We began our journey headed out of Norfolk on Southwest towards Orlando. For the life of me I don't understand why they board the plane the way they do. You would think that lining up like kindergarten children to board the plane and trying to find a seat just might be somewhat chaos and unorganized. Oh well, we got to our destination......just not sitting together.
Nice and warm in Orlando on Friday afternoon. First thing is first....go get my registration for the race at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
There were just a few people waiting in line. Wow what a crowd. We decided to look around and do a little shopping after I picked up my race packet. Just about everything possible with running was in the building. We got a few energy chews, t-shirts and some souvenirs.
Then I went out a got my picture in front of the medal board......was hoping I wasn't going to jinx my race. There were four races but you could get a possible six medals. 5K Thursday, 10K Friday, 1/2 Marathon Saturday and Full Marathon Sunday.
After that it was time to check in to our Disney Resort. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach not too far from the race primarily because the shuttle buses would pick us up keeping us from having to drive in the traffic on race morning at 3:30AM. Good idea! The entire resort was like the islands and decked out to have a pirate theme. I was there for the run but my wife was there for some R&R so I hoped it was a bit remenescent of our Barbados trip. Our building was perhaps the furthest one from anything within the resort. Our bed was a pirate ship and the television was sitting on a dresser that looked like bunch of stacked crates. Hidden inside a wine barrel was the little refrigerator. It was older but nice enough. We didn't plan on hanging out there much.
A quick bite of lunch at the resort by the pool. Wasn't anything special, I just needed some food. After figuring our agenda and where we needed to be for the race, we took off to drive around and then to visit Disney's Boardwalk. Another resort and shopping area, but we hadn't been there before. The name described it perfectly. It looked like a New England boardwalk area. There were acts out on a wooden walk in front of shops and restaurants all lite up with strings of lights. Some nice architecture to study and take notes......I won't bore you with all those thoughts.
It was getting late on a Friday night so we figured we better hurry and eat. We weren't on any kind of schedule which was absolutely awesome. We could take our time and go and do what we wanted. That doesn't happen often. There were several restaurants in the area but we chose Big River Brewing Grille. It looked like a fun spot and unique. And as figured there was a long wait....unless you could find a seat at the bar.....so we did. Great food and fun watching all the people hustle around.
That was all she wrote for the day. After flying in, getting our rental car, getting the registration, setting up in the room and dinner.....I was beat. No real big adventures or crazy stories. No late night for me either....and no excuses why I couldn't run on Sunday. Time to turn in.
That was the conclusion of our first day of the Marathonacation......say tuned for more my friends
Eugene Thompson
ET This I Believe
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