Wife Mother Runner #wdwmarathon Archives - Page 2 of 2

Tony Randolph Is Back On His Feet Thanks To Cigna

December 29, 2017

Tonight my son and I prepared kits of toiletries for the folks that visit the soup kitchen. The kits include shampoo, conditioner, soap, body lotion, deodorant, tooth paste and a tooth brush. My company, Slalom, volunteers at this soup kitchen every first Tuesday of the month. The employees in my office collected the toiletries from their homes, and we purchased the deodorant in bulk. The tooth paste and tooth brushes were donated from an orthodontist. I had been moved to collect these items when a visitor came to the office to speak to us about homelessness. What stood out to me about what the visitor said was that every person, homeless or not, is a person. They wanted to be treated just like anyone else. They have a name just like everyone else. And what they want most is to be treated just like anyone else. No one wants to be stared at, or treated like they are diseased.

How Tony Randolph Got Back On His Feet

As I came across the next article I wanted to share from Cigna about a runner participating in the races next week, it was appropriate that it was the story about Tony Randolph that I should share. After facing drug addiction, homelessness and suicide, running gets this Baltimore man back on his feet. Tony runs his own landscaping business and thanks to the Cigna Foundation Partner, “Back On My Feet”, Tony will be running the 5K during the WDW marathon weekend.

Back On My Feet Organization (BoMF)

“I was at the end of my rope- using drugs at my Mom’s house, on the verge of homelessness, feeling suicidal, just tired of myself. My nephew told me about the Helping Up Mission, so I decided to check it out. It’s a spiritually-based program that helps with recovery for people who are broken. I was working in the kitchen, and some co-workers came in looking happy and joyous, and I decided I want some of that!”

For lifelong Baltimore resident Tony Randolph, that joy came from joining his co-workers in Back on my Feet (BoMF), an organization that combats homelessness through the power of running. Their running-based model demonstrates that if you first restore confidence, strength, and self-esteem, individuals are better equipped to tackle the road ahead and move toward jobs, homes, and new lives. After a 30 day commitment to running 3 times per week at 5:30 a.m., showing up on time and putting in the miles, teammates progress to Next Steps, a program that looks beyond running to set goals for the next steps in their lives: re-entering the workforce, job training, education, securing housing and health resources.

Tony appreciates that with BoMF, “nobody ever walks or runs alone, everyone starts and stops with you. From the first day, staff showed me they cared even though they don’t know me. That first run is called ‘Miracle Mile’- if you haven’t run in awhile, it’s a miracle to get through it! Running regularly at 5:30 a.m. gets you into mindset of getting up and going to work, and repetition is good.”

How Cigna Helps BoMF

Having Cigna come to the mission where he was living to do blood pressure checks and other tests for residents made Tony “commit to my health and pay more attention to my heart, my head and my feet- they’re all connected.”

Tony continues to run 3 times each week with his BoMF team, moved from the mission to full-time housing, and now operates his own landscaping business. BoMF helped him get his driver’s license and even paid half the cost of his first riding mower to get his business off the ground.

As a result of Tony’s hard work and commitment to his health, The Cigna Foundation, a partner of Back on My Feet, is bringing Tony on an all-expense paid trip to Walt Disney World in January. As a symbol and extension of his health journey, he will participant in the Walt Disney World® 5K on Thursday, January 4.

“Enhancing the well-being of people and the places where they live directly connects to Cigna’s mission, “said Mary Engvall, Executive Director of the Cigna Foundation. “We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to achieve their best health, but sometimes those opportunities are limited by factors outside a person’s control. The Cigna Foundation’s philanthropic giving focuses on creating health equity to help people achieve their best possible personal health and enjoy living their best lives.”

Now Tony says, “Life is great! Back on My Feet showed me I can do anything, and they gave me the confidence to do it. I moved back in with my Mom, and where I used to do drugs now I run my landscaping business. I call it getting a raise- I’m not wasting my money on drugs! The confidence BoMF has given me makes me a much better man and father, and I’ve gone from being someone you didn’t want around, to now being the Fred Sanford of the family- whatever you need, call Tony and he’ll help you out. I’ve run several races with my youngest son, and I’ve completed 8 courses including the Baltimore half and some shorter races. Without the help of Cigna and BoMF, I don’t know where I’d be.”

BoMF Program Director Marybeth Moran said, “Tony truly is Back on My Feet for Life. We couldn’t do the important work we do for teammates like Tony without a good partner like the Cigna Foundation, whose mission to promote health, well-being and sense of security so closely mirrors our own.”

Running With Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

December 28, 2017

As the race weekend is coming up quickly, I am sharing stories about the athletes from clients, employees or Cigna foundation partners. Cheryl Murphy is an insulin-dependent diabetic. When her endocrinologist read her latest test results, he asked, “What in the world have you been doing? Whatever it is, keep doing it. You are saving your own life!”

How Running Helped Cheryl

Taking up running last yearis what transformed Cheryl’s health. As Wellness Manager for the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, Cheryl is responsible for improving the health of over 6,000 county employees. When Cheryl was diagnosed with diabetes 4 years ago, she didn’t really do anything about it. “I didn’t have the education about the disease to know what to do. Had I known the changes I needed to make, I could have made lifestyle changes when I was pre-diabetic.” Now, she takes insulin, cholesterol and triglyceride meds, and has to be careful to maintain her sugar levels.

Last year she walked the 5k as part of Team Cigna during the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. After watching her friend finish her first full marathon that same weekend, she decided to pick up the pace and make running a part of her lifestyle. She started following the Jeff Galloway Run Walk Run program, and actually met Jeff at Disney’s Wine & Dine race Expo. She was already registered for the 5k but was hoping to also run the 10k; however, only half marathon registrations remained. She was feeling daunted when she met Jeff and his wife Barb, who both encouraged her to go for it. She finished the half with flying colors, and cannot wait to be back at the Disney Marathon in 2018, where once again she’ll participate as part of Team Cigna! Cheryl’s goal for 2018 is to run a half marathon in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris to tackle the Castle to Chateau Challenge.

Cheryl’s Wellness Role at HCBOCC

In her Wellness role at HCBOCC, Cheryl’s goal is to encourage colleagues to take an active role in understanding their own health and with the help of onsite Cigna Health Coach Holli Rahmings, she is doing just that through a program that focuses on physical, social, emotional and financial well-being. In recognition of their commitment to health, Hillsborough County recently received the Cigna Well-Being Award. “We’ve more than doubled the number of physicals employees took this year. Our Weight Loss Challenge had over 1,000 participants, and our Water Challenge this summer had more than 1600 staff walking around with their reusable water bottles instead of sugary drinks!”

Just as important as those numbers are Cheryl’s own: since taking up running and improving nutrition, her total cholesterol level fell from 208 to 164, triglycerides from 595 to 169, and her A1C dropped from 8.8 to 5.8. Reducing her numbers to normal levels reduces her risk for arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease, stroke, etc. Not only did this health improvement result in higher energy levels and a reduction in medication, it also had an effect on her mental health and stress levels. “Running has now become a way for me to clear my head and let go of some of the frustrations in life.” She not only looks forward to the possibility of one day becoming insulin free, but also the possibility of spending her retirement at Disney World with her grandchildren instead of sitting in a doctor’s office.

Cigna Health Coach Holli Rahmings explains, “Cheryl has taken many powerful strides to improving her health. She adapted a predominantly plant-based diet and found a passion for competitive races! What started as a 5k has evolved into successfully completing half-marathons. Cheryl has truly demonstrated a firm commitment to resuming control of her health and no longer allowing her conditions to control her passions for living!”

Cheryl’s tips for diabetic runners

It’s really important for diabetic runners to follow all the steps:

Consider your nutrition and hydration a few days before a race. Make sure you drink plenty of water and eat the right foods to ensure you fuel your body. No, this doesn’t give you permission to eat whatever you want!It’s more important than ever to choose healthy foods that will stick with you.
Continue to take your prescribed medications.
Take blood sugar levels before you run, make sure the levels are slightly elevated since you’ll burn off sugar so quickly. Nourish yourself throughout the race to keep your sugar level and your energy up.
Stay hydrated at all times. Drink plenty of water and Powerade or Nuun along the route.
Stay ahead of your diabetes, don’t wait until you feel light-heated to take action-by then it’s too late. If you start feeling weak or dizzy, slow down and eat a snack until you feel better.
As you’re training, it is important to experiment and find out what works for you. For example, I can’t run with food on my stomach, so the energy gels work best for me during a run. But I was so elated to be near the finish line during the Wine and Dine Half Marathon that I forgot to eat my last gel. When I crossed the finish line, my blood sugar plummeted and I had to go to the medical tent.Knowing this, I now make sure I stay ahead of my body signals and immediately have a medic take my blood sugar after crossing the finish line.

2017 runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon…The Second Half

February 6, 2017

This blog post is the second part to the first one I wrote last week highlighting the first half of the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 8, 2017. This was my friend PK’s first marathon and we really wanted to make sure he had a enjoyable experience. I think we were very successful in that. So much so that he wants to do the Dopey Challenge next year!

Something PK and I noticed during the first half of the race was the number of discarded clothes and socks on the side of the road. In past years the discarded clothing dwindled off after the first 2 miles. But this year we saw it as far as mile 10. The funny thing were all the socks we saw. I assumed that since people didn’t have gloves they used socks to keep their hands warm.

The second half of the race was going well. We ran through Animal Kingdom and the long tour of the Animal Kingdom parking lot and then to the long stretch of Osceola Parkway. I played my game of tag with Nick Takacs just outside Animal Kingdom; but didn’t see him the rest of the race. The temperature was ideal, the sun was out and we were having a good time. I found a few friends out on the road. I saw Jon Biel and his friend Sara dressed as Bob’s Barricades. Then a few miles up I found my friend Linda Bachand Jackson.

After about 3-4 miles of Osceola Parkway we made our way into ESPN Wide World of Sports. I was starting to do some mental math in my head and PK thought it was funny seeing me try to calculate the balloon ladies and our arrival time, etc. He never saw that side of me. I also knew that it was time to take in some sugar because I was starting to get a little mental in my head. I was also feeling a little bit fatigued so I wanted to make sure I was going to finish strong.

At some point during the second half we were talking about our strategy. He thought that maybe we would walk a mile or two near the end and then finish the end running. I was ok with that plan. But then, during our miles in ESPN, we got caught up with the 6:30 pacing group. We couldn’t really get past them; so when they ran, we ran, when they walked, we walked. It actually felt good. They were doing a 15/30 pace. We had been consistently using a 30/30 pace. So I suggested to PK that we follow them until we get to Hollywood Studios and see how we feel.

That was a great plan, because I remembered that back on Osceola heading to Hollywood Studios there is an incline. So if we stick to the pacer group that would help us get up the hill without walking the whole thing. It worked out very well. We made it to Hollywood Studios and continued with the group all the way to Epcot. I actually felt a lot better using their intervals because it kept us at a consistent pace and the intervals left me less fatigued. We made a new plan that at mile 25 PK was going to run ahead and I would meet him at the finish. That was the perfect plan because I wanted to savor that last mile through Epcot. Given everything the family had gone through since Thanksgiving I wanted to reflect during that last mile. I wanted to have time alone with my thoughts.

With just about 3/4 of a mile left I saw a small child wearing a Pokemon hat and I swore it was Lyla. It stopped me in my tracks. I totally felt that it was a sign of her telling me that I had the strength to finish and that I could do anything I wanted as long as I worked for it. So for the last 3/4 of a mile I was sobbing. I couldn’t wait to finish and see my family. As I rounded the corner after mile 26 I saw my family and blew them a kiss. Then I saw Fitz waiting to give out hugs and I got the biggest hug from here. It was so special to share that moment with her. I had finished my 3rd Dopey Challenge (aka the Grumpy Challenge). And I will continue to do the Dopey Challenge as long as my friends want to be crazy and do it with me!

Enjoy a recap of the entire race from start to finish!

2017 runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon…The First Half

January 30, 2017

The big race of the weekend was finally here! I was going to run the marathon with PK, Diana and our new friend Tami. It was PK’s first marathon and I was so excited for him! I told him that I would meet him at his hotel lobby at 4:10 a.m. He was staying right around the corner from me and right en route to the race, so it was perfect. So my alarm was set for 3:00 a.m. I had my tea, cinnamon toast and I packed a bag full of snacks.

I also had to put on several layers of clothing. I had on my long sleeve shrug, my Patriots shirt (in support of PK), a light jacket, a fluffy red sweatshirt and my XXXL men’s sweatshirt. I was also wearing my sign in honor of Lyla but I had to make sure that when I shed my layers I would have to re pin the sign and my race bib. It was crazy that in Florida I was dressing in so many layers. When I walked out to the car I was surprised that it wasn’t as cold as I was expecting. But I knew that waiting in the corrals I was going to feel colder.

PK and I drove to Epcot, had to park in one of the spots that was the FURTHEST spot away and we walked the journey to bag check, the runner’s area and then down to the corrals. Just before we entered the runners area I spotted Jacqui Kapinowski on her way to the wheelchair start! I was so happy to see her and she told me she had just been talking to Harry about me recently! I met Jacqui during Princess Weekend in 2014, and she was my first exposure to Achilles International, which I am not a volunteer for.

With this being his first marathon and his first Disney marathon he was surprised, like I was my very first time, at how much walking we had to do before even getting to the race. We got down to the corrals and hooked up with Diana and Tami. Thankfully we weren’t there too early. I believe we were in the corrals for about 20 minutes before they started moving us closer to the start. But just before they did we all go the pre-race porta pottie jitters so we all rushed over there just in time. I was right, it was cold in the corrals so we used the space blankets and I was glad that I had my throw away sweatshirt, gloves, and ear warmers. I talked PK into bringing his gloves and hat as well for the race.

PK, Tami, Diana and I trying to keep warm in the corral

Our corral took off at 6:23 a.m. and we were consistent with doing our walk/run intervals the first several miles of the race. PK and I planned to run ahead of Diana and Tami to the character or picture locations and then we would all decide if we wanted to wait in line or keep going. Since the first few miles were things that we had already seen in past years, and we wanted to increase the buffer of time between us and the balloon ladies, we skipped the first few stops. We did stop for Lightning McQueen and that’s where I ditched my first layer. Diana and Tami ran ahead and PK and I stopped for Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas.

My favorite thing is always running under the bridge that is the waterway to the Contemporary with the DJ and his big hands encouraging the runners. He never disappoints. We made our way towards the Magic Kingdom and waited just near Main Street for Diana and Tami and then we all ran down Main Street together.

While in Magic Kingdom, we used the real bathrooms, then Diana and Tami ran ahead while PK and I stopped for all of the character stops. We did end up finding each other around mile 10 at Bear Road (aka the water treatment plant). Just in time for Diana to get her picture with Wreck It Ralph! She was disappointed that earlier in the race they weren’t at the location we were used to seeing them at.

I found Sid around mile 6

On Bear Road there was a section of the race that had vintage ride cars. This was great. There was the ship from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, a Rocket from Star Jets, a car for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White, and a cart from The Skyway. This was one of my favorite picture spots. I heard Rudy announce that this was going to be around mile 10 and it was incredible to see these epic extinct rides!

After this point in the race we were approaching the out and back loop. i was unaware that this out and back was going to be so long. Last year it was a short distance until the turn around. This year, we had to make up some distance due to the construction going on in Hollywood Studios so the extra distance was on a long stretch of road behind Animal Kingdom. I was a little frustrated when I looked ahead and saw how far it went. But I put my head down and trudged forward. Again, we saw Diana and Tami at this part of the course.

We turned into the back of Animal Kingdom and this is where we were at the halfway point in the race. Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog post, the second half!

2017 WDW Marathon Weekend Day 3 – Half Marathon….Not

January 23, 2017

While you may not like to see something like this come across your Twitter and Facebook feed the night before the race; it was kind of a sigh of relief for me. I was doing the Dopey Challenge this year; which meant I had to run four races in a row. But it was nice to be given a pass for one of the races.

That didn’t come without a lot of mental struggles, though. I was there to do the Dopey Challenge, but my training wasn’t as good as it has been in the past. I had been dealing with a lot of emotional pain, so my focus wasn’t on the races at the time. I didn’t have as much energy as I usually have so I was worried that I didn’t have it in me to get the job done. But I was also relying on our friend Lyla’s strength and courage to get me through these races.

When we got the word the race was cancelled I was with my son at Splash Mountain. Knowing that I didn’t have to get up at 3:30 the next morning meant that we could spend a little more time in the park. So that was a nice bonus with some extra family time. It also meant that I could enjoy time at the pool and hot tub with the kids after the park before the storms rolled in. And the big bonus was that I could catch up on some sleep the next morning.

I did sleep in, but not extremely late, and then there was the element of all the race chatter and what runDisney was offering as a refund and options all over social medial. People were running mock half marathons all over Disney World. They were at their resorts, the Boardwalk and guests were even setting up water stations for the runners. I felt guilty that I wasn’t getting in my 13.1 miles. But I was trying to justify that I was going to earn those miles as I walked through the parks with my family all week. But then I would think to myself that I always did the parks, as well as the race so I was taking the easy way out and my Dopey Challenge wasn’t truly going to be earned. See the struggle here?

I had to give myself a break. We had a major life event happen to all of us in the family so I needed to let myself take this time to rest. My friend PK was running his first marathon the next day, so I wanted him to have a good experience and I didn’t want my slower speed cause him to not enjoy the race. There were some variables I just wasn’t sure of for the marathon. He hadn’t done the Jeff Galloway method like we do, so I was worried it would bother him.

I finally decided to head out to tackle the traffic and go to the expo around 2:00 and check things out there. I wanted to return my Goofy shirt I purchased, and exchange Kevin’s 5k shirt. So at least I got something accomplished. I shopped the expo quickly, saw my friend Anne and went over to WalMart after sitting in traffic for 30 minutes. I needed to get some warm weather layers for the full marathon.

A men’s XXXXL sweatshirt and a women’s fuzzy zip up and I was ready for the full and the predicted 20 degree weather with windchill.

When I got back to the hotel we cooked chicken tenders for dinner and had cut up veggies and hummus and I went to the hot tub early for a quick soak before heading to bed. I wanted to be in bed by 9:00 and I believe I fell asleep at 9:45, with my alarm set for 3:00 a.m. for the marathon.

Stay tuned for the full marathon recap next!

2017 WDW Marathon Weekend Day 3 – 10K

January 16, 2017

The second race of the Dopey Challenge is the 10K. I set my alarm a little earlier for this race because it starts at 5:30. I was up at 4:00 and had the trouble I had last year with the exit ramp being closed. I ended up driving to Magic Kingdom and back around to World Drive in order to get into Epcot. Once I was able to park I went to the corrals. I arrived in time since I was in Corral E. It was a beautiful morning, temperatures were in the lower 50’s with sunshine anticipated at the finish. I tried to locate Diana and Tami and came across Sid Busch and Nick Takacs. When the corrals were releasing for the start Diana and Tami caught up to me.

It was my first time meeting Tami so we didn’t have a set strategy for our walk/run method for this race. We were just going to wing it. The first three character stops were crowded and we didn’t want to lose time standing in line so we ran past them. The character stops were Scrooge McDuck and Launchpad McQuack. I have yet to get my picture with them. The second one was Lilo and Stitch. The third was Mr. Incredible and Elasta-Girl.

As I was running the course I saw Mike Scopa on the road so I told the girls to go up ahead and I would catch up with them. I chatted with Mike for a while. We walked and ran while talking and catching up. He hadn’t planned to run this race at all, so he scrambled up some running gear and ran the 10K. We talked about what we thought might happen for the half marathon scheduled to run the next day. There was bad weather being forecast for the morning, and especially during the time the volunteers had to start setting up. So there was concern that they may delay the start, cut the course short, or even cancel the race all together. It was good to see Mike and then I ran up ahead to catch back up with Diana and Tami.

We entered Epcot but didn’t stop for characters there either because the lines were also long. Especially the line for Colonial Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck. In fact, we didn’t stop for any characters along the 10K course. In Morocco was Vacation Genie, on the Boardwalk was Pluto and heading back to the backstage of Epcot was Pooh and Tigger. We did find friends along the way. I ran into Linda Bachand-Jackson just as we were exiting the International Gateway and I walked with her a bit towards ESPN; and then after seeing the Mickey Milers and BOGP cheering squads I found Kimberlee near the Beach Club.

I NEVER get the chance to see Kimberlee when we are in Disney so I took this opportunity to walk with her to the finish. SHe was having issues with her IT band so I told Diana and Tami to go ahead and I walked in the rest of the way with Kimberlee. I figured I would save my legs for the half marathon anyway so I didn’t mind.

Despite not stopping for characters we finished in 1 hour 45 minutes. I think my pace last year was 1 hour 48 minutes. But I was in no hurry. I just wanted to be safe and conserve my energy and my legs for the second half of the race weekend. Little did I know what was going to happen the following day (more on that in a future post).

Diana, Tami and I went to the line for Dopey photos and I was back to our hotel by 9:15. I had to hurry to eat and shower because I was attending the Cigna blogger event that was taking place at Hollywood Studios and needed to be at the Floridian Convention Center for 11:30 a.m.

2017 WDW Marathon Weekend Day 2 – 5K

January 15, 2017

This year my husband, children and father joined my mother and I for the 2017 WDW Marathon Weekend 5K race. We woke up at 4:00 and I got the kids up around 4:20. They weren’t too keen about waking up that early; but the race start was 6:00 a.m. and I wanted to be on the road by 5:30. Everyone ate a little something to hold them over until the race was over and we were in the car by 5:30. I was running all of my races in honor of our friend Lyla.

Pre-Race Events

We took some pictures before the race and then the kids had the experience of witnessing hundreds of porta potties lined up in the runners area. It was funny to see their reaction to that. My mom and I were also dancing with the DJ playing, but my daughter thought it was silly of us to do that! I hope that age isn’t coming where the kids are becoming too cool for their parents!

The Race Start

When you register for the races, you have to submit a proof of time or an estimate of your pace. Based on that, you are placed in the appropriate corral. We had a variety of corral locations on our bibs, so in order to stay together we had to go to the lowest corral. For us, that was corral F.

As the corrals were being released each corral was released in a wave. So the kids were separate from us and we had to pull them back to our section. This is something new I hadn’t seen in past races. We finally started at 6:48 a.m. We walked the race and my daughter was a bit of a grump until we got into Epcot. It was a very cold morning and her feet were cold so she was struggling a little bit. But that changed once we got into Epcot!

Characters On Course

My son and husband were a little bit ahead of us. My son wanted to jog a little bit. We stopped for the first character stop with Thumper and Blossom. Then once we got into Epcot we stopped for a picture with the Vikings. As you can see, my mother wasn’t ready for that picture! Once we were in Epcot Adrienne cheered up and seemed to enjoy more of the race.

My mom was making this face because my dad was stepping on her foot!

As we continued through Epcot, which is so beautiful that time of day with the sun rising, we skipped past the other character stops. The characters in the countries were Minnie Mouse in Italy and chip and Dale in Morocco. But we could NOT skip the Donald Duck stop in Canada.

As we were in line we were warned that if we remained in line, the sag wagon was coming and we were at risk of not finishing. My parents were nervous about that; but I told them we’d be ok and we could out-walk them. Just near the fountain was Space Goofy, but we didn’t stop for him.

The highlight of the race for me, was spotting Mike Green on the course. I had written a blog post about him the week before the race. I had a chance to introduce myself to him before I had to catch back up with my family. I was so glad to see a member of Team Cigna out on the race course. We finished at 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Will We Do It Again?

Despite the early wake up and some of the groaning my daughter did early on the in the race (which I completely expected in advance), it was a good time and both kids want to do it again!

Have you done any of the runDisney Races with your family? Did you know you don’t have to run the entire distance? The 5K is a family friendly race that everyone can participate in!

2017 WDW Marathon Weekend Day 1 – Expo

January 14, 2017

This year’s race weekend began with a surprise to our children. As usual, we like to pull off the trip as a surprise to them. We usually do it on the same day as our departure, but we had to surprise them the night before to allow us to finalize all of our packing.

We had a 9:55 a.m. flight with my parents, and were on the same flight as Kimberlee and Diana. This was the perfect flight time because it allowed us to land at 1:00 and get over to the expo and check into our hotel room by early evening so the kids could swim.

We took advantage of Amazon Prime Now to deliver groceries to our room. This was the first time I used the program and because of that they took $10 off of our first order. We arranged our list a few weeks ahead of time and set up a delivery window for when we knew we would be at the room. However, you are not required to be there in order for the delivery. They also have a great feature that notifies you when the order is out for delivery and you can actually track the location of where the driver is.

I was very surprised at how the food was packaged and I received everything on the order. They keep the cold items in a cold pack bag with cold ice packs as well. We will definitely take advantage of this service in the future as well. There are some items that Amazon Prime Now didn’t provide so I had to make a quick trip to Walmart. Thankfully, when we stay at the WorldQuest Orlando Resort, Walmart is just a 5 minute drive from our hotel. This came in handy later in in the trip (more on that in a future post).

The expo trip was easy. We picked up my Dopey bibs and shirts and then had to pick up the 5K bibs and shirts for my family. I had the chance to see Mike Rahlmann and his family picking up their 5K bibs and then I made a quick trip to the merchandise area to look for a sports bra. I apparently hadn’t packed appropriately (more on that later as well!) The kids were waiting to go to the hotel to swim so we left the expo. I knew I’d head back there in the upcoming days to browse.

After our trip to Walmart I cooked Sloppy Joes and pasta for the family and we all had dinner and made it an early night. We had our first early wake up time for the Dopey Challenge and my family’s first 5K in Disney.

Stay tuned for more WDW Marathon weekend recaps!

2016 WDW Marathon Half Marathon

January 18, 2016

The second to last race of the Dopey Challenge is the half marathon. Once again I set my alarm for 3:30. For this race I made oatmeal for breakfast to hopefully hold me over. I was so hungry during the 5K and 10K races; even after having a small breakfast before I went to the races.

Diana and I were running this race together. Mandy would be joining us for the full marathon the next day. I arrived to the Epcot parking lot around 4:45 and met Diana down by the corrals. The crowd size doubles from the 5K and 10K to the half and full marathon sizes. The 5K and 10K have around 7,500 people. The half and full have 26,500 people. That does impact your course time when starting in a later corral.

Thankfully it wasn’t raining for this race, but it was extremely foggy. I wore my Donald Duck costume for this race and Donald sent us off at the start.

Diana and I at the corrals

Since we had run this course several time with the previous year’s Dopey challenge and running the Princess Half marathon two years prior, I was very familiar with the course. Not to mention that the full marathon also runs most of the same route for the beginning of the marathon. I am pleased to say that this year the change in character stops made the race more enjoyable.

I listened to Jeff Galloway speak at the Expo on Thursday and he mentioned that for the 5K and 10K it was ok to run; but he said for the half marathon, plan to walk the first few miles, then incorporate your run/walk intervals for a mile, walk a mile, then do intervals again, etc. So I discussed that with Diana and that was the plan. Well when race day comes around, sometimes plans get thrown out the window. We ran most of the first half of the race. Below shows our splits from the half marathon.

The first two miles of the race we made ourselves run slower. There also weren’t character stops at that point; just props to take photos of along the way. Between mile 3 and 4 is where we started to do the character stops for Wreck it Ralph and Oogie Boogie. Mile 5 lead us into the Magic Kingdom and we did stop for some photos and then miles 6-7 are up cone alley. It was VERY congested up cone alley. This year I think the cones were set up differently and weren’t the tall cones that were lined right up against each other because people were hopping over the cones and running in the lane that was dedicated for car traffic. So we just continued to do our walk/run intervals up cone alley as best as we could with the amount of people in that area. I also found Mike Scopa heading into the Magic Kingdom and played some leap-frog with him during the race. I’d stop for a character stop and then he’d pass me. Then I would spot him and I’d tag him and told him he was it. It helped pass some of the miles along the way! I also found Sid Busch out on the course and gave him some encouragement. He is such a celebrity now among the running community.

Miles 8 and 9 didn’t have anything too exciting so we pushed ahead and around mile 10 we decided to walk the rest of the race in to save our legs for the full marathon. We had gone over the overpass of World Drive at that point and saw the crowd still coming up the road and we knew we weren’t in any danger of being swept. At mile 12 we took a photo with Vacation Genie and that was it for character stops in Epcot for us.

It was a good decision to walk at that point. I was starving, though. I definitely did not have enough fuel with me for that race. All I could think about was making an egg sandwich back at the hotel room when the race was over!

After the race was over I drove back to the hotel and made the egg sandwich my mouth was watering for! Then I showered and wanted to hang out at the pool with my family. PK and Katie were going to be there for a little while so I wanted to spend time with them. After visiting with them I got cozy on the poolside chair and next thing I knew I woke up with my mouth hanging open, my sunglasses smashed against my face and drool going down my chin! I had fallen asleep for a long hard 2 hour nap! I looked around and saw my family’s items around but couldn’t find them anywhere! I finally located them and we noticed the dark skies were starting to roll in.

The plan that night was to go to Disney Springs to have dinner at Wolfgang Pucks and then head back to the room for an early night. We were watching the radar and packed our ponchos. Joe Pardo was also going to join us for dinner there. We arrived at Disney Springs around 5:00 but waited a long time for the boats to take us to from the West Side to the Marketplace side.

The balloon was tethered down because of the storms coming.

Half way to the Marketplace side they stop, which I wasn’t aware of. The kids had to go to the bathroom so we got off the boat there, used the restrooms nearby and put on our ponchos. We ended up walked through the pouring rain to Wolfgang Puck Express and met Joe. I had a cranky moment at this point in the day. I was frustrated with the rain, the boats at Disney Springs and I was hungry. So I had a moment of a mini meltdown. Once we had dinner I was better. We ordered the bar-b-que chicken pizza as a good pre-race meal with the protein and the carbs. After dinner my son wasn’t feeling too well. He had been battling a chest cough for several weeks and there were times during the trip where he just felt funky and wanted his mom.

Always my favorite view at night.

It was nice for Joe to meet my family. I talk about them all the time when Joe and I are at races and when we communicate in our every day conversations. After we said goodbye to Joe and boarded the boat to head back to our car I sat with my son on the boat and it cheered him up. I think it was also hard on him that I was going to be early and then not around when he woke up during the races. Once we got back to the hotel it was time for me to lay out my gear for the morning and call it an early night. I was in bed before 10:00 and I wasn’t feeling too anxious about the race. I did have a harder time falling asleep that night; but I blame that on the nap.

Coming up next, the big finale race of the weekend…the full marathon!

2016 WDW Marathon Weekend Is Less Than a Month Away!

December 9, 2015

Well it’s less than 30 days away now! For me, the Dopey challenge is close to half way completed 30 days from now. I will have been through Day 4 of the challenge on the half-marathon portion of the event. The funny thing is, you aren’t halfway through the mileage until around mile 1.9 of the marathon on Sunday.

The runDisney Official Event Guide is now published and has all of the information you need to know for what to do, where to go, what time the Expo takes place, when and where the kid races are, Pasta in the Park info and so much more!

What I was waiting most for was the map of the marathon course. Now that the Richard Petty Speedway was demolished that removed some distance off the course we used in the past. My friends in Team Shenanigans put together screens comparing the 2015 and 2016 course maps.

From what you can see in the Magic Kingdom portion of the course, it appears that we will be running through the castle and Towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then out through the back side of the park and towards Cone Alley and the long road towards Animal Kingdom. There is also a little out and back portion in there on the way to Animal Kingdom created to make up some of the distance. I’m just grateful we aren’t making up the difference in ESPN Wide World of Sports. Although I have to say that last year it didn’t feel as long and dreadful in that part of the course as it did the two years prior.

I’m getting excited to know that in less than a month I’ll be racing in Florida. I was listening to the Mickey Miles Podcast today where Jeff Galloway was answering questions and he answered the question I had posted to the Mickey Milers Team page. I asked what to do about my training since Marine Corps was my longest distance since October and then in November I was up to 10 miles (plus the 12 i did last weekend). Jeff’s recommendation is to do a cluster of runs to simulate Dopey beginning on December 17. He said to do 3 miles, then 5 the next day, walk 7-10 the following day and then on the last day get in 23 miles with either most of it walking or walk a mile, then run with 15/30 intervals. So I am going to think about this suggestion and compare it to what I had in my mind which was to do a longer run that weekend of 15-17 miles (mostly running) and perhaps I’ll tack on the last 3 miles as a walk to get the 20 miles under my feet for the endurance. I know Jeff knows best. But many of my fellow running pals are getting training burnout. But we all know what happens when we don’t train like we should (see my Marine Corps Marathon recap).

I’m starting in Corral I and the corrals go up to letter P so that give me about a 20 minute buffer between when we take off and when the last of the pack takes off. I’m not worried about finish time with the race this year. I just want to have fun. And it wouldn’t be fun if we didn’t see the balloon ladies at the races!

I just registered my kids today for the Kids Dash races for Friday. I usually register them for Saturday based on when they fly down; but in the past that was crazy for me to rush back from the half marathon, pick everyone up at the hotel and then get over to ESPN. So it will be nice for a chance to do the 10K and then shower and head over to ESPN for their race. This is becoming a tradition that I would like to keep doing with them while I can. It’s easier to get them up for an 11:00 race than it will be to get them to a 5K that takes place at 5 a.m.!

Now I have to start putting together my costume ideas! I already have one planned with my mom! She and I are doing her first Disney race at the 5K. We have been sharing ideas back and forth from Etsy, we both have the same Minnie ears and Team Sparkle Skirt so now we have to find coordinating skirts. I have another one planned with Christina and Diana and that leaves the half and full marathons to plan for. I have to really get going to put something together. Let the fun of packing and planning begin!

Tag: #wdwmarathon