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.

2014 – Looking back and forward

January 1, 2015ianesenior Leave a comment

2014 was quite a year. The highlights included running 4 Full Marathons (including a new PR), 4 Half Marathons and running over 2,000 miles (unplanned). I completed my 10th Full Marathon in Baltimore this year (running with my Wife) and raised over $4,000 for charity (Autism Speaks).

December 2014 – Nike+ Summary

This month I ran a total of 211 miles. That is the most mileage I have ever run in one single month. It was a combination of getting my training done for the upcoming 2015 Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge, business travel (where I had a little more time to run but I ate a lot more) and the realization mid December that I was actually close to 2,000 annual miles. With all that said I added a couple of extra miles here and there and a couple of extra runs over the course of the month and finished December with 211 miles and bringing my 2014 total mileage to 2,005 miles. Not sure I will be repeating this pattern too many times but it’s quite an achievement for me.

2014 – Nike+ summary by month

There were many highlights of the year for me, starting back in January with running the inaugural Walt Disney World ‘Dopey Challenge‘. Four races in four days for a total of 48.6 miles. It was so much fun. Not sure I would rush to do it again though based upon the cost and logistics involved it ended up being a solo trip for me, however, I did make many friends that weekend and met up with lots of familiar faces too. I also attended the Mickey Miles Podcast breakfast after the 5K and was there for the launch of the Mickey Milers running team. The team raises funds for the Give Kids The World charity village in Orlando Florida. We are all over the country (and international too) but we interact regularly and meet up at races and I’ve even met up with members on business trips and on vacation. We are very identifiable by our yellow and purple team shirts and hats. It’s a great group and a great cause.

Running the 2014 Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World

Mickey Milers Running Team

Post-race with the Mickey Milers (Janee, Brittany and Joe)

My other endeavors for charity are again for Autism Speaks and as of December 31, 2014 my wife and I raised over $4,000 and will be running the 2015 Walt Disney World ‘Goofy Challenge‘ in just a few days. My goal is to make my miles mean something for more than just my fitness and raising funds for charity is a way that I can do so.

In terms of racing I achieved a PR at the New Jersey Marathon at the end of April a year after my meltdown at the same race. It was a pretty tough winter here in the north east and I did much of my training indoors at the gym. I learned to cope for multiple hours on a treadmill but it was great when spring finally arrived. Conditions on the day of the marathon were tough and windy but I achieved what I set out to do (even though it was just by a few seconds). I was happy. A few days after the marathon I had a small medical scare but thankfully all turned out for the best.

New Jersey Marathon – New PR and a pretty cool medal

My wife and I took part in a few races together this year, the Hot Chocolate 15K in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon in August and the Baltimore Marathon in October. Great fun at each race and she also achieved a PR at Baltimore. Great race, great weekend.

Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 15K

With my Wife and Father-in-law at the Rock and Roll Half

2014 Baltimore Marathon (my 10th Marathon)

I was also selected as an INKnBURN ambassador during the year and had lots of fun wearing some colorful and artistic outfits at races. I have lots of options now to run in. I have the INB shirts, my Mickey Milers team shirt and my Autism Speaks team gear for the Disney races. I think I don’t need to buy any gear for a while (this is not a New Year’s resolution so don’t hold me to that).

Another PR this year was achieved at the Bucks County Duathlon. I was unable to participate in 2013 due to a family wedding but this year I came back and beat my previous PR by 5 minutes. I had a bit of a struggle at the ‘Chasing the Unicorn’ Marathon in August but the highlight of that day was running across the finish line with my family. That made anything else unimportant and I was happier than my performance really reflected as a result.

A good day for a PR

My best ever finish.

So what does 2015 have in store to improve upon 2014? I’m not sure yet but plenty of things already lined up to look forward to.

In a few days my wife and I will be running the 2015 Goofy Challenge down at Walt Disney World. It is the 10th anniversary of that particular event and the medal looks quite cool. Most of all I’m looking forward to having my family with me at Walt Disney World this year and having a mini vacation with them. My wife and I are also signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon in May and we are again doing a little family road trip with the boys. It should be a lot of fun. I’m also signed up for my very first ‘triathlon‘…we shall see 🙂

2015 10th Anniversary Goofy Challenge medal

Thanks for sticking with me for another year. I appreciate all your ‘likes’ and kind comments and look forward to seeing you at events and hearing on your success too. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2015.

With my wife enjoying the Baltimore Marathon. Good times.

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 🙂

Going “Goofy” (again…)

April 9, 2014ianesenior 4 Comments

Celebrating the 2013 Goofy Challenge with the Goof himself

I got a pleasant surprize in my email this morning from the National Director of ‘Team Up’ for Autism Speaks. They received their allotment of spaces for the 2015 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and opened up the site for early registration (general registration is on April 22nd). So I am pleased to announce that in January 2015 I will be running the Walt Disney World ‘Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge’ (2 days, 2 races, 39.3 miles) with ‘Team Up’ with Autism Speaks to raise funds and awareness for autism.

In January 2013 I ran the ‘Goofy Challenge’ and raised over $3,400. In 2014 I ran the inaugural ‘Dopey Challenge’ and raised over $3,800. My goal in 2015 is to match or better this total.

2015 is a special year for many reasons. This will be the 10th anniversary of the ‘Goofy’s Race and Half Challenge’ at Walt Disney World, this will be my ‘hat-trick’ year of running for Team Up for Autism Speaks, but the most special reason for me is that I will be running the ‘Goofy Challenge’ together with my wife Shari 🙂

Earlier this year when Shari returned from running the 2014 Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon ‘Glass Slipper Challenge’ she expressed interest in joining me for the 2015 ‘Goofy Challenge’. This morning when the link came through for me to register she told me that we should both register with Team Up together. That felt awesome. I was fully prepared to sign her up as a general entry runner but now that we are together as a team and raising funds together for our team that is very special to me. We both have a close family connection to this cause as our niece in the UK is on the Autism Spectrum and although we are far away it is some way we can give to families with similar situations and needs.

The end of a very enjoyable 39.3 miles

If you would like to support us in this cause please follow the link to our personal fundraising pages – Shari’s Page, My Page.

Thank you in advance for your ongoing support of me and in following this blog. Lots of things to look forward to between now and January 2015.

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 4 – Half Marathon – January 11, 2014

January 24, 2014ianesenior 10 Comments

Wake up number 3 for race number 3. I did actually feel like I needed to use the foam roller to get my eyes open today. Nevertheless I was up thanks to my 2 alarms and hotel wake up call and got up and dressed into my ‘Team Up’ gear. Today the closest I was going to get to a costume was my Pro Compression Marathon Socks were coordinated with my ‘Team Up’ colors. No more costumes this weekend. Looking at the forecast the day before there was a chance of rain and runDisney had already posted a heat advisory for the weekend. We would just have to wait and see how this would impact today. The goal was to take it easy so there was enough left in the tank for tomorrow’s marathon.

Bright and early again at EPCOT. Look at the temparature!!!

Bright and early again at EPCOT. Look at the temperature!!!

Day 3 and excited for the Half Marathon

Again I arrived early at EPCOT and as you can see from the photograph above it was already quite warm. I headed over to the entrance to the ‘Race Retreat’ for today’s Team #runDisney meet up and after a quick photograph with the group I headed through bag check. I was definitely earlier than I had planned but I recalled last year’s Half Marathon where it was absolutely jammed getting to the corrals. This year was a little different as runDisney had reduced the number of runners which made it easier getting to the corrals.

Heading to bag check.

As I was walking to the corrals I started chatting with folks around me and bumped into Mark who was also running for Team Up. I didn’t have the opportunity to meet him the previous night so we chatted all the way to our corrals (we were both in corral F). Chatting away with someone is a very good way to relax before the start of a race. Mark and I grabbed space in the corral and sat down waiting for the start. Getting there early allowed us to have enough space to sit and get off our feet. Incidentally the speakers around our corral were not working so although we couldn’t hear all the excitement of the pre-show we were able to sit and have a nice chat.

Without the speakers working we suddenly noticed that the crowd had become quiet and we heard the start of the National Anthem so we got up knowing that our start was minutes away. runDisney had reduced the number of overall runners and increased the number of corrals this year. Last year I started in corral B and this year I was in corral F. When I first got my waiver I was a little shocked by the change in corrals but thanks to some great research by the blog ‘Run, Knit, Travel‘ it seems that by the numbers I was pretty much in the same place I would have been last year. We watched the first few corrals leave giving me a good opportunity to get some good firework views as we waited for our corral to be brought forward. Soon it was our turn…

Donald waiting to give us the word.

So we were called to the start line…Donald counted us down…3…2…1…GO!!!!!!

Wait…what happened? Where were the fireworks? No fireworks? Really? That’s why I’m here? Can I get a refund? What?

So, no fireworks for our corral. A little disappointed I set off for the start of the race. Just past the start line on the left was Bart Yasso cheering on the runners who were part of the Runner’s World Challenge. Bart is a great guy and was friendly to all the runners passing by. Just as an aside, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon with the Runner’s World Challenge back in 2011 and would recommend the experience. Okay, back to the race.

Due to the timing between corrals a couple of minutes later I heard fireworks. Yup, corral G got them 😦 , nevertheless I was on my way and looking forward to the day. As I approached the first mile marker I bumped into Kimberly from ‘Mother Maker Marathon Runner‘. Kimberly and I have been Facebook friends for a while but we had yet to actually meet up despite some attempts during the previous two days. Some of you may know Kimberly already but for those of you who don’t she is truly an inspiration. She is a cancer survivor and has continued running through her chemotherapy treatments. Since undergoing surgery and her treatments she has run the Dumbo Double Dare in Disneyland, the Chicago Marathon, the New York Marathon and was running the Dopey Challenge…and also was scheduled to run the Tinkerbell Half Marathon the week after the Dopey. Amazing.

Meeting the amazing Kimberly Markey

Meeting Kimberly was a great start to the day. We chatted while standing in line to have our photo with Captain Jack Sparrow. I said my ‘so long for now’ and wished her luck and headed off for the Magic Kingdom.

Aaaargh!!!

You approach the main entrance to the Magic Kingdom and make your way up to the Ticket and Transportation Center. That is a great place for supporters to gather and see their runners pass through. Today was no different and the crowds were out in full force. Also, the Ticket and Transportation Center has nice indoor bathrooms. Just at the right time having been in the corrals for so long 🙂

Heading through the main gates on our way to the Magic Kingdom. No charge for being on foot.

I took the opportunity today to make stops at as many characters as I could with the plan on taking it easy and so that I could bypass the same photo stops during the Marathon. This worked out well as sometimes depending upon the time you arrive at a character stop there are different although related characters, for example Peter Pan and Wendy might swap out with Captain Hook and Mr Smee. Today gave me the opportunity should there be someone different there tomorrow. As always I tried to get the pictures of the characters that my sons will most want to see.

With Jack and Sally. Both my boys love ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’.

As you pass through the Ticket and Transportation Center you start to approach the Magic Kingdom. First you pass ‘under’ ‘Bay Lake’ via a small underpass and them run alongside the ‘Contemporary Resort’, round the back of ‘Space Mountain’ and then enter ‘Main Street USA’ just past ‘Town Square’.

Outside the park just behind Space Mountain

My very favorite part about running at Walt Disney World comes when you enter the Magic Kingdom and you run up ‘Main Street USA’. This is truly one of the most unique opportunities in the most special of locations that I can think of. As a self-confessed ‘Disney Head’ I admit that I absolutely love this part of the race and it wouldn’t matter to me if it was mile 1, mile 6 or mile 20 (although it would be cool if it was mile 26.2!!!) This was the 4th time I had experienced this and it was still as ‘magical’. The crowds line the street left and right, the street is all lit up and Cinderella’s Castle is all aglow just in the distance. You cannot beat it for atmosphere. As you can see from my pictures, I’m in my element here.

Here I am on Main Street USA – Magic Kingdom

You don’t spend too much time on Main Street but you run up and make a right turn into ‘Tomorrow Land’ where I encountered the real ‘Buzz Lightyear’ as compared to my fake Buzz from the 10K. This was the first of three character stops in a row where just as I ran up to have my photo taken the character went inside for a quick break (I assumed Buzz had to re-energize his fuel cells, Pooh Bear needed a quick shot of honey and Daisy Duck had to re-arrange her feathers). However, all was well despite this becoming a ’19 minute mile’ that included these character stops.

Buzz Lightyear

Pooh Bear

Viewing the Castle from inside Fantasyland

Donald (minus Daisy)

Then comes another fun part of the race which is running through the Castle and the chance for a great photo opportunity in front.

Hey, look where I am!!!

After running through the Castle we make our way out of the park through Liberty Square and Frontierland and then backstage out onto Floridian Way (a.k.a. ‘Cone Alley’). I took one more character stop to have a photograph with Woody on the way out of the park.

He’s got a friend in me

At this point in the race the sun had started to rise although it wasn’t what I would call sunny. I guess daylight is a better way of saying it. Thankfully there was cloud cover as it was already warm and very humid at this point however once we left the park a cool breeze was blowing which made the run a little more comfortable. It as at this stage that I always look forward to seeing Mary Poppins as she is usually located just outside of the Grand Floridian. However this year she was not there (on either day). I later learned that she was with Bert and the Penguins in the Race Retreat tent on both days. So I settled in and with the exception of a few character stops maintained an even pace from here on out until we started to approach the overpass that would lead us to EPCOT.

There is not too much to see on this part of the course as it is basically a retread of the route to EPCOT from the other side of the Magic Kingdom but it does give opportunities for some character stops. This year however those were few and far between on the way back. Generally I noticed less characters out on the course than in prior years. That may well have been part of runDisney’s plan to help get foot traffic flowing along with reducing the number of runners and the changes to the spacing of the corrals.

Aloha

There are a series of rolling hills (this is Florida…don’t get the wrong idea…they are still pretty flat) as you make your way back to EPCOT. While running towards the overpass along World Drive I heard my name being called and turned to find Jonathan who started with me in the 10K the day before. We had a little chat during my walk break and then parted ways as I began to run again. He looked to be having as good a time as I was so that was great to see.

Having fun out there

Once you have gone around the ramp up to the overpass you are only a couple of miles out and as you cross over the overpass you can see the sea of runners coming up behind you. It is a pretty cool sight to see so many of your fellow runners out there and is encouragement to know that you are within a couple of miles from the finish line. It was at this time that I ran alongside Sid Busch (who I actually had lunch plans with that day). Sid has run 19 of the 20 Disney Marathons and is ‘Perfectly Goofy’. He was out here running the Dopey. Sid is a retired naval officer and runs carrying the American Flag in support of our Armed Forces and runs in memory of fallen soldiers. He is kind of famous out here at the Walt Disney World Marathon (and other races too). He was looking good.

Great to see Sid out there on the course. Getting lots of crowd and runner support for all his good work.

There is a sharp right turn at mile 11.5 and that leads you straight towards EPCOT. Once you have made the turn you can see the park and you know you are close to the finish. From there on in you run through Future World and out towards the finish line. As you can see from the photos I was enjoying myself alot. Actually I felt much better than at this point the year before where I almost had injured myself ‘racing’ to the finish line. I took it nice and easy this year. Experience shows.

The home stretch

Made it!

I made it through the finish line with a chip time of 2:43:54. Not fast by any means but considering my goal of taking it easy and all the character stops (including the ‘disappearing’ characters in the Magic Kingdom) I wasn’t too disappointed with my time. I had said to myself at the start that anything around 2:30 would be fine. WIth 26.2 miles to run the next day I was feeling good and that was what counted.

I got my medal and headed over to the to the self-treatment area to ice down my legs. As I was travelling solo this year I had actually taken a studio apartment rather than a one bedroom like usual which meant that there was a shower but no bath tub where I would have soaked in cool iced water. I took extra time at the self-treatment area to ice down my quads, hamstrings, knees and calf muscles. I looked a sight for sore eyes. I have to thank the folks from the medical team for volunteering and for wrapping me up in ice and clear wrap.

It may not look good but it did the trick.

I then made my way out to the bag check and headed back home to shower up for my lunch reservation in the Magic Kingdom.

Medal number 3 for the weekend

The ‘Donald’ medal

Again, the wrist band process was much better today as it had been at the 10K even with the added runners who were participating in the Goofy Challenge.

Three races, three wrist bands

So now I was adding to both my bracelet and medal haul. Not bad for three days.

Bling Bling Bling

So after a quick shower I headed back to the Magic Kingdom for lunch (at ‘The Crystal Palace’) with Sid and new friends Rob and MaryJane where we chatted for almost 2 hours and refueled before the Marathon on Sunday. After we said our goodbyes I spent the rest of the day in the Magic Kingdom. I had a checklist of rides and attractions that I wanted to hit that I had planned would be a little restful (i.e. off my feet) before watching the ‘Main Street Electrical Parade’ and heading off home for another relatively early night.

Obligatory post Half Marathon celebration

Dole Whip – this is magical fuel…

I was getting a bit tired around 6pm and headed to my last attraction (the ‘Carousel of Progress’) and had actually decided to skip the Electrical Parade and head home early. It’s not like I haven’t seen it a few times 🙂 Well, what a good choice that was. As soon as I was back at the Transport and Ticket Center the heavens opened up. Rain was steadily coming down and I was driving home through a lightning storm that lasted a decent amount of time. Getting home early gave me the chance to also FaceTime with my family. I got to show them some of the gifts I had bought for them and also read books to them in bed. It was great. The boys seemed very pleased with my purchases. I think they even missed me while I was gone.

I got my gear ready for the next morning and headed off to bed. My Fitbit stats for the day? Well, considering I had run a Half Marathon (13.1 miles) I racked up a total of 21.27 miles. Again, how that would play out the next day was anyones guess. With that I turn out the lights and tried to get some sleep knowing that in a few hours the main event was going to be here.

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.

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 1 – Expo – January 8, 2014

January 21, 2014ianesenior 5 Comments

I guess it is best to start at the beginning of this journey. I had been preparing for the 2014 Walt Disney World ‘Dopey Challenge’ since I signed up (through Team Up for Autism Speaks) soon after they made the official announcement back in March 2013.

Today’s the day

Having done all the training as closely as possible on the plan I was using I felt good going into the weekend and my only concern at the beginning of the week was the weather and what would happen if I couldn’t get to Orlando in time. The previous few days had given us frigid temperatures, icy road conditions and lots of flight cancellations in the North East and I was beginning to freak out just a little bit. I finally decided on the Monday that I would book a hotel near the airport on Tuesday night so I could leave my car parked at the hotel, get an extra hour or two of sleep (important for the days ahead) and have someone else worry about getting me to the airport on Wednesday morning. It was a good move for me and allowed me to relax just a little bit.

An early start. Dopey runs on Dunkin’

Incidentally the day before the I left the team coordinator for the charity I was running with reached out to all the Dopey runners in the group and offered to pick up our race packets and deliver them to our hotels. Nice. Also, I read online the runDisney recognized the fact people were having trouble getting out to the event and offered packet pick up early before the 5K to accommodate runners.

Wednesday morning came (first of the early wake up calls for the week) and I made it downstairs and waited for the hotel shuttle for the airport. Looking up at the departures board my flight appeared to be on time as scheduled. Check in was quick and easy. This time around I took my racing gear in a carry on (as all the blogs and magazines advise) and this would double on the way home as my Disney gifts carry on (believe me, I filled it up on the way home).

A few early mornings. The only downside to this whole thing 🙂

It was funny to me that there were so many folks at the gate obviously planning to head down for the same event as I was. There were familiar brands of running shoes, race t-shirts and runDisney t-shirts on all the folks sitting by the gate. I met Mark Remy from Runner’s World whilst sitting around waiting and also a member of the Clif Bar Pace Team who was pacing the 2:30 Half Marathon pace group at the weekend. I also met a married couple heading down to run the Dopey who I bumped into every morning among the masses of people at the starting area. They were my daily ‘good morning’ folks. 🙂

Once arrived in Orlando I picked up my rental car and headed straight to the Expo at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Nothing beats that feeling driving onto Disney property and passing under the sign which says ‘Walt Disney World – Where Dreams Come True’.

One of my favorite signs

I arrived just after noon and the Expo parking was packed. I had to park in the overflow area which is essentially a field just off the main entrance. I had fears that the Expo would be crowded but to my surprise it wasn’t. It may be because today was mainly folks pickup up Dopey and 5K bibs and this year they split the Expo to other areas around the property. The packet pickup was as usual in the HP Field House. Dopey and Goofy pickup was separate from all other races and it was pretty quick, easy and painless. Once I picked up my two bibs (one for the 5K and 10K and the other for the Half Marathon and Full Marathon) I was given a ticket to pick up my souvenir pin and sent over to pick up my race bag and t-shirts. In all there were 6 shirts for the weekend (one for each race and extra for the Goofy and Dopey) and 5 of the shirts were all included in the clear plastic race bag they provided. Runners had to head over to the Jostens Center to pick up the 5K shirt. There was a little merchandise in the HP Field House but the bulk was in the main Expo hall at the Jostens Center, so that was my next stop.

Made it

Packet pick up was quick and orderly

T-Shirt pick up was well organized. Shirts for each event were packed together.

Some merchandise in packet pickup area. Not too crowded on this side.

Good to go

Just a word about the shirts for this year. Rather than the usual unisex shirts (except the 5K) there were women’s cut shirts as an option for this year. The actual shirts felt a little larger than last year and were of a slightly softer material and again were long sleeved. Last year was a heavier, coarser, paneled shirt vs. this year’s shirts. Overall I liked the shirt designs and the colors this year. Even the short sleeved cotton 5K carried over the theming on the shirts.

Over at the Jostens Center I hit the runDisney merchandise area. It was crowded but not manic. Each aisle seemed to be dedicated to each race but mainly 10K, Half, Marathon and Goofy. There was some Dopey merchandise (after all there were 7,000 people who signed up) but not as much as I would have expected given it being an inaugural event. Nevertheless I got what I wanted and because there wasn’t too much I actually spent less than I had budgeted (phew!!!). I got to use the Disney Visa gift card the boys got me for Father’s Day and together with the 10% discount for my Disney Visa Card I left the runDisney merchandise area just under $70 lighter.

The Expo was quite spacious with less crowds than I had experienced in 2012 and 2013. This may be as I said earlier because it was mainly Dopey folks (Marathon and Goofy runners would probably hit the Expo over the next couple of days) and also because I had no kids in tow this year but it was also because they spread the Expo to Champion Stadium.

I spent a little time at the Expo, not really shopping as I have been to umpteen expos in the last year. What I did do is walk around chatting to folks. I stopped by the runDisney booth where I met Rudy Novotny who was walking around the floor announcing folks at the expo and also I finally got to meet Jeff Galloway (after three attempts if you count 2012 and 2013 runDisney expos). I also got a chance to meet Sarah from sparklyrunner.blogspot.com who I bumped into over the next couple of days along with many other folks.

Meeting Jeff Galloway

Meeting Rudy Novotny

I came into the Expo too late in the day to sign up for the New Balance Disney running shoes. I’d heard about 2-4 hour waits for the shoes (including sign up and appointment time) and I had plans for dinner and wanted to get out to the parks early. Although I like the look of the shoes (especially the Goofy shoes) I am not sure I would really wear them (nor would my wife really allow me to). I saw plenty around the park and I have to say the Goofy’s did look good.

2014 runDisney New Balance shoes

On my way out of the Expo I bumped into Michelle and Mike from the ‘Mickey Miles Podcast’ and said a quick hello. I would be attending their brunch tomorrow after the 5K. It was nice to meet up with everyone at the Expo but I had plans in the Magic Kingdom that night so I left the Expo early and made my way to the park. This was to be my ‘late night’ so I made a dinner reservation (Tony’s Town Square Restaurant), took many photo ops and stayed for the ‘Wishes’ fireworks spectacular before heading back to the hotel to check in and get my 5K race gear ready.

Michelle and Mike from the Mickey Miles Podcast

Just as an aside, on the eve of my arrival in Orlando my wife forwarded an email for an order she had place with ‘Disney Floral and Gifts’ so when I arrived at the Magic Kingdom I headed straight to City Hall and picked up my gift. As you can see from the pictures below my wife really knows how to treat me well. She had ordered a Disney cooler full of Disney treats. It came in handy for waiting in line that day. What a great start to my weekend.

My surprise gift

Full of Disney goodies

Love them 🙂

Feeling ‘Magical’

One thing I was tracking was my Fitbit during the week. Most training plans and coaches will advise to try and rest and stay off your feet before a race. Hey, I’m at Disney. Do you think I’m just going to sit around in my hotel room? So my first day down which was a non-running day my Fitbit hit the mark at 7.48 miles. As you will see during the weekend from my Fitbit stats the staying off your feet principle didn’t work out too well 😉

Mickey Miles Podcast – Episode 139 (Dopey Challenge Recap – Part 2)

January 21, 2014ianesenior 1 Comment

Michelle and Mike at the Mickey Miles Podcast invited Kimberly and I as guests of their show to review the recent Dopey Challenge that was part of the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. In the previous episode we talked about the Expo and 5K. This is the second of the 2 episodes and covers the 10K, the Half Marathon and the Full Marathon plus our overall weekend wrap up.

Again, if you haven’t yet done so, please check out the show. It’s a great podcast about Disney races and all things Disney.

philly2goofy

…and all the miles in between

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Walt Disney World Marathon

Philly2Goofy – An origin story…

2014 – Looking back and forward

Not why, but ‘how’ I run

Going “Goofy” (again…)

January 2014 – month in review

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 4 – Half Marathon – January 11, 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

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Part 1 – Expo – January 8, 2014

Mickey Miles Podcast – Episode 139 (Dopey Challenge Recap – Part 2)

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