Disney Marathon - Biofreeze is My Friend

Well, I’m pleased to report that all the hours of cross-training were an acceptable substitute to finish the Disney Marathon Sunday.  My hip held through mile 13 and Biofreeze numbed it through the second half for a 5:28 finish.  Although this was my third marathon, I felt an even deeper sense of accomplishment as I crossed the finish because of the hurdles I had to overcome to get there.

As a result of an IT band injury in September, I was unable to run for 2.5 months during which time I learned to appreciate spinning and hate the elliptical.  In the final four weeks leading up to the marathon, I was able to start running again, but my longest run was 11 miles on a treadmill. 

Although I kept telling myself that the cross-training would be enough to beat the Disney sweepers, I couldn’t help but feel a little concerned about causing more damage to my hip.   I had a terrible case of the “what ifs . . ." What if the pain is really a stress fracture and my hip crumbles?  Calling to mind the collective wisdom and inspiration of my pals on the Exercise and Fitness board helped me to silence the mental demons.

Disney Pals

I truly enjoyed meeting Rob and his wife for dinner Thursday. On the boards, Rob is a role model because he’s more than five years out from surgery and hasn’t lost the passion for fitness.  He’s proof that this addiction can be sustained.  Just take a look at his 2008 race calendar on his profile for a little inspiration.  Congratulations Rob for joining the ranks of marathon finishers!  I missed Chris and Scott, but am still in awe of their Goofy exploits. Congratulations to you both for such an amazing “feet."

The Tale of Two Halves

I felt like I was in a meditative state for the first half of the marathon as the miles flew by.  I was amazed to see a time of 2:23 at the halfway point.   Then the hip started to sing the blues.   The second half took me over 3 hours as I alternated walking, running, stretching and stopping for Biofreeze.  The silver lining of this run/walk strategy was having the opportunity to run a short distance with Jeff Galloway before it was time for me to walk and stretch again.

After crossing the finish line with tears of joy in my eyes, I claimed my Mickey medal, grabbed a couple of bags of ice to apply to my hip, downed some water and headed for the massage tent.  I don’t know if it was the ice, the 20-minute massage, the dip in the pool, the compression tights I wore to bed or some combination of the post-race strategies, but I awoke the next morning with no residual muscle soreness.