Who did NOT die! Founding member of Team Not-So-Fast and costume addict (Comments welcome)

[Mr_Incr3dible]

What a total joke. I started to watch it, cause I was rooting for the Bengals scenario where they advanced. I stopped watching in the first quarter.

Safe travels!

Dittos. I have a good friend who is the only Bengals fan I know, so I sort-of root for the Bengals on his behalf (if I otherwise don't care about the outcome of the Bengals games, which applies to most of the NFL....), and the first domino fell on Saturday with their win over the Steelers. And we (others in our Sunday School class) were chuckling at the idea of him having to root for the Chiefs to win, and two of the dominos indeed fell, but the Chiefs were a total no-show yesterday. I mean, are the backups ok on just a onesy-twosy basis? Otherwise, the Chiefies better hope all the starters stay healthy, based on what we saw yesterday.
And then the Falcons, handed gifts of opportunity to be in the playoffs the last few weeks, failed at every opportunity and will be starting their winter vacations early. Just dang.

 

[The Expert]

Dittos. I have a good friend who is the only Bengals fan I know, so I sort-of root for the Bengals on his behalf (if I otherwise don't care about the outcome of the Bengals games, which applies to most of the NFL....), and the first domino fell on Saturday with their win over the Steelers. And we (others in our Sunday School class) were chuckling at the idea of him having to root for the Chiefs to win, and two of the dominos indeed fell, but the Chiefs were a total no-show yesterday. I mean, are the backups ok on just a onesy-twosy basis? Otherwise, the Chiefies better hope all the starters stay healthy, based on what we saw yesterday.
And then the Falcons, handed gifts of opportunity to be in the playoffs the last few weeks, failed at every opportunity and will be starting their winter vacations early. Just dang.

We've had starters hurt most of the season, but when your leader on offense (Mahomes) AND defense (Chris Jones) are BOTH out, it's hard to get things to gel. And the Broncos have a GOOD defense and pass rush, so I wasn't entirely shocked. One thing about the Chiefs is we (usually) turn it on for the playoffs. Last year we had a pretty sketchy season, but as soon as the playoffs hit we were a different team. I won't be shocked if that's the case this year too.

 

[The Expert]

I'm not usually one to do a detailed race or trip report, but I feel the need to leave myself some notes, so here goes.

Travel In
I left home early Tuesday morning and it was snowing, but it IS Vermont, so no issues. Connected through Detroit without issue and landed at MCO just before 1pm. I ride shared to my mom's in Celebration and spent the night there, then borrowed my old Mustang back that I sold to them when we moved.

Expo Day
Got up early, packed the car (my luggage JUST fit in the trunk) and headed to the Expo about 7:30 to get in the Platinum line. We were let in promptly at 8, and when I rounded the corner to the Dopey section it was CHAOS! I did manage to grab a Dopey hoodie in what I hoped was my size, a finisher shirt and two medal replica pins (one for a fellow DISer) and run away. Every time a new rack of hoodies came out, the crowd swarmed back. I took my time wandering the other sections, picking up a few things for DIS friends and making sure I wasn't missing anything (still managed to miss the rD medal rack). I was out of there about 9 and stashed some things in my car while waiting for the rest of the expo to open. I met up with a few folks to hand off purchases then did a lap on the expo floor and grabbed a weekend cup and cider - yum!

I met mom and aunt at DHS for lunch, checked into my Poly studio for the night and got maybe 4 hours of sleep before the 5K.

5K
It was cold and I was SO HAPPY! I decided to lean into the weather and went with my full cozy Merida costume: thermal tights, thin base layer, REI wool quarter zip, MUM flannel shirt, Merida wig and a beanie.



I didn't take anything off during the race except my gloves from time to time. I'm not a huge fan of the Disney 5Ks but it was a good shakeout run after the taper. I did my intervals (60/30) until we hit the park, then mostly walked to save my legs. I did stop for Mickey since he was early in the course and the line was reasonable.

I went back to the hotel, napped for about 90 minutes, showered and packed back up to move to Bay Lake. I had set up a grocery pick-up for the afternoon, which turned out to be perfect timing as I got my room about 3pm. I got exactly the location I wanted and it was a newly refurbished one bedroom! This turned out to be a blessing and a curse, as I discovered random things that weren't quite ready, like barely working internet, no ice trays, the wrong tv remote in the living room, and bath water that only got lukewarm. Those were all fixed (except the internet) in the first 24 hours.

10K
I slept maybe 3 hours and felt like total crap, plus it felt colder than the 5K and I was less prepared for it this time. I was just NOT feeling this race and I pretty much walked the whole thing. I was glad to run into Herding Cats and DH and hang with them for a bit, but just felt like I was dragging them down with me. I did stop for the Spaceship Earth pic (and it turned out really good), but this was the day I was just happy to be DONE.



I started to feel better after I got some food in me and went to pick up DH from the airport. By the time HH meetup rolled around, I was pretty much good. DH and I monorailed over to dinner at Narcoosee's where I had a shrimp pasta. Thankfully they seated us a bit early and we were back to the room before 7. The lack of sleep had really caught up to me and I crashed HARD.

Half Marathon
After driving the first two races, I took the monorail and it went super smooth. I was able to have my second cup of coffee as I traveled in and was feeling pretty well rested after 6 hours of sleep. I was very excited for this costume, especially since the forecast called for rain and I had an umbrella! Sadly the poncho I wore to travel over grabbed a few of my vinyl flowers, so once I took that off for the group pic I was hesitant to put another on when the rain picked up. Thankfully I was in a porta potty when that happened, so I just lingered a bit. .

They staged corral B all the way into the chute for the half, so we were a bit exposed to the wind and I was COLD out there! I used my little umbrella to keep my head dry but my arm warmers and gloves got a bit wet. I even got a shout-out from Pelkey on the stage for having the foresight to bring an umbrella! Once we started moving I was better, and I even handed off my gloves and headband to DH when we passed him at Bay Lake.

I tried to take it easy and switched intervals to 30/30, but ran them all the way to MK. I stopped by Small World to get some pics and ran into @Kerry1957 and his daughter. Shortly after, @Herding_Cats caught up and we ran the rest of the race together. I switched out my intervals to match hers. We stopped for castle pics, Robin Hood and Meeko. I saw SO MANY people on this course, and it was so fun to get shout-outs from DIS spectators. The umbrella definitely helped identify me.

p.s. I'm one of those folks who HATES to run with anything in my hands, but the umbrella didn't bother me at all. It was light and easy to navigate with, so I may have to rethink my "no handhelds" and "no props" policy.



Marathon
I honestly don't think I've ever had so much fun on a marathon course! I got SO MANY comments on the Mahomes/Kermit costume and even collected two friendship bracelets for it! Once Herding Cats and I connected (about mile 6 or 7), we got even more. Seriously every 2 or 3 minutes someone was saying something or shouting out "Go Lions!" or "Go Chiefs!" -- we had a blast!
We got an awesome castle pic together and stopped for tons of characters since the lines were so short. DH handed off two mini Cokes at Bay Lake, which was a nice boost there. I kept randomly texting @nancipants to see if she was catching up, in case we had the chance to run together.



We stuck to our 20/30 intervals to mile 20, then decided to walk for a mile or so and see how we felt. That's when @Naomeri found us and she was struggling. So we decided then and there to just walk it in and look for other Team Not-So-Fast folks who might want to join us. We shouted "YOU LOOK AMAZING" at @DisneyMountainWoman every time we saw her, looked for @superchime and @nancipants around BB and had lots of shenanigans. On the path to the Boardwalk, nancipants texted and asked where we were, and it was maybe a quarter mile, so we waited for her to join us. I stopped for a pic with Oogie Boogie and got an awesome bear hug from @garneska on my way to catch back up with the group!

In Epcot, we got to see nancipants' family cheering her on, and that got me right in the feels. It was SO much fun finishing with all four of us together and I highly recommend doing so if you're usually shy or hesitant to ask for support. My time positively sucked but it was for sure the Best. Marathon. EVER!



Post-Race
I took the bus back to Bay Lake where DH had ordered wings and drawn me a hot bath. I had an existential crisis for a minute figuring out which I needed first! (The bath won.) DH is a Broncos fan, and that playoff game started just about the time I got back. I watched the first half then took an hour nap. Mom and Stepdad came over about 4 and went to early celebratory dinner with us at Shula's, which was SO good. They took the Mustang back so we didn't have to worry about getting it to them on Monday before we left.

DATW & Home
On Monday we walked over to MK and got some medal photos.



I took my ear hat to be embroidered and arranged for it to be shipped home to me. We checked out of Bay Lake and stored our luggage, then headed over to Epcot. Met up with the group in Mexico and got to hang with them through America before we headed out for our flight home.

We ended up taking ride share to Bay Lake, and they waited for us to grab our luggage and change for MCO. The trip home was uneventful, but we landed after 11pm so I was definitely BEAT when we got home! My legs felt pretty good thanks to the walking at Epcot.

This week at work has been crazy as our org is responding to the LA fires and helping the animal shelters in the area. But I have managed to foam roll, stretch and even got a walk in on the treadmill yesterday. Recovery is going well and I am VERY MUCH looking forward to a 3-day weekend with a Chiefs playoff game in the middle of it!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

I'm not usually one to do a detailed race or trip report, but I feel the need to leave myself some notes, so here goes.

Travel In
I left home early Tuesday morning and it was snowing, but it IS Vermont, so no issues. Connected through Detroit without issue and landed at MCO just before 1pm. I ride shared to my mom's in Celebration and spent the night there, then borrowed my old Mustang back that I sold to them when we moved.

Expo Day
Got up early, packed the car (my luggage JUST fit in the trunk) and headed to the Expo about 7:30 to get in the Platinum line. We were let in promptly at 8, and when I rounded the corner to the Dopey section it was CHAOS! I did manage to grab a Dopey hoodie in what I hoped was my size, a finisher shirt and two medal replica pins (one for a fellow DISer) and run away. Every time a new rack of hoodies came out, the crowd swarmed back. I took my time wandering the other sections, picking up a few things for DIS friends and making sure I wasn't missing anything (still managed to miss the rD medal rack). I was out of there about 9 and stashed some things in my car while waiting for the rest of the expo to open. I met up with a few folks to hand off purchases then did a lap on the expo floor and grabbed a weekend cup and cider - yum!

I met mom and aunt at DHS for lunch, checked into my Poly studio for the night and got maybe 4 hours of sleep before the 5K.

5K
It was cold and I was SO HAPPY! I decided to lean into the weather and went with my full cozy Merida costume: thermal tights, thin base layer, REI wool quarter zip, MUM flannel shirt, Merida wig and a beanie.

View attachment 930320 View attachment 930321

I didn't take anything off during the race except my gloves from time to time. I'm not a huge fan of the Disney 5Ks but it was a good shakeout run after the taper. I did my intervals (60/30) until we hit the park, then mostly walked to save my legs. I did stop for Mickey since he was early in the course and the line was reasonable.

I went back to the hotel, napped for about 90 minutes, showered and packed back up to move to Bay Lake. I had set up a grocery pick-up for the afternoon, which turned out to be perfect timing as I got my room about 3pm. I got exactly the location I wanted and it was a newly refurbished one bedroom! This turned out to be a blessing and a curse, as I discovered random things that weren't quite ready, like barely working internet, no ice trays, the wrong tv remote in the living room, and bath water that only got lukewarm. Those were all fixed (except the internet) in the first 24 hours.

10K
I slept maybe 3 hours and felt like total crap, plus it felt colder than the 5K and I was less prepared for it this time. I was just NOT feeling this race and I pretty much walked the whole thing. I was glad to run into Herding Cats and DH and hang with them for a bit, but just felt like I was dragging them down with me. I did stop for the Spaceship Earth pic (and it turned out really good), but this was the day I was just happy to be DONE.

View attachment 930322

I started to feel better after I got some food in me and went to pick up DH from the airport. By the time HH meetup rolled around, I was pretty much good. DH and I monorailed over to dinner at Narcoosee's where I had a shrimp pasta. Thankfully they seated us a bit early and we were back to the room before 7. The lack of sleep had really caught up to me and I crashed HARD.

Half Marathon
After driving the first two races, I took the monorail and it went super smooth. I was able to have my second cup of coffee as I traveled in and was feeling pretty well rested after 6 hours of sleep. I was very excited for this costume, especially since the forecast called for rain and I had an umbrella! Sadly the poncho I wore to travel over grabbed a few of my vinyl flowers, so once I took that off for the group pic I was hesitant to put another on when the rain picked up. Thankfully I was in a porta potty when that happened, so I just lingered a bit. .

They staged corral B all the way into the chute for the half, so we were a bit exposed to the wind and I was COLD out there! I used my little umbrella to keep my head dry but my arm warmers and gloves got a bit wet. I even got a shout-out from Pelkey on the stage for having the foresight to bring an umbrella! Once we started moving I was better, and I even handed off my gloves and headband to DH when we passed him at Bay Lake.

I tried to take it easy and switched intervals to 30/30, but ran them all the way to MK. I stopped by Small World to get some pics and ran into @Kerry1957 and his daughter. Shortly after, @Herding_Cats caught up and we ran the rest of the race together. I switched out my intervals to match hers. We stopped for castle pics, Robin Hood and Meeko. I saw SO MANY people on this course, and it was so fun to get shout-outs from DIS spectators. The umbrella definitely helped identify me.

p.s. I'm one of those folks who HATES to run with anything in my hands, but the umbrella didn't bother me at all. It was light and easy to navigate with, so I may have to rethink my "no handhelds" and "no props" policy.

View attachment 930323 View attachment 930324

Marathon
I honestly don't think I've ever had so much fun on a marathon course! I got SO MANY comments on the Mahomes/Kermit costume and even collected two friendship bracelets for it! Once Herding Cats and I connected (about mile 6 or 7), we got even more. Seriously every 2 or 3 minutes someone was saying something or shouting out "Go Lions!" or "Go Chiefs!" -- we had a blast!
We got an awesome castle pic together and stopped for tons of characters since the lines were so short. DH handed off two mini Cokes at Bay Lake, which was a nice boost there. I kept randomly texting @nancipants to see if she was catching up, in case we had the chance to run together.

View attachment 930326

We stuck to our 20/30 intervals to mile 20, then decided to walk for a mile or so and see how we felt. That's when @Naomeri found us and she was struggling. So we decided then and there to just walk it in and look for other Team Not-So-Fast folks who might want to join us. We shouted "YOU LOOK AMAZING" at @DisneyMountainWoman every time we saw her, looked for @superchime and @nancipants around BB and had lots of shenanigans. On the path to the Boardwalk, nancipants texted and asked where we were, and it was maybe a quarter mile, so we waited for her to join us. I stopped for a pic with Oogie Boogie and got an awesome bear hug from @garneska on my way to catch back up with the group!

In Epcot, we got to see nancipants' family cheering her on, and that got me right in the feels. It was SO much fun finishing with all four of us together and I highly recommend doing so if you're usually shy or hesitant to ask for support. My time positively sucked but it was for sure the Best. Marathon. EVER!

View attachment 930327

Post-Race
I took the bus back to Bay Lake where DH had ordered wings and drawn me a hot bath. I had an existential crisis for a minute figuring out which I needed first! (The bath won.) DH is a Broncos fan, and that playoff game started just about the time I got back. I watched the first half then took an hour nap. Mom and Stepdad came over about 4 and went to early celebratory dinner with us at Shula's, which was SO good. They took the Mustang back so we didn't have to worry about getting it to them on Monday before we left.

DATW & Home
On Monday we walked over to MK and got some medal photos.

View attachment 930328 View attachment 930329

I took my ear hat to be embroidered and arranged for it to be shipped home to me. We checked out of Bay Lake and stored our luggage, then headed over to Epcot. Met up with the group in Mexico and got to hang with them through America before we headed out for our flight home.

We ended up taking ride share to Bay Lake, and they waited for us to grab our luggage and change for MCO. The trip home was uneventful, but we landed after 11pm so I was definitely BEAT when we got home! My legs felt pretty good thanks to the walking at Epcot.

This week at work has been crazy as our org is responding to the LA fires and helping the animal shelters in the area. But I have managed to foam roll, stretch and even got a walk in on the treadmill yesterday. Recovery is going well and I am VERY MUCH looking forward to a 3-day weekend with a Chiefs playoff game in the middle of it!

Man every time I saw you, you guys made me laugh and smile! Thank u! And all your outfits were amazing!

 

[The Expert]

I should also add that I LOVED the weather for this weekend! If I could order up perfect weather for Dopey, this would be it (minus the rain).

 

[Naomeri]

I should also add that I LOVED the weather for this weekend! If I could order up perfect weather for Dopey, this would be it (minus the rain).

Agreed. Could've had a touch less wind, but overall perfect running weather.

 

[The Expert]

So, now what?

It's been two weeks since the marathon and the rest period had been very restful. I've done a couple of easy walks on the treadmill and lots of shoveling and work around the house. I've even done a few of my iFit stretching/light yoga workouts. I feel good but have ZERO desire to start running again. This is usually where I am this time of year. I know if I continue to do nothing, I'll be starting over when I do need to train and I do NOT want to do that (again).

My plan is this:
Monday - stretching/yoga
Tuesday - 30 minute run
Wednesday - strength train
Thursday - 30 minute run
Friday - stretching/yoga or rest
Saturday - strength train
Sunday - 60 minute run

I'll repeat what I posted over on the 2025 Running Thread earlier in this context. My race calendar is a bit sparse right now, with just the SS 10K, so I shouldn't really need to do any more than this for that race. This would also keep a good base for MW training in the fall if I don't end up signing up for anything else.

We've got non-running WDW trips in late May and late October. That second one overlaps with the first two races of W&D now that they moved the dates, so I may as well sign up for the 5K (and maybe 10K since I have a good costume idea for the theme).

There aren't a lot of casual races near me, and even those have such small fields I'm way too self-conscious of my slow pace to do them. I'm kind of looking for a medium-to-large but slow-pace welcoming HM or shorter in the region (New England) between March and November to at least have something to train for. (Suggestions welcome!)

Also, I signed up to volunteer at the Boston Marathon, so we'll see if that comes through. I won't be running but thought it would be a fun way to get involved with the event. I'll likely go down and spectate for it even if I don't get a shift.

In the meantime, once things thaw, I plan to actually utilize the trails nearby to at least mix up all the treadmill running, and I'll start training for my Happy challenge (MW 5k, 10K, HM) in early fall.

There is just one complication to starting this plan tomorrow -- I'm flying out to LA! As some of you know, I work for an animal welfare organization and we do emergency response. When I came back from MW, I had messages asking if I could go out in a few days. I had to defer, since I knew those 18-hour days would not mix well with my Dopey recovery (thankfully the person in charge of our emergency comms is a runner and understood). We kind of thought things were dying down and that nobody else would need to go after this week, but there's just enough still going on that I'm going after all. The hours won't be quite as long, and the hotel I'm in has a great gym (AQ is still not great), so I should be able to at least do something even if it's not this full schedule.

It's really too bad I can't grab a last second DL 5K bib as I would actually be able to make it down and back in time for my shift. But the expo definitely would not be an option, and whether that would even be a good idea is also a question. It's just as well, just kind of weird I'm ending up in LA during those races after all. I'd go spectate the half, but I fly out at 6am on Sunday for home.

 

[The Expert]

It's been a minute since my last update. When we last left off, I was headed to LA for a week for work. It went SO great! I got to assist with all kinds of hands-on animal stuff and I was able to photograph this incredible transport load-up during a gorgeous California sunrise. These pics got used all over media outlets and the Philadelphia Eagles, who sponsored the flight.



I did a TON of very physical work, but also zero running. When I got home, I realized how fatigued I still was from MW and went straight into the work week without taking any comp time. It snowed a lot, so my cross training all week ended up being a lot of shoveling and snow blowing.

Then came the Super Bowl. I was mostly confused and disappointed, but I can't complain about an amazing season and an incredible team! Bonus: No pressure to try and get to KC this week for a parade again.

I was scheduled to head to Virginia for a day and a half, but with the weather there, our event got canceled. So YAY for a normal week where I actually feel good and rested. SO, today I did my first actual RUN since Dopey! It was on the treadmill and I did 30:30 intervals with a faster run than normal. I knocked out 2 miles (plus warmup and cool down) in the 30 minutes I had, and it felt AWESOME. I've got the routine I laid out in my last post plugged into my calendar, so we'll see how I do sticking to that.

OH and I registered for the NYC marathon lottery today. I figured why not? If I get in, it's a good year to do it since this is my off-year from the full at MW.

 

[The Expert]

I posted this in the running thread, but it is probably more appropriate here (and won't get lost).

tl;dr I'm considering running Chicago THIS year and signing up for Team Fox to do it. Dumb idea? Too late? Team Fox sucks/is awesome? Tell me your thoughts!

All the talk about the NYC marathon and entering the lottery for that made me want to look up Chicago again, even though I was rejected in December. I checked charities, and while the one at the top of my list (One Tail at a Time) shows full, it appears Team Fox still has some entries. I've seen them at Disney races and always thought it'd be fun to run with them if I ever did a charity, being a huge fan of Michael J. and having a Fox tattoo for my dearly departed heart dog, Mr Fox.

So then I let myself get a little excited about MAYBE doing Chicago this year. Is that just silly? (I even went back and read the 2018 thread from when a group of DISers did it, and DopeyBadger's trip report.)

I'm not doing Dopey this coming January, which feels right. I don't think I want to do two marathons that close, just knowing my body and the training cycles.

Anyone have any experience running with Team Fox? I see there's an application -- how hard is it to get in and am I likely to at this point? It's a $3000 fundraising cost, which is high, but I work for a nonprofit and am pretty confident I could do it.

It feels kinda "late" to start planning, even though the race is months off, but I also feel like I should take advantage of the momentum and just go for it.

 

[The Expert]

I'm probably due another check-in here, even though there's not a ton to report. I didn't get much response to my Chicago inquiry, so I dug into reddit and got the info I needed. The bottom line is that it probably IS a bit late to be looking and most charity bibs are taken, so if/when I decide I do really want to do Chicago, I need to decide and plan further out. There's also a (minuscule) chance I get into NY, so it would be just my luck to jump through a bunch of hoops to get in and then actually get into NY through the lottery!

As for training, I'm plugging along with a few strength workouts and a few maintenance treadmill runs every week. The little niggling pains and issues that were coming up during Dopey training have all gone away, and not having to follow any set plan is kinda nice for a bit.

I've got a work trip to KC for the Big 12 basketball tournament in a few weeks, then a long weekend in Orlando for the SS 10K, and in May we take a week-long trip to WDW with MIL, 3 grown nephews and grand nephew (son of the oldest nephew). We got into the Typhoon Lagoon DVC Moonlight Magic during that trip, which should be fun. DH and I are also hoping to snag V&A for an early anniversary dinner on the last night after they all clear out. Maintenance running should stay pretty consistent through most of that.

It'd be nice to get off the treadmill now and then. You may know that here in Vermont we have an extra season coming up -- mud season. It's when the 3 feet of snow on the ground (really) all melts within a few weeks and the dirt roads turn to mush. There are weight restrictions on all the roads and tons of people get good and stuck. It's impossible to run on, and the trails are no better. That usually lasts from mid-March to early May, so it'll be a bit before I can start mixing in those outdoor and trail runs.

Actual photo from a recent Vermont mud season (not my truck):


However, once we start consistently getting in the 40s-50s during the day and still freezing overnight, I'll be able to tap my trees and make syrup again!