Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[The Expert]

Those medals are NUTS!

 

[michigandergirl]

I've done the North Country Half Marathon and it is most definitely hilly! I don't know how much trail running experience you have, but I would definitely spend at least 50% of the training on trails for a 50K. I haven't yet attempted a 50K because I know I need to make sure I can devote the time to train on trails almost exclusively. My trail pace per mile is 3-5 minutes slower than my road pace and fueling for that much time on your feet takes practice.

I'm not trying to discourage you, just trying to keep it real from one busy mom to another. The medal is fantastic though, it's the size of a dinner plate!!

 

[Herding_Cats]

I've done the North Country Half Marathon and it is most definitely hilly! I don't know how much trail running experience you have, but I would definitely spend at least 50% of the training on trails for a 50K. I haven't yet attempted a 50K because I know I need to make sure I can devote the time to train on trails almost exclusively. My trail pace per mile is 3-5 minutes slower than my road pace and fueling for that much time on your feet takes practice.

I'm not trying to discourage you, just trying to keep it real from one busy mom to another. The medal is fantastic though, it's the size of a dinner plate!!

these are all really good points, and things that I feel like I had sorta read in the past (re: pacing and sheer duration) but it's good to hear from someone who also juggles all of the kid things that it's something to be carefully considered.

 

[HangWithMerida]

I don't know WHY you have no interest in 31 miles of wooded trails, an exploding tick population, and possible 80+ degree temperatures in the middle of nowhere Northern Michigan!

And these medals! C'MON! Don't you want to have to find a place for one of these? (pic lifted from the fb page)
View attachment 731420

Ok, now I have to show you the crazy ridiculous medal I got from a HM I did last year.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Ok, now I have to show you the crazy ridiculous medal I got from a HM I did last year.
View attachment 731748

I guess everything really is bigger in Texas.

 

[azrivest]

You might have posted this in your training journal before, but could you please remind me how you book your DVC rentals for MW? I've never rented DVC and I don't know how to go about it. It might help convince DH if we can get cheaper and/or bigger rooms than Pop for the whole week...

 

[Herding_Cats]

You might have posted this in your training journal before, but could you please remind me how you book your DVC rentals for MW? I've never rented DVC and I don't know how to go about it. It might help convince DH if we can get cheaper and/or bigger rooms than Pop for the whole week...

there's a sub-forum on the dis for DVC rentals. I've rented from people there, although it can be a little annoying to essentially have to spam message a bunch of people with listings and hope they get back to you AND that there's availability. There are also quite a few different online brokers that act as a middle man (they pay owners to transfer points to them for $X/pt and then rent the points out themselves.) AND, there are also quite a few FB groups where, similar to the board on here, owners rent their points directly. Definitely run a name search in the fb groups and make sure people have rented from them before since scams are a thing.

Generally, you need to know your dates, what resort, and what room (and view category if applicable) you want when you message someone. And then they'll need a bunch of info like name/address/MDE email, names/ages of everyone on the res. to book it. Some owners want all the money up front, some won't take payment until they have a confirmation number for you, some want part of the money, etc. Some use rental agreements (to cover damages if you trash the room), and so on. The fact that they did away with parking fees is a big deal, because having to factor in an extra $15/nt at a value resort was silly when DVC parked for free, and just balanced out the cost even more. ALSO worth noting, deluxe resorts have hot tubs. Values do not. And I know that OKW (last year) and SS (this year) had a "runners area" at the pool, usually near the hot tub with foam rollers, yoga mats, tennis balls, fruit, bottled water, etc.


I like to figure out where I want to stay, use one of the broker pages to know how many points it'll take for the rental (i usually google "dvc point calculator 202(whatever the year is)" and put in my dates.) DVC points are kind of crazy right now for pricing, but when I was looking for this year $20/pt was pretty standard. I'm not sure if that's changed at this point with revenge travel cooling a little. If it's something harder to book, I look for an owner who can book at the 11mo window, if it's something pretty easy to book and I need to wait a little bit to save up the money I don't stress out about it until the 7mo window. When you book further out, you're much more likely to be in that $20/pt range, but if you wait (and are OK with a split stay) sometimes you can save a few $/pt.

Stuff that's really hard to get (for example an AK value studio) doesn't make the cut for us since there are already people walking reservations for that for MW. And some stuff you can usually wait longer to book (such as OWK or SS.)

 

[striker1064]

You might have posted this in your training journal before, but could you please remind me how you book your DVC rentals for MW? I've never rented DVC and I don't know how to go about it. It might help convince DH if we can get cheaper and/or bigger rooms than Pop for the whole week...

I'll jump in too as a former owner, the previous post has all the info you need but I want to emphasize that you should really be looking into securing your rental 11 months out from your date. The reason is because DVC owners can book their home resort starting at 11 months out (then at 7 months, they can book anything that's available). DVC is designed to run at full capacity and thanks to more widespread information via sites like these, new owners are savvier and understand they need to book early to get what they want.

Some parts of the year don't require booking 11 months out to get what you want. But anytime during Food & Wine, Christmas, New Year's, and any race weekend means you'll be competing with more people than rooms are available.

Now, that doesn't mean you'll get nothing if you wait. People's plans can and do change all the time. But it's unlikely you'll get exactly what you want.

I am not sure what you're looking to get, but generally speaking these are the most popular rooms that go the fastest - Animal Kingdom Lodge Value anything (there are fewer than 20 of these total and they all go as soon as booking opens 11 months out year-round), Boardwalk Studio anything (Pool/Garden view is easier but still tough), Boardwalk standard 1-br, Copper Creek studio, and Riviera Tower and Standard studio. Others that are tough to get but still doable are Beach Club studio, Boardwalk 2-br (because all Boardwalk 2-brs are lockoffs, so when the studios are gone, the 2-brs are also gone), and cheaper 3-br units like Old Key West.

If you aren't ready to book right at 11 months, you'll still want to try your best to get a request in prior to 7 months out. Generally speaking, these rooms and categories are still somewhat available as 7 months approaches (but can still be very scattered): Kidani Village 1-br (standard and savanna), Old Key West 1-br, Saratoga Springs 1-br (and sometimes studio, but not always), and Jambo House 1-br (harder than Kidani).

 

[azrivest]

OKW (last year) and SS (this year) had a "runners area" at the pool, usually near the hot tub with foam rollers, yoga mats, tennis balls, fruit, bottled water, etc.

Wow nice to know

I don't stress out about it until the 7mo window. When you book further out, you're much more likely to be in that $20/pt range, but if you wait (and are OK with a split stay) sometimes you can save a few $/pt.

And some stuff you can usually wait longer to book (such as OWK or SS.)

Good to know. I wouldn't want to commit to anything until I had my registration for the races confirmed. I'm fine with whatever, as long as it a 1BR or more. With the 4 of us, a studio isn't really interesting space and disturbance wise (as you and Kim wrote, having the 1BR means less disturbance while my family is sleeping).

Thanks for all the info So it's a bit what I was expecting: stalking the boards, looking on FB, etc.

If you aren't ready to book right at 11 months, you'll still want to try your best to get a request in prior to 7 months out. Generally speaking, these rooms and categories are still somewhat available as 7 months approaches (but can still be very scattered): Kidani Village 1-br (standard and savanna), Old Key West 1-br, Saratoga Springs 1-br (and sometimes studio, but not always), and Jambo House 1-br (harder than Kidani).

You replied as I was typing I'd be nervous to commit the cash without having a race registration...

 

[Herding_Cats]

Yeah I would absolutely book a 1br every trip, even if it was just me and DH, if the points weren't so horrible for that room category. Having a full kitchen, jacuzzi tub (PLUS a shower), and in-room washer and dryer is sooooo nice. For '22 MW I happened across someone just unloading points for like $13/pt and we got a 1br for that trip and it was amazing and ruined me for studios.

 

[The Expert]

Yeah I would absolutely book a 1br every trip, even if it was just me and DH, if the points weren't so horrible for that room category. Having a full kitchen, jacuzzi tub (PLUS a shower), and in-room washer and dryer is sooooo nice. For '22 MW I happened across someone just unloading points for like $13/pt and we got a 1br for that trip and it was amazing and ruined me for studios.

Yep -- we have owned DVC since 2001 and always book 1br rooms if it's just the two of us. WELL worth the points for the kitchen and laundry alone, but the extra space is especially nice.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Yep -- we have owned DVC since 2001 and always book 1br rooms if it's just the two of us. WELL worth the points for the kitchen and laundry alone, but the extra space is especially nice.

exactly. But the only way I can get DH on board with renting points is that it's so close to the price of a regular resort for a studio, and when I bump us up to a 1br that comparison goes away. *sigh*


I joked to him that we should buy like a 75-100pt OKW contract and his response was "probably not the best choice for us right now. but that sounds like a happy wife happy life purchase."

 

[striker1064]

exactly. But the only way I can get DH on board with renting points is that it's so close to the price of a regular resort for a studio, and when I bump us up to a 1br that comparison goes away. *sigh*


I joked to him that we should buy like a 75-100pt OKW contract and his response was "probably not the best choice for us right now. but that sounds like a happy wife happy life purchase."

The tough part about this is the major selling point of DVC is cost savings over booking cash rooms, but booking exclusively 1-brs either never or almost never reaches a break-even point. 1-brs occupy this weird space where they are much more expensive points-wise than studios, which means the overall cost after buy-in and dues basically never pencils out to a cost savings over just booking rack rates (and yes rack rates, not even including discounts). There is intrinsic value in being an "owner" (which Disney will desperately try to sell you on), but the other side of that is if you have the cash to afford the buy-in and annual dues for 1-brs, you might as well book rack rate so you can get what you want, when you want it, and be able to cancel the booking for a full refund.

 

[Herding_Cats]

The tough part about this is the major selling point of DVC is cost savings over booking cash rooms, but booking exclusively 1-brs either never or almost never reaches a break-even point. 1-brs occupy this weird space where they are much more expensive points-wise than studios, which means the overall cost after buy-in and dues basically never pencils out to a cost savings over just booking rack rates (and yes rack rates, not even including discounts). There is intrinsic value in being an "owner" (which Disney will desperately try to sell you on), but the other side of that is if you have the cash to afford the buy-in and annual dues for 1-brs, you might as well book rack rate so you can get what you want, when you want it, and be able to cancel the booking for a full refund.

yes. and I would *never* book a cash room at rack rates at....well.....any of the resorts? For the cost of a 1br, even on renting points, I could rent an whole house with its own pool 15min away, especially since we pretty much always rent a car.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Yeah I would absolutely book a 1br every trip, even if it was just me and DH, if the points weren't so horrible for that room category. Having a full kitchen, jacuzzi tub (PLUS a shower), and in-room washer and dryer is sooooo nice. For '22 MW I happened across someone just unloading points for like $13/pt and we got a 1br for that trip and it was amazing and ruined me for studios.

DH and I were upgraded to a 1br for MW this year and I 100% agree with you on being ruined for studios! Why Disney why????

 

[GollyGadget]

@azrivest I've booked dvc through one of the popular rental sites and had a positive experience. As others said, you do have to book early or things will book up. The most annoying thing was not being able to modify. We decided to extend our trip on both ends but couldn't modify our ressie so we had to change resorts twice. DM if you want more info

 

[Herding_Cats]

It's time to figure out a new schedule. Which means it's time to actually make some decisions about how much I want to run, and how much lifting I want to do. Which also means I should start looking at a race for late spring. Which means I have to decide on my goals and what distance. Uuuuuuugh. And I'll need to cross-check all race dates against baseball and track schedules.

But without looking at all of the potential schedule conflicts, here are my options that are around 16+wks out, and therefore give me time for a full training cycle:

Option A, train for another half: Locally that means May 13th North Mitten again (which I didn't love because of how trail-y it is, but I would be expecting it this time so maybe it would be ok?) Yes, I see the irony in discussing an *actual* 50k trail run for August and then complaining about a partial trail half marathon. I could also waitlist Bayshore Half (May 27), but I don't want to steal my SIL's thunder since she's decided to go for it. OR Charlevoix Half (June 17) but that's on Father's Day weekend and I'm pretty sure that won't go over well with DH. Looks like SHEruns in Grand Rapids has a half as well. (April 30)

Option B, train for a 10k: these are a little harder to find nearby IMO. But I also feel like it might be really good for me to change up my training. It looks like my options would be SHEruns in Grand Rapids (April 30th), North Mitten (May 13), or Ludington Lakestride (June 9.) North Mitten is the most convenient since it's less than 30min away. I guess Bayshore has a 10k also. (May 27)

Option C, say F it and sign up for the Bayshore Marathon. Which I feel like isn't a great idea, and I probably won't be able to do the training, AND it has a 6hr limit that I'm not confident I could finish within. I probably could but I don't wanna run that one until I know I can.


So now that I've gotten nowhere with this, I'm going to go look at the lifting schedule and see how much I can carve out of it so I still have time to run. Because not running for a week now is starting to mess with my brain.

 

[GollyGadget]

I vote for the 10K if it works for your schedule. It'll be the most different from the marathon training which will make it more interesting but also make you a better all-around runner. Plus I really just love that distance although it is hard to find those races around me as well.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I vote for the 10K if it works for your schedule. It'll be the most different from the marathon training which will make it more interesting but also make you a better all-around runner. Plus I really just love that distance although it is hard to find those races around me as well.

that's what I'm leaning toward as well. I'm looking at the higdon intermediate plan right now. I know they work OK for me, they just tend to get pretty boring because it's the same 3 runs over and over (an easy run, a tempo run, and in the case of his 10k plan, 400m repeats.) But they're only 8 weeks long. So that's something too I guess?

 

[The Expert]

Now you've got me thinking about my plan to focus on the half distance. I do really enjoy the 10K and it's much more accessible. And the training would be a nice change from Dopey..hmmmmm