/2 marathon. Can't wait!