Day 1

Hello from Mouseville (or otherwise known as Mecca in some circles).  Day one is in the books for the return to racing.  I find it some what ironic that I ran my last race at Disney World in September (the tri) and now I am back again for my triumphant (God - do you hear the prayer in that word) return to road racing.

As most of you know - I was registered to run the Disney 10th Anniversary full marathon being held this Sunday -- well, feet being what they are - I was diagnosed with an arthritic big toe joint in early November - and had to get orthodics - they are hear, broken in, new running shoes purchased and I am registered for my first race in more than 4 months.  That is the good news - the stressful news - I am worried since I have only run 3 times since getting the orthodics on Christmas Eve Day - one time tweaked my ITBs so bad I could not walk for almost 12 hrs without a heck of a lot of pain, and the other two time my new shoes tried to form a blister on the arch of my right foot (yes - they are being returned and replaced - right after the 5k).

ok - back to the story - I finished packing last night.  I was so keenly aware of what was going on that I a) forgot to print out my pre-run packing list and b) almost forgot to pack running clothes in my suitcase - would have been a great reason to shop - but that's ok.  Managed to get up about 6am - after hitting the sheets and getting to sleep around 12:30am.  I had told myself that I had to be out the door no later than 7am - I was picking Cheryl up at the airport at 10:30 and I wanted to be sure that I had time to get through Orlando in case of traffic and park before she landed.  That was the plan - what do they say,, best laid plans?  Actually, things went pretty well - in the car, headed for I-95 south at about 7:15am.... 95 is a mess and I-4 south isn't much better.  I made it to the airport right at 10:00 and headed to the waiting area for arriving passengers - somehow I managed to miss Cheryl - and at 10:50 headed to baggage claim where we ran into each other.

We got to the car quickly and headed to the Expo to pick up our packets and do a wee bit of shopping - see running gives me great opportunities to expand my 1st 2 loves - travel and shopping....  We both bought a great t-shirt.  Remember the Mickey Mouse club logo on the curtain at the beginning and ending of the show? Well the t-shirt has the logo on a black shirt - but instead says "Mickey Miles Club"!! We both could not resist.

The off to Contemporary to get our tickets to Universals Islands Of Adventure for Monday and to renew my seasonal pass.  After that we checked into the Polynesian resort - we both really like it.  It is very convenient - and really nice!!!

Got in the room and quickly unpacked so we could head to Disney-MGM Studios.  We arrived right at 2:30, walked around a bit, shopped more and the saw the "Stars and Motorcars" parade.  I had not seen this with Jolene in  October - she was hot and tired and cranky by 1:30 - so we skipped it.  Cute parade.  Then we rode Tower of Terror!! I love that ride!! Cheryl was none too keen - but being the trooper that she is - she rode it and we both lived to tell about it!! Then off to our favorite roller coaster!! Rock n Roll Coaster starring Aero smith.  Nothing like going 60mph, in the dark, inverted with Cheryl and Steven Tyler screaming "Dude looks like a lady" in your ears  :).  I could ride that coaster hour hours if they would let me.  Good coaster - good band.

After finishing the coaster - we both decided that hunger needed to be addressed.  Ate some dinner and scoped out our seats for "Fantasmic".  I had not seen this (not for lack of trying) during any of my previous visits -- it is wonderful.  I hope some of the photos we took come out ok...

After Fantasmic, we headed back here to the hotel to settle in for the evening.  I wanted to get this off before heading to sleep since I have a 7:30am race in the morning and plan a 6am wake up call.


Day 2

Day two dawned early - as in 6:00am - entirely too early - but since tomorrow we have to be up at 3:20am - it could have been worse.  Got up, got dressed, and got in the car to head to EPCOT this morning for the Ohana (Family in Hawaiian) fun Run 5k hosted by Lilo and Stitch.  Cheryl was my scream team/official photographer.

At 7:30 sharp, the daytime fireworks went off followed closely by a lot of confetti! cool start.  I was really worried about this run since I had only run 3 times for a total of 7 miles in the last 10 days since getting the orthodics - and I have a few issues with my new shoes (blisters on my right arch, etc).  I had decided not to push on this run - just to finish.  We started out at the marathon finish - and headed into the EPCOT parking lot - did a small bit of highway running and then headed into EPCOT via the backdoor outside of the Mexico Pavilion.  Did a complete loop of the world showcase - followed by a run through the middle of future world, out under Space Ship Earth and across the finish line.  The park was closed - so Cheryl could not come in to cheer me - but she waited patiently at the finish line and was there when I approached (enclosed photos).  I was very happy with my performance - I ran THE ENTIRE THING!! NO walk breaks - which is abnormal for me.  I felt tight and cold in the beginning - even though we had made a few laps in the parking lot in an attempt to warm up my legs.  after about 8 or 9 minutes - my legs loosened up, and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I had forgotten my walkman with Cheryl (best laid plans) - so I listened to the EPCOT "soundtrack" as I ran.  Total time - 46 minutes.  I know that I have walked a 5k that fast in the last few months - but I was not going for speed - just to test things out, have a successful run on which to build on for future runs.

After the race - we headed back to the hotel, I changed clothes and then right back to EPCOT to see some sights.  We had lunch at Biergarten in Germany - much like I remember from Germany, and then headed over to the Magic Kingdom in an attempt to ride "the mountains" - space, splash and Big Thunder.  2 out of 3 isn't bad.  We arrived at MK - and headed to the hat shop - Cheryl is coveting my "Princess" hat - I think I got it when Cherrie and Kelly came down in March.  We looked all over for that hat - without success.  Oh well - we will keep looking. Then over to Buzz LIghtyear for a bit of video game playing (hey - I was a teen in the 80's - Ms. Pac Man and I were good friends).  We discovered that Space Mountain was "broken" and they did not know how long it would take to fix.  We only had 2 1/2 hrs to spend at MK since we were meeting a group of Penguins (runners - not the birds) for dinner at Chef Mickey's at 5:00pm and needed to be headed toward the gate no later than 4:00pm.

So - Space was down - we headed to Big Thunder mountain - and due to the parade - the 70 minute wait to ride was actually no more than 15 minutes!! Right after BTR, headed to splash mountain, no line here (miracle) and I proceeded to get SOAKED!!! It would not have been too bad had it been warmed - but denim takes forever to dry - as does a certain tigger sweatshirt.

Cheryl had requested to ride Pirates of the Caribbean to see the Politically correct changes Disney has made to the ride in the last few years..... and then we raced to the front of the park to get on the monorail to ride over to the Contemporary to meet everyone for dinner.  had a great time eating dinner with everyone - including Mickey and the gang who joined us for a bit.  Then we decided to head back to the room and get to bed early cause we are tired and - oh yeah, Cheryl has 26 miles to run tomorrow morning......

I just wanted to report success on this mornings race - I am very very happy with the overall result - now to work on distance and speed.  Talk to all of you later with a report on the marathon itself!!!

Day 3 & 4

Well - Day 3 dawned not too bright and way too early.  The wake up call came in at 3:20am ad we had to leave the hotel by 4:00am.  I think that 2 marathons were run - one by Cheryl to get from the start to the finish - and one by me using feet, car and monorail to get to the places where I would see her on the course and see how she was doing.  This was a hard thing to do.  I saw her a total of 5 times on the course, including the last mile that we ran together after she entered EPCOT.  I think I am suffering from a bad case of medal coveting.  Cheryl wants my hat and I want her medal!! I wish I had been on the course with her!! I wanted to run that race so badly.

Final report - she made it - all 26.2 miles.  I found a t-shirt that has a message on the back describing the Disney marathon "Where A World of Fantasy Meets 26.2 miles of Reality".  That is SO TRUE!!!

After the race - we came back to the room, cleaned up and began to scope out hotel options for future races.  Cheryl is considering attempting the Danskin triathlon at WDW (the same one I completed last September and said I would not do again....) as well as possibly the Disney Marathon next year.  I am considering running the marathon next year as a member of the "Train to Beat Stroke" training team.  I have a bunch more info to get about it before I make a decision - but I want to run the race in honor of Lori's marathon.

After hotel rounds - we went to dinner at Ohana at the Polynesian hotel and saw the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom from the restaurant.  Then to Downtown Disney to continue to look for the black Princess Hat that Cheryl has been coveting since Friday.  Come to find out - there are no more -- so no hat for Cheryl.  But we bought her race charm for her charm bracelet (just like mine). The back to the room and off to bed.

This morning we got up early, packed, checked out and headed back to the Magic Kingdom. This morning was early entry - so we got to enter the park an hour before the general public and boy did we take advantage of it.  We rode Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Dumbo (a first for Cheryl), Buzz Lightyear (I won again!!) and Jungle Cruise all within 2 hours.  Not to mention some quality time with certain characters.  After that we headed back to EPCOT to see if I could find the shirt I previously mentioned (new rule at Disney -- buy it when you see it - because it may not be there the following day).  We found the shirt (after a 20 minute search) and then headed over to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Living with the Land.  We had decided on lunch in Japan - Teppanyaki Grill followed by a sweet tooth fix in France (yum - gateau au fromage -- other wise known as cheese cake).

Last thing of the day was a movie called Impressions de France.  It was beautiful!!  Unfortunately - we had to leave by 3:30 to get Cheryl to the airport in time for her flight.  I drove home and got here about 8pm.  I still need to unpack - but I am tired, so it may wait.

There you have it - Disney marathon 2003......