The Running Thread - 2018

Have any of yall heard of a race series called "Best Damn Race ______"? This will be its second year in New Orleans and was curious if any knows anything about them. I'm considering this race as a backup plan to my POT race since I have not been able to train as I wanted to so far and my race is in two weeks. This race would be another 2 weeks after my first one and I think I would make some gains between the two, or at least enough to get sub 2 hours on a second try.

When is it? I may look at that one as I don’t think I’ll be able to get to NOLA next weekend after all for RnR Half ...

ETA: Just found it. The course is real similar to RnR except you come back down to finish at Louis Armstrong instead of of finishing at City Park.

That stretch down Esplanade to City Park is shady, flat and beautiful. I mean, the whole thing is basically flat except having to come back up from the Garden District along St. Charles to the Quarter, but I wouldn’t even blink at that elevation.
 
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Cool.

My friends have done a Best Damn Race before and have no complaints. I like that it starts and finishes in the same area - my big complaint with RnR NOLA is you have to shuttle back because the race starts in the CBD and finishes at City Park.

I’m actually looking at BDR Orlando next weekend if I can’t make it for RnR NOLA.
 
:cool1: That's a relief!

So in all, how much time did you have to take off (between last run and now) and were you doing any leg aerobic exercise during that time? I ask because I'm going through the same motions/research right now with my own confirmed low grade fibula stress fracture. I just wrote a post about it (The return to running and determining current fitness after an extended break) detailing Jack Daniels regimen for a safe return to running after an extended period of time off (4-8 weeks). At the immediate moment, you may not want to come back at the pacing from previous (needs to be slower) and the time building the base back up should be equal to time off (example: no running for 5 weeks = 5 weeks of building mileage back up slowly) before even starting a basic training plan.

The time off depends on where you start counting it. After Dopey, I took the normal two weeks off for rest and recovery. I then put in a week of training, during which the issue flared up. Since that point, I have not run in 4 weeks, but I have been putting in 3-4 miles on the elliptical at approximately Easy B pacing 3-4x/week the last couple of weeks. I don’t think I’ve lost everything at this point, but appropriate pacing for these next few weeks is a concern.

I have 14 weeks until my next scheduled race (half marathon) since I had to bail on the ultra, so there’s a little ramp up time available. The Higdon plan I go to for these basic rebuilds starts at R/3/3/3/R/4/R, so I didn’t think that was a bad place to come back to, given my being fully marathon trained and fit 7 weeks ago. I’m certainly open to suggestions, especially around pacing, though.

On another note, I really liked the additional fitness moving up to 5 days/week running gave me last year, but this shin issue makes me wonder if that’s a bit much. My thought thus far has been to keep the 5th day on the plan, but run it on the elliptical so as to gain at least partial cardio benefits without the additional impact load from the run.
 


ATTQOTD:

Disneyland Resort:

2007 Walk in Walt's Footsteps. I really enjoyed this tour. They will show you some of the original tiki room animatronics since Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room was the first use of audio animatronics in a Disney theme park. They also discuss various inspirations for Disneyland from all over the world and go over some of the now long closed attractions. A few select attractions include front of the line as your tour guide tells you about the significance of the attraction. Seeing as how Disneyland is the only theme park in the world built by Walt Disney himself, there are some very unique things in Disneyland that will never be found anywhere else.

2009 and 2010 Holiday Time at Disneyland. This tour is only offered during Disneyland's holiday season which is roughly mid November through early January. While it is heavily focused on Christmas, it does address holiday traditions of other faiths such as Judaism. Tour included free fudge sample, immediate entrance during the tour on Haunted Mansion Holiday and It's a Small World Holiday, reserved seating for A Christmas Fantasy Parade, and gingerbread cookie with hot cocoa in the holiday souvenir plastic mugs they always sell, and a pin. I've done this tour twice since the first year it rained so hard they did the rainy day cavalcade instead of the parade and multiple attractions were down during the tour. Disney gave us free fastpasses good for any ride in the park due to the issues. They were offering full tour refunds to anyone who wanted one before the tour began due to the weather.

2010 World of Color Dining Package. I did this when World of Color first opened. It helped immensely that I loved the santa maria tri tip served at one of the restaurants, but this restaurant is now closed. Still, it was a great way to get a nice viewing spot for a very popular show when it first opened. Probably not necessary today.

Honorable Mention: Though I have never done a Halloween party, I did the 2014 24 hour Show Your Disney Side party dressed as a Jedi. Walking around Disneyland being addressed as Master Jedi, having little children believe I really was a Jedi, and having characters treat me like a Jedi was quite possibly the best day I've ever had at Disneyland. If you like dressing up as a Disney character, doing so in park is amazing.

Walt Disney World:

2012 Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I did this because I wanted to and to celebrate my 2012 Coast to Coast. I went to the 2nd party of the year. New Fantasyland was open to party guests so I also managed to get a reservation at Be Our Guest. I enjoyed the party a lot. Didn't spend a lot of time on rides since I was checking out the party experiences, although I did make sure to dine at Be Our Guest as it wasn't even open to the public yet.

2017 Star Wars Guided Tour. I did this the day after the Dark Side Challenge. The timing was a mistake. As much as I wanted to extend all the Star Wars excitement I was wrapped up in with my Kessel Run, this tour proved to be too much walking one day after finishing a multi race challenge. Now, the content of the tour was great. I even learned some new things about Star Wars that I did not know before. At that time, the tour included popcorn, water, a dinner at one of the quick service places, and the Star Wars dessert party. Children on the tour were also given guaranteed places in Jedi Training Academy where every single one of them got to fight Darth Vader instead of the much lesser known Seventh Sister. I don't think I would do the tour again, but I really enjoyed it. I recommend it for Star Wars fans. I liked the dessert party as well. Some of my photos at Magic Kingdom from after the Star Wars fireworks at DHS (MK open until 11) feature my Chewbacca stein and all my medals.

2017 Rivers of Light Dining. Based on recommendations and reviews from people such as @Dis_Yoda , I chose Tiffins. Getting the reserved seating for Rivers of Light was great. I enjoyed the show. But the absolute highlight of that night and easily the dining highlight of the entire week which was filled with food that I like or love, was Tiffins.

I'm considering adding either the Frozen dessert party (to switch things up) or doing the Star Wars dessert party again to celebrate the 2018 Dark Side race weekend accomplishments. I might do one of those. I am definitely dining at Tiffins again.
 


We need to coordinate plans for November!
Ok! I’m there November 1st to 11th! First three nights at AKV and then moving to Boardwalk post half marathon to enjoy all the drinks!

Our plans won’t really be set until the Food & Wine Special events come out as we want to do a few of those - probably the Signature Dinners, Italian Pairing, Mexican Tequila Lunch and maybe a Frunch.
 
ATTQOTD: I mentioned it back in my write up of what do I do for park days, but I did MVMCP on the day after the last night time W&D half and it worked out great. I wanted to sleep in after getting back from the race after party at like 4:00 and didn't want to waste a whole park day ticket, and it worked out really great. I slept in, got some extremely late breakfast, bummed around the resort for a while, then went over to MK right when you could get in with your bracelet at 4pm. I wasn't expecting to stay all night, since I was all alone. My SO wasn't able to travel with me because our dog was ill, and my parents came up for the first couple days but they went home on Sunday before the party started. I figured with getting there at 4pm I'd ride some rides and get my fill of stuff and leave after the parade and fireworks, but I ended up closing the place down! I think I walked out at like 11:55pm. I guess I didn't realize just how much extra stuff was going on during the party, shows and things, I thought it was just mainly open late and free cookies and cocoa. I sure had my fill of those. :) I actually kinda liked doing the parks all alone, too! Sure I would have preferred my SO there, but I had a lot more fun doing them alone than I thought I would.

Do tours count too? If so, we also did a backstage tour at Animal Kingdom about 11 years ago which I LOVED. I'm not sure if the same tour still exists, it was like Backstage Safari or something. We got to see all the behind the scenes facilities, the vet areas, the food prep/feeding areas, the animal barns, and then we got to take a behind the scenes leisurely drive through the Killamanjaro Safaris stopping more or less as much as we wanted (and without the dumb Big Red storyline :) ) and seeing all kinds of things like where the fencing and gates are and where the animals entered/exited. Animal Kingdom is my favorite park, so I absolutely loved this tour.
 
ATTQOTD part 2: Well, reading some other answers, I guess I forgot some more things. :)

We did the Candlelight Processional Dining Package in 2014 when we were there over the holiday season. We ate at Morocco, which was amazing, and then got to see Neil Patrick Harris for the show.

We've done the Fantasmic! dining package at least once at the restaurant where they yell at you for putting your elbows on the table, maybe twice at Hollywood & Vine.

We've done the Hoop Dee Doo three times over the past ~30 years... we went twice when I was a kid and then we went again for my birthday over the holiday 2014 trip. I love the food there and all you can drink sangria! :woohoo:

We did the World of Color dining package when we were out there for Tink in 2015. It was fine, although I can't remember what the name of the restaurant was... the old Hollywood one right in the middle of DCA. :o
 
Ok! I’m there November 1st to 11th! First three nights at AKV and then moving to Boardwalk post half marathon to enjoy all the drinks!

Our plans won’t really be set until the Food & Wine Special events come out as we want to do a few of those - probably the Signature Dinners, Italian Pairing, Mexican Tequila Lunch and maybe a Frunch.

I’m not sure my dates, but I definitely want to do a couple signature events! And my favorite - Parisian brunch!
 
Tiffins is definitely in my Top 3 (maybe No. 2 behind Cali Grill because of Nomad Lounge). It’s worth EVERY penny, especially at lunch.

Yay! I’m glad I convinced @Sleepless Knight to go to Tiffins! It is amazing! We’re skipping it this trip and next but I’ll be back in September or November!

And now I'm telling everyone that I know going to WDW to go to Tiffins. And don't worry about the cost. It's that good.

DW and I are going to WDW in mid-May for a non-running visit. Tiffin’s has never been on our radar, but you’ve got me intrigued. Is the menu the same for lunch and dinner? Is it a tough reservation?
 
DW and I are going to WDW in mid-May for a non-running visit. Tiffin’s has never been on our radar, but you’ve got me intrigued. Is the menu the same for lunch and dinner? Is it a tough reservation?

It’s not a tough reservation if you’re willing to be flexible!

I tend to like a nice lunch as I don’t eat breakfast (so, like 1-2 for lunch) and a really late dinner (8:30-9).

I’ve been for both lunch and dinner and the menu is similar - it’s obviously more expanded at dinner, but lunch is not womp either.
 
It’s not a tough reservation if you’re willing to be flexible!

I tend to like a nice lunch as I don’t eat breakfast (so, like 1-2 for lunch) and a really late dinner (8:30-9).

I’ve been for both lunch and dinner and the menu is similar - it’s obviously more expanded at dinner, but lunch is not womp either.
Yep I’ve done both as well and agree with everything you said.
 
Have any of yall heard of a race series called "Best Damn Race ______"? This will be its second year in New Orleans and was curious if any knows anything about them. I'm considering this race as a backup plan to my POT race since I have not been able to train as I wanted to so far and my race is in two weeks. This race would be another 2 weeks after my first one and I think I would make some gains between the two, or at least enough to get sub 2 hours on a second try.

I'm doing the Best Damn Race 5K in Orlando next week (3/3), so I can probably let you know a little more about it after.

This will be my first official race. I've tried running off and on over the last couple of years, but never really enjoyed it and always found a reason to quit. I started back again in January, and this time feels different. I am actually enjoying it, not finding excuses to not run, not dreading it and hating it like l used to. I'm anxious to get out there and push further. I'm not super fast and I don't run long distances (yet) but I'm hoping if I keep at it, that will come in time. This thread has been really helpful to me, when I feel like I'm struggling and not doing as well as I wish I could, I see that even the veteran runners started the same way. So thanks everybody, for that.

I know I can finish a 5K in a reasonable amount of time, because I've done it a couple times in the last month or so. But never with a few hundred other people. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a first timer. Is there one thing you wish someone had told you before you ran your first race?
 
I'm doing the Best Damn Race 5K in Orlando next week (3/3), so I can probably let you know a little more about it after.

This will be my first official race. I've tried running off and on over the last couple of years, but never really enjoyed it and always found a reason to quit. I started back again in January, and this time feels different. I am actually enjoying it, not finding excuses to not run, not dreading it and hating it like l used to. I'm anxious to get out there and push further. I'm not super fast and I don't run long distances (yet) but I'm hoping if I keep at it, that will come in time. This thread has been really helpful to me, when I feel like I'm struggling and not doing as well as I wish I could, I see that even the veteran runners started the same way. So thanks everybody, for that.

I know I can finish a 5K in a reasonable amount of time, because I've done it a couple times in the last month or so. But never with a few hundred other people. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a first timer. Is there one thing you wish someone had told you before you ran your first race?
I did my first race this winter. It was a 5k and I wish someone would have told me what a cluster the beginning would be. I use Galloway but I didn't take a walk break for at least the first mile, maybe more. Many didn't line up with the correct pacers (they had pacers and not corrals) so it ended up with walkers at the very front while runners were behind dodging all the walkers. It was still really fun and I only missed my goal by about 30 seconds. Have fun!
 
QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

ATTQOTD: Physically going from couch to 5k was the most difficult. I was in bad physical condition and actually started out using a couch to 5k app. The first few weeks are not to bad, but then when it switched to more running than walking I thought I would die. The jump up to 10k and half marathon did not seem nearly as bad. In fact I would say each move up was exciting as it was something new and a first. Then when I had all the confidence in the world, I went for the marathon. Mentally this was the most difficult move up. It's so much time dedicated to long runs that seemed to last forever. The really crazy part is your long runs only go up to 20 miles and usually after completing a 20 miler I am drained and think to myself, I still have 6.2 miles to go on race day. However race day is another animal and somehow you find the strength to get that last 10k in, but its sort of a emotional roller coaster during that first marathon. The second isnt much better, but having experienced it once, you know exactly what you are in for.

Such a great question. My first race I signed up for was TOT so I started with a 10 miler. I did a 10k for POT but don't count it really. Although after that 10k I decided I was the greatest runner ever and thought, oh, I can do a marathon, no big deal. So I signed up for my first marathon to take place two weeks after TOT. :rolleyes1

I would say just getting started was the hardest of all. Getting off that couch and fighting my inner, I can't do this, thoughts. The marathon was hard but I was so determined at that point nothing was stopping me.

Like others I went Couch to Half Marathon. 10 of the 12 months of training were just physically challenging. Mentally, I struggle over 8 miles unless I can keep my mind engaged (listen to lots of history podcasts).

This question actually nicely ties into a post I was working on before I logged in, so LSULakers, thanks for reading my mind on this topic.

Debating training for, and trying to complete, the WDW Marathon in January. I know that I am able to successfully complete a half marathon but keep going back and forth about trying for a full.

For those of you that have gone from the half to the full, why did you make the leap? What was the most challenging? What would you do the same/different? Looking back, would you do it again? Were you: one and done, hooked on the distance, or did it one more time for Goofy/Dopey? If you did your first one as part of either the Goofy or Dopey Challenge, what would you tell that prior version of you if you could go back in time and do it again?

As I stated above my route wasn't the norm. I never did an official 1/2 before the full. Only training runs. I wouldn't change any of how I got here. May not have been the best route to take but I used to be a fat couch potato who told himself he would run a marathon one day, never believing it, and I have now done three. So I am happy. The most challenging is getting over the idea of just how many miles a marathon is and picturing running it. But, if you train for it and just keep putting one foot in front of another, you will do it if you want it bad enough. It changes your life!

QOTD: Todays question is somewhat running related. For those of you who run a runDisney race, or races over the weekend, how do you plan your trips? What I mean by that is, do you plan on having park days before the race weekend, after, both, or only during the event weekend itself? When running multiple races do you spend time in the parks after each race or do you focus on recovery and preparing for the next race?

ATTQOTD: My sample size is small with my only race being the marathon in 2016. We started our trip in Friday and stopped in Gainesville, FL that night. Saturday we drive to the expo before checking in and then spent half a day at Hollywood Studious. We took it easy and the main reason we went to HS was the carb loading meal at Momma Melrose. I was in bed by 8:30 that night. Post race we hit the parks and had a post race dinner at Ohana to "celebrate". It was not a great race and I was kinda disappointed with my effort and result. We spent the next few days in the parks. I struggle with the idea of touring the parks prior to the race for fear of to much time on my feet.

I fit in as much park time as possible around the race.

Fun Friday QOTD: What extra ticket type of event at Disney have you done or want to do? Which would you not recommend?

ATTQOTD: So far we have not participated in a event unless of course you count a Disney race. For the sake of this topic I will leave it out. We are planning on MNSSHP for our September trip which DD is already talking about lol. I guess we made that suggestion a little early since we have a trip before that one. A few days after the marathon we want to check out the HEA dessert party to celebrate the marathon. I would like to do one of the tours, but will wait for the children to get much older as I don't want to ruin the magic for them while they are young. I've heard good things about after hour events, but those seem like they may be better for a adult trip only or when the kids get older as well type deal.

MNSSHP. I miss it and wanna go back this year if I can.
 

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