The Running Thread - 2018

[LSUlakes]

This week we have the following posters with races:

07 - @Baloo in MI - Run Woodstock 100 Miler (NG / N/A)
08 - @michigandergirl - Holland Haven Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
08 - @HomeiswhereMickeyis - Turtle Krawl 5k (0:45:00 / N/A)
09 - @Sleepless Knight - San Francisco Giant Race (NG / N/A)
09 - theHamm - Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo 10K (1:12:00 / N/A)

Best of luck this and my apologies on being late to post the list this week! If you need to revise you goal or make a change of some sort, please let me know. If any else has a race they would like to add, let me know and I will be more than happy to add it to the list.

 

[LSUlakes]

It's Friday and it's time for our Fun Friday QOTD: Well I'm going to post this one for selfish reasons today. We leave Tuesday for a trip to WDW. It will be our first time for Food & Wine as well as MNSSHP. Any tips or must do's for either event is appreciated!

ATTQOTD: We are excited about MNSSHP and as a family we are going with a Beauty and the Beast theme. Pics to be posted after the party lol. DS slept basically all night last night and did not have a fever this morning!!!!! I noticed this week Mercy Me played at Epcot, which I would have been thrilled to see. We have some decent bands there next week so its not the worse, but it would have been fun to see Mercy Me.

 

[TheHamm]

This week we have the following posters with races:

07 - @Baloo in MI - Run Woodstock 100 Miler (NG / N/A)
08 - @michigandergirl - Holland Haven Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
08 - @HomeiswhereMickeyis - Turtle Krawl 5k (0:45:00 / N/A)
09 - @Sleepless Knight - San Francisco Giant Race (NG / N/A)

Best of luck this and my apologies on being late to post the list this week! If you need to revise you goal or make a change of some sort, please let me know. If any else has a race they would like to add, let me know and I will be more than happy to add it to the list.

I had been planning to run this weekend and had posted September 9 - theHamm - Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo 10K (?/NA)
but will revise this to September 9 - theHamm - Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo 10K (1:12/NA). If the rain prediction currently at 90% holds I will be a DNS and push to the Detroit Women's Half Marathon 10K the following weekend and consider my registration a donation to the zoo.

Should anyone have an explanation of how they plan or evaluate the likelihood of their target time, I would appreciate it. I basically went slightly lower than my current PR for the distance, which is also the pace I ran for recent 5 & 7 mile runs through the neighborhood that is less flat than the course. While many people comment on the excitement of the race causing them to go out too fast or sustain a more brisk pace, I am also curious as to how much faster people find they do based on race day excitement.

 

[camaker]

It's Friday and it's time for our Fun Friday QOTD: Well I'm going to post this one for selfish reasons today. We leave Tuesday for a trip to WDW. It will be our first time for Food & Wine as well as MNSSHP. Any tips or must do's for either event is appreciated!

ATTFFQOTD:
MNSSHP: This is our favorite party! We've done it both in costume and in normal park gear. It's fun both ways. Plan to spend some time trick or treating. The cast members are great and they usually give out good candy, not off brand crap. Also, take the time to find a good spot for the parade. For me, it's far and away the best parade that WDW puts on. The characters are dressed up in their Halloween costumes and you get characters that don't normally show up out of their attractions like the hitchhiking ghosts, grave diggers and ballroom dancing corpses. It's also the only time you get to see the Headless Horseman, so don't miss the very beginning when he rides through. HalloWishes has always been a nice twist on Wishes, too, but I haven't been to the party since Happily Ever After started up, so I don't know what they're doing with the fireworks. Now I wish I was going to be there this fall!

Food & Wine: The selection is overwhelming and it's easy for costs to add up quickly, so keep an eye on the quick snacking. If you like the performer, the Eat to the Beat concert series can be a lot of fun, too. One of my favorite Disney memories is being at F&W with DW and sitting in the American pavilion eating lobster rolls listening to Starship perform. The only caution I'll throw out for F&W since you're traveling with smaller kids is that in the evening you tend to get some over indulgers who can make a drunk ruckus.

Hope you have a good time!

 

[camaker]

I had been planning to run this weekend and had posted September 9 - theHamm - Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo 10K (?/NA)
but will revise this to September 9 - theHamm - Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo 10K (1:12/NA). If the rain prediction currently at 90% holds I will be a DNS and push to the Detroit Women's Half Marathon 10K the following weekend and consider my registration a donation to the zoo.

Should anyone have an explanation of how they plan or evaluate the likelihood of their target time, I would appreciate it. I basically went slightly lower than my current PR for the distance, which is also the pace I ran for recent 5 & 7 mile runs through the neighborhood that is less flat than the course. While many people comment on the excitement of the race causing them to go out too fast or sustain a more brisk pace, I am also curious as to how much faster people find they do based on race day excitement.

I typically run significantly faster during races than in training. Most of my (un-adjusted for heat/humidity) training runs end up being in the 9:30-10:45 min/mile range, but my half PR is around an 8:32 min/mile. From your posting it sounds like you're running your training runs pretty much as fast as you can. If that's the case, you would probably benefit from slowing down during the training runs. One of the hardest things to learn is the concept of slowing down during training in order to go faster on race day. But I can attest, as can others on here, that running easier during training pays dividends in both fitness and speed.

 

[PrincessV]

ATTFFQOTD: MNSSHP used to be our Halloween tradition until we got priced out - such a great time! I always used to say it was worth the price of admission just for the parade and fireworks, so don't miss those! Generally, the second parade is less crowded, so if your little ones can stay up that late, go for that. Or do both parades! It really is that good.

I'll confess that I'm not a big fan of the F&WF these days, but that's because I first started going way back in the 90s, when it wasn't that well-attended and it was a quiet, leisurely stroll - and I was able to go on weekdays instead of Saturdays. If you have the choice, go on a weekday vs. a weekend: the weekends can get insane. Since you're going at a time when it's still very hot, pace yourselves and be sure to HYDRATE! Nearly every food booth has bottled water available.

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD: You will not be able to eat all of the candy if you try to get ALL OF THE CANDY. Definitely do a treat trail or two but maybe go for the "coolest" ones like the tiki room and the one near the river where the cadaver Dan's hang out and skip the more "eh" ones like those in random quick service restaraunts. Plus you have to carry all that candy and they give you quite a bit at each stop.
Last year we arrived before the real start of the party and got our family costumed pic in air conditioning with Mickey (but I guess you could choose any "normal, non-halloween party" character meet to do this) and so we had one not-yet-sweaty, all pieces of our costumes in tact family pic before the festivities started. Any pics after that during the party were just gravy...and my hubby totally ditched his costume (THE BEAST) about an hour in.
We Loved dancing at the monsters Inc dance party...I think it may be different characters this year. But dancing with the family like goofballs was a highlight. YMMV

F&W...Get the kiddo's some kiddo food in future world prior to you noshing. We had a cranky hungry kid who didn't like that we were stopping for yucky grownup food and we ended up getting her a giant hot dog and chips in Germany and that made a huge difference. or just bring snacks for them so when you get a food booth item they get a fun snack too.
The Remy sticker hunt was SO FUN. But we got super competitive about trying to find every last one that we sort of probably forgot to relax and enjoy the surroundings. Turns out you don't have to complete the map correctly to get the prize. So I say do the sticker thing, but don't be competitive obsessive like we got about it, haha.
HAVE FUNNNNNN, I'M JEALOUS

 

[Bree]

It's Friday and it's time for our Fun Friday QOTD: Well I'm going to post this one for selfish reasons today. We leave Tuesday for a trip to WDW. It will be our first time for Food & Wine as well as MNSSHP. Any tips or must do's for either event is appreciated!

ATTQOTD: We are excited about MNSSHP and as a family we are going with a Beauty and the Beast theme. Pics to be posted after the party lol. DS slept basically all night last night and did not have a fever this morning!!!!! I noticed this week Mercy Me played at Epcot, which I would have been thrilled to see. We have some decent bands there next week so its not the worse, but it would have been fun to see Mercy Me.

I saw MercyMe on Tuesday. It was awesome.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnUxLbJHEEM/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

ATTQOTD: Bring your appetite to F&W and share so you can try more stuff! I always get one of the gift cards on a stretchy bracelet. I find it easier to pay (cashier can scan it while you are wearing it) and keep track of how much money I'm spending. I like the plastic trays with the drink holder too. When it gets super busy it can be hard to find a table.

 

[AFwifelife]

ATTQOTD: haven’t been to MNSSHP yet so no advice there! We are waiting until the kids can actually hang late at night before getting those tickets.

For F&W, scope out the menus in advance. There’s so many options that you could get easily overwhelmed if you don’t have some sort of game plan. Personally, I like Josh’s (easyWDW) reviews. He really helps me narrow down what I want to try. I do scope out a booth though before getting in line to purchase. The pictures on the menus are not always what is actually served so look around and see what’s actually coming out and if people are throwing a lot of it away.

 

[rteetz]

Fun Friday QOTD: Well I'm going to post this one for selfish reasons today. We leave Tuesday for a trip to WDW. It will be our first time for Food & Wine as well as MNSSHP. Any tips or must do's for either event is appreciated!

No big tips as I have never done either. I would suggest though to get to MNSSHP early (you can enter at 4) to take advantage of the time given. Food and Wine can/will get very busy in the evening and on the weekends.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD: I haven't been to either, but hope you have an awesome time!! If you're a shopper... I think some of this year's merch for both events is great!

 

[TheHamm]

It's Friday and it's time for our Fun Friday QOTD: Well I'm going to post this one for selfish reasons today. We leave Tuesday for a trip to WDW. It will be our first time for Food & Wine as well as MNSSHP. Any tips or must do's for either event is appreciated!

ATTFFQOTD:
Food and Wine: (1) set a budget. DH and I enjoyed trying different foods, but they are spendy. (2) Identify must have food beforehand. Check out the menu and pick your top 3 not to miss, be prepared to walk by others and see what they have and want to try it, but do not plan to try it all. We did achieve one drink at each stop while our kids, then 3, were napping in the stroller- I am not sure I recommend this race. (3) Bring ID if you plan to purchase alcohol. I made the mistake of leaving wallets in the room and planning to pay by magic band and was refused alcohol in Japan- THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN JAPAN, and the girl at the counter agreed it would not. After a brief conversation she served my husband 'forgetting' to ask for ID. I get it, the Japanese love rules. Someone told her she was supposed to ID everyone, and then she felt she definitely could not serve us as she already knew I did not have ID. (4) do not plan on kids liking the food booths. Kid approved food was hard to come by. There were a few places that had the power packs, but not a lot. Bring snacks for the kids from elsewhere. (5) Make a non-food plan for the kids. Their favorite part was the little playground they set up at the festival, which I have heard exists this year, but I am not sure where so check the map! Also we loved looking for Remy but the sticker books were just a toy for them, and the free food and wine sticker passports were just as entertaining. (6) Keep a move on unless the kids demand to stop. With 2 adults and a stroller send a parent into line and have the other continue on. Use the cup holder or whatever in the stroller for adult stuff and use a hook for kids drinks as it was nearly impossible to find a place to set food down and the kids won't want to stand there anyhow.
MNSSHP: (1) Lines are long, do not promise kids you will see anyone specific. We waited for zero special characters. Kids really wanted to stop for Moana, but there was no chance we would have made it in the 2 hour line. (2) It is a LOT of candy. We do not have candy at our house so needed absolutely nothing. We also did not want to deal with TSA's food checking nightmare. One adult had a candy bag, we got the kids the teal bags. We still had a gallon ziploc bag of candy, and the kids were more excited about the sticker craft the allergy tokens were worth. (3) The parade was great, I was concerned they would be frightened of some of it (they are terrified of so many scary parts of books and movies), but we explained that the grave diggers were just silly and they liked it (4) dance it up. If there is a dance party, take advantage (5) Bring something that glows with you. DH got the $4 pack of 100 glow sticks from Amazon and we let them crack them, connect them in chains and necklaces for all the adults and the stroller. We do this for most park evenings, not just Halloween but this was great entertainment while waiting for the parade. (6) do not plan on a breakfast ADR for the next morning. My kids stayed up significantly later for this than any other park night, it the one time I have not rope dropped the next day and it was the correct choice. (7) make sure everyone can easily potty in the costumes. we saw lots of problems with this.

 

[tidefan]

ATTQOTD: MNSSHP is the best! As others have said, do not miss the parade and the fireworks. We were there last Friday and had a blast. A couple other things I'll mention.

1) Do not miss the Sanderson Sisters stage show. It's really well done. If it is like last week, they do a show at midnight, so you can do everything else, then catch this at the end.
2) The second parade tends to be a bit easier to get good viewing for. We like to go in front of the Christmas shop in Liberty Square and "borrow" the chairs from the patio table they have there and pull up to the rope...
3) We thought that the best treat was the Maleficent cone over at Storybook Treats. It's basically a lime sherbet soft serve in a cone made out of oreo. Can't beat that...

As for Food and Wine. My two recommendations would be the Charcuterie in a Cone at the Spain booth and the Kona Pork Slider at the Hawaii booth.

Have a great time!

 

[GreatLakes]

It's Friday and it's time for our Fun Friday QOTD: Well I'm going to post this one for selfish reasons today. We leave Tuesday for a trip to WDW. It will be our first time for Food & Wine as well as MNSSHP. Any tips or must do's for either event is appreciated!

I love F&W and have been a few times. Here are my tips, none of which are all that Earth shattering:

• Avoid Fridays and Saturdays
• Buy one of the small reloadable gift cards and use that to pay at the kiosks.
• If you buy something and don't like it just throw it out and get something else. Don't power through.
• Make sure to check out all of the festival areas and setups even if you aren't trying anything they offer there.
• Graze around WS for lunch, go back to FW to do some attractions, then head back for dinner.

I've only one one MNSSHP but here is what I would tell anyone that asks:

• Don't do any other park that day, use the morning to relax or do some resort hopping.
• Grab dinner somewhere at on the monorail loop before the party. Only eat counter service or snacks during the party so you aren't wasting your time in a restaurant. I recommend The Wave myself and then walking over.
  
• You can enter starting at 4 even though the party starts later.
• Skip the parades and do attractions at those times to take advantage of the shorter lines.
• Don't waste your time in line for candy or character meets.
• Do HM at least once after dark.

And with both get at least something merchandise wise to remember the event, preferably with the year on it.

 

[HomeiswhereMickeyis]

ATTQOTD: F&W advice... most of its been covered, but if you want to get a head start at picking out what foods to try I'd suggest looking at disneyfoodblog since they have pictures of all the food. I also just discovered that someone made an app for the festival as a sort of digital passport which I'm finding to be helpful planning out our visits there this year.

As for my race I think 45 is a little ambitious based on the weather (or I'm just really nervous) so I think I'll change that to 47 although I'll be happy if it's sub 50.

 

[TheHamm]

I typically run significantly faster during races than in training. Most of my (un-adjusted for heat/humidity) training runs end up being in the 9:30-10:45 min/mile range, but my half PR is around an 8:32 min/mile. From your posting it sounds like you're running your training runs pretty much as fast as you can. If that's the case, you would probably benefit from slowing down during the training runs. One of the hardest things to learn is the concept of slowing down during training in order to go faster on race day. But I can attest, as can others on here, that running easier during training pays dividends in both fitness and speed.

Thank you for sharing your speed increase. I'm not going all out on training runs, and I am confident I could push harder if I did not know that I needed to go get my kids together and get out the door for the day! And if so many people here did not have words like 'slow down' or 'go slow to get fast' echoing in my head. The current PR was set in a downpour so I think I would have been faster in better conditions. I simply have no ability to judge how much faster one goes in a race (without mudslides) than on a daily run.

 

[Keels]

ATTQOTD: haven’t been to MNSSHP yet so no advice there! We are waiting until the kids can actually hang late at night before getting those tickets.

For F&W, scope out the menus in advance. There’s so many options that you could get easily overwhelmed if you don’t have some sort of game plan. Personally, I like Josh’s (easyWDW) reviews. He really helps me narrow down what I want to try. I do scope out a booth though before getting in line to purchase. The pictures on the menus are not always what is actually served so look around and see what’s actually coming out and if people are throwing a lot of it away.

Josh is my favorite!!

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD: I haven't been to either, but hope you have an awesome time!! If you're a shopper... I think some of this year's merch for both events is great!

Figment and Remy stuff is always the best stuff!

 

[roxymama]

Thank you for sharing your speed increase. I'm not going all out on training runs, and I am confident I could push harder if I did not know that I needed to go get my kids together and get out the door for the day! And if so many people here did not have words like 'slow down' or 'go slow to get fast' echoing in my head. The current PR was set in a downpour so I think I would have been faster in better conditions. I simply have no ability to judge how much faster one goes in a race (without mudslides) than on a daily run.

Don't go out so hard that you start feeling pain or bad breathing within the first .25 mile. But I say GO FOR IT! It's ok to get a little carried away in those first two minutes but then check your watch and back down if you are at a pace that you've literally never ran at before. But if you feel good, don't back way too much down. Trust how you feel and GO FOR IT!!!
I'm gonna have a conservative pace myself strategy for a half marathon and marathon. But since this is 10k and I can tell you want to PR...GO FOR IT!!!

 

[jennamfeo]

ATTQOTD: On a whim last year we bought tickets to the MNSSHP because we were flying into Orlando in the morning and had nothing else planned that day. I was completely unprepared and didn't know what to expect AND it was my first time ever at MK. So I felt lost the whole time because it was DARK and I had no idea where anything was. We basically wandered around, grabbed some candy, met Pirate Goofy (he was the BEST), and maybe rode some rides? I can't even remember now. Bay was scared of the Sanderson Sisters so we stayed away from the stage area. We aren't parade or fireworks people, so we didn't hang around watching those.
We are going to Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland next month and I am SO excited! I can't wait to hear about your trip @LSUlakes!