GOOFY Vacation: Day Four

Dang, that alarm clock went off early. I slept pretty well. 3AM once again. Coffee once again. Slowly get dressed for battle once again. A bit of soreness here and there. Trying to stretch, worried about cramping up. This is crazy, running a full marathon after running a half the day before.

My wife is really sore. Her feet and legs are still in pain. Running isn't easy, no matter what the distance. For each person regardless of their ability or their experience it is always a great achievement. I was proud of her.

Heading out, same thing, same bus line, same crowd of cattle, same lines for security, same lines for the porta potty. Yep my nerves were there too. This time I had to go to the corral by myself. It pretty lonely by yourself.....even among 25,000 of your closest running friends.

So here is my goal. I burn out at mile 18 or 19 every time. I get to about that point in four hours but the rest of the race takes me two hours to cross the finish line. There just isn't any gas in the tank by the end. I worried I can even do this. Back to back. That is crazy. Now my hamstring hurts. Is it real or am I paranoid. Yesterday I did good with the run walk early on. I'm thinking of three miles running and then one mile of walking. 

I ended up walking half mile increments at first. Little by little I work my way down the course. The first half is pretty much the same as the half the day before. And I've run this entire course last year. My first marathon in 6:15......hey I finished. Just cannot go any faster. All my other runs were right at six hours. My second was the best at 5:50. Not sure how I did that.

I found my wife on Main Street Disney as I ran through and gave her a high five......so glad to see her among the huge crowds.

Anyway, my Runkeeper as my mileage all wacky. At ten miles it has me a mile and a half faster. This means I cannot really judge my pace very well. Not helpful. I have to figure my time (which is accurate) and deduct that from the race clock shown at each mile marker.......math.....not a good thing when you are running a marathon.

Half way took forever......so tough.....still run walk method. Feeling tired but okay.....just pushing through. Cannot quit after posting everything on facebook, blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, website....etc. Just run!

On and on.....each mile I try to figure the math......something is funny. I seem really faster than expected. We get to ESPN and get to run around the track. I know my wife is waiting for me there. Can't wait to see her, she should be right after I leave the baseball stadium. I'm Goofy.....more than one way.....running around the outfield running track I started pretending I'm a broadcaster and rattle off out loud, "It's a hit deep into right center.....its high....it could be a home run....no, he catches it up at the top of the wall and he's out!" I yelling this as I go up against the the padded outfield wall and slam up against it pretending to catch the ball and keep it from going over the fence. The other just look at me a bit crazy........I just mumble....."guess I got just a little too much energy"

The others mumble back.....yes, you do!

My pace was better than ever before. Am I doing my math right? Can I really calculate in my head very well while running a marathon? Well the basic answer to this is NO! But regardless I know that in New York I was at mile 18 in four hours. Here I was at mile 20 and I wasn't quite at the four hour mark......was that for real?

I kept chugging along but certainly getting tired. With all the sweat I feel like I must have lost 10 pounds! My stomach is getting hungry but I know there is no way I'm eating the half bananas nor the tiny chocolate snacks they are handing out. It wouldn't sit well. 

I start grabbing a powerade and a water at the stops. The powerade is too strong but I mix the two together and water in down as I walk through the drink stop. Off and running again......just in time for the rain to begin. Yeah, just what I needed. Actually one stop was a cold wet wash cloth......those are awesome......really helped to cool down because the rain really isn't doing it. I'm soaked!

I apparently caught up with the 5:30 pace group now at mile 23......3 more miles to go. I'm really tired and catching up with them has drained me. I need to walk a little but don't want to let them get too far ahead. I stay with them until mile 24..... I see them pull away a little. Not sure where my time really stands because I probably started behind them......I might still be okay. Regardless my time seems like it will be my best.......after running a half marathon the day before.......that is crazy.

I push to finish. It is easier to run than walk. I feel the back of my ankle hurting. I think it is a blister or a cut where the tape is.......just run, forget about the pain. Pinky toe hurts too.......pinky toe always hurts. I'm sure it is a blister.......just run......I have another pinky toe.

I see the choir.....awesome finish line hymns to inspire that last little bit. Pose in front of the Epcot ball for pictures? You have got to be kidding......I'm not stopping at all! PUSH for the final few hundred yards. I turn the last corner with the crowds cheering me on.....I'm sure they are cheering everyone on. These last few miles a can hear a few people say, "You got this Eugene, keep going!" They can rad my bib......this is amazingly inspiring.......here we go.....the finish......RUN RUN RUN. I sprint across the last fifty yards being careful because the rain is heavier and I certainly don't want to slip......not after 26.2 miles!

My best time.....5:33:50......Yeah me! Tired.....need food.....need my wife.....need a space blanket!

My wife was so proud and amazed at me regarding the finish time......but when I heard the exact time I was not as impressed. 3:50 slower than I should be.......I'm a butt sometimes.....never quite satisfied. I'm sorry, that's just me.

We caught the bus back to the resort, jumped in the ice bath and cleaned up. I was pretty tired, pretty sore, pretty much done for the day. I needed some food so we went over to Disney Boardwalk and returned to another favorite place, Big River. We had to wait a bit but finally got a table outside. Too bad because the football between the Packers and Cowboys was playing inside the bar area. We could hear the yells.

It is pretty neat to wear your metals and your race shirt afterwards. Everyone says congratulations and you get to do likewise. It is fun hearing about other people's successes as well as their challenges that they overcome. It nice to be an encourager. It reminds me of not too long ago when I struggled mightily.

Tasty food and then back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. As we walked back in the lobby, we walked past a guy on the phone......I didn't pay attention but nearly walked right into him as he was on his cell phone. My wife goes, "Is that who I think it is?", I looked back and saw it was Sean Astin. You know, Rudy, Sam......the kid on Goonies! I was going to go over and say something but he was on his phone and he had his kids with him. He was getting ready to check out and I figured it was best if you let famous people be regular people sometimes. I respected his privacy. He had ran the Doopy Challenge. Pretty awesome. 

I tried to stay awake but I just couldn't. I was out by 5PM.........call me Rip Van Winkle......I slept for 13 hours.

ET This I Believe

Eugene Thompson

RUN EUGENE RUN

GOOFY Vacation: Day Three

Our adventures running the Disney Goofy Races

The alarm is so painful at 3AM......especially if you have been waking up for every hour before hand and then every ten minutes of the last hour. Why do I do that?

We get up, have our morning coffee and begin getting prepared for battle. Well that's what is seems like. You put this on just right...no wrinkles, you put that on.....don't roll the tape, you jelly this and jelly that....no chaffing. Everything needs to be just right.......oh yeah, and it is 45 degrees outside. We forgot throw away clothes. I knew better!

Down stairs we go, hi ho, hi ho off to run we go. All of us boarding buses at 3:45. Marching like a bunch of cattle.....this seems familiar? We arrive at the park, head through the security, head through the lines of this and the lines of that......oh yeah, the lines to the port-a-potty.......thee had to be a gazillion of them. Standing in line doing the little shiver dance to keep warm. Time is up, let's head to the start line......or at least the corral. Talk about cattle! I'm in corral L but my wife is in N so I drop back with her. Waiting in the corral is the worst thing when you a by yourself. Besides, I had already decided that I was going to run part of the race with her. I didn't want to push too hard any way if I was going to run the full marathon tomorrow. 

We head to the corral and sit on the roadway......four lanes that regularly carry all the traffic into the parks. It was not too long before they started the silly dances out on the jumbo screens that were placed all over the parks. It was being broadcast on the local ESPN I believe. They had a few guys up on stage being silly like always and then they introduced one guy out there down in the corrals talking to people. He wasn't too far away from us.....I could see him and the camera crews. We continued to sit down on the road and stretch.

Okay, are you ready? The guy starts walking down the aisle and looks over at me sitting on the ground......I just smile......he walks past and then comes back to me and asks if I would do an interview. Sure! This is crazy. 25,000 people out here and we get picked. He asked my story and I told him my 2014 record and that I was planning on doing 14 in 2015 to raise awareness about diabetes.......HOW COOL IS THAT? Talks about publicity for my cause!

I hope to track the recording of it and post it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sd9lonnxmA
LOOK at 22:15

We had people coming up to us asking us questions and everything. There was my 15 minutes of fame......okay, maybe more like 15 seconds.

Finally the race begins and we start running. My wife had already planned to take it easy and do a run walk method. I was cool with that I wanted to support her. This was her first half in seven years......her first was right here on this course with me. We planned on running three miles and then walking one. Running three and walking one.

I do this for about six or seven miles and then decide to take off. Amazing how fast I seemed passing everyone. The course is very crowded with a lot of walkers so it isn't easy to do a great time. I wasn't keeping track and my Runkeeper had begun to goof up (no pun intended) it was rattling off every few minutes telling me crazy times. When it told me I was at mile fifteen (really mile eight) and doing a 1:47 minute pace.....I turn it off. That wasn't any help.

I run and actually feel pretty good. My ankle didn't hurt much at all. I wasn't sure of my time until much later. 2:47, and to think I was doggin it the first half. Feeling good sitting on the ground waiting for my wife to come across. She did a great time as well. Very proud of her. 

Off we go to grab our bus, I'm being silly running circles around my wife. She didn't appreciate that very much. We get back to the resort and I load the tub up full of ice. Yep, ice bath. Wife first, me next. Man is that cold.

Up and out, dressed and finally warm again. We head out to one of our favorite places that we tried last year....SEADOG! It was quiet on a Saturday afternoon but that was just fine. We ate a burger and headed back to the Lodge. We both took a short nap......oh that felt good.....didn't want to wake up. But we did. Same routine, got all of our gear together for the next morning. New running clothes. It is supposed to be warmer in the morning and a high of 72.......much better than 58 the day before. However it was supposed to rain later in the day. Question was......could I outrun it?

Off to sleep, I think I was out by 7:30. I was tired. Sunday was going to be something else. Hope I can do it.

Good night my friends. Sleep tight......I will.

ET This I Believe

Eugene Thompson

Run Eugene Run
http://www.gofundme.com/idg4vk

GOOFY Vacation: Day Two

Our adventures of the Disney Goofy Race

We woke up pretty well rested for that Friday morning with no real plans. We had the day to estate and prepare ourselves before the run. There was the thought of going to a theme park but we were worried we might walk too much and wear ourselves out. Resting in bed was nice.

We stuck to our ordinary routine, coffee in bed, checking our emails, writing our blogs about the events etc. Again it was nice. However before too long we knew we needed to run some to stretch our legs. I wanted to get out and run around some trails near the resort. We got dressed and headed out one of the side doors. Unfortunately that wasn't an exit, it was a shelter for emergencies. Well we got to explore that area some. We headed back up to the main lobby to head out the front door. We figured we would find the trails somewhere near by. Hey, after all we are in Africa.....there has to be trails right? WRONG! No trails around this resort. We found that out after running through large parking lots and around the tennis courts until we ended up at a fitness center. The attendant said no trails around Animal Kingdom Lodge......Go Figure. So we did some miles on the treadmill. I hate the treadmill.

Afterwards we did a little stretching and headed to breakfast at the giant buffet. They had everything. I ate more than I should but still cautiously because I had worked so hard to loose weight before these races. Still it was delicious. A little more coffee and more relaxing and then we decided to head to Downtown Disney. 

It was a mess.....crazy construction everywhere. We had to park across the way and walk all the wY down. At that point I noticed my ankle was hurting a bit more when I leaned on one side. Was I really hurt or just paranoid? I don't know but it did concern me. We walked to a few of the normal shops and enjoyed oursleves. Nothing special, a few knick knacks and things that we could bring home. We decided to eat at the Irish place. It was okay......not really special. Fish and Chips just tasted.......well like fish and chips. I could have got them back home. Oh well.

We cut the afternoon short and headed back to the Lodge. I had a movie I had downloaded and we could watch that. The Fury.....looked like a Great War movie. We got our gear prepped like always the evening before the race. Race bib on shirt, all your gear laid out, all your pieces and parts ready to put on at 3:00 AM in the morning. Yes, you heard me right. We had to be on the buses before 4. Crazy right?

Gear set, ankles taped with KT Tape, that's a new thing. I taped my wife's ankles as well as. One that had been bothering me. We will see how that works. Movie time, wife fell asleep at 7.....except for when tank fire was making too much noise......oops sorry. I'm out by 9......asleep by maybe 10. Certainly not as early as I hoped but not a ending to an uneventful day.

3AM will come early. Real early! 

Good night my friends......tomorrow is the big day for the first race.

See you in the morning.

ET This I Believe

Eugene Thompson 

Run Eugene Run
http://www.gofundme.com/idg4vk