2009 Goofy Challenge

I arrived at Walt Disney World on January 8th to take part in the Goofy Challenge which is really two races. On Saturday participants run the WDW Half-Marathon followed by the WDW Marathon on Sunday. This event is so popular that the limited available spaces (4000?) go on sale a year ahead of time and sell out in about two weeks. Feeling up to the challenge, I laid down my $250 plus fees – a year ago.

Background

Before jumping in to the weekend events, some background is in order. If you are only interested in Goofy, then skip down, but if you’re interested in how I trained for the challenge, then stay here. I have been dealing with a couple of injuries since July, 2008. I had been experiencing pain in my left big toe for many months and in late June I went to see a doctor. After an MRI, I was told that I had a stress fracture which was confirmed by a bone scan. Unfortunately, I had most likely had the stress fracture for a long time and it has proved difficult to heal. Nevertheless, I took eight weeks off of running, while continuing to strength train and pool run in order to allow the SF to heal. I started back running the first week of September doing only 2s, 3s, and a long run of 5 miles. I still had pain, but had been given the go-ahead by my doctor. The second week of September, I experienced another setback when I tripped over my dog and broke the big toe on my right foot. This one healed a lot more quickly than the SF and I was finally able to slowly start running again in October. My longest run in October was 6 miles on October 30. I started training for Goofy, in earnest on November 1st. Since I only had ten weeks to train, I used a combination of Hal Higdon’s Boston Bound 13 week training plan for two weeks but without the long runs and then jumped into the Eight Week Masters training program. With no base to speak of, I struggled through the long runs and never completed a run longer than 16 miles which was on December 14, a month before the race. When I got to Orlando, I was seriously undertrained and I harbored strong doubts about my ability to complete the Goofy Challenge.

The Goofy Challenge

What makes Goofy even more challenging is the fact that it is in Disney World. I just could not do this event without bringing my kids. It wouldn’t seem right. Upon arriving in Orlando and depositing the kids at the Port Orleans French Quarter pool, Scott, Sarah, and I boarded the “Marathon Transportation” bus to head to the Expo which was held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. I first checked in and picked up my packet at the Goofy Challenge booth and then we headed to the vendor floor to get my shirts and do a little shopping. I would have liked to spend more time, because there were a lot of vendors, but my daughter, who otherwise loves to shop, does not like shopping at a race expo. $15 for a couple of Bondi Bands and we were back on the bus to the hotel.

Friday afternoon was the V-Team get-together, but first we had to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I did my best to stay off my feet, but you can only go on Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster so many times, even with a Fast Pass. We schlepped around the park for about four hours and then I called it a day. Time to head back to meet some V-Teamers!

Friday evening, the family went to the Magic Kingdom, and I went to bed. I was in bed by 7:30 but who can sleep that early? I slept fitfully until my alarm went off at 3:15 AM. The last bus to the start left at 4:00 AM and, taking Cindy Southgate’s advice, that’s the one I intended to be on.

As an aside, I make it a rule not to wear a race shirt unless and until I have run the race. Disney is a little different though. As for myself, I completely forgot to bring any throw-away clothes. All I had to wear on race morning that had long sleeves was my Half-Marathon race shirt, so I went ahead and wore it. But, people were wearing these shirts all weekend. They were even wearing the Goofy Challenge shirts before running either race. I’m going to stop taking myself so seriously. It’s just a shirt after all. Thank goodness I had them! Who couldn’t use three long sleeve tech shirts on a chilly weekend?

Anyway, it was freezing Saturday morning! I got to the staging area with plenty of time to spare. There was a live ‘80s style band playing and lots of port-o-potties with long lines at all of them. I dropped off my bag and began the long, long walk to the start. Walking in the cold, dark, early morning hours, all I could think was “I can’t believe I have to do this again tomorrow.” Believe me, I was not feeling enthusiastic.

The race starts with a typical Disney flourish. Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck and Goofy were all there at the start. There were lots of fireworks and music. The sky was perfectly clear and the full moon was enormous. The weather, in fact, was perfect. As we were passing the Contemporary Hotel, I was passed by a guy wearing nothing but a Speedo and a Trojan helmet. Later on, I was passed by another guy wearing a Speedo. I wished I had brought my camera to the Half! When we ran through the Magic Kingdom, it was still dark and all the rides were lit up. Characters were out to cheer us on and it truly is a magical feeling to run down Main Street USA and through Tomorrow Land and Cinderella’s Castle. Dawn was just breaking as I was leaving the Magic Kingdom.

The course is predominantly flat, but there is one highway onramp that is a killer. It’s a banked cloverleaf and it’s about a half mile long. It could be a serious knee-killer for some people, I’m sure. Once you get to the top, you can see the big EPCOT ball and you’re about two miles from the finish. I just kept plugging away, determined not to stop for any reason until I finished.

Having no plan other than to finish, I merely tried to maintain even splits. My PR for a Half is 2:03. I guess I secretly hoped for something in between 2:03-2:10, but my training wouldn’t allow it and I wasn’t going to push it, knowing I had to run a marathon tomorrow. My foot didn’t give me too much trouble since I took a Celebrex when I woke up that morning.

After crossing the line, I remembered that Rhondda had told me to look for the massage tent. For $1/minute you could buy a massage. I paid $15 and got a lot of professional stretching. Then, it was back to the hotel to join the family at EPCOT. Oh, was I supposed to be resting up for tomorrow’s marathon??? That’s for those other runners -- the ones who didn’t bring their families with them. I enjoy EPCOT. I love Soarin’ and the tour of the Disney greenhouses. We had lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant and after four hours (my theme park limit), Scott and I left the kids and went back to our hotel to rest. I stayed up till 9:00 and slept much better on Saturday night.

Marathon

Sunday morning, I awoke again at 3:15 to catch the 4:00 bus to the start. This time, the staging area seemed much more crowded. I read that there were less than 15,000 marathon finishers, but it seemed like there were many more than that. I can only guess that this feeling was accentuated by the often narrow roads and the number of walkers walking 3 and 4 abreast. But, there were 2 waves of starters and corrals at least up to the letter G that I was aware of. It certainly seemed like a sea of people.

Before heading out of the staging area to start the long walk to the starting corrals, we had another V-Team meeting outside the baggage drop tent. Not everybody made it, but we did get Carisa this time. Heading out of the compound, I ran into Gene and Amanda Vey standing in line at a potty.

Once again, Disney hoopla at the start – characters, fireworks, music. My feet felt ok, but my quads were really sore. I was definitely worried about what the morning would bring. We started to run and I thought about dropping out within the first two miles because my quads were so sore. But then, I just kept on going and before long we were entering EPCOT from the back of the park, where the different countries are located. It was so pretty and the characters were out, and all the lights were on, even though it was only 5:30 in the morning and still dark outside. I stopped for my first picture and then it became easy to just look for photo opportunities. I kept telling myself that if I could just make it to mile 20 then I could walk to the finish. So, I kept going. We exited EPCOT at the front and I just sort of went with the flow after that. I couldn’t remember exactly which theme park was next, but every once in a while, my memory would be jogged by something I had seen the day before.

Between miles 6 and 7 I had a Gu and a pit stop. I saw a medical tent up ahead and I had the feeling that a pretty good blister was brewing on my left foot so I decided to stop. I sat down and had the blister lanced, drained, and covered up with some blister stuff. Then I applied sunscreen and Biofreeze. The two miles together took almost 30 minutes! When I later looked at the splits, I had to laugh. I had no idea I was taking so long. Anyway, at about mile 9 we headed into the Magic Kingdom parking lot and you could see runners on the road coming towards us in the other direction. I could hear a DJ saying that they had reached the ½ way point. This was about 1:45 into the race.

Again, entering the Magic Kingdom was thrilling. In fact, it was the first of about four different times that I became emotional because I was starting to think that I might actually finish this thing. I saw Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother before I entered the Castle and no one seemed to want to have their picture taken with her. There was a long line for some other characters right across from her but she was totally free! I stopped, had a photo taken and asked her if she could grant my wish to finish the marathon. J She agreed. By the way, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother is a very rare and special site at Disneyworld, so if you ever do see her, stop and have your picture taken with her!

Well, now that I knew I would finish the marathon, I set out for the Animal Kingdom. This was a nice part of the course. On this part of the course, you get to see a lot of Disney property and some of the backstage workings of Disney. We ran by an employee center that had posters hanging on the outside encouraging employees to be courteous to guests, etc. Then we ran past Disney’s composting center, an agricultural center, and a greenhouse. From the looks of it, Disney grows every plant that decorates the theme parks, from the palm trees to the hanging baskets, in addition to raising a lot of the fish that are served in their restaurants and the salads and vegetables too. It was a quiet stretch, but I enjoyed it. I also liked this and I was glad that I had my camera this time.

I had told my family to look for me in The Animal Kingdom and that I would be there between 8:30-9:30. At almost 9:30 on the dot, I spotted them and stopped for hugs and photos. They were wearing the team uniform, so they were easy to spot right away.

Leaving the Animal Kingdom, we entered a long, long stretch of hot highway. The Disney folks did their best to make it bearable for us by stationing Disney characters along the highway, which was pretty cool. Running up a highway ramp, I saw giant speakers mounted on a crane. As I got closer, I heard some great oldie, but goodie, Disney songs like Alice in Wonderland and You Can Fly. I’d heard people complain about this stretch of road during the weekend, but I didn’t mind it at all. I used the time to assess my body. I paid special attention to my fluid intake, not wanting to drink too much because I knew I would be taking a long time to finish, but also not wanting to become dehydrated. I had decided early on that I would only drink at every other aid station and primarily try to stick to PowerAde and drink the water when I had a gel. I also liked that the cups were only filled about a quarter of the way – about two to three swallows – of fluid which resulted in less spillage and stickiness on the ground and, I think, also reduced the risk of hyponatremia. It was definitely a much hotter day on Sunday than it was on Saturday. By 11 AM I felt like it was hot and sunny enough to be 4 PM and I confess that I had no concept at all of the time. It’s the first marathon where I didn’t wear a hat and I’m glad I had my long sleeve race shirt tied around my waist. It made for a nice kefia to protect me from the sun. I did pull it off when I was a mile from the finish in anticipation of race photographers. ;)

Hollywood Studios followed Animal Kingdom. Again, the marathon took us backstage to the Disney costume shop which was another interesting site. As we reached mile 23, leaving the park, I was again overcome with emotion. I realized I was going to finish and that I had not hit the wall. I assessed my performance and I was satisfied. I had run the entire course, only stopping for photos – which I had planned on doing. I decided to run without stopping to the finish which was past the Disney Yacht Club, back into the worlds at EPCOT, all the way around the lake, past the big ball, out of the park and into the parking lot. I stopped one time to take a picture of the Mile 25 sign and then ran to the finish, looking for an open area, so as not to be blocked for my finish line shot. There it was with a clear shot to high five both Chip and Dale and I was done. 5:30. A personal worst as far as time, but a personal best in terms of satisfaction.

Random Thoughts

Many people ask about strength training on the Boards. I could never have completed the Goofy Challenge on ten weeks of training without having a good, strong muscle base from strength training. It is the one thing that I was able to continue to do with regularity while I was rehabbing my injuries. I may have finished slow, but I finished strong. I ran the entire race without walk breaks. I ran up every hill while others walked. I ran a smart race and I never hit the wall. I finished confident that I am ready to really train for my next race which is The Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati on May 3.

The coveted Goofy medal