2009 WISH biography thread

[zakismom]

My name is Erica and I joined WISH last year as a lurker, but hope to be an active participant starting today. In the Spring of 2007 I saw an add for the WDW Marathon and it's 'secret' medal. I wanted that medal so I registered for the race and then I got off the couch and started running. I could only run 1 block at a time, but I kept going and in January 2008 I completed my 1st race, the WDW marathon. Someone should have told me that a marathon is not always the best choice for a 1st race, but I finished and have the beautiful Mickey medal to show for it. Since then I have run the WDW 2009 Marathon, the Princess 1/2 marathon, and a bunch of other 1/2's 10 milers, 10ks, 5 milers, and 5ks. This fall I have 4 1/2 marathons and the Marine Corp Marathon and in January I am going Goofy.

I look forward to the information and camaraderie that I hope to gain her on WISH.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

My name is Erica and I joined WISH last year as a lurker, but hope to be an active participant starting today. In the Spring of 2007 I saw an add for the WDW Marathon and it's 'secret' medal. I wanted that medal so I registered for the race and then I got off the couch and started running. I could only run 1 block at a time, but I kept going and in January 2008 I completed my 1st race, the WDW marathon. Someone should have told me that a marathon is not always the best choice for a 1st race, but I finished and have the beautiful Mickey medal to show for it. Since then I have run the WDW 2009 Marathon, the Princess 1/2 marathon, and a bunch of other 1/2's 10 milers, 10ks, 5 milers, and 5ks. This fall I have 4 1/2 marathons and the Marine Corp Marathon and in January I am going Goofy.

I look forward to the information and camaraderie that I hope to gain her on WISH.

Welcome Erica!

 

[wdwprncess77]

Hi Everyone! My name is Jane and I'm 32 years old, living in NYC with my dog Olivia (she's a puggle and the center of my universe).

My love for Disney started young and the day I turned 18 I got a job at the disney store. I've had annual passes for as long as I can remember and someday hope to work at the World. I was so close last year and then Poof a hiring freeze.

I've never been athletic, always been pooh sized but always walked everywhere in this city. I always would say to my friends when people ran by, "don't you wish you could do that?". A few years back my mom was diagnosed with a rare disease called polymyositis. Her muscles are deteriorating and sometimes she can't even get up to walk around. She's only 51 and was always fairly active so it's quite frustrating. I decided not to waste the opportunity that I have as you never know when it's going to be taken away. So in May of this year I started C25K. I finished a week ago and am now doing the Higdon's Spring Training. My first race will be the Race for the Cure on Sept 13th (although it's not timed, I'll time myself) and then Everest Challenge 2 weeks later. I'm over the moon that my mom will be there to cheer me on.

I'm hoping after that for the Princess 1/2, but I'm taking it slow to avoid injury. I find these boards very informative, supportive and addicting. But I'm so glad to be here.

Now if only I could figure out how to put pictures and countdown clocks and such at the bottom of my signature.

Nice meeting you all!!

Jane

 

[deekaypee]

If you want to see some of the old bios, the 2008 thread is here...

I'm Debra, and my complete bio is somewhere in the old thread. I'll try to find it and link to it. Ah, here it is!

Here's the short version: My first 1/2 and full, first races actually, were part of the same weekend: Goofy 2008. During my training for that event I lurked on WISH, mostly because I was too shy to post. I found everyone here incredibly knowledgeable, supportive, and best of all (for my taste) strangely funny. Or is that funnily strange? No matter, because soon after I returned home from the Goofy--with three medals, several blisters, a sunburn, and a stride that would make a cowboy jealous--I jumped (hobbled) into the WISH boards full force. Not to mention more running, which I discovered that I really like.

I started out 2009 with a less-than-illustrious Disney marathon (the course was stunning, the company witty, but my performance was, well, forgettable). I'll be doing the Baltimore 1/2 in the fall, with DOOD (my DH) doing the full. We should finish in approximately the same time. And this year, we're doing Dopey....because that's why Disney offers three races, right?

One last thing: I'm currently the co-captain of Team 'Ohana (with chimera/Mel), the informal miles/minutes challenge that helps many of us as we train for events. Please feel free to drop by and say aloha to the cousins!

 

[GirTheGecko]

I'm Hope, I'm a lurker who comes out of the woodwork every once in awhile. I work as an assistant department manager in a grocery store. I've been with Nick, the dbf for eight years now. And, it's all his fault.

The way we got started on all of this was when my boyfriend's saw that WDW had a half marathon and my dbf said "That sounds fun." Within about 48 hours, the entire family (the dbf's mom, dad, sister, him, and I) all signed up for 2008 and started training. I went from couch potato to half marathon finisher in about nine months, since I did the local half as a test. For the race we wore "It's all Nick's fault!" stickers while Nick had "I'm Nick" on him. It was one of the best moments in my life when I saw the dbf's sister and father standing there at the finish, with their medals on. I also have the photo of the five of us (with medals) in AK displayed proudly.

We decided (after much groaning and "Never again!") to do the 2009. It did not go as well for me, since I was swept. I had some back problems during the year that flared up during the race and Frank the blister (it was so big, I named him). I tried some 'blister proof' socks and did worse then when I wore cotton socks. So I kind of ruined the weekend for them since no one in the group wore their medals around me.

Once again, we're entertaining the idea of doing it all over again for 2011. But, I'm not sure if I will, may be cheerleader/food-water peep since I'm having some health issues that will hopefully sort themselves out soon so I can train at that level again. Hopefully, it will be the last health issues I have for awhile. Since I want to beat the dbf who hardly trains.

 

[daisyprincess]

Hello everyone my name is Christine and I'm a new member here. I have been running on and off for 12 years. Running the Disney half marathon was a goal that I had in 1999 while living in Orlando. Unfortunately, life and an my neuroma took over and I never actually accomplishment my goal. I stopped running all together in 2004 when I found out I was pregnant with my son. I tried many times after he was born to get back into it but I was exhausted and out of shape. Then one day a coworker announced he was registered for the 2009 Disney half I told him to bother me every day until I signed up. Which lucky for me he did. I finally caved when capacity was over 90% and started running again in March 08. Well, after a few months I was hooked and I haven't stopped running since. Wouldn't you know that the guy who got me to registered never actually ran the race himself. I went on to finish in 2:12 minutes for my first half. I have since run the Princess, ING Atlanta half and Irongirl 10K. I'm now registered for the full marathon in 2010 with a scattering of halves and 5 and 10K's in between.

When I'm not running, I'm an elementary school teacher and mom to my 4 year old Zachary who is the love of my life. He also runs the Disney Kids races which he loves. Though he always prefers my medal more.

 

[itsjoan]

Hi all! I just joined WISH Friday night at Midnight. Figured... new month, new start! I am 38 and living in the Philadelphia, PA area. I work in the adoption field. I grew up in south Florida and have been to Disney a bazillion times. However, the only park around when I was growing up was the Kingdom. Epcot wasn't as fun back then as it is now and I need to do major catch up with the other parks. I started running 2 years ago and though I hated ever second of it for many many months, one day something clicked and I truly found the love of running! I am training for my 1st Goofy (Dopey actually) coming up in 2010. But before that, I have a few 1/2 marys and the Marine Corps Marathon coming up.

I am excited to be here and can't wait to get to know everyone better!

 

[leeshiebean]

I've also quickly introduced myself on some other threads in the past few days, but here I am to make it "official".

My name is Alicia, I'm 25 and I live in northeastern MA right now, but I'm originally from south Jersey. I used to run spring and winter track in high school as one of the distance runners. About ten years ago, I could easily pull off a 6 minute mile - nowadays I'm trying to break 10.
I've tried getting back into running during the past few years as my boyfriend is a runner - he was captain of our college's XC team our senior year - and truly loves the sport. I've run a few 5Ks, and for awhile was out running regularly, but slowly regressed back to being lazy. More recently, I would bike alongside him on his 4 mile runs until one day I thought I wanted to start running yet again, and for whatever reason it went reasonably well. Then last week sometime, he came across the Disney races and was particularly interested in the Tower of Terror race. Unfortunately, he's had a heart arrhythmia problem come back and under Drs orders cannot run for awhile. Knowing my love of Disney, he showed me the Princess Half Marathon race. Right off, I dismissed it thinking there's no way I could do a half marathon - a 10K, maybe, but not a half. After a few days I came across it again and thought to myself that perhaps if I really, truly put my mind to it I could possibly accomplish this. It's been awhile since I'd challenged myself mentally or physically, and I think a race of this caliber could do both.
I'm really excited about this race. So far I'm optimistic, but I know at some point I'm going to want to give up. I think the encouragement from my boyfriend, my family, and these boards is going to help me in the tough times. And let's face it, the fact that I'll get to spend a few days in WDW doesn't hurt either

 

[solar]

Quick intro:

I'm Deb from NJ (Hunterdon County <--- for the other Jersey folk thinking...ooh, where? LOL)

I'm 42 and on a journey to shed a dang awful lot of weight. I'm back to the c25k again (something I did a few years ago) and working on building better habits once again.

I've been on my bum for about a year - after working out for a solid year and eating clean, and not losing a pound. (Worked with a trainer/dietitian) and it just deflated my sails. Gave up...but I'm at it again, and I'm glad to say I'm down 11 pounds, while I have a bunch more to go. It's okay - I'm taking it one day at a time, one meal at a time, and one workout at a time.

One of the things I noticed when I worked out before, even doing cardio - when I'd break into a jog - I didn't have the lung capacity like I did when I did the c25k in the past...so while I was working up a sweat and working, something was different.

In 2 weeks, my lung capacity is all ready building up again...I feel like it says something to me about this running thing!

Looking forward to getting to know everyone. I've been lurking on the DISboards for a few years, finally started talking more this year, now I've found the WISH threads and it's great timing for me

Averaging 2-3x a year to Disney - and would eventually like to relocate into that yummy warmer climate! One day!

Cheers, Deb (solar)

 

[deekaypee]

Ah, found the 2009 WISH biography thread. (The 2008 one is here.)

I thought it would be fun to revisit...

Maybe brand-spanking-new WISHers, or those who haven't posted yet, would like to add their names? Or start a 2010 thread?

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

My recommendation would be for someone to start a thread for 2010. The reason being that it will be fresh and contain active members. I believe that was the reason we switched from the very long list that was running in the past. Many had moved on and it made it difficult to figure who was actively participating.

I like the idea of tracking the lists via links. We could always reach in the way back to say hi to some former participants.

 

[deleckidesign]

I'm in!!

27 years old and been married to my wonderful husband Doug (30) for 6.5 years. We live in the cold state of Michigan and have 2 beautiful cocker spaniel furbabies! I work as a graphic designer and my husband is an accountant.

2009 was a bad year for us -- we both lost our jobs and I lost both of my grandfathers...and ALMOST lost my grandmother...all in the span of 5 months! This was when we both decided it was time to take control of our health...and life! We both had excess weight we needed to shed. So over 8 months, we learned to eat right and exercise and it felt great! I lost 32 lbs and am finally to my goal weight.

I was a runner in high school, but stopped during college as life just got in the way! In high school track, I was a sprinter. Track coach talked me into cross country and told me it would help me during track season...so I said OK. Used to run 6 miles/day on a regular basis. Meets were all 5K. Ran in the Crim 5K back in 1997. Farthest I've ever ran is 8 miles...that was 10+ years ago. Looking forward to getting back into that groove where I feel like I can run forever!!

Planning on my first half marathon this May in Indianapolis. While on vacation in Disney World (I'm in WDW as I type this) and thinking about running, I decided to look up the WDW half marathon and decided it is a MUST! So, here I am

 

[VernRDH]

My recommendation would be for someone to start a thread for 2010. The reason being that it will be fresh and contain active members. I believe that was the reason we switched from the very long list that was running in the past. Many had moved on and it made it difficult to figure who was actively participating.

I like the idea of tracking the lists via links. We could always reach in the way back to say hi to some former participants.

I have started a 2010 thread. It can be found here. I did put in links for the 2008 and 2009 threads as well.

Stop by and say hi!