Philly2Goofy – An origin story…

January 8, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

I’m heading down to run the 2015 Walt Disney World marathon. This will be my 4th Walt Disney World Marathon weekend.

For the last 3 years I have run for Team Up with Autism Speaks. I had signed up on my own in April 2012 for the 2013 Goofy Challenge and was looking to perhaps run for a charitable cause when my niece was diagnosed on the autism spectrum. I decided then to sign up and run for an autism charity and put my miles to good use. Over the last three years I have raised over $11,000 for this cause and hope that in some way all this running has changed or helped other people in ways that running has changed my life for the better. Although I cannot be with my family in the UK as an extra pair of hands I hope that the work I have done to raise funds has benefited other family such as mine.

I have had the great pleasure of running with my wife in her first marathon (Disney 2013) and look forward to her joining me running her first Goofy Challenge this weekend as a Team Up team member. Notice that I said her first!!! Along the way I have made many friends in the running and runDisney community (a big shout out to all my fellow Mickey Milers) and I also started this blog to document these races (although it includes more than just Disney races now).

January 11, 2013 - relaxing before the night before the Goofy Challenge

January 11, 2013 – the night before my 1st Goofy Challenge

So as I head down for another year I will proudly wear my ‘Team Sadie’ shirt and hope to have 39.3 miles of fun with a few thousand of my fellow Goofy (and Dopey) friends. I’ll look forward to writing my 2015 race reports after this weekend but for now I will look back and share the first race recap(s) from the 2013 Goofy Challenge.

Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

You can also still make a donation at the following this link.

Thank you and I’ll be in look forward to sharing our weekend with you soon.

Not why, but ‘how’ I run

May 21, 2014ianesenior 3 Comments

Over the last three plus years since I began running many people have asked me why I run. We all have our reasons how we began and why we continue to do so and I am only to happy to share my story with them. But very often people ask me questions like:

Don’t your knees hurt running all the time?
I don’t know how you have the energy to do it?
How can you run that long and not be bored?

These are generally accompanied by statements like:

I’m not in shape, I could never do that!
I have (insert problem) so I wouldn’t be able do what you do!
I wouldn’t last even a mile running!
I would get bored after ‘X’ miles/minutes!

Here I am going to share the ‘HOW’ and see if these questions and comments can be answered. Here goes…

1. Set attainable goals

I never thought that when I started the Couch to 5K program that I would ever be a marathon runner? I didn’t. But I set myself a goal. Finish the 5K program. This program took me from being a non-runner to being able to complete a 5K (3.1 miles) in 9 weeks. It was hard. I had shin splints, I had a hard time with stairs for a while. I had to repeat week 5 at least twice. I struggled. But you know what? I finished. I was amazed I went from nothing to running a 5K. I had started a new habit of running 2-3 times a week and built on my progress from there. Now I run 5 days a week.

2. Get fitted for shoes at a proper running store

Once I had run up to 3.1 miles it was time to get some real runner’s equipment. Shoes. I went to a local running store where I had my running gait analyzed by an experienced runner. Don’t concern yourself with looks and colors. Take their advice. Be prepared to spend a bit…but not too much…to get a good fitting shoe that will serve your needs.

3. Find a race

As I completed my Couch to 5K program I started to look at what I wanted to do next. I set my sights on completing a local 5 mile race that the local running club holds every Thanksgiving. It wasn’t easy, I didn’t manage to run the whole way but I completed the race with a decent pace (for me at that time). At that point that was the longest distance I had ever run. I then targeted what was is one of the major running events near me, the Philadelphia Broad Street Run. As part of my training I started running more and more 5K races to get used to racing and also as a dress rehearsal for ‘big events’. I’ve built up my race experience with longer distances since then.

4. Celebrate the little successes

By Thanksgiving in 2010 I had finished my first race (the 5 miler) and had at that time lost around 20lbs. I headed for a family vacation in Florida and took all my new running gear with a goal of running 30 miles over the vacation. On my final day of vacation I ran 6 miles (my longest run to date at that time). I achieved that and made sure to reward myself. I hit up the Nike outlet for some goodies.

I’ve used this success and reward cycle to keep building myself up. These successes were running 3 times a week, running 4 times a week, running 8 miles, running 10 miles. I’ve always made sure to celebrate in some way however small. Now after every marathon I treat myself to a new pair of shoes (typically just a different color of the same model shoe) as this inspires me to get out there and keep training.

5. Take some chances

So having registered to run the 2011 Broad Street Run I continued to build on my mileage. As I had recently completed 10 miles in training my wife encouraged me to sign up for my first Half Marathon (the Bucks County Half Marathon). It was held in Tyler State Park where I now do most of my marathon training although it was new to me at that time. The week before the race I decided to take a trial run to see how I might do on the course. I printed of a map and started running. Unfortunately I had the map upside down but it taught me how hilly the park was!!! So with only a couple of weeks between signing up and running my first half marathon I felt great that I took that leap (or push) and took that chance. Now it gave me the confidence for Broad Street.

Every race distance I complete, every PR I earn now gives me the confidence to step up my game and toe the line for a new challenge.

6. Maintaining the motivation

Now what? I had completed a Half Marathon, I had run Broad Street, what was next on the plan? I hadn’t looked too far forward at this stage as I had still been running for less than a year. I set a new challenge. Break 2 hours for a Half Marathon. I set my sights on another local race, the 2011 Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. This meant that I couldn’t slack off during the summer as I was still a newbie and needed to build up again to a half marathon distance. This is what got me out of the door after Broad Street.

Today I look to plan my race calendar for at least the next 6-12 months in advance so that I can plan my training, have set goals and keep myself committed.

7. Listen to your body

Early in my running as I was continuing my training and increasing my distance running I started to become more and more uncomfortable with my right knee and ultimately I went to see a doctor. I did not want to stop running but I was waking up in the middle of the night with discomfort and it was getting painful on my daily 110 mile round trip commute.

I was referred to a physical therapist who had me run on the treadmill and she analysed my problem. I was an over-pronator. Although I had stability shoes I needed additional support and was recommended for some shoe inserts (over the counter were sufficient for me). I visited the physical therapist for a 6 week period twice a week and performed a series of exercises to build up the stability muscles around my knees, to learn how to stretch and to focus on my running form. I was also recommended as part of this to get re-fitted for shoes which I did. I have been in Brooks Adrenaline shoes ever since. (Over time as my body has got stronger I have moved away from the need for the inserts and now run with shoes straight out of the box).

By the end of the 6 week treatment I was stronger, my knees were aligned and I had a new focus on my running form that would go on to be a go to mental technique I now incorporate towards the end of races when I am getting tired. I was a fitter and renewed runner. I’ve learned to listen to the aches and pains when they occur and know when to rest and back off. I’ve also come more accustomed to the training. Where I once would have hurt or struggled for a couple of days after a long run I know how to self treat post run for better recovery. A lot of this is just experience and building up your own endurance.

I also started reading about running and training methods. Through my research I came across Jeff Galloway and his ‘Run-Walk-Run’ method. Learning about the method and applying it in training and racing has enabled me to achieve goals that at the beginning of my journey seemed out of touch. His methods have also allowed me to stay pretty much injury free as it changes up the muscles I am using through the intervals and also has allowed me to recover quicker.

8. Set bigger goals

After these little successes I set my sights on a bigger challenge, completing my first marathon. I signed up with the Runner’s World Challenge to run the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon which provided me with a training plan, supporting community and a daily e-mail providing encouragement (plus a cool shirt and a book on road racing).

Training for a marathon is a life changing experience. Never did I think that setting the alarm for 3am, strapping on a headlamp and a reflective vest would be something I would do but you get to a point where your habit becomes your lifestyle and something just ‘clicks’ and you do it because you want to do it. To date I have done 8 marathons (including a couple of multi-day distance events at Walt Disney World).

9. Preventative care

It’s not just putting in the miles that makes be a better runner, I have to look after my body as that is my tool to achieve my goals. I had already started dieting to lose weight prior to starting running but to run distance you have to fuel right. It isn’t about cutting out calories for the most part I probably eat more than I used to these days but it is eating the right foods at the right time in the right quantities. It’s about keeping the metabolism going.

I definitely eat more healthily than I used to. I seldom eat fried food or red meat anymore, anytime I do I definitely feel a difference. I seldom drink alcohol these days although I will partake in moderation. I guess that is the word, ‘moderation’. I still have a very sweet tooth. I look to satisfy my cravings with healthier alternatives but I also don’t beat myself up if I indulge from time to time. I journal all my food in the LoseIt app. I’ve been using that every day for almost 4 years now. It keeps me focused and in check.

I also get regular chiropractic adjustments. I go every 3 to 4 weeks to visit Dr Bagnell who has seen me go from being unfit and overweight to 50lbs light with my current fitness levels and he has commented on how different and beneficial it has been to my overall health. It is like a regular tune up for my body. A little realignment goes a long way. I’m pounding pavement for hour after hour, then I sit at a desk all day and drive a car for at least 2.5 hours a day. If I didn’t get myself in alignment regularly I would just be creating problems for myself and lead to long-term injury as I tried to over compensate for any discomfort. Training pushes your body to the limits, but if you can maintain your engine then your body will be kind to you and your recovery will be faster.

10. Have fun

You may have noticed from some of my previous posts that I like to have fun when I run. One of the best things that resulted from me running is that I get to run races with my wife. We are a good team. We both have somewhat different training schedules but we do run events together. I guess I am lucky that my wife is also a keen runner (we started within months of each other) and we get to share experiences together, visit new places and have a unique opportunity to sight see when we travel, for example running through all four Disney Parks at Walt Disney World, running along Niagara Falls and running across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Running across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Running also happened to allow me to be a big kid again. I think you may have been able to tell that I am a big Disney fan. Well running has allowed me some unique experiences (through runDisney) like running races in full costume It has also enabled me to raise over $8,000 (to date) for charity.

Running in EPCOT at the 2013 Disney Family 5K

Running through EPCOT at the 2014 inaugural Walt Disney World 10K

That’s how I got to be where I am and how I stay motivated. What do you do differently? Share your methods and motivations in the comments below.

Thank you for reading 🙂

January 2014 – month in review

January 31, 2014ianesenior 2 Comments

Janaury 2014 –
Nike+ Summary

Wow. What an incredible month. I cannot believe it is over so quickly. I’m actually sad to see it go as I had some of my best memories since I began running this month.

As you will probably know if you follow this blog or have read any of the recent race recap posts my big event this month was the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon weekend and namely the Inaugural Dopey Challenge. What an amazing time I had down in Orlando. Although my family was not able to make the trip with me I met up with so many wonderful old and new friends and fellow bloggers. I had the most incredible 5 days from the Expo to the Marathon. Even with the 4 days of early wake ups I was feeling great and even at the end I felt I could have gone on for another day. All the training I had put in paid off and I felt fresh a couple of days after the race.

You can read the recaps here (Expo, 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon). You can also check out the following episodes of the Mickey Miles Podcast (Episodes 138 and 139) where Kimberly Markey and I shared our experiences with Michelle and Mike.

Showing off the hardware

From the event I raised $3,805 (so far) for Autism Speaks. I hope they will have me back next year as I aim to take my three year fundraising total to $10,000 (2013 through 2015).

I also signed up for a running team, the ‘Mickey Milers‘, set up by Michelle and Mike of the Mickey Miles Podcast with a goal of raising funds for the ‘Give Kids The World Village‘ in Orlando, Florida. Please take a look and consider joining whether you are a runDisney fan or not. Thanks.

So what is next for me? Well, I’m back in training for the New Jersey Marathon coming up at the end of April. I ran this last year and had a bit of a disappointment as I missed my goal. This is a revisit of sorts but also they hope to have the course back to the pre-Hurricane Sandy route. I look forward to that. I also have the Philadelphia Love Run Half Marathon at the end of March and the Hot Chocolate 15K in early April so a lot to look forward to. I am considering another couple of local races, the Bucks County Half Marathon in April (which I ran in 2011 and 2012) and Chasing the Unicorn Marathon in August, but I have yet to make the decision (giving my Visa card a rest for a few weeks).

Also looking ahead I plan to become more involved where I can with the local chapter of the Achilles Foundation. I hope to be able to run as a guide for some upcoming events. I met with the chapter in Philadelphia just before New Year and I will be taking my first training run as a guide this weekend. I will keep you posted on that as I am very much looking forward to sharing the run experience with some new running friends.

It’s been a busy month and a great way to start the year. Now the only thing to deal with is the weather. I have taken most of my runs indoors over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully it will not be an extreme winter but whatever happens we know that Spring is just around the corner.

Looking forward to February. Thank you for reading.

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 5 – Full Marathon – January 12, 2014

January 26, 2014ianesenior 20 Comments

Today was the main event, the Walt Disney World Marathon. This was the last event of the Dopey Challenge and the culmination of 24 weeks of training. Did I mention that it was the last early wake up of the event too (score!!!) I guess with the excitement and adrenaline due to this being the big event I didn’t feel really tired despite all the previous days of running and park time. Also, with the thunderstorm the night before it cooled the temperatures quite a bit which would be great (as compared to the 2013 Marathon) So again today I dressed in my Team Up gear and coordinated my Pro Compression socks to match Dopey (you can see it was pretty close later in the recap) and headed out for another early arrival at EPCOT for the start of the race.

Cooler than yesterday and still dropping before the start

It was cool with a slight breeze as I walked towards the bag check area. After last year of bringing down throw away gear I got smarter thanks to a very helpful tip. I tend to keep those mylar blankets they give out after marathons and they are small and light enough to pack with no problem. I wore my blanket from essentially the time I got out of the car until the start of the race. It was easy to pack up in my gear back and doubled as something to sit on later in the corrals while we waited.

Excited for the race and wearing my Dopey colored socks

I didn’t see many familiar faces in the starting area this time around although I did bump into a new Facebook friend (Jennifer) who spotted me as I arrived. She was running her first marathon as part of the Goofy Challenge. I headed through the bag check very early as like the day before I wanted to get over to the corral and sit for as long as I could to rest up before the 26.2 miles which lay ahead. I will admit that this was probably the most calm I have ever felt during a marathon. This would be my 7th marathon so I knew I could do this but I think due to the continuous high from the weekend I was just relaxed. Anyone who knows me well (read ‘my wife’) will tell you I am always a little uptight before a big race. Today was just, in my head anyway, a long run and I was going to treat it that way and have fun. Time didn’t really matter to me much. It was day 4 of the Dopey Challenge and I was there to have fun and make it to the finish line.

Keeping warm before the race

As we all started the long walk to the corrals (via ‘Backstage Lane’) I started chatting to a few folks, some doing the Dopey, some Goofy and some running their first marathon. With words of encouragement being shared among us it really felt more of a communal long run than a big city race. People running a Disney race bring with them an expectation of fun and camaraderie that I have not experienced in many of my other races. Sure you say ‘hi’ to people but people just seem more open to chat about the events. It could be the nature of these multi-race events which is unique and everyone is checking to see how other people are doing and sharing thoughts. Just my opinion really.

As we approached the split between corrals A to H and I to P one of the people I was talking to suddenly said, “Hey, you’re Ian from ‘Philly2Goofy’. I thought you looked familiar”. I was totally taken by surprise, especially being as dark and so early in the morning. They said they had followed the blog and actually printed out the training plan I was following and stuck it up on their wall. I was flattered (although all the credit must go to Hal Higdon and Jeff Galloway as I wouldn’t be here doing this without them). That totally lifted my spirits higher and I cheerfully headed to the corrals. I didn’t see Mark or Rob who I knew were supposed to be in my corral so I took a seat and waited while watching the pre-show. Various folks were brought up and interviewed including Dave McGillivray, race director of the Boston Marathon and Jeff Galloway. Both were running Dopey along with me and the other 6,999 folks.

Waiting in corral F

During the pre-show one of the race announcers (or interviewers I forget which) ask who was ‘just doing the Marathon’. Let me say now for all readers and runners…THERE IS NO JUST…anyone out there running a Full Marathon is a champion and just because there are other challenges out there that runDisney has made popular should not in any way diminish the awesome experience and success of a person training, running and finishing a Marathon. I guess it is only at a Disney event when someone says of themselves I’m “just doing a Half or a Full” or even “I’m just doing Goofy”. Everyone is a runner and a champion for just toeing the line. There, I said it!!! I’m of my soapbox now. 🙂 Soon we would hear the ‘National Anthem’ and we knew we were ready for the start. Mickey (and even Dopey earlier before the race) was there to count us down and with fireworks shooting off we were starting. Yes, I got my fireworks today 🙂 All was good in the world. And then we were off.

The countdown was given by the ‘Mouse’ of the hour

I got my fireworks!!!

Like yesterday, Bart Yasso was waiting on the left of the start line cheering everyone along on their way. I said a quick ‘Hi Bart’ and settled in for the first mile. Now at this point I want to do a little number crunching. At this point we had finished 3 of the 4 races that make up the Dopey Challenge which might sound like were 75% of the way there but in reality when you looked at the actual distance we had at this point run a 5K, a 10K and a Half Marathon which totaled 22.4 miles. As the Dopey Challenge would actually end up being 48.6 miles that mean we wouldn’t actually reach 50% or half way through the total mileage until we hit mile 1.9 in the Full Marathon. A little warped but, hey, we’re Dopey aren’t we 🙂

What we had ahead of us

My strategy of stopping for photos early the day before worked well so I could maintain a steady pace going towards the Magic Kingdom where I knew I would be spending lots of time today. It wasn’t long before I saw that we were approaching the start of the way towards the Magic Kingdom and the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Nearing the park.
Through the turnstiles to the Ticket and Transportation Center

It was encouraging again to see so many folks out cheering the runners as we approached the Ticket and Transportation Center and as we moved onwards towards the side of the Contemporary Resort we got our first view of the day of the Magic Kingdom. You will know from my recap from the Half Marathon yesterday how much I enjoy running into the Magic Kingdom and up Main Street USA. It is always magical. Today was as magical but also special. As soon as I ran onto Main Street I bumped into Joe Taricani, the host of ‘The Marathon Show‘ podcast. Joe runs holding an ‘On Air’ sign and speaks to runners as they experience their journeys. Today I got to run up Main Street with Joe and even made it onto the podcast. Another great experience and one that adds to the memories of this weekend. Check out Episode 228 to hear the recap of the day. In all of this I still managed to get my Main Street USA photo to make the day complete.

Main Street USA during the 2014 Marathon

I had a specific goal for the Marathon this year in terms of photos in the Magic Kingdom. For the last two years I never got a shot of Mickey at the Castle. This year no matter the lines I was going to do it.

Am I late?

The one and only Tigger

With Royal Minnie and Mickey outside Cinderella’s Castle

Every race or trip or famous landmark that I go to with my wife she always takes a ‘jump shot’. I have albums from vacations where my wife is doing a jump shot on almost every page of the book. It has become her trademark and although I do participate in the fun from time to time I never do so during a race, especially a marathon. Well, I was having so much fun over the course of the last few days I threw caution to the wind and just went for it. I was at mile 6 of the Marathon (mile 28 of the Challenge) and while normally I would be anxious about my knees I was feeling good so it seemed a given that as my wife wasn’t here I needed to ‘represent’ 🙂

Running through the Castle

I do look like I’m having fun

I did notice as I ran through Fantasyland and the New Fantasyland that there were less characters out this year. Last year it was all Princesses outside New Fantasyland but this year there were none. I ran through Frontierland but didn’t stop for photos this time but headed backstage to exit the park. I finally found a Princess and stopped for a quick photo.

With Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (that's Eugene Fitzherbery for those that know) :-)

With Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (that’s Eugene Fitzherbert for those that know) 🙂

Coming out of the Magic Kingdom we are around mile 6.5 and begin our little trip up Cone Alley past the Grand Floridian towards the Speedway at mile 8. Again, no Mary Poppins today. She was hanging out with the Penguins in Race Retreat. There were a couple of character stops along the way. I even stopped for the Villains this year which was a first for me.

Hanging with Goofy on the golf course

With Maleficent, Scar and Dr Facilier

We hit the Speedway just after mile 8. I remember last year the sun was up at this time and the heat was already up high. This year was much cooler but there were some wet patches under foot which wasn’t great around Cone Alley as you sometimes run along some grassy areas trying to get around other runners. As we approached the Speedway I noted there were no characters outside like there were last year. Again, less characters throughout the course this year. When entering the Speedway there is a really narrow and steep downslope and upslope onto the circuit. As it was still wet underfoot the runners ahead had slowed down and there was a slight bottleneck at this point but once out on the track it opens up. The trick is to stay on the inner circuit of the track as it is flat with no banking. As was the case last year there were car clubs represented as you ran around the circuit. Different from last year was that there were no ‘Cars’ characters out on the track. This was fine with me as it allowed me to just keep running. I had spent a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom and although I wasn’t going for a time goal at all it was nice to just get a nice rhythm going.

Keeping within the speed limit

As we excited the Speedway there was a quick trek over a grass median and we were off towards the Animal Kingdom. This is the part of the race that takes us past the Water Treatment Center. Well, the good news with the cooler temperatures and the slight breeze, there was no smell when I ran past this year. BONUS!!! I’m usually taking an energy gel around mile 10 so glad I didn’t have to deal with any added ‘extras’.

Together with Captain Hook and Mr Smee

As I approached the Animal Kingdom I heard my name being called. It was Mark my fellow Team Up teammate. I hadn’t seen him earlier in the day while waiting in the corrals so I actually headed back to catch up with him to check in. He was nursing a leg injury which he had coming into the Goofy Challenge but he looked strong and I know that he did finish as I saw his results later on. After saying good luck I headed into the Animal Kingdom just around mile 12.

Wishing upon a star with Jiminy Cricket

As we entered the park we ran past a variety of animals with their handlers. I found out later that the animals were all wearing special Marathon bibs with their names on. Cute. At the time that I arrived in the Animal Kingdom the ‘Expedition Everest’ ride was not yet open for the day. Some of my fellow runners behind me took the opportunity to stop and ride ‘Everest’ on their way through the park. It’s a Disney race, when else would you stop mid marathon to ride a coaster? Awesome.

Stopping to meet King Louie

We were very close to the halfway point at this stage of the race and we cleared the Half Marathon timing mat just after the water stop leaving the park. This was also the location of the Autism Speaks cheering section today so I made sure to say a big thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting the team.

Cheering on my cheering section

I hit the half way timing mat at a time of 2:27:55, this was 15 minutes quicker than I had actually run the Half Marathon the day previously including all the photo stops. It was a complete adrenaline rush. I don’t know where this energy was coming from especially 4 days and 35 miles in at this point but I felt really good.

For the last two years I have avoided a photo stop with the Gravediggers from the Haunted Mansion. Each year I have seen runners lay down and have their picture taken with them. Every year I have looked at these people and thought they were absolutely crazy. How could you get up off the ground having run 14 miles already. This year I was feeling good and became one of those crazy people…it was fun. Luckily the cast member helping out was a pretty strong guy. I guess he had to be for this particular stop. He pulled me up with zeal and I was grateful I didn’t have to try on my own to get up 😉

Just kidding

The next stop on our journey would be the ESPN Wide World of Sports it is a long stretch (well 4 miles) from the Animal Kingdom to ESPN and there isn’t much to see around here. It is pretty wide open at this point and runners spread out. It’s nice to have some space after running in some tight lanes through the parks. During these part of the race Scott who I had met at the 5K spotted me and we ran together for a couple of minutes. We are both Galloway runners and we were running different intervals so we said our goodbyes when the timers went off. Scott looked like he was doing fine. Glad to know that everyone I had met up with over the weekend seemed to be doing fine. The weather today was definitely a positive factor for everyone today.

The ESPN Wide World of Sports is the one part of the course that I just find takes too long. I know it sounds silly as it’s only 3 miles but with all the twists and turns we take, maybe it’s just psychological, but when you think you are close to leaving you hit another turn and it is not the way out. At least this year was cooler (I’ve said that before a few times). As I entered the ESPN Wide World of Sports I made sure to grab a wet towel that they were handing out. Last year I missed it and regretted it. This year the towels were ‘ice’ cold. I squeezed the towel over myself and immediately regretted it. There was still a slight breeze and I started to get the chills. Eek! I knew I would warm up but for the next mile I was shaking my shirt to try to dry it out a bit and warm up. Oh well, live and learn.

One of the cool things about running around this part of the course is that you get to see all the athletes getting on with their day of training and games. We ran past a soccer game in progress and there were many spectators on the course at this point. The ESPN Wide World of Sports also includes a lap around the outfield of Champions Stadium (spring training home to the Atlanta Braves).

Here I am going to share my biggest tip from running through the Wide World of Sports. As soon as you leave the stadium if you suspect at all that you have any gravel in your shoes stop and empty your shoes. You still have over 6 miles to go and you don’t need anything that will annoy you or irritate you. I’m talking from experience. This year I stopped and took out plenty of gravel. Phew.

Taking a lap around the running track at the ESPN Wide World of Sports

Running the outfield of Champions Stadium

Leaving the ESPN Wide World of Sports is just before mile 20. You’re beginning the home stretch. Mile 20 is usually where I slow down a bit but I was feeling fine so I knew now that I was going to make it. There is a 2 mile stretch back up towards Disney’s Hollywood Studios and there is not too much to see. They had the big screen out playing movies as they had during the 10K on Friday and all along the route back up (a very slight incline) they have motivational signs along the course. I had to stop for this one:

Walt said it best

At the end of this 2 mile stretch there is the final ‘big hill’ of the course, the overpass to Hollywood Studios. Each year I have run this event they have had a toy soldier from Toy Story yelling out to runners to get up the hill. Again, this is one of those places that in previous years I have seen runners doing push ups with the drill sergeant (the crazy folks I liked to call them). Well, welcome me to the crazy club. I was feeling good and had the energy and I got down and did my requisite push ups to earn my photo opportunity.

Not kidding

At this point I know I’m 4 miles to the finish. I was getting very excited at this point. I knew the rest of the course from prior years and I knew I felt better than I had the last two years that I had run so I just went for it. I picked up the pace a little. We entered Hollywood Studios just behind Tower of Terror and rounded the corner to head through the tunnel alongside the costume department. Then you have the amazing view when you run up the Streets of New York and head towards the front of the park past the Sorcerer’s Hat. Other than Wreck-It Ralph as we entered the Studios there were no other character opportunities here. Last year there were three. A little disappointing but at this point in the race with only 5K to go you just want to keep going.

The parks were now open and guests as well as supporters were now cheering us on. I have heard many stories of guests being inspired by the runners to look into running a runDisney event in the future. I hope that we inspired one or two (or more) today. After the Studios we head along the Boardwalk through the International Gateway and head towards World Showcase.

Just outside of the entrance back into the United Kingdom Pavillion there was the main guy himself. Dopey. I stopped to say a quick hello and get my picture. Best photo of the week for me (can you say ‘Profile Picture’?)

The shot of the week for me

When you hit the United Kingdom you are reaching mile 25. You are almost there. Essentially, barring a major disaster you can run, walk or crawl your way home. No one will take you off the course once you make it to here. 🙂 As I ran through the Magic Kingdom I heard my name being called out. I wasn’t sure from where but I later found out that it was Jill (one of my Facebook friends) who sent me a note later to confirm I wasn’t just imagining this.

I ran through World Showcase stopping for a photo with a couple of French-speaking ladies in the France Pavillion and then headed towards future world and the finish line.

Princess Aurora and Belle

Running through World Showcase

Almost there

Completing the Dopey Challenge

I did it!!!

I cannot tell you much about that last mile other than it being a blur of complete and utter happiness. I was doing it, completing the Dopey Challenge. Feeling great and realizing 9 months of fundraising and 6 months of training. In the process I recorded over 700 miles of training and raised over $3,800 for Autism Speaks.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I even ran the second half of the Marathon in around 2:12:30, 10 minutes faster than the first half for an overall time of 4:40:26.

I got my Marathon medal and headed over to the self-treatment area to ice down (I had a plane to catch in a few hours) before heading out to pick up my Goofy and Dopey medals.

With my Mickey medal

Showing off the hardware

Seeing as I had to leave later that evening I didn’t really have too much time to wait around after the race. I headed back to the hotel to shower and finish packing with the goal of spending as much time in EPCOT before I had to head to the airport.

*BLING* *BLING* *BLING* *BLING* *BLING* *BLING*

My new ‘Ear Hat’ to celebrate my accomplishment.

My annual souvenir. My 'Ear Hat' with my milage.

My annual souvenir. My ‘Ear Hat’ with my mileage.

I spent the next few hours stretching my legs walking around EPCOT. I went straight to Innoventions West to have my photos taken with Mickey, Goofy and Minnie with all my medals.

Celebrating at EPCOT

A closing highlight of the trip

I walked around the park congratulating my fellow runners who were all proudly wearing their medals. It is a great feeling of camaraderie which is really only experienced at a runDisney race. People hang around after the races and enjoy their post Marathon time. It feels great. Congratulations to all my fellow runners.

In summary, would I do the Dopey Challenge again? Not sure. I enjoyed it but I have done it now. I’d love to run Goofy again as I really enjoy the atmosphere of the Half and the Full. Racing on 4 consecutive days with 4 early wake ups and early nights was tough. I travelled solo this year as 4 days of running would really have imposed on my family. I missed them greatly. This is the first year they haven’t been there for me at the finish and that is perhaps why I didn’t stick around too long once I finished. I love running at Disney and I love Disney Parks. It is better when my family is with me. That is probably my ultimate reason for not doing Dopey in the future for now (but never say never).

What a great week. I met so many good friends this week and had a really special time running with everyone. I want to thank runDisney, the volunteers and the cast members as well as my Team Up teammates and all my fellow runners for making this a week to remember.

So, my final Fitbit stats for the day. I ran 26.2 miles and ended up showing 34.68 miles. For the whole of the 5 days I ran 48.6 miles and ended up walking another 44 or so miles. I think I need another medal 😉

Thank you for sticking with me through what has been a ‘marathon’ recap. I hope you got a sense of how much fun I had during the Marathon and the whole weeks events.

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 3 – Inaugural ‘Minnie’ 10K – January 10, 2014

January 23, 2014ianesenior 1 Comment

After a reasonably early night (reasonable for Disney park visits) I woke up early for the 10K. Race day number 2 and the debut of another Disney themed costume. Today I would be running as ‘Buzz Lightyear’ and hoping that running with a jetpack wouldn’t be as annoying as I thought it might be. So I climbed into my one piece Buzz body suit (developing an irrational fear of needing to go to the bathroom during a race) stuck on my jetpack and headed to the elevators hoping that no one would actually see me and headed to EPCOT for day 2 of the Dopey Challenge and the inaugural ‘Minnie’ 10K.

Earlier than the day before but somehow I am still awake.

Upon arrival at EPCOT I headed over again to the bag check area hoping that today I would be in the right place at the right time for the Team #runDisney meet up. I got there a little early and not many people were there at the time, at least not where the meet up was to occur. Having second thoughts about the jetpack attached to my back I walked up to a complete stranger and asked her if she wouldn’t mind taking some safety pins and pinning my jetpack on me. The things you can only get away with at a runDisney race. Having taken a couple of towels from the hotel to I made a place to sit down outside the race retreat and waited for folks to turn up for the meet.

Today I was in the right place and folks started turning up. I met Marc (who makes those great slide shows for the Team #runDisney Facebook page) and Greg from ‘Why I Run Disney‘ and his wife Brooke, Megan from ‘Running Toward The Prize‘ (also the co-author of ‘Magical Miles: The Runner’s Guide to Walt Disney World‘) and her husband and Matt from ‘Dad’s Got The Runs‘ who is also the Team #runDisney page administrator. A nice bunch of folks to meet.

To Infinity and Beyond

After the photo I headed to the corrals and again met my fellow Autism Speaks team-mate Rob and also Jonathan who I help administrate the ‘Goofy Challenge 2014’ Facebook group. Again, I was easy to spot today.

Minnie was there at the start line to get us going and counted us down to the fireworks. Once we were given the word to go we headed out onto this new 10K course. I didn’t quite know what to expect as I really could not picture from the map how the course would turn out. I knew there would be an out and back and thought there would be a repeat of the 5K course but that’s pretty much it, so here is my recap.

Firstly, running with a jetpack takes time to get used to. At first the flapping was getting a bit annoying and I was going slow so as not to aggravate the situation but I soon settled in to the rhythm and the fun began. The first two miles of the course were an out and back from the EPCOT parking lot to the back of World Showcase. I didn’t mind the out and back but I heard complaints from others that it was a bit boring and that they did not like the hairpin turn which lead to in incline. I probably didn’t notice this too much as I had decided to stop for a character photo opportunity just after the turn. I also stopped as it was very warm and humid that morning and I hadn’t helped the situation by dressing in a polyester jumpsuit.

Peter, Wendy and I ‘flying’

At the character stop I bumped into these two fine gentlemen from Saskatchewan, Canada dressing (for both the 5K and 10K) as Dopey and Grumpy. Awesome costumes although they admitted that they were a bit warm. They were running the Dopey and said they planned (like me) to run the first two days in costume. They also told me as it -50 degrees back home they hadn’t really trained this year but as past Goofy runners they were relying on ‘experience’. I am not sure what happened over the course of the weekend but I hope they had fun and finished.

Meeting Dopey and Grumpy from Saskatchewan

There was not much to see during the second mile back towards EPCOT except for a giant TV screen showing Minnie cartoons set to modern music. It would have been nice to have had another character out there during that stretch.

Once back into EPCOT I assumed we would follow the same course that we had for the 5K the previous day but had we done that our course would have been about 5 miles so I was interested to see how we would get that extra mile in. As we made our way around World Showcase we took a turn out of the park just after the France Pavillion through the ‘International Gateway’ which took us on a loop around the Boardwalk past the Yacht and Beach Clubs and then back into EPCOT via the United Kingdom Pavillion. From there it was back to the finish line but going through Innoventions West and then to the finish line area rather than a circle around Spaceship Earth as we had in the 5K the day before.

2014 Walt Disney World 5K 10K Course Map

I really enjoyed my time on the Boardwalk. I had only ever run this partially as part of the Marathon course and today, even at this early hour, there were crowds out there to cheer everyone on. They had characters out on the Boardwalk and that allowed me to cool down during the last couple of miles as I was beginning to get warmer and warmer dressed as Buzz (consideration of costumes will be given greater scrutiny next time). Due to the humidity and warm weather the Boardwalk was pretty damp which also caused me to run a little slower as I didn’t want to slip and get hurt with two more races to go.

My best ‘Genie’ impression

Always nice when you are not the only one dressed up 🙂

As you can see from the pictures I really had fun out there. You can also see from the ground how wet underfoot it was.

Flying around the 10K

Enjoying myself out there

There were plenty of folks out there cheering for Buzz. Many shouts of ‘To Infinity And Beyond’ were being traded back and forth. I was having a blast out there. As I rounded the corner to the finish line I heard someone call my name and was pleased to see Rhonda who I had met the day earlier. Again, I was easy to spot in costume. We took a quick photo together and headed on to the finish.

Coming up to the finish line I heard the announcer say over the PA system that ‘Here comes Buzz Lightyear’ to which I responded with outstretched arms and ‘flew’ over the finish line. The announcer then said that if I was caught flying and my feet had left the ground I would have to be disqualified!!! That made me chuckle 🙂

My feet never left the ground

Heading through the finish line area to pick up my second wrist band today was much smoother. This time they had set up aisles to pass through where at the front a volunteer marked your 5K band with a Sharpie and a second volunteer at the end of the aisle put on your 10K finisher band.

The second medal of the Challenge

This was the photographers idea LOL

So now I had two wristbands and two medals. I was building quite a collection of memories so far.

My 5K and 10K finisher wristbands

My medal haul after the 5K and 10K

After a quick shower I headed back out to spend a day at EPCOT where for the first time (despite many visits to EPCOT) I rode the following attractions: ‘Soarin”, ‘Test Track’ and the ‘Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros’ as well as seeing for the first time: ‘Captain EO’, ‘Ellen’s Energy Adventure’ and ‘The Circle Of Life’. Talk about keeping myself busy without the family in tow. I spent the day in EPCOT as that evening there was the Team Up with Autism Speaks team dinner being hosted at ‘The Living Seas’. This was a really cool private dining area behind the aquarium in ‘The Seas with Nemo and Friends’.

Some post 10K, pre Half Marathon fuel (the best kind of fuel)

At the dinner that night I sat with Rob and his family and got to meet up with other Team Up runners. This year they had 100 runners for the weekend including 40 Dopey runners. It was announced that as of the date of the dinner the team had raised approximately $140,000 with a final total expected to be approximately $165,000 (Go Team Up!!!) I was awarded a certificate of appreciation for being the second biggest fundraiser this year. I came in second place last year to the same person who beat me out of first place the year previous. I’ll beat him for sure in 2015!!!

As of the date of the race I had raised enough to be the second highest fundraiser this year

Top fundraisers this year

A group photo of some of the Team Up runners

After the dinner (and quite a lot of dessert) I headed home for an early night to get ready for the Half Marathon tomorrow. A quick look at my Fitbit stats (I shouldn’t have looked) showed my daily mileage to be 17.22 miles. Oops. 11 miles more than I actually ran that day 😉

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 2 – Family 5K – January 9, 2014

January 22, 2014ianesenior 5 Comments

After a few hours of sleep it was time to get up for what would be the first of the 4 races that make up the Dopey Challenge, the Walt Disney World Family 5K. For the first 2 races I had planned to run in Disney themed costume and for the last 2 races I would be wearing the charity team gear. For this race I would be running dressed as ‘Pinocchio’ (as my wife will gladly tell you, she didn’t approve of this one). This was only the second time I had ever run a race in costume, the first time was a year before at the Family 5K where my wife and I ran as Cinderella and Prince Charming. Today would let me know if running in Florida in red velvet overalls would be a wise decision 😉

I set out from my hotel (I stayed off property about 10-15 minutes from EPCOT) and arrived early for the 6:15am start. I wanted to get there early as I would be repeating this journey over the next few days and wanted to make sure I was comfortable with the drive. It also gave me a chance to meet up with folks before we had to head for the corrals and some time to relax a bit before the start of the race.

My latest start of the week. Arriving early at EPCOT

Pinocchio for the 5K

On arrival I headed over to the bag check area (not the corrals) as I was planning to meet up with the folks from Team #runDisney for a pre-race meetup and photo. Whilst there I bumped into some folks that I had only until then known through Facebook (Rhonda and her daughter Rabekah, Sarah and Matt who I briefly met at the expo a day earlier and Scott and his wife Susan). It began to rain lightly and so I moved into the tent which would later become the merchandise tent and hung out and chatted to folks only to find when we looked outside that everyone had already moved out to the corrals. There was no announcement that we heard and we appeared to have missed the photo at the meetup so I headed straight to my corral (corral A) where I met up with Rob, a fellow Autism Speaks runner who was also running the Dopey Challenge. He recognised me by my costume…I was kind of conspicuous. Hey, it’s a runDisney event, when else can you run in costume and not feel self-conscious 🙂

The 5K event was launched with the usual fireworks and Pluto was at the start line to send everyone off. Those fireworks (something I always look forward to) were the start of what would be an amazing 4 day journey for me…and about 7,000 other ‘Dopey’ runners. The course was the same as it had been last year, leaving EPCOT through the parking lot, entering the park behind ‘Test Track’ and winding through ‘World Showcase’ back to the finish line area just past the park entrance.

Feeling a little ‘wooden’ at the start.

During the 5K when I entered the Germany Pavillion I saw a long line for a character photo opportunity. I slowed down and saw that it was Dopey. I had to take that photo no matter how long the line. One thing about Disney races is that the photographers and the cast members are very efficient about moving everyone through the photo lines. Although there was a bit of a wait for the photo it was an advantage being in corral A and getting there early. I heard that later on during the 5K the line stretched from Germany through the Italy Pavillion. I heard people waited in line for about 10 minutes. As 7,000 of the 10,000 runners were attempting Dopey and would probably be taking the race easy I wasn’t surprised to hear that.

Here is my photo with Dopey. My wife is sure Dopey is laughing at my choice of costume. You can decide for yourselves.

Dopey and I during the 5K

I did pass a couple of character stops in the 5K (and some of the other races). I had made a rule that I would only stop at a character where I intuitively remembered their name without having to think too hard. Although I can always look up the character name based upon the movie after the race, if I approached the character and I had to think too much I passed it. My theory being that someone may ask later who the character was in the photo and if I couldn’t think about it on the spot then I didn’t want to look like a ‘Disney amateur’! Sorry Remy (from ‘Ratatouille’ who was in the France Pavillion), next year 🙂

I had a lot of fun in the 5K. It’s great that the cast members are all out cheering you on and there were plenty of volunteers (who did a great job all weekend). It was raining lightly when I finished the race but it kept me cool (in my red velvet costume).

Daisy Duck

Crossing the finish line

What was noticeable throughout the whole race was that there was a lack of ‘families’. This race is advertised as the ‘Family 5K’ and they kept announcing the fact at the start line that there were 10,000 runners. But if you strip out the 7,000 runners doing the Dopey Challenge this left only 3,000 runners (same numbers for the 10K). When signing up for this race they announced that they were getting rid of the stroller division. It seems sad that they put an emphasis on this being a family event and indeed the 5K is a great way to get young folks into running especially when they can run with other family members but the actuality didn’t match up to the name. I know I was up front in Corral A but from what I saw families were few and far between.

Overall though I had great fun. It was a good opportunity to start the weekend off stretching my legs and getting in some (very) early morning Disney Magic. The medallion (first of the six for the Challenge) was cool and I had a fun time.

The first medal of the Dopey Challenge

Now a quick word about the Dopey Challenge. As I mentioned in my post about the Expo, Dopey runners were provided with 2 bibs. One for the 5K and 10K and another for the Half and Full marathon. A quick tip for making sure your bib survives each of the two days. First, I attach ring reinforcers that I used to use back in my University days to make sure the bib holes were more secure as I needed to reuseeach bib, and second, after each race I had a manila folder with me so I could keep the bib flat and let it dry out a little between races. It was very warm the first three days of the Challenge and I think this did help ensure my bibs were able to make it through the races.

Some practical bib protection

Also, for Dopey runners and later for the Goofy runners, at the end of the 5K we were ushered over to the left hand side of the finishers chute and we were given a plastic wristband showing that we were 5K finishers. It was a bit chaotic the first day but I will say that the subsequent races the volunteers were much more efficient. Today was all about receiving the first of the wrist bands, the subsequent races involved extra steps to mark off each wrist band and add another.

The first of many wirst bands (and a source of pride walking through the parks LOL)

The first of many wrist bands (and a source of pride walking through the parks LOL)

I didn’t stick around too long after the end of the race as (1) it was raining, and (2) I had brunch plans with the team from the Mickey Miles Podcast at the Yacht and Beach Club at 10am after the race. Brunch was great. I got to meet up again with Michelle and Mike together with other great folks who have been on the podcast or who had become friends through Facebook (too numerous to mention but you know who you are! 🙂 ) During the brunch Mike and Michelle anounced the launch of the Mickey Miles Podcast running team, the ‘Mickey Milers’ which will raise funds for the Charity ‘Give Kids The World‘. You can check it out and sign up to run with them here. Also, a Disney vacation (yeah, right…a vacation) would not be complete without my Mickey Mouse waffles fix. Thank you Mike and Michelle for hosting.

Refueling for tomorrow’s 10K 🙂

After the brunch I headed out to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for some park time. Still not doing the ‘stay off your feet’ thing I was supposed to. So I ran a 5K which is 3.1 miles, my Fitbit stats for the day ended up being 11.26 miles. We will see how that works out over the coming days.

Next up, the Inaugural ‘Minnie’ 10K.

Preparing for the 2014 Dopey Challenge

November 13, 2013ianesenior 2 Comments

8 weeks from today I will be heading down to Orlando to take part in the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, specifically the inaugural Dopey Challenge. This is a four day event from Thursday January 9th through Sunday January 12th and consists of a 5K (3.1 miles), a 10K (6.2 miles), a Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and a Full Marathon (26.2 miles) for a total of 48.6 miles.

This weekend I am running the 2013 Philadelphia Marathon and after this I have less than 8 weeks between this event and the Dopey Challenge in which I need to build in recovery time, ramp up my distance and taper again. This is a pretty short span of time (unless you are one of those folks who runs multiple marathons a year). I actually have done this process twice before, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2011 and the Walt Disney World Marathon 8 weeks later in January 2012 and I ran the Philadelphia Marathon again in 2012 and ran the ‘Goofy Challenge’ 8 weeks later in January 2013 (Philly2Goofy!) and will pretty much be using the same approach this time.

The first time I did this I used Hal Higdon’s 8 week back to back marathon plan just as Hal designed it. I changed it up a little for the 2013 Goofy Challenge so that my Saturday runs would be exactly half the distance of my Sunday long runs to try and mimic the Half plus Full scenario. Training, in addition to building endurance and general well being, is the place to simulate and practice race conditions. The small modifications for the Goofy were simple to slip into the plan as it just meant adding a mile or two the day before the long run. Dopey training calls for a somewhat different approach.

Although I plan to similulate the 4 day event by doing 4 consecutive days of running, I still need to build in some recovery time, some rest time and some taper time. With that in mind I adjusted Hal’s program slightly to similuate race week just twice during the training plan but these will be on the longest distance weeks to make the training most effective. See below.

Back to Back Marathon Training Plan
Philly to Dopey

I think the key to this training plan is to take advantage of as much rest time as the plan allows. I have used Hal’s Intermediate 2 Marathon Training Plan for my last 5 marathons and the back to back plan follows a similar pattern with the exception that Mondays are rest days vs cross training days. The plan still calls for 5 days of running each week with the same pattern of a semi-long run each Wednesday and the long run on Sundays. I also allowed myself one race (the Thanksgiving 5 miler for the Bucks County Road Runners).

I’m getting pretty excited about this now. I have reached my fund raising goal for Team Up with Autism Speaks so that pressure is now gone (but not the pressure of completing the 4 day event of course) and I have chosen to run both the 5K and 10K in costume (yeah…not sure how that is really going to work out) and the Half and Full Marathons in ‘Team Up’ gear. At the end of the day very few people are running these events to PR. This is a Disney race where there is so much atmosphere and entertainment along the courses to take in. Not to forget the toll that 4 very early mornings will take on the body in addition to the events and some park time (I know, that is all my personal choice). My goal is to finish the event with a smile on my face with great memories and most importantly knowing that I raised money for a worthy cause. PRs can wait for other times. This event is going to be fun.

My planned 5K costume

My planned 10K costume

I’m not saying that this plan works best for anyone other than me but having used it a couple of times I am comfortable with the approach and hope to stay fit and healthy enough to get to the start line and to finish the event. My travel plans are fixed, I have my advanced dining reservations (including a character dine) and I am looking forward to buying lots of presents for my two little boys who will be cheering my on from back home in Pennsylvania). I look forward to meeting up with all my Facebook friends who are also taking part in the Marathon Weekend and look forward to meeting new people and seeing my favorite characters out there on the course and in the parks. This will be my third consecutive Walt Disney World Marathon and ultimately my second Goofy (as a matter of doing the Dopey too). Lots to look forward to over the coming weeks.

Thank you for reading.

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Medals

September 26, 2013ianesenior 4 Comments

Photo courtesy of runDisney

So this is what I am working towards. Today runDisney shared this picture on Facebook. It shows all the medals that will be awarded for completing the ‘Dopey Challenge‘ in January.

The 5K run this year is a timed run. They actually did away with the stroller division this year which is a shame. Runners receive the Pluto medallion for completing this race.

Pluto 5K medalliion

The new inaugural 10K has a Minnie Mouse medal.

Minnie Mouse 10K medal

As in prior years a Donald Duck medal is awarded for the half marathon and a Mickey Mouse medal is reserved for the main event, the full marathon.

Donald Duck Half Marathon medal

Mickey Mouse Full Marathon medal

The Goofy medal is awarded to folks who run the half marathon and the full marathon on the Saturday and Sunday for a total of 39.3 miles (‘Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge’). Goofy runners receive the Donald, the Mickey and the Goofy medals.

Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge medal

This year the new event is the inaugural Dopey Challenge. In prior years people claimed an unofficial Dopey by running the 5K along with the Goofy Challenge. This years addition of the 10K marks the begining of the official Dopey. In order to receive this medal you run all 4 races on 4 consecutive days for a total of 48.6 miles. Dopey runners receive the Pluto medallion, the Minnie, Donald and Mickey medals plus the Goofy medal (they did run Goofy) and the Dopey medals for a total of 6 medals. Not to mention the official race shirts. I’m going to need a bigger suitcase for the journey home.

Dopey Challenge medal

This week my wife and I (plus my 6 year old son) hung up our race medals received to date. Judging by this new collection I will hopefully earn we are going to need a bigger wall, another curtain rod or another house.

Our family medal collection 2011 to 2013

Hi Ho, Hi Ho…Off to the races I will go

July 15, 2013ianesenior 2 Comments

Today I started my training for the 2013 Philadelphia Marathon and the 2014 Walt Disney World ‘Dopey Challenge’. For the next 6 months through the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (January 9-12, 2014) I will be out there putting in the miles 5 days a week building my base until race day in Philadelphia (November 17) and then buckling down for the next 8 weeks until ‘Dopey’. As a reminder, the Walt Disney World ‘Dopey Challenge’ is 4 days of running and includes a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Full Marathon…truly ‘Dopey’.

Going Dopey in 2014

It’s hard to believe that just 3 years ago I hadn’t run at all. I actually reached 3,500 miles of cumulative running this weekend (since I started recording my mileage in September 2010).

My mileage total as of July 14, 2013

Philadelphia was my first marathon back in 2011 and I was so nervous when I signed up. The feeling of crossing the finish line in my first marathon will always be with me. This year’s Philadelphia Marathon will be my 6th marathon and my third Philadelphia Marathon in a row. I have been in contact with the Philadelphia Marathon folks and may be a featured blogger this year. I’ll share the link if that does happen.

Completing my first marathon – Philadelphia 2011

I am especially pleased that this year my wife Shari will be running with me for her second marathon. It should be a fun time. The crowds in Philly are really great and there are no real quiet spaces. It’s a great course. The first half takes you through the city, its neighborhoods and many of the well known sights. The second half of the race takes you along Kelly Drive up and back through Manyunk. The finish line is at the foot of the Philadelphia Art Museum (the ‘Rocky’ steps). Temperatures in the last 2 years have been ideal for marathoning. Cool to start and warming up just slightly through the morning but not too hot.

Rocky at the top of the steps – Philadelphia Museum of Art

I will then have 8 weeks between running Philadelphia and the Walt Disney Marathon weekend. In 2011 I had only 7 weeks between running Philly and the Walt Disney World Marathon. Having signed up for a second marathon before even finishing my first marathon you can only imagine the thoughts going through my mind if I would be able to do it. I did and even improved on my time from 7 weeks earlier.

2012 Walt Disney World Marathon

I had been turned on to the idea of the ‘Goofy Challenge’ (running both the Half and Full Marathon) from my experience running alongside the runners during the 2012 Disney Marathon and thought I might be up for the challenge in 2013. I wanted also to return to Philadelphia in 2012 and see if I could improve on my marathon time. I worked really hard in 2012 and PR’d by over 6 minutes, breaking 4 hours in the marathon. For the ‘Goofy Challenge’ I was running to raise money for ‘Autism Speaks’ and was more concerned with completing the event than of any specific time goal. In addition to the Challenge I also ran the Family 5K with my wife. We also ran the marathon together (her first) and we took as much time as we needed and as many photographs as we could. It was a great weekend. I was able to raise just over $3,400 for Autism Speaks in the process.

Mile 20 with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto

This year’s Philadelphia Marathon should be special as it is the 20th Anniversary of the race. Philadelphia really knows how to celebrate and I am very much looking forrward to the event this year especially running alongside Shari.

They actually moved the Philadelphia Marathon weekend back a week this year as there is another event going on in the city on the usual weekend in November. That will be beneficial for me as it gives me an extra week to train for the ‘Dopey Challenge’. To replicate the race conditions I have modified my race plan to have 4 days of consecutive running from Thursday to Sunday for the last few weeks of the training so my body get used to the effort (or abuse) and it can adapt to recover more effectively. It will also help me know what I need to do in terms of fueling and recovery techniques going into the event.

I will be heading to Walt Disney World solo this year due to the logistics of racing all four days. It will be a little different not having the family with me but through the magic of social media I have made lots of great connections with fellow runDisney enthusiasts and will no doubt be meeting up on one or more of these days to share the experience. Don’t feel bad for Shari for not being with me, she is headed down to Walt Disney World the following month to run the 2014 Walt Disney World ‘Princess Half Marathon’ and ‘Glass Slipper Challege’.

My training program is here if you are interested in taking a look. This is Hal Higdon‘s Marathon Intermediate 1 marathon plan for (Philly) and his 8 week multiple marathon plan modified so that there are four consecutive running days each Thursday through Sunday.

Again this year I will be running for Autism Speaks as a returning alum of ‘Team Up’. They are a great charitable foundation and do wonderful work.

I just completed hosting a virtual 5K to raise money for this years event and I am pleased that today it sold out. All 150 spots were taken. You can read about the event here. Everyone seemed to enjoy this event and I have had many kind comments from participants. This has gone a long way in helping me reach my fundraising goals.

If you would like to help by sponsoring me as I run ‘Dopey’ please visit my personal fundraising page. Your contributions will be greatly appreciated.

I hope you some of you will follow my blog and join me on this journey to the finish line.

Here we go again…let’s do this together

April 9, 2013ianesenior 5 Comments

Am I nuts? How do you define ‘fun’?

Dopey Challenge

Thursday, January 9 – Sunday, January 12, 2014

Start/Finish: Epcot®

Run 48.6 miles of fun in the Dopey Challenge!

Are you ready for the ultimate endurance challenge? Then take part in four days of fun for a total of 48.6 miles in the all-new Dopey Challenge! Participants will run the 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon, and if you complete all four races within the pacing requirements you will be awarded the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge medal and the brand new Dopey Challenge finisher medal for a total of six pieces of “bling.”

Dopey Challenge is now official

Today runDisney officially opened up registration for the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon weekend. About a week ago some limited pre-sales opened for the Runner’s World Challenge, Disney Vacation Club members and Disney Visa Card holders. Spots were limited and it seemed were snapped up very quickly due to the excitement of the new events in 2014, the Minnie 10K and Dopey Challenge.

I personally registered to run last Friday by signing up again to run with Team Up to raise funds and awareness for Autism Speaks. I ran the Goofy’s Race and Half Challenge with them last year raising just over $3,400 of which I am very proud. I will admit that the expectations of my donors were on my mind during the Marathon when I was beginning to feel uncomfortable and as much as I was proud of myself for achieving the Goofy I was relieved that I hadn’t let everyone down. Of course I said to myself I would never do something so crazy again. Umm….

So there are a few changes that runDisney implemented this year which can be seen here.

The big takeaways from this are that in addition to the new races, they have made changes to the numbers of entrants so that the courses can move more efficiently. They have trimmed back numbers for the Half Marathon (traditionally the most crowded) and runners now have to submit proof of time to get a corral assignment. There will be more corrals at the start so they can spread the runners out according to ability which should ease congestion on the course. Will this work? We will see when we hit ‘Cone Alley’ after leaving the Magic Kingdom.

The other news is that they are keeping the Marathon Course the same as in 2013 which took us through the Walt Disney World Speedway and also through the ESPN Wide World of Sports. I ran the Marathon course in 2012 and 2013 and had a few thoughts on this.

In 2012 we started with a loop through EPCOT on our way to the Magic Kingdom and the park still had the holiday decorations lit which was nice. As this pushed the mileage reached at the Magic Kingdom to mile 10 instead of mile 6 as it was in 2013 it was daybreak when we reached the Castle which I thought was pretty cool. In 2013 instead of the lights at EPCOT we arrived at the Magic Kingdom still in the dark and saw Main Street USA all alight and the Castle glowing in the distance. That could not be beat. It is really an unbelievable experience.

There was a very tough out and back in 2012 between miles 18-20 and this is where I struggled in 2012. I lost a minute per mile from mile 20 but still finished upright. In 2013 this was eliminated with the run through ESPN (although that seemed like it went on forever but that may have been the excessive heat).

I liked the 2013 course and will be looking forward to running it again. At this time they haven’t announced the 10K course but I believe it will be in EPCOT where all the races start.

So, I’m registered and looking forward to the four days of early wake ups (start times are 6:30, 5:30, 5:30 and 5:30), carb loading on Mickey shaped treats, trying my first Dole Whip which everyone seems to know what they are but me and meeting new friends and sharing the experience. Logistically this needs to be a solo trip as my eldest will be in grade school and my wife and I are taking turns to participate in runDisney events next year so we can look after the boys. She will be signing up for the Princess Half Marathon in February 2014. Don’t worry boys, Daddy will bring you some overcompensating gifts home!

I’m planning to use the same training plan I used for last year’s Goofy Challenge which is to use Hal Higdon’s Marathon Intermediate 1 plan to get me through the Philadelphia Marathon and then use Hal’s Multiple Marathons plan for the period between Philadelphia and the Dopey Challenge with an adjustment on the weekends so that my Saturday runs are at least half the Sunday run in length (see my plan here). Wish me luck.

Okay, so I’m signed up. What I now need to do is to train hard and healthily to get me to the starting line but also, and often the hardest part, is to raise the required donations for the cause I am running for. Autism Speaks is a charity near and dear to me. My niece in the UK was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and although I am not able to be there on a day to day basis to help, by raising funds and awareness I am doing what I can to help her and similar families. Over the next few months I will be raising funds for this cause. If you would like to make a contribution I would be very appreciative. You can follow this link. Feel free to share this link if you can.

If you have any great fundraising ideas that would be great too. I’m planning a virtual 5K later this year (watch out for it) which may have a Disney theme with a bit of a twist. You have been warned!!

So, let me know if you are also signed up for any of the Walt Disney Marathon weekend races in 2014. What you are looking forward to most? What you are most apprehensive about? Let’s share this journey together.

philly2goofy

…and all the miles in between

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Disney Family 5K

Philly2Goofy – An origin story…

Not why, but ‘how’ I run

January 2014 – month in review

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 5 – Full Marathon – January 12, 2014

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 3 – Inaugural ‘Minnie’ 10K – January 10, 2014

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 2 – Family 5K – January 9, 2014

Preparing for the 2014 Dopey Challenge

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Medals

Hi Ho, Hi Ho…Off to the races I will go

Here we go again…let’s do this together

Dopey Challenge

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