Barca33Runner's Journal: Thanks For Noticin' Me(Comments Welcome)

[ZellyB]

You're back!! I love the idea of a journal streak.

I'm jealous you are going to the Halloween party. We did the Christmas party and loved it, so I would really like to experience the Halloween party at some point.

 

[Barca33Runner]

So, on to my plans for MNSSHP. My sister had a medical conference in Orlando last September and she decided to take her family, stay at Disney and go to MNSSHP during the short stay. No one in our family had ever been and we barely knew of its existence. The expectations weren't any higher than any normal trip to Disney. Anyway, they had an incredible time and their expectations were blown out of the water: walking on to any ride they wanted, less crowded park, trick or treating, amazing shows, etc.; everything that those in the know would have said about the party if we had known to be paying attention. They loved it enough that they planned a cruise for the following September with a day early arrival to take in MNSSHP. She had been trying to convince me to come down and go to the party with them for a long time.

I had looked into it, but I've never really been a Halloween person and I work in the agriculture industry and Fall is harvest so it didn't seem like it would work. Well, after looking into the party some more and confirming that it looked amazing, I started exploring options this spring but because of the harvest issue I could never really take it seriously. Anyway we reached mid-August and it is now very apparent that harvest is going to be late. So the opportunity to take a couple days off was realistic.

Well, I'm a nerd and I know it makes me weird (I feel like I might be in good company ) but when going to Disney becomes a possibility, I usually find a way to make it happen. Found cheap flights and although all the value resorts were full, my AP offer (and probably the construction) made Coronado Springs a viable economic alternative. Never stayed anywhere other than POR on-site, so even with the construction I'm kind of excited to be at a new resort. It'll just be a hub for sleep for the most part, so I don't think any construction ugliness will bother me.

I'm going from September 14-16. I arrive at MCO at 6:40 PM on the 14th. I have tiny hope that I'll get to the property quick enough that I can head to MK for Happily Ever After, but that would probably be pretty lucky to maneuver through DME and over to the park quickly enough. I'm hoping DME comes through and I can pull it off though. Still haven't seen it and this would be another first on this trip.

Friday I have a crazy whirlwind day planned. I have not seen Pandora, so I am going to rope drop AK. Obviously, I was too late to the game for FP+ for Flight of Passage or River Journey, but I'm going to give it my best shot to get on one of them. I have the first Festival of the Lion King show at 10 AM booked for a FP+ and Everest booked at 10:30. I am willing to forgo both if I can get on Flight of Passage and, despite never seeing it either, I'm OK skipping Festival of the Lion King to get on River Journey. My most optimistic expectation is that I can rope drop River Journey and hit my two FP+ and Flight of Passage will wait for another time.

After Everest I will be making my way to Epcot to see The Food and Wine Festival. It will be a disappointingly short visit, but I've never been and I really want to get a taste (sorry, bad pun) when I have the chance. There are about 45 things I want to try, but I think I've narrowed my list to a couple targets. I want to try the escargot croissant, I love Mediterranean cuisine so I'm looking at the Taste of Greece (dolmades and grilled octopus), and the pistachio cardamom bundt cake with chocolate coconut mousse sounds like a nice dessert from the India booth. I'd love to spend a couple days and try, well, basically everything; but with my timetable I need a plan of attack and those look like the winners right now.

Hopefully I'll be ready to leave Epcot around 2. I'll head back, get a quick change of clothes (not sure if I'm going to try for a costume, but packing light it seems unlikely) then it's out to MK to meet my sister, BiL, niece and nephew for the party. No plan of attack for that outside of ride all the rides, get all the candy, see as many shows/parades/fireworks as possible and generally have an amazing time.

Flight out on Saturday is at 1:15, so I should be able to sleep to a reasonable hour before heading to DME and calling it a trip. I'd love to stay longer, but work, finances and McFly made this the best option. I'm super excited, in case you couldn't tell or I hadn't mentioned that enough. Should be just enough to tide me over until Marathon Weekend.

 

[ZellyB]

Sounds like a really exciting if brief trip. I hope DME comes through for you and you can sneak into MK on arrival day. Good luck with the AK rope drop strategy. I'm really hoping I can score FP+ for FoP during the marathon trip because if not, we may have to try a very early rope drop strategy. I'd love to plan a trip to the Halloween party some day and can't wait to read about your experience.

We got to enjoy the F&W festival when we ran the Wine & Dine back in 2015. It really was a lot of fun and we enjoyed wandering around the showcase and grazing at the various booths. Sounds like you have some good possibilities lined up. I LOVE dolmades although never had grilled octopus I'm sure it will be delicious.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Sounds like a really exciting if brief trip. I hope DME comes through for you and you can sneak into MK on arrival day. Good luck with the AK rope drop strategy. I'm really hoping I can score FP+ for FoP during the marathon trip because if not, we may have to try a very early rope drop strategy. I'd love to plan a trip to the Halloween party some day and can't wait to read about your experience.

We got to enjoy the F&W festival when we ran the Wine & Dine back in 2015. It really was a lot of fun and we enjoyed wandering around the showcase and grazing at the various booths. Sounds like you have some good possibilities lined up. I LOVE dolmades although never had grilled octopus I'm sure it will be delicious.

I'm not sure how it will go with rope dropping AK, but Marathon Weekend we are off property so there's no chance we will be able to get FP+ and with a large group of family there's no chance I'll be able to get them on the road in time to rope drop anything. This might be my big chance for the foreseeable future. I'm pretty stoked to see the land as well, so if it only works out that I get to walk through and check out the design, layout and shops before heading to my other fastpasses that'll be fine. I've seen differing accounts about how trying to rope drop into the standby line goes, but I'll give it a shot.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I am excited for the beginning of September and what feels like a definitive start to my big running season. I have a half marathon at the beginning of November and then Dopey. These are the two races I generally aim to try and achieve my peak performance.

I have stopped making time goals for myself currently. The focus in a specific number was weighing me down mentally and I needed a change in approach. I want to get to all of my races excited and prepared. Maybe time goals will come back into the picture in the future, but for now I am training for feel and confidence. I think it will help free me to enjoy running more than when I was setting artificial barriers for myself.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Not much going on today. I ran six easy miles this morning. Not as much fun on a Saturday when I don't have Premier League Football to make the miles go faster. Breaking in a new model of shoe as they have discontinued the ones I have used the entire time I've been running. I'll probably detail that a bit in a future post. Hope everyone is having a good start to your weekend.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Did my Sunday 10 miles today which is what I generally do when I'm not on a specific training plan. Was pretty jealous of all the runners out at DL today. Congrats to everyone who finished/started/tried, I wasn't envious of the heat but anyone putting forth an effort in those conditions did a tremendous job today.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Almost missed out on posting about 4 days into the "streak"; that would be pretty impressive fail but I decided against it. Monday is normally a rest day for me, but I was off work for Labor Day and decided to do 30 minutes on the elliptical just to keep the muscles loose. I also smoked a brisket and had a big barbecue meal with my parents, so it was probably a good thing I did something vaguely athletic to marginally offset the brisket damage.

 

[ZellyB]

Way to keep the streak going.

Nice on your 10-miler and then getting some time in on the eliptical.

 

[Barca33Runner]

So I saw this on Amazon, seemed like maybe from a dicey seller, and figured I had to go for it:

Anyway, that's my motivation moving forward.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Starting to get excited about getting things back on track. Clothes were starting to get a bit tighter this summer and that was disconcerting. I think I lost some motivation the last couple years after realizing that getting in better shape wasn't really helping with my introversion. I think I've found some peace with that and realize that I was happier when I was getting in shape, paying attention to what I ate, and running as often as possible. It was fulfilling on its own terms even if it wasn't helping with my ulterior motive.

 

[Barca33Runner]

My thoughts today are with those bracing for Irma in Florida. Selfishly I've been following the track of the storm hoping it doesn't interfere with my vacation next week, but I know that the more important thing is that everyone who lives in the path of the storm is safe. The devastation it has already wrought is more than enough. Still hoping that the storm veers north sooner than expected and avoids as much landfall as possible, but in the alternative I hope that preventative measures are successful and that everyone is safe.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Just in under the gun. Was babysitting my niece and nephew and took them to see the Indians win their 16th straight. No gems for the day other than wearing early 90's technology shoes wasn't the greatest idea (Andre Agassi Nike Air Tech Challenge 2). Literally the first pair of "cool" shoes I owned when I was a kid and for some reason (apparently Kanye West borrowed heavily from them on his Nike Yeezys) they re-released them a couple years ago. Like I said, not the most comfortable shoes...but I was styling.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Basically a rest weekend as a result of babysitting my niece and nephew. Not ideal, but it won't make or break anything.

Plan on addressing my current shoe issue tomorrow. I don't know that it's interesting, but it's the first time I've really had any issues to speak of on the shoe front so I figured I'd address it.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Ok, so the shoe issue. In most things, I am a true Milford man: I am neither seen nor heard. The one exception is shoes. I'm not a sneakerhead by any means, but I like a nice pair of shoes and the more colorful (particularly neon), the better. This relatively vain tendency is what initially led me to the Asics Gel-Noosa Tri. They were the loudest running shoes I could find and usually had a wide variety or colorways with every release. Well, despite the lack of sound reasoning when selecting the shoe they've been a perfect fit. Relatively lightweight and low-profile with a nice stability plate and plenty of cushion. Despite being a pretty big guy I was able to put a lot of mileage on them without suffering any leg injuries or blisters. My only problem was that I often liked the women's colorways better than the men's. Anyway, I never saw an official release but they didn't make a 12th model so I've been looking for a replacement.

My current solution has been inelegant if effective. Asics did release a new model bearing the Noosa name, the Noosa FF (for flytefoam). I purchased a pair of these and they're not bad. The problem is they lack the stability plate that has been very helpful for me in large mileage shoes. So I'm currently trying the Gel Kayano 24 as a training shoe for my longer training runs and going with the Noosa FF for speed work and races. I hope it works out. I never had blister issues with the Noosa Tri's and they got me through a lot of mileage. Also, Asics if you're reading this, both of these models need some glam colorways for those of us with impeccable sneaker taste.

 

[FFigawi]

This not flashy enough for you?

 

[Barca33Runner]

This not flashy enough for you?

View attachment 268639

I think I may have to buy a pair of the 23's. Either that or hope that some of the race edition 24's look as nice as those.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I'm not sure if I missed any updates and I'm not really sure where to look for all of the pertinent information, but it seems like Disney came out of Irma about as well as could be reasonably expected. Still a bit nervous about how flights and everything is going to go with my trip and feel guilty worrying about my leisure enjoyment while so many are picking up the pieces after the storm.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Looks like the parks were open today and the scheduled MNSSHP happened tonight so I guess I'm somewhat safe to get excited again. I'll probably have a long-ish post with pictures and thoughts afterwards and hopefully will be able to post a couple things while I'm at Disney. I've taken the last couple days off running, scheduled rest day yesterday and tonight I chose to mow the lawn and get some things done around the house before my trip. Will be back to a normal schedule next week and ramping up for my November Half.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Just finished packing for my trip. I think I have packed way too much stuff for what is essentially a one-day trip, but since I am going to try to hit three parks and experience three pretty big events/areas for the first time I think I may need options. Looks like it is going to be rainy, which isn't ideal, but I'll make the most of it and hope they don't have to shut too many things down. Made a last minute FP+ for Space Ranger Spin for tomorrow night and I am going to try to make it to MK for Happily Ever After (4 new experiences?). The identical flight to mine landed 17 minutes early today. I am hoping for a repeat of that performance tomorrow.