crap race report

The marathon is over and I've already reflected on my complaints, mistakes, misfortunes...and the positives too. In short, I ran, if what I did qualifies as "running," one of my worst races, but it was still a good experience, although I don't plan to run the Disney Marathon again. I run a bad race and shrug it off as 'not my thing'. Remind me of this when I start talking about Disney Marathon 2012....

Needless to say, I did not meet my goal time, my back up plan time, or even my 'F-it! I'm just going to enjoy this' time. My regretfully slow pace was partly due to a difficult course (a lot of concrete -- my least favorite!), slightly due to stomach issues (I'll exclude the details), and mostly due to my mentality. My already extreme race anxiety is exacerbated by crowds of people. This marathon was a sensory overload with thousands upon thousands of people, characters, lights, fireworks, entertainment, and the SELL SELL SELL mentality through and through. I felt overwhelmed and psyched myself out when it came time to simply run. Dating back to high school cross country, I have an odd tendency to run faster during practice than while racing, due to nerves. I perform better without the circus. I'm not sure how to get over my race anxiety, but it's something I recognize. The first step is admitting you a have a problem.

On a chipper note, the Disney Marathon is a fun experience, especially, I assume, if ran with friends. I wouldn't recommend this marathon to anyone looking for a great race time. Characters pose for pictures along the entire course. A lot of people were having a good time stopping for pictures at every mile. I didn't think to bring a camera, so I missed out on getting my picture taken with Cinderella, Mickey, The Beast, and all the other characters whom I didn't recognize. Another positive, I must say that the Disney employees and volunteers are the nicest, happiest, most enthusiastic race cheerleaders I have ever seen. I don't think I would have been able to feign their exuberance if I had to wake up at 3am to service thousands of stinky, obsessive compulsive maniacs.

Typical day after, I look silly walking down the stairs because my legs won't bend. I wouldn't use my free pass to Disney World today even if I didn't have to work. Yesterday I felt sorry for the kids whose parents brought them to a closed Disney World well before sunrise to watch adults run for hours in the cold. Those parents better be taking their kids to Disney World, for real, today -- payback.

Me and Eugenio after the race. He came to cheer me on!