Life’s A Beach, And Then You Run: A 2012 Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

Hello friends! Welcome to the story of my Marathon Weekend.

The Cast (the only picture of the 3 of us from the entire weekend):

That would be mom (Kriss), my brother (Craig, aka Princes Craiggy, 25) and me (Shannon, 27).

This was my 6th trip to WDW, and 3rd trip in the last 12 months…lucky me! :sohappy:

Past trips include…

August 1995 (All-Star Sports)
May 2009 (Honeymoon at Boardwalk Inn)
November 2009 (Boardwalk Inn)
February 2011 (Princess Half Marathon/Port Orleans Riverside)
June 2011 (Split-stay: Animal Kingdom Lodge and Boardwalk Villas)

There’s not really much to say in regards to how this trip came to be…basically before the Princess Half in 2011, Princess Craiggy and I agreed that if we made it out of the half alive, we’d sign up for the 2012 Marathon. And here we are! Yay! :sohappy:

 

[Ariel484]

First, some background…

I’ll just get this out of the way upfront…the weeks leading up to this trip kind of sucked. Nothing truly 100% awful happened, just a lot of crappy things all around the same time. When it rains, it pours, right? There was job stress (good stress, but still, stress all the same), some family/personal issues to deal with, house appliance repairs/replacements, our dog got sick off and on, and I injured myself twice during training (back spasms in October and a rolled ankle in November – neither injury lasted too long, but they were just bad enough to completely freak me out for a couple of days at a time – after both injuries I immediately thought marathon training was over. Luckily, I was wrong). Apparently life doesn’t stop when marathon training begins. Who knew? :shrug:

But the crappiest thing that happened involved my poor husband, Will. He’s been dealing with some health issues (nothing life-threatening, thankfully) since September, and while he’s improved a lot since then he decided that this trip just wasn’t in the cards for him. He knew he wouldn’t have fun not being able to ride the rides, and I know both of us were afraid he’d experience a huge setback in his recovery, which has been long and slow up to this point. He made the final call around Christmas and I canceled his flights on New Year’s Day.

It was pretty upsetting for both of us. If he had wanted me to, I absolutely would have stayed home, but since he’s so fabulous, Will encouraged me to go on the trip and enjoy myself. He was disappointed to miss the marathon but said he’d feel bad if I didn’t have a good time...yet I felt guilty getting excited for a trip that I knew he wanted to go on, but couldn’t. I was, of course, looking forward to seeing my brother (who lives in Florida…I see him maybe once a year) and spending time with my mom, but there’s just something about being in Disney (my favorite place) with my favorite person – nothing compares to that, you know? Ultimately we both realized that it would be better for me to come home to Will having recovered even more rather than for him to push himself to come on this trip and return home the worse for wear. Plus, Disney will still be there…it’s not like we’ll never go back! It just wasn’t meant to be this time. Blech.

So beyond these issues, I had the race to train for. I found a training plan on Hal Higdon’s website called Novice Supreme (which is just like his Novice 1 plan that I know a lot of runners use, but has a 12-week period added to the beginning to build a base). I’d taken a break from running during the spring of 2011 due to being a bit burned out, so I was almost starting from scratch…this extended plan was just what I was looking for. The first 12 weeks (spring/summer) went fine…when all this other crap began in the fall, it was a different story. Oftentimes running helps me relieve stress, but throughout the final months of training it just felt like one more thing heaped onto a pile of a million other things I had to worry about. There were times where I missed a run because I just mentally wasn’t there, and times where I cut a run short because I would be thinking of everything going on and suddenly find myself exhausted and struggling to move or (on a couple of occasions) breathe. It was overwhelming.

But I got through it as best I could, and Will was a huge help with that – he was, as always, very supportive and gave me a kick in the butt to put on my running shoes and get out the door when I needed it. Yet another reason I was disappointed he couldn’t make the trip – I wanted him to see me cross the finish line! Maybe next time?

Sorry for such a long, sad post…but this was my mindset going into Marathon Weekend. Shall we? :sohappy:

 

[Ariel484]

Day 1: Friday, January 6.

I woke up early on Friday to remotely log in to my work computer to tie up a few loose ends before the trip began. Once my work stuff was done, it was time to bid farewell to the pup and perform the final luggage check. I find packing for a Disney trip (even a short one) to be stressful enough – add a race to the trip and that stress doubles!

See ya later, Monster Pup!

After deciding I was good to go, I loaded my car up and grabbed some lunch for me and Will, as well as some bagels for breakfast the morning of the race. Next stop was Will’s school (pretty close to the airport) for a nice, short lunch together around 11:30. I’m so glad that I made this stop…it was really nice to sit and chat for a bit, plus Will had worn brown shoes with black pants that morning, so I needed to bring his black shoes to rescue him from this fashion emergency!

We said goodbye around noon and I made it to the airport in about 15 minutes. My uneventful layover in Baltimore was sandwiched between two uneventful flights…just the way I like it.

Onward to the Magical Express! Are these signs new? I don’t remember them from past trips. :shrug:

I do remember these guys:

This was the shortest Magical Express experience I’ve ever had. I took the above picture at about 7PM, and we were on property by 7:30. Madness.

About a half hour later, I checked into the Beach Club Villas. After getting turned around a bit on the way to my room (you have to exit the resort and go into a separate building) I had arrived!

 

[HollyBelle]

Shannon! Oh my... I owe you drinks when our paths cross at Disney. How in the world did you get this puppy up so fast?! I'm impressed. You've motivated me to step away from the internet and keep on writing.

Can't wait for all the gory details, my friend! LOVE that title. :sohappy:

 

[fractal]

Day 1: Friday, January 6.

I woke up early on Friday to remotely log in to my work computer to tie up a few loose ends before the trip began. Once my work stuff was done, it was time to bid farewell to the pup and perform the final luggage check. I find packing for a Disney trip (even a short one) to be stressful enough – add a race to the trip and that stress doubles!

See ya later, Monster Pup!

After deciding I was good to go, I loaded my car up and grabbed some lunch for me and Will, as well as some bagels for breakfast the morning of the race. Next stop was Will’s school (pretty close to the airport) for a nice, short lunch together around 11:30. I’m so glad that I made this stop…it was really nice to sit and chat for a bit, plus Will had worn brown shoes with black pants that morning, so I needed to bring his black shoes to rescue him from this fashion emergency!

We said goodbye around noon and I made it to the airport in about 15 minutes. My uneventful layover in Baltimore was sandwiched between two uneventful flights…just the way I like it.

Onward to the Magical Express! Are these signs new? I don’t remember them from past trips. :shrug:

I do remember these guys:

This was the shortest Magical Express experience I’ve ever had. I took the above picture at about 7PM, and we were on property by 7:30. Madness.

About a half hour later, I checked into the Beach Club Villas. After getting turned around a bit on the way to my room (you have to exit the resort and go into a separate building) I had arrived!

Sorry to hear of your troubles leading up to the trip and I hope Will is doing better.

I'm sure seeing the entrance to BCV helped but a smile on your face.
Looking forward to the rest!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Yay a trip report!

So sorry to hear Will had to miss it Hope he's well on his way to recovery though!!

LOVE that pic of your pup! So cute!! What breed?

I'm training for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in September. I am nervous because I'm definitely not a runner at all but I'm determined to complete it, even if I have to crawl across the finish line!! :lol:

 

[Ariel484]

Shannon! Oh my... I owe you drinks when our paths cross at Disney. How in the world did you get this puppy up so fast?! I'm impressed. You've motivated me to step away from the internet and keep on writing.

Can't wait for all the gory details, my friend! LOVE that title. :sohappy:

Holly! Drinks in Disney sounds positively glorious!

To be honest, I was not as good with my note- and picture-taking on this trip, so part of the reason I'm trying to write this thing so fast is so that I don't forget the details!

Sorry to hear of your troubles leading up to the trip and I hope Will is doing better.

I'm sure seeing the entrance to BCV helped but a smile on your face.
Looking forward to the rest!

Your sympathy is appreciated, Chris. Things are much better now, but this past fall was tough. And Will is doing better, thank you.

You're right that seeing the entrance to BCV put a smile on my face...things can't be all that bad when you're starting a Disney trip, ya know?

Yay a trip report!

So sorry to hear Will had to miss it Hope he's well on his way to recovery though!!

LOVE that pic of your pup! So cute!! What breed?

I'm training for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in September. I am nervous because I'm definitely not a runner at all but I'm determined to complete it, even if I have to crawl across the finish line!! :lol:

Hi Darolyn! We think we may have the correct diagnosis and meds over here, so keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks for the compliments on the pup! He is the apple of my eye...he's a Beagle/Cavalier King Charles mix named Archie, and I have made a rule that a picture of him MUST be included in all of my trip reports! I'm lame. :lol:

I'm hoping to do the ToT 10-miler too! You will have a blast. Disney races are the BEST. :sohappy: Good luck with your training!!

 

[Ariel484]

So eventually I found my room…the very first room right by the elevator. Good and bad at the same time (only bad because it got noisy at times over the weekend).

I really was not feeling picture-taking for the first couple days of this trip. I think I was just feeling weird due to being at Disney by myself…odd, since being myself actually afforded me more time to take as many pictures as I wanted. :shrug: I did get it together enough to take pictures of the room, though.

My first thought was that the room was nice…then I saw the bathroom.

They’d given me a handicapped room. Not a huge deal, but the sink in the bathroom really bugged me – NO counter space. I needed room to spread out all of my crap! This is the second time I’ve been given a handicapped room at Disney, and I’m starting to think I need to specify on my reservation that I’d prefer a regular room. In this case I felt silly wanting to be moved for a short weekend trip, so I left it alone.

The other issue with the handicapped room was that there was no closet…everything was hung in the entertainment center, in the tall doors on either side of the TV:

In the end, I just don’t think this room was as nice as the villa we stayed in at the Boardwalk in June 2011. Maybe it’s personal preference, due to the décor or the issues I had with lack of closet and bathroom counter space…I just didn’t like it quite as much.

Anyhoo, I pretty much walked in, quickly unpacked, and headed right back out…it was time for Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios!

 

[enchanted_belle]

I'm training for the Tower of Terror 10 miler in September. I am nervous because I'm definitely not a runner at all but I'm determined to complete it, even if I have to crawl across the finish line!! :lol:

I'm hoping to do the ToT 10-miler too! You will have a blast. Disney races are the BEST. :sohappy: Good luck with your training!!

I feel like we're going to have a big wdwmagic girls party at the 10-miler too haha! :lol: Even if it's just for the weekend, I'm hoping to go down!

and, yay trip reports! Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I feel like we're going to have a big wdwmagic girls party at the 10-miler too haha! :lol: Even if it's just for the weekend, I'm hoping to go down!

and, yay trip reports! Can't wait to hear all about it.

I definitely feel we should all meet up at some point then!! Since we will be there at the same time and all

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

I'm so excited for this marathon trip report! Looking for tips on running the ToT 10-miler..already started my training...struggling a little bit but hoping the running gets better as I go along..

I'll have to chime in and say I love the pup as well! He is adorable!!!

And get well wishes to Will as well!

I definitely feel we should all meet up at some point then!! Since we will be there at the same time and all

Yes we definitely should!

 

[tiaragirl]

This is looking verrrry promising - don't leave me hanging! Can't wait for more!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I know just what you mean about how life leading up to a trip can impact the trip. I hope your DH continues on his road to recovery. Agreed with the others on the pooch: adorable! I like your rule to include a pic in each of your reports. I may need to adopt that with my baby girl!

Can't wait for more! Now that y'all are talking about the ToT 10-mile I actually looked at the date(s). The 29th is the day we get back from our cruise. I *could* come over to WDW for a day or two to run it! I wonder how that would work...running a 10-miler at the end of a 7-day cruise. Hhhmm....I'd have to stay on my toes and not over-indulge. That could be a really great thing! Hhhmmm....maybe I'll see y'all there! :wave:

 

[diddy_mouse]

Hey Shannon! I was curious when I'd see your marathon report and look what I found when I logged on tonight.

Hope Will has a speedy recovery! And major points for him making sure you laced up your shoes and got in your run. That's love right there!

Can't wait to read more.

 

[crystalight33]

Yay!!! You've started your trip report!! I'm so sorry to hear Will had to bow out this time. Glad to hear he is doing better. Did Princess Craiggy run the full with you? I also adore your monster. If he's anything like my pug beagle mix, then he earned the nickname "monster" :ROFLOL:

I'm looking forward to the next installment!

Krista

 

[enchanted_belle]

I definitely feel we should all meet up at some point then!! Since we will be there at the same time and all

I'm so excited for this marathon trip report! Looking for tips on running the ToT 10-miler..already started my training...struggling a little bit but hoping the running gets better as I go along..

Now that y'all are talking about the ToT 10-mile I actually looked at the date(s). The 29th is the day we get back from our cruise. I *could* come over to WDW for a day or two to run it! I wonder how that would work...running a 10-miler at the end of a 7-day cruise. Hhhmm....I'd have to stay on my toes and not over-indulge. That could be a really great thing! Hhhmmm....maybe I'll see y'all there! :wave:

I need to sit down and figure out money logistics for it to see if I can pop down for a weekend (I think Jess and I talked about even staying together! )... I'd love to make a full trip out of it, but with student teaching in the fall, I can't take off from my class duties.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I know just what you mean about how life leading up to a trip can impact the trip. I hope your DH continues on his road to recovery. Agreed with the others on the pooch: adorable! I like your rule to include a pic in each of your reports. I may need to adopt that with my baby girl!

Can't wait for more! Now that y'all are talking about the ToT 10-mile I actually looked at the date(s). The 29th is the day we get back from our cruise. I *could* come over to WDW for a day or two to run it! I wonder how that would work...running a 10-miler at the end of a 7-day cruise. Hhhmm....I'd have to stay on my toes and not over-indulge. That could be a really great thing! Hhhmmm....maybe I'll see y'all there! :wave:

I think this is FABULOUS idea Kelly! My sister and I are NOT runners at all (I did dance for 18 years though so I'd like to think I'm at least somewhat athletic!) so we will be going at a slow, leisure pace probably towards the back of the pack lol but we just want to say "Hey, we did it!"

 

[Ariel484]

I feel like we're going to have a big wdwmagic girls party at the 10-miler too haha! Even if it's just for the weekend, I'm hoping to go down!

and, yay trip reports! Can't wait to hear all about it.

I definitely feel we should all meet up at some point then!! Since we will be there at the same time and all

That would be ridiculously fun...good thing we still have 9+ months to plan it :lol:

I'm so excited for this marathon trip report! Looking for tips on running the ToT 10-miler..already started my training...struggling a little bit but hoping the running gets better as I go along..

You're in great shape if you've started training already! My advice to you would be to just go sloooooow at first. Don't feel any pressure to get super fast quickly if you're just starting out!

I'll have to chime in and say I love the pup as well! He is adorable!!!

And get well wishes to Will as well!

Thanks for the Archie love! And Will thanks you for the get well wishes!

This is looking verrrry promising - don't leave me hanging! Can't wait for more!

Sorryyyyyy.....forgive me?

I know just what you mean about how life leading up to a trip can impact the trip. I hope your DH continues on his road to recovery. Agreed with the others on the pooch: adorable! I like your rule to include a pic in each of your reports. I may need to adopt that with my baby girl!

Yeah, as much as I was hoping to forget reality for the weekend, it just didn't happen. I did still have a lot of fun though!

And I would LOVE to see some more pics of Riley Belle, Kelly! :sohappy:

Can't wait for more! Now that y'all are talking about the ToT 10-mile I actually looked at the date(s). The 29th is the day we get back from our cruise. I *could* come over to WDW for a day or two to run it! I wonder how that would work...running a 10-miler at the end of a 7-day cruise. Hhhmm....I'd have to stay on my toes and not over-indulge. That could be a really great thing! Hhhmmm....maybe I'll see y'all there!

Adrenaline will pull you through!!

Hey Shannon! I was curious when I'd see your marathon report and look what I found when I logged on tonight.

Hope Will has a speedy recovery! And major points for him making sure you laced up your shoes and got in your run. That's love right there!

Can't wait to read more.

Hey Erin! Yes, Will was a great balance of cheerleader and harda-- :lol: There were times where I'd be like "Oh, I don't feel like running today," and he'd just give me a look and go "Okaaayyy...." in a tone that clearly said he didn't think it was a good idea. And then I'd think about it a bit and be out running a few minutes later. He wanted to make sure I was well-trained enough to enjoy the race. Mission accomplished!

Yay!!! You've started your trip report!! I'm so sorry to hear Will had to bow out this time. Glad to hear he is doing better. Did Princess Craiggy run the full with you? I also adore your monster. If he's anything like my pug beagle mix, then he earned the nickname "monster"

I'm looking forward to the next installment!

Krista

Yep, Princess Craiggy did run the full with me, and he loved it! :sohappy:

And I am starting to think that a dog being part beagle automatically means they'll have a bit of monstrousness (is that a word? I don't think so) in them :lol:

I need to sit down and figure out money logistics for it to see if I can pop down for a weekend (I think Jess and I talked about even staying together! )... I'd love to make a full trip out of it, but with student teaching in the fall, I can't take off from my class duties.

That's a challenge for us as well with these races, since Will is a teacher. For the Princess Half we flew out on Friday right after he was done with school and he took a personal day Monday, the day we flew home. That was the plan for marathon weekend as well...I think we'll do something similar if we make it to the ToT 10-miler.

I think this is FABULOUS idea Kelly! My sister and I are NOT runners at all (I did dance for 18 years though so I'd like to think I'm at least somewhat athletic!) so we will be going at a slow, leisure pace probably towards the back of the pack lol but we just want to say "Hey, we did it!"

You can do it Darolyn! My strategy (if you can call it that) with these Disney races is just to relax and enjoy myself. You'll love it!

 

[Ariel484]

If there’s one thing I love the most about the Epcot resorts, it’s the location. The ability to walk to 2 parks cannot be beat.

At about 8:15, I exited the villas and was back in the Beach Club Resort near the Marketplace. Here was my first sign that, oh yeah, it was Marathon Weekend.

Eek!

Through the lobby…

…and onward to the Studios!

After crossing the bridge near the Swan and Dolphin, I ran into another sign that the marathon was actually happening…porto-potties and a med tent!

Yikes! I said a quick prayer to the runDisney gods that I wouldn’t have to visit said med tent on Sunday and continued on my way to the park.

This walk was somehow longer than I remembered…I think it took me about 25 minutes to get to the park entrance. And would you believe my feet and back were a little sore already? And I actually stepped funny at one point and tweaked my knee (not too badly, just a bit of pain that went away quickly). What a wimp. I made a mental note to stay off my feet more – after all, I was planning on running a marathon on Sunday – and was very pleased to see the Christmas tree was still up!

Here are some crappy pictures…this is what happens without a tripod, I guess.

It was odd seeing Christmas stuff up and hearing Christmas music when Christmas had been over for 2 weeks, but it was nice at the same time…almost like a little marathon weekend bonus.

 

[Ariel484]

First stop was Toy Story, which had way too long of a line (70-80 minutes I think?). So I strolled beyond Pixar Place and found the Osborne Lights!

It was bittersweet to see the lights…this was my first time, and I’d always wanted to see them, but it was odd not having someone to share it with. So I took a picture on my phone, sent it out to Will, mom and Craig, and started to explore.

As I was looking around I realized that in my previous trips to WDW, I’ve never actually been to this area of the park before. How stupid is that?!

Once I’d had my fill of the lights, I headed to Sunset Boulevard. Single rider for Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster wasn’t open and the standby line was way too long (over an hour) so I headed to my absolute favorite…the Tower of Terror!

I almost felt guilty going on this without Will, as it's his favorite too, but I knew I’d get yelled at if I didn’t. Plus, well…I just really, really wanted to ride it. I got stuck with a few obnoxious guys in the library that seemed to really want to prove to everyone just how much they knew about this ride (“Hmm, I bet the lights will go out! I bet the TV will turn on now!” etc.). Dude, you’re not impressive. Shut up. Then, as I entered the Boiler Room I found myself behind a group of cheerleaders who were, apparently, planning to chant “Down the shaft! Down the shaft! Down! The! Shaft!” during their ride. :lookaroun Okay, I’ll admit it, that one made me giggle…having said that, when they went into the line to the right, I veered left. Then I ended up sitting next to a super obnoxious dude on the ride that was screaming and yelling "WOOOOOOHHHHH!" at random points. Awesome.

So despite all these super cool people I'd encountered, the ride was most excellent as usual. On the way out I grabbed a ToT coffee mug and shirt for Will.

By now it was about 10PM and I hadn’t had dinner yet. I made my way out of the park and, keeping my promise to myself to stay off my feet, did something I almost never do when staying in the Epcot area: took a Friendship Boat back to the resort. Very relaxing.

Love this window display:

I got dinner at the Beach Club Marketplace (some kind of turkey & cranberry brie sandwich, which was pretty good), called Will, and was in bed by about 11. My travel companions were due to arrive the next day! Yeehaw!