13.1 + 26.2 ~ Not Crazy Just Goofy!

I'm terrible at updating this but since this has all been leading up to the success or failure of my Goof Challenge and a half. I am happy to say that my Goofy Challenge was a fantastic success.

The Donald Half Marathon

This challenge all started because I wanted to run the 15th anniversary Donald Half marathon. Jon said he wanted to try the marathon, so I suggested we just do Goofy and get both. That all began in March of 2011. Fast forward 10 months and I was as confident as ever. However, my husband (and a few naysayers) were not so sure about my abilities. Sadly, the longest run I was able to get in was 16 miles but it took me three and a half hours. So I decided it was all a mind game and I had just made up my mind to do it!
So Disney races begin crazy early in the morning. On Saturday morning we met friends at the bus stop at 3:30am. After an hour on the bus (to go 1 mile) we arrived at the pre-race area. We then walked the mile to the start line. Sadly, we were running late. We could hear the national anthem playing as we were walking up. We rushed to get to our corral as the first wave of runners were starting. I was very thankful that Katie and Steve were there with me! We decided on a 2:1 interval which gave us a nice steady 14 min pace for most of the race. I didn't want to push myself with the marathon the next day.
We decided not to stop for character pictures since the lines were long but I did get them to stop for a before the castle pic!

I will say that great friends and an amazing running group (yay ROTE) helped get me through 2 days of running! We finished the half in a solid 3:15:00. My normal half time is right around 3 hours so this was great. Mainly cause we stopped at the only characters that did not have a line since they were right before the finish. At that point I knew I was going to finish so what did it matter??

ok enough of the half onto the big show!

The Mickey Marathon and the Goofy Challenge and a half!

Ok this was my first marathon. I highly recommend that you run your first marathon and your first goofy at the same time. If for nothing else but the stunned faces that people make when you tell them it is your first for both! I really think that they are amazed you finished and are still standing.

So for the most part I followed the Galloway plan for the Goofy to finish in a upright position. My only goals for this race were to finish and to not throw-up. I was going to be happy as long as I got both my goals. I decided to drop back to 1:1 intervals to hopefully make things easier, this was the best idea I could have had. I am very thankful that Katie and Steve (who were running the relay) had decided that I was their baton and their goal was to get me to the finish. I don't believe I would have run as great a race without those 2!
So Katie and I (we also had Hilly with us, she is this amazing teen who was nursing an injury, she was great to have) set off at 1:1 and Katie kept us at a strict 14:30 pace. I decided that visual goals were better than miles so I just had to get to the first bathroom break in the Magic Kingdom (mile 10.5). At that point I had to get to the relay exchange with Katie so she could hand me off to Steve. However, the relay was a bit longer than they thought so it took him a mile to catch up to me.
Steve's goal was to keep me running until the Animal Kingdom (about mile 16, longer than my long run). Happily, we got there and I was feeling amazing so we kept going. We planned a bathroom break around mile 17 and I was worried about stopping and starting back up but by the time we got there it was very much needed (yay hydration).
I was feeling great until we hit mile 19, which was on straight open highway and it was hot. I pushed myself until mile 22. At that point I started to have a shooting pain under my right knee cap. As we reached the ramp up towards Hollywood Studios I knew I was close enough to walk it in and as much as I did not want to I knew in my mind I couldn't push my knee. So I looked at Steve and said I needed to walk. God love him, he walked the last 4 miles of that marathon with me.
Around mile 24 Jenny found us (he first marathon also) and she was in need of the walking. So she joined us for the last 2 miles on the boardwalk and through Epcot. As we are leaving the world showcase Steve looked at me and said "I don't care about your knee you are running in the last .1 to the finish, just so you know". I'm not sure where we found the energy at that point but the three of us ran to the finish hand-in-hand.
Jenny and I walked to get our Mickey medals and we both just started crying out of joy. It took 6:56:47 according to Disney for me to complete my first marathon. I can't even explain the feeling of happiness and accomplishment when the volunteer put the goofy medal around my neck.

(I can't wait to share this feeling/experience next year with my amazing RP Megan when she does her first marathon :wink:)

So it is official, I am Goofy! Thank you to everyone for their support and encouragement. Also, thanks to those who donated to my race. I ran this for the MS society and was able to raise $500! So all in all, my first mickey and goofy was an amazing experience and I'm not sure I will ever be able to top it!