Walt Disney World Half Marathon - Run


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Orlando, Florida
United States
Walt Disney World Endurance Sports
78F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 25m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Stayed off property this year so we had to provide our own transportation to the race start. I was a bit nervous about this process because of all the horror stories I'd heard in the past about traffic and parking so we left the hotel plenty early for the race, around 4:30 (6:15 start) and we were parked and sitting in our car listening to an Ultra Runner Podcast by 4:50. I don't really see what the big deal is! We stayed at the Holiday Inn next to Downtown Disney and had no problems any day getting to the race on time. We parked with all the other people at Epcot, they don't charge you for parking for the race, and although the traffic grew worse each day leading to the marathon, it was never absurd and we never felt nervous or anxious about getting to the race on time.
Event warmup:

Walking to race start, stretching in the corral. I felt a bit queasy this morning, just not really feeling like running a race. The bed in my hotel room seemed like a place I'd rather be.
Run
  • 2h 25m
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

Holy cow was it hot out! Just brutal conditions, enough to actually give the course the "yellow flag" saying it was less than ideal race conditions. I wasn't really feeling well, too many days with little to no sleep, and feeling a bit nauseous as well. Super humid and sticky, I was already soaked in sweat by mile 2. I knew this was going to be a hard day and and resigned myself to running this at a training pace or slower. I had no aspirations of any kind of decent time. I kept my pace slow, walked at the aid stations and stopped to take a ton of pictures while on the course. Yeah, I was one of those people taking pictures with the characters even though it's a RACE! I just wanted to get through this day and try to not set myself up for epic failure in the next day's full marathon.
What would you do differently?:

Considering the weather conditions there's not much I would do differently. Can't really wear less clothing than I did. It stings a little to run such a slow half marathon (for me), but that's what the Dopey Challenge is all about.
Post race
Warm down:

Walking around the finish, ice bags for both knees trying to calm down my ITB's. Plenty of fluids and food at the finish.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Prior two days of running hard at the 5k and 10k. Prior two days of visiting Universal Orlando and walking a million miles in between rides with the kids. And of course the heat and humidity. Which is made worse when you train outdoors in below zero weather then go to what felt like the sun for a race.

Event comments:

Good race, nothing to really complain about. It's a destination/vacation race, if you're going to run in any Disney event you must understand that you're paying a slight premium for all the extra Disney stuff.




Last updated: 2014-01-15 12:00 AM
Running
02:25:00 | 13.1 miles | 11m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: One big loop through Magic Kingdom and Epcot and the roads and parking lots in between.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4