Disney's Tower of Terror 10 miler race recap

"Oh no, I forgot to eat a bagel!"  This was the refrain that kept going over and over in my head as we stepped off the bus at Hollywood Studios. We always eat a bagel before we go on our long training runs!  As soon as that realization set in, I started to feel hungry and weak!  I told Ralph I don't know if I can run if I'm hungry.  Of course Ralph wouldn't hear about it so we just moved on along to where the bag check area was.  After dropping off our bags, we headed towards the corrals.  The pre-race party was in full swing but I couldn't even get myself to enjoy the music because all I could think of was the bag of 6 fresh plain bagels that we left in the hotel room!

This was our first night race and our second long race since the Princess half marathon in February.  Aside from the thoughts of bagels hanging in my head, I was excited to run in it.  The weather wasn't too bad; it was definitely humid but not too unbearable.  It was actually a bit cooler, dare I say. We were in corral I, the second to the last corral, but it didn't faze us.  It was one corral up from the last corral in February.  We had about two hours to wait before we run so we just sat down on the ground and took in the sight. We saw runners sitting on the ground, some were taking pictures, others were sleeping, and quite a few were at the pre-race party nearby.

By 10 pm, we started moving out and headed toward the starting line.  Along the way, we sang the national anthem and cheered as every corral ahead of us was called out.  The best part about running at Disney is that every corral that goes out gets a nice fireworks display.  However, for some reason, our corral didn't get one. We felt like the middle child!

By the time the gun went off for our corral to start, I had forgotten about the bagels and I had a surge of energy after eating an entire pack of Power Beans.  Adrenaline kicked in. As soon as we got out of the gate, we run up the ramp to Osceola Parkway.  This was our first time to run up a "hill" in a long time since most of our training runs are on flat roads.  It was definitely a challenge.  Ralph told me after the race that he started having hip pain at this time.  Thank goodness it went away after a mile. They had some fire display in the pond next to the exit and boy was that hot.  We then

Showing off our medals!

entered Animal Kingdom, made a loop  and was out again in no time. When we hit mile marker 4, Ralph and I exclaimed excitedly at how we made it that far quickly.  We were making good time but Ralph signaled that he needed to hit the port-a-potty.  This was the first time we've ever stopped to go potty in any race.  There is more to be said about using these port-a-lets in the dark but that's for another day to tell!  I found out later that he used compression shorts and it was pressing on his bladder.  After the potty break, on we went towards mile marker 5.  A friend of mine who ran this race last year had warned me that this part of the course would be dark and the course turns into gravel.  Run Disney must have gotten a lot of complaints about it last year that this year, the gravel road leading into Wild World of  Sports was adequately lit.  The only problem was the road was narrow so running was not possible without running over other runners.  It reminded me of running through Cinderella's castle in the half marathon.  It was tight and slow moving!  Ralph and I had to slow down our pace at this time.  I thought it was going to hurt my legs when we got to this portion of the course but it actually felt fine for me.  It was a welcome relief from the hardness of the asphalt!  We were in the WWOS area for about two miles.  We ran the track and the Atlanta Braves field. Throughout the run, my knees didn't hurt but my right posterior tibialis tendon was making it's discomfort known.  I stopped at the medic station around mile 8 and popped a couple pills of Tylenol .

When we got back to Hollywood Studios' New York sound lot, we felt very excited.  We knew that we were close to the finish line.  We stopped for a photo op at this time.  They say that when you run a half marathon, the final .1 is the longest distance.  Well, when you run a 10-miler, the last mile is the longest!  It seemed as though we made so many turns before we actually saw the finish line.  The volunteers were screaming, "the finish is right around the corner".  This was just mean when they knew that around the corner was about 6 more turns!!!  Unlike at the Princess Half Marathon, this time Ralph and I crossed the finish line hand in hand!  We posed for every cameraman man along the way to the finish.  We had so much fun in these last few yards because we knew we were close to the end!  We did it again - another fun run and another accomplishment for both of us!

At the expo earlier in the day!

We walked towards the volunteers who were handing out the medals and beelined towards the food and drinks tables.   The walk to the bag check area felt like a "death" march!  My feet were hurting and I could hardly walk anymore.  We finally got our bags and I decided to remove my shoes, take off my compression socks and wear my flat slippers.  Big mistake! I could hardly walk towards the bus and couldn't walk towards our hotel room. It felt better when I put my shoes back on!

I iced my knees and legs after we arrived in our hotel room and wore my full compression socks to sleep.  We didn't get to bed till 3:00 am!  Phew, what a long and tiring day!  Although I was in pain after the race, this was still a fun race to have run.  The on-course entertainment was great and the volunteers were awesome!  This being a night race definitely posed some challenges and was a learning experience. Lessons for the next time?  Make sure to take a long nap during the day, have plenty of time to eat a decent dinner and do not forget to eat a bagel on the way out the door!  Oh and don't run on a new pair of shoes and insoles!

This was my 11th race in 2013!  I have two more races to go and I will have accomplished my goal of running 13 races in 2013!  I never imagined myself to have the will to stay on course to achieve this goal, but I have, and for that I am very happy!  Thank you all for cheering me on!

Next race, Let's Get Moving 10K.  This will be my first 10k race!

Our first time to visit Wide World of Sports

Inside the expo for packet pick up.  

Our hotel building at Pop Century Resort!