Fairy tales can come true, you got to make 'em happen... it all depends on you. (comments welcome!)

[superchime]

While I'm waiting in the Annual Pass queue it seems like a good time to start my Springtime Surprise trip report.

Wednesday April 12 - Arrival Day

We had an early afternoon flight, my favorite kind! I don't have to get up early but I still arrive in time to enjoy a little park time. My son is a huge fan of airport eggs and our airport was out, so we grabbed some before we left MCO.


Got checked into our room just fine, hung out for a bit to wait for grocery delivery, then we headed out. My son was happy to join me for my arrival night tradition of HH fries.



I was disappointed to see that the stargate and tacos were still there.



I had grabbed a Guardians lightning lane for my son, so we grabbed short rib bowls from Trowel and Trellis and then he headed over to ride. He's a good sport and says he doesn't mind hanging out in the room or doing whatever I need to do to get ready for my races, but I knew parts of this trip were going to be boring for him so I tried to get him on as many coasters as I could.



View from the room. I had booked a standard Dolphin room but we got upgraded to resort view. This view is better than the one I paid for a princess weekend. It was on the same wing, one floor down but further out so we had a great view of the fireworks. No balcony, though.

 

[superchime]

Thursday April 13 - Expo day (part 1)

This was my first time visiting the expo on opening day and my first time using the virtual queue so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I don't care a lot about merch but I was interested to see what was available. Not interested enough to try to be there right at 10:00, though.

I was still trying my sleep time experiment, so I woke up pretty early that morning. We headed over to the Boardwalk Deli for breakfast then into Epcot for early morning hours. We rope dropped Frozen Ever After.





Then... I can't remember. I think my son did Mission Space while I had a Joffrey's. Around 8:30 I got in the virtual queue for the expo. We tried to ride Soarin' but it was having issues and the line was stalled. We decided to bail and come back later.


Instead we went to say hi to Figment.


And take some pictures in the photobooth.


By this time the Flower and Garden booths were open so we grabbed violet lemonades and headed out to catch the Expo bus.

 

[Herding_Cats]

*snort

Stargate and tacos.

 

[nancipants]

Love your son's shirt!

 

[prncssjas]

While I'm waiting in the Annual Pass queue it seems like a good time to start my Springtime Surprise trip report.

Good luck with the pass! I was lucky enough to get through last week (DVC member--Sorcerer's Pass) and I got a "call back" after one hour and it took just ten minutes to purchase my passes.

 

[superchime]

*snort

Stargate and tacos.

I can't take credit, those nicknames were shamelessly stolen from Tom Bricker.

 

[superchime]

Love your son's shirt!

Thanks! It came from Amazon.

 

[superchime]

Good luck with the pass! I was lucky enough to get through last week (DVC member--Sorcerer's Pass) and I got a "call back" after one hour and it took just ten minutes to purchase my passes.

Thanks! I was finally successful with a phone call, while all of my browsers still showed over an hour wait.

 

[superchime]

Thursday April 13 - Expo day (part 2)

We made it to the Expo just as my virtual queue time was up, so we headed into the merchandise area first. It was not as chaotic as I was expecting and I was happy to find almost everything I was looking for. I waffled over getting a challenge jacket but my son talked me into it. Enabler. No regrets, though, I love it and have worn it a lot since we got home.

We did bib pick up and then headed to pick up my shirts and a couple of things I needed from the vendor area. I stopped to hug Jeff Galloway (did not cry this time!) and introduce him to my son.





He is just the nicest man on the planet, I swear. My son told him he'd be running the 5k at Wine and Dine and Jeff was so excited and said he'd be running too. It was neat to see my son's enthusiasm for running grow and the weekend progressed.


It was also really nice to have someone there to take pictures for me, although people in line are always happy to help out when I'm on my own.


We headed back to the hotel to get ready for our early dinner dinner because I was still operating under the assumption that I would be able to fall asleep early that night.


As usual, I was wrong, but we did have a nice view of the Epcot fireworks. I eventually fell asleep around 10:00. Not too bad, and definitely better than princess weekend.

 

[superchime]

Friday April 14 - 5k day





I always think it's funny when I wake up on race mornings and my phone tells me "good evening."


I got up without too much trouble, just thrilled not to have a headache. Got dressed and ate a banana before heading out. My son woke up a bit as I was leaving. Got to the bus stop at 2:51 and found a bus waiting there. Even though the bus only had maybe 6 people on it, we headed out anyway and were at Epcot by 3:00.

My plan for the 5k was to thoroughly enjoy myself. With no need to get to the corral early, I got in line for my first pre-race character photo, with Wall-E.

I made a port-a stop then grabbed a muffin from the Joffrey's cart and headed for my corral around 4:00, where I worried a bit about the sprinkles I was feeling.



Not much happened, though, and we were finally off around 5:20. I had planned to walk all of this race to save my legs but it's hard not to run at the start. I always stay to the side, because I get claustrophobic in crowds, and this makes it easy for me to stay out of the way of the faster people.

So we headed out, down the road for the first mile then entered Epcot next to Mexico. No mile 1 photo, although I'm sure I took one. I was taking my time, taking lots of pictures and enjoying the experience.



My outfit was based on Fillmore, the VW bus from Cars. I wasn't running, so I left my hair down, and you can see it get shorter and shorter as it curled up in the humidity.


I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the 5k. I've read that they can be more crowded (and I definitely experienced that, with a couple of families walking 4 across, holding hands) but without the pressure of the balloon ladies I really wasn't that upset about the crowds. It felt a bit like a normal day at Epcot, except with no strollers and people moving a bit faster!




And I stopped for a character photo! Only one... the lines were so long, but I did stop for one!



And then it was over.


Fluffy hair finish line photo.

(and I seem to have hit my photo limit so I'll continue this in the next post)

 

[superchime]

Friday April 14 - 5k day (part 2)




A day of firsts, I also got my first post-race photo with Jogging Jack Sparrow.

It was too early to walk home through Epcot (my favorite way to get back) so I hopped on a bus. My son was up and had eaten breakfast (I had bought a few things for him to have in the room in case he woke up before I got back). Pretty sure I took a shower and a nap before we headed out for the day.




Our park for the day was Animal Kingdom and we started with lunch at Tusker House.






I hung out in the shade while my son rode Everest and Dinosaur then we headed over to Pandora so I could grab some tofu at Satuli Canteen. I've been making more of an effort to eat enough protein and, as a vegetarian, that can be hard at Disney!

We hung out in Pandora for a while before heading back to the hotel. My son had leftover pizza from the night before, so he had that for dinner and I had a yogurt and some Barilla ready-pasta. Not the greatest but I wasn't too hungry since I'd already had the tofu.

I got everything ready for the 10k and tried to go to sleep. I think at this point I was starting to realize that I am just not going to be able to fall asleep early before races, I should stick to my normal bedtime and fill in the gap with naps.

 

[superchime]

April totals:
Distance 74.22
Pace: 17:46 running,
24:27 walking

 

[superchime]

Wow, hi. It's been a while. I have things I need to write about here but I want to get through my Springtime Surprise race report first because I don't want to leave it unfinished.

So, time travel with me back to April! I wish I'd written this sooner because I don't remember a lot of the specifics now, but here's my 10k costume. I really enjoyed dressing up more for these races. It was fun to take photos with other George Sandersons. It was less fun to have random parkgoers comment on my great "candy corn" costume as I was walking back to my room after the race!




I got some good race photos on this day, and I also got this one. We were heading around Crescent lake and I was texting my son to see if he was awake to see me go by. Without glasses, in low light, apparently this is what I look like when I text.



Anyway, it was a good race. Like I said, I don't remember the specifics now, but I walked through Epcot back to our room, probably had a little rest. I think this was the day I did a little pool/hot tub/pool therapy. That was nice, and great for my muscles. I do have photo proof that we ended up in Germany for dinner. I also have photos from Rise so I guess we went to DHS first? It was fun having my son with me on this trip and he was being such a great sport about the early bedtimes and early wake ups, so I tried to throw in things he'd enjoy as much as I could. We hadn't eaten at Biergarten since he was little, so he was happy to experience it again.



Oh, 10 miler day! I do have memories about this one!

I had plugged my phone in to charge overnight and it tried to do an update and bricked itself. I woke up at one point to check the time and noticed it wouldn't turn on. I had brought an old fashioned alarm clock with me too, so I wouldn't have missed my wake up time, but the race (and rest of the trip) would have been harder without my phone. I kind of hate how much I need it for everything now.

Luckily I had also brought my laptop on this trip so I was able to google and find out what had happened and how to fix it. But after that I have automatic updates turned *off*!



Other than that mishap, the morning went well. I saw a few other forkys and ended up really glad for my visor (and the cooling towel I had stashed in my belt). I had planned to run this one as Zurg but I'm so glad I switched to the white outfit instead.



The first part of the race was great, although parts of the course were a little slippery, especially through Star Wars Land.

I took photos at each mile marker and, after the sun comes up, you can see my face get redder and redder.



The cooling towel helped a lot, but by the end of the race I. was. done. I didn't even want to walk back through Epcot, just sat in the parking lot to eat my uncrustable and hopped on a bus.




After I showered I was fine, though, and we headed out to Epcot for lunch at Garden Grill. We haven't eaten at this restaurant for a few years because it's not my husband's favorite, but I knew my son would love it, and he did.


Farmer Mickey, all you can eat mashed potatoes, and a restaurant that spins. What's not to love?!

 

[superchime]

We hung out at Epcot for the afternoon (I'm sure my son rode Guardians. It's his favorite ride ever and it was my mission to get him on it as often as possible this trip).

Then we went to Space for dinner! I only got us reservations at the lounge because I really just wanted to experience the restaurant. We both thought it was cool but not something we need to do really often.



And I finally had someone to take the exhausted medals photo for me!



The next day we headed to MK for breakfast with Pooh and friends. My son has been a lifelong Piglet fan and we timed our meal so that we got to experience both the breakfast and lunch buffets. This was our first time at Crystal Palace but definitely not our last.





My son got to ride Tron and really liked it, although he said he wished it was longer.



Then we headed over to DHS so I could take some medal photos in Toy Story Land.



We had planned on eating at the new BBQ restaurant for dinner but I really wasn't feeling it so I canceled the reservation. Instead we went to MK for Happily Ever After and ate veggie dogs at Casey's.

We had one more morning on Tuesday before flying home that afternoon, so we spent a bit more time at Epcot. Some things never change, the miniature trains in Germany are still interesting to the boy.



And he finally got the Oswald ears he'd been wanting.




All in all it was a great race weekend and a good experience for my first challenge. I don't know that I *need* to run this challenge again, it was pretty hot for the 10 miler. But if I get a little faster and can finish before the sun comes up...

 

[superchime]

Ok now that's out of the way... It's good to be back!

After Springtime Surprise I took a little break from running. I started again with some easy runs in June and was planning on ramping up in July. Well, I ran one day in July.

We had a pretty epic family vacation planned, and it was great, but I got sick and couldn't run as I had planned to. Not a big deal, just a cold. I was starting to feel better and then, on the way home I got Covid. And that's where things are right now. :/

I'm nervous about Wine and Dine now (I'm signed up to do all 3 races) but I know I can't jump back in too fast to try to make up for lost time, because that's how I'll get hurt. It's "surface of the sun" hot here now, so I rejoined the Y to have access to a treadmill. Hopefully by next week I'll be testing negative and ready to ease back into things again.

The good news is, after all of this rest all of my little aches and pains are quiet now. Knees feel good, ankle and foot are ok, muscles are as repaired as they're going to be. I'm ready to get going again.

The trip was totally worth it but I do wish I'd put on a mask when I was on the plane and noticed the guy across the aisle from me coughing his head off.

 

[nancipants]

We had one more morning on Tuesday before flying home that afternoon, so we spent a bit more time at Epcot. Some things never change, the miniature trains in Germany are still interesting to the boy.

View attachment 780904

My son is 3 and obsessed with those trains. It's his favorite thing at Epcot. Good to know that he'll still like them when he's a teenager.

 

[superchime]

Ok, I'm finally feeling human again. I don't know if that was a new Covid variant or what, but I have had only a very loose grasp on time this week. Glad to be getting back to normal and feeling much better, so I thought I'd throw this week's training plan up so I have some accountability.

Monday - First day back at Kung Fu after a month off. I plan on taking it super easy, and I will tell my teacher my plan ahead of time because I know he'll hold me to it. He's very concerned about people getting hurt in class.

Tuesday - Kung Fu again. We'll see how it goes.

Wednesday - 2 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00. My son wants the car this day so either I'll have to get up and go to the Y super early, or run outside (also super early, before it gets too hot outside). I guess I'll wait until I wake up and see what the weather is like before I make the call.

Thursday - Last Kung Fu day of the week. This is usually a fun day where we get to kick and punch things, instead of conditioning. Hoping that's the case this week.

Friday - 2 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00. Younger son has his robotics club meeting this day so I think I'll try out the Y that's near there.

Saturday - 3 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00 - Definitely doing this one at the Y so I can sleep in, maybe the family will want to go to the pool later. I think I'm going to enjoy having a membership again.

Sunday - rest

I know nice and easy needs to be the name of the game this week. I've got to be super consistent with my training from here on out, because of all the time I've lost, but I can't panic and push myself too hard and end up hurt.

 

[superchime]

Ok here's how the week went. I feel like it wasn't too bad for my first week back and I was relieved to see that, even after all those weeks off, I didn't feel like I was starting from 0.

Mon - First day back to Kung Fu. I was determined to take it easy, and I think I mostly accomplished that but it’s a challenge not to push myself in there, because everyone else is so much better than me. I also earned my first weapon! I'm now the most dangerous person in that room (because I don't know how to use it yet). So it was a pretty exciting first day back. I started feeling sore before I even went to bed that night but drank a ton of water, ate my protein, and ate some beets, which I've read help with recovery.

Tues - felt sore from Kung Fu but not too bad. Had another class tonight. Sometimes he has us run in class but I’ve decided not to participate in this because 1) it’s jogging in a circle which isn’t great for my knees and 2) the shoes we wear in there have no cushion at all. My teacher is fine with this because he’s all about injury prevention. Started working on my form for my first tournament, coming up in October. I am very excited about this. Had a little foot pain after class that night. Stretching helped. Also started my month-long core program, 10 min a day.

Wed. First run back. Woke up with a headache. 2:02 miles at 17:20 (20/30 intervals) T+D was 137, the nicest it’s been here in a while. Definitely felt the foot this morning. It’s not a sharp pain, and could just be sore muscles, but I decided to go ahead and get an appointment with my sports medicine doctor and figure out what’s going on before I get too far into training. Core day #2 and did some of my PT exercises too.

Thurs - Kung Fu again. Man, I’m tired. Not super sore, though, which tells me I’m doing an ok job at not overdoing it this week. Core day #3

Fri - Ran at the Y while my son had robotics. It was a new Y for me and I always hate figuring out where everything is and how to work it. Next time will be easier, but I got through it today. The machine was giving me trouble so I ended up just doing 2 miles at 30:30 intervals switching between 3 and 4 mph because I could make that work. Humidity was 95% outside, so I was grateful to be running inside. There was a guy on the machine next to me running as fast as me, but backwards. Core program day #4.

Sat - 3 miles outside before the sun got too high. 3.01 miles, 51:38 total time, 17:10 min/mi, according to Runkeeper. T+D=150. I’m not sure if there were sunspots or what, but I feel like my tracking was off because my splits, especially the second one, were faster than I feel like I was actually running. (17:20, 16:04, 18:02). My apple watch had my pace at 18:54 and my splits at 18:47, 18:19, 19:41. The rest of the day was busy so I missed core day #5.

And here we are. I will get core day #5 done this morning and then do day #6 tonight. My oldest son now has Covid, so I'm hoping my husband and younger son don't get it. Hopefully I'm protected since I just had it, but we'll see. I'll be really frustrated if I get it again after finally getting restarted with my training.

 

[superchime]

I took my younger son to get fitted for running shoes this week! He's doing the 5k at Wine and Dine with me and his training plan starts soon. I'm so excited that he's joining me and he's having fun coming up with potential costume ideas. I talked to him about Springtime Surprise too and he thinks he'd like to do the 10k so I'll be trying to sign us up for that this week.

My oldest is over his Covid and managed not to share it with any of the rest of the family. I'm hoping that all of the illnesses we've dealt with these past few weeks means our immune systems are in tip top shape heading into the fall!

I'm going to see my sports medicine dr this week to have her take a look at my foot. The top of my foot kind of hurts when I run, and then hurts (in a different place) for a few hours after I stop. I've found a stretch that helps the after-run pain. I've got a friend who has been encouraging me to try dry needling (which sounds horrible) so I'll ask the dr about that too. The good news is my knees feel fine when I run now, so that's an improvement over last year!

Summary for August 6 - 12

Mon - Kung Fu - Oh man, such a good class tonight. I really think taking a full rest day on Sunday helped because everything was great tonight. I am terrible at not celebrating the wins, instead I’m always looking for the next thing, worried about what's coming, so I tried really hard to just sit in the moment and enjoy the feeling of a good class for once.

Tues - Kung Fu - Tonight’s class was hard. We’ve got the tournament and several shows coming up so he’s definitely dialing up the intensity. I am, of course, free to scale back or drop out at any point and he’s fine with it, but I really have to police myself. Tonight we were doing a form that’s still fairly new to me, but is old hat to everyone else, and I just can’t keep up yet. My knee popped when I tried. Not a bad pop, just a warning. I sat down for a while then took it super easy for the rest of the class. Then I came home and got angry with myself for not being more careful. I do not have time for an injury.

Wed - (plan: 2.5 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00)
43:58 total time, 2.5 miles, 17:34 min/mile
T+D = 146, Avg heart rate 138, avg cadence 115
splits: 18:38, 16:50 (and 16:50 for the last half mile too).
I know I am supposed to be running slower than this at this point, but this honestly feels like I’m barely moving. Another instance of me pushing myself when I shouldn’t? This definitely seems to be the thing I need to focus on most right now.

Thurs - Kung Fu - Class was fine. Not great, not terrible. My knee felt fine, though, and I held back and didn’t try to keep up with the group form that caused me trouble on Tuesday so I'm calling it a win.

Fri - (plan: 2 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00)
34:59 total time, 2.01 miles, 17:09 min/mile
No T+D because I was inside, Avg heart rate 133 bpm
Splits 17:18, 17:24
Treadmill time! I figured out how to get the treadmill to talk to my watch, so I actually got to record this workout.

Sat - (plan: 4 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00)
1:17:02 total time, 4.01 miles, 19:10 min/mile
T+D = 158, avg heart rate: 128bpm, avg cadence 107
splits 17:48, 18:31, 20:24, 19:51
It was just too hot out there this morning to do much. I started out doing my intervals and felt ok, but once the sun was out of the trees it was brutal and I ended up slowing down and eventually just walking the last 2 miles.

 

[superchime]

Summary for Aug 14 - 20

Monday - Kung Fu - Was really not feeling it today, but “never miss a Monday” right? Slightly better towards the end of class but still feeling crummy and full of those doubts. I’m old. Why am I doing this? I’m never going to be good at it. It's hard to start something in your 40s and be in a class full of 25 year olds. Not that any of them are ever anything but encouraging and supportive, which is why I keep coming back. It's a very positive atmosphere. The negativity is only what I bring in with me sometimes.

Tuesday - Doctor day... where we discovered that my foot pain is probably due to me running on the left side of cambered roads. Feeling pretty silly for not figuring that out on my own but glad it’s an easy fix. I will dust off the PT exercises too, just for good measure, and I have another referral to PT just in case I need it.
Kung Fu was better tonight.

Wed - (plan: 2 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00 = 35 min)
2.09 miles, 37:04 total time, 17:46 min/mile
T+D = 140, Avg heart rate 124, Avg cadence 114
Splits: 17:52, 17:42
Ran in the middle of the road (don't worry, it's safe, my neighborhood is very quiet), no top of foot pain at all, very minor ankle pain (1/10)

Thurs - (plan: 2 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00 = 35 min). I feel like I can handle an extra running day per week so I am going to try adding in a Thursday morning run for the next few weeks.
2.0 miles, 35:51 total time, 17:53 min/mile
T+D 138, Avg heart rate 124, Avg cadence 113
Splits: 17:57, 17:48
Ran in the middle of the road, very minor ankle pain (1/10), top of foot felt fine
Kung Fu - no problem after the morning run. This was actually my best class this week.

Fri - (plan: 2 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00 = 35 min) - Ran this one on a treadmill. I accidentally picked one of the older ones, so it would clatter every time I started running.
2.01, 36:12 total time, 18:11 min/mile
Avg heart rate 128
Ran the first mile in my new shoes (same kind, just a new pair) then switched back to my old ones for the rest.

Sat - (plan: 2.5 miles @ 20/30 @ 14:45/20:00 = 45 min)
2.54 miles, 41:17 total time, 16:14 min/mile
T+D = 129, Avg heart rate 135, Avg cadence 115
Splits: 16.01, 16.23, and 16.17 for the last half mile
Oops! I ran this one faster than I’m supposed to be running right now, but man it feels so nice outside right now. Ran the first mile in my new shoes, then switched back to my old ones for the rest.
Very minor left knee pain, probably due to some pt exercises I did yesterday, taped my foot before my run and it felt fine.

Sun - rest

This week's runs had a few character stops!