It’s not far now until I head off to tackle the Dopey Challenge. As a matter of fact, I leave in just nine days. So I am starting to get tense about getting there and getting it done. I’m not worried about the actual races because I’ve done all the work. The anticipation of possible complications ties my stomach in knots.
This is how it will all go down (hopefully):
Wednesday January 6: Fly down to Orlando. Check into the hotel. Get over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to pick up my bibs and maybe purchase myself a little swag with Dopey on it. Get back. Eat dinner. Go to bed. So that I’m ready for…
Thursday, January 7: 6:00 a.m. start time for the 5k. I’ll probably have to leave the hotel by 4:30 to head on over to Epcot for the race. My pit crew will be bright and sunshiny and ready to help*. It will be a nice easy ride, barely time to get into and out of the bike. The important thing is it will let me judge the travel time and complexity. The 5k had approximately 12,000 participant last year. I’ll get back to the hotel and lounge poolside. I may try to get over to the parks but not for too long because I have to be all revved up for…
Friday, January 8: 5:30 a.m. start time for the 10k. From what I could find, the participation in the 5k and 10k are pretty close so logistics (check out this site for more information on the best services available for this) should be pretty close to the previous day…aside from the extra half hour of lost sleep. To see it here, I should have a pretty good plan on logistics. It will be another relatively easy ride, only twice as far as the day before. It will give me a great opportunity to get used to the gears on the fancy loaner bike of the Moving Company. Afterwards I’ll head back to the hotel for a nap and lounging. As part of the Achilles entourage, I’ll be attending the dinner on Friday. It really is amazing to meet other athletes who have decided that their challenges won’t stop them, either. The majority of the team will be up early the next day for…
Saturday, January 9: 5:30 a.m. start time for the Disney Half Marathon with race sponsor Donald Duck! 13.1 miles through dark of night and the well lit parks of Disney. Disney does an amazing job of keeping the runners motivated. There are bands and choruses all along the route. Disney characters show up for photo opportunities. I’m torn. Do I try for a personal record or for as many pictures with characters? I guess I’ll decide that with approximately 25,000 other runners that day. I’ll get back to the hotel, and take the manditory nap. That night we have a Philly team dinner. Hopefully the service will be as swift as the food is good because I will need one more good night’s sleep to prepare for…
Sunday, January 10: 5:30 a.m. start time for the Disney Marathon! The culmination of a half year of training with endless hours spent planning, plotting and blogging comes about. Doubling the prior day’s distance once again, I’m not sure what to expect. Will I feel good as I start out? as i finish? during? Someone should check their magic eightball and let me know. I expect this to take between 3.5 and 4 hours which means i will be finishing before i normally get up on a Sunday morning. After that, I have the whole day before me. A trip to the parks might be in order…particularly a nice dinner someplace in Epcot. Plus it is my birthday!!!
Monday, January 11: Head back to the real world. I’ll have to see what picture I remembered to take and plan my final celebration blog for all of you who have travelled this road with me. Forgive me if it is a day or two late, but I just rode 48.6 miles.
*This is a big fat lie. My pit crew will be conscious. I don’t ask for much more than that.