#Wine&DineHalf: I'm Only Running for the Food & Wine FINISHED

[momabaarjo]

Interesting review. I'm a big fan of Riverside and I wouldn't say there is a whole lot of theming in those rooms either. Interesting you didn't like it for a running trip since I've heard a lot of runners recommend it because it's small and does it's job. Everyone is different though. I enjoyed reading your thoughts.

I am not a fan of Riverside either. Now getting into the running challenges, I find that I needing a lot more of down time off my feet after the races and not be tempted to head into the parks...so I am looking for resorts that have a hot tub, a room that I would not go stir crazy in (POFQ would make me go crazy) and comfortable for resting up (not very comfortable in the room if you had 3 runners in there like we tend to do). I like a public space with nice big comfy chairs and a quiet pool.

I think POFQ is a good place for runners because of the size and you have some decent food options...if the room was more appealing to me to stay in, it would probably work fine.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to stay here again at the start of a Race Trip but if I would be here between the 10K and Half or say the 10K/Half/Full it just would not work.

Though I agree the room is a little blah I do like those purple throws at the end of the beds. They look like they should go with the Royal Room decor at POR!

I think it is the attempt to make it feel Royal with the gold...but the gold is really not a happy warm cooler. Those throws at the end of the bed were the only color in the room other than the yellow and the dark wood. When I think New Orleans I think lots of color....I think they could have pulled it off using more purple and green in the room. Even the curtains were gold...and the carpet gold.

 

[emilyindisney]

I think it is the attempt to make it feel Royal with the gold...but the gold is really not a happy warm cooler. Those throws at the end of the bed were the only color in the room other than the yellow and the dark wood. When I think New Orleans I think lots of color....I think they could have pulled it off using more purple and green in the room. Even the curtains were gold...and the carpet gold.

Good point! That definitely seems like the missed opportunity here!

 

[SarahDisney]

Thanks for the review of POFQ ... I've walked around the resort and I wasn't super impressed, and I'm kinda disappointed to hear that the rooms don't have much theming Oh well, it still seems like a nice place to stay if that's what works for your budget ... just maybe not for race weekends.

 

[momabaarjo]

Wine & Dine RunDisney Expo

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Most of my travel time was spent in the air not knowing what was happening at Wide World of Sports and the opening of Wine & Dine Expo. Debra and Buffy quickly caught me up upon landing of the madhouse we were about to enter…and here I was thinking it was going to be calm compared to Princess Half Expo. There were reports of long lines at Bib pick up, especially if you did not have your waiver printed (check, did that) and once again fighting over and hoarding of official merchandise…and in true RunDisney form a HUGE error in the spelling of Inaugural so that merchandise had to be removed. Really?

Arriving at WWOS was a bit disappointing; the atmosphere did not seem as festive as my last Expo. All of the fun signs leading up to the Jostens Center were placed back off the pathway and not really in site. We did not even stop to take pictures with the signs. By midafternoon the Expo had tamed down from the opening, thank goodness because I am not a fan of pushy people and long lines.

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We walked straight up to get both our bibs and shirts without any waiting. Lumiere was in the bib pick up area so we stopped to get a picture with him there instead of trying to get one on race day. So glad we did because the lines prior the race were crazy long and there were other characters I wanted to catch there!

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There was a lot of great photo sign moments in the actual Expo and Bib Pick Up area...always looking for those filler pictures for my scrapbook pages...

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As for shopping, the expo was a disappointment. Not being much of a shopper, this is okay but I like the Expo because of the excitement it builds…not of excitement building found in the Jostens Center this time. It was probably 1/3 of the size of the Princess Half Marathon when it came to vendors. Most of the vendors we stopped at were not very friendly nor did they even really seem like they wanted to sell anything. I planned to purchase a couple pairs of feature socks, and both booths I stopped at I could not get anyone to help me and there was no one else in the booth. As for race merchandise, eh was the word. While I it was okay, there was nothing I was really compelled to buy. I did walk out with a wine bottle ornament for my Christmas collection. I do regret not buying a wine glass, though.

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Overall we came, we saw, we did, end of expo story.

My best advice for the Expo, why fight the crowds and mad house at opening. Wait a few hours…pretty sure what you want and need as far as official merchandise will be there. Three expos we have waited until afternoon and have gotten what we wanted.

 

[momabaarjo]

Thanks for the review of POFQ ... I've walked around the resort and I wasn't super impressed, and I'm kinda disappointed to hear that the rooms don't have much theming Oh well, it still seems like a nice place to stay if that's what works for your budget ... just maybe not for race weekends.

There is much more theming around the resort than in the rooms. I wish we would have gotten to see the finished changes to the food area! It looks really nice in the pictures...I think it opened a couple weeks after we returned (of course).

I only have two moderate resorts left to stay at, Coronado Springs and the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. Probably never stay in the cabin since they are really for larger families and the fact we have our own cabin in the mountains (partially why I will probably never stay at the Wilderness lodge), but I am tinkering with the idea of trying at CS here prior to DVC stay during next trip.

Right now my rankings are...

1. POFQ...I do like the resort for the quiet...not much noise at all, the short walk to the bus stop, and it never seemed crowded and busy with people even though you know this resort is always filled at capacity.
2. CBR (almost at tie with POFQ)
3. POR (a very distant 3rd)

 

[emilyindisney]

I agree- nothing particularly exciting at the runDisney merch booth this year. However, I generally don't jump over the merch. I also found the vendors a little lacking, but that's okay.

 

[rteetz]

Well glad you didn't have to deal with crowds much at the expo. That sucks that merchandise was lacking. Every weekend there is some sort of merch issue and this time it was the misspelling of inaugural.

 

[momabaarjo]

Brief Time Out/Stress Pity Party

Just need to vent, cry, stress out…

I have not run or walked now for 36 days, as I have been having issues since W&D with my left ankle, up my Achilles and throughout the calf of my left leg. This has been going on for a few months but nothing as serious as the pain after W&D. Somewhere around mile 11 of the half, I felt a twinge and my entire left leg went weak on me. I was able to finish, even do a little running but since then I have had pain. I thought a few weeks of rest, ice and stretching would have helped by now but it is not much better. It has been EXTREMELY hard not to be out there pounding the pavement.

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Being my own physician (thanks to the internet and WebMD) I am diagnosing myself with Peroneal Tendonitis.

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However, I was able to get an appointment a few weeks ago with an ankle/foot doctor…and today is the day! I have been stressed out about this for weeks and what this is going to do to my long range running plans and goals, plus the fact I have also lost a month of muscle memory…sigh.

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While it will be nice to finally have some answers, I am not sure if I am really ready to deal with the answers. A few years ago I went to a foot doctor about my issues with Shin Splints, and he told me that a woman my age and size should not be running. Yep, not going back to him this time or ever!

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And yes, I shaved my legs for the doctor! LOL

 

[rteetz]

Oh man that sucks. I hope your appointment went well!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm sorry to hear that the expo wasn't so great. I wonder if the lack of enthusiasm from the vendors had anything to do with it being the same week as the NYC marathon ... we went to the marathon expo and a few of the vendors mentioned that they were also at Disney, but I'm wondering if maybe some vendors sent their "A" team to NYC and the "backups" to Disney.

I hope the foot news wasn't too bad!

 

[momabaarjo]

Oh man that sucks. I hope your appointment went well!

I'm sorry to hear that the expo wasn't so great. I wonder if the lack of enthusiasm from the vendors had anything to do with it being the same week as the NYC marathon ... we went to the marathon expo and a few of the vendors mentioned that they were also at Disney, but I'm wondering if maybe some vendors sent their "A" team to NYC and the "backups" to Disney.

I hope the foot news wasn't too bad!

Thanks for the well wishes and positive vibes....it did not go well and I am still trying to process the impact of the visit. I long ago gave up my Disney planning OCD but I have spent the last month being OCD with run plans and mapping out the next year. Basically all that is trash. I will give a full report in a few days. I would much rather focus on the Best part of this trip...

 

[momabaarjo]

Thursday: Eats & Drinks

POFQ Lunch​

If you followed my PTR you know I already had this lunch planned out from the start…when in Rome…errr New Orleans…do as the Cajuns (or tourists do). My meal started off with a small cup of Gumbo, ​

which was a disappointment the flavor was decent but the texture was off. Instead of chunks of sausage it seemed to have the texture of ground meat and was not as spicy as I would have liked. I did not even finish the cup. The Shrimp Po Boy



was HUGE…I really wish we would have known so we could have split one! I loved how the shrimp were plentiful but I did not like how much bread there was in the roll. I ended up just eating the shrimp and leaving the roll. The homemade chips were amazing! And no meal is complete at Disney without something sweet, and in this case BEIGNET time!



They were oh so good, but I wish we would have ordered them after we finished eating. Somehow I missed that there was a pumpkin spice option, we had plain ones. After the Expo, we came back to POFQ to drop our things off before heading to Epcot for the evening and just like in the PTR, the first drink of the trip was already planned, All that Jazz…​

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a very yummy frozen drink that I probably could have had about 10 of because it was that yummy, not too strong and a different flavor in each sip you took. I think my favorite layer was the melon.


First Day of Food & Wine Grazing

Our first stop of Food & Wine was the festival center and my first drink was the Peach Moscato…​

A perfect glass of sweet dessert wine!

Then it was off to begin our grazing and drinking quest for the evening, for which I had high expectations of eating lots of tasty morsels but for some reason that did not happen as planned out. I will just use the excuse that we were all too tired from the long day and dreading the early morning race call as the reason we only hit 2 booths…Our first stop was Craft Beers, while no one had any beer we all had the Piggy Wings…​

What a perfect first bite of Food & Wine. We all loved the sticky soy sauce flavored pork ribs! Sometime later, not sure what we were doing in between, we stopped at Farm Fresh for the Loaded Mac & Cheese…​

The Food & Wine picture looked much better than what I was served. Overall it was a disappointment as the onions really over powered the entire dish.
We managed to meet up with Jan & Gretchen for a Margarita Nightcap….which made me really happy because I was so excited to see these two awesome ladies. More than once they have reached out to me in support, kindness and understanding, which in light of a lot of things that have happened over the course of the last year was appreciated more than they could ever understand and I am crossing my fingers that they next RunDisney Weekend I do, they will be part of! The line to La Cava was long and we forced the other 3 to wait for us, lucky for me the new senor behind the bar was making my drink…



I had the Horcata (partly because I just like to say the word) while Gretchen had the Blood Orange. A perfect way to end the first day of our trip!​

 

[rteetz]

That really sucks that your appointment well. I wish you the best in recovery, we are all here for you in support.

I've never had gumbo before, I'm not sure if I would try it or not. I am not a shrimp fan however I've never tried fried shrimp so maybe I would like that better. Everyone raves about the beignets, and I've never had them!

Those piggy wings look good! Glad they also tasted good. That sucks that the onions over powered the Mac and cheese, I wouldn't have liked that either then.

 

[SarahDisney]

Beignets! I actually had my first ever beignet a few days ago (my brother was in New Orleans last week and brought some home with him). Definitely a good way to end a meal.

Those piggy wings look delicious, I'm glad you enjoyed. Sorry to hear that the Loaded Mac & Cheese was a disappointment, but at least you ended the night on a positive note with a good drink and good friends!

 

[momabaarjo]

Coming to terms with changes in plans...

I am a planner by nature, I love to dream big and set goals for myself but the funny thing about life...it hands out heapings of reality when you are dreaming just to make sure you know that you are not 100% in control of anything! I had dreams of a marathon in July and then Dopey in January 2018....but reality, or my body said just because you are turning 50 you don't need to have a midlife crisis centered on making me hurt.

What happened?

The last few months I have been noticing a lot of discomfort with my left ankle/foot but just blew it off as being tired from training for W&D Lumiere Challenge. Nothing too bothersome or really getting in the way of training or even pulling out PRs, just general discomfort! At around mile 11-12 of W&DHalf I felt my ankle give out on me…nothing major just a weird feeling and nothing that stopped me from completing just slowed me down. When I got home, I decided to rest up a few weeks and see what was going on. I rested and iced for a couple of weeks and then went out for 10K run and came home with even more discomfort, but blew it off again justifying that I had time before I needed to hit marathon training hard so I will rest and ice. The discomfort has progressively gotten worse just by every day walking at work and home, so much so that it was all the way throughout my left calf…time to get it checked out because according to my schedule I needed to start marathon training January 9 to be ready for Missoula in July.

I was really dreading this visit. A few years ago, I went to a podiatrist for my shin splints (that later caused a stress fracture), who told me that women my age and size should not be running (you can see I really listened to the idiot. I went to him because he was a runner and would understand. I should have known he as part of the “wanna be elite” running crowd in my area that make it miserable for anyone like me to do local races). I found a new doctor for this visit that specialized in ankles and feet. I was really worried when I went in…as the office staff was not very pleasant, but the doctor was AMAZING. He came in the room praising me for running and trying to improve myself, although he did honestly tell me that I might want to think of another way to lose weight and be active. He took the x-rays, looked at my wear patterns on my shoes, moved my foot around, did the typical pressing around (which at one point instantly made me holler a very BAD WORD and instant tears), did an ultrasound…

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The Verdict (for now)

I have an acute case of Achilles Tendonitis in addition to a tear, but he is uncertain the degree to which it is torn because there is so much swelling that it is bulging the casing around it and all the fluid is gone. An MRI would be a waste of money with this much swelling, so the first order of business is to get the swelling down, so…

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I have officially been booted for the next 4 weeks and taking a major round of anti-inflammatory medication, then redo the ultrasound and possibly MRI and go from there. His personal opinion from experience that it probably is just small partial tears which would mean 3-6 months in boot and at 3 months start PT but no weight bearing exercise for 6 months, PERIOD. This has to heal correctly or it will be reoccurring and the likelihood of marathons/half marathons would be ZERO.

We talked about my run goals for some time and he could tell I was passionate so he offered these suggestions, first get the weight off (no more using running as an excuse to eat…I had already begun doing this) and to keep in shape by swimming IMMEDIATELY (I used to do that competitively in high school many moons ago, I love the pool and I have a gym membership that I don’t use with pool access) and once I start PT strength and weight training. I need to make it so that I am cleared to walk/run again that my body is the better than it is right now! Great advice, WHICH I PLAN ON TAKING, and he did not dash my dreams.

Of course the disappointment of no Disney races or trips for 2 years, 24 Days is going to be a VERY LONG TIME, so…

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I REGISTERED for my first half post injury/recovery for 331 days from now, Rock ‘n’ Roll Vegas!!! There sale today of ½ races came at the perfect time! This race has been on my bucket list for the last couple of years but I have had too much fun with RunDisney and I can only do so many destination races without the family or husband. Looks like DH and I will have a weekend away together and I will Strip at Night!

Oh yeah, and the sale was so good that I signed up for my second half post injury/recovery for 335 days from now…

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Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio!

I did pay the $10 race insurance just in case…Merry Christmas to me!

 

[momabaarjo]

That really sucks that your appointment well. I wish you the best in recovery, we are all here for you in support.

I've never had gumbo before, I'm not sure if I would try it or not. I am not a shrimp fan however I've never tried fried shrimp so maybe I would like that better. Everyone raves about the beignets, and I've never had them!

Those piggy wings look good! Glad they also tasted good. That sucks that the onions over powered the Mac and cheese, I wouldn't have liked that either then.

no Shrimp...oh my!

Beignets! I actually had my first ever beignet a few days ago (my brother was in New Orleans last week and brought some home with him). Definitely a good way to end a meal.

Those piggy wings look delicious, I'm glad you enjoyed. Sorry to hear that the Loaded Mac & Cheese was a disappointment, but at least you ended the night on a positive note with a good drink and good friends!

What a great treat your brother brought back! My only disappointment was that we did not order them after we finished eating...I get they are incredible hot!

 

[rteetz]

Well I'm glad you found a doctor that was better than the previous ones you went to. It sucks that you're injured though. I hope the best for you.

You could always take a non running Disney trip

Yay for signing up for a race even if it is so far away!

 

[SarahDisney]

Oh man, that injury definitely sounds like no fun. But I love that you're already planning your post-injury/recovery races!!

I hope your recovery goes well ... and enjoy swimming!

 

[lovingeire]

Ok, I am all caught up!

I am sure you will sneak in an appearance or two...I wished there would have been more meet ups with you and Jan!

was HUGE…I really wish we would have known so we could have split one! I loved how the shrimp were plentiful but I did not like how much bread there was in the roll. I ended up just eating the shrimp and leaving the roll.

I had one in '15 and really wished we had shared, although I don't think Jan likes shrimp, because it is huge! I ate the shrimp and left the roll too.

The Food & Wine picture looked much better than what I was served. Overall it was a disappointment as the onions really over powered the entire dish.
We managed to meet up with Jan & Gretchen for a Margarita Nightcap….which made me really happy because I was so excited to see these two awesome ladies. More than once they have reached out to me in support, kindness and understanding, which in light of a lot of things that have happened over the course of the last year was appreciated more than they could ever understand and I am crossing my fingers that they next RunDisney Weekend I do, they will be part of! The line to La Cava was long and we forced the other 3 to wait for us, lucky for me the new senor behind the bar was making my drink…

So glad we got to kick off the weekend with a meet up and a margarita! That Blood Orange was so good!

I am so sorry to hear about the delay in the dreams, but glad you have some new dreams to focus on! Sadly, marathon weekend is out the window for me this year since they moved registration up so early. Maybe in five more years?

 

[momabaarjo]

Well I'm glad you found a doctor that was better than the previous ones you went to. It sucks that you're injured though. I hope the best for you.

You could always take a non running Disney trip

Yay for signing up for a race even if it is so far away!

I know I could always take a trip without running, but that would bringing the family and geez I like my little happy place.

Oh man, that injury definitely sounds like no fun. But I love that you're already planning your post-injury/recovery races!!

I hope your recovery goes well ... and enjoy swimming!

Thanks Sarah...I don't think I would get through the wait of Marathon2019 without a goal...let alone the next 11 months.

Ok, I am all caught up!
So glad we got to kick off the weekend with a meet up and a margarita! That Blood Orange was so good!

I am so sorry to hear about the delay in the dreams, but glad you have some new dreams to focus on! Sadly, marathon weekend is out the window for me this year since they moved registration up so early. Maybe in five more years?

I wished we would have spent a lot more time together...but I treasure the few moments we had!

I had been swagbucking extra hard to cover the cost of Marathon...whoop, so far since I got home from W&D I have earned $275 doing my penny apps, plus I had a lot let over from W&D trip that I had registration pretty much covered. SIGH....just stockpiling it for an AMAZING pamper yourself Marathon Weekend.