Dopey Challenge--The forgotten 10K

Crazy eyes at the finish line

The 10K finish chute

I should have taken notes on the 10k! It's a blur. The course for the 10K is pretty similar to the course of the 5K--we started in the same place, and then we ran out onto a road before running back into Epcot. They also added on a run around the Boardwalk hotels. For me, that was cool; I've been to Epcot a number of times, and I had no idea that whole resort area was back there. Here's the map:


I really enjoyed running with someone on the 5K day, but I also came away from the 5K day knowing that I hadn't run my own pace or race. And that worried me. I went in to 10k race morning knowing I needed to save my legs for the 1/2 and full. And I went into 10k race morning resolved to run my own race and to run it slowly. To that end, I also made the decision to not seek out a lot of conversation in the morning corrals with other runners. Frankly, I was worried that if I didn't resolve to hang by myself, I'd end up back in someone else's race plan again.

I managed to feel warmer on 10K morning. Best piece of running gear that morning: A large lawn waste trash bag. I remember discovering when I got to the race start that I had accidentally grabbed two trash bags that morning. And I knew that I had only packed enough for the four races, so the 10k morning's bit of gear nonsense was me deciding to carry a folded up trash bag through the whole run so that I would have enough to use one for the half and the full. (This reminded me of the time that I ran a 10k in Louisville while carrying a race shirt rolled up in each of the pockets of the jacket I had tied around my waist because we arrived late to the race start. I had to decide to ditch the shirts or run six miles carrying them. I carried them.)

The only other thing I remember now about 10k morning was that I was okay thinking I just needed to get it over with. My mind was on the longer runs, and I knew this was one step on the way to those longer runs. I didn't stop to take pictures until the finish. Medal from the 10K is cool, though!

Minnie hosts the 10k, so this is the Minnie medal. 

Oh, and that trash bag I carried with me in my pocket for 6.2 miles? I lost it somewhere between the finisher chute and the bus back to the hotel. Had to come up with plan C (or D...I don't know which plan I was up to at that point!)