The Running Thread - 2018

[KingLlama]

Wow. Glad to be catching up on this thread today, because the QOTD's from earlier in the week are pretty relevant to me.

1. I started running after having life-saving emergency surgery a few years back. I had hit a very dangerous weight, and when I got fully recovered, I knew I needed to make a change. Halloween of 2015, I started making dietary changes and incorporating walking into my daily routine. I've lost nearly 100 pounds since then.

I didn't start running until summer of 2016, when my weight plateaued. But I couldn't pull the trigger on running "in public" until my first 5K in June of 2017. After that race, I felt like I'd "arrived" and slacked off for a couple of months. Then my younger brother died in his sleep last September, probably from a heart attack, and I knew I needed to ramp things up again. Immediately signed up for my first half(Dark Side), and my first 10K and 10-miler as part of training for that half.

Now it's been a month since that half, and to be honest, I've done very, very little. I started walking again this week, and will go for my first run tomorrow. It would've been my brother's 40th birthday. The least I can do to honor him would be to take good care of myself so that I can be around for our parents, as well as his widow and children. I'm running another 5K next month(the same one I started with a year ago), and thinking of just doing a 5 each month, with a 10 mixed in here and there. I would still love to do another half someday, but my WDW race was just a brutal experience because of cramps. And that leads to my answer for the other QOTD....

2. After that experience, I decided that if I ever do another half, I want to be able to train for it in heat/humidity so that I can know how my body reacts to the loss of salt, which clearly led to me cramping up like crazy. I want to be able to further experiment with what will work for me to alleviate the issue, even if I'm not planning on actually running the half until Spring. My question: Is that a dumb strategy, to train for a race that's not for several months, just so I can try to figure myself out?

I'm thinking that if I ever do another half, it'll either be a springtime WDW race, or (more likely) a springtime half here in Kentucky. Spring in Kentucky is all over the place. We had snow and 80-degree temps in back-to-back weeks here in March. So I want to be ready either way, and that's why I'm considering doing a half training this summer.

 

[hauntedcity]

My first real memory was staying in a Turret Room at the Grand Floridian...jumping on the bed and hitting my head. I was like 4?

As I was scrolling down the posts, I misread the question mark and saw it as "I was like 42".

Although, I wouldn't have blamed you if that were true...

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: My parents took us to Disneyland when I was about 3-4? I know this because I have a picture of my sisters and I with my mom, all wearing our mouse ears in the park. I have no memory of it at all. Didn't go back until my kids were 7-8. Was really a terrible trip, lol. We went with another family and the mom dragged us all around thru the parks non stop. It was 1996 and the "last" weekend of the MSEP (the first time). It was packed and horrible. We actually got escorted backstage so we could get to the front of the park and leave because it was too crowded to walk thru the park. We left and went to Knotts Berry Farm for the day! Two memories that stand out from that day are 1. DS lost his tooth on Space Mountain. At the end of the ride we asked him if he liked it as he hadn't made a sound on the whole ride. He put out his hand and spit his tooth into it and said he was afraid of swallowing the tooth, lol! and 2. We all went on Splash Mountain and DD28 (@LikelyLynae) was in the front and terrified. The ride picture of her face was so awesome I had to buy it!

 

[SheHulk]

The first thought that come to mind is the excitement when the Disney channel came on for free - and had park commercials, the mousercize show, etc. I think that was what started my love for Disney!

Here’s a link:

i had never seen this before and now that I have it has made my life complete.

Our first Disney trip was when I was 7 and included Busch Gardens and Sea World maybe. I don’t remember Disney World at all, just me and my brother bouncing with excitement in the car when we passed the sign that said we were officially there.

 

[Dis5150]

The first thought that come to mind is the excitement when the Disney channel came on for free - and had park commercials, the mousercize show, etc. I think that was what started my love for Disney!

Here’s a link:

OMG this is too perfect! Why we ever thought wearing a sash/belt with a leotard or a leotard with suspender straps was a good idea I have no idea, lol! Although I did love my leg warmers!

 

[FredtheDuck]

@LSUlakes sending good wishes your way. In-law issues can be really tough all around... I hope you guys find a way through it that you both feel ok about.

@Miranda similiar Rain concerns for my race this weekend. Timing of thunderstorm potential keeps bobbing around, right now it looks like that'll hold off until after the race, so we'll just have lots and lots and lots of rain to contend with. It'll be my first race in the rain, though I've trained in plenty.

Question: Do you remember how old you were when you had your first Disney experience? What memory sticks in your head? Have you been with someone else when they first experienced that magic? Do you think any age for this experience is any better than another?

Fun question. My grandparents lived in LA when I was a kid, and one Christmas when we were visiting them we did a family trip to Disneyland. I vividly remember a white DL 35th anniversary celebration sweatshirt that my mom had, so it must have been around 1990 or so. I don't remember a ton about the trip, but I do remember trying to get my little autograph book signed by as many people as possible. My grandma passed last weekend and the family is going through all her old photos and stuff, I wonder if any will pop up from that trip.

We took my daughter to WDW a year ago. It was my first trip to WDW too. She was only a year and a half at the time, but I just loved watching her little face when she met characters. I have the cutest pictures of her meeting Pooh and of her during our breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We're going again later this year (she'll be a week shy of three when we go) and she is even more into Disney now (we've entered the princess phase), plus now she can talk and understand what's going on around her a bit better. So I'm really excited to watch her experience all the magic that a Disney trip will hold for her.

 

[SheHulk]

Wow. Glad to be catching up on this thread today, because the QOTD's from earlier in the week are pretty relevant to me.

1. I started running after having life-saving emergency surgery a few years back. I had hit a very dangerous weight, and when I got fully recovered, I knew I needed to make a change. Halloween of 2015, I started making dietary changes and incorporating walking into my daily routine. I've lost nearly 100 pounds since then.

I didn't start running until summer of 2016, when my weight plateaued. But I couldn't pull the trigger on running "in public" until my first 5K in June of 2017. After that race, I felt like I'd "arrived" and slacked off for a couple of months. Then my younger brother died in his sleep last September, probably from a heart attack, and I knew I needed to ramp things up again. Immediately signed up for my first half(Dark Side), and my first 10K and 10-miler as part of training for that half.

Now it's been a month since that half, and to be honest, I've done very, very little. I started walking again this week, and will go for my first run tomorrow. It would've been my brother's 40th birthday. The least I can do to honor him would be to take good care of myself so that I can be around for our parents, as well as his widow and children. I'm running another 5K next month(the same one I started with a year ago), and thinking of just doing a 5 each month, with a 10 mixed in here and there. I would still love to do another half someday, but my WDW race was just a brutal experience because of cramps. And that leads to my answer for the other QOTD....

2. After that experience, I decided that if I ever do another half, I want to be able to train for it in heat/humidity so that I can know how my body reacts to the loss of salt, which clearly led to me cramping up like crazy. I want to be able to further experiment with what will work for me to alleviate the issue, even if I'm not planning on actually running the half until Spring. My question: Is that a dumb strategy, to train for a race that's not for several months, just so I can try to figure myself out?

I'm thinking that if I ever do another half, it'll either be a springtime WDW race, or (more likely) a springtime half here in Kentucky. Spring in Kentucky is all over the place. We had snow and 80-degree temps in back-to-back weeks here in March. So I want to be ready either way, and that's why I'm considering doing a half training this summer.

Oh my gosh I’m so sorry for your loss.

In my opinion it’s never a dumb strategy to train. It moves you forward.

 

[Miranda]

@Miranda similiar Rain concerns for my race this weekend. Timing of thunderstorm potential keeps bobbing around, right now it looks like that'll hold off until after the race, so we'll just have lots and lots and lots of rain to contend with. It'll be my first race in the rain, though I've trained in plenty.

At this point I've run so many HM in rain it's not a big deal to me I guess... it is miserable but I'll wear my visor to keep the worst of the water out of my eyes, put my phone in a ziploc bag, and wear a black shirt... because I have learned the hard way that race photos and spectators can see EVERYTHING when you get completely drenched in a light colored shirt. The threat of cancellation sucks though. They emailed us just now that it may need to be delayed or canceled entirely due to thunderstorms.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Question: Do you remember how old you were when you had your first Disney experience? What memory sticks in your head? Have you been with someone else when they first experienced that magic? Do you think any age for this experience is any better than another?

I don't remember specifics on age or year, but my first trip was in the early 90's. My sister, brother and I are two years apart in age (I am the middle child) and I believe we were in the 8-10-12 range when we went for the first time, which would have placed us in 1992 or 1993. My parents took us out of school (yeah!) in late January, so it was a relatively lighter crowd time of year. We did some sort of cruise/Disney package on Premier Cruise Line (before Disney had their own ships)and the parks were the second half of the trip. The things I remember most vividly are first, my favorite memory of the trip, riding Splash Mountain repeatedly with my brother and sister during a rain shower one afternoon when no one else wanted to ride it; and, second, when we went to MGM Studios there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles parade that we absolutely had to see because my little brother was obsessed at the time.

As for going with others, I have been for the first time with all 5 of my nieces and nephews. My first trip as an adult was for the 2012 WDW Half Marathon and I only agreed to run it so that I could be at Disney for my oldest nephews first time. He was 2 years 9 months old and I think he was basically the perfect age for a first time. He was old enough to go on the rides and old enough to have a relationship with most of the characters from either film or TV. Two of the others experienced it for the first time at that age as well and the other two were both there as babies for the first time. I think 3 is right around the sweet spot for a trip the kids will love, but maybe not remember; I know I've enjoyed all of those trips though.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: My first WDW trip was for my 3rd birthday. I remember nothing. But there are plenty of photos and videos. We went back when I was 5 and I remember a lot from that trip. Mainly crying in front of Splash Mountain because I was too short to ride. My dad went on alone and my mom took me on the train. She really tried to sell the train as being better than Splash. Sorry, no. Then of course I was too short for Space Mountain so she and I went on PeopleMover and she somehow convinced me that part of it was on the Space Mountain tracks.....I was gullible.

I was 15 the first time my sister went. She was 7. We were visiting family in Jacksonville, and my parents said we were leaving at 6 the next morning to go home. I rolled out of bed and fell right to sleep in the car but woke up about an hour later when we stopped for breakfast. I saw a road sign for Daytona so I pulled my dad aside and asked if we were going to Disney World, he said yes don’t tell your sister. We thought she’d start seeing billboards and put it together. Nope. Got off the exit. Nothing. Went under the Welcome sign, NO REACTION. And she was awake the whole time! We eventually had to tell her where we were and she could not have been any more excited. It was really great.

I also took my grandmother last summer for her first visit and 80th birthday. It was amazing. I cried approximately 35,976 times that week.

@LSUlakes prayers and good vibes your way for strength through this storm. Stuff with in-laws can be tough on a marriage and a hard situation to navigate. I hope everything turns out okay.

 

[ZellyB]

I think I was around 15 or so when we went with my parents. It was just a one-day at Magic Kingdom. I honestly don't remember a lot about it. We enjoyed it, I know but I don't have a lot of other specific memories. The trip that really got us hooked was when we took our kids for the first time back in 2007 and then runDisney sealed the Disney love for us back in 2013.

 

[SheHulk]

I hope this isn't inappropriate but I just remembered what's probably my oldest Disney World-related memory. It was a little after Space Mountain opened, I'm guessing I was about 6, which would make my older brother about 10. One of his friends came over and they started talking about Space Mountain, how fast it was, how cool it was, and the friend said that it was in the news that a lady wore a dress made of paper on the ride and it blew right off from the speed. Even at the age of 6 I had questions, including, "Who would wear a dress made of paper to ride a roller coaster?" And, "Where could you even get a dress like that?" Of course the 10 year old boys were indignant at my questions and the friend swore he saw it on the news. Pretty sure that never happened lol. Even so when we finally visited Magic Kingdom the next summer I was a little worried my clothes would blow off when we rode Space Mountain.

 

[TheHamm]

The first thought that come to mind is the excitement when the Disney channel came on for free - and had park commercials, the mousercize show, etc. I think that was what started my love for Disney!

Here’s a link:

I watch these with my kids occasionally when they need to get the wiggles out. They prefer the updated Mickey Mouse clubhouse version, it is not nearly as fun to me.

Also, I am considering bringing back head-sweatband portion of the 1982 fashion statement for running this summer. I will now claim I need to watch the old version of mousercize to research the best in sweatband fashion.

 

[FFigawi]

He folks. Despite a late night, and a little rest. My normal morning routine is not affected. Dropped kiddos off at school and at my desk for 7:30AM. Thanks for the thoughts and comments. We need to talk, but need to do so without interruption from kids who want to play. No idea when that will happen, but it's either going to get better at that point are much worse.

Sorry things are tough right now. My advice, for what it's worth, is to stick to your position. My mother tries to pull guilt trips quite frequently, and the best response I've come up with is "I'm sorry, mom. This is my/our position, and you need to respect our limits and boundaries. If you can't, this conversation will be short and ending now." Repeat and end discussions as many times as necessary.

 

[michigandergirl]

Fun Friday QOTD: My grandparents took us and some extended family to Disney when I was 13. I remember Space Mountain being my favorite ride and I also remember someone in my family losing their glasses on Space Mountain.

We first took my sons to Disney when they 5 & 3 (before we adopted my daughter). I think 5 and up is the best age to take kids to Disney (unless you have unlimited funds, then any age). My 3 year old son at the time was terrified of the characters, rides...everything!! He didn't sleep for weeks after that trip. He did however enjoy chasing lizards around POFQ.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

@LSUlakes, hang in there and trust your training. In this case, it means this probably isn't the first 'rough patch' you've hit. You made it through the others, so you can make it through this one. Figure out what worked before and do it again.

BTW, 'trust your training' is my standard advice for almost any situation (at least to fellow runners.)

Enough babbling (or babbling on a different subject). ATTQOTD: I first went to Disney World as a teenager. It was a couple of years after it opened (yes, I am old.) I think Space Mountain wasn't there the first time we went, to pin it down even more.

I know this is hard to imagine, but there was no Epcot, no AK, pretty much nothing except Magic Kingdom, so we referred to MK as Disney World, since there wasn't anything else.

Favorite memories: Country Bear Jamboree, Haunted Mansion, paper ticket books, being allowed to run at rope drop, having a set time to meet our parents at the fountain in front of the castle to check in (and get more money!)

 

[Bree]

OMG!!!! I used to Mousercise!!! I forgot all about that show!

 

[rteetz]

2. After that experience, I decided that if I ever do another half, I want to be able to train for it in heat/humidity so that I can know how my body reacts to the loss of salt, which clearly led to me cramping up like crazy. I want to be able to further experiment with what will work for me to alleviate the issue, even if I'm not planning on actually running the half until Spring. My question: Is that a dumb strategy, to train for a race that's not for several months, just so I can try to figure myself out?

I don't think that is dumb at all. Part of training is figuring out what will work for you. Not every training run is great. Many here will tell you that you need those bad training runs to figure things out.

 

[CDKG]

Question: Do you remember how old you were when you had your first Disney experience? What memory sticks in your head? Have you been with someone else when they first experienced that magic? Do you think any age for this experience is any better than another's?

As I like to say, I grew up Disney. I was born in February and my parents drove down to Disneyland every summer. So, I'm assuming I was just months old (my mother remembers needing to hold me) on my first visit. Once I asked my mother why she brought me when I was too young to do anything or even remember it. She said, "I don't know, I guess I just wanted to go!" That about sums it up!

My first trip to WDW was at the age of 23. I was a travel agent and Disney destination specialist at the time. To be honest, we didn't like it! We spent the entire trip comparing it to DLR. We were so distracted by the differences (and completely out of our element) that we couldn't appreciate it for what it was. Our second trip to WDW was with a friend who had been many times. She taught us how to do WDW right and we have loved it ever since!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Has anyone else tried Maurten Sports Drink 320? I'm highly intrigued and I've got a shipment coming on Tuesday. Earlier research on Ironman athletes showed that the carb consumption limit during endurance activity was around 90g carbs per hour. Classically almost all carb containing substances on the market require 1 oz water for every 2 g carbs. That's 45 oz of water per hour to hit that maximum. Which can be quite the water load per hour (that would be like 15 water cups in a race per hour). But this new (to me) sports powder mix uses hydrogel technology. So you can consume 80g carbs in just 17 oz of water. It only has 5 ingredients (no preservatives, no color, no acids, and no added flavor). Personally, I think it could be a game changer for the Western Australian carb loading procedure prior to the marathon. Because now instead of needing to drink 2.5 gallons of water to absorb the massive liquid carbs, now I could potentially only drink 1 gallon of water. Anyone else have prior experience with it?