13.1 Miles, Giraffes, a 5 month old, and HOW MANY PEOPLE!?! January 2011 Trip Report

[Sarah_Rose]

And we did it again! It was our 3rd marathon weekend, but our first as parents, and our first trip bringing the whole family along!

Let's get this thing started!

Dates: 1/5/11 - 1/12/11

Cast of Characters
Sarah (Me) - 27 year old new SAHM. I've been to WDW many times in the past, including running the WDW half marathon in 2009 and the GOOFY in 2010.
James (DH) - 29 year old computer programmer guy. Not a huge Disney fan, but does enjoy marathon weekend.
Callum (DS) - 5 month old little guy. Loves blinking lights, chewing on things, and songs about frogs.
Carol (DMom) - My mom. A huge Disney fan and the driving force behind all of our childhood trips.
Frank (DDad) - My dad. A big retired navy guy who likes to pretend that he enjoys Disney less than he does.
Dave (DB) - My 25 year old brother. Hasn't been to WDW since he was 15... a big thrill ride guy, and a complete ham.
Stu and Sue (DFIL and DMIL) - Not real Disney fans, but wanted to come along to join in the excitement.
Bancha - DH's coworker. He came on the trip to run the half marathon, but he traveled with two friends and stayed in a different resort, so we only caught up with him a few times during the trip. Still, nice to have him along.

Whew! Is that it? You'll have to keep reading to find out how managing this whole group of people went!

The Resort: AKV Kidani Village - 2 bedroom savanna view room. DFIL and DMIL stayed in a regular room in Jambo House.

And now Callum needs a nap so we'll have to get to the backstory later.

 

[beachgirl2000]

I am the first! Woo Hoo!

I love reading about the Disney Marathon Weekend -- I hope to do my first next year at either Marathon Weekend or Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

Congrats!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I am the first! Woo Hoo!

I love reading about the Disney Marathon Weekend -- I hope to do my first next year at either Marathon Weekend or Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

Congrats!

I can't recommend Disney as your first half marathon, enough! I ran my first half marathon at WDW in 2009 and it was such a great experience - it really fueled my love of running and gave me the motivation to take on the Goofy (the half AND the full!) the next year. I hope you decide to do it because it's totally WORTH IT!!!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Alright, so how did this trip happen?

Last year, DH and I stayed at CSR and I ran the Goofy (yes, I was Goofy) and DH ran the full marathon. We had a fantastic trip, but I was 3 months pregnant at the time, and we started discussing staying home for 2011. By the time we got on the plane to go home, we had decided to sit out marathon weekend 2011.

And then people started asking what our plans were.

Bancha was first. Bancha had lost 120 lbs over the year before, and when DH started telling Bancha about the Disney half marathon, Bancha got excited. He's a big Disney fan and he was pumped about the fact that he COULD now run, after losing all the weight. DH came home from work and told me that Bancha was thinking of going for 2011, and we started discussing the possibility... On, and on the topic of Bancha - anyone interested in a 28-year-old, super-sweet, athletic, gainfully-employed Thai guy who is a big Disney fan? My mission for the year is to find Bancha a girlfriend, whether he wants it or not.

Next came my parents. I mentioned to my parents that we were discussing 2011, and they immediately offered to come along to watch "the baby" (Callum was still this foreign idea growing inside me at this point) while we ran. My brother came along with the package - he had run his first half marathon a couple weeks earlier and was keen to try out Disney, if the rest of us were going.

So, at this point we were tentatively committed. And then we mentioned it to James' parents, and this thing just got bigger... DH's dad (who will be 65 in October) decided that he wanted to try something new, and that he would run the half marathon, as well. Well, the more the merrier.... but where are we all going to stay?

In June, I found someone renting enough DVC points at a price I could afford, for us to rent a 2-bedroom villa for a week. Our first choice was Boardwalk, but there was no availability for the week over the marathon. Our second choice was AKV, and they did have a 2-bedroom savanna view available, so we snatched it up! I have to say that my experience renting DVC points using the DIS Rent/Trade board was 100% positive - the member I worked with was fantastic and willing to go the extra mile to make sure we were happy and confident working with him.

We talked to the in-laws and they decided to rent a separate room at AKL - looking back on it, it was a good decision, because the villa would have felt cramped with 7 adults and a baby in it. Bancha had coerced 2 of his friends to come along for the trip and they decided to stay at ASMusic.

And before Callum was even born, I booked his first character breakfast! We decided to have breakfast with Mickey and Lilo and Stitch at Ohana on the first morning of our trip. I also made a reservation for 10 at Biergarten for lunch after the half marathon, and a dinner reservation at Boma on the day after the half marathon. At some point later on, I booked a lunch at Crystal Palace for January 11th, but we ended up canceling the reservation during the trip because we weren't having much luck with TS meals and Callum.

On August 8th, after 4 hours of labor, my little guy was born.

The fact that he was a boy was a surprise, but I immediately started planning Buzz Lightyear and Mickey Mouse outfits for him to wear on our trip.

We booked out airfare in September; Alaskan Airlines direct from Seattle to Orlando, and then Southwest Airlines connecting through Las Vegas on our way home. I prefer to fly Southwest, but the times for our SEA-MCO flight were pretty awful and all involved crazy connections, so we went with our second choice for our outbound flight.

My parents decided that they were going to drive from Toronto and then take their time driving back. This made life easier for all of us, because it meant that they could bring supplies for the villa and do a shopping trip for groceries.

My parents also decided at some point during the summer that they wanted to walk the Disney 5K with Callum and I. So, I registered the 4 of us (well, rather the 3 of us, plus an entry in the "stroller division") for the 5K and my parents started training for their first 5K.

The months flew by, Callum got bigger and heavier, I trained for my first post-pregnancy half marathon, and soon it was time for us to pack up and go.

 

[beachgirl2000]

Wow -- you did both?!?! That is great! I cannot imagine doing 26 miles! I can't wait to read your report!

 

[beachgirl2000]

And just had a baby?!?!?! Good for you!!!!!!!!!!! That is awesome

 

[liznboys]

Hi Sarah Rose! I've seen you on the WISH board. I can't believe you did the Goofy at 3 months pregnant!!!!! That is unreal to me! You are amazing! And even doing a half with a wee-one is amazing. I'm in for your report!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Wow -- you did both?!?! That is great! I cannot imagine doing 26 miles! I can't wait to read your report!

I find running 26 miles is easier in Disney than anywhere else! Great to have you on board.

Hi Sarah Rose! I've seen you on the WISH board. I can't believe you did the Goofy at 3 months pregnant!!!!! That is unreal to me! You are amazing! And even doing a half with a wee-one is amazing. I'm in for your report!

Hi Liz! The pregnant Goofy thing just sort of... happened. I had been training for Goofy for 8 months and I wasn't going to let a little morning sickness get in my way. At least I wasn't crazy enough to sign up for the Goofy again this year... I had a few WISH-ers talk me down from that one. Congrats on finishing another half, yourself!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Hey there! My little boy suddenly has a TOOTH today! As we were flying home from Orlando on Wednesday, we had at least a dozen people give us a knowing look and ask, "Teething?" I didn't get it - Callum wasn't really fussy (considering the circumstances - a 7 hour flight after being crazy-overstimulated for a week - he was actually being pretty awesome) and he normally drools a lot, anyway... I just smiled and nodded so I didn't have to get into a random teething discussion with a stranger. Turns out all those people were right!

Ok, and here we go... Day 1!

Well, the first day of our trip kind of snuck up on me. Between Christmas, and then having DH's cousin and his GF visiting over New Years, and then trying to get all my packing done, it was suddenly time to leave! I'd finished packing the day before, dropped off our two German Shepherds for their vacation at their uber-expensive kennel-free boarding farm, done like a gazillion loads of laundry...

January 5th: The Plan

Alarm set for 4:00, out of the house by 5:00. Drive to the airport, 8:45 flight with Alaskan Airlines to MCO. DME to resort. Sleep.
____________________________________________________________________________

Callum decided to start the day a bit early. He woke up for a feeding at 3:00 and then went back to sleep at 3:30. Lucky little guy; he had no idea the excitement he was in for! Of course, then I was wide awake at this point so I got dressed, puttered around the house, loaded the luggage into the car, sent an email to my mom and dad, who had arrived in Orlando the day before...

Finally, it was 4:45 and I couldn't put off waking up Callum any longer. I actually managed to get his sleep sack and pjs off before he started to wake up. And boy was he MAD!!! In hindsight, I should have just took him to the airport in his pjs and let him get an extra hour of sleep, but... 20/20 and all that.

We loaded the screaming angry baby into the car seat and suddenly he was quiet. It was like he sensed the excitement at that point; I expected him to sleep on the way to the airport, but he was wide awake and babbling the whole way. It was pouring rain in Seattle that morning, but the drive to the off-site parking place was pretty quick and easy. We moved just southeast of SeaTac airport last spring - it's actually cheaper for us to take a cab to the airport but we weren't bringing a car seat for this trip so we decided it would be easier to just take out own car to the airport. We parked, loaded all of our stuff into the shuttle bus, and we were on our way to SeaTac.

Ok, let's talk luggage. For this trip, we had: one 41 lb suitcase, one 26 lb suitcase, a stroller, the Ergo, the 40L REI backpack that I use for hiking, a monstrous diaper bag, and my purse. This is more stuff than when I moved overseas for a year. I am so thankful for the DME luggage service - it was so nice not having to see our bags between when we checked in and when they arrived at our resort room!

Oh, and while we're still on the topic of luggage, I just have to rave about my diaper bag. I have the Go Gaga Slide. James bought it for me for Christmas when it came up at half price on BabySteals.com a few weeks ago.

I love this diaper bag like I've never loved any bag before this. I have shoulder problems from a car accident I was in a couple years ago and bags tend to make it worse. However, because of the wide fabric strap on this bag, I was able to wear it for 7 days at Disney, stuffed to the gills, with no shoulder pain. I also got comments from the security people at the park entrances on more than one occasion, commenting on how organized my bag is. It also doesn't look like a diaper bag, so I plan to use it for traveling for many, MANY years to come.

Anyway, we got checked in at Alaska Airlines and headed towards security. It was enough work trying to remove our jackets and shoes while juggling a baby and all our stuff, but then when I got up to the metal detector, they asked me to remove Callum's Robeez leather baby booties and his tiny little lightweight baby hoodie. REALLY!? How much can you smuggle in 0-6 month baby shoes? Ok, rules are rules. But I just have to say that he also had a hoodie and Robeez on the flight from Orlando and they didn't say anything to us about taking them off.

We successfully got through security, and then it was off to the food court to find breakfast. Which, unfortunately, was Wendy's. And they didn't have coffee that morning, for some ungodly reason. But it was either that or the teriyaki place or Ivars seafood (which, yes, was selling fish and chips at 6:30 in the morning).

Poor Callum still looks vaguely stunned at being awake and moving that early in the morning.

So, at this point it was 7:00 and we still at over an hour until boarding, so we decided to partake in the age-old time wasting method of walking up and down the terminals aimlessly. We were leaving from the 'C' terminal, so we started with the 'A' terminal, which is the longest. By the time we had gotten to the end and back, Callum had fallen asleep in his stroller, so we decided to keep walking. We stopped to get some coffee at a Starbucks in terminal 'B' and then skipped terminal C and walked to the end of D. It was 8:00 by the time Callum woke up somewhere in the D terminal, so we stopped at a restroom to change his diaper, and then went to our gate so that we could wait for boarding. At this point, Callum was suddenly HYPER and was cracking up the older couple next to us by lying on James' lap and STOMPING his feet on the seat next to him. I'm sure that couple was praying that we weren't sitting next to them!

We lucked out and had an empty seat next to us on the plane, so it was nice to be able to stretch out over the row. I nursed Callum during take-off, but he didn't fall asleep and started trying to escape from our laps and fussing. It was at this point that I started considering each 10 minute interval to be a major accomplishment. Callum can't crawl or sit up yet, but he's already turning out to be a majorly active little guy. He started barrel-rolling around about a month ago, and now can easily get around a room on his own, with little effort. He was not particularly happy to be spending a 5 hour flight on our laps. I can't decide if a car seat would have been worse, though. Finally, after almost 2 hours of trying to roll right off our laps, Callum passed out and slept for almost 2 hours. By the time he woke up, it was very nearly time to land. Following the advice of DIS-ers, I tried nursing Callum as we were landing, but he was so worked up that he couldn't focus enough to nurse. I also tried putting a pacifier in his mouth (he doesn't normally take one, but I figured if I could get him to suck on it, it would help) but he was screaming too hard to even notice, at that point. Whoops. Sorry to everyone on that flight, but yes, that was my child that shrieked for 30 minutes as we descended.

We finally touched ground in Orlando and then took off for the DME counter. We only had to wait a couple minutes to board our bus, and then about 10 minutes to leave. As we were sitting there, I texted my mom to see if they had checked in at AKV Kidani alright. She texted back that they were in the room, had already baked cookies, and they had a pan of lasagna in the oven. Man, I love my parents.

Our bus stopped at CBR and POP, as well as AKL Jambo House, before Kidani so it took about 90 minutes from the time our plane landed at 5:00 until we got to the resort. Callum was getting overtired by this point, but he was too distracted to sleep or eat on the DME bus. The Kidani lobby was empty when we arrived, so we stopped at the desk to pick up James' and my room keys. The CM at the desk said that they would take Callum as payment... James just laughed and said that that would work just fine for us... we'd pick him up in the morning.

We were given room 7318 and I honestly could not have picked a better room if I had picked it out on a map. It was close to the lobby, right next to the elevator that goes down to the transportation area, and on the 3rd floor, so high up enough that you can see the whole savanna, but not so high that you can't see the animals clearly. It was really awesome. The 2-bedroom villas at Kidani are also GORGEOUS! I didn't get any pictures of the room because my parents and brother had already unpacked and spread out throughout the villa by the time I got there, but suffice it to say that they are wonderful.

We entered the villa and my mom immediately swooped in and took Callum from me. My parents visited 2 weeks after he was born, but hadn't seen him since, so my mom was pretty excited. As an understatement.

And it is bedtime, so I think it's time to stop for the night. Arrival and departure days are always so hard to write because it's mostly "and then we sat on a plane for 5 hours" but I promise it'll get more interesting soon!

 

[liznboys]

Hi Liz! The pregnant Goofy thing just sort of... happened. I had been training for Goofy for 8 months and I wasn't going to let a little morning sickness get in my way. At least I wasn't crazy enough to sign up for the Goofy again this year... I had a few WISH-ers talk me down from that one. Congrats on finishing another half, yourself!

You are a trooper!!! I could barely stand up straight when going through morning sickness with my boys! Thanks for the congrats.


Congrats on the new tooth! I always felt a little sad when my boys lost their gummy smiles. But it was nice when they could actually chew things. lol

Poor angry Callum at 4:45am!! I would be too!

Neat bag!

Oooh, nice you had an empty seat next to you on the plane. I remember flying and nursing when mine were little...and wishing I had more room! Sorry the landing didn't go so well.

Your parents sounds awesome!!

Callum is adorable.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Alright, so when we left off, I had just arrived at AKV Kidani and had immediately lost custody of my child to a doting grandmother.

Well, we got in the door and munched on some oatmeal raisin cookies, and checked out the place. My dad had hounded mousekeeping to get a crib (as opposed to the Pack and Play that was already in the room) brought to the villa, and of course the only room that it fit in was... the master bedroom. And so the room with the king bed and the bathroom that is bigger than our first apartment was ours for the week.

Ok, this picture isn't mine - I didn't manage to get a decent picture of the shower all week so I stole this one from Allears.net for illustration purposes. Just sayin'

James and I have our goal. Our master bathroom in our house has a soaker tub (that we never use) and a tiny shower stall next to each other... this shower will be ours someday.

So, at this point the lasagna was done and so we sat down and ate dinner. My parents brought a huge duffel bag full of baby toys and so Callum entertained himself on the floor with the mountain of goodies while we ate. After dinner, I changed Callum into what passed for pjs (I forgot to pack pjs in my diaper bag and our luggage hadn't made it to our room, yet), fed him, and put him to bed. He fell asleep pretty quickly after a full day.

So, it's 7:00 at AKL and the kiddo is asleep... the priority became Zebra Domes. I kidnapped James and my brother, Dave (who had flown in on a red-eye and so had been awake for 36 hours at this point... he was very persuadable) and we set out to find Jambo House. The weather was a bit chilly, but very humid... which was awesome, coming from a northern winter climate. We easily navigated the well-signed path through the parking lots to Jambo House and then entered the gorgeous lobby.

Now, I'd been to AKL a few times in the past, but always with the goal of getting to Boma as a priority. We had to stop at the sign to find out where Mara (AKL's quick-service restaurant) was and as we were standing there, a CM came over to ask if she could help. We told her we were looking for The Mara and she launched into an existential "you have to know where you are to know where you're going" type spiel. Weird. We finally got out of her "down to level 1 and out the doors to your right" and were on our way. I think she was trying to get at the fact that we were on the wrong level, but it just came out so crazy.

Alright, so we made it to Mara, found a 6-pack of Zebra Domes in the cooler, paid for them, filled up refillable mugs, and then started back to Kidani. On our way to the room, we detoured through the pool area to check it out. Kidani has a pretty awesome kids splash area... as we started towards it, Dave took one look at the masks on either side of the entrance and started to say, "Those look menacing..." As he said that, they suddenly spouted water out at us. We all jumped back about 10 feet - it's Disney! I guess we should expect these things...

As we got back to room 7318, I could hear baby laughter from the living room area. Sure enough, my mom was on the floor with Callum, making faces and squeaking a rubber carrot in his face. She "claims" that Callum woke up and started crying, but I maintain that she decided that he was lonely in his crib. This would become a theme for the trip... do not leave a sleeping baby alone with my mother!

So, Callum was put back to bed, Zebra Domes were eaten, and everyone got ready for bed.

Alright, and we're on to day 2!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Our first night was kind of a rough one. Callum was having trouble staying asleep in the crib (he discovered that if he "stomps", the mattress would vibrate against the metal bars and make a really cool sound ), the room was frigid from the air conditioning blasting non-stop (we finally fixed the problem by setting the room temperature at 82 degrees ), and then a thunderstorm started in the early morning hours. Despite the time difference, Callum was awake for good at 6:00 (3:00 PST) and so I decided to step out on the balcony with him to check out the lightning. But I couldn't get the balcony door open in our room.

So I went out into the living room, where my brother was sleeping. I cheerfully announced, "there's a thunderstorm and we're awake!" And got no response. Oh well. But I couldn't get that door open, either.

So on to the second bedroom, where my parents were sleeping. Yes, I did wake up everyone in the villa at 6:00 am, on our first day at Disney, in order to watch a thunderstorm. My parents only comment was, "you know, you did the same thing when you were 11." And then they showed me how the child safety locks on the balcony doors worked.

I tried to convince my parents that we should try to get to EMH rope drop at MK but they weren't buying it - particularly with the pouring rain and lightning. So we stuck with the original plan: 9:00 ADR for Ohana.

My brother and James were the last to get moving, but we did get out of the room at 8:00 to make our way to the Poly. By then, the rain had stopped and it was shaping up to be a nice day. We left the stroller in the room this morning, knowing that it would be more of a pain than anything else, between our ADR at Ohana, and our trip to the expo (where strollers are required to be left outside).

We got to the Poly, checked in at Ohana, got our picture taken with our leis (which they never actually got around to trying to sell us), and then walked over to the lounge to wait for our buzzer to go off. Somehow, between the time when our picture was taken and when we walked the 30 ft over to an open table in the lounge, Callum fell asleep in the Ergo. He stayed asleep as we were seated, and as we started to enjoy our coffee and breakfast bread (I LOVE that stuff ). I was a little disappointed that he was still asleep as my favorite character started making his way over to visit - PLUTO! As luck would have it, just as Pluto and I were shrugging to each other and having a "conversation" about the non-responsive little one, Callum suddenly woke up to a giant orange dog in his face.

Poor little guy looks a little stunned...

...but we did eventually get a little smile out of him!

Our server brought out our platter of food, and we all dug in. I will confess to my TR deficiancy... taking pictures of food! So sorry, but you'll have to go elsewhere for your Disney Food Porn.

The next character to make his way over was Stitch. Stitch was very excited by Callum and kept kidnapping him.

Callum started getting into it, after a bit - no one can resist Experiment 626!

Lilo was by to visit soon after Stitch.

And then, suddenly Stitch came back! He let Callum chew on his fingers and ended up playing with him for more than 10 minutes. It was awesome! By the end, Callum was totally captivated by the blue alien.

Stitch finally had to say goodbye to join in the parade around the restaurant, and we settled in to wait for the big mouse to make his appearance.

The lei made an excellent baby toy.

Finally, Mickey came by to say hello. Everyone was taking pictures of everyone else during this meal, so I'm feeling like my parents must have the pictures of Callum and I with Mickey. All I have are my parents, and this is one of the few pictures I have of them from the trip.

We finished up our meal, paid our bill, and then headed out to the front of the Poly to catch a marathon expo bus. During the bus ride, I was texting with another DIS-er from the WISH board that I've become pretty close with over the last couple years, trying to meet up with her at the expo. Unfortunately, we kept missing each other and then she had to leave before we were able to meet up. That was kind of the story of the weekend - we didn't manage to meet up at all during the 4 days of marathon weekend. If we knew what problems we'd have later, we would have tried harder on this first day.

We got to the expo at 10:45, about 45 minutes after opening, and the crowds and lines weren't bad at all, compared with what I experienced last year. We picked up our packets for the half marathon and the 5K pretty quickly, and then blazed through the merchandise area. I bought a Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge shirt last year, so I didn't really feel the need to buy any half marathon stuff this year.

We checked out our race bibs and James and I were both in Corral C and Dave was in Corral B. Also, the half marathon shirts were much nicer this year than in previous years! We verified our D-tags (the timing chips for the race) and then it was time to move on to the expo.

As you exited the first building, they were directing the crowds up a bunch of stairs to get to the second building. I find it pretty tough to walk up stairs in the Ergo because the bottom of the hip belt sits over where my leg bends at the hip. I was making a comment about that, when suddenly I fell. My heart was in my throat, but I managed to get my arms out fast enough to protect Callum from hitting the pavement as I went down. I scared the crap out of him, and I ended up with some road rash on my palms, but it could have been much, much worse!

Over to the expo area, where we scoped out all the free samples, and then James and I went in search of the runDisney booth to see what incentives they were offering for registering for the Disneyland Half Marathon. It was only waiving the Active.com fees, so it wasn't enough for us to commit to the race this far in advance. James stood in line to buy some Gu, I went in search of the RunningSkirt.com twins (they weren't there - it was someone else manning the booth), and then we were all done.

We went back over to the transportation area to catch a bus back to AKL to drop off our goodies, and to meet up with James' parents, whose flight had landed at MCO at 10:00.

To be Continued...

 

[wisegal]

hello

i am enjoying your report, I am just wondering what the goofy is that you did last year.


Thanks
Nicole

 

[Sarah_Rose]

i am enjoying your report, I am just wondering what the goofy is that you did last year.

The Goofy is the holy grail of Disney running events... you get a special medal (and bragging rights) for running bath the half marathon and the full marathon (39.3 miles total) in one weekend.

Thanks for reading, Nicole!

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Congrats on the new tooth! I always felt a little sad when my boys lost their gummy smiles. But it was nice when they could actually chew things. lol

Whoops, and now I'm that person who forgets to multi-quote...

I have to say that i'm really having to work on the enthusiasm for the teeth. My little guy is growing up so fast... not too long ago he was just a little pink doughy lump... and now he's practically a person! I'm not ready for this!

Thanks for reading!!!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Subbing! I'm really enjoying your TR so far and Callum is sooooo darn adorable! What kind of training did you do while you were pregnant? I would like to think I would keep running through a pregnancy... That's only if I can talk my DF into having one more. Can't wait to read about your race experience!

 

[liznboys]

Mmmm, zebra domes...bliss! I will tell you that the ones from Mara aren't as good as getting them fresh from Boma.

Callum's face waking up to Pluto is hilarious!!

So sorry about the fall! I'm sure you had a mini-heart attack worrying about Callum, glad he was ok and you weren't too bad off!

 

[Shannon84]

I am joining in on the fun

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Subbing! I'm really enjoying your TR so far and Callum is sooooo darn adorable! What kind of training did you do while you were pregnant? I would like to think I would keep running through a pregnancy... That's only if I can talk my DF into having one more. Can't wait to read about your race experience!

I went the stupid path and decided to walk a half marathon at 35 weeks pregnant. *headdesk* Never. Again. It took me 3:48 and it knocked me flat for a week afterwards. The worst part is that I was totally fine and had no problems with training right up until 33 weeks... and then I'd already put in most of my training, so I decided to do it, anyway. I didn't have any medical issues during the half marathon (although I did carry my cell phone and had my doctor on speed dial) but it was supremely uncomfortable. I tell people now that it was worse than childbirth.

If I had been smart, I could have stopped at 7 months. Until that point, I could still run (slowly) and was totally comfortable with my training.

Mmmm, zebra domes...bliss! I will tell you that the ones from Mara aren't as good as getting them fresh from Boma.

Callum's face waking up to Pluto is hilarious!!

So sorry about the fall! I'm sure you had a mini-heart attack worrying about Callum, glad he was ok and you weren't too bad off!

You know, you're totally right about the Mara zebra domes. They were just kind of... soggy. Not overtly bad, but just not as good as the Boma ones.

You better believe I held on to the handrail when going up stairs with the Ergo, for the rest of the trip!

I am joining in on the fun

Glad to have you along!

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm joining in too! My family did marathon weekend as well. My kids ran the Mickey Mile, DH did the half, and I finished my first full! It is seriously impressive that you did the Goofy at 3 months pregnant. I can't even imagine how exhausted you must have been after it was over!