Where Can We Get One of Those Whip Things? A Wine & Dine TR (Nov. 2019)

[scrappinginontario]

Wow! Congrats on completing all 3 races!! Quite the accomplishment! Way to go!!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Great pic with Mickey & Minnie!!

Congratulations on completing the race!! That's such an awesome accomplishment! I hope your foot/blister ended up being ok!

 

[Mollygirl21]

Sunday, November 3rd

The big day is here! This morning would be my first half marathon and I expected to be jittery and nervous. I reality, I was somewhat tired and fairly calm, go figure! The half marathon started a half hour earlier than the 2 previous races, so an even earlier wake up call for me. I made it on to the first bus, which pulled away from POFQ 15 minutes before it should have, which meant we were the 2nd bus to arrive at the starting point. Since it was so empty, I immediately got in line to get a picture with Fife and Drum Mickey and Minnie and only waited a few minutes. I hadn't planned to get any pictures today, so I was very excited!

Unfortunately, the rest of the picture lines had gotten long while I was waiting so I headed into line to wait for the corrals to open. It was a bit chilly this morning, in the low 60’s, and I was glad I had grabbed a throw away sweatshirt before heading out.

I had tried to strategize how I wanted to run this race and I was super worried about getting swept since I was starting in the last corral again. I had trained using the Galloway method of run/walk intervals and there were Galloway pace groups in each corral that I had been debating joining. I still hadn’t decided as of this morning because I had trained at 30sec/30sec and the pace groups in my corral were doing 15sec/30sec. However, when the pacers entered the corral, they were so far behind me that it no longer mattered. I had my headphones and my Garmin watch would track my intervals for me so I felt good to go!

Today’s course started at MK again and went to AK, then HS, and then Epcot. It was still dark when I crossed the starting line but it didn’t stay dark for long. I snapped some pictures of the first characters I passed and I felt good in the first few miles. My legs had been pretty tight when I got up but they loosened up after the first mile.

I honestly don’t remember the first few miles very well, I was tired and a bit zoned. Funnily enough, a lady I met at our resort jokingly said they start the half extra early so you sleep through the first few miles. That’s definitely what I felt like! Then I started running through the backstage area of Animal Kingdom and my attention was peaked. There really wasn’t anything too interesting to see but it’s also not something you get to do every day.

Entering AK at sunrise was amazing and I stopped for a few photos. It did get really crowded, especially around Pandora where the trails are narrower, and I could hear one of the pace groups catching up to me. They appeared to be taking up a lot of the trail so I tried to stay ahead of them.

I finished the first 10k shortly after exiting AK and I was feeling good! However, I started to drag part way through mile 7. My legs were starting to get tired and I was a bit bored. It sounds crazy to be bored but I was on another long stretch of highway, I was tired, and I just wanted to be moving faster than I was. At this point, the pace group caught up to me and they were telling jokes and doing trivia, so I joined them. The slower pace helped and the company and distraction really helped! I stuck with them through mile 9, which brought me close to Hollywood Studios. 9.5 miles was the longest I had ever run before this and by then I was really feeling it. I slowed down a bit to enjoy the sights in HS and the group got too far ahead of me. I knew there was one more pace group behind me and I didn’t want them to catch up since the sweepers would be close behind them. It was great to have park guests and cast members cheering us on in HS because I was TIRED! As I was exiting the park, there was a course photographer there and only one other runner near me. He offered to take shots of us jumping in the air if we wanted but I thanked him and told him there was no way my feet were leaving the ground at that moment!

I had been walking a lot through HS and that made it harder to get going again once I exited on the boardwalk but I was still pushing. Kitty texted while I was on the Boardwalk and said she was coming up on the 20k mark. I was confused because she had started a 20+ minutes ahead of me and I was also coming up on the 20k mark, and I certainly wasn’t going fast enough to catch anyone. Turns out she had needed to take a few bio breaks and that means waiting in line. I never did catch her but I finished only a few minutes after she and her dad. By the time I reached Epcot, I was mostly walking again...until the course officials started telling us we were only 2 minutes ahead of pace and that they were still sweeping. I started pushing it again and I really don’t know where I found the energy for it. Just after passing mile 12, I stepped down and burst a large blister under the ball of my foot. I didn’t know it was there but it was obviously large and now painful. Thank goodness it didn’t happen sooner. I still managed to keep moving but now I was only 1 min ahead of pace. I finally exiting Epcot and headed down the final stretch and finished about 200 feet in front of the balloon ladies (the final runners before the sweepers). I was exhausted and just wanted to get my socks off and fix my foot! My final time was 3 hrs 35 minutes, so only 5 minutes longer than the time limit. I got my half marathon medal and then got in line for my challenge medal. It felt really great to finally have them both! I grabbed my snacks and a finisher picture and 2 other friends from a virtual running club I’m part of texted to say they were heading to POFQ for beignets if I wanted to join them on the bus ride back, so I headed out. It was awesome to meet them in person! There was a photographer outside of POFQ when we arrived so we got more pictures there too. They headed off to get food and I met my dad at a table outside Sassagoula where he had grabbed up breakfast. More pictures with him there and then again when we got back to our room. A good start to the day!

Great post - it almost makes me want to start running! But...nah. It looks awesome and I admire you for doing this!

 

[TNGirlwCamera]

Following along!

I have TSA and I still get there too early.

Um, of course, you can't do laundry with a dog in your lap.

Congrats on your races!! Good for you for working so hard! This is a wish of mine, to do these races.

 

[rteetz]

Congrats on the half!

 

[DrunkJam]

Congratulations!
I really am inspired. Maybe I can take on Run Disney! (I seriously doubt it, but...)
Well done!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Yay to finishing the 1/2 and doing all 3 races. Sorry about the blister, those are never pleasant!
I think if I was a runner, Disney would be the best place to do marathons!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

And the Gran Fiesta line being crazy?? IDK why but it seems to happen randomly every now and then! I enjoy that ride but not waiting in line for it!

Exactly! This is a ride that is meant to be a walk on!

I LOVE JINGLE Cruise and when we rode earlier this month we lucked out with one of the best skippers we've ever had. Your skipper can totally make or break your experience!

I was so sad my dad didn't get to experience a better Skipper

Congrats on finishing the half marathon (as well as the previous races). You did amazing! Btw, blisters are no joke so well done pushing through!

Thank you! The blisters were certainly unpleasant but it could have been much worse!

Wow! Congrats on completing all 3 races!! Quite the accomplishment! Way to go!!!

Thank you!

Great pic with Mickey & Minnie!!

Congratulations on completing the race!! That's such an awesome accomplishment! I hope your foot/blister ended up being ok!

I was so glad the picture turned out, that time of the morning is not my best time for pictures
My feet (turned out I had a huge blister on the other foot as well) took about 3 weeks to heal but still no regrets!

Great post - it almost makes me want to start running! But...nah. It looks awesome and I admire you for doing this!

Thanks! I was SO not a runner until about a year ago, so I totally get it.

I have TSA and I still get there too early.

Um, of course, you can't do laundry with a dog in your lap.

Congrats on your races!! Good for you for working so hard! This is a wish of mine, to do these races.

I'm sure I'd still arrive early with the TSA precheck just because that's the way I am! My dogs are a great excuse not to do anything You should do a race! runDisney is a lot of fun!

Congrats on the half!

Thank you!

Congratulations!
I really am inspired. Maybe I can take on Run Disney! (I seriously doubt it, but...)
Well done!

Thanks! I still can't believe I did it (and I'm going to do it again in April)

Yay to finishing the 1/2 and doing all 3 races. Sorry about the blister, those are never pleasant!
I think if I was a runner, Disney would be the best place to do marathons!

It was really great! I'm so glad my friend talked me in to doing the challenge instead of just the 10k because the course and atmosphere was so much better!

 

[pkondz]

This morning would be my first half marathon and I expected to be jittery and nervous.

I would think so, too.

The half marathon started a half hour earlier than the 2 previous races, so an even earlier wake up call for me.

I understand why they do it, but... wouldn't it be nice to run it just a bit... later?

I hadn't planned to get any pictures today, so I was very excited!

Good for you.

I honestly don’t remember the first few miles very well, I was tired and a bit zoned. Funnily enough, a lady I met at our resort jokingly said they start the half extra early so you sleep through the first few miles.

I know that feeling. It's been literally decades since I ran any distances at all (and never a half marathon), but I remember that early race... blank spot.

My legs were starting to get tired and I was a bit bored. It sounds crazy to be bored but I was on another long stretch of highway,

I get that too.

At this point, the pace group caught up to me and they were telling jokes and doing trivia, so I joined them. The slower pace helped and the company and distraction really helped!

Nice.

He offered to take shots of us jumping in the air if we wanted but I thanked him and told him there was no way my feet were leaving the ground at that moment!

Did the dude not realize he was shooting marathon runners????

Just after passing mile 12, I stepped down and burst a large blister under the ball of my foot.

Oh, no! Ouch!!

I finally exiting Epcot and headed down the final stretch and finished about 200 feet in front of the balloon ladies (the final runners before the sweepers).

You did it! And just in the nick of time! Congrats!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

I understand why they do it, but... wouldn't it be nice to run it just a bit... later?

Yes, it would. But the added heat of running later would not be fun

Did the dude not realize he was shooting marathon runners????

I kinda wish I'd at least tried it, especially since my finish line photos never showed up and photopass couldn't find them

You did it! And just in the nick of time! Congrats!

Thanks!

 

[pkondz]

Yes, it would. But the added heat of running later would not be fun

I had thought of that... Perhaps not that late.

I kinda wish I'd at least tried it, especially since my finish line photos never showed up and photopass couldn't find them

Well... poop.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Congrats on the half marathon! Love the pictures with all the medals!

 

[NJlauren]

I immediately got in line to get a picture with Fife and Drum Mickey and Minnie and only waited a few minutes.

OMG LOVE THEM! So adorable!

I was exhausted and just wanted to get my socks off and fix my foot! My final time was 3 hrs 35 minutes, so only 5 minutes longer than the time limit. I got my half marathon medal and then got in line for my challenge medal. It felt really great to finally have them both!

You go girl! You inspire me, honestly you rocked these race and its amazing! I can only imagine how hard this race was especially after 2 other days of races but you rocked it! CONGRATS!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of recent updates, life got crazy around the holidays and now it’s cold and dark out and I’m sluggish. But, 98 days until my next trip!

After breakfast, my dad and I headed back to the room where he took some pictures with all my medals and then I showered and tried to fix my blistered feet. Blister guards do NOT work as well once the blisters are already there!

I had booked fastpasses and dining at Hollywood Studios for today since it’s the smallest park and I was hoping for the least amount of walking. I had heard recommendations to keep walking all day to keep from tightening up and this seemed like a happy medium.

We caught the tail end of the Star Wars stage show when we entered and then headed to our Star Tours fastpass.

I was so excited to be traveling with someone who doesn’t get sick on Star Tours! (I hoped, but he didn’t get sick years ago when we came). We both really enjoyed the ride but I don’t remember what scenes we got. I know we were never the rebel spy on this trip. The crowds weren’t terrible, I think most runners were at Epcot since there was a special after party later this day.

We walked into Galaxy’s Edge next, grabbed some sodas, and got some pictures. It was great just exploring the land and my dad was really impressed with it.

(In case you can't read my shirt, it says Everything Hurts and I'm Not Dead Yet!)

I had told him not to count on riding Smuggler’s Run and the wait was a little over an hour today. Keeping with the theme, we walked through the Launch Bay next, I forgot that my dad will read Every.Single.Placard. This took a while!

We wandered out by the Chinese Theater and just sat down for a bit. I was struggling with very tired legs and very sore feet. Thank goodness for sandals!

We had a 4pm ADR at Mama Melrose’s and we wandered over a little early and got seated right away. We had a fantastic server who asked if we wanted to see Fantasmic that night because he had extra lunch package tickets left over. My dad jumped on that...I really like Fantasmic but I also was not planning to stay up that late tonight. Oh well, you only live once! I was beyond starving so we ordered the mushroom flatbread appetizer even though it would be out of pocket. My dad ordered a beer and I got a sangria- I believe this was the best sangria I had this trip! The flatbread was amazing too. We each ordered the steak with mac and cheese even though I was feeling more pasta-y, but these were a great choice. The dessert trios came after and I finished it all, I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten quite this much!

(another super flattering picture )

Our Muppet Vision FP was next, good planning since we needed to digest a little. I struggled to stay awake during this one lol. We had an evening FP for Slinky Dog since I really wanted to do it at dark, we walked back through Galaxy’s Edge to get there and it was so beautiful lit up at night. We both enjoyed our ride with Slinky but TSL was pretty busy with long waits.

We decided to go back into GE to look around at night and Smuggler’s Run was down to 40 mins so we got in line. It was more like 30 by the time we got on the ride. We hit the jackpot and both got pilot cards! We were paired with 2 very young girls and their parents. They were super cute and had been pilots on their last ride and told us how they crashed into everything! They performed admirably as gunners I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before but I’m not a fan of children but these girls were so excited and so well behaved and it was a fun ride. I was excited to fly the Falcon with my dad but afterwards he just complained that he didn’t realize he was going to need to hit the boost button and wasn’t watching for it. Waa Waa. He did really like the ride though, it’s just the Engineer side of him that has to be a perfectionist and complain.

We left GE and found no line for Star Tours so we went on another ride. I was dragging really bad by this point and we had about 45 minutes until Fantasmic. I saw Tower of Terror only had a 30 minute wait so I asked my dad if he wanted to ride. I had discussed all rides with him before this trip and the only thing he had vetoed was Rock N Roller Coaster because it goes upside down, but I told him he didn’t have to ride anything he didn’t want to. He hates heights even more than me so I wasn’t sure if Tower would be a go or not. He said he’d better ride it since he had picked on my brother and I for not letting him ride it when we were kids. The line took a little longer than expected and I was concerned about getting to our Fantasmic seats on time but we decided to chance it. I love ToT and my dad said he’d maybe ride it again someday with his eyes open.

We stopped to grab some drinks (Ice tea, I think) and headed to the show. We were about 5 mins to showtime but still got nice, center seats.

The show was great as always and even though I was somewhere beyond exhausted I’m glad we stayed! We took the bus back afterwards and I passed out in bed.

 

[pkondz]

life got crazy around the holidays and now it’s cold and dark out and I’m sluggish.

No worries. I think we all get it.

Blister guards do NOT work as well once the blisters are already there!

No, I suppose they don't.
Just like an arm cast doesn't prevent the bone from being broken!

I had heard recommendations to keep walking all day to keep from tightening up and this seemed like a happy medium.

Huh. Hadn't heard. (I don't run, so know nothing.) I would've thought resting or massage or hot tub would be better.

I was so excited to be traveling with someone who doesn’t get sick on Star Tours!

Always a good thing!

It was great just exploring the land and my dad was really impressed with it.

It really is something, isn't it?

(In case you can't read my shirt, it says Everything Hurts and I'm Not Dead Yet!)

we walked through the Launch Bay next, I forgot that my dad will read Every.Single.Placard. This took a while!

We had a fantastic server who asked if we wanted to see Fantasmic that night because he had extra lunch package tickets left over.

Wow! Nice!

We each ordered the steak with mac and cheese even though I was feeling more pasta-y, but these were a great choice.

Those sound really good!

we walked back through Galaxy’s Edge to get there and it was so beautiful lit up at night.

I haven't seen it at night, but I have seen it before sunrise.

We decided to go back into GE to look around at night and Smuggler’s Run was down to 40 mins so we got in line. It was more like 30 by the time we got on the ride.

Not bad.

We hit the jackpot and both got pilot cards!

Nice!

afterwards he just complained that he didn’t realize he was going to need to hit the boost button and wasn’t watching for it. Waa Waa.

Well, I didn't know about the boost button either!

I love ToT and my dad said he’d maybe ride it again someday with his eyes open.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great evening at DHS! That was really nice of the waiter to offer FPs for Fantasmic!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

case you can't read my shirt, it says Everything Hurts and I'm Not Dead Yet!)

Keeping with the theme, we walked through the Launch Bay next, I forgot that my dad will read Every.Single.Placard. This took a while!

Oh no lol. That would be my mom.

 

[ariane37]

My feet hurt just thinking about you walking around with blisters after all that running!
Sounds like despite being tired you had very productive day at HS I LOVE sangria and have had it all over Disney but not at MM so I'll have to keep in mind that you thought it was really good!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

No, I suppose they don't.
Just like an arm cast doesn't prevent the bone from being broken!

Very true! I'd also bought an off brand of guards on Amazon that the reviews said were wonderful...next time, I'll stick to Band Aid brand

Huh. Hadn't heard. (I don't run, so know nothing.) I would've thought resting or massage or hot tub would be better.

If I had sat down and allowed my muscles to tighten up, I probably wouldn't have been able to move for days

Those sound really good!

I've had 2 meals at Mama Melrose's now and it hasn't disappointed. It's not life altering food but it's very tasty!

Well, I didn't know about the boost button either!

He's STILL complaining that they should warn you in advance that there's a button to push!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

Sounds like a great evening at DHS! That was really nice of the waiter to offer FPs for Fantasmic!

It was really nice! I'm glad we got to see Fantasmic even though it wasn't originally in our plans. I'd wanted to do a Star Wars Fireworks dessert party but they weren't being offered because it was switching over to Christmas

Oh no lol. That would be my mom.

I was getting very impatient lol!

My feet hurt just thinking about you walking around with blisters after all that running!
Sounds like despite being tired you had very productive day at HS I LOVE sangria and have had it all over Disney but not at MM so I'll have to keep in mind that you thought it was really good!

Sangria is the best! The pineapple one at Skipper Canteen was more unique but I thought this was a very good traditional sangria