Am I Crazy?

Written Thursday, January 05, 2006 12:31 PM

Am I crazy…..26.2 miles…………why didn’t any of you stop me before now. This is madness, but there is no turning back now. The Disney Marathon is scheduled for this Sunday January 8th in Orlando Florida. I’ve packed my shoes, my Gu, my funny looking socks with the toe separators, my ice packs, the 800 mil Ibuprofen I’ve become a slave to and my water belt. I think that’s about it.

Many of you have asked about details of the race, the course is as follows:
For the first 3.4 miles of the course it will wind through and around Epcot before merging on the way to Magic Kingdom Park. I will pass through Tomorrow Land and Cinderella’s Castle before leaving the Magic Kingdom. I will than enter Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and run past Expedition Everlast. Following Animal Kingdom I will continue towards Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and than enter the lights, camera, action at Disney MGM-Studios. (Please no pictures, this is not gonna be pretty) I will than run through (I’ll probably be walking by this point) Washington Square Garden and exit the park at the end of Hollywood Blvd. FINALLY, I will run/ walk the final stretch of Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club to finish back at Epcot where I will crawl across the finish line.

Mom, Dad, Leni…..don’t worry there are over 22 beverage stations, 4 nutrition stops, and First Aide stations every 2 miles along the course.

Guys, up until now this has been a journey in its own right. (Thanks Aimee Jo) Many of you know 2005 was a tough year for me, on many levels, but something about incorporating this training program into my life has really given me new perspectives….not to mention lots of time to think cause I’m always in the back of pack by myself. With the most recent hurdle of the loss of Brooklyn I now have someone to talk to when I’m by myself on the course. During my training someone asked me if I religious person…I shrugged my shoulders and said “more spiritual than anything”, she said when she was on those long trails of Osceola Parkway by herself it was the thought of others that helped her keep going…now I get it! I have Brooklyn.

Okay so the million dollar question has been “how can I track you”?
The race begins at 6:00am. Family and Friends will be able to track all participants with live on-line results available at www.disneywolrdmarathon.com. Scroll down to event listing and click on the first one, 2006 Walt Disney World Marathon. On the right-hand side of that page you will see bullets, scroll down to the bottom one and click on live results. Under the first paragraph click on “track a runner today”. (Can you believe I am referred to as a runner…what is this world coming to?) In the yellow boxes enter my last name and first (just in case…Esposito, Maureen) Click on my name. Than just fill out the form below, you can review email updates or text messaging updates, it’s up to you.

The other question is will I have my phone. Of course I will…this way I can dial 9-1-1 if I start to have heart palpations. No seriously, I will have my phone. I obviously will not be able to answer it or reply to text messages, but I will be able to read them when I’m walking – cause you know I will be walking!

The last of the questions….”how much weight have you lost”? To be honest guys I don’t know. (I don’t even own a scale) But I feel good and I’ve dropped a few sizes. As Leni (affectionately) referrers to it as…”my fat clothes” that no longer fit me she is eagerly awaiting me to clean out my closet and donate the clothes to charity.

Well I think that about covers it. Thank you everyone for the praise and support. (Johnny you’ve been my #1 fan since day one) I know I will forget to send this to someone so please forward it along…I will need all the prayers I can get.