Hi Folks!
As I mentioned in my last post, I have been invited to participate in Cigna’s Blogger and Social Media Meet-up (super excited!) and as part of that they have passed along a bunch of inspirational stories and infographics that I can share.
So I will do a series of posts using this info to pass along some of this cool info to you folks. I see others involved in the meet-up are already starting to share this info as well – to find those posts look for #cignaruntogether on Twitter and other social media! Very cool stuff!
As I was looking at the info packet Cigna sent along I saw one infographic that spoke to me right off the bat and I am going to do a quick write up on this one and tie it into my own experiences and thoughts as well as into the Walt Disney World Marathon course.
(please ignore that their runner seemed to jump from 5 miles to 13.1 and back to 10…)
Mile 1 – Set your own pace and save energy! Makes sense to me – at the start of the full marathon their is so much energy in the air you are going to want to fly out of the corrals but try to pull back on that instinct and save that energy later in the course. Things can be crowded in the first few miles as well so you don’t want to cause an accident either.
Mile 5 – Pace yourself. Listen to music and enjoy your surroundings. On the Walt Disney World Marathon course this puts you right before the entrance to Magic Kingdom – enjoy that run down Main Street toward the castle, it is hard to express how amazing that section of the course is! Also, take advantage of the park bathrooms if you need to and skip the scenic porta-potties.
Mile 10 – Self-doubt may start creeping in. Focus on yourself, not on the other runners. I like to say “run your own race” and it is especially true at a runDisney race. You can have fast runners doing character stops, getting passed by slower runners and then catching back up and blasting past again – you have thousands of runners out there doing their own thing, don’t waste mental energy on what they are doing. This is not always the most exciting mile of the Disney World Marathon but Animal Kingdom is coming soon and runDisney does try to have character spots and entertainment along the way to keep you going.
Mile 13.1 – Break the race into chunks and focus on the next mile marker. You are in Animal Kingdom now which is very cool to run through – amazing scenery. After you come out of this park though you have some road miles ahead of you that aren’t really exciting but keep your mind distracted looking for some interesting things – like the runners’ graveyard staffed by Haunted Mansion cast members and the McDonalds…
Mile 18 – wall may be nearing. Think positive; it will give you more energy. At this point you are entering the ESPN sports complex and some runners have expressed frustration and this part of the course – but I like to enjoy it in pieces. For example running on the 1/4 mile track, it is fun to enjoy the bounce of the track after lots of pavement, also the run through the baseball diamond is very cool. Plus enjoy the shade where you can get it in this area – it is one of the few places on course where you can get some shade from the Florida sun.
Mile 23 – Exhaustion is setting in. Visualize crossing the finish line. You are now entering the Hollywood Studios park and from here on out there is always some kind of scenery or cool area to keep you positive. The 2 miles after you leave ESPN and before you get to Hollywood Studios are the hardest to push through in my opinion – there isn’t a lot there to keep you going but once you get through that you get a string of visual treats right up to the finish line. You get Hollywood Studios, the beautiful walking path towards Disney’s Boardwalk Resort area, fantastic views around the lake seeing the Dolphin, Swan, Yacht and Beach Club resorts before entering Epcot and getting see all of World Showcase except Canada. Then you have your final stretch toward Spaceship Earth, the run by the choir at mile 26 and then the crowds cheering you down the final 0.2 miles. Miles 21 through 23 are where I start concentrating on my Pieces of Magic items that I bring along to remind me of my family and to keep me motivated.
Mile 26.2 – Celebrate! You will be tired, you may just want to crash out and go to bed, but make sure to take some time to wander around with your medal at Disney World. You will get congratulations from other runners, from all the Disney Cast Members – it feels good, as it should – you just finished a marathon! Also make sure to move around to keep the legs loose and work some of the lactic acid out – if you can do some walking around you will feel better the next day as opposed to just sitting around getting stiff.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you do to keep moving through the miles!
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