WDW Marathon recap

I think that picture pretty much sums up the weekend.  E ran his first marathon Sunday, and while he finished, it did not go the way he wanted. He was worried about his knee. He had a headache on Saturday that wouldn't go away. He left half his breakfast in the hotel room Sunday morning. You can see the pattern here. The plan was for me to allow the girls to wake up at their normal time, and I would meet him around the 16 mile mark. Well, Meeghan decided that she needed to scream and cry at 4 in the morning. I tried to rush her out of the room before she woke Hannah, but I was too slow. I figured since both girls were awake we would hit the road and meet him sooner. The buses stop running to the start/finish line between 5 and 7 so the runners can get out of Epcot. I threw on clothes, grabbed some food, and we jumped on a bus shortly before 5. We were able to get to mile 4 right as the race started so we saw all the elite runners and the wheelchair competitors.  Those elite runners are fast! I was tired just watching them for those few yards I could see. I started to regret dragging out the girls because they both melted down on me. We only had to wait an hour to see him since his corral didn't start until 5:45. He actually heard me yelling so I considered it a successful trip. You can sign up to track your runner. It gives 5, 10, half, and 20 mile splits. His 5 mile split looked good so I was hopeful about the knee. His 10 mile split showed he was running at my pace so I knew things weren't good. At the half split, I knew his knee was finished. He sent a text saying he couldn't run anymore and it was going to be a long 13 miles. I found out later not only was his knee bothering him, but he had the dreaded poops. His knee started hurting because he made so many bathroom stops. My guess is he hadn't stopped so much the knee may have lasted longer. The girls and I met him close to the finish line. He was not looking good, but he was able to hobble/jog across the finish line. His time was 5:53 which was about 2 hours off his projected time while training. All his training runs had him crossing around 4 hours. He was bummed it was 2 hours off, but considering everything that went wrong the fact that he finished was all he could ask for.

Hobbling/jogging towards the finish

After he made it back to the hotel, he felt sick. He started vomiting and couldn't stop. We both thought it was dehydration and exhaustion so I left him to sleep while I took the girls out to the parks. He felt a bit better after the nap. The next day we planned to go to the Magic Kingdom for half the day before driving home. We didn't make it out of the parking lot before he started vomiting again. And he didn't stop until evening. He was able to see a doctor and it was diagnosed as a stomach virus that was going around. He was very dehydrated to the point they couldn't even stick his vein to run an IV. He came home to sleep and push fluids if possible. Last night he was able to eat and drink without vomiting, and same with today. However his head still hurts. The only position that doesn't bother his head is lying down. If he stands up, the pain is intense. After googling, he thinks it may be meningitis. If his head still hurts tomorrow, he is going to request to be tested for it.

He isn't sure if he will run a Disney marathon again because of the bad memories associated with it. He loved the course, and the atmosphere, but hated how he felt during it. He wants another shot at a marathon and hopefully next fall he can run one. 

Now after all that (thank you if have read this far) from my point of view, I loved it. I thought the atmosphere was awesome, the entertainment I encountered was great, and the people were amazing. I met so many nice people when I was out mile hopping. There were great signs and great costumes. I saw one guy juggling while running. That is hardcore. I saw a marriage proposal near the finish line. I loved watching all the people running by, and cheering with everyone. Even Hannah was giving some "woohoos" while waiting. I really need to get out to the local races to cheer (or to run). It is so much fun! 

Finally, here is where I say something I may regret later. I want to run the Dopey challenge in 2015. I still have absolutely no desire to run a marathon, but watching all the Dopey participants (and seeing all the medals), I wanted to be a part of it. I may be swept  up in the fun of it and the feeling will go away soon.Who knows? However, I have a few months to decide if I really want to do it.

It is hard to resist the running bling