Running for my Disney - Now a PTR!

[zanzibar138]

Well I figured as I have just made the first booking for our next Disney trip, I should start a PTR.

For those unfamiliar with my back story, I have decided to do a RunDisney event to encourage myself to get active and increase my fitness. I've chosen the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. Unfortunately it hasn't been smooth sailing - I've found that I'm really not made for running, and that even basic training give me terrible shin splints. Which made it perfect timing for Disney to announce that they were adding a 10km event! If you're interested in reading more of my back story, check out my PPTR.

Participants in this trip will be myself (duh!) and my parents. All along, I've thought DH was not interested, but he has recently announced that he plans to come along too

Tuesday 26th August
Fly Melbourne - LA via Fiji. Check into Motel 6 Anaheim Maingate, which I have tentatively booked for these first two nights. Enjoy a leisurely solo evening in the parks (hopefully I'll have managed a decent sleep on the plane with business class!), finished off with viewing the fireworks from Main Street.

Wednesday 27th August
Meet up with my parents who are flying from Perth. This will be a non-park day. I'll aim to see the fireworks from the viewing deck at DI&S.

Thursday 28th August
Expo day and packet pick-up. Meet up with DH who will be arriving in the afternoon. Transfer to Desert Inn & Suites for the weekend. DH and I will visit the parks tonight, finishing by 8pm (so sadly no WOC).

Friday 29th August
5k RunDisney event. Hit DCA at opening for a ride on TSM and RSR FPs. Meet my parents for breakfast at LaBrea Cafe. Spend a few hours later in the day to use our fastpasses and check out some attractions which are new to us, finishing by 8pm (no WOC again).

Saturday 30th August
10k RunDisney event. Early lunch at Blue Bayou after getting FPs for Indy. Leisurely afternoon/evening in DL avoiding the crowds as best we can, finishing up when we get too tired. I'm hoping to be able to catch F!

Sunday 31st August
Pick up hire car and drive to Palm Desert via Idyllwild. Staying at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Indio.

Monday 1st September
Full day in Palm Desert. Morning fault line mountain bike tour, then in the afternoon we'll probably take the cable car up the mountain.

Tuesday 2nd September
Early morning drive through Joshua Tree National Park to 29 Palms. Check into Sunnyvale Garden Suites. I plan to also take a late afternoon drive to see the northern part of the park in more detail.

Wednesday 3rd September
Drive to Kernville, southern point of the Sequoia National Forest (not to be confused with the National Park). Stop at Calico Ghost Town and possibly Red Rock Canyon State Park on the way through. Check into Corral Creek Resort.

Thursday 4th September
Full day for exploring the Sequoia National Forest, including a stop at the Trail of 100 Giants and probably a picnic lunch in the forest. Possible dinner at Kern River Brewing Company.

Friday 5th September
Drive to Santa Margarita. If we want to in the afternoon we can check out Santa Margarita lake. We're staying in a cabin at a KOA, so hoping to have a bit of an American camping experience with a campfire and S'mores!

Saturday 6th September
Horse riding in the San Luis Obispo area in the morning. In the afternoon we'll drive to the coast and check out Morro Bay and Montana de Oro State Park.

Sunday 7th September
Drive to Long Beach, dropping DH off at LAX on the way through. On the way I've penciled in stops in Solvang and Santa Barbara. We'll also be stopping at a shooting range close to LA for the boys. Staying at Super 8 Long Beach.

Monday 8th September
Check out the Queen Mary, then drive over to Anaheim, drop off the car, check into the Portofino, and hit the parks!

Tuesday 9th September

Wednesday 10th September

Thursday 11th September

Friday 12th September
Dapper Day. This is also the start of Halloween season this year. We'll do the parks in the morning (undecided whether to be 'dapper' for this too), then have an afternoon break to get ready for the main dapper events.

Saturday 13th September

Sunday 14th September
Today is my birthday! We'll be booking the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour.

Monday 15th September

Tuesday 16th September
Morning flight to Phoenix. Sunset horse ride through saguaro cacti. Accommodation at Carefree Resort & Conference Centre.

Wednesday 17th September
Fly to San Antonio. Check into Menger Hotel.

Thursday 17th September
DisMeet at SeaWorld, Tex Mex for lunch, maybe sightseeing around the Riverwalk/Alamo area later in the afternoon

Friday 18th September
Lunch time/early afternoon flight to LAX, fly home via Fiji.

 

[zanzibar138]

So what is the booking I have made?

We thought since it's Labor Day weekend in the states, and we'll have the masses for RunDisney to contend with, that we'd better book in that accommodation sooner rather than later.

I have booked a Parlor Family Suite at the Desert Inn & Suites. The location will be very convenient for our run (don't want to use up all our energy walking to the starting line ), and the room seems pretty good value. Mum sometimes likes to stay up late watching TV, so a separate room for that was a must (the rest of us will need our beauty sleep before the run!), and two full bathrooms will be very handy as well. Seemed to have decent reviews on TripAdvisor.







At this stage we haven't paid a deposit or anything, so if anyone has had terrible experiences there and wants to talk us out of it, feel free to speak up!

 

[Aust]

That sounds like a great trip, both for the DL run and all the other places you're planning to see. It's my ambition to do a half marathon one day too..would love to do one next year when I turn 40 - I did mention to my husband once that doing a DL half marathon for my 40th would be good, but don't think I'll be able to manage the trip there next year as hopefully I'll be going to Europe. The 10km will be fun too, long enough to be a huge achievement but not too long to injure yourself which wouldn't be much fun for the rest of your trip.

 

[Caroline NZ]

Sounds like a great plan Zanzibar . We are off to Sequoia NP in 2 days time (we are currently in Las Vegas). We will be spending 3 nights at Three Rivers, and have booked a full day tour into the Park.

 

[zanzibar138]

That sounds like a great trip, both for the DL run and all the other places you're planning to see. It's my ambition to do a half marathon one day too..would love to do one next year when I turn 40 - I did mention to my husband once that doing a DL half marathon for my 40th would be good, but don't think I'll be able to manage the trip there next year as hopefully I'll be going to Europe. The 10km will be fun too, long enough to be a huge achievement but not too long to injure yourself which wouldn't be much fun for the rest of your trip.

Hmm for me, 10km is plenty long enough to injure myself But hopefully not too badly!

Sounds like a great plan Zanzibar . We are off to Sequoia NP in 2 days time (we are currently in Las Vegas). We will be spending 3 nights at Three Rivers, and have booked a full day tour into the Park.

Oooh will look forward to seeing your pics!

Just looked at the map and seen that Three Rivers is just near Visalia. If your accommodation is good, it might be worth us staying there

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Sounds like a great trip-looking forward to hearing how it unfolds. And still impressed with your 10km ambition!! Rooting for you!

 

[zanzibar138]

Sounds like a great trip-looking forward to hearing how it unfolds. And still impressed with your 10km ambition!! Rooting for you!

Thanks Wendy - appreciate your support

 

[BecBennett]

That looks like a great trip!

A run and mountain biking in the same trip is my definition of an action holiday!

We did the family 5k at WDW in 2011. It was so much fun, I'd love to do another.

 

[zanzibar138]

That looks like a great trip!

A run and mountain biking in the same trip is my definition of an action holiday!

We did the family 5k at WDW in 2011. It was so much fun, I'd love to do another.

Yeah we're the kind of people who prefer to keep fairly active on holidays - feels like you see more that way

Don't worry though, it will be balanced out with plenty of nice meals/afternoon teas and relaxing too. Not to mention the many hours that we will be spending sitting down in an air-conditioned car watching the scenery go by

 

[zanzibar138]

Thought I would just give a quick update on my training for the run (since that is, after all, the whole point of the trip).

Having waited since January, I have FINALLY managed to get shown a customised workout at the gym (the gym was being renovated when I joined, was supposed to be open in March, but then didn't open until the end of August - and it has taken since then for me to book an appointment with someone useful ).

So I've got 4-6 weeks of building up my general strength and fitness before getting into too much specific running training. At the moment it is mainly upper body and core exercises, and cardio on the cross trainer and bike. Finally feel like I'm getting somewhere though, so it's exciting! Everyone please send all your anti-injury vibes this way

In other news, I am going in for day surgery on Thursday to get grommets. I am sick to death of being in complete agony on all my flights, so I finally went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist about it. The grommets are a temporary measure to relieve the pressure in my ears. Next year when I have a longer period without flying I'll have a bit more major surgery on my nose to improve my sinuses, which should in turn help with my ears. I will give an update after our Singapore flights, for anyone who suffers like I do, and let you know whether it was worth it

 

[Tashinwdw]

Next year when I have a longer period without flying I'll have a bit more major surgery on my nose to improve my sinuses, which should in turn help with my ears. I will give an update after our Singapore flights, for anyone who suffers like I do, and let you know whether it was worth it

Good luck with your training, this trip sounds like it will be wonderful. I am not so ambitious, though I do have the kids and myself in training for next years trip, I work at the younger ones school and we now walk to school 3 days a week and my other daughter and I go walking the other two days earlier in the morning. Its only about a 45 min walk there (its the hills that are the killer). I just keep telling them that I dont want them winging and whining that they are tired when we walk around WDW so we all need to get fitter so far so good!
I had surgery on my nose to improve my sinuses, it made a huge difference, though I find the problems are starting to come back but not as bad as they were - maybe over time it will be though. I found I didnt get as motion sickness and I used to (motion sickness only became a big problem when my sinus problem started) I wish you luck with it and hope you get the results you need.
Calico Ghost town is also on our list of places to go on our next trip but I was interested to read about the sea caves, can you tell me more about them?

 

[zanzibar138]

Good luck with your training, this trip sounds like it will be wonderful. I am not so ambitious, though I do have the kids and myself in training for next years trip, I work at the younger ones school and we now walk to school 3 days a week and my other daughter and I go walking the other two days earlier in the morning. Its only about a 45 min walk there (its the hills that are the killer). I just keep telling them that I dont want them winging and whining that they are tired when we walk around WDW so we all need to get fitter so far so good!
I had surgery on my nose to improve my sinuses, it made a huge difference, though I find the problems are starting to come back but not as bad as they were - maybe over time it will be though. I found I didnt get as motion sickness and I used to (motion sickness only became a big problem when my sinus problem started) I wish you luck with it and hope you get the results you need.
Calico Ghost town is also on our list of places to go on our next trip but I was interested to read about the sea caves, can you tell me more about them?

That's a great idea to start getting the kids used to doing a lot of walking - 45 minutes twice a day is not shabby at all

How long ago did you have your surgery? I had my tonsils out when I was 11 and they have grown back now, not fully, but enough that I do suffer occasional bouts of tonsilitis Interesting that you mention motion sickness as well as I have been gradually getting worse with that too. I didn't even consider that the surgery might help with that - hope it does! Other than that, I don't really have any 'problems' as such, would never have even thought to get it checked out, only that I was at the specialist asking about my ears.

I don't know a whole lot about the sea caves. They're at La Jolla Cove (which is about a 15 minute drive north of San Diego city), and apparently it's quite a good place to go snorkelling, kayaking etc.

 

[BecBennett]

Do you know if grommets work for scuba diving? DH and I went scuba diving a couple of years ago and DH couldn't go deeper then 3m because he couldn't unblock his ears.

 

[zanzibar138]

Do you know if grommets work for scuba diving? DH and I went scuba diving a couple of years ago and DH couldn't go deeper then 3m because he couldn't unblock his ears.

I would imagine so I think a lot of kids get them for swimming related reasons. You just have to be super careful not to get any water in your ears while you've got the grommets. If it's something you're thinking about, I'd try to get DH to an ear nose and throat specialist and have a chat to them about it.

 

[Tashinwdw]

How long ago did you have your surgery? I had my tonsils out when I was 11 and they have grown back now, not fully, but enough that I do suffer occasional bouts of tonsilitis Interesting that you mention motion sickness as well as I have been gradually getting worse with that too. I didn't even consider that the surgery might help with that - hope it does! Other than that, I don't really have any 'problems' as such, would never have even thought to get it checked out, only that I was at the specialist asking about my ears.

Wow, I didnt know they could grow back, will they eventually have to take them out again? I only ever suffer bad with sinuses if I have dairry products, and it was originally only when I was pregnant but after 4 pregnancy's in 4 years my body decided after that to continue with that condition. I only went to the doctor after 7 years of constant headaches etc and only because I was there for something else, she sent me for a scan and then couldnt believe that I had taken so long to go to her about them. I also have the top sinuses full of polyps but they didnt do anything about them. the operation was ok and I didnt even walk away with black eyes, though it was all swollen for about a week.

I recently had middle ear and a burst ear drum so I have a new found respect and sympathy for anyone with ear infections or problems with their ears and actually a bit of guilt as well that I was not more sympathetic to my DS when he had lots of ear infections as a young boy.

I will have to google more about the caves as it does sound great.

 

[zanzibar138]

Wow, I didnt know they could grow back, will they eventually have to take them out again? I only ever suffer bad with sinuses if I have dairry products, and it was originally only when I was pregnant but after 4 pregnancy's in 4 years my body decided after that to continue with that condition. I only went to the doctor after 7 years of constant headaches etc and only because I was there for something else, she sent me for a scan and then couldnt believe that I had taken so long to go to her about them. I also have the top sinuses full of polyps but they didnt do anything about them. the operation was ok and I didnt even walk away with black eyes, though it was all swollen for about a week.

I recently had middle ear and a burst ear drum so I have a new found respect and sympathy for anyone with ear infections or problems with their ears and actually a bit of guilt as well that I was not more sympathetic to my DS when he had lots of ear infections as a young boy.

I will have to google more about the caves as it does sound great.

Yeah they said at the time that they would grow back eventually. Luckily I don't seem to get tonsilitis as much as an adult, but I suppose if it becomes a problem they might have to remove the bit that has grown back. Hope not because that was an awful surgery

I don't have anything like that with my sinuses - for me it's mainly congestion, I really only get headaches when I have a cold or during hayfever season. Glad to hear that your surgery was not too bad though! I'm a bit nervous about it!

Oh you poor thing getting a burst ear drum! Surprisingly, I've never had any issues with my ears, only that they put me through ridiculous amounts of pain any time I want to fly somewhere. And since I'm flying quite a lot these days, thought it was worth doing something something a bit more extreme to fix it.

 

[zanzibar138]

Had my grommets done yesterday. Wasn't too bad, except I always seem to get sick after general anaesthetic (even though it was a light one - only a 5 minute procedure). My ears have been a little sensitive, and my hearing is a little muffled for the moment. The doctor called this morning to see how I was doing and said all that is completely normal and should clear up in the next few days. I was surprised that my ears are struggling to equalise - popping all the time! I asked the doctor as I thought the idea of the grommets was that my ears would just equalise naturally and wouldn't pop. He said it will just be my ears getting used to the change and it should clear up in the next few days too. It's probably worse for me because my ears were so blocked with hayfever when I went in.

Hoping my ears will feel a bit better tomorrow - they're not really painful, more just uncomfortable. But apart from that I'm feeling good, and looking forward to seeing how they work on our next flight!

 

[zanzibar138]

The good news is the grommets worked perfectly! My ears are still not normal (I'm thinking now that I probably have a new 'normal'), but everything was so worth it to not suffer at all on our flights Coming into Singapore we had to spend a long time circling at a terrible altitude that would have been absolute torture for me before (even DH said he was getting some discomfort), but this time I was able to take in the view and enjoy the experience

The bad news is my shins are playing up again! They were very sore the other week after a long walk with the dogs (about 8km), and walking up hills is a bit of a killer too (but they are fine afterwards). I'm not sure what's going to happen when I start trying to run again, and I'm already feeling a little despondent about the whole situation - I really just don't know what I'm going to do I'm thinking I should go and see my doctor again and ask him to refer me to a specialist.

 

[miss.potatohead]

Have you been to a physiotherapist about the shin splints? I've had pain before due to complications from naturally tight muscles that messes with my legs/knees/back and the physio was great with giving me exercises to do.

An athlete friend had chronic shin splints which was fixed over time with exercises, correct taping of the area, massage and dry needling. It may also help to see a physio as they can say if the pain is due to your technique (heel striking when running is a contributor to shin splints especially on concrete) and they may recommend that you see a podiatrist for orthotics. Doctors generally treat the pain whereas some of the better sports physios can see the biomechanics behind the problem.

Hope the pain lessens soon because I know how much of a hinderance they can be both to training and everyday life!

 

[zanzibar138]

Have you been to a physiotherapist about the shin splints? I've had pain before due to complications from naturally tight muscles that messes with my legs/knees/back and the physio was great with giving me exercises to do.

An athlete friend had chronic shin splints which was fixed over time with exercises, correct taping of the area, massage and dry needling. It may also help to see a physio as they can say if the pain is due to your technique (heel striking when running is a contributor to shin splints especially on concrete) and they may recommend that you see a podiatrist for orthotics. Doctors generally treat the pain whereas some of the better sports physios can see the biomechanics behind the problem.

Hope the pain lessens soon because I know how much of a hinderance they can be both to training and everyday life!

I've been to several different physios - tried massage, dry needling, taping, and various exercises, nothing helped. I've had 3 lots of shoes fitted at those athletic specialist places, went to a podiatrist and spent $600 on custom orthotics that do nothing. Did some personal training to see if it was to do with my technique - that only made it worse! I'm afraid I've hit a bit of a wall and don't really know who else might be able to help me

Luckily they do not bother me in everyday life - only when I'm in training (although if they're going to get worse and flare up just from hiking it might become a problem).