2014 Marathon Weekend Recap and Post Trip Race Report About This Page:

[lfredsbo]

Signing in! Sounds great so far!!! So excited for you! I had friends running then too, my best friend and her husband, with him running the Dopey and her the 5K, 10K, and half! I admire all of you!

[tdhc]

Great trip report/marathon report so far. Great job on your journey to train and compete. It is inspirational! Looking forward to hearing how the race finishes!

[Colexis Mom]

Great report so far! Congrats on running the half, and now on running the full!

[Tim Sullivan]

Sorry about being gone so long...writing real life reports gets in the way of writing the "fun" stuff....but back to the marathon....

Oh, and welcome to the rest, glad we got this moved from the running forum so everyone can enjoy!

....so when last we left your intrepid writer I had just left AK, waved to Tanya (Disney Duke) and set my sights on WWoS. Everything was going pretty well so far, still feeling pretty good, fuelling with my Gus was still agreeing with me, but from what I had heard, the trip along Oceola Parkway to WWoS is the worst on the course...and I'll agree, for more than one reason.

One thing I do need to say is just how jaw droopingly amazing the application of pylons are during these races. There are literally miles upon miles of cones set up mere inches apart, it really is amazing to see...so much so that the race director of the Boston Marathon, who was there this weekend as well, even commented at how amazing the cone-work was . So that's one of the bright things noticed out of AK....

....but then comes the challenge. Up to about mile 15 my pace had been good to meet my goal time and get me in WELL under my Boston Marathon qualifying time. Had I mentioned that calf issue that I was talking about? Yeah, it decided to flare up in a BIG way about mile 15, as in, extremely sore and painful to run on. I was worried about it, but thought it would be fine....nope, it wasn't having any of this, which was extremely troubling, because in all my training, I had NEVER had an issue with cramping during a run. Post-run, yes, but that was my fault, due to improper fuelling, and happened EARLY in my training, but I had nothing in my subsequent long runs.

....I made the decision there to do something that I was worrying and hoping not to do...I took my first walk break. There are many that use a run/walk method, which works really well for them, but all of my running and training had incorporated no walk breaks at all, but keeping proper running form was extremely difficult for me, so I needed to walk a bit just to give my muscles a bit of a break from the usual.

For me the worst part of the run was miles 16 and 17. I was in a pretty extreme amount of pain from my calf, and had started to get some pretty nasty blisters on two toes and the bottom of my right foot (same as the calf, I think I might have been compensating a bit for the calf and caused it). The pain was one thing, but the hardest part for me was seeing the miles (literally) of runners on the other side of Osceola Parkway, coming back from where I was headed...and knowing the course, I knew that was about the mike 21 point. I felt this bad, and the people RIGHT THERE were still 5 MILES ahead of me....

I took another couple brief walk breaks here, they really did seem to help me cope with the cramping/knot in my calf, but it was here that Jeff gave me the bad news. "Tim, if we keep up with these walk breaks, we're not going to make your 5:00 BQ goal. We need to keep running consistently...we will slow the pace up, but you need to try to keep running!" I thought it was a bit odd, as I was looking at my running watch, doing the mental math and thought I was still good...but then again, I was in pain, starting to fatigue, and chalked it up to not being able to do the math properly. Thank God Jeff was here to help with my pacing...

Jeff was amazing the entire run, and such an amazing coach and cheerleader the entire time, but this was the last thing I wanted to hear. My body was in pain, I still had 10 miles to go, and I KNEW I couldn't run the whole thing and finish...if I wasn't going to make my BQ time, my only goal was to finish. I thought of my daughters, how disappointed they would be with their Dad if I didn't finish (okay, my whole family would have been so supportive of me no matter what...but that isn't what goes through your head at times like that). I wanted to show them that they could do ANYTHING they set their mind to, and wanted to see it through. Heck, during the miles I even thought of all the cool shirts I wouldn't feel right in wearing because I didn't finish...anything to keep those feet moving. I was getting really down during this part, thinking about how I should really text my wife, tell her that 4:30 was out...that my BQ was out, expect me around 5:30...but still expect me, I was finishing this thing!!!

You enter WWoS about mike 17.5...I didn't know what to think about this part of the run. Part of me was looking forward to it...lots to look at, right, seeing as there were all those turns, but man I hated it! Part of it was probably how my body felt, but it was also somewhat tight for running space, and all those turns were difficult to be guided through. During the run around the 400m track I actually had to stop to stretch my calf, it got so bad at that point. Quick stretch though, and I was back off and running again.

Funny thing happened after running past mile 20 though...I don't know if it was that mental thing of having 20 miles down, only 6 more to go...knowing that I could finish this thing, no matter what...but I found that I could fight through the pain a little easier. I was dreading having to run back along Osceola before making the turn towards DHS, but this time it seemed to pass a little faster....

More later guys!

Tim

[CheerDisney]

Your accomplishments are so amazing, regardless of your finishing time! I'm so anxious to hear how the rest of the race panned out for you! Thanks for sharing your trip, I love reading about it!

[Cam22]

I am so sorry your calf was creating problems for you, but I admire your determination in not giving up.

[Tim Sullivan]

Sorry about that, I was writing from a coffee shop in between dropping off/picking up my girls from Brownies/Girl Guides, and had to go pick them up and get them home.... on to the story!!!

I should back up a step here, because there was something that I wanted to mention that I forgot. One of the MANY tidbits of wisdom that Jeff imparted on me was something he uses as his race mantra, which helped me dig down a little deeper and force myself to go on. It is a section of a poem by Kipling titled "If", and the section he uses goes like this:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

This really seemed to strike home to me, I knew that I was going to be pushing my body more than I ever had, I knew that the sheer determination of it all was going to get me through. I wanted to give up...it would be so easy to give up, but I didn't. Any time I felt like slowing down...like walking, I thought of that mantra, and somehow found the ability to run a few more steps...to run just that little bit further...

So as I mentioned, the "return trip" from WWoS down Osceola Parkway seemed to go a lot easier than I had hoped, and I actually found that I was able to push myself to run for most of the stretch...and knowing I was almost done, and coming to one of the parts of the course that I was most looking forward to (through DHS, along Boardwalk area and thru Epcot) I think really helped lift my spirits.

I found that I was pushing myself a little more, to run a little further between the walk breaks. I'd say to Jeff, "at the next road sign, walk for a minute..." and when we got there, Jeff would double check , "This one?" "No, the one two down..." and when we'd get there, I'd push on another sign or two more, until my body couldn't go any further. It was during this stretch that Jeff chimed in about mike 22 or so...

"Uhhh, Tim, I hope you don't get mad with me, but I haven't been completely honest with you. Remember when I told you back there that we were going to miss your BQ time if we didn't pick the pace up?"

"Yeah, I do Jeff. I appreciate you trying to push me back there, but all I'm concentrating on now is just finishing. Thanks for all your effort, even if I don't BQ, it wasn't for a lack of us trying!"

"That's the thing....you see, I wasn't completely truthful with you back there. When I said we weren't going to make your BQ time...I was actually pacing us a bit faster, and was more meaning your 4:30 goal time. We're sitting about 3:55 right now (ed note, I can't remember the exact time this conversation was had...but it would have been around that time...) and if we keep this pace up, we will just make it in under 5:00 and get you your BQ...."

"You Son of a B%*#!!!" I laughed at Jeff, and told him I THOUGHT his math was wrong.. but he was the expert marathoner, straining far less than I...who was I to second guess his pacing That news really helped lift my spirits and gave me the courage to push on as hard as I could, run as far as I could and finish as fast as I could. It was going to be tight...but I wanted to qualify for Boston in my first marathon in the worst way!

I actually enjoyed the next two miles or so, pushing myself to run all the way through DHS...I wanted to make sure I ran all the parks, Jeff reminded me that my half marathon Guide Cheryl was going to be at the water stop just after mile 24, so he set a goal to run there, if we need it, we will stop for a walk break after we see Cheryl.

It is about this time my body started shutting down....I could feel it happening, and was such an odd feeling. My fuelling had me taking a Gu every 30-45 minutes, Powerade every water stop, supplemented with electrolyte tabs and my e-load sport drink I had on my belt, but by mile 22 my body wanted none of that...which left me at a hard decision. Do I force fuel in, because I KNOW I need it to finish, but risk some stomach upset (and possible sickness??) or try to push through it, knowing I have less than an hour to go?

I decided to forgo trying to fuel with Gu and Powerade, instead taking just water at the water stops to try to settle my stomach a bit, which did actually help, and took nothing other than water for the rest of the race.

I pushed my body as much as I could...but couldn't make it to the water stop. We were JUST in sight of it when I had to walk again. By this point it was all I could do to make my body keep going forward. I wanted to curl up in a ball, but willed myself to go on. I ran as much as I could, but by this point my other calf was starting to cramp, and they decided to bring my quads to the party as well, now I was fighting off an entire lower body revolt

I can remember when we started the race Jeff told me that if you are even considering running another marathon in the last few miles of the race, you aren't pushing yourself hard enough, and I think it was when I was running down the Streets of America in DHS when I made the joke to Jeff, "I don't know why I'm pushing for that BQ time so badly...I'm NEVER doing this again!! :P

Sadly, one of the parts of the race that I was most looking forward to, Boardwalk and the World Showcase, was the part that I enjoyed the least. My body was in full blown revolt, it hated me in the worst way, and was making sure I KNEW it...and with the walk breaks I was taking I felt like I was letting myself, and my plan to run the entire race, down. There is NO SHAME in walking during a marathon...many successfully incorporate that into their marathon running plan...it just wasn't in mine.

We were in World Showcase, time ticking away, I could see that 5:00 deadline looming. I had worked so hard...pushed so hard, I didn't want my efforts to go to waste. At this point, I KNEW I was going to finish....but with what time. It was around Germany or China, when "If" came back into my head...

"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,"

My nerve and sinew were definitely LONG gone...with my heart barely holding on. I had gone this far...

"And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!” "

I wanted that BQ time, knew that at this point the only thing that would keep me from making it was ME. I had to make the decision...how badly did I want this?

And with those thoughts in my head, I started to run....

Tim

[disney_duke]

I feel ya. You get to that point where you just think, "everything hurts!" Screw it, and you just run with the pain. Yep. Good for you Tim!! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming..... Something about that turn back onto Osceola. It's much easier knowing what's coming up ahead. Those last 6 miles seem like they're gonna be hard. And they are. But something makes them much more tolerable than the previous 6.

Intersting to hear about those cones. I was still at my water stop when they came to pick them up. They have that down to a science. It went so fast, stack, stack, stack (3 high), and up they go into the truck. 2 guys. It was neat to watch!

[disney_duke]

GO TIM GO!!!!

[Cam22]

You've left us with a cliffhanger! I find myself wanting to help you if I could.

[shazza]

Great story - makes my legs hurt to think about your pain. You have such determination ...

Can't wait to hear how you finish - it's a great accomplishment, whatever your time.

[Amy L]

Wow!! Looking forward to the next update! Reading this it occurred to me that even though we all run our own race (even when running it with someone) we all have those very same thoughts that haunt us!

You can do it!! You are almost there!

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates Tim! Love your grit and determination!

[Tim Sullivan]

Alright...enough with the teasing, time to finish the race....or did I??? :P

So last we left the story, I was in World Showcase, somewhere around China or Norway, when I decided that enough was enough, I was cutting this too close, I wanted to hit sub 5:00, so time to run. Damn my legs, damn my stomach....I've got two weeks here at Disney to curl up in a ball...let's do this!

My body was NOT happy with me at all...it did not want to run for me. I was setting small goals....run to that bench, then once there....run to that food cart - pooh, a food cart? No...keep running. I didn't want to think how much further I had to go (it wasn't far now) but instead just kept running to the places I knew I could get to.

Every step of the way, every bend in the course I was craning my neck, listening, looking for the gospel choir..the signal of 26 miles done, only .2 left to go. The signal that the ordeal was almost over. What a great feeling it was when they finally appeared. I think at that point I might have shouted to Jeff, "I'm going to do this!" but I can't be certain, as I was repeating that over and over in my head, gritting my teeth against the pain, determined to see this through....

Made the last turn into the home stretch, I could see the finish line! I scanned the crowd with Jeff looking as my eyes, trying to see if I could spot my family, hoping they were there somewhere watching. What a glorious last 200 metres or so..all the pain gone, an actual SMILE returning to my face...I was finishing this!!!!!

Thrust my arms in the air in victory as I crossed the line....4:56:18!!! So amazingly happy, I can't begin to explain the feelings at that point...all those terribly long months of dedication, of waking up early, of running in the rain, the wind....the COLD.... All that hard work, to have finally paid off! Me...marathon finisher... BOSTON QUALIFIER.... wow!!! (for those of you that aren't runners, qualifying or Boston is one of the biggest aspirations a Marathoner can have, partly because of how lofty the time requirements are...partly because of the mystique that is Boston. So for me to have qualified...to me, that was a BIG DEAL!)

Into the finisher's chute, finally having earned my walking! First stop, medal time! It was an amazing feeling to have those volunteers place the medals over my head. That was actually something from the half, the volunteer just handed me the medal, I didn't think it was that big of a deal....but it was really nice to have someone place it around my neck. Little things I guess.

Grabbed a water, a Powerade and my snack box...as my stomach was ready to accept food and drink by that point. Time to head out and try to find my family...hopefully they made it too...

Tim

[Cam22]

Congrats, Tim! Excellent run! Now will we get a TR for the Boston Marathon?