Monday, January 7, 2013

Racing a bus

This upcoming weekend is the Disney Half Marathon. The plan was that this was going to be my 16yo daughter's first half marathon and I was going to run it too. The plan called for some training. She did the training. I thought about it, at best.

So here we are the week of the race. She is ready. I am not. She is hopeful for sub2:00. My goal is to not get picked up by the bus. The bus?

Let me explain. Disney requires a 16:00/mile pace or they sweep you off the course. Supposedly there are a few points along the route where if you don't make it in time, they have a bus to drive you to the finish. If you get in the bus, you don't get a medal. Bragging rights were conceded to my daughter some time ago.

I have been walking a bit but my training has only started. I walk at a little less than 18:00/mile. I need to run some and I need to run a scam to position myself properly at the start.since the bus clock starts when the last racer crosses the start line. With 20.000 racers, I could probably get me 15 minutes of slack that way.

The other issue is that 13.1 miles can be a long way if the longest you've covered in a while has been about 7 miles. At a slow walk. To add insult to this perfect storm it is supposed to get hot in Florida (surprise) That only will impact people who are out on the course a long time (like me). I can only hope that I get on a roll and see what happens. If I'm in danger of hurting myself, I'll divert and start riding Splash Mountain early. My family expects to hit the parks after the race for the rest of the day.

I'll be happy with finishing last. Next time I'll train. Or monorail. Want to avoid that bus though.


7 comments:

Kate Geisen said...

Good luck! And good luck to your daughter!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

You are a brave one, good luck, have fun, maybe slash all the tires on the bus before the race, that will give you another 45 mins or so

Al's CL Reviews said...

Good luck!
Good luck to your Daughter!

I agree, slash the tires!

Carolina John said...

Good luck down there! it's supposed to be 70* here in NC this weekend. You won't finish last. Just beat the bus. run when you can but don't screw up anything for Ironman training. Good luck to the daughter, sub-2 is quite a trick for the young ones to pull off!

TriMOEngr said...

The bus is better than the ambulance. Best wishes for a speedier walk or at least some light jogging against the impending bus ride. Hope your daughter blows her goal out of the water. Would be so awesome for her!

Unknown said...

The crowd always seems to perk one up a bit. I am sure you will be fine. Besides, that Disney medal is cool... you gotta get it. I would love to do a Disney race someday.

Patrick Mahoney said...

If the Disney bus is anything like the SAG wagon I saw parked before the start of a Tour of California stage, it's not the worst place you could find yourself - it was stocked with all sorts of wonderful food and drink.

That said, I hope you get it done, because you can always pig out at Epcot Center later.