Rob's Piratical Quest for RunDisney Gold

stayathomehero

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Hey there DisBoards!

My name is Rob! I’m a father of two, husband, Disney fanatic, former wannabe blogger, sometime wannabe actor, and now, a wannabe runner in Queens, NY. I joined DisBoards a few years ago to get information about when Free Dining was going to drop, and the info here led to family trips in 2015 and 2017 (the latter being the Ultimate Disney Road Trip...I almost made a trip report about it back then, and wish I had, but I digress).

After lurking the RunDisney page for a couple years, I’m going to finally jump in with my own training journal -- use this to keep track of my training and improvements in running with give me the incentive to achieve what I’ve been wanting (on and off) since 2017, and that is running in my first RunDisney race. So without, further ado, here is some of my background.


-My low point, or, it can only go up from here-

This is me in August 2009 when I was 26, I had hit my highest weight at 260. This is me in April 2019, 36, at the same weight as I am now, at 190.

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I have ran 3 Spartan races, have ran a 10K training run, and see Disney Gold in my future!

At the age of 28, I was a new father but the fitness was so low that I was constantly lethargic and would fall asleep almost every time I went in the car with my wife (don't worry, she was the one driving). I would get winded walking to the car, and ate and drank nonstop it seemed like. I had a serious soda habit, and would drink a 2 Liter of Pepsi every day. Want to know what the saddest part was? I prefer Coca-Cola.

Around the summer of 2013, I got into the website Nerd Fitness, and used tips of there to turn my personal health around. I’ve been chipping away at the weight by making a combination of diet changes and adding exercise.

After jumping in to simple changes like cutting out daily soft drinks, adding some body weight exercises, and being less lazy, I’ve slowly leveled up to feel at my physical peak as I head toward 40. The best part is is that my older daughter sees me as an inspiration and exercises on her own.

One thing that I thought I knew when I started doing bodyweight workouts was this: Running stinks. Running is the worst. There is no reason to spend hours and hours and hours of your life running. Lift weights, do pushups, eat better, and that’s it. Besides, I have, I don’t know, weak lungs or something. Yeah that’s it. That’s why I huff and puff every time I speed up past a walk for more than 10 seconds. Running just isn’t in the cards for me.

-2017 Ultimate Walt Disney World Family Vacation, research galore, and the seeds of RunDisney-

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My wife and I :D

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Me and the older one (back when she was an only child)

So, I had mentioned the Ultimate Disney Road Trip. This came to pass after first getting hired at my last job. During the off time (which there was a lot), my wife and I had the idea of going on trip #2. I spent my free time at work researching new restaurants, fast pass options, and entertaining myself by reading hours and hours of trip reports. I also read reviews and reports of Disney Tourist Blog. It was there that I first read about the Walt Disney World Marathon.

I loved the idea! I wanted in.

But, uhnhhmmmm….weak lungs.

Regardless, I did plenty of reading on RunDisney by devouring some trip reports, which I have read and reread: particularly @Ariel484 and @rteetz. If you have noticed my name stalking if your profile over the past few years, I apologize -- it’s just because I am obsessed with y’alls trip reports and read them several times. In fact, I read them earlier today before attempting this one on my own.

But again, weak lungs and I went off to Disney as a family and had the ultimate trip. I also ate so much that I started gaining the weight that I had lost over the last few years. If only there was something that could inspire me to get back into shape...

-Spartan Race & Medal Bling Love -

My wife’s cousin had purchased a Groupon for the kid’s Spartan Race at Citi Field in Queens, NY as a gift for my daughter. Looking into this looked fun, and my cousin-in-law wanted me to join him. I went again and signed up, not realizing that several things would change over the course of this year.

In March, I found out that I was going to be a father yet again! I resolved to get back into shape (again).

In April, I ran the Spartan Race. I did horrible! Absolutely terrible. In the second obstacle, which was a sandbag carry throughout the upper decks of Citi Field, I had to sit down due to heavy breathing multiple times. It took about 10 minutes to complete this one obstacle. Luckily, cousin-in-law coached me through it and didn’t leave me in the dust.

It must have been those weak lungs.

Despite me almost calling it quits 5 minutes into the dang thing, I pushed through and completed the race. And I absolutely loved it! It was so much fun, and there was something about the glint of light in the medal that caught my eye. It was almost like I had caught Gold Fever like one Scrooge McDuck!

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I wanted more. I wanted to actually complete a Spartan Race without completely collapsing next time. How would I do this? Improve my cardiovascular fitness. But how?

Well, uh, running. You all know this. So what did I do?

I tried a couch to 5K program for a couple weeks. I would run for a minute and then huff and puff. Not for me, I guess. Failed. Gave up. Quit.

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Say it with me: weak lungs!

2018 was a whirlwind of a time, and my new daughter was born in October 2018. About a month later, Thanksgiving weekend, my cousin-in-law asked if I was interested in the Spartan Race for 2019. Sure I said! But I wanted to improve from 2018. I wanted to carry a sandback through Citi Field strongly, and the only way to do this would be to increase my cardiovascular strength.

Time to run.

During this time, I mentioned to my wife that I wanted to get back into running and really give it a go this time. For Christmas, she bought me an under layer and gloves so that I could go out and run in the cold. Between her support, and wanted to not always be a blamer and quitter for my girls, I ran out in January 2019 and ran.

-2019 Becoming a Runner-

Throughout January to Easter, I started my own version of the Couch to 5K program. I would run a little bit at a time and increase my time. I went from being able to run a couple minutes at a stretch, to 5 minutes run and 5 minutes walk. To 6 minute runs. 2 sets of 7. 2 sets of 8. 2 sets of 9. A 12 minute mile. An 11 minute mile. Two sets of 11 minute miles.

In April, I ran my first 3 miler. That became my go to length. By working out a few days a week, slowly increasing my time until I hit that three miler, my weak lungs became….strong lungs? How about that.

When I started to falter, I would reread the DisBoards RunDisney trip reports. I watched RezRuns and Joyful Miles on youtube. I continued reading NerdFitness and Spartan Race blogs. My new daughter made me a morning person, and that morning person would run in the dark at 5am so I could shower and wake up my older daughter to drive her to school in the mornings.

After a lull in the summer, I increased my runs and on Thanksgiving day ran a 10K distance. Gobble Gobble!

But then I stopped running! I used Thanksgiving to Christmas as an excuse (rather than using Advent as a ramp up to Christmas).

-2020 Running Goals, And the Ultimate 2021 Goal-

After a month of cookies, and a lot of red wine, I jumped back into the running game. Back where I was a year ago. This time, I could go three miles at a stretch. In the dark, in NYC winter, I ran and loved it.

SETBACK 1.0

I was carrying my one-year old up the stairs to bed one night, and the ball of my foot just started hurting terribly. For a couple of days, I was limping around, worrying that I broke my toe. I took a month off of running as it slowly got better.

At the end of February, I took up running again, and since then have ran 50 miles.

I had started a long run once a week, increasing by half a mile one day a week over the last few weeks. This morning, I was supposed to run a 5 miler, on the way to a half marathon length by mid July...however, I was met with:


SETBACK 2.0

On April 19th, I was walking through my house doing absolutely nothing, and my foot started to hurt. Uh….what. After miles of running, box jumps, pull ups, burpees, and pushups...I was done in once again by just….walking. Now, earlier I had done a few high vertical jumps (barefoot on a wood floor). Could that have done something...I don't know.

So now, I’m rereading those RunDisney trip reports, and looking toward the future once my foot heals.

I would love to hit that half marathon length sometime this summer, if I can run and put in the miles soon.

Assuming Covid-19 doesn’t stop the 2021 Disney marathon weekend from happening, my goal is to run the 2021 Half Marathon.

If I can hit a half marathon length in a training run (or a local race), I would have the go ahead from the Mrs. to take the journey to the WORLD and race 13.1 miles, meet some characters, get a bunch of pictures for home, and ...plan for the next one? Eeek.

++This would probably be a solo trip and not involve a park ticket. I’ll delve into that next time, as well as post some of my Endomondo stats. Hopefully, I can use this journal as a way to get my thoughts down and keep track. I hope that some of you will read along, and if you do, that I won’t bore you to death. ++
 


Hi Rob! :wave: thanks for the shout-out!
If you have noticed my name stalking if your profile over the past few years, I apologize -- it’s just because I am obsessed with y’alls trip reports and read them several times. In fact, I read them earlier today before attempting this one on my own.
Haha, I have totally done the same thing! The report that inspired me to start doing runDisney races (it's on a different board)...oh man. I'm pretty sure I can recite that thing by heart!

I totally feel you on tweaking things just by doing normal everyday activities...that is the worst, so frustrating! Hope that foot heals up soon and that COVID-19 doesn't mess up your half marathon plans! And yes, you WILL be planning the next one...probably before you even get done with the first one. Good luck!! :wizard:
 
Welcome to you and your no-longer-weak lungs! Setbacks happen a lot in running, but hope your current one is short and uneventful.

Now on to the "unasked for advice" portion of the show (well, more like questions)! Is it the same foot giving you the same problem? (one does so love repeatable data) Have you been fitted for your running shoes?

Also, (since we are all Disney-enablers here), you wouldn't really need to hit 13.1 miles in training to be ready to do the half. Depending on what you follow for a training plan, you could max out at 10 or so. DopeyBadger is the king of plans.....and training.....and data. He is generous with his time to do plans for those who ask.

So welcome, and good luck with your upcoming running adventures!
 


Howdy, neighbor! (Like really neighbor ... I'm a part-time Manhattanite, part-time Queensian ... or whatever they call us)

If you're looking for local races (assuming races restart), NYCRUNS (https://nycruns.com/) does some good races. Not always very scenic (nothing like running through Disney), but low pressure and fairly well supported. They're even doing a Queens Half in November (rescheduled from April), which is laps around Flushing Meadows Park. NYRR also does a lot of races, particularly in Central Park, but they can sometimes be very crowded and a little chaotic.

I hope the foot heals up well and you can get back to running soon. I look forward to reading all about your progress towards the WDW Half!
 
Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the kind words of encouragement. It really made me happy, as a lot of this has been "on my own" without talking about it with anyone other than my wife. I hope that this will help hold myself accountable with updates and whatnot.

@SarahDisney : Hey neighbor! That sounds awesome - I looked up some of the races they have planned and they sound like a lot of fun. The Haunted Halloween looks especially fun...and it looks early enough that it won't cut into Halloween fun with the family if I end up doing that. Hopefully the races do restart sooner rather than later...but that goes for everything in this town, doesn't it?

@jmasgat : Thanks for the advice! I'll take whatever I can get. I have been fitted for running shoes, and I've worn this same style for a few years now, and I love them. I love them running as well as an everyday sneaker (ASICS Gel Venture 6 from a Gel Venture 5). Now, looking back on the other day, there's something that I did that may be the reason my foot started hurting: After a set of burpees, I decided to do a high vertical jump which I haven't done in a few years to see if I improved just by doing the Spartan race training and running. This was barefoot on a wood floor, and I did about 3 jumps as high as I could...this sounds like the unusual thing that may have caused it, but I don't know. The first time that this happened, I was carrying my 1 year old up a flight of stairs when the pain started...so I dunno.

@DopeyBadger Hey! Thanks so much! I have to say that you and your story are a big inspiration for me! Getting your blessing means a lot! :D

** If I didn't shout back at you yet, I will -- my 1 year old is crawling around me, and I have to wrap this up for the moment! Thank you all again so much! This is really amazing. **

-Update 4-23-

The foot is improving a little bit every day. I'm wrapping my ankle today because I was walking a little funny on the foot to alleviate pressure and my ankle felt off today. With it wrapped, I'm able to do a regular walking gait at a slow speed now. So so far so good.

-Workouts While My Foot Hurts -

So here's the workout hat I've been doing since my foot started hurting. I'm doing this every other day.

Bodyweight
3 sets of 20 pushups (with my hurt foot lifted)
3 sets of 20 air squats
3 sets of 3-4 pullups

Weighted (2x 30 lb dumbbells)
3 sets of 12 bent over dumbell rows
3 sets of 12 dumbbell "bench" presses - I'm reclined in a chair while doing this, so not on a bench. Whatevs.
3 sets of 8 overhead presses

While I was running, I did the bodyweight portion only about twice a week.
I feel like I should add planks or crunches.

Cardio????
That's the tricky thing. I'm not sure what I should do as far as keeping cardio work up while my foot hurts. I don't have access to any exercise equipment like bikes or elliptical machines.

Diet
I'm being strict again on diet while my foot heals. During Lent, I had zero beverages other than water or desserts of any kind, but since Easter I started drinking coffee and alcoholic beverages again. While this heals, I'm going to drink two cups of coffee with a splash of milk and one teaspoon sugar per day, and if I want more than that, it's going to be black. I'm going to restrict any wine or alcoholic beverage to once a week on Sundays only, if that. I think that drinking is always a slippery slope of for me...if I have one glass of red wine, suddenly I'll want three, and why not a Scotch on the rocks as an aperitif. If I can keep to one a week tops, I think that I should be good.

I'm also being very cautious about snacking, which is hard when trapped in the house for weeks. Our regular meals have been healthy for the most part and prepared at home, as we ordered food once since March 16th when schools were cancelled. We're almost tapped out, so me or my wife has to do a grocery run tomorrow for the next couple weeks. We're going to see if we can incorporate fish somehow twice a week instead of once. We got frozen salmon at BJ's (which is like a Costco), but even that's a little pricey...I want to find something that's frozen that's not as expensive as salmon but not as terrible for you as Gorton's Cheap and Crispy Garbage.

So that's my update for now...hopefully I'll be able to stay healthy and exercise while this foot heals and I'll be back on the road running around and playing Avoid The Humans soon.

Bonus Family Run News:

My 9 year old wants to go for a run with me! She's ran two kids Spartan races, and she goes on fitness kicks here and there, but now she wants to go for a mile run. This semester at school before the plague showed up, she would go on a mile run during recess with friends (their playground has a small track with a dozen laps being a mile).
 

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