Town of Celebration Marathon Recap

[clseale]

I know there were a few FL girls who were interested in this race, so I'll break down the good, the bad, & a recap of my 26.2 mile journey through Celebration, FL.

Everything about this race was easy. We were lucky that our hotel was running a shuttle, but talking to others, parking seemed to be easy & smooth. Finding corrals was easy, and the race started on time.

I lined up with the 3:35 pacer. I don't know why, I never do pace groups, but he swore he ran even splits, so I figured he'd keep me reined in & not having to think about pace for a bit. No. I quickly let him go when I saw my mile two split of a 7:47. WTF, dude?! They stayed ahead of me until I finally passed them at mile 10. At that point, my pace was an 8:03, so he was still way too fast. So was I, I made myself slow a bit.

Anyway, miles 10-18 were pretty uneventful. I saw my DH a few times which was a nice boost, and then I saw all of my friends (they booked it up to see me after finishing the half) at mile 18. I got unexpectedly emotional when I saw them. They were so loud, and so damn excited , especially when I shouted my 8:04 pace. They were maniacs, and it was just really sweet. I'm blessed with wonderful people.

As predicted, mile 20 began the struggle. Partly because, duh, it's mile 20, partly because of the course. One quick thing about this course. It's basically a double loop. Not a problem. I actually kind of liked that, but I mentioned some crazy boardwalks & paths in my other post. Now I had already run them once on the first loop, & while difficult, it was OK. I knew however, that they would be a difficult place to be at mile 20, & they took up a big chunk of the final 6 miles. They were zigzags like nothing I have ever seen before. There was no straight line anywhere. It just made it impossible to hold your pace, & each time you came off of one, your quads were shredded from bouncing around back & forth trying to make the tight turns. Tight tired muscles don't like to turn tightly! Lol

Anyway , I did my best, but lost 1-2 sec off of my pace each time I had to run one. DH saw me come off the longest one at 21.5, and he could see that my expression had changed. Once again my hero on a bike, he rode the last 5 miles with me. That was really nice. I started using some mental pep talks & calculating averages in my head to try & convince myself that as long as I kept moving, I had enough banked to not blow the BQ. It wasn't until 25.5 that I finally looked at DH & said, "Ummm. Honey?? I'm going to BQ!" He laughed & said "Yeah! I've been telling you that. Now move those little legs & go do it." I could hear my friends screaming as they spotted me across the lake. I ran towards that sound and I crossed at a still unofficial 3:33.59.

I was so impressed with this race & cannot believe it was an inaugural year. They did a phenomenal job. It was beautiful. There were some long stretches that might get boring, but I didn't mind them. I like peaceful, pretty routes where I can zone out. They had tons of funny signs that they posted to keep you entertained in those parts. One funny one (since they're right by Disney) was "We might not be Disney, but we didn't get you up at 2:00 AM either" Awesome volunteers. Great residents. More water stops than I have ever seen. Fantastic post race celebration. The bad part on the boardwalks is not enough to keep me from running again. Good totally outweighed the bad. Run this race, FL ladies.

Now for making it through that, you get pictures. I'm sorry if they're huge. I'm on my phone. As you can imagine, the first one is my favorite. <3

[texassmith]

I love this!! You are an inspiration for this little first time marathoner. Congrats x1000!

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using proboards

[coconutbug]

You are so amazing! Love the recap and pics. Congrats on the BQ and AG 2nd place!!

[runaways]

You are such an inspiration! I love hearing about your running - this is what I really, really would like to try to do for my next 26.2. I'm so so happy you finally got your BQ, and I cannot wait to hear all about your journey to Boston! Thanks for the great recap!

[kams]

Well I'm teary because I just love you to bits and I'm so proud of you! Geeeeeze. BQ and AG 2nd...could today have been ANY better?! Love the pics. So damn happy for you.

[taratru]

You're so fucking awesome. Seriously, I couldn't be more proud of you.

[thom]

Yay, yay, yes!!!! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your recap. How awesome that you got your BQ & placed 2nd for AG. How do you look so great in your pics after 26.2?

I know it depends on the race, but do you think running a relatively smaller race helped your pace and time much? Or did it make it harder because you didn't always have people near you? (Or maybe this race is bigger than I'm thinking...)

[chitownbelle]

There aren't enough words! And if a BQ wasn't enough, the AG award is total icing on the cake! Talk about a nice surprise ;-)

[hannahb]

Ummm how do you look so cute after running a marathon?

[Raggedeannie]

Ahhhh great job! You are a total rock star (but you knew that already)! I'm all teary reading this!

[Wines Not Whines]

You are amazing! You totally killed it!!!

[al320]

That was my favorite sign too! I actually laughed outloud when i saw it!

Congratsmon the bq and auch an amazing race! And placing!

I agree, it was a very well ru race, i really enjoyed it, and will do it again if i can come down for the weekend. The boardwalks were pretty but annoying!
Also, the 3:40 pacer went out too fast, i was just behind him for the first two miles, which according to my garmin were 8:12 and 8:24, i let him go after that (becuase my achilles were tight and were bothering me, they loosened up a,few miles later).

How are you feeling today?

[bostonmichelle]

Congrats! I love reading these recaps, they are very inspirational and motivating.

[shauni27]

I too teared up with that first picture and reading your recap. CONGRATS! What an epic day!

[gt7301b]

<) :beer: :drink: 

Seriously, a BQ, age group award, and you look fantastic. I may hate you just a little I looked and felt like death after my marathon and I didn't come close to a BQ

[enfuego23]

I love the pics!! I'm so happy that you had such a great race and your BQ'd!!! Awesome job:)

[boston340]

Congratulations!! I really enjoyed your race recap and the pictures. You look so cute in teal! Are you the one that mentioned previously that you and your friends have a tradition together to to go LLL and pick out a new race outfit together?

[lb2006]

LOVE this!!!

[sassystace]

Great job!!

[shelbyann]

I agree, you look WAY too cute in your post-race pics.

Sounds like a fantastic race all around. Congrats again!

[runblondie26]

You're so adorable! Great pics to help remember the day You did it! Woohoo!

[breezy8407]

Great pics! You are so adorable. Congrats again.

[clseale]

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate all of the encouragement & excitement so much. (heart) You all play such a big role in my successes, and it's so much more fun when I have you guys to share this stuff with. I just love our little board.

thom - I think it depends. I think it definitely helps your pace because it's not as crowded. Basically meaning that you can run much better tangents, and without bobbing & weaving, you don't run as far over 26.2 as you would in say, Chicago. I've also learned that I don't fuel as much off of the crowds as some people, so a smaller field wasn't a problem. I was able to focus on what I was doing & felt more in control of my race than I've felt in some of the larger races where it's stimulus overload.

It got a bit quiet in the final 5 miles, and more spectators would have been nice (I think this will grow as more time goes by), but there were residents out cheering, and while it was a little sparse in the final stretch, I was never completely alone on the course. The water stop volunteers were awesome cheerleaders, and they have those about every 1.5 miles. There were just over 2,000 in the race, 650 were marathoners. With the double loop, you still had some half runners on the course as we circled through the 2nd loop. 

al320 - I'm feeling OK today. Different parts of my body are sore than what is typical. From the hips up, you'd never know I ran. No arm or core soreness. My quads ache a bit more than usual, and when I first got out of bed, my right calf (it knotted up pretty bad in the last 5 miles) was all, "Oh, you want to walk today? That's cute" lol It's loosening up as I move around. 

It really was a beautiful course, and had those paths not been in the last 5 miles, I don't think they would have bothered me as much. I think they just took the last bit that was left of my legs, which I was trying to save for those last few miles. I still felt pretty good going onto them at 20. When I emerged from the first series of them at 21.5, I was completely blown. It changed that quickly. I should have expected it. At that point in a race, you really only want straightaways. It's something I know for next time.

I loved how some of the signs weren't even running related, just goofy random stuff. I don't know why, by the "It was me. I let the dogs out" made me literally LOL. 

boston340 - Thanks! Yes, that's me and my friends that do that. It's always one, final, fun thing to get us pumped for the race. 

[Vally]

wow, way to go!!

[mrsjthompson]

Congratulations on a great race and your BQ! WooHoo!!

[keweenawlove]

Congrats on a great time and BQ <)

[secretlyevil]

Congrats on the race, BQ and AG!

I am totally marking this down for 2015 - half marathon that is.

After that great recap, I'm really looking forward to it.

[jamalynn]

Great recap and congrats again. Awesome job!