Marathon, Marathon, Marathon

I made hotel reservations for the 2017 Disney World Marathon Weekend yesterday for my mom and myself. Luckily for me, my mom likes to travel in style. I did a bunch of research on various resorts like the Polynesian, Beach Club, and Yacht Club but in the end, my mom wanted to stay at the Boardwalk again like we did for Wine & Dine. So that is where we are staying. I'm certainly not complaining because A) that would make me an asshole and B) if I was paying for it myself, I'd only be able to afford a value resort...barely.

I found this on my phone and must have gotten a little carried away with a bokeh app at some point...

Anyhoooooo, my mom and I are both doing the 10K on Friday and I'm going to do the full on Sunday. This is also a bonus for staying at the Boardwalk- the marathon route goes past the hotel. Making that reservation got me super excited.

I really need this on a mug. Or t-shirt. I'm not picky.

 

This will be my third marathon and official training is right around the corner. Even though I've been neglecting my blog and have been a bad blog reader, I have not been totally slacking off. I'm finally using the gym membership that I signed up for....a year ago. Better late than never, right?

 

The gym opens at 4:30am and it's on the way to the barn, so I've been going to the gym and then to the barn to ride at 6:30 and then to work by 8:30. Yes, I'm patting myself on the back here, because I'm tired all of the time now.

 

I'm not sure what he's so cranky about, he only has to work out once a day! Free loader.

 

I was smart enough to sign up for a winter marathon rather than a fall marathon because I'm super over doing long runs in the summer here. OVER IT.

Nope, nope, nope. This was on Sunday.

 

My gym has wifi, so I can camp out on the treadmill and watch Netflix. Yes, I can move faster than 3.6mph but I can't do that and take a picture. #priorities

In case you're wondering- that's Pretty Little Liars

 

I don't necessarily recommend watching something like Game of Thrones while on the treadmill because other people can see and well, if you are a GoT fan, you know there is a lot of violence and a lot of s-e-x.

So yeah. I'm getting pumped for my marathon adventure and making that reservation made me happy.

At the Tink Expo

 

I hope the medal for 2017 is pretty like this one.

 

Time to start actually formulating a plan. I'm hoping for a PR since my other two marathons were in terrible conditions and took me way longer than they should have. But I've learned that just because you train really hard, doesn't mean you're guaranteed a PR. We'll see what happens. Is anyone else doing WDW Marathon weekend?

 

 

 

 

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My Third Full Marathon...and the 10K

I signed up for my third full marathon yesterday. That marathon being the WDW Marathon in January. I also signed up for the 10K, plus had the task of signing up my non-running mother for the 10K, which was super duper insanely stressful. Not to mention, my mom doesn't have an Active.com account and can't remember her Facebook password to register via Facebook login. Grrrrrrrr. I even tried to hack into it. True first world problems, right there.

I knew that the 10K would fill up really fast, but that I would have plenty of time to get signed up for the full. WDW Race registrations always open at noon EST. That means 9:00am for Arizonans in the summer (AZ does not observe daylight savings, so sometimes, registration is at 10:00). This means that I took my lunch at 9:00 after getting to work at 8:30. #winning

I had one link open on Internet Explorer and one open on Google Chrome. I planned to start my mom's first since it was the only race she was doing. I got right in and was doing both when I got stuck on explorer at the very end. Horror! So I quickly finished mine and raced to get back in to do my mom's. Success!! Within probably 15 minutes of opening, the 10K showed "on hold" and then a few minutes later was sold out.

 

The 5K was sold out pretty quickly and then this morning, so was the half. I'm guessing the half sold out quickly because it's an anniversary year.

Also, I don't recall this being an option before. I wonder if this is in response to the increasing amount of people that seem to enjoy studying the results to see if they can find cheaters. I certainly enjoy some good online drama, but I'm not going to go searching for it.

 

It seems our pals at runDisney are listening to complaints about a lack of merchandise for runners. I know, I know, waaaaaahhhh, the whining gets to be a little much. But. I do agree that it's ridiculous that it sells out so fast. I can live without race merch, but I do feel bad for first time racers that really want a souvenir. They added several things at registration. Thank God they added the effing Tervis tumblers. Personally, I don't give two shits about it, but the whining about a lack of stock during Star Wars clogged my Facebook feed.

 

Granted, this means I won't get to enjoy witnessing a massacre a là Walking Dead style at the expo over merchandise, but maybe the whining will stop. I don't know.

This scene was filmed at a runDisney expo. Will Glenn survive his quest for a car magnet?

 

I did preorder a jacket only because I'm running the full, but it seemed like there weren't different jackets for each race like for the pins, so I'm not sure what I'll be getting. Hopefully nothing like this! Eeeek. I did a google image search and found this gem.

This makes my eyes hurt.

 

So yeah. I'm signed up for the 10K and full marathon for January. I'm exhausted just thinking about training for a full, but at least my longest runs will be during better weather instead of when I trained for NYC in the summer in the desert. In case anyone is interested in my first WDW Marathon experience, here is a link.

 

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Throwback Thursday: A Tale Of Two Pins

This post is about as long as A Tale of Two Cities. I present you with an epic tale about the origin of Disney pin trading and even if you think an idea is stupid, Disney is an evil, mastermind genius, and they will prevail. (I'm sure this is how Darth Vader feels every time he sees a depiction of himself with Mickey ears on)

 

Since I've been doing so much running, I've been doing way too much thinking. Mark my words: it won't be long until you can have a Netflix chip implanted directly into your brain. Then I won't have to do any thinking at all. I will be able to just beam old episodes of Parks and Rec (someone help me out- should that be italicized? Underlined? Does anyone even care?) directly into my brain and trot happily along, not a real thought getting in the way of my Amy Poehler time. Or Ron Swanson time, whom I have a wee crush on, despite his being my polar opposite.

But I digress. I mentioned in my last post that I freaked out on a run because there was a possibly that I forgot to order the commemorative pin for Tinkerbell Half this year. Gasp! Mind you, I am not a crazy pin trader, and pretty much could not give two shits about the Disney pins. I don't collect them and I don't trade them. Since I started running, I've gone to both Disneyland and Disney World a bunch of times and never have I just bought a pin at one of the parks for a keepsake. Ever. Somehow, the race pins are different. I must have them. This is all part of Disney's master plan for world domination. They will get you, eventually.

I didn't decide to run Tinkerbell until Wine & Dine weekend. The night of the half, I met up with friends that I love to see at races and had a blast with them as I always do. They were all heading to Tink and Abby offered to let me bunk with her and her sister. All of the Tink races were sold out, including the Pixie Dust challenge, but the half itself was still open. The next morning, I signed up. Since I signed up from my phone during breakfast, I couldn't remember if I had ordered the pin. Well, you can all relax because *spoiler alert* I did, in fact, order the pin. I may or may not have actually checked my confirmation in the middle of my run. That information is classified, however, so I guess you'll never know the truth.

 

Disneyland Half 2010 was my very first race ever. Back then, the expo was a normal, semi quiet affair. People didn't mob the merchandise section like crazed Black Friday Shoppers at Best Buy. I was so scared I wouldn't finish that first half, that I refrained from buying any souvenirs. I was petrified that I would jinx myself and since I was a rookie, I assumed that I could just buy a souvenir after the race was over. So, so naive, I was.

My first race pin. Disneyland Half 2010.

Luckily, I had preordered that first race pin. I managed to find a really ugly men's half marathon jacket after the race in downtown Disney. I bought it, but I have never once worn it. I also found a key chain.

Most of my Disneyland race pins

 

Ever since then, I automatically have ordered the pin when I sign up of a runDisney race. If I signed up for the challenge, I get the pins for the individual races and the challenge pin. Even though I seriously cringe at the price, somehow I can't stop ordering them. I have a preordered pin (and sometimes an additional pin from the expo) for every Disney race that I've done. The only exception being the Marathon Relay in 2012 because there weren't any even produced.

Goofy Challenge 2013

 

It's like this love/hate/resentful thing I do during every registration. I can't break the chain but those pins are like $15 a pop. Damn you, Disney!! *shakes fist*

My favorite of all of my race pins

 

Anyway, as I was trotting around the park, secure in the knowledge that the coveted pin would be added to my collection, I was also grumbling about the amount of money of have invested in those stupid pins and I'm not even a pin collector. Don't judge, my dear readers, I have a sneaking suspicion that there are a few of you out there in the same boat as me.

 

And then, as I was finishing up the last mile of my run, I remembered the story of the origin of Disney pin trading.

Growing up in Arizona, I went on tons of road trips to Disneyland. Family trips, school trips, friend trips. Pretty much every year we ended up at Disneyland at some point. At no point, did I recall seeing a bunch of pins in the gift shops.

 

Spaceship Earth dressed up for the Millennium Celebration. That is a picture of a picture from our trip.

In 2000, my family took a vacation to the Disney World Resort. My dad and step mom must have booked through a Disney travel agent because when we met at their house in the wee hours of the morning to leave on our trip, my dad handed all of us the standard complimentary Disney luggage tag and keepsake pin from the Disney travel company. I didn't think much about it, but for some reason, I kept that pin.

My first Disney pin

 

Upon arrival at The Boardwalk (a hotel I adore but can only afford if I'm with a parental unit and not actually paying for it), we were greeted by a cast member. I believe we were staying on the concierge level (also something I can not afford on my own). When you stay at a nicer hotel, especially when you're on the concierge level, the cast members take their time explaining everything to you and giving you tips and pointers to ensure that you have the most magical time possible.

Part of this magical experience hinged on taking part in a new Disney past time ("Disney past time" loosely translates as "ways you can spend even more money at Disney, despite the second mortgage you have on your house just to afford this trip in the first place") of pin trading.

She then handed everyone a special pin to "start our very own collection". She explained that pin collecting and trading was new, but that if we saw a cast member with a pin on, we could trade our pin for one of the cast member's pins. If we bought a pin, we could trade that pin, too.

And so it begins

 

I remember her telling us that this was going to be a huge thing in the future. Everyone would be pin trading like trading baseball cards in the past.

You know what I remember the most clearly about all of this? All I could think is that pin trading is the dumbest thing ever and there's no way it was going to be successful. No one cares enough about pins for it to be traded on a mass scale.

Well, we all know how wrong I was about that. Never doubt the Mouse. Oh, the irony. I'm now almost 40 and I had a minor panic attack that I would be missing a pin from from collection, had I forgotten to order it.

A Tale Of Two Pins. The End.

Well played, Disney. Well played.

I decided to Google original Disney pin trading (after I wrote all of this because, of course, it didn't occur to me to check it our beforehand. D'oh.), just to make sure I didn't make all of this up in my own mind. I think it's entirely possible that Disney is capable of implanting false memories into our brains while on property, but my story checks out. Disney introduced pin trading as part of the Millennium Celebration.

I have to take a moment to thank my research assistant, Bruiser, because he was oh so helpful.

 

So helpful.

 

 

 

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Keeping Promises

Hello, fellow bloggians. It's story time!

I haven't written much about this topic, but my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2013. I wrote a bit about it in a post awhile ago. That Christmas was pretty depressing and we all tried to keep our spirits up, but it was tough. (I swear this is a happy story, not a sad one.)

I'm the only runner in my family, but on occasion, my mom has tagged along on a race to walk a 5K. In 2012, My mom, sister and I did the Disneyland 5K and she had a great time.

My sister, my mom and me in 2012

Everytime I go on a runDisney trip, my mom asks me when she can go with me to do another one. I told I would go with her when she was done with treatments and could travel. Well, good news, folks! My mom is doing great and is in remission. She still has treatments, but she can now travel.

For her birthday, I told her I would take a trip with her to WDW for Wine & Dine weekend and do the Jingle Jungle 5K. I'll also be doing the half, but she has no desire to do that. I've wanted to do this race forever and I'm super excited to finally do it. Not to mention, my mom will insist on staying at a nicer hotel, so that will be a nice change for yours truly! She's all about convenience, so I think we might be staying at the Boardwalk.

In addition, my mom is a huge Harry Potter fan. She's been bugging me to go to Universal, as well. So why not kill two birds with one stone? And what a great way to celebrate my mom's health than Disney and Harry Potter?

Not to mention, both resorts will be decorated for the holidays and the Food and Wine Festival will be going on at Epcot. I'm pretty excited!

I know W&D weekend is months away and I have a ton of things going on before then, but I 

Who else has been to Universal to see Harry Potter? I'm not sure how I need to split up our trip to get everything in. Of course, I still need ample time at WDW, right? Plus, my mom hasn't been to WDW since the 90s and I haven't been to Universal Orlando at all. 

Any advice out there from the Universal Studios pros? How many days would I need to see all of the Harry Potter stuff? I'd also like to wander around the parts of the parks, but my heart is at Disney and seeing all of the important things there.



So Goofy, huh?

RT @disneywords: Every day, another new 

adventure. Every mile, another new zip 
code. –Goofy

I thought that this was an appropriate tweet quoting Goofy considering I've committed to doing GOOFY CHALLENGE 2013. Ahhh! Scary! Having focused more on the idea of doing the NYC Marathon, I forgot how scary doing Goofy is...you're totally right, Fruitfly - I'm excited, but now getting a little freaked out! I guess it's just sinking in today how hard training for this is going to be.

Disney races are my favorite and I'm really excited to finally see the entire marathon course. I had the first leg of the marathon relay this year and I liked that course better than the half marathon course. (I'm really glad T is so easy to convince to do races because Disney announced that they will not be offering the marathon relay this year. So the adorable Chip and Dale Relay medal is a one of a kind medal!)

I ran a half marathon last Saturday, so I'm using that as an excuse for not running this week, but I need to get back on the wagon tomorrow now that I've had a week off. Plus, my ass is NOT getting any smaller. Here's T and me nerding out after the Tinker Bell Half at Disneyland.

Ready to tackle  Goofy 2013

2013 seems like a good year to do Goofy since it will be the 20th anniversary of the marathon. I'm hoping the medal will be awesome. For some reason, I never like their anniversary medals. The 5th anniversary DL Half kinda sucked, but since it was my very first half marathon, I was just excited to get a medal. I didn't like the giant 5 for a 13 mile race. The Donald 15th anniversary is creepy.

In other news: I'm hooked on The Hunger Games. I'm halfway through the first book and it's really good.

(source)

Why can't I be creative enough to come up with these kinds of stories? I wouldn't mind being a creative genius...and I could certainly use the money. I can't wait for the movie.

Lenny Krevitz to play Cinna (source)

I didn't realize Elizabeth Banks was playing this weirdo... (source)

Can't wait. Now I'm off to do some reading. G'night all!

Blogger Note: I just ran spellcheck and I misspelled anniversary 3 different times...and I actually know how to spell it. D'oh.

 

Post Race Tomfoolery

Oh, it's magical!

Running two half marathons in two days is tough business. Run On The Sun and I didn't make it to the parks Saturday or Sunday because we were exhausted. We did, however, have dinner with my wonderful friend Debra that drove from Jacksonville just to have dinner with us. I wish I had taken pictures of the food because it was incredible. We went to a Spanish tapas restaurant and ate ourselves silly!

We decided to take our bling for a spin around the parks and get some good pictures.

Just a little awesomeness. No big deal.

I'm being eaten by a squirrel.

Do people actually pay for these hats, or do they
 just try them on and take pictures?

Moi

Fake Italy!

Fake Japan!

I wonder how many people do this every day...

Fake France!

Really wish I had a better camera for this one...

Spaceship Earth

I really love Epcot. I enjoy all of the parks, but Epcot is the most interesting. Also has the biggest selection of alcohol, not that I noticed! We definitely spent most of our time at Epcot. For some reason, I didn't take any pictures at Animal Kingdom. Can't wait to come back in 2013!