The Running Thread - 2019

[Neon Cactus]

I've been a Disney fan since I can remember. Even when I was little, I've been told I would get mad if we left before Disneyland closed. I lived about an hour away and Disneyland was always my magical place. I also remember doing a report on Walt Disney in junior high and writing to Disney to ask for more information and they sent me a lot of material, plus included souvenirs from Disneyland free (this was definitely pre-Eisner era!). And I remember going to Disney World in January 1990 and Disney MGM Studios and Pleasure Island had just opened and it was the most incredible trip ever. Definitely the theme parks, but I love the music from the parks and movies, the movies, the cruise line, all of it. The cast members are a big part of it. I've met some great ones and my friend and I used to drive an hour almost every weekend to watch sports at the Disneyland Hotel sports bar and got to know the waitresses very well. One of them gave us 1 day park hoppers for Disney World, another got us into Club 33.

And I never ran at all, until the Disneyland 5k in 1995. So I can say with certainty that I wouldn't be running at all if it weren't for Disney.

 

[Jules76126]

ATTQOTD: I have been a life long Disney fan. My parents joked that they were poor when I was little, but they paid up for the Disney channel, back before it was included in most cable packages. My grandmother had DVC when I was younger so I was lucky enough to go a lot as kid. I discovered the Disney College program on one of those trips and knew I had to do it when I went to college. I did two programs while in College and that just furthered my love of the mouse. Sadly, my DH does not share in the love. He went once as a HS senior and doesn't really have any desire to go back. We did strike a deal though - once we have kids, we can go. Disney will not be an every year vacation. We will probably be an every 4 to 5 year family and I am okay with that as I do love traveling other places and Disney has gotten so expensive. In terms of running, RunDisney was never on my radar. However, I married into a running family. Once I got the running bug, I knew I needed to do a Disney race at some point. Haven't quite achieved that goal yet, but someday.

 

[camaker]

FFQOTD: I am a Disney fan first and foremost. I grew up in the 70s and 80s going to see Disney movies in the theater. Robin Hood, The Fox and the Hound, Lady and the Tramp, Aristocats and TRON are all strong childhood memories. I also spent a lot of time watching Disney movies with my kids as they grew up in the 90s-00s. The first opportunity I got to visit Disney World was on my first honeymoon in 1992. It was fantastic, but I wasn't able to get back until 1998 and then I started a streak of going every year from 2003 onward. The first inkling that I had that RunDisney was even a thing was when we went to Disney in 2010 and were magically upgraded from POFQ to the Boardwalk because they overbooked POFQ with the Wine & Dine runners.

I would never have run a half marathon, much less a marathon, without Disney, though. When my PT asked me to run W&D 2015 with him, I thought I was crazy to even entertain the thought of 13.1 miles. We never made it to that weekend, as it sold out before we could register, but the idea of running at Disney had taken root and I started my string of MW attendance with the 10k + Goofy in January, 2016. The rest, as they say, is history!

 

[PrincessV]

I don't think you can really definitively say "6.4 is awfully short"... it all depends on your running speed, not the distance.

Exactly this. I don't base nutrition on distance, ever - only on time. The one exception to my "every 45 minutes without fail!" rule is a slow 4-5 miler: if they go over 45 minutes it's only by a few minutes and not worthy of fueling. But form 6 miles on, I stick to my plan. #nowhammies

I remember coach telling me to try every 45 minutes and not base it off of miles since a Disney mile may not line up neatly with my predicted pace come race day.

Yep. I remember doing a 5K at WDW and didn't bother bringing fuel, because when did I ever need mid-race fuel for a 5K, right?! An hour and half later, my blood sugar was plummeting. I now carry at least one more fuel item than I expect to need for Disney races, just in case.

I carry everything with me in a pack, but i am running in the woods by myself for hours on end like the introvert weirdo i am.

Is it weird that this sounds amazing to me?! #goals

Fun Friday QOTD: Why are you a Disney Fan?
Did Disney fuel your runDisney love or do you like Disney or WDW because of runDisney? Or maybe you're really not a huge Disney fan and stay for the running?

ATTFFQOTD: Honestly? I'm a Disney fan because WDW is convenient and nostalgic. If I didn't live nearby, I wouldn't be able to afford it, and wouldn't be sufficiently interested in it to save for that over other things. But since it is convenient and used to be relatively inexpensive, I've built a lot of memories in the place, including all 17 years of my child's life - he took his first steps in the MK! So WDW kinda has a hold on me now. But I wasn't a Disney kid growing up in the 70s-80s; wasn't into the movies and hated the cartoons. I was way more of a Looney Tunes fan. runDisney came about because I was already a WDW regular and a recreational runner - combining the two seemed like a fun idea!

 

[AntimonyER]

ATTQOTD: I grew up with Disney as my backyard. Literally. I watched the MK fireworks from my bedroom window. But it wasn't until I got married and had kids that the magic of Disney really hit me. Maybe it was being so used to it as a kid. I haven't run a Disney race yet, mainly because of the cost. (I am not allowed to run a runDisney race without taking the entire family to Disney).

 

[Kazrak]

Fun Friday QOTD: Why are you a Disney Fan?

My first visit to Disneyland was in utero.

My parents lived in southern California, and planned to move back to Maine after I was born. So, with my mother eight months pregnant, they gave my sister one last Disneyland visit before the move.

As they were getting on the skyway, when my mother went through the turnstiles, bells went off. The cast members immediately reassured the very pregnant woman that nothing was wrong - she was the [large round number] guest on the skyway, and they wanted to give her a prize. The prize, as it turned out, was a bunch of Disneyland LPs - Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's a Small World.

I grew up listening to those, and watching Wonderful World of Disney. I listened jealously to friends talking about their winter break visits to Walt Disney World. (We couldn't afford vacations in Florida. We could barely afford vacations in Maine.)

And yet, as I grew older, I lost interest in Disney until college. Summer after my freshman year, my mother (working for the Navy) had a TDY to Long Beach, and asked me to come along. So I spent the summer hanging around metro LA, and we hit all the tourist spots...including all the local theme parks. My comment at the time was that you went to Universal for the shows, Magic Mountain for the thrill rides, and Disneyland for the atmosphere, and Knott's was second in all of those. The trip to Disneyland definitely felt like it fulfilled something for me, much more than the other parks.

And then, a little over a year after that, I started dating my wife. She grew up around LA, and the family went to Disneyland at least once a year. And she had a Disneyland/WDW soundtrack CD which we listened to quite a bit. (The 1988 "The Music of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Epcot Center" album.)

We did annual DL visits with her family, and I got addicted. By a year after we were married, I was hanging around rec.arts.disney on Usenet.

runDisney came in much later, and this story's long enough already.

 

[PrincessV]

May I ask an addendum to yesterday's QOTD - so I guess ATYQOTD?! Here it is:

Has anyone tried using peanut butter as fuel mid-race? I always feel like some protein in the middle of my very long marathon might help keep my blood sugar a bit more stable, but the one time I tried an Uncrustable mid-run it gave me stomach cramps: too much. But I'm thinking maybe just a tablespoon of PB in a little baggie? Maybe with a little honey drizzled in, too? I have a cast-iron stomach, so I'm never worried about anything really awful happening, but that stupid Uncrustable just felt like a rock sitting in my gut, which wasn't comfortable.

 

[gjramsey]

ATTFFQOTD: Growing up, I enjoyed all the Disney Shows and movies. In the 70s, I would watch the old Mickey Mouse club shows on afternoon TV. We went to the Magic Kingdom around 1975 and still remember the tickets for the different rides. E-Ticket rides FTW!

In the early 90s, my wife and her family went to Disney world and had Multi-day tickets, and did not use them all. The next year, I had a training class in Melbourne, and used some of those tickets for a drive up to Orlando to goto EpCOT and MK. Epcot was just amazing to me. MK was pretty much exactly how I remembered it from when I was 9 or 10. I got weird chills walking through Tomorrowland and FantasyLand, and shocked that I remembered it so well!

Several years later, on a business trip to Anaheim for conference, we were able to visit Disneyland right before and then again right after the 50th. Such a cool park.

In the early 2000's after the birth of our oldest, we started going to one of the coasts about every 4 years for a Disney trip.

I started running in the early 2010s, and after a while decided I wanted a one and done Marathon weekend....that lasted until Main Street during the half....LOL

 

[Sleepless Knight]

ATTQOTD: I often tell people to be very careful in what they expose young children to in case it never leaves their little brains. My parents put a Mickey Mouse poster in my nursery before I was born. When I was two, they took the Mickey obsessed toddler to Disneyland for the first time. A few weeks later, they finally got around to seeing Star Wars about a year after its release, but instead of finding a babysitter for 2 year old me, they decided I would be just fine to see Star Wars. The rest as they say is history although I'm confident they had absolutely no idea when they took me to see Star Wars that someday I would run around Disneyland dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi and have the time of my life.

I kind of wonder if I would have gone up to a half marathon distance if not for runDisney...

runDisney is why I even got into this in the first place. I first heard about runDisney for the inaugural half marathon at Disneyland. I lived too far away then to visit for the weekend, but concluded that I couldn't run anyways so gave up on the idea.

Now a few years later, I was at Disneyland during the race weekend and talked to some runners. They reassured me that it was possible if I trained for it, even explaining just how possible it really is to sustain a 16 minute per mile pace if you're trained for it. They made sure to tell me that I would need to train for it because of the distance and time it would take given my speed, but really encouraged and reassured me that I could do it.

When I finally decided that I wanted to attempt the marathon, I knew that my first marathon would be at Disney World.

Yep. I remember doing a 5K at WDW and didn't bother bringing fuel, because when did I ever need mid-race fuel for a 5K, right?! An hour and half later, my blood sugar was plummeting. I now carry at least one more fuel item than I expect to need for Disney races, just in case.

You bring up an important point that I believe new runners should understand. Namely, do not rely on runDisney for your hydration and/or fueling needs during any race. While almost all the time runDisney has enough to cover those things, you do not want to be the one case where something goes awry. I have ran Disney races where the water/powerade station was completely out when I went by. But I carried my own so I was fine.

If you always carry your own fuel and/or hydration then you never need to worry if the race runs out or if you absolutely need it, but can't get it quickly enough.

I started running in the early 2010s, and after a while decided I wanted a one and done Marathon weekend....that lasted until Main Street during the half....LOL

During the 2011 Disneyland Half, I was definitely in the one and done category even after running through Disneyland. But the allure of the coast to coast medal in 2012 convinced me that I could tolerate 2 more races and then be done with it. Except I had a great time during those two races and was hooked. After the hiatus of west coast races, I wondered about hanging up my running shoes. I finished the Kessel Run, which had been my dream series of races, so I could go out on that kind of high note. Ironically of course, instead of hanging up my running shoes, I signed up for 2017 Avengers having not run in 6 weeks with just 3 weeks to train. And finished. Little did I realize that decision would wind up resulting in me not only attempting the marathon, but actually finishing my first marathon as part of Dopey.

 

[Dopey 2020]

I made my first trip to Disney in my late 30s with my wife who had only been once pre MGM and our daughter who was four. I expected to be amazed but the level of magic blew me away. The look of awe and wonder on my daughter had us booking another trip as soon as we got home. I still can't believe the amount we did in those first couple trips basically going rope drop to close every day...
Then came the idea that you could slow down and there was even more to Disney outside the parks, what? Who knew? Fast forward a few years, the discovery of DVC and annual passes, and now it's save,save,save for as many flights as possible. I discovered running when we went on our first cruise to a very nice island called Castaway Cay. I was looking for a new form of exercise and although I had always laughed at runners as being crazy, I thought I can run 5K. Fast forward again past the long story, I now sign up for every Disney race I can. No doubt Disney made running fun for me, i wouldn't have even started and now I look forward to a ten mile morning run.

 

[Sanchez]

Fun Friday QOTD: Why are you a Disney Fan?
Did Disney fuel your runDisney love or do you like Disney or WDW because of runDisney? Or maybe you're really not a huge Disney fan and stay for the running?

We grew up poor but fortunate in the sense that my parents stayed together and we were never homeless. Of course, there were never any true vacations or expensive outings of any kind. In January 1978 I was in third grade and had just turned eight. My great aunts decided that they wanted to see Disney World and eight of us (two great aunts, my parents, two brothers and one sister) loaded into their red Ford LTD wagon with fake paneling and drove to Florida.

Having never been anywhere of significance it was overwhelming and life-changing in the sense that in my world places like this only existed in movies and TV. The only park at that time was Magic Kingdom and we spent two days there, a day at Sea World and a day at the Kennedy Space Center. We weren't allowed to buy any food or spend any money whatsoever but that didn't matter. It was happiest time of my childhood and, in my mind at least, the only time I can recollect that my father wasn't yelling at us.

I didn't get back for 20 years (with my wife) and from 2002-2009 we were regular visitors with our boys. Some years we had annual passes. It was close, fairly inexpensive and we have had some great trips. We have not had any major trips in the last 10 years but have been in Orlando on several occasions for 2-3 days at a time.

I wouldn't say that I am a huge Disney fan but I will always remember the feeling I had as a child and the satisfaction that I felt in having the ability to provide many happy trips for my boys.

I have stayed on the DIS Boards long after any need to plan major trips but mostly post on this thread. WDW did not get me into running and I only ran my first Disney event in January. I would like to run in more Disney events and look forward to the possibility of taking grandchildren.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Has anyone tried using peanut butter as fuel mid-race? I always feel like some protein in the middle of my very long marathon might help keep my blood sugar a bit more stable, but the one time I tried an Uncrustable mid-run it gave me stomach cramps: too much. But I'm thinking maybe just a tablespoon of PB in a little baggie? Maybe with a little honey drizzled in, too? I have a cast-iron stomach, so I'm never worried about anything really awful happening, but that stupid Uncrustable just felt like a rock sitting in my gut, which wasn't comfortable.

I've been eating a peanut butter sandwich on my long bike rides. But I think running at pace would be different than cycling. Have you considered Justin's?

https://shop.justins.com/Nut-Butters/c/Justins@NutButters
These come in little packets like a gel would, so easily transportable. Might be worth trying in a long run or two and seeing how you feel relative to the uncrustable. I've given it a passing thought before because I absolutely love peanut butter. I would eat PB all day at every meal if I could get away with it from a nutritional standpoint.

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: I was obsessed with the Wonderful World of Disney, the Disney Sunday movie, cartoons, etc growing up. I grew up in an extremely poor dysfunctional family so there was no way a trip to Disney was ever a possibility for my family. Disney provided me with a little bit of magic, an escape from the misery of my everyday life and the ability to dream that something bigger and better was waiting for me out in the world. When my grandfather passed away he left a little bit of money and my mom bought a VCR. I would record as many Disney movies and shows as I could. I'd watch them over and over and over and over. We couldn't afford to go to the movies either so I would save my babysitting money to rent the latest VHS release from the video rental store. The first Disney movie I ever saw in a theater was the Lion King and to this day it still remains a favorite. The first time I ever went to WDW was in 2002 on my honeymoon. I was speechless the first time I saw Cinderella Castle. I was 25yo and never in my life could I have imagined I would make it to the place of my childhood dreams. The 42yo me still loves Disney just as much as the 8yo girl did. I've been an on and off runner most of my life and always looked at the races on the webiste. Once I moved to FL running became more serious because I could run at Disney now!!!

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD: I can't remember a time I wasn't a disney fan so I'm pretty sure it started very early in life. I'd get hyped whenever there were free disney channel days (fyi old kids incorporated episodes can be found on youtube!) or my mom would take me to the theatre to see the re-releases of the classics. I think Sleeping Beauty was my first theatre movie. My first VHS was Mary Poppins. And I'd get super excited whenever sitcoms had their very special disneyworld/land episodes. I did not go to the parks a ton when I was younger despite my grandma retiring to Florida. My parents spread around the sightseeing (like Wiki Watchi springs, Busch Gardens, Dept of transportation welcome center for free orange juice.) But we did get to go for one day before my Uncles wedding in Miami back when I was like 6 or 7 and that was the moment I became a theme park lover. Love the atmospheric music and smells and scenery and old-timey charm and rides...big big fan of the rides. I've definitely gone to WDW/DL more in the last decade than I did in my whole childhood but it's because that's what I'm choosing to spend my disposable income on. I know if my mom was still around she'd spend her whole retirement going back year after year, so I'll just have to do that for her now PS (happy bday to roxymama'smama today)
In short: Disney definitely came before rundisney...it was of course a great excuse to go back to disney and the running addiction was a nice byproduct.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

or my mom would take me to the theatre to see the re-releases of the classics. I think Sleeping Beauty was my first theatre movie.

I really miss the days of the classics being re-released to movie theaters. Seeing those movies on the big screen is a very different experience.

In 2008, I had the opportunity to attend the 50th anniversary screening of Sleeping Beauty at the Disney owned El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. I had seen the movie countless times before that screening, but it had been 20+ years since I had seen in theatres and it's a very different experience seeing a film like that in its originally intended medium, right down to the state of the art sound system. While I knew every beat of the movie, it still felt as if I experienced the movie for the first time. I enjoyed it so much that I turned around and went back to see the movie on the day I left to come back home because I knew it might be the last time I got to experience my favorite animated movie the way it was designed to be seen.

 

[TheHamm]

ATYQOTD: I first heard about fueling here. I grabbed several items from the running shop and started using them any time I was going >10k (80ish minutes) and less than that if I go out as soon as I jump out of bed and haven’t eaten. I quickly realized liquid made me gag and vomit, blocks left a funny film on my teeth, I seem to inadvertently swallow sport beans mid chew and choke, and stinger waffles get crushed in my pockets. I like stinger chews (cherry cola is my favorite) and picky bars. I tried the above mentioned justine’s after someone suggested uncrustables and these were already in my house, but I needed so much water just to keep my mouth from sticking shut I gave up. I haven’t done any mid-run electrolyte drinks and generally stick to water fountains if I can.
FFQOTD: Disney trips were well beyond our family’s financial reach growing up. My grandpa talked joyfully of IASW at the world’s fair and of taking his family there a few years after it opened. Sunday nights were for the magical world of Disney and a giant bowl of popcorn. I spent a year of HS saving up babysitting money to go on a bus of exchange students to Disney. It was lovely, but I knew I would never have the money to do it again. DH went to school in So. Cal. so when we were dating we went out to see his friends and I got to see DL as an adult and loved every minute of it. After a very bad few weeks at work while DH was working out of the country and my tiny people had been giving me a run for my money, I decided I was going to spend my money and told DH we were going to WDW 2 days after he got back and he would have to figure out work. We went with zero plans. We paid rack rate. My tots ended up having norovirus, and we still had an amazing time. Previous vacations with 2 babies had been exceedingly stressful as hotels would tell us we couldn’t have 2 pack n plays, restaurants were unwelcoming, and somehow somewhere a metal fork was found by a child who was trying to put it into an electric socket. Disney was expensive, but I did not spend my vacation in a heightened state of panic- this is when my family went full mouse. When my college roommate took a job with Disney and moved to Orlando, it became much easier to justify going. I’m not sure it will last for years, but for now it is a less stressful vacation for us.

 

[Professor_Cookie]

May I ask an addendum to yesterday's QOTD - so I guess ATYQOTD?! Here it is:

Has anyone tried using peanut butter as fuel mid-race? I always feel like some protein in the middle of my very long marathon might help keep my blood sugar a bit more stable, but the one time I tried an Uncrustable mid-run it gave me stomach cramps: too much. But I'm thinking maybe just a tablespoon of PB in a little baggie? Maybe with a little honey drizzled in, too? I have a cast-iron stomach, so I'm never worried about anything really awful happening, but that stupid Uncrustable just felt like a rock sitting in my gut, which wasn't comfortable.

Ive seen that a lot of ultra runners eat various nut butters mid-race. Not me, though, i accidentally a whole small jar of peanut butter last night for sport.

 

[Neon Cactus]

I really miss the days of the classics being re-released to movie theaters. Seeing those movies on the big screen is a very different experience.

In 2008, I had the opportunity to attend the 50th anniversary screening of Sleeping Beauty at the Disney owned El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. I had seen the movie countless times before that screening, but it had been 20+ years since I had seen in theatres and it's a very different experience seeing a film like that in its originally intended medium, right down to the state of the art sound system. While I knew every beat of the movie, it still felt as if I experienced the movie for the first time. I enjoyed it so much that I turned around and went back to see the movie on the day I left to come back home because I knew it might be the last time I got to experience my favorite animated movie the way it was designed to be seen.

Seeing any movie at the El Capitan is incredible, but especially the old classics. I was talking with my friends the other day remembering seeing The Lion King there, back in the days when we had to line up hours in advance and rush for seats. We saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea there also and on the big screen it was incredible.

 

[Capang]

ATTQOTD: I always liked disney movies growing up, even though a few of them scared me to death. When I was 8 or 9 we made an trip to disney while in Fl for a roller skating competition. I was at Magic Kingdom about 2 hours when my dad declared it a waste of money and said he would only go to Cedar Point from then on (CP being a park we visited each summer). I was so disappointed. Fast forward many years and I took my then 3 year old to Disney. LOVED IT. 6 years later i am on year 2 of an AP and a DVC member. My love of the parks has definitely influenced my live of rD.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Seeing any movie at the El Capitan is incredible, but especially the old classics.

Absolutely. I also saw the animated Beauty and the Beast in 3-D there the weekend before my first half marathon. I'm not a fan of going up to that area just to look around, but if you're going to see a movie at El Capitan, it's very much worth experiencing, especially as you noted one of the original classics.