The Running Thread - 2016

[Keels]

How about adding a virtual 5K for us DIS'ers??? This whole idea is amazing, you're blowing my mind right now...so cool!

I have to do a minimum order for medals, ribbons and shirts - so I'm pretty sure I can make this happen!

That is awesome! I can only imagine the amount of work it would be to direct a race. You will have to give updates. So cool!

Ha - yeah, you have no idea! Luckily, one of the local race directors that I trained with over the summer is helping me with some of the things I don't have immediate access to (ie. course map for permitting, access to timing devices, volunteers for hydration table, etc.)

@Keels you could pair up with a local animal group since you love dogs and encourage to walk/run with your dog. just a random idea.

That's a GREAT idea! All of my dogs are rescues from either the local Humane Society or Animal Control, so this would be a great way to involve them!

Ooh! Don't forget to put your craft skills to use to create a very limited amount of commemorative merchandise for the event! You could even go ahead and list it on eBay ahead of time so the runners don't get a chance to buy it!

WINE GLASSES AND TUMBLERS.

Where do I sign up to be a balloon lady?

Oh, there will DEFINITELY be balloon ladies!


[QUOTE="dis_or_dat, post: 56487452, member: 570135"]How about picture stops?

Ooh the bling! What are you thinking? Beer spinner? I saw a bottle opener medal that looks really cool:

[IMG]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/7d/a9/1a/7da91a718b16cc7970bf27886ba54eb7.jpg[/IMG]

But not so kid friendly .... ;)[/QUOTE]

That's an awesome idea!!

[QUOTE="rteetz, post: 56487482, member: 462852"][USER=182958]@Keels you are awesome! That 5K sounds really cool. A cousin of mine organizes our local color runs. I can't wait to hear more about your race.[/QUOTE]

Thanks - it's definitely something fun to brainstorm, that's for sure!

What an amazing idea! I wanna go!

Thanks - I'm pretty excited about it![/user]

 

[huggybuff]

QOTD: Do you ever run "naked"? By naked I mean without a tracking device for time and/or mileage.... not nude.

I went out once without my Garmin because I was so out of it one morning. Other than that, no. I only check my pace when it vibrates at a mile marker, so I'm not constantly monitoring my pace, but I like to know what I did after the run is completed. I'd feel even more naked without my phone though. I use the Road ID app every time I go out and I have to have it for my podcasts to keep my brain somewhat occupied.

 

[ebradley23]

People actually try to take a stroller from the park?!?!?! We did not leave anything valuable in ours just because I would rather not tempt someone, but to take the whole thing and leave the park is crazy! So, what happened to the people who tried to take it? I want to know more of this story...

So, we left the stroller outside of the Frozen Sing Along entrance (in a stroller parking area). We had a little bit before we had to go inside, so we walked without it to Toy Story to get one more ride. I'm fairly certain it was there when we went into the Frozen thing. When we came out, it was time to get a spot for the Star Wars fireworks. I went to get the stroller, and it was missing. I walked around thinking it may have needed to be moved for the fireworks setup, but it was nowhere. I went to guest relations to report it missing, and they tried to reassure me that it is pretty common for people to accidentally grab the wrong stroller. They said they get around 5 each night returned when people realize what they've done. 5! Out of probably 8-10k people leaving the park (guessing based on fantasmic capacity and Star Wars crowd). I didn't like those odds. My husband walked all of the Fantasmic stroller parking checking for it while I watch Star Wars with our son. Afterwards, we both decided to stand at the exit to watch people leaving. I don't know how many we checked before I spotted ours. I walked up to the family (three adult females and a few children) and asked to check the stroller tag just as they were about to pass the tapstiles. As soon as I said it, they said they knew it wasn't theirs. They said they noticed I was checking out the follow for morning (one of the two rental company tags had the rental dates and resort info), and they were going to turn it in at their resort. They wanted to know if I knew where their stroller was, so I had to inform them I was left without a stroller when they took mine. I was so elated to have found the stroller out of the thousands of people leaving that I didn't even question them further. I just directed them to guest services to file a lost report and walked off to find my husband.

After the fact, I grew more irritated. Why would they leave the park with a stroller they knew wasn't theirs? I believe they probably also rented a stroller that may have been moved by a cast member due to them parking it in a non-stroller area or mistakenly taken by another guest. I think they saw one that looked like theirs and were planning on taking out the pieces of paper with our family's information and returning the stroller as theirs to avoid being out the $400+ for losing the stroller. Their demeanor was "off" when they were giving me their story, and it just all seemed made up hastily.

I too don't want to tempt anyone, so we always carry our bags instead of leaving them with the stroller. The only things which we would have lost were my stroller clips (which should have been an instant trigger for them they had the wrong stroller as they were right where you put your hands), our ponchos and the plastic chewbacca souvenir cup I got our son. Not anything of significant value, thank goodness. I was just kicking myself that I hadn't paid for the insurance. I just thought it was a waste, since we've never had an issue the 2 previous years with our personal stroller (a city mini, so just as likely to be mistakenly grabbed).

 

[Barca33Runner]

So, we left the stroller outside of the Frozen Sing Along entrance (in a stroller parking area). We had a little bit before we had to go inside, so we walked without it to Toy Story to get one more ride. I'm fairly certain it was there when we went into the Frozen thing. When we came out, it was time to get a spot for the Star Wars fireworks. I went to get the stroller, and it was missing. I walked around thinking it may have needed to be moved for the fireworks setup, but it was nowhere. I went to guest relations to report it missing, and they tried to reassure me that it is pretty common for people to accidentally grab the wrong stroller. They said they get around 5 each night returned when people realize what they've done. 5! Out of probably 8-10k people leaving the park (guessing based on fantasmic capacity and Star Wars crowd). I didn't like those odds. My husband walked all of the Fantasmic stroller parking checking for it while I watch Star Wars with our son. Afterwards, we both decided to stand at the exit to watch people leaving. I don't know how many we checked before I spotted ours. I walked up to the family (three adult females and a few children) and asked to check the stroller tag just as they were about to pass the tapstiles. As soon as I said it, they said they knew it wasn't theirs. They said they noticed I was checking out the follow for morning (one of the two rental company tags had the rental dates and resort info), and they were going to turn it in at their resort. They wanted to know if I knew where their stroller was, so I had to inform them I was left without a stroller when they took mine. I was so elated to have found the stroller out of the thousands of people leaving that I didn't even question them further. I just directed them to guest services to file a lost report and walked off to find my husband.

After the fact, I grew more irritated. Why would they leave the park with a stroller they knew wasn't theirs? I believe they probably also rented a stroller that may have been moved by a cast member due to them parking it in a non-stroller area or mistakenly taken by another guest. I think they saw one that looked like theirs and were planning on taking out the pieces of paper with our family's information and returning the stroller as theirs to avoid being out the $400+ for losing the stroller. Their demeanor was "off" when they were giving me their story, and it just all seemed made up hastily.

I too don't want to tempt anyone, so we always carry our bags instead of leaving them with the stroller. The only things which we would have lost were my stroller clips (which should have been an instant trigger for them they had the wrong stroller as they were right where you put your hands), our ponchos and the plastic chewbacca souvenir cup I got our son. Not anything of significant value, thank goodness. I was just kicking myself that I hadn't paid for the insurance. I just thought it was a waste, since we've never had an issue the 2 previous years with our personal stroller (a city mini, so just as likely to be mistakenly grabbed).

My sister's double stroller was stolen at MK a couple years ago. It was a BOB double running stroller. We left it outside of the carousel in the stroller parking and when we returned it was gone. We spent the entire day running around trying to find the stroller and getting assurances from guest relations that it would be returned. During our search we found another older, more beat-up model outside of Winnie the Pooh and as it remained there throughout the day we were pretty sure we knew what had happened. At around 6:30 my sister got a call from guest services informing her that all of her things (sweatshirt, cooler bag, etc.) had been turned into the lost and found. We left for the day and she got a call the next day that they had found her stroller. It was, of course, the other stroller. We had informed guest services of the stroller that hadn't moved for 6+ hours and made it known that it definitely wasn't hers and they still tried to get her to take the stroller and call it even. She didn't take it and Disney didn't do anything to reimburse her family for the trouble. It is the one terrible experience I've ever had with WDW.

I can't believe that there were people who, at best, mistakenly took the wrong stroller and were too embarrassed to admit it; or, alternatively, basically viewed a day at MK as a chance to upgrade their stroller situation. After reading your story, I guess this is just normal behavior for some.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Brief recap for the Dulles Days 10k from yesterday.
Great weather, upper 60s and overcast at the start.
First run that I had done in 29 days due to injury--doctor and family strongly suggested I wait two more weeks before resuming running. It was an early morning decision but I couldn't sit this one out.

Good turn out for 5k and 10k, DJ with music for prestart festivities, plenty of port-a-potties, and smooth start only about 10 minutes later than scheduled.
Simple out and back course to Runway 1R and back with great photo op by the United plane and a water stop at the 3.1 mile turnaround. Little bit of headwind for the 2nd part of the run but nothing to complain about. Stuck with my plan of staying under 9 minutes a mile for the first 5k and decided it was not a PR day and didn't want to risk further injury so I backed off a little and finished in 57:38.

Nice shirt and medal and airplane wings, water and bananas and snack bars at the finish. Winner of the races won 2 roundtrip tickets on United (maybe I can attempt that next year!)

Nice event, big thumbs up.
A few pictures attached.....

View attachment 195649 View attachment 195650 View attachment 195649 View attachment 195650 View attachment 195651 View attachment 195653

That's a cool place for a run!

Hi guys! So I don't have a training journal, so this might a be a long post since I love reading other people's race recaps.

So it all begins several years ago ... just kidding! So last night I went to a football game with DH. Initially I was a bit peeved that our biggest home game (as well as a Beyonce concert!) was the night before my half, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise since it took my mind off my usual pre-race jitters (and we won without going into triple OT).

The first thing DH did when he woke was trash talk some CFB since our teams are meeting next weekend. It was great because it relaxed me immediately. We left later than I wanted, but ended up having lots of time to spare once we got there and somehow found parking right at the start line. The only hiccup was the water had run out at the sinks at the porta-potties and there were no hand sanitizers. So a lot of people had sticky soapy fingers after using them. At 7am, the marathoners were off; a small but mighty group. 15 min later, we were off. I had gotten a prime location at the front. I felt silly since I'm not a fast runner, but every second not weaving counts, right?

The weather was beautiful and clear and I even saw a dolphin in the water. Didn't realize how fast my first mile was, but I think I settled in OK although a bit too fast. I did get lost twice. Backtracking to a volunteer thinking he was telling me to run a different way, but he was saying "water!" and another time I followed another runner the wrong way into a dead end. But I don't think it affected my pace much. However, around mile 9 I could feel a blister large forming and my pace slipped around mile 11. I even thought about quitting and walking. I knew DH would be around mile 12 and thought about collapsing into his arms wailing about missing my PR. But I also thought about this group and how some people have really been helping me (especially @DopeyBadger) and how much time I've been training and so I kept going. My foot started cramping (compensating for my blister) around mile 11.5 right as I saw my DH filming me! I gritted my teeth and kept pushing myself to MOVE (hoping to see the finish line around every corner ). I could see the clock at the finish line and saw I could make my PR if I booked it and I did!

I did want to collapse afterwards (all the while my DH is surreptitiously filming me, why?!) luckily they had good swag with giant cans of coconut juice etc and even FREE massages! But the line was too long so we went home and I jumped into the hot tub. Ahhhh. It was really cool talking to some super friendly runners afterwards and I think it showed my DH the running community camaraderie. Also, it was the first time he'd ever seen me race, so that support was really awesome. Besides DH, course support was a bit sparse - nothing like runDisney!

Spinner!


Stats:
1:39:41 (PR!!!), almost 3 min shaved from Tink
Gender placement: 9th overall
Division: 7th

Congrats @CherieFran, @jhorstma, @Slogger, @michigandergirl and @Mickey's sweetheart !

That Dulles Day 10k looks so cool! Excited for this week off, not stuffing my face full of carbs (it's fun the first day, not so fun later), foam rolling, drinking some alcohol, and looking towards the future

You sure seem fast enough to line up in the front to me. Great job!

QOTD: Do you ever run "naked"? By naked I mean without a tracking device for time and/or mileage.... not nude.

ATTQOTD: I am a data junkie, so no for me.

I don't have a Garmin. I may be the only person who doesn't. I run with my phone for my music and podcasts, when I can run that is. I have RunKeeper on my phone. I used to have the notifications come on every 5 minutes to I would constantly know how I was doing. I stopped doing that. I have it on to record my runs but don't know how I did until I get back. Last fall, when I was recovering from PF I stopped wearing my HRM because I knew I wasn't breaking any records, I was just getting my miles in and hoping to stay healthy until the marathon.

Thanks everyone....several mentioned shoes. I had gone and bought new running shoes a few weeks ago. So...yes I'm in good running shoes. But I appreciate the feedback!

The more time goes on, the more I'm suspecting just inflammation from new exercise and that's it's just my knee being like, "whoa, whoa. What are we doing here? Running 3x per week?! I don't think so."

But I'm like, "yep. It's happenin', Knee. Get used to it."

We'll learn to live with each other and my newfound running interest.

I will say this last run was the first time I felt like I might not can do this. I'm second guessing trying for the princess half. Wondering if I should allow myself more time and aim for a half later in the year? I'm concerned if I get sick and have to skip some runs, or if it's icy, and I can't run....not sure I could still run a half by Feb.

Problem with waiting is...princess half is my SOLE motivation. Star Wars doesn't motivate me. Avengers doesn't motivate me. Anything non-Disney is not a motivation either....at this point. (I'm hoping after I runDisney, I'll get hooked and will run more locally).

I'm rambling. I've never cared about running/walking/physical exercise of any kind, honestly.
Part of me says I need to allow myself more time before attempting something so big. Part of me says...if I wait too long, my motivation will die a terrible horrible death. Thought about running the 10k Princess instead of the half...but running through the castle is a HUGE (main) part of my motivation.

running at WDW would be such a huge expense...id hate to spend so much $ on 10k, when my heart really wants that half.

Aaaaaand, I'm still rambling. No need to respond unless you want to...just need to "think" this out loud, I guess.

Running down Main Street and then through the castle was awesome. I can see why it would be your motivation. I went from couch to a full marathon in 7 months so you can do this if you want it bad enough. As for the pain, there are so many things it could be. Without knowing you much I can throw some out there with no intention of insulting you because I don't know you. I could be age, carrying extra weight, lack of fitness before you started, running too much too soon, or it could be just plain normal soreness from starting a new kind of exercise.

I have another question for you guys, I am thinking of running the Marine Corps half in Jacksonville but I am suppose to be doing a training run of 15 miles that day. Is it ok to run it and then do 2 miles when I get home? Or should I skip the 2 miles?

ATTQOTD: I never run without my Garmin or my phone!

I would say do the race and don't worry about the other 2 miles. During a race you almost always do more mileage then the race is supposed to be anyway from the weaving around people, and you will do some walking before and after the race. Not to mention you will be running the race at a harder pace than you would the 15 mile training run. I say you are good with the race that day.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Oh, I forgot. I am overall a fan of the medals for marathon weekend. If I was able to run I would sign up for sure. I normally don't really care about the medals but I LOVE the marathon medal. I love that it looks like the only DL full marathon medal ever. I realize there was no creativity involved in the design but I just think it is so cool. The 1/2 medal is very unique as well.

I also find it interesting that last week when I looked, Dopey was sold out. Today it is still open and available. Just an observation.

 

[Slogger]

Thanks for all the support guys! I'm so happy everyone else had a great race weekend too!

Also, wanted to add that I ran into a tree branch while I was zoning out during the race. D'oh!

Ouch......if it makes you feel better I have run into a mailbox.....TWICE.....on neighborhood runs.

 

[Baloo in MI]

QOTD: Do you ever run "naked"? By naked I mean without a tracking device for time and/or mileage.... not nude.

ATTQOTD:
I do. I have never been a big tech guy. I don't own any type of gps device and run with out referencing my watch. I do have a tracking program on my phone that I reference after runs. Sometimes it is tough though to come back from a run thinking I just killed it and then putting my time and distance together and realizing maybe not so much... But I am learning how to feel my pace better.

Also I have to share that at the race I was at two weekends ago (themed on Woodstock) they did hold a naked run. Just the runners, their shoes and the trail... I am pretty liberal, but that was a bit too much for me. I am sure fun was had by all during the all natural run!

 

[keahgirl8]

ATTQOTD:
I do. I have never been a big tech guy. I don't own any type of gps device and run with out referencing my watch. I do have a tracking program on my phone that I reference after runs. Sometimes it is tough though to come back from a run thinking I just killed it and then putting my time and distance together and realizing maybe not so much... But I am learning how to feel my pace better.

Also I have to share that at the race I was at two weekends ago (themed on Woodstock) they did hold a naked run. Just the runners, their shoes and the trail... I am pretty liberal, but that was a bit too much for me. I am sure fun was had by all during the all natural run!

Yeah...no thanks. I wouldn't want to do that or watch it! Also...so much chafing!

 

[Slogger]

ATTQOTD:
I am addicted to the stats and have phone AND Gps watch to keep track.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@ebradley23 and @Barca33Runner - yikes, stroller stealing is awful! I always thought they'd be safe at Disney.

Sort of related to the QOTD, I was looking at some of the pictures my husband took of the race and the ones he took of the 5 seconds before the race showed everyone with their heads down fiddling with their watches/tracking devices.

 

[surfde22]

So, we left the stroller outside of the Frozen Sing Along entrance (in a stroller parking area). We had a little bit before we had to go inside, so we walked without it to Toy Story to get one more ride. I'm fairly certain it was there when we went into the Frozen thing. When we came out, it was time to get a spot for the Star Wars fireworks. I went to get the stroller, and it was missing. I walked around thinking it may have needed to be moved for the fireworks setup, but it was nowhere. I went to guest relations to report it missing, and they tried to reassure me that it is pretty common for people to accidentally grab the wrong stroller. They said they get around 5 each night returned when people realize what they've done. 5! Out of probably 8-10k people leaving the park (guessing based on fantasmic capacity and Star Wars crowd). I didn't like those odds. My husband walked all of the Fantasmic stroller parking checking for it while I watch Star Wars with our son. Afterwards, we both decided to stand at the exit to watch people leaving. I don't know how many we checked before I spotted ours. I walked up to the family (three adult females and a few children) and asked to check the stroller tag just as they were about to pass the tapstiles. As soon as I said it, they said they knew it wasn't theirs. They said they noticed I was checking out the follow for morning (one of the two rental company tags had the rental dates and resort info), and they were going to turn it in at their resort. They wanted to know if I knew where their stroller was, so I had to inform them I was left without a stroller when they took mine. I was so elated to have found the stroller out of the thousands of people leaving that I didn't even question them further. I just directed them to guest services to file a lost report and walked off to find my husband.

After the fact, I grew more irritated. Why would they leave the park with a stroller they knew wasn't theirs? I believe they probably also rented a stroller that may have been moved by a cast member due to them parking it in a non-stroller area or mistakenly taken by another guest. I think they saw one that looked like theirs and were planning on taking out the pieces of paper with our family's information and returning the stroller as theirs to avoid being out the $400+ for losing the stroller. Their demeanor was "off" when they were giving me their story, and it just all seemed made up hastily.

I too don't want to tempt anyone, so we always carry our bags instead of leaving them with the stroller. The only things which we would have lost were my stroller clips (which should have been an instant trigger for them they had the wrong stroller as they were right where you put your hands), our ponchos and the plastic chewbacca souvenir cup I got our son. Not anything of significant value, thank goodness. I was just kicking myself that I hadn't paid for the insurance. I just thought it was a waste, since we've never had an issue the 2 previous years with our personal stroller (a city mini, so just as likely to be mistakenly grabbed).

My sister's double stroller was stolen at MK a couple years ago. It was a BOB double running stroller. We left it outside of the carousel in the stroller parking and when we returned it was gone. We spent the entire day running around trying to find the stroller and getting assurances from guest relations that it would be returned. During our search we found another older, more beat-up model outside of Winnie the Pooh and as it remained there throughout the day we were pretty sure we knew what had happened. At around 6:30 my sister got a call from guest services informing her that all of her things (sweatshirt, cooler bag, etc.) had been turned into the lost and found. We left for the day and she got a call the next day that they had found her stroller. It was, of course, the other stroller. We had informed guest services of the stroller that hadn't moved for 6+ hours and made it known that it definitely wasn't hers and they still tried to get her to take the stroller and call it even. She didn't take it and Disney didn't do anything to reimburse her family for the trouble. It is the one terrible experience I've ever had with WDW.

I can't believe that there were people who, at best, mistakenly took the wrong stroller and were too embarrassed to admit it; or, alternatively, basically viewed a day at MK as a chance to upgrade their stroller situation. After reading your story, I guess this is just normal behavior for some.

Stories like these are the very reason my wife and I bought a cheaper umbrella stroller for our trip over marathon weekend. There's no way we were going to risk having our nice one stolen, not that our umbrella stroller is exactly cheap, but cheaper than the nice stroller. On top of that our umbrella stroller is really bright it definitely sticks out in a crowd. You'd definitely have to be brazen to try and steal that thing, because we'd be able to see and recognize it from a mile away.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Stories like these are the very reason my wife and I bought a cheaper umbrella stroller for our trip over marathon weekend. There's no way we were going to risk having our nice one stolen, not that our umbrella stroller is exactly cheap, but cheaper than the nice stroller. On top of that our umbrella stroller is really bright it definitely sticks out in a crowd. You'd definitely have to be brazen to try and steal that thing, because we'd be able to see and recognize it from a mile away.

We saw a lot of strollers that day with balloons, streamers, stickers, glitter, etc. adorning them and names written everywhere. If anyone from our group is ever taking a stroller to the parks with them again we are going to have the most outrageously gaudy stroller anyone has ever seen. There will be no mistaking it for anyone else's stroller. We learned our lesson.

 

[surfde22]

We saw a lot of strollers that day with balloons, streamers, stickers, glitter, etc. adorning them and names written everywhere. If anyone from our group is ever taking a stroller to the parks with them again we are going to have the most outrageously gaudy stroller anyone has ever seen. There will be no mistaking it for anyone else's stroller. We learned our lesson.

Yeah, ours is rainbow colored pixely patterned to begin with and I'm sure it will be adorned with some other obnoxious decorations by the time we get there.

 

[Barca33Runner]

@ebradley23 and @Barca33Runner - yikes, stroller stealing is awful! I always thought they'd be safe at Disney.

Sort of related to the QOTD, I was looking at some of the pictures my husband took of the race and the ones he took of the 5 seconds before the race showed everyone with their heads down fiddling with their watches/tracking devices.

We didn't have anything valuable on the stroller (as I said, a sweatshirt, kid snacks, etc.) because we figured people wouldn't be above grabbing something from the stroller. We never thought they would just up and take the whole thing. The worst part was that it was the first trip to the park for my nephew and two of my nieces and it kind of ruined the whole day. They will all be going back for the first time this January so we are hoping things go a little bit better.

 

[FFigawi]

I don't own a stroller and never will, but for those who do, trackers like this might be useful. I know a lot of people who use them on their bikes, luggage, etc.

https://www.thetileapp.com

 

[NJlauren]

So, we left the stroller outside of the Frozen Sing Along entrance (in a stroller parking area). We had a little bit before we had to go inside, so we walked without it to Toy Story to get one more ride. I'm fairly certain it was there when we went into the Frozen thing. When we came out, it was time to get a spot for the Star Wars fireworks. I went to get the stroller, and it was missing. I walked around thinking it may have needed to be moved for the fireworks setup, but it was nowhere. I went to guest relations to report it missing, and they tried to reassure me that it is pretty common for people to accidentally grab the wrong stroller. They said they get around 5 each night returned when people realize what they've done. 5! Out of probably 8-10k people leaving the park (guessing based on fantasmic capacity and Star Wars crowd). I didn't like those odds. My husband walked all of the Fantasmic stroller parking checking for it while I watch Star Wars with our son. Afterwards, we both decided to stand at the exit to watch people leaving. I don't know how many we checked before I spotted ours. I walked up to the family (three adult females and a few children) and asked to check the stroller tag just as they were about to pass the tapstiles. As soon as I said it, they said they knew it wasn't theirs. They said they noticed I was checking out the follow for morning (one of the two rental company tags had the rental dates and resort info), and they were going to turn it in at their resort. They wanted to know if I knew where their stroller was, so I had to inform them I was left without a stroller when they took mine. I was so elated to have found the stroller out of the thousands of people leaving that I didn't even question them further. I just directed them to guest services to file a lost report and walked off to find my husband.

After the fact, I grew more irritated. Why would they leave the park with a stroller they knew wasn't theirs? I believe they probably also rented a stroller that may have been moved by a cast member due to them parking it in a non-stroller area or mistakenly taken by another guest. I think they saw one that looked like theirs and were planning on taking out the pieces of paper with our family's information and returning the stroller as theirs to avoid being out the $400+ for losing the stroller. Their demeanor was "off" when they were giving me their story, and it just all seemed made up hastily.

I too don't want to tempt anyone, so we always carry our bags instead of leaving them with the stroller. The only things which we would have lost were my stroller clips (which should have been an instant trigger for them they had the wrong stroller as they were right where you put your hands), our ponchos and the plastic chewbacca souvenir cup I got our son. Not anything of significant value, thank goodness. I was just kicking myself that I hadn't paid for the insurance. I just thought it was a waste, since we've never had an issue the 2 previous years with our personal stroller (a city mini, so just as likely to be mistakenly grabbed).

Ugh people are horrible! I know most people aren't but this makes me so mad! Your lucky you found it, I hope you didn't let it ruin your trip. This is always a fear of mine, when I bring or rent a stroller.

Congrats on all the runs you did get in while away and I hope overall it was a fabulous trip!

 

[NJlauren]

It's so dark here in the mornings I couldn't even get a run in before work today. I am ordering some reflective gear so hopefully I will be able to soon.

But my husband says he is still worried about what goes on when it's that dark! He did see a coyote last week when he went to to gym at 5.... I really need to decide if I should join the gym for the winter or just try and make morning runs work, I can get runs in on the weekends no matter what. The gym adds 20 minutes round trip to the work out... But it's only 19.99 a month and I get that back from work... So even if I only use it once or twice a week maybe it's worth it?

Sorry just thinking out loud here.

 

[cavepig]

@ebradley23 glad you found your stroller. The stroller talk reminds me of when we took the wrong one after riding Universe of Energy years ago. We put my sister's 2 kids in the black side by side umbrella type stroller that we thought was ours and headed out. We were on the other side of Future World when all of sudden one of us was like this isn't ours because the foot strap thing was there (ours had a belt we put as the strap broke). Oops, so we booked it back to Energy, found ours, switched the kids out and moved out of there fast. Luckily, the other people must have still been on Energy. So, yeah accidental stroller taking happens, but you quickly realize that the stroller your pushing isn't yours.

I'm trying out an armband for my phone today, hopefully it goes well. For the past 3ish years I've ran with a belt to hold it, but I can't wear it like I used to due to sciatic pain, so have been wearing it up higher, which has been ok, but feel like some days it causes a little nagging hip pain.

 

[LSUlakes]

Made it out the door for another early morning run again today. The weather felt amazing "for the first time in forever" (Sorry I had to). All jokes aside at 4:30AM it was around 71, north wind around 5 mph, which made the 95% RH not so bad. The bad news... I started to late to get all the miles in, so I may have to get in another 3 this afternoon.

So, we left the stroller outside of the Frozen Sing Along entrance (in a stroller parking area). We had a little bit before we had to go inside, so we walked without it to Toy Story to get one more ride. I'm fairly certain it was there when we went into the Frozen thing. When we came out, it was time to get a spot for the Star Wars fireworks. I went to get the stroller, and it was missing. I walked around thinking it may have needed to be moved for the fireworks setup, but it was nowhere. I went to guest relations to report it missing, and they tried to reassure me that it is pretty common for people to accidentally grab the wrong stroller. They said they get around 5 each night returned when people realize what they've done. 5! Out of probably 8-10k people leaving the park (guessing based on fantasmic capacity and Star Wars crowd). I didn't like those odds. My husband walked all of the Fantasmic stroller parking checking for it while I watch Star Wars with our son. Afterwards, we both decided to stand at the exit to watch people leaving. I don't know how many we checked before I spotted ours. I walked up to the family (three adult females and a few children) and asked to check the stroller tag just as they were about to pass the tapstiles. As soon as I said it, they said they knew it wasn't theirs. They said they noticed I was checking out the follow for morning (one of the two rental company tags had the rental dates and resort info), and they were going to turn it in at their resort. They wanted to know if I knew where their stroller was, so I had to inform them I was left without a stroller when they took mine. I was so elated to have found the stroller out of the thousands of people leaving that I didn't even question them further. I just directed them to guest services to file a lost report and walked off to find my husband.

After the fact, I grew more irritated. Why would they leave the park with a stroller they knew wasn't theirs? I believe they probably also rented a stroller that may have been moved by a cast member due to them parking it in a non-stroller area or mistakenly taken by another guest. I think they saw one that looked like theirs and were planning on taking out the pieces of paper with our family's information and returning the stroller as theirs to avoid being out the $400+ for losing the stroller. Their demeanor was "off" when they were giving me their story, and it just all seemed made up hastily.

I too don't want to tempt anyone, so we always carry our bags instead of leaving them with the stroller. The only things which we would have lost were my stroller clips (which should have been an instant trigger for them they had the wrong stroller as they were right where you put your hands), our ponchos and the plastic chewbacca souvenir cup I got our son. Not anything of significant value, thank goodness. I was just kicking myself that I hadn't paid for the insurance. I just thought it was a waste, since we've never had an issue the 2 previous years with our personal stroller (a city mini, so just as likely to be mistakenly grabbed).

WOW! People are crazy. I mean, its not like WDW is a cheap trip and you would think that someone who is paying $2k or more for a week at the world wouldn't be going around looking to take someone stroller. Our trip in January was the first time brining a child with us and we used our BOB from home. To make it stand out, since the BOB is a popular stroller we wrapped a very unique scarf around the handle. I say unique because it was hand made from a church with blue an yellow yarn that was gifted to me from the 2013 and 2014 Boston Marathon. I figured the odds of someone else running the WDW marathon and having been a part of the Boston marathon was a extremely unlikely event and that our stroller would stand out. I can not even imagine how angry I would have been if someone would have taken either items from me from a sentimental value alone.

It's so dark here in the mornings I couldn't even get a run in before work today. I am ordering some reflective gear so hopefully I will be able to soon.

But my husband says he is still worried about what goes on when it's that dark! He did see a coyote last week when he went to to gym at 5.... I really need to decide if I should join the gym for the winter or just try and make morning runs work, I can get runs in on the weekends no matter what. The gym adds 20 minutes round trip to the work out... But it's only 19.99 a month and I get that back from work... So even if I only use it once or twice a week maybe it's worth it?

Sorry just thinking out loud here.

Get some sort of blinking light as well as reflective gear. These should help, but people playing on their phones cant see what's ahead while playing on Facebook and what not. As a reminder, you should always run facing traffic. This way, at least you have a chance to get out of the way if the driver does not see you. Also, if on a bike, you ride in the same manner that you would as if you are driving.