Still A Bit of a Runner

No sooner did New Year's pass than Liz & I packed up and headed down to Orlando, FL.  A seemingly good choice for the beginning of January. Well, we'll get to that...  Why Orlando you ask?  The simple answer is the Disney Marathon weekend.

A couple of friends have gone down and run over the past few years, and I typically do one or two halfs during the Nov-Jan timeframe each year.  Liz started running in 08 and did her first half at the OBX event in Manteo, NC that year.  I did the OBX event that year as well, but threw in the quirk of doing the City of Oaks Half in Raleigh the week before.  I've never run a "fast" half, largely due to the fact that I really don't train to do so... hey, it's the "off season" and I'm getting ready to go ice climbing most years, so my training is focused in that arena, not running fast! 

Anyway, I did the City in 2:03 and OBX in 2:06 just 7 days later (oh yeah, and I had an unexpected low bg finishing OBX... which forced me to slow down).  That sparked an idea, along with a growing interest in longer endurance runs... and after talking, Liz & I decided Disney would be a cool finish/start to 2009-2010.  She signed up for the Donald Duck 1/2 mara, and I registered too... just didn't immediately say WHAT I registered for... hehehe...  When Liz found out that I had registered for the Goofy Challenge, I thought she was going to physically beat me!  See, told you that she also calls me crazy just the same as many of the rest of you!

Well, as we're travelling down to FL on Thurs Jan 7, we start to hear tidbits about the weather forecast for Sat & Sun...  We picked up our race packets on Fri, took in some of the planned activities & expo highlights, and then headed to the Pearl Izumi outlet in Orlando -- one of Liz's major requests each time we get down there.  Back at the hotel that afternoon, we confirmed the likely weather for the next morning, prep'd all of our clothing, food, and gear and readied for our 2:15AM wake up.

Donald's Half-Marathon
At 2:20 I popped up the radar and it was showing clear skies, but moisture was going to come in around 4AM.  Temp was in the mid 20's... ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? We came to FL to run in this???

The half run was really good.  Orlando hadn't seen snow in almost 25 years and as the race began around 5AM, it was snowing and sleeting with a light breeze.  I told Liz she could run the half as fast as she wanted, but I was going SLOW... My training prep for the events had gone well.  I was running stronger and stronger, having not really run much until the beginning of Oct (granted I probably started with a really good base... wonder why...).  But even still, I've learned not to up the mileage too fast in training, so I was consistently running 5-10 miles per session, 4-5 days a week in December @ a 8-9min/mile pace and a few "long" runs of 12 miles (yes, my long runs weren't LONG by any stretch).  I knew coming in, I just needed to take it easy and "coast" during the half.

Liz said she wanted to run together the whole time.  I really couldn't help but chuckle.  She could have very easily run an even 2 hr or less time, but I also couldn't complain about having the company -- she joked it'd be one of the only times she had the chance to "beat me" in a half... well, if she keeps running like she has been, I'll be chasing her very frequently in the near future! 

The Donald 1/2 starts just outside of Epcot, runs through Magic Kingdom including straight through Cinderella's Castle, back through part of Epcot and to the finish.  It snowed/sleeted for the first 6 or so miles, then stopped, and around mile 9.5-10 it started to rain.  Rain and 33 degrees... NOT GOOD!   We finished at a comfortable 2:27 and by the time we got out checked bags, we were mildly hypothermic, very wet, cold, and shivering.  My bg's were good during the run... I waited to drop my basals until 15mins before we started (a lesson learned from early morning cycling and running previously), dialing in a 50% basal reduction, then consumed ~45-60g carbs per hour during with no boluses.  Bg @ the start was 135, at mile 7 it was 95, and at the finish it was 153.

After a shower and warming up, I rolled my legs out with The Stick, and we hit Cracker Barrel (my normal post-event eatery -- Mama's pancake breakfast w/ a side of Hashbrown caserole -- AWESOME!) took a nap... go figure.  Later that day we went and walked around various places in Orlando to keep my legs loose and then it was another early bedtime... 2AM would come early again on the repeat morning!

Mickey's Marathon
With Liz not running Mickey's Marathon I didn't have to worry about a bag check, but I also had enough food on me to last the whole 26.2 miles, a 24oz water bottle, Camelbak Elixir, glucometer, and extra infusion set -- I didn't know if I'd be able to "find" her along the route.  Back to the same starting area we used for the Donald race, I was moved back in the pack b/c I wasn't planning to run the full fast either...

I've never done this kind of mileage total in such a short period of time... period.  I've run multiple halfs and one full (which was on REALLY short notice -- I survived).  I knew that the 39.3 mile total in ~30hrs was going to be a major test, if not for my preparedness, for my bg management.  I knew I'd need to dial back the basals more than with the half as my insulin sensitivity is in many ways, exponentially cumulative -- another reason I eased the pace of the 1/2 to try and limit the overall sensitivity impact during the full run.

At 5AM, they started the first wave (front runners) for the full and my wave started about 30-45mins later.  I dialed my basals to a 70% reduction about 5:20 with a bg of 151.  I will say that if anything favored ME... it was the weather!  Clear skies, slight breeze, and 25 DEGREES!  (Yes, you read that correct!  And, YES, WE WERE IN ORLANDO!) 

The full marathon starts with a short jaunt through part of Epcot, then off to the Magic Kingdom down Main Street and through Cinderella's Castle again, then over to Animal Kingdom (which was really cool!), along Disney Highway and into Holywood Studios, and the last few miles in Epcot and back to the finish.  I chose not to initially turn on my IPod but just take in the sites, sounds, and excitement of the event until I needed "a change" mentally from the effort.  I saw Liz @ mile 4 as we came out of the first part of Epcot, and then again as we ran through the monorail station -- she'd just barely made it there by the time I was coming through.  All I could do was smile and laugh as she was bouncing around yelling for me like a crazy lady. 

My bg @ mile 11 was 109 despite eating 45-60g per hour w/ no bolus and with the basal reduction.  I'd tried to check it around mile 8-9 and kept getting a low temp alert on the glucometer (I mean it was only 28 degree!)  As I approached Animal Kingdom, nearing the 14 mile mark, I could "feel" the gas tank starting to empty -- a quick bg check showed I was 72.  So, I decided to walk and eat MORE.  After a 5-10min walk, I started to run again but even more slowly than before.  I eased through Animal Kingdom giving the food a good chance to digest and around mile 18 grabbed a banana and ate half a pack of cherry Sports Beans (for the caffeine). 

Now I was expecting my hop flexors to start giving me trouble.  They historically have around 15-20 miles.  But they weren't tight and I could actually feel my bg coming up... "trouble" for those (non-diabetics) around me b/c many folks don't fuel enough and this deep into a full most folks start to begin "tapping out".  As we hit the overpass on the Disney Highway and into the out & back miles of 20-21, I had my early stride, speed, and energy back!  A bg check showed I was back to 148.

Entering mile 24, I could feel my right hip flexor start to tighten a little but at this point I was so ecstatic with how I'd been doing overall (I was @ 37+ miles), that I knew I could gut this last piece out.  The last few miles were actually surreal.  I was tired, finally. And as we came out of Epcot onto the last stretch the crowds were amazing.  Through each of the parks, characters scattered at various points along the way outside of the parks, Liz meeting me @ miles 4, 8 and 13, and having run with over 34,000 participants that weekend... it was simply awesome!

I finished the full in 4:58.  Definitely not fast, but hey, that wasn't the point.  The point was to complete 39.3 and be able to function the next day!  And that, I did well!  Goofy Challenge Complete!!!

A dinner @ the Hard Rock (and well earned beer) at Universal and easy trip home wrapped up one of the best running weekends I've ever had, especially with Liz being such a great part of it.

Last year, many of the CWD family ran during this event and I couldn't make it.  This one was also for you...

Take care --J