YIKES!  That makes me realize just how far a marathon really is.  Now I’m nervous!

Runners to Race Around the “High Banks’’ and “Bases’’ As Part of 20^th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon Course

2013 Disney Marathon route to go through baseball stadium and speedway; course tweaks build on list of new 2013 enhancements

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (May 16, 2012) – Runners in the 20^th anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon in 2013 will have the unique experience of running along a speedway and through a baseball stadium – in addition to Disney’s four theme parks – as part the latest enhancements designed to celebrate the event’s two decades of existence.

The 2013 Disney Marathon course will again start at Epcot. But runners will go through the Magic Kingdom and then, for the first time ever, run through the high-banked Walt Disney World Speedway where stock cars, Indy cars and exotic supercars typically roar around the one-mile tri-oval track. And later the course will take runners to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and through the complex’s Champion Stadium, a major-league style ballpark that’s the Atlanta Braves’ annual spring training home.

“Running through the speedway and the ballpark should provide quite a thrill for the runners,’’ said veteran race director Jon Hughes. “These very creative enhancements should make for a pretty memorable 20^th anniversary marathon that people will probably be talking about for 20 more years.’’

The marathon’s commemorative route changes add to the new enhancements recently announced, including enhanced entertainment along Mile 20, a specially-designed 20^th anniversary Mickey Mouse medal and a new post-race party at Downtown Disney.

In addition to the 26.2-mile marathon, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna (Jan. 10-13) will feature events for the entire family such as Kids’ Races throughout the weekend, including the Mickey Mile, a Family Fun Run 5K on Friday, the Half Marathon on Saturday and the Marathon on Sunday.  There is also Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge which involves running the Half Marathon and the full Marathon – 39.3 miles!  The Health and Fitness Expo runs throughout the weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and features the latest in running technology and fashion, as well as renowned running experts like Jeff Galloway, the official training consultant for runDIsney.

Runners can register at www.rundisney.com.  Runners can register early to get the best price.  Below is pricing and the schedule of events for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna.

About runDisney

runDisney is a series of events providing runners unique opportunities to run various distances through Disney theme parks.  Race participants earn Disney-themed medals, experience legendary Disney entertainment and guest service and ultimately celebrate their accomplishments with a Disney vacation.  The original event in the series, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna, takes place in January followed by the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in September and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in November.  Disneyland hosts the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend in January and the Disneyland Half Marathon in September during Labor Day Weekend.  More than 100,000 running enthusiasts participate in runDisney events each year. For more information, visit runDisney.com and follow us on Facebook (runDisney) and Twitter @DisneySports.

This weekend, I ran the Frederick Half Marathon in Frederick, MD.  This race was part of a dual bonus bling challenge.  Run Iron Girl and Fredrick and get the Titanium Girl medal.  Run Frederick and Baltimore (in the fall) and get the Maryland Double medal.

Clearly, I couldn’t say no.  Actually, I was already registered for both Iron Girl and Frederick when Titanium Girl was announced, so it was a medal for nothing!  Except for being crazy and being willing to run two halfs within 7 days.

But onto the race itself.  Having just run a race the week before, I definitely had something to compare it to.  And I would say that Frederick was a much better race.  Corrigan Sports puts on incredible races, so I’m not surprised.

The course was awesome.  Not flat by any means, but the course support was incredible.  Lots of water stops and lots and lots of community support.  It was great to see that sort of support after the editorial in the Frederick newspaper earlier that week trashing the runners for “blocking” people from attending church.  There were tons of people out cheering and lots of kids handing out candy, water and fruit.  It was great to see.  (If only someone had been out there with a hose spraying the runners…)

Kim and I ran together after losing Jen early on (speedy girl) and losing, then catching, then losing Monica, and we just took it easy with a 1:1 pace.  She had been on her feet the day before and I was recovering from a killer cold (note – running a half marathon does not speed recovery) so we just went out to have fun.  We chatted most of the way and finished in a surprising 3:03.  Not bad for a race when we weren’t “trying.”

Expo was tiny, as is to be expected, but the race premium is awesome.  Instead of the standard t-shirt, the premium for this race changes every year and this year it was a zip up jacket!  It’s thick sweatshirt material, embroidered with the race logo and absolutely awesome.  I’m slowly getting to the point where I can outfit myself entirely in race gear.

I will definitely be back for this race.  Iron Girl remains questionable (partly due to the course, which is just too hilly to be enjoyable), but the crowd support at Frederick just makes this race incredible.

So while I’ve been resting and being a slug, I’ve been reading a lot of blogs.  A LOT of blogs.  Since buying my house last year, I’ve become obsessed with home improvement blogs and organizing blogs.  What frequently bugs me about these blogs is that so many homes start to look curated.  How do people live in homes that perfect?  Where do you put your stuff?  And why are all your collections so well themed?  Don’t you have random stuff that you love?  That’s why I love sites like Young House Love.  Sure, their house looks awesome, but they show you how they stow all their stuff.  And they’re not afraid to show you the rooms that aren’t so perfect.

My house is far from perfect right now.  I still have bare walls and pictures waiting to be hung (something I want to take care of this weekend).  It’s slowly starting to feel put together, but it’s not a quick process.

Seeing all of these home improvement projects makes me want to go through my house and document the “before” state, as I continue to get things looking the way I want them to look.  I would love to someday have incredible “after” pictures to share.  But I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Okay, so the hills weren’t a surprise.  I don’t know that the elevation chart was ever made public, but anyone who knows the area knew it would be a hilly race.  I just didn’t think about how giant some of the hills were going to be.  We didn’t even attempt to run up them, just walked as quickly as possible.

But let’s go back to the beginning.  This was an inaugural race, though a race being put on by a very well organized group.  So I expected some hiccups, but in general, things went pretty smoothly.

Packet pickup was easy, but one frustrating part was that we were told that all packets had to be picked up in person – no one could pick up a packet for someone else.  At the pickup, we all had to have wristbands put on our wrists so that we could prove no one was running with someone else’s bibs.  However, when I showed up, there was someone picking up 14 bibs!  (This may have been a charity deal, I suppose.)  And the lovely pink wristbands?  They were never checked.  Mine didn’t bother me, but I know some people found them very irritating.

Race morning, the parking was plentiful, but the porta-potties were not.   Lines were long and not very organized, though everyone was quite polite.  One complaint I saw was that there was only one potty stop on the course for those who missed the stop at the beginning.  Again, no problem for me, but I can’t imagine having to try to find a place to “go.”  I’m sure this will be fixed next year.

The race itself was nice – pretty course, but hilly.  There were some spots where I felt like we were shoved off to one little side of the road with cars passing by way too close and way too fast.  It would have been nice to have the whole lane in which to run.  It was to the point where we could basically run single file and that was it.  Not ideal in a race situation.

The finish line was tiny, but there was a nice little finisher’s village with food and drink.  The medals are pretty and we got a sterling silver bracelet as well to celebrate this inaugural race.

Will I be back?  I don’t know.  I didn’t dislike the race and can’t really complain about it, but it’s a hilly course during a time of year where there are a lot of races.  This might get skipped next year (unless they do the Titanium Girl bonus bling with Frederick again – that will get me here in a heartbeat).

So I’m back to the weight lifting.  So far, so good.  I really like ChaLEAN Extreme.  Chalene focuses on heavy weights and slow movement.  So you may only do a max of 12 reps, but those 12 reps are killer.   It’s been a good addition to my running routine because it’s not cardio based – though there is an additional cardio workout as part of the videos.

I can’t say that I see any difference yet, but I’ve only been back to the program for four workouts!  But I can definitely feel the workouts after I’m done.  I just need to stick with the program this time.

Well, it was mostly Tuesday.  Tuesday was awesome.

On Tuesday morning, Space Shuttle Discovery was scheduled to arrive in D.C.  And for the purpose of sheer awesomeness. the jet carrying the shuttle planned to circle the city a number of times so that people could see the journey up close.  Unfortunately, I had training scheduled for that morning, but thankfully, our instructors agreed that this was a once in a lifetime experience so we all headed up to the roof to check out the view.

And it was amazing.

I did not take this photo – it was taken by a coworker from our roof.

Definitely a worthwhile experience.  People just kept repeating “This is so cool!”

Later that evening, I had choir sectionals at the National Cathedral.  It was a small group – fewer than 20 people were able to attend.  And as a special treat, after rehearsals ended (so around 10 pm), our director decided to take us up into the tower.  That’s right, a nighttime tower climb at the National Cathedral.  If you’ve read about tower climbs, you know that there are outside ledges you can access through windows.  We did not go outside.  But we did climb up a number of spiral staircases and hang out with the bells in the bell tower for a while.  It was such a cool experience and the view of the city at night was absolutely phenomenal.   I can’t wait to do a tower climb during the day.

No photos from that event.  It was dark and I just had my cell phone with me.  But trust me.  Very cool.

Tuesday made the rest of the week seem very  boring by comparison.

Caveat – they bill this race as flat.  It is not flat.  There are some sizeable hills.  But they aren’t lying when they call it scenic.  It is an absolutely gorgeous course.  And the course support is amazing.  I have never seen so much food on a race course. There were water and Gatorade stops every two miles and at each stop, there were Powerbars or Gu.  I only picked up a Gu (and pocketed it for a later run), but I was impressed to see that much fuel out there.

The cheering squads were quite impressive.  The volunteers were clearly excited to be out there, and it makes it a lot of fun to run.

Post-race support was also great.  Lots of snack options, and the race premiums?  A shirt AND a really nice gym bag.  Can’t complain there.

This race is definitely slower-runner friendly.  I ran with two wonderful friends and we treated it as a training run (as we have two half marathons in the next 3 weeks), and even stopped for a few minutes when one of the ladies got a nosebleed.  We were near the back of the pack but still had great support.   There were also some walkers in the race, and I think the last group of finishers crossed the finish line around 2:50.  That’s what I call a great race!  A race that supports its winners as well as the people who are just out there to finish.

If it works out, I will definitely be back next year.

New Elements Await Runners as 20^th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon Registration Opens

2013 Disney Marathon to feature new commemorative medal, new post-race party and enhanced entertainment; Race expected to be a sellout

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (Apr. 10, 2012) – Runners competing in the 20^th anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon – registration opens today – will experience several unique features, including a special 20^th anniversary medal, new entertainment elements and a new post-race party.

To mark two decades of the Walt Disney World Marathon, the 2013 marathon, which anchors the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna, will have enhanced entertainment at Mile Marker 20 to celebrate the 20^th anniversary. And the finishers will take home a specially-designed 20^th anniversary Mickey Mouse medal, plus they can celebrate their achievement at a new post-race party at Downtown Disney.

The marathon weekend, which is expected to draw a sellout field of more than 20,000 for the 26.2-mile marathon, is Jan. 10-13 and will again feature Kids’ Races throughout the weekend, including the Mickey Mile, a Family Fun Run 5K on Friday, the Half Marathon on Saturday and the Marathon on Sunday.  There is also Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge which involves running the Half Marathon and the full Marathon – 39.3 miles!  The Health and Fitness Expo runs throughout the weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and features the latest in running technology and fashion, as well as renowned running experts like Jeff Galloway, the official training consultant for runDIsney.

Runners can register at www.rundisney.com.  There is reduced pricing for early registrants.  Below is pricing and the schedule of events for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna.

About runDisney

runDisney is a series of events providing runners unique opportunities to run various distances through Disney theme parks.  Race participants earn Disney-themed medals, experience legendary Disney entertainment and guest service and ultimately celebrate their accomplishments with a Disney vacation.  The original event in the series, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by CIGNA, takes place in January followed by the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in September and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in November.  Disneyland hosts the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend in January and the Disneyland Half Marathon in September during Labor Day Weekend.  More than 100,000 running enthusiasts participate in runDisney events each year. For more information, visit runDisney.com and follow us on Facebook (runDisney) and Twitter @DisneySports.

And I did it.

I signed up for my first marathon.

And now I am terrified.

It was funny, actually.  As I was filling out the form, my heart was racing.  What in the world am I doing?  Can I actually do this?

After all the testing I underwent with my weird heart and having to slow down my running permanently, I said that I would never do a marathon, that I was destined to be a half marathoner.   But then I talked to some friends.  Friends who said “We want to get the 20th Anniversary Medal.”  Friends who plan to run nice and slow, with a 1:1 run/walk pattern.  Friends who just want to finish under 7 hours and who believe that if one person has to give up on the run and just walk, then everyone walks.

And I thought “I can do this.”  If my heart rate gets too high, I can just walk.  These friends understand what I go through and that I have to make sure that my heart rate stays in check.  They don’t make fun of me for my slow speed.  And they will be there with me every step of the way.

So maybe I can do this.  I have to admit, no matter how this goes, I don’t see myself signing up for any marathons other than Disney.  But I’m very excited at the thought of finishing my first marathon hand in hand with wonderful friends.