Goofy Challenge (Day 1)

After a restless night, the alarm went off at 2:45am.  I took a shower (I always take showers before races) and got myself dressed, ate a little and was out the door by 3:45am.

The bus ride over to Epcot was quiet and I tried to rest some as we drove.  Checked my bag and it was probably a little after 4:30 when we started to make our way to the corrals.  It is maybe a little under a mile to the start and we didn't make it to our corrals until after the race had started - that is how slow we moved.  I was able to make a pit-stop prior to getting to my corral so I was feeling okay by then.  I was hungry however and I had not brought anything with me.  But I knew it was only ~2hrs so I'd be fine.

I was in Corral D and we started about 5:56am.  I crossed the start line just around 5:59 and was on my way.  The first mile flew by as it generally does.  We were all moving pretty slow as it's always congested to start.  I took pictures at every mile marker so that slowed me down some but maintained about ~11min/mile most of the way. 

 I wanted to continue an even pace until we left Magic Kingdom and then I would start walking to make sure to not overdo it.

Mile 4 came...

...and MK was coming into view. After mile 5 we made our way into Magic Kingdom.  I tried to get a good shot of the castle as it was lit up but the IPod camera isn't great for dark shots.  Did manage to get a somewhat good shot however. 

  
After heading out of the castle, we came up on miles 6 - 8 and by this point I was starting to do more walking so my feet wouldn't hurt.  We started to head into Epcot again after mile 11.  Made it in and saw Spaceship Earth which is one of the best things to see in the race as it means the end is near. 

Before mile 13, as you make your way out towards the parking lot, you get to hear the choir.  I don't know how they kept up singing during the entire race!

 

Finished under my goal time of 2:30!

Official stats - 

Overall: 8288/23126

Gender: 3471/13128

5k: 34:35

10k: 1:10:51

15k: 1:46:38

Finish: 2:28:18

It was still early in the day so we went back to the hotel and I showered, got breakfast and went out to Magic Kingdom.  Got the obligatory shot in front the castle: 

We rode Space Mountain and other rides where I could just sit.  But my head started to hurt and so we just went back to the hotel where I took some medicine and tried to nap.  Grabbed dinner around 6 and went back and I was in bed again by 8pm.  I was able to get to sleep a little easier since I was just tired but again - very nervous.  I knew the big one was coming up...