Hanging up my running shoes

When I edited my title, I saw on my first page that my photobucket pictures seem to have reappeared now with an obnoxious watermark on them, but they are at least back. Maybe I need to check back on what they are doing now before I pay Flickr.
I migrated over to Flickr after Photobucket went through that whole making you pay an obscene amount thing.
 
The gif Queen is back! Such perfect execution! Excited to hear all about it.

giphy.gif
 
So ... with pictures. Photobucket is now letting you post pictures, but with a watermark. Flickr free accounts are now limited to 1000 per account. I don't have insight into future secret enhancements, but as of right now, the DIS limits picture size to 1 MB. If you have a lot of large pictures, there are no great options.

I'm excited to see what happens with training and how you recommit yourself to running!
 



We had a problem at our last toll gate exit (we came in a slightly different way than usual) and the exit only had SunPass or exact change booth. It was $1.00. We had a dollar bill but you could only use change. We had 40 cents. Ugh. We were basically stuck, so I threw in the 40 cents and we just drove on through. I’m sure some big fine is coming our way soon from Alamo. Sigh.

We got to the hotel around 2:30 or so and our room was ready. We got a king bed room (yay) in the 70s building overlooking the computer pool.




We opted to say no to mousekeeping and got a $30 gift card for our choice. It was great. For a short stay I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. We were able to find someone easily a couple of times to get coffee refills so it worked out great.

Once checked in we headed over to Epcot for the evening. Flower and Garden time! The park is so pretty for this festival.

[/URL

]



https://s1136.photobucket.com/user/...-471D-A0A0-93CE5099B428_zpsmwbhpak7.jpeg.html


When we bought our Annual Passes in January they were out of the AP MagicBand sliders and I’d had an email they had them back in stock along with special F&G AP magnets so we picked those up before stopping for a quick share of some tacos and beverages!


https://s1136.photobucket.com/user/...-471D-A0A0-93CE5099B428_zpsmwbhpak7.jpeg.html
I had some FP+ lined up, so we rode Frozen Ever After and SSE I think and then wandered toward Italy for our dinner reservation. We still had time to kill and there was a Photopass person, so why not?

[URL=https://s1136.photobucket.com/user/baumangm/media/D2C89643-D098-438E-A545-6256E713FEBF_zpsxt29bibi.jpeg.html][/URL]


Then on to dinner at Via Napoli. Yummy.



Once done there I think we rode Soarin’ and just walked around a bit more before heading back for the night.

[/URL]

PANDA!!!




We thought about staying for Illuminations, but we were tired and had an early morning ahead. We found the hotel room to be very nice and I worried a bit about noise from the pool, but we had no problems at all. I found the theming at the resort to be very cute and enjoyed seeing the various building themes for each decade.


Next Up: On to Hollywood Studios!!


 


Man! Those pictures are BIG. I went back to photobucket and can't remember how to resize from there. Sorry!
 
Day 2

I have little recollection of exactly what we did and when for much of this trip and fewer pictures. HA! I’ll do my best to recall it though.

giphy.gif


We got up bright and early, grabbed some breakfast at Pop and drove over to Hollywood studios.



Plan was to hit rope drop and ride Slinky Dog, but Chris says the ride bothers him a bit, so we did TSMM first instead. Then we hit up Tower. Chris got this beautiful picture of my favorite ride!

[/URL
]

Lines were already building fast, but we anticipated that with Spring Break, so we had a coffee break and then rode some rides with FP. Star Tours, TSMM and Tower. In between the FP though, I had one very important stop to make!
Can you guess?

[/URL]

Oh yeah, darlings!

[/URL]

I was so bummed she wasn’t out for the marathon, I had to go see her when I heard she had a limited engagement for meets at DHS. The line was pretty short really, so it was fun to get a picture! Outside her meet area was another little Photopass spot and we had time to kill so, yeah,

[/URL]

Cheesy. :D

We had a nice, long (service was soooo slow) lunch at Brown Derby. I just love that Cobb Salad!

By now the park was slammed and no FP available at all really, so we decided to bail out and rest at the hotel for a bit. We were texting the girls who were leaving out from home on the tour bus. They had a LONG drive ahead but were excited to be on the way to Florida.

By evening we decided to hit up Magic Kingdom and took a bus over rather than drive. I don’t remember again what we did, but rode a few rides, had a quick service meal at Columbia Harbor House and just enjoyed the evening.

We stayed until the fireworks I know planning to ride Splash with a FP I had scored, but we both decided to just relax and watch it from Frontierland and then head out. That may have been a mistake. LOL

It took forever to get out of the park and then a LONG wait for the bus to Pop, but we got back to the room eventually.

We had another early morning ahead as we were planning to hit up EMH at AK the next day.






 


Man, I'm super jealous that you got to meet Edna! I really wanted her to be out during the marathon ... that would have been a very long line, but well worth it.
 
Man, I'm super jealous that you got to meet Edna! I really wanted her to be out during the marathon ... that would have been a very long line, but well worth it.

I was really excited to see her. During the marathon would have been better with our costumes on, even though I know you are right that the line would have been insane.
 
Last edited:
Training Plans
HERCULES-GIF.gif

Let's take a break from my little Disney trip to talk running and training and plans for our Wine and Dine races, m'kay?

As I shared, it was a rough winter for me with training and motivation. I'm still trying to shake out of my slump and figure out what I want to do next. One thing is certain, my conditioning and drive to improve has taken a real beating lately. So, I'm making some adjustments to how I'm training and going to try and go back to some basics and give myself a break on worrying about any specific time goals for awhile. Maybe that will reinvigorate my love again.

giphy.gif

Additionally, I'm trying to figure out how to get my girls on a steady training schedule that they'll do and be ready to enjoy their first runDisney experiences this fall. So, what's the general plan?

1. Chris and I are going to go back to being pace leaders for our Galloway group. Our leader has been struggling to get pace leaders again, so really wants us to lead. That said, I've decided that the group we used to lead is just too fast for me anymore. Chris, however, can definitely run that pace, so we are going to run in different groups this year. :( I'll miss our long runs together, but I think it's best for both of us to do this.

breakup.gif

2. We are going to dial back to 4 days a week from 5. I think the added mileage was good for us, but I also think it burned me out some. So, we are planning to run T, Th, Sa, Su and see how that goes. We may or may not make some of those weekday runs a bit longer to help make up some mileage, but we'll see. I'll also want to eventually work back in some Tempo and Daniels pace runs I think as well. Ultimately, I enjoyed DopeyBadger's plan, but want to go back to something I tailor myself I think.

3. Core strength and yoga. I sure wish I knew how to make myself get in gear with this. I know that ultimately it's just me making the decision to do it though. The year I did this faithfully was my best running year ever and I think there is little doubt this was a big part of it. I just have to figure out how to hold myself accountable and do it. I can do this, right?

images


4. I gotta lose some weight, y'all. I really let things go this winter and have about 10-12 extra pounds to show for it. I know that low carb diets work for me, so back on that wagon again. I had a solid week last week of controlling myself. No weight loss yet, but I know if I stay strict it'll happen. Right now my body is just not wanting to surrender.

5. No marathons for me this year. And that includes Marathon Weekend probably. :( We are doing a lot of Disney this year and I think we need a break and probably a break for me from marathons would be good. It's a tough distance for me. I much prefer half marathons and do better in them, so in my quest for a happier running experience, I think it's a good idea. Chris is still probably going to run a marathon this fall on his own though.

6. Going back to a 90/30 interval. I'm not sure this is a good thing or not, but I felt like a stronger runner when we were doing that interval, so this last month or so we've been doing that. It's still not very comfortable for me, but it's gradually getting better. The group I'll help lead this year runs 90/30 just at a slower pace than the group Chris will lead. We will see how it goes.

tenor.gif

7. My girls. So, one daughter, Paige, is a pretty good little runner already - although out of shape. She's the one doing the two-course challenge. We are working to get her ready for a 10k PoT race soon that her dad will run with her. She needs to be around a 10:00 m/m pace for that to match our old PoT (that will be expiring soon :( ) but I think she'll be fine to do that. Oh to be 15 again. We've taken them running the last two Sundays and Paige has been fine. She did two miles with her dad at a 10:00 minute pace and while it pushed her (and Chris) a bit, they did fine and she should be in good shape for a 10K soon. She's also going to join our Galloway group and run with her dad to train for the half.

8. Sophie is NOT a runner. In fact, she says she hates it. :( I'm hoping at some point the bug will bite her a bit but so far no luck. I've just done 1 mile runs with her the last two weeks doing 60/30 intervals. This past Sunday I had to drop to 30/30 to keep her going the last quarter mile or so, but she is doing it at least. She could really use the exercise, so I'm hoping runDisney will be the incentive needed to keep her going. We need to figure out how to get them doing a couple of mid-week runs as well and no way I'll get them up at 4:30 am to go with me and Chris so need to get that sorted out somehow. Luckily I just need to get Sophie up to a decent pace for a 10k and she'll be fine.

21764582-e946-4e7d-b8a0-9b71210427c2.gif

9. And this has nothing to do with running - but we are taking the girls for a Disney vacation again in July. Those APs are burning a hole in our pocket. :D We had such a great family vacation with them last summer and when we suggested it to them again, they were all in. I've done my job as a parent in indoctrinating my children to love Disney as much as I do. Walt would be so proud of me.

giphy.gif

10. I'll do a separate post later to talk about trip plans. If you've made it to the end of this list...

giphy.gif



 
I'm a little behind... but I love the trip report so far!

I always appreciate when people are honest with the ups AND downs of running.... It's not always easy! I think you have a good plan going forward. It's so great that you and Chris are pace leaders for your galloway group- I want to come do my long runs with you guys! I hope your girls enjoy training and the runDisney bug bites them too!

So glad you're going back to WDW this summer.... trip report please :)
 
I'm a little behind... but I love the trip report so far!

I always appreciate when people are honest with the ups AND downs of running.... It's not always easy! I think you have a good plan going forward. It's so great that you and Chris are pace leaders for your galloway group- I want to come do my long runs with you guys! I hope your girls enjoy training and the runDisney bug bites them too!

So glad you're going back to WDW this summer.... trip report please :)

Well no problem with me sharing the downs that's for sure. This morning I woke up feeling like I was ready to really take a fresh start, so here's hoping that lasts! We really do enjoy being pace leaders but I'll miss running with Chris. Hopefully we do as well apart as we did together. I wish you could come and join us! We really do have fun. Fingers crossed for my girls!!!

Sounds like a great plan! Can't wait to see how it plays out for you!

Thank you and thank you again for the plan last year and all your work and encouragement. I learned a lot and hope I can use that this year. We may well be back to you again. I know Chris has some vaguely formed thoughts about a time goal, so he might reach out to you individually.
 
Thank you and thank you again for the plan last year and all your work and encouragement. I learned a lot and hope I can use that this year. We may well be back to you again. I know Chris has some vaguely formed thoughts about a time goal, so he might reach out to you individually.

Sounds like a plan. I'm here to help however I can.
 
Sounds like you have some fun things coming up! I can't wait to do runDisney races with my kids, but I'm waiting until runDisney goes back to the west coast (which I hope will happen in 2021 or 2022 :genie:) Being able to drive to Anaheim makes our family trips a whole lot cheaper than Florida! I think focusing on the half distance is a great idea when you're trying to get the love and excitement of running back! I love the way running can be different things at different times for us!
 
Sounds like you have some fun things coming up! I can't wait to do runDisney races with my kids, but I'm waiting until runDisney goes back to the west coast (which I hope will happen in 2021 or 2022 :genie:) Being able to drive to Anaheim makes our family trips a whole lot cheaper than Florida! I think focusing on the half distance is a great idea when you're trying to get the love and excitement of running back! I love the way running can be different things at different times for us!

Lots of fun times ahead for sure. I'm with you in hoping the Disneyland races return soon. We loved running Tinkerbell and loved DLR in general. The races would give us an excellent excuse to return!
 
Catching up...

I'm glad your back - I missed your GIF game.

Yay for more Disney trips!!!

And good luck getting your teenagers to properly train...may the force be with you. :laughing:
 
More Disney is always good! Boo at maybe no marathon weekend tho... ;)

Good luck on getting the girls training!
 
Sounds like a great plan all around!

I'm just happy to be more focused at least. Stayed tuned for accountability progress. :P

Catching up...

I'm glad your back - I missed your GIF game.

Yay for more Disney trips!!!

And good luck getting your teenagers to properly train...may the force be with you. :laughing:

I'm always happy to share my GIFs. :D

Yeah, the training is going to be very interesting with these girls. One is all aboard right now. The other, not so much.

More Disney is always good! Boo at maybe no marathon weekend tho... ;)

Good luck on getting the girls training!

Yeah, marathon weekend not looking likely right now. I'm hoping a break might reignite the love. If they follow through on this reduction in spectator viewing though, it makes the decision easier.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top