Dopey Challenge – Race #2 – Minnie Mouse 10k
This morning let’s recap my second race in the Dopey
Challenge – the Minnie Mouse 10k.
First, my alarm sounded at 3:31 AM. I rolled out
of bed without any thoughts of hitting the snooze button. After a few housekeeping
chores, I was headed for the buses which would take me over to EpCot.
Walking is the norm at Disney, and at 4:20 AM, I was walking
into the runner’s village. With the temperatures being bit warmer yesterday and the wind
only blowing at about 5 mph, most everyone was milling around.
It wasn’t too hard to find a place for me to lay down my
towel and stretch out. I like to take a few minutes to relax before getting
ready. There is one thing about Disney races. There is so much activity going on that time passes quickly. I dropped by bag at baggage check and head ed for
my starting corral.
Today, we had way more runners in corral “A” than yesterday.
Walking to the starting line, I maneuvered my way up to the 3rd layer
of runners from the starting line. This seemed to a nice spot, and I chatted
with the runners around me.
With 30 seconds to go, I started taking some deep breathes.
With no real good warm up, the first couple of miles were to be my warm up
miles.
Just like the 5k everyone rushed off the starting line this morning.
Most went sprinting out for about 200 meters and then abruptly slowed down. My
guess most of these people just wanted their picture taken at the start. I
found myself side stepping these runners so as to not run into them. Things
started to sort about the ¾ of mile mark.
My first mile was 5:53 and my breathing was steady rather
labored. We made a U-turn and headed back on a parallel road. Mile two passed
in 5:53. Mile 3 went by in 5:48. Mile 4 was again in 5:48 as we entered EpCot. Most
of mile 5 was around the board walk in 6:01. Mile 6 had us going back through
EpCot – 5:56. It was during this mile that I found myself slipping and
sliding. Disney washes their sidewalks down each night. Racing flats on top of these wet sidewalks
feels just like walking on ice.
After near disaster yesterday with the “unlight” pole, the
Disney maintenance crew had fixed it with a new light by this morning.
With a clear sight to the finish line, I just maintain an
even effort the rest of the way. With two big days coming, it is important to
stay out of the red as much as possible.
36:55 for 13 overall
and first in the 50-55 age group. I will take this run any day.
I did my Dopey Challenge check-in and headed for baggage
check. Throw on some cloths and sprinted across the runners village for a picture with Dopey. I am doing the Dopey Challenage so I have to have a picture with Dopey. Then it was off to the buses for a
quick ride back to the hotel. I was walking to my room at 7:01 AM and feeling
a huge sense of accomplishment before most people were even starting their day.
9.3 miles down with a ½ and full marathon to go,
The Cool Down Runner
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