Totally Baldacious

In an effort to jump start my fundraising campaign for Team in Training, I will be participating in Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Totally Baldacious campaign.  With your help, when I reach my fundraising goal of $2,900, I will shave my head completely bald.

San Diego/Team in Training

In the middle of my Goofy Challenge weekend, I received a Facebook message from a coworker.  My company was in the process of putting together a corporate team with Team in Training for the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.  It sounded intriguing, but I wanted to find out more before I committed to anything.

This past Saturday was the kickoff meeting for the Team in Training season.  I have seen the purple shirts and heard the supportive shouts of "Go Team" in the Disney races that I've run in the past.  But other than that I really didn't know much about it.  And, I have to admit, the $2,900 minimum fund raising requirement was a little daunting.  After attending the kickoff, however, I couldn't be more excited.

Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge - Marathon

The best thing about being dead to the world by 6:00 pm on a Saturday is waking up at 2:15 am on marathon morning with a full night's sleep.  After the traffic mess on Saturday, we decided that it was important to wake up and get to the bus a little earlier.  I didn't want to miss the start.

Traffic wasn't nearly as bad on Sunday and we got to the staging area with a bit of time before I had to be in the corral.  I had a chance to meet up with the WDW Running team members and share some stories.  And then the time came to start making the long walk to the corrals.

I woke up with a bit of a headache, so I took a couple of Tylenols hoping that I might be able to shake it.  It was 5:30, the first wave of runners were off, and I still had my headache.  At this point, I was beginning to get a little nervous.  I was going to be running (mostly) for the next 5 plus hours and the last thing I needed was my head pounding every time a foot hit the ground.  I decided, headache or no headache, I had come too far to even consider not finishing.  So, around 6:00, my corral was released and I was off.  I could still feel the headache for the first quarter mile or so and then it was gone.  Maybe the headache was just nerves.  But I think it was gone as the result of a little pre-race prayer.

Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge - Half Marathon

I arrived at MCO at about 11am on Thursday and after a decent wait in line, I was on my way to Port Orleans Riverside via Disney's Magical Express.  Disney's got it figured out... They have you waiting in line before you even reach Disney World property.  By the time you get on property, you're already conditioned to waiting in line.

I arrived at Port Orleans, checked in, waited for my parents who had driven from South Dakota to watch me run, and then it was off to the ESPN Wide World of Sports to pick up my race packet.  With my race packet in hand it was off to the expo to pick up some calf sleeves.  The expo was PACKED (which was going to be the theme for the weekend).  I tend to get a little claustrophobic in crowds.  So, I got my sleeves, an extra tube of Biofreeze, and bolted.

We had reservations that night at Liberty Tree Tavern, so we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  I have a tradition of getting my hair cut at the Harmony Barber Shop before a race, but we were running behind and it was closed by the time we got there.  Dinner was delicious and our waitress was great!  The food just kept coming and coming.  I was definitely carb loading!

After dinner, we hit Pirates of the Caribbean and then back over to the Hub for the Magic, Memories, and You.  I had seen this back in October, but my parents hadn't seen it yet, so it was a must.  We decided to beat the post-fireworks rush and watched the fireworks from the ferry on the way back to the TTC.

The Back Story

So... I decided to try my hand at blogging.

I'm new to it, so bear with me while I learn the ropes.  Hopefully someone will find what I have to say interesting.

I recently completed my first Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World's Marathon Weekend.  The Goofy Challenge consists of running a half marathon Saturday morning, followed by a full marathon Sunday morning.

I began running three years ago, after making the decision to run in the Disney World Half Marathon a year later.  When I started running, I couldn't run a mile without nearly doubling over and gasping for breath.  Less than a year later,  on a chilly January 10, 2010, I finished the Disney World Half Marathon in the snow and sleet.  The next day, I saw all of the people with their Mickey and Goofy medals, and I have to admit, I felt a little embarrassed to be wearing my Donald medal.  Not that I wasn't proud of my accomplishment.  I had just done something that up until a year prior, I thought I could never do.  Up to that point, it was one of the most difficult things I had ever done.  But... these people did more than I had done and that's when my pride kicked in.  I began thinking to myself, "if they can do it, I can do it."  So, I made the commitment to run the Disney World Marathon the following year.