Twelve Months of Training and Travel

[MEK]

Your October trip sounds great. Nice and long.

I can't remember - have you done the ToT run before? I think you probably have. I have to admit. It sounds pretty cool. I like the whole idea of running at night. I don't know why, but the few night runs I've done at home seem to go well for me. I like the dark, lower humidity weather. I think that would be fun to do!

Thanks for the info on any time is better than no time. I am going to run that 10K next weekend and just get it over with. I looked at the times and they are very average. The only thing I don't have yet is a watch. I am still monitoring myself with "map my run". I need to transition over to a watch and probably won't find one in the next week,

HAVE A SUPER AWESOME TRIP AND ENJOY!

p.s. I started a short Feb TR at the end of my current TR, so stop by if you get a chance!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Your plan looks really busy.

Good thing to get a FP+ on the last day Maelstrom is open!

 

[eandesmom]

Holy cats that was a lot of updates! And from the darn phone too hard to really comment on well.

So let's see...

Yay for the waitlist coming though!
Yay for taking care of memory maker and ddp!
Yay for the in laws deciding on park days but UGH on 11th hour juggling of ressies and fast passes
Corrals sound good, I'll be curious to see how it pans out with the supposed mix up.
Days sound busy, the day of the race sounds like a long one, I do hope you can nap

Yay for The Anabella!

I am sure there is more but I think my brain is still on the ship. Lol.

Your trip is almost here!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Alright Ann, trying to get caught up here (hopefully before you leave for ToT!!)

Love this!!

I actually went into the race thinking I wouldn't care much for the course. Other than the stretch back from Angel Stadium along the overpasses... I really liked it!

Good! I know what you mean, looking at the map it seems like a lot of Anaheim/back roads. Glad you liked it!

Me? Well, I got a pair of addidas energy boost and a pair of merrell all out flash. The merrrels are a minimal shoe so great for really short runs but nothing much more. I actually have ran several times in them. I like them. They are a half size smaller than I normally would go with. They seem to work though. I just wish they had a bit more cushion since I think they are super cute. The boosts are my go to shoe... and I am SOOOO happy to have got a pair for $48! That is like $100 off!!!! The great thing is that I should have these for both the avengers half and donald. Probably not the phm... but with the rotations I am doing maybe...

AMAZING shoe deals!! But it's so weird that they were "lying" to you that whole time. What if you'd just decided to leave without waiting for them to bring the shoes out?

So after returning from the dlh, I decided to go the medical route. I went in...and we tried a course of prednisone. It seemed to help a bit... but once the course was done I was just as bad. Now we are trying an added dose of omeprozole to see if it is gerd related. I had a chest xray and an ekg..bot looked great. So I am leaning toward thinking it might be gerd and that the extra acid in my stomach is getting aspirated and irritating my lungs.

I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. But that's good that your chest x-ray and ekg ruled out other things.

Where at am I in my goal? Well, I am at 656 miles. Not quite where I would like to be but 66% of the way isn't too bad. Tomorrow I will get another 8 to 10 miles in. I need to hit 700 by the end of September 800 by the end of October... etc. I really felt like I could hit the 700 by the end of this month. However that is 44 miles. With only 7 days left to train I am just sure it will happen.

That's still a really solid year of running so far.

I have totally dropped the "official" plans from RunDisney. Going back to my "regular" seems to be a good fit for me. This means running 4 days a week.

Monday - 2 miles at as fast a pace I can muster
Tuesday - 4 to 5 miles depending on if I am ramping up or tapering down
Thursday - 5 to 7 miles depending on if I am ramping up or tapering down
Saturday - 8 to 13 miles depending on if I am ramping up or tapering down.

So what do I mean by ramping up or tapering down? Well, at this point I have a race almost every month. So I will either be just returning and ramping back up or just about to leave and tapering down in miles.

Sounds good! You know *you* best!

This is the underside of my arm on tuesday (3 days after my run)

Yeeeeouch!! Chafing is the worst.

So I am still feeling a bit down about my pace but I suppose it is always possible that I just am no longer capable of the pace I had last year. I am not THAT far off I guess. I mean mid september last year I was able to do a 6 mile run at a 8:54 pace. Yesterday it was a 9:25. Any run I look at it is about 20 to 30 seconds off.... I guess I shouldn't sweat it. It is still a very respectable pace running anything at a sub 10... running a half with a sub 11 is still pretty good too.

Heck yes it is!! You rock!

 

[Ariel484]

Well, I did it! It wasn't like I a. thought I wouldn't or b. thought I wouldn't enjoy it... but it was a blast.

YAY!! LOVE those medals!

I saw you posted this picture on the SparkleSkirts fan Facebook page. So cute!!

We made our walk to the corrals at about 4:20ish.


I LOVED this. I thought I was seriously going to miss the ritual of getting up early (as if 3:30 isn't early...that extra half hour is EARLY) taking the bus at 3:30 and then trudging along with the mass amount of people to the staging area and then out even farther to the corrals. Don't get me wrong, that all does hold a certain appeal to me. However, being able to just completely control when and where we were headed was really cool. (even if we did make a slight misstep and start down the wrong chute towards NOT our corral)

I cannot even imagine how convenient that was...it sounds soooooo nice.

I ate my belvita biscuit while I waited. Not to be confused by velveta... not a cheese biscuit. Cynthia and I had a good laugh at that one. She had thought I was planning to eat a velveta buscuit.

I LOVE those Belvita Breakfast biscuits!! They are so good!

The race started and I was a bit surprised by two things. One, there were no fireworks. Two, they released a couple corrals at a time together.

Huh. That is weird...very different from WDW.

Just after mile 12 there was a cm singing let it go. He was horrid... and being very animated as he sang. It was enough of a boost to get me that last mile. I needed away from him and that song.

The only person that should/can sing that song is Idina Menzel. Period.

How did I do? Well, my PR was 2:17:23 My worst half was 2:25:50 scrathin I just made the realization my worst was actually worse...I thought it was 2:22:xx)

This was 2:19:56.

Ya know you always can look back and realize where you could have shaved off some time. The extra walk breaks? Would they have cut 2.5 minutes off my time? It is hard to say. What isn't hard to say though is that I am very happy with this time. Happy and surprised. I actually really thought there was a chance I would come close to 2:30

Great job, Ann!! That's a great time, even if it wasn't your 100% best race. The freeway portion combined with the heat would certainly do me in.

Loved the race recap!! thank you for posting it.

This week Steve and I celebrated our 25 year anniversary. We began dating in 1987. I can not believe how long we have been together. More of my life I have been his wife than I was not. It is just crazy to think about.

Happy Belated Anniversary!!!

Steve did surprise me though with a special gift. He got me a pebble watch. I am so happy with it! I got a pink one.

For those who do not know, it is a watch that connects to your phone. So for me this means no more arm band with my phone in it when I run It isn't a gps, but it works with Runkeeper (among other aps) It is amazing to be able to look at my wrist and see my pace and distance.

Nice gift!! And it's so cute, too! Love it!

I'll have to catch up on the rest later but at least I've made a small dent.

 

[Ariel484]

Ooh, I can catch up more!

Since the flight with Jetblue was a direct flight down, at the exact time I wanted on friday 11/14 AND was under $100... I was very happy to book this flight.

Awesome deal! I have heard great things about JetBlue. We don't have them near us but it sounds like it's a popular airline.

This left the concierge level room.

So I booked it!

at least now Steve and I won't have to pay for breakfast each morning? That has to bridge that gap in price, right?

That room looks AMAZING!! Great job on getting the bounceback. The extra space and beds sound like a great solution. And yay for included breakfast (which will totally bridge the price gap )

It was JUST $205!!!

Now lets just hope that I can get all our luggage into a full size car for the ride to and from the airport.

Great deal on your rental car! I am so impressed with the deals you have been getting lately...shoes, flights, hotel, car?!

Out of the blew when I wasn't checking and frankly have kinda come to think that wait lists are never met, I received an email.

I am so excited to finally have a stay with our dvc where we will not have to move!!!

So officially we are booked for 7 nights at AKL kidani village with a a savannah veiw room.

Yes!!! LOVE AKL!!

So nice of you to sort out all of the tickets, FP+, dining, etc. Disney sure makes it challenging to change up your travel party these days...

You get your waiver. Your waiver has your bib number. Your bib number is then what you use to look at the chart and can tell what your corral will be.

Based on that, my bib # will mean corral B for me. I am pretty excited to have a B on my bib even though my plan is not to start in B.

Nice!! Congrats on the excellent corral placement!

Steve was assigned E. So this is where we will be starting. Our plan is to enjoy the race. We will run for a good enough time but also are planning to stop for some pictures. Given his current pace and mine I think it still could end up not being to far off from what last year was for me. My ultimate goal is to finish under 2 hours and get a few pictures with some characters. My time last year was 1:44:16 so coming close to that would make me really happy. Yesterday I got 10 miles done in a 1:36 so it isn't out side the realm of possibility but I think realistically I should shoot for 2 hours if we want a picture or two. Also starting farther back we may find some congestion for a mile or two. Still... secretly if we finished by 1:50 I would be pretty darn happy.

I hope you guys have and get some awesome (rare) character pictures! Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo! After this I can stop spamming your PTR!

I am really getting down to the wire on things.

I finally got the dp and the memory maker purchased. Since my inlaws will be in the parks for part of the time with us now, I thought it was more important that ever to get the mm. Add in that there are now videos? Yup had to get the mm.

Sounds like an excellent purchase!

So I still have a couple other things to post regarding this trip before we leave. We have just 5 more sleeps!!! However I do want to make sure to get the bfp done!

Ahhh! So soooon! OMG...tomorrow!!

I LOVE your plan!! Busy but you guys will have so much fun! Can't wait to hear about your trip. Have a blast and have fun at the ToT 10-miler!

 

[annmarieda]

Your October trip sounds great. Nice and long.

It was nice...and long.

I can't remember - have you done the ToT run before? I think you probably have. I have to admit. It sounds pretty cool. I like the whole idea of running at night. I don't know why, but the few night runs I've done at home seem to go well for me. I like the dark, lower humidity weather. I think that would be fun to do!

I have. This was my third one. I had hoped to do 5 years in a row to achieve a “legacy” status. In order to do that you need to have done all of them from the start. Granted that it was not my main reason for doing it...because ultimately it is my favorite race. I am sad though because due to the gutting of DHS next fall the race has been suspended. It may or may not be picked up for 2016.

Thanks for the info on any time is better than no time. I am going to run that 10K next weekend and just get it over with. I looked at the times and they are very average. The only thing I don't have yet is a watch. I am still monitoring myself with "map my run". I need to transition over to a watch and probably won't find one in the next week,

I still don’t have a watch. Should I? Maybe. However, I do like my new pebble watch that works with runkeeper. At least I was able to ditch the arm band that way. I still have to carry my phone though...but it fits nicely in the front pouch of my skirts.

HAVE A SUPER AWESOME TRIP AND ENJOY!

Thank you. I had a great time. I mostly enjoyed it. There were definitely some moments... but overall I had a great time.

p.s. I started a short Feb TR at the end of my current TR, so stop by if you get a chance!

I promise I will get over there. I can’t promise when. I have not had nearly the time to spend on dis that I would like. Since the dlh I have only be able to be on very sporadically. I actually started my replies a few days ago... and my computer has been crashing so I lost what I had wrote. That certainly doesn’t help my quest to get caught up on dis.

Your plan looks really busy.

It was but even though I planned it out we still didn’t do “everything”

Good thing to get a FP+ on the last day Maelstrom is open!

I am so very glad I did. Even with the fp+ the line was crazy!!!

Holy cats that was a lot of updates! And from the darn phone too hard to really comment on well.

I totally understand. I like to use my phone to scan things at times but never can really comment. Facebook is a bit easier than dis but then they had to go and require that messenger ap.

Yay for the waitlist coming though!

I know! It will be so nice to stay in one place for an entire trip.

Yay for taking care of memory maker and ddp!

The memory maker was definitely well used. I can’t believe how many pics and videos we got. I was able to see all of yours, btw after all. I just wasn’t looking at each park before. So I will download and make a copy for you of yours

As for the ddp... well, lets just say when we checked out of the 2 bedroom we had 19 snacks and 12 counter service to use.

Yay for the in laws deciding on park days but UGH on 11th hour juggling of ressies and fast passes

I wish they had decided sooner for sure! However, I am so very very glad they did. FIL kept saying things like “I had no idea”. It was so nice to share some of why WDW is so great for us. Turns out they were basing all their anti WDW attitudes on a trip they took in the early 70’s.

Corrals sound good, I'll be curious to see how it pans out with the supposed mix up.

When we picked up Steve’s bib, he had been changed to corral D. Mine stayed (not that it mattered cause I started in D with him) So I supose that people say a lot of stickers on their bibs to change their corral placement. I don't’ know for sure since I have not really been on to read of others experiences since coming back.

Days sound busy, the day of the race sounds like a long one, I do hope you can nap

It was far too busy a day and I did not take into consideration just how having the inlaws would affect things. I wouldn’t change it mind you.. but meals took longer and so we were running late all day. In the end, Steve and I had to take a taxi to OKW from AK in order to get ready for the race. We were THAT far behind. So nope... no nap.

Yay for The Anabella!

I know! I just wish it wasn’t twice the cost of the other. (the other that I still need to cancel)

I am sure there is more but I think my brain is still on the ship. Lol.

I really hope your trip was a good one as well. Funny you have already had another trip after that. I don’t know about you, but I barely feel like I have a chance to unpack before I am packing again and I don’t travel as often as you do!

Your trip is almost here!!!

Here... and gone

Alright Ann, trying to get caught up here (hopefully before you leave for ToT!!)

I still have to get caught up on yours!!! I just hope to before January!!!

Love this!!

Thank you! I was trying for a goofy pic.

Good! I know what you mean, looking at the map it seems like a lot of Anaheim/back roads. Glad you liked it!

I think the course itself was not amazing in the “what to see” but the spectators really made it. Now it looks like the avengers course will be different and there will be more of an “awe” factor in what we will see on course. If so I wonder if I won’t start to really prefer races in CA... well, at least for short weekend trips.

AMAZING shoe deals!! But it's so weird that they were "lying" to you that whole time. What if you'd just decided to leave without waiting for them to bring the shoes out?

I think it is weird because my size, I feel, is pretty common. (7.5) Why have the smallest shelve space for that size? The 8 or 9s had SO much more space. So I get that they were only trying to put out what they had space for but just not sure why they limited themselves so. I am really glad that I kept pestering though... cause I would likely not bought anything.

I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. But that's good that your chest x-ray and ekg ruled out other things.

I think we have figured out what the trouble is. Apparently gerd is causes a lot of extra mucus because the stomach acid gets up where it shouldn’t and into the lungs. At the ToT, I had very little voice even... it was weird. I have increased my omeprozole dose to 4 times the over the counter and that is helping a tad. However, it is suspect that it isn’t just gerd at this point but a hiatial hernia. I need to get in but am not a fan of going to the OR...and with all the races I am just not sure when to fit it in. Probably after the avengers....

That's still a really solid year of running so far.

Thank you! While ultimately I hate to not be able to meet a goal... I will have to just accept what it is... I will be short. I should still be up over 900 though.

Sounds good! You know *you* best!

Thank you for your vote of confidence. I think that I am just running what I feel up to at the point. The last couple mondays have been more than 2 and while today I would have liked to get out and run...for the first time in I can’t remember (you thought I was going to say forever didn’t ya, lol) I didn’t hit the pavement first thing this morning. I was up all night with my stomach and since I have the day off decided to sleep in..take it easy and ultimately avoid the torrential rain we are getting. I may head out here this afternoon though.

Yeeeeouch!! Chafing is the worst.

It was and that made a scar. YUCK!

Heck yes it is!! You rock!

I think I am just going to have to learn to accept it and be happy that I am not as fast as I was a year ago but still fast “enough” :

YAY!! LOVE those medals!

I am pretty happy with them... Steve will get his C2C in just a few weeks.

I saw you posted this picture on the SparkleSkirts fan Facebook page. So cute!!

Thank you! I do like this skirt. I just have worn it now for 2 races and since it does not have the pockets I think it may be time to retire it. Course that doesn’t mean sell it... I probably will hold onto it for Zoe...or perhaps my niece can borrow it for January.

I cannot even imagine how convenient that was...it sounds soooooo nice.

It was convenient. Also kinda weird. I do kinda like the ritual of rushing to get on the RD bus. Course... for ToT I would have preferred walking. It took over an hour I think to get from OKW to DHS. I was so worried we were not going to make it before they closed the corrals. So walking does afford one a tad more control.

I LOVE those Belvita Breakfast biscuits!! They are so good!

I think they are great prerun food. Have you tried the bannana bread one? YUM!

Huh. That is weird...very different from WDW.

I missed the fireworks for sure. The corral release..well, I think that is just out of necessity. They really do not have a lot of space for corrals or staging.

The only person that should/can sing that song is Idina Menzel. Period.

Agreed!!!

Great job, Ann!! That's a great time, even if it wasn't your 100% best race. The freeway portion combined with the heat would certainly do me in.

Thank you! I know I am not always going to PR. I am totally happy with my time.

 

[annmarieda]

Loved the race recap!! thank you for posting it.

I am glad you enjoyed it. Some day there will be a TR for this trip (as well as the ToT) and I am sure there will be a brief synopsis then too.

Happy Belated Anniversary!!!

awe, thanks. :

Nice gift!! And it's so cute, too! Love it!

I really like it! It is so nice to not worry about an armband.

I'll have to catch up on the rest later but at least I've made a small dent.

I appreciate you catching up. I know it can really be a daunting task.

Ooh, I can catch up more!

Awesome deal! I have heard great things about JetBlue. We don't have them near us but it sounds like it's a popular airline.

I too have heard good things. I hope that they live up to it. I guess I will know in just a few weeks.

That room looks AMAZING!! Great job on getting the bounceback.

It really is a nice place. It reminds me a lot of the moderates in WDW..only with nicer bedding. I just wish it was not twice the cost of the other one I have booked. (that I have to cancel)

The extra space and beds sound like a great solution.

With 4 adults I think it will be a much nicer thing.

And yay for included breakfast (which will totally bridge the price gap )

I need to find out what “breakfast” includes. Is it a real table service meal or do we get pastries? For the upgrade cost I think it has to be more than just pastries... but who knows. It is on my to do list to call and find out.

Great deal on your rental car! I am so impressed with the deals you have been getting lately...shoes, flights, hotel, car?!

I will have more to post soon. I have booked more airfare and ground transportation... oh and that good deal on the rental car was even better because we got a free upgrade!!

Yes!!! LOVE AKL!!

I do too. I just wish it was not quite so far out. If we had a car it wouldn’t be such a big deal...but we are not getting one for January so that we can let my niece experience DME. Course...that is the plan now. If our flight doesn’t come in until after the luggage pick up time we may opt for a car in the end.

So nice of you to sort out all of the tickets, FP+, dining, etc. Disney sure makes it challenging to change up your travel party these days...

Well, challenging... but not too challenging. I have come to realize some of what has made travel planning challenging is my own fault. Too many trips to plan takes much more time.

Nice!! Congrats on the excellent corral placement!

Thank you! I did drop back to be with Steve who ended up getting moved up to D. We have our avengers placement now. I am pretty excited about it.

I hope you guys have and get some awesome (rare) character pictures! Can't wait to hear about it!

OMG! So cool. I got some with characters - a first for me. (well, a first in that I have them. I did stop for them at my first ToT, but my run partner used her camera..and I never got pics from her. ) Due to how things were going for Steve, I pretty much stopped at every photo opt past mile 2 and either took a selfie, had a picture taken or took a picture. Some turned out great while others are a complete blurr. (it is hard to focus even when you are stopped and you are trying to hold a camera and water bottle)

Woohoo! After this I can stop spamming your PTR!

PLEASE! Do NOT stop! I really love that you are still reading along despite the fact I am a bad dis friend and am miserably behind on your thread!

Sounds like an excellent purchase!

I think of all the times I have purchased pp or pp+ or mm...this was the best use. We had quite a few pictures. We even got a “special” one that we had to sign a waiver/release for.

Ahhh! So soooon! OMG...tomorrow!!

So soon it came...sadly so soon it was over.

I LOVE your plan!! Busy but you guys will have so much fun! Can't wait to hear about your trip. Have a blast and have fun at the ToT 10-miler!

Thank you so much! I will be doing a TR eventually. I thought about not. Not just because I can’t seem to get caught up or finish my current TR but because there were some unpleasant moments on this trip...but since the good outweighed the bad I figure I might as well focus on that, right?!

 

[eandesmom]

Ok so finally at a computer and can comment on your race recap! Which of course you posted while I was gone

Well, I did it! It wasn't like I a. thought I wouldn't or b. thought I wouldn't enjoy it... but it was a blast.

Yes it was!!! Your green screen pic is so much better than mine, I didn't quite get the concept that it was a "breaking through the tape" picture. Then again, I didn't realize until long AFTER the race that there were characters at the finish line. Yep, ran down the middle, focused on that line and only know there were characters as I can see their behinds off to the side of my finish line pictures

But hey, note to anyone who complains about not getting good finish line pics. Run down the middle away from the characters and you will get a LOT.

We went to the expo for packet pick up and for some shopping on 8/29. Unlike all the other expos I have been to it was a breeze. Very little crowd and little to no lines anywhere we stopped. The only aspect that was the least bit of a pain was the fact things were not exactly well marked as you walked up from Katella ave. So while we knew it was at the DL hotel and we could follow the herd it wasn't clearly marked. Add in the fact that the sales floor/speaker sessions were in one place and the bibs/tickets/special purchases were in another and we did end up needing to take a couple trips to where we picked up our bibs.

I was SO prepared for it to be nightmarish and it so totally wasn't. Other than the 3 total trips up and down. which wasn't nightmarish at all, just poor directional signage.

The race itself was on 8//31. We got up at 3:30ish to get ready.




We made our walk to the corrals at about 4:20ish.


I LOVED this. I thought I was seriously going to miss the ritual of getting up early (as if 3:30 isn't early...that extra half hour is EARLY) taking the bus at 3:30 and then trudging along with the mass amount of people to the staging area and then out even farther to the corrals. Don't get me wrong, that all does hold a certain appeal to me. However, being able to just completely control when and where we were headed was really cool. (even if we did make a slight misstep and start down the wrong chute towards NOT our corral)

We were able to get some prerace photos take of us after we dropped off our checked bags.

Cynthia and I were each in C, so that took care of any debate of where either of us was starting.




Once we were in our corral, Cynthia went to make one last trip to the porta poties. I ate my belvita biscuit while I waited. Not to be confused by velveta... not a cheese biscuit. Cynthia and I had a good laugh at that one. She had thought I was planning to eat a velveta buscuit.

The whole thing was SO painless. I am not really sure what I expected but not that.

The porta potty thing was interesting and sadly, didn't really help ultimately. I was stressed a little that I might not be able to get back to you but thankfully did!

I must have looked at you like you were crazy when you said belvita biscuit. Yep, I definitely thought you said Velveeta. Clearly I need my hearing checked!

A quick selfie before we started. Don't we just look way to excited for that early in the morning??? We were!!!!



The race started and I was a bit surprised by two things. One, there were no fireworks. Two, they released a couple corrals at a time together.

I was a bit bummed about the fireworks but glad I took some at the national anthem as that was it for those!

The plan for Cynthia and I was to run our own races and meet at the end. I knew she would be faster it would just be a matter of how much faster.

I could see her for the first couple miles. It wasn't too crowded but was still crowded enough.

I still swear you were in front of me at one point

I loved running through DCA and then into DLR. Running through the castle was pretty cool too, although here I think I really do prefer WDW for the castle run through. What was neat though was that they had a couple of the animals out of the petting zoo to cheer us on. In fact... the spectators in general were the highlight for me. I did not anticipate that. All the various groups and organizations that came to spectate and cheer us on was amazing!! I loved it and for this reason could see doing more of the DL races.

Around mile 6 I saw Cynthia again. Turns out our 5k and 10k times were not too far off. So close by mile 6 that I thought I might catch up to her. And just when I thought I might she got some speed to her! Zoom she was off and that was the last I saw of her.

The course support was incredible!

I expected our times to be close so that it not surprising at all.

We then came to the santa anna trail. I had been a tad nervous about it. "dust and gravel" are not my friends. It turned out to be one of the more interesting parts of the course. I actually enjoyed it!

It was one of my favorite parts. People either seem to love it, or hate it.

Next was the Angel stadium. OMG! I am so glad we got to run through there. Better than the castle! The crowd in there was amazing. How many people get to say they were on the field of a major stadium and people were cheering? So cool!

Are you kidding? We were on the JUMBOTRON! And they announced your name as you ran through. This was HIGH up there on the favorite part scale for me! So much I stopped for a really REALLY bad selfie!

I agree, better than the castle. I'd put WoC next behind the stadium, or maybe tied. My other horrible selfie. LOL! Don't get me wrong, the castle was cool, but the others were magical and motivational.

After that it was kinda a tough race. The course runs along a freeway. So super boring to see. It also was starting to warm a tad (although really the temp and cloud cover were so in our favor compared to later runners). I ran out of steam and my pace slowed dowwwwwwwwwn. I was sure that I would not come close to my half PR. I let that get into my mind and I allowed myself to give up and so I took some long walk breaks.

This is the hard part of the course for sure. My blood blister really came into play at mile 10 and I let myself kind of "quit" and took a lot of walk breaks as to hopefully keep it from bursting. There was still good course support but I just think it's such a let down after the high of the stadium that it's hard to recover from.

Just after mile 12 there was a cm singing let it go. He was horrid... and being very animated as he sang. It was enough of a boost to get me that last mile. I needed away from him and that song.

Ok that's pretty funny!

I crossed the finish and was actually a tad surprised at the clock time. I realized there was no way that I would hit my absolute no later than time.

I made my way through the chute.

Got my medals, my picture taken, my food box, banana, water, power aid...

Picked up my bag from bag check and Cynthia was just outside waiting. She had finished well before me. Her time was amazing...even more so given it was her FIRST HALF!

I would not say I finished well before you. It was not a big spread at all, 6 and a half minutes is nothing when it comes to a half! We were very close in time.

How did I do? Well, my PR was 2:17:23 My worst half was 2:25:50 scrathin I just made the realization my worst was actually worse...I thought it was 2:22:xx)

This was 2:19:56.

Ya know you always can look back and realize where you could have shaved off some time. The extra walk breaks? Would they have cut 2.5 minutes off my time? It is hard to say. What isn't hard to say though is that I am very happy with this time. Happy and surprised. I actually really thought there was a chance I would come close to 2:30

For the record I NEVER thought you'd be anywhere near 2:30.

I know what you mean though. As I look to PHM I think about what impacted my time. 2 bathroom breaks. Selfies. Changing out the lenses on my glasses. Blood blister at mile 10. Far more walking than planned or wanted. You know what? Much as conceptually I'd like to improve my time, all of those things could well happen at PHM.

I do need to focus on not walking. At all. Once I go down that road, it's easy to just take another "break" and another and another and...

I need to work on that.

My stats...
Total Finishers = 15984
Total Female = 10148
Total in My Division = 1338

My ranking =
3468 overall
1456 female
183 in my division

As down as I have been regarding my pace/performance this really turned out to be pretty good.

Did you print the finish certificates? They were so fun I did both designs lol.

I think you did great! Rocked it!!! And if memory serves you said at the time it was the best you felt during a race. I know the next day was a bit more sore than past for you but day of, you said it felt really good!

Cynthia and I got some more pictures taken and hung around for some free flip flops.


I am so very happy that Cynthia invited me along for this! She was the perfect race companion! I can't wait for the phm! Cynthia and I will room again but there will be more of us gals running "together".

It was SO much fun and I am so excited to do PHM with you and the rest of the gals! It is going to be a blast.

Especially now that WE HAVE FLIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week Steve and I celebrated our 25 year anniversary. We began dating in 1987. I can not believe how long we have been together. More of my life I have been his wife than I was not. It is just crazy to think about.

Steve did surprise me though with a special gift. He got me a pebble watch. I am so happy with it! I got a pink one.

For those who do not know, it is a watch that connects to your phone. So for me this means no more arm band with my phone in it when I run It isn't a gps, but it works with Runkeeper (among other aps) It is amazing to be able to look at my wrist and see my pace and distance.

Ok that's pretty cool!

Yesterday I got 10 miles done in a 1:36 so it isn't out side the realm of possibility but I think realistically I should shoot for 2 hours if we want a picture or two. Also starting farther back we may find some congestion for a mile or two. Still... secretly if we finished by 1:50 I would be pretty darn happy.

That is a GREAT 10 mile time!

It was really comfortable for Cynthia and I. It was nice to have our own space. Course... we really had to be ready to turn in when we did because we literally could not hear each other once we were in bed. So there was no laying in bed chit chatting.

That was some seriously amazing sound proofing. Made for great sleeping, not great for in bed chatting!

 

[eandesmom]

The memory maker was definitely well used. I can’t believe how many pics and videos we got. I was able to see all of yours, btw after all. I just wasn’t looking at each park before. So I will download and make a copy for you of yours

Oh yay!!!!!!!!!!! that is so cool.


THANK YOU, that's like a total bonus prize!

As for the ddp... well, lets just say when we checked out of the 2 bedroom we had 19 snacks and 12 counter service to use.

Oh my word! I was actually thinking if the wait list doesn't come though we should maybe consider the premium for the first 2 nights of PHM but I need to crunch the numbers to see if that makes sense.

I wish they had decided sooner for sure! However, I am so very very glad they did. FIL kept saying things like “I had no idea”. It was so nice to share some of why WDW is so great for us. Turns out they were basing all their anti WDW attitudes on a trip they took in the early 70’s.

THAT is cool!

I really hope your trip was a good one as well. Funny you have already had another trip after that. I don’t know about you, but I barely feel like I have a chance to unpack before I am packing again and I don’t travel as often as you do!

I feel like I haven't unpacked since the DL 1/2! Oh wait, because I haven't!

• Hawaii for work, 8/19-24
• DL 1/2 8/29-9/1
• San Diego for work, 9/10-9/12
• Vacation 9/17-9/29
• Orange County/San Diego for Jeff's work 10/16-10/19
• San Fran for work 10/22-10/25

It slows down a little, I have one trip in Nov, one in Dec, none in Jan and 2 in Feb (including PHM). So better!

Seriously, all my fall winter clothes are in a pile on the floor as I've not had time to swap them out. When I have been home it's been moving my parents and my sisters wedding!

I think we have figured out what the trouble is. Apparently gerd is causes a lot of extra mucus because the stomach acid gets up where it shouldn’t and into the lungs. At the ToT, I had very little voice even... it was weird. I have increased my omeprozole dose to 4 times the over the counter and that is helping a tad. However, it is suspect that it isn’t just gerd at this point but a hiatial hernia. I need to get in but am not a fan of going to the OR...and with all the races I am just not sure when to fit it in. Probably after the avengers....

Where is the dislike button???

 

[annmarieda]

Ok so finally at a computer and can comment on your race recap! Which of course you posted while I was gone

Well to be fair, I think you have been home less than you have been away.

Yes it was!!! Your green screen pic is so much better than mine, I didn't quite get the concept that it was a "breaking through the tape" picture. Then again, I didn't realize until long AFTER the race that there were characters at the finish line. Yep, ran down the middle, focused on that line and only know there were characters as I can see their behinds off to the side of my finish line pictures

I can't remember if I knew that or I was just silly and wanted to show off my armpits.

But hey, note to anyone who complains about not getting good finish line pics. Run down the middle away from the characters and you will get a LOT.

I don't know that I ever run to the characters... not necessarily down the middle... but I think you got quite a few finish photos. I may or may not get a couple. Usually a video though... I have yet to really look at the DLH ones.

I was SO prepared for it to be nightmarish and it so totally wasn't. Other than the 3 total trips up and down. which wasn't nightmarish at all, just poor directional signage.

Agreed. Not nightmarish at all just slightly inconvenient to make those extra trips. But hey at least we were smart and figured out the short cut. I will have to remember that short cut for the expo in a couple weeks.

The whole thing was SO painless. I am not really sure what I expected but not that.

I did not expect it either.

The porta potty thing was interesting and sadly, didn't really help ultimately. I was stressed a little that I might not be able to get back to you but thankfully did!

I am so glad you did! I was a bit worried there for a bit too.

I must have looked at you like you were crazy when you said belvita biscuit. Yep, I definitely thought you said Velveeta. Clearly I need my hearing checked!

You did...and it was hilarious! And.. to be fair maybe I just need to annunciate better.

I was a bit bummed about the fireworks but glad I took some at the national anthem as that was it for those!

Did we figure out if that was normal for CA races? I wonder if it has to do with being right between the hotel? Or maybe it was the drought making things too dry. The drought is why the submarine wasn't running. Not because of refurb.. it was a matter of that pond leaking and wasting too much water. (or at least that is what I heard)

I still swear you were in front of me at one point

It is possible just before the 10k mark but definitely NOT after that. You left me in the dust after that.

The course support was incredible!

It really was! I totally was not expecting that.

I expected our times to be close so that it not surprising at all.

I just wish I could have kept up with you a bit more.

It was one of my favorite parts. People either seem to love it, or hate it.

For the avengers there will be more of the trail and it looks like it will be even a better part of it.

Are you kidding? We were on the JUMBOTRON! And they announced your name as you ran through. This was HIGH up there on the favorite part scale for me! So much I stopped for a really REALLY bad selfie!

It is funny because my memory is that the stadium was very full. When I watch video of it.. there were not THAT many people. It really felt like a full stadium to me when we ran through...or at least that the side we ran through was full.

I agree, better than the castle. I'd put WoC next behind the stadium, or maybe tied. My other horrible selfie. LOL! Don't get me wrong, the castle was cool, but the others were magical and motivational.

I think the castle is cool...but WDW has a longer run through that I think it is more exciting.

This is the hard part of the course for sure. My blood blister really came into play at mile 10 and I let myself kind of "quit" and took a lot of walk breaks as to hopefully keep it from bursting. There was still good course support but I just think it's such a let down after the high of the stadium that it's hard to recover from.

It was. I am trying to mentally prepare to run it again during the avengers. Although it looks like we run a slightly different area so who knows maybe it will be better.

I would not say I finished well before you. It was not a big spread at all, 6 and a half minutes is nothing when it comes to a half! We were very close in time.

I suppose... but still I think it was a good enough spread for you to get settled in a bit and have to wait for me.

For the record I NEVER thought you'd be anywhere near 2:30.

I hoped it would not be. I just had such a rough summer. Even now things are not quite the pace I would like to see. I have been running a lot with Steve and so I do take it a bit slower for him but I am not slowing THAT much. I am not sure what I expect for the avengers. I HOPE to not see 2:30 but anything could happen and I figure if I run enough halfs there is bound to be one that I totally bonk. So while I didn't PR the dlh and perhaps could have done better I didn't bonk it.

I know what you mean though. As I look to PHM I think about what impacted my time. 2 bathroom breaks. Selfies. Changing out the lenses on my glasses. Blood blister at mile 10. Far more walking than planned or wanted. You know what? Much as conceptually I'd like to improve my time, all of those things could well happen at PHM.

I think there are far more things that can happen during a disney race that can impact time. A regular race you may not feel the need to stop for pics or maybe wouldn't have the opportunity to stop for a bio break. There are plentiful water stops that perhaps a nondisney race would not have. All of the "extras" that disney has make it so that you could take longer. Heck.. even the crowding can impact it.

I do need to focus on not walking. At all. Once I go down that road, it's easy to just take another "break" and another and another and...

That is me too. I almost feel like I do better to just slow down than to walk. (my joints agree with me) However scheduled walk breaks... well, those might be helpful. If I had not "given up" after mile 10 and gone outside my scheduled ones (I think I did run for 10 minutes walk 1 minute) I probably would have PR'd. It was when I let myself walk more that my pace really suffered. So maybe it is more about managing the mental game than actually walking or not walking.

Did you print the finish certificates? They were so fun I did both designs lol.

I am so bad about that. I rarely print them. We do not have a color printer (I know..weird) We have a laser printer that is awesome and since we rarely print in color we have stuck with it. (we print a lot of documents and black and white work for that AND with it being laser we rarely need to replace the drum)

I think you did great! Rocked it!!! And if memory serves you said at the time it was the best you felt during a race. I know the next day was a bit more sore than past for you but day of, you said it felt really good!

The day of I felt great. I think all the stairs that day are what caused me to be more sore the next day.

It was SO much fun and I am so excited to do PHM with you and the rest of the gals! It is going to be a blast.

It will be awesome!

Especially now that WE HAVE FLIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know right?!!! I need to update this PTR to let everyone know how exciting that is.

Ok that's pretty cool!

I love that watch. It allows me to not wear an armband and that is HUGE for me. Yet I get to still use my RK. It really a nice alternative to a "real" running watch.

That is a GREAT 10 mile time!

Thank you. As you know though that is not anywhere near what my time ended up being for the ToT. I don't regret my much slower time. I had a blast and I got so many pictures. (even if they all didn't turn out all that great) I also need to do a race recap.

That was some seriously amazing sound proofing. Made for great sleeping, not great for in bed chatting!

It really was a great room and I can't wait to stay there again.

Oh yay!!!!!!!!!!! that is so cool.


THANK YOU, that's like a total bonus prize!

I did keep all your originals but I also made some edits with the boarders and such. I could just email you the files I suppose but I am sure I will see you in the not so distant future and just bring the disc to you.

Oh my word! I was actually thinking if the wait list doesn't come though we should maybe consider the premium for the first 2 nights of PHM but I need to crunch the numbers to see if that makes sense.

You number crunch and let me know what you come up with.

THAT is cool!

Yup. Just this morning I got an email from mil about how she wants to return for probably both the 2015 Wine and Dine half and the 2016 WDW half. I am so glad they were about to change their opinion (I assume)

I feel like I haven't unpacked since the DL 1/2! Oh wait, because I haven't!

• Hawaii for work, 8/19-24
• DL 1/2 8/29-9/1
• San Diego for work, 9/10-9/12
• Vacation 9/17-9/29
• Orange County/San Diego for Jeff's work 10/16-10/19
• San Fran for work 10/22-10/25

OMG! That is a crazy schedule!!! No wonder you have the status you do on Alaska!!

It slows down a little, I have one trip in Nov, one in Dec, none in Jan and 2 in Feb (including PHM). So better!

That is better but still...even one a month is hard. (or at least hard for me)

Seriously, all my fall winter clothes are in a pile on the floor as I've not had time to swap them out. When I have been home it's been moving my parents and my sisters wedding!

And this is what makes it harder... there is always life that has to still be taken care of.

Where is the dislike button???

At least I no longer feel like I have an elephant on my chest. Still have a ton of extra that I am always clearing out of my throat and the heartburn is crazy ALL THE TIME. But I have my voice back and I am no longer coughing.... so that is improvement.

 

[ZellyB]

I'm caught back up!!

I love the race recap. Your pictures are wonderful and you had a great time!! I'm so jealous of your speed.

I love your pink watch and Happy Anniversary!!!

 

[annmarieda]

I'm caught back up!!

That is not so easy to do so I congratulate you! At least my threads are pretty slow moving...

I love the race recap. Your pictures are wonderful and you had a great time!! I'm so jealous of your speed.

Thank you. I had a great time and I am happy (mostly) about my pace.

I love your pink watch and Happy Anniversary!!!

Thank you again! I love the watch. It is really freeing to not wear an arm band and to be able to control my phone from my wrist. I mean... if I get a call I can see who it is without digging my phone out. It is an awesome watch!

 

[eandesmom]

Well to be fair, I think you have been home less than you have been away.

OMG, my room is a train wreck. And I don't know when I can even get to it as every free moment seems to get sucked into my parents move

I can't remember if I knew that or I was just silly and wanted to show off my armpits.

well they are quite nice

I don't know that I ever run to the characters... not necessarily down the middle... but I think you got quite a few finish photos. I may or may not get a couple. Usually a video though... I have yet to really look at the DLH ones.

I have 11. If I whip through them fast, it's like a finish line video crazy. But only 2 are from an angle where I realized that there were characters, I can see Daisy's rear end!

Did we figure out if that was normal for CA races? I wonder if it has to do with being right between the hotel? Or maybe it was the drought making things too dry. The drought is why the submarine wasn't running. Not because of refurb.. it was a matter of that pond leaking and wasting too much water. (or at least that is what I heard)

I did hear it was normal. I've heard they close the sub every summer for that reason. Not to much that it is due to the drought per se, but to save money!

It is possible just before the 10k mark but definitely NOT after that. You left me in the dust after that.

It was before, but I'm not sure if it was before or after bio break #1.

I just wish I could have kept up with you a bit more.

I didn't realize how easy I'd be to spot in those knickers. It did make finding myself in photos much easier.

For the avengers there will be more of the trail and it looks like it will be even a better part of it.

That will be nice I think!

It is funny because my memory is that the stadium was very full. When I watch video of it.. there were not THAT many people. It really felt like a full stadium to me when we ran through...or at least that the side we ran through was full.

It was pretty full on the one side, it was cool!

I think the castle is cool...but WDW has a longer run through that I think it is more exciting.

I am looking forward to that.

It was. I am trying to mentally prepare to run it again during the avengers. Although it looks like we run a slightly different area so who knows maybe it will be better.

I do think a lot of it is mental, the stadium is such a rush and then it's 3 miles of...not. I was terrified of my foot ripping open but I'm not sure how real that was or not, or if it was just the mental crash after that high.

I suppose... but still I think it was a good enough spread for you to get settled in a bit and have to wait for me.

Not long, I had time to change into flip flops and have a mocha gel and chat with the poor girl next to me

I hoped it would not be. I just had such a rough summer. Even now things are not quite the pace I would like to see. I have been running a lot with Steve and so I do take it a bit slower for him but I am not slowing THAT much. I am not sure what I expect for the avengers. I HOPE to not see 2:30 but anything could happen and I figure if I run enough halfs there is bound to be one that I totally bonk. So while I didn't PR the dlh and perhaps could have done better I didn't bonk it.

Definitely didn't bonk. Maybe it is better to not have expectations then to do so? I have no idea, the most important thing is to have fun. But you know that already.

I think there are far more things that can happen during a disney race that can impact time. A regular race you may not feel the need to stop for pics or maybe wouldn't have the opportunity to stop for a bio break. There are plentiful water stops that perhaps a nondisney race would not have. All of the "extras" that disney has make it so that you could take longer. Heck.. even the crowding can impact it.

Well that is true. There is a LOT more water out I think then maybe at other races. Maybe not, it was my first half. I know part of my problem was that the water cups were HUGE and I likely drank more at each stop then I needed. Or my bladder is just overactive. Or both. The start was slower than I'd expected but that happened at this last race too

That is me too. I almost feel like I do better to just slow down than to walk. (my joints agree with me) However scheduled walk breaks... well, those might be helpful. If I had not "given up" after mile 10 and gone outside my scheduled ones (I think I did run for 10 minutes walk 1 minute) I probably would have PR'd. It was when I let myself walk more that my pace really suffered. So maybe it is more about managing the mental game than actually walking or not walking.

Oh that is definitely a huge part of it

I am so bad about that. I rarely print them. We do not have a color printer (I know..weird) We have a laser printer that is awesome and since we rarely print in color we have stuck with it. (we print a lot of documents and black and white work for that AND with it being laser we rarely need to replace the drum)

Ah, I don't really print them, I pdf them so I have the image.

The day of I felt great. I think all the stairs that day are what caused me to be more sore the next day.

Ah yes, the stairs!

I did keep all your originals but I also made some edits with the boarders and such. I could just email you the files I suppose but I am sure I will see you in the not so distant future and just bring the disc to you.

Exactly! And we can look at fairy wings I am sure I have a November lunch down there, need to check on that but am pretty sure I am in town during the normal scheduled one.

You number crunch and let me know what you come up with.

Well it really depends on what other things we eat for those 3 days.

If we did the deluxe the plan would be for 2 nights and the premium is 3 meals and 2 snacks per day @ $109 each. It would cover Thurs/Fri/Sat since it's good the full day of check out day. what we have booked already is about $125 I figure (CP, AP and Boatwrights...Boatwrights is a plan not a ressie). Basically assuming an appetizer, non A drink and entree. Of course it's not really apples to apples since if we weren't on the deluxe...we would likely not get an appetizer but you never know.

That would take up 4 of the meal credits. So the other 2 meals and snacks would at least have to make it so we'd break even. In theory then, there is $93 left to break even and $16 goes towards snacks, we'd need to spend $77 on the 2 remaining meals. That doesn't include the "value" of the refillable mug of course. So.....certainly possible to break even for that part of the trip depending on the other 2 meals. I guess it would work too even if the wait list did come through as long as we didn't link the room ressies.

We still have open

• Breakfast 2/20. Now that flights are booked we should maybe consider what we want, a nice sit down could be good. We are likely to be tired and hungry after the red eye and need sustenance to get through the day lol. Maybe Boma?
• Lunch 2/20. Could be a snack credit
• Lunch 2/21. Probably won't need after CP breakfast
• Dinner 2/21. We were thinking counter service I think but if we did the Deluxe plan, that wouldn't make sense
• Breakfast 2/22. Could be a snack credit
• Lunch 2/22

It's also possible to break even on the regular plan but we'd need to milk out the counter service meals as the 2 meals we have booked that we'd use in that scenario (do TIW for AP, if you have TIW..or I think Mary Ellen does) are not terribly pricey options. That option doesn't include the value for the mug either. I'm not a huge soda drinker but it is handy to have the mugs and I'm sure we'd get one or 2 drinks out of them.

We also need to decide if we want to add any kind of ressie on the 25th or change plans on the 24th (move plaza to the 25th?) now that we have our return

I don't think the DDP would pay off for the BWV nights given what we've planned so far.

We also need to link the BWV ressies, I think to officially link them (versus at check in) we are supposed to do a 3 way call but we should be able to just call when together in Nov or whenever that is.

Yup. Just this morning I got an email from mil about how she wants to return for probably both the 2015 Wine and Dine half and the 2016 WDW half. I am so glad they were about to change their opinion (I assume)

YAY! I really want to do W&D someday.

OMG! That is a crazy schedule!!! No wonder you have the status you do on Alaska!!

Ha ha, I barely hit status believe it or not, just on this last trip to keep it for next year.

That is better but still...even one a month is hard. (or at least hard for me)

Well yours are more fun once a month trips for sure, though I've had plenty of that too. No more "fun" until PHM for me though. But at least the next trips are somewhere warm. Not that it's been cold here yet.

At least I no longer feel like I have an elephant on my chest. Still have a ton of extra that I am always clearing out of my throat and the heartburn is crazy ALL THE TIME. But I have my voice back and I am no longer coughing.... so that is improvement.

yikes, when you go down, you really go down don't you?

 

[annmarieda]

OMG, my room is a train wreck. And I don't know when I can even get to it as every free moment seems to get sucked into my parents move

I think you just have to give yourself a pass. You have had a lot on your plate. Your room isn't going anywhere...

well they are quite nice

why thank you.

I have 11. If I whip through them fast, it's like a finish line video crazy. But only 2 are from an angle where I realized that there were characters, I can see Daisy's rear end!

That is a lot! I have like 3. I actually just watched my run through the castle video. That was pretty cool. I do wish that these could be added to the favorites so I could maybe get a bunch of my races all together.

It was before, but I'm not sure if it was before or after bio break #1.

I bet it was around WoC. I would not have been too far behind you at this point and you stopped where as I did not. I bet that is where...

I didn't realize how easy I'd be to spot in those knickers. It did make finding myself in photos much easier.

They were. I could scan the crowd ahead of me and see you any time you were ahead of me.

I am looking forward to that.

I think it is a tad more memorable.

I do think a lot of it is mental, the stadium is such a rush and then it's 3 miles of...not. I was terrified of my foot ripping open but I'm not sure how real that was or not, or if it was just the mental crash after that high.

Whatever it was it was the worse part of the course.

Not long, I had time to change into flip flops and have a mocha gel and chat with the poor girl next to me

Poor girl.

Definitely didn't bonk. Maybe it is better to not have expectations then to do so? I have no idea, the most important thing is to have fun. But you know that already.

I always have fun... but I am changing what I consider to be fun. The Tower of Terror was a HUGE step for me.

Ah, I don't really print them, I pdf them so I have the image.

Duh! Now there is a smart idea! I don't know why I never thought of that!







Exactly! And we can look at fairy wings I am sure I have a November lunch down there, need to check on that but am pretty sure I am in town during the normal scheduled one.

Well it really depends on what other things we eat for those 3 days.

If we did the deluxe the plan would be for 2 nights and the premium is 3 meals and 2 snacks per day @ $109 each. It would cover Thurs/Fri/Sat since it's good the full day of check out day. what we have booked already is about $125 I figure (CP, AP and Boatwrights...Boatwrights is a plan not a ressie). Basically assuming an appetizer, non A drink and entree. Of course it's not really apples to apples since if we weren't on the deluxe...we would likely not get an appetizer but you never know.

Just something to consider that we found out this last trip. A lot of places are now allowing for an ap in lieu of a dessert. Which...if one of you gets the ap to share and then the other the dessert it is quite the nice meal.

That would take up 4 of the meal credits. So the other 2 meals and snacks would at least have to make it so we'd break even. In theory then, there is $93 left to break even and $16 goes towards snacks, we'd need to spend $77 on the 2 remaining meals. That doesn't include the "value" of the refillable mug of course. So.....certainly possible to break even for that part of the trip depending on the other 2 meals. I guess it would work too even if the wait list did come through as long as we didn't link the room ressies.

And that mug would be good our entire trip... not just the 2 days. (since it is a "length of stay" mug and probably won't expire until after we are gone) $77 for 2 meals. :scrachin That might not be too hard to do.

We still have open

• Breakfast 2/20. Now that flights are booked we should maybe consider what we want, a nice sit down could be good. We are likely to be tired and hungry after the red eye and need sustenance to get through the day lol. Maybe Boma?

• 
  
  Do you mean 2/19? So we would have the credits for 2/19 to 2/21.
  
  

  It's also possible to break even on the regular plan but we'd need to milk out the counter service meals as the 2 meals we have booked that we'd use in that scenario (do TIW for AP, if you have TIW..or I think Mary Ellen does) are not terribly pricey options. That option doesn't include the value for the mug either. I'm not a huge soda drinker but it is handy to have the mugs and I'm sure we'd get one or 2 drinks out of them.

  
  I do have mine so we will have that as an option regardless.
  
  
  

  We also need to decide if we want to add any kind of ressie on the 25th or change plans on the 24th (move plaza to the 25th?) now that we have our return

  
  I need a refresh of the list of ADRs we have. I think we definitely will want to eat on 2/25.
  
  
  

  I don't think the DDP would pay off for the BWV nights given what we've planned so far.

  
  I think you may be right. I think it might be good for those first two nights since we can stretch them over 3 days. Plus we definitely don't need two mugs. Believe me... I don't need more mugs.
  
  
  

  We also need to link the BWV ressies, I think to officially link them (versus at check in) we are supposed to do a 3 way call but we should be able to just call when together in Nov or whenever that is.

  
  Yes, we do need to link that way we won't have to move on that last night. I have a feeling we will not get the waitlist to come through so moving once will be plenty for me. And if we could avoid moving by linking the first two nights (assuming the waitlist comes through) then I may be more inclined to not do the dp at all... just so we don't have to move.
  
  
  
  

  YAY! I really want to do W&D someday.

  
  I am super excited.
  
  
  
  Ha ha, I barely hit status believe it or not, just on this last trip to keep it for next year.
  
  
  
  

  yikes, when you go down, you really go down don't you?

  
  Meh... it doesn't bother me too much. I just know that my pace isn't great and it is more of a nuisance than anything else.

 

[annmarieda]

So I have lots of updates but thought I would start with this one. We got our bib number and thus corral placement for the Avengers Half!!!

Now, I have yet to do a race recap from the ToT but... despite the fact I had a really fun time and have no regrets. I will not be dropping back to Steve's corral.


I will be starting in corral B. Steve is not far behind in D.

 

[annmarieda]

Dinning at the DLR is just a bit different than at WDW. First, you can't book at 180 days but rather have to wait until 60 days. Well, as odd as it was that was not long before the ToT trip. I managed to make our reservations right before we left.

Our first reservation is on Saturday 11/15 at Naples. This is our prerace dinner. The menu seemed to have a few options that looked to be good for us. We have an early reservation (5pm) for just Steve and I.

Next is for lunch on Sunday 11/16. The four of us will be headed to Tortilla Jo's for a late lunch (2pm).

Our "big" deal reservation is at Blue Bayou on Monday 11/17 for dinner. This restaurant is a bit on the spendy side (I would say each person will be $50) Like most more expensive meals that are within the disney parks, part of what you pay for is the atmosphere. For those unfamiliar, this restaurant sits on the "banks" of the waterway that the POTC passes on. So similar to maybe San Angel Inn in WDW only with steak and "cajun" food in a "bayou" setting.

Next we have a reservation on Tuesday 11/18 for dinner. This will be at Cafe Orleans. I would not have even had this on my radar had it not been for the trip I took with Cynthia. Lets just say I have been excited to have the monte cristo sandwich there again. OMG! SO good. So you you must see a picture right?


And that is it for our rreservations. I do plan to Trader Sams at some point, various counter service locations as well as have breakfast each day at our hotel.

 

[annmarieda]

In many ways, the dlh gave me a lot to consider for the ahm. I ended up changing our hotel. I looked at dinning at the same locations. It really made and impact on me in a good way that I hope has aided me in making good plans for the ahm.

So along with all of the other ways that the dlh trip influenced me it also gave me a great idea regarding ground transportation.


Cynthia and I used Lansky Enterprise. I can't not even remember how Cynthia came across them. However when we did the research this driver seemed to be the lowest cost option for us. UNBELIEVABLE! - given he stands with a sign with your name on it waiting for you when your flight lands. Then he takes you to bag claim where he collects your bags. He opens the doors for you and loads your bags. He even stops to make a grocery trip and not only again loads the items into the car but then takes the cart back!!! He was amazing! Sure, if traffic was absolutely perfect we may have been able to do a bit better (and only a bit) using a taxi.

So fast forward to this trip. I didn't have to do much research to realize it again would be the best option for us. This time it was even less because he gave a "prior customer" discount!!!

So Steve and I will be picked up at Long Beach. Zach and Kimberly will have to find their own way the next day. Currently I think their plan is to grab a taxi. (which given their flight lands around 10pm traffic should be ok) Then our driver will pick us up and return all 4 of us to Long Beach when we are ready to leave.

 

[KatMark]

Ann, I am slowly catching up (even got a few updates done myself) after the week with caring for my mom after work and my brother (her caregiver) being in the hospital.

The ADR's sound great (I am now going to go run out and get lunch after seeing that food porn).

Transportation plans sound perfect! I like this guy.