Run Disney World

First let me say I didn't mean to take the whole Summer off from Blogging. It just kinda happened. (I got that excuse from Kristen Stewart) Ahem.  I would like to give a shout out to On the Right Track for being the only blogger to get in touch with me during that time to ask where I've been.  Glad that someone kinda missed me.  I guess my main excuse is I've dedicated a lot more time lately to my kids and other family activities starting with a one week trip to Disney World in June, which will be the topic of the day.  Despite following the kid's schedule while we were there, I still got in some runs around the resort area while everyone else slept in.

I'd like to know of anyone who was able to stick with their normal daily training schedule while on family vacation at Disney, cause for me, I had to dig down deep to do a fraction of my usual mileage.  The day after arriving in Florida, we spent 13 hours walking around the Magic Kingdom.  Needless to say, a 10 miler the next morning was not in my cards (try 2.3 miles).  We stayed at the Disney All-Star Movies resort. From reading online, I knew they had a jogging path set aside. I envisioned running along a scenic trail, through trees with views of the Disney Parks and moderate to cool morning temps. Instead what I got was a sidewalk running along the access road with a few trees and a lot of humidity.  Despite that letdown, it was great to have a change in scenery.

Let's get right to the pics.  What you probably notice first in the pic to the left is that my head is bigger than the traffic signs. I promise that is just an illusion, but after you get past that hopefully you can make out the names of all the Disney Parks which I put a lot of forethought into capturing in the picture.  And if you were there with me in person, you might smell a sausage egg biscuit from McDonalds on my breath since there is a McDees off to the right of this photo.  It was a nice deviation from resort food, even if I stopped to eat it mid run.  Also notice the bus in the background.  We rode the buses everywhere.  Disney has their own fleet of them.  I heard they have over 350 buses.  Whatever the case, I counted the buses once while running, and one out of every seven vehicles to drive by was a Disney bus.

Darth Vader came with the meal.  It was my duty to take a bite out of
the dark side of the force.

As I predicted, I ate like crap on this trip.  Lots of pop.  Desert with every meal.  Fried food.  Over-sized portions.  The ironic thing is, when I weighed myself after coming back home, I was only a pound or two heavier.  I guess that's testament that being on your feet all day and keeping up with little kids can really burn the calories.

The highly reflective sign to the resort we stayed at.

Back to the running...  I was scheduled for 38 taper miles that week, but consider myself going the extra mile to manage just 21 miles including an 8-miler.  The sidewalk running along the All-Star hotels was about a mile long.  By crossing a busy intersection, I was able to continue on another sidewalk for another mile before it stopped, and I had to turn around.

Patience pays off finding Disney dri-fit shirts after a week on the prowl.

I was one picky souvenir shopper.  I knew before stepping one foot in the many gift shops that I wanted a Disney dri-fit running shirt.  Day after day, park after park, shop after shop, I looked but left empty handed.  None of the employees had even seen them around Disney.  However, the day we left for home we visited Downtown Disney, and in the Team Disney store, there was a small selection of Disney dri-fit shirts. I got the "In Training" shirt shown here.


As most everyone knows, Disney has a marathon.  One day I shall return to complete it because those finisher medals are simply kick-ass.


I will leave you with a few more stills from our trip.

This is not a picture of my daughter having fun.
This is a picture of her getting her picture taken
in front of Cinderella's Castle whether she
 likes it or not.

I've got my own idea for a welcome sign.  "Let the Money Disappear!"