Pre-Trip Run, Chickie! RUN!!!

HouCuseChickie · Sep 18, 2019

MinnieM123 said:
Lovely racoon eyes!

I've seen some people with those compression sleeves. Stupid question: what are they for? I think they look kinda cool, and was just wondering if people wear them to keep their arms warm? Or is there another benefit to wearing them?

It's funny...I follow a vlog called "Running in Makeup" and the girl has stuff on what to wear when running...and I'm sure her mascara tips would prevent this. Clearly, I have not purchased anything of this kind at this point. As nice as she looks in her pictures for Disney race stuff, I'm not sure I could be bothered with makeup at 3am.

Compression (sleeves, socks, pants, etc.) can help prevent muscle soreness, improve circulation and muscle recovery, regulate body temp better, and help keep muscles from tightening up. I prefer compression on my legs and feet when running and walking (yet I hate my knee high compression socks), but it can't hurt to have it on my arms. I'm seriously thinking about pants for the half (vs capris or shorts) because I tend to have more tightening in cooler months and I think the compression on my calf muscles would help. Mind you, this was walking, but I remember that half I did in 2015 and my calves were a mess for a good mile and half before things loosened up. I was in good shoes, but had on capris and average socks. It was upper 40s at race time and I have to wonder if I would have fared better with compression pants.

HouCuseChickie · Sep 21, 2019

I was going to wait until after the race tomorrow to post, but I want to put this out there before the run...and I am going to run...but I'm no longer going into this with the same kind of energy and expectations. I mean, if I run a PR or hit my goal...great, but I'm no longer going to freak out over any of this and I definitely won't be going out of my way to hit that POT goal for this RunDisney exprience.

First off, let me preface this by saying that I know others got it far worse than us. There are people all over my town and this part of the Houston area that lost everything. So, our level of flooding and my emotions over all of this make me feel a bit guilty when I see people who were harder hit...especially those who flooded back in May and/or during Harvey. Still, Thursday was a really dreadful day.

This is the pic that I keep coming back to. We'd hit a point where I was afraid to open my front door for fear a ton of water would come rushing in. So, I was standing on a step stool, in my dining room, looking out the top of the window...

Blurry...but this was the last time I would open the door before I could tell the water was receding.

And the video to go with it...

We still hadn't gotten around to replacing our mailbox after the May flooding, but in case you're wondering...if I were standing in front of my mailbox, that water would have been chest high. I took this one thinking about our postal carrier and what it would look like to have them on the street trying to deliver mail...not that any of this was passable at this point.

At times, it was hard not to marvel a bit at it. I mean, in this pic, it's deep enough and clear enough that it just looks like a freshwater pond in my yard.

In fact, it was that grass that was able to show me that the water had gone down a bit and it was a little bit safer to step outside to survey some things...

The fire hydrant got me thinking about how hydrants are useless at a time like this.

You don't always think about fires when there's so much water out there, but our friends' house was struck by lightning on Thursday and while there was no fire, I'm not sure the fire trucks could have done a thing if they were able to get through the water. I actually saw one that couldn't see the curb in the high water and got stuck in the mud.

So, what's our known damage at this point? We had some water come in the front door as well as the front of our dining room. We had some water get in the majority of our cubby style benches in the family room along the back of the house, a little bit of water in the back door to our laundry room, and there was some moisture in the fireplace. There wasn't any real standing water in the house, so I'll spare you wet tile pics, but you can see the carpeting and cubbies.

I didn't take any driveway pics when the water was at its peak, but afterwards, I took some pics from the street along with pics of my tires for added perspective to show how high the water got at its worst. The tire pic didn't really turn out well, but the water got about 1/4-1/3 of the way up on my tires.

So...where are we at now? Well, we've ripped out the carpeting and padding in the front room that was wet and bleached the area. We've also cleaned out everything in the garage that got wet. We do have flood insurance and have been in touch with our agent, so hopefully, that process will go smoothly.

When all of this happened, I started to wonder if this 10k would even happen, but it's still going on as planned. So, I'm going to get up bright and early tomorrow to run. And maybe I'll do well...and maybe I won't, but right now, I'm just need this run to get out some of my frustration and anxiety from this week.

On a more upbeat note, I was scrolling through Facebook last night and noticed that HappyPuppies was running a 20% off code for the weekend. I had already been eyeing their black pants for my half costume and really like them better than anything I own. So, the sale seemed like the perfect opportunity to buy them. My white shirt, blue shirt and pink running sleeves also arrived.

I'm going to go for a walk this evening just to keep my legs loose and maybe start sewing roses on my tutu. That all seems therapeutic...right?

Swissmiss · Sep 21, 2019

Glad that damage to your house was only “minimal”. What a stressful thing to get thru - I can completely understand your perspective about your race. Best of luck!

MinnieM123 · Sep 22, 2019

Best of luck with the race. It may be just the fun activity you need right now, to boost your spirits after that horrible storm.

Swissmiss · Sep 22, 2019

Hope your race went well today. I got a shiny Mickey and Minnie medal for mine today

HouCuseChickie · Sep 22, 2019

Swissmiss said:
Glad that damage to your house was only “minimal”. What a stressful thing to get thru - I can completely understand your perspective about your race. Best of luck!

Swissmiss said:
Hope your race went well today. I got a shiny Mickey and Minnie medal for mine today

Not an ideal situation for any week. While I think we're the only ones in our little part of our village that got water inside, I only have to walk a block to see people's entire lives on the curb. It's incredibly depressing!

Well, I've got bling envy! These last two races have had no finisher's bling, but a Mickey & Minnie medal is far superior to anything they were handing out to top finishers at my race today. Hope you had a blast. I've been seeing pics coming out of a couple of my Facebook groups and it looks like it's been an outstanding race weekend.

MinnieM123 said:
Best of luck with the race. It may be just the fun activity you need right now, to boost your spirits after that horrible storm.

Thanks! Yeah, it was a nice distraction to get out there. The area for this run flooded badly during Harvey. One of the favorite restaurants in this spot just reopened in June due to the extensive flood damage. Thankfully, this part of town didn't flood this time.

*I'm going to post later on how things went, my thoughts, and plans for the future. For now, I need to put away the groceries and get ready to grill some burgers for dinner

HouCuseChickie · Sep 22, 2019

So, I lost a little more sleep than planned with this one...even though the race starting line is less than 10 minutes from my house. I put together flat me and then moved it to the floor so that I could get some sleep.

The roads were closing along the race route by 6:30am and I wasn't sure how they were going to manage it all, so I chose to get there before anything closed. While I could have parked where I always do during my practice runs in this area, it's about 1.25 miles each way. I planned to walk to loosen up my legs, but I wasn't planning on 2.5 miles of walking, so I gave up some sleep in hopes of easier road conditions in a better/closer parking area.

I pulled in, parked, and found out I was parked in an area where I couldn't park. They were very nice about it, but I guess the entry was supposed to be barricaded...and it wasn't. I found parking in the adjacent garage, downed my main bottle of Tailwind, put myself together (along with some mild foam rolling for my calf muscles) and started walking around.

While I didn't take a picture, one of the first things I noticed was the number of porta potties. As you may recall, my last race had a whopping 3. This race had 15...two of which were ADA compliant porta potties.

Now, no running had started, but I wasn't getting the standoffish vibe I was getting at my last race. There were still some people who looked very serious, but something felt different. Sure, I was where I live and there's some comfort in that...but the last race wasn't far from my old house and was fairly familiar territory as well.

The 10K was supposed to start at 7:30 (15 min before the 5k), but they called the 10k runners to the start a good 10-15 min before race time. I was a little bothered, but it wound up being a really good thing for two reasons.

1. They let the 10k start a couple minutes early...which gave us a little extra time away from the 5k runners.
2. I met some ladies at the starting line. One is having her arm twisted by her daughter to run a 10 miler and a half, so she's trying to build up mileage. Another was there to start prepping for some other Houston races. The third lady ran Dopey at WDW last year and has done other Disney races. Oh, and shoes...we all talked about shoes...and how fun it is to go to races and see all of the shoes. The one lady was even wearing the Levitates I bought to go with my Cheshire Cat costume. It reminded me a lot of the pre-race time with that half I did in 2015. Our paces would all be different, but it created a little extra support group at the starting line.

Now, I was quite familiar with the course, but I wasn't sure if they were going to have us start to our right or our left. We ended up going to the left (south), which meant getting up on the bridge right after the start. I love the bridge...that's where all those sunrise pics I've posted come from...but part of me wanted to go north so that we hit the bridge around mile 3. I like that view as motivation and I tend to hop on the struggle bus around this point with the mental monsters. Oh well, I didn't design the course.

As we started approaching the turnaround for this section, we also started passing the faster runners. I loved seeing that the lead runner was a paraplegic in his recumbent racing cycle. He got huge cheers from the crowd of runners. We were also in that point before the 5k runners entered the race, so many of the faster runners were waving, giving thumbs up, smiling, or shouting out words of encouragement to the rest of us. THIS is what I remember from doing that half...and this the kind of stuff I love to see in races. I also made sure to pay it forward when I made that turn. Oh, and a couple of those ladies from the starting line were also up ahead of me and when they made that turn, we became part of each others' cheering squads.

As you'd expect, things got more congested once the 5k joined in. There were around 320 5k runners to the 200 10k runners, but this meet up point in the race really wasn't too bad. I could anticipate it...move accordingly...and wasn't too thrown off. Really, while the struggle bus started to pull up in mile 3, it really wasn't until some point between miles 5 and 6 where I was feeling spent. It didn't help that my running podcast wasn't as fun this week. It was a good subject, but it wasn't as uplifting and at some point had me feel like I was dragging. I had my phone tucked into my new running belt and didn't want to fish it out...for fear I'd mess with my pace even more or worse...have things fall out on the pavement. So, I just went with it. What also helped...the 10k had to pass the starting line (which is where the 5k left the course to finish)...which meant having 10k runners closer to the finish running towards me at this point...which meant the words of encouragement started up again. And while I was beat, I really tried doing the same for those behind me in that last half mile.

I got a burst of energy towards the end and really picked up my pace (for me). If it had hit me a bit sooner, I might have even met my goal. BUT I could see from my watch that I'd be behind that goal again. Still, I wanted to be better than I was before, so I was digging and crossed the finish line with a better time. I felt awful...but I did better. I just wasn't sure how much better. Yes, I'm wearing my Garmin, but the numbers weren't adding up for me. The pace it was quoting seemed much better than the corresponding time. In my last 10k, my chip pace was showing a bit faster than my watch pace, sooooo...I needed to see my official time to know for sure. I knew it wasn't sub 1:15 though, so I was already bummed...although, another runner was my ray of sunshine at this moment.

I was trying to find bottled water when a woman approached me. She said she was behind me for the whole race, but was watching me and how good I was being about trying to maintain a steady pace, keeping my intervals, etc. I felt a bit defeated and she really picked me up.

I found my water and started wandering in hopes of finding race results...

The screen on that trailer above had race results, but they were impossible to read. I did find paper ones posted, but they never updated them after a certain point. I waited around for some time only to find out that they were only posting top results. So, I'd have to wait for things to go online to find out my actual numbers.

I added my bib to my growing collection when I got home. I think it's funny that all three bibs start with 2 and end with 9.

Yeah...no bling with this race either...well, unless you were a top 3 finisher. So, I had to be happy with my shirt...which is the same exact shirt (same color) I got from my last race...just with a different logo.

While I was grocery shopping, race results went up and I did improve. My official chip time was 1:15:43...so, I was 45 seconds off of my goal. My official pace was a 12:13 min mile. My watch had me at a 12:09 min mile, with a finish time of 1:15:50, so you can see my confusion. I know the finish time on my watch isn't going to be as precise as it relies on me stopping and starting the watch...but it was pretty darn close for time.

Oh...race conditions...It was upper 70s, 95% humidity, and while there was more of a breeze than the last race...it wasn't as significant as it normally is...maybe the lack of cars moving by that I'd normally have on a training run. Oh...and while it was only for less than a tenth of a mile each way, there was one section that had some flood debris that was pretty stinky. Unlike the other race area that was right on a stagnant water feature, nobody expected us to be dealing with flood stuff for this one.

So, what now? I'm not sure...but I may only have a week to decide.

There is a part of me that is just ready to say I'm doing with proof of time racing for now...focus on my training plan...and throw in a 10k once things cool off here a bit, since that might be able to use for 2021 Princess. There's the other half of me that wants to give one more try before the deadline...which just got more challenging. Weeks ago, I found a 10k that was supposed to be run 2 days before the Disney deadline. I'm guessing it was canceled, because I can't find it on ANY of the race calendars. The only other 10k I know of that won't require travel is the Houston Astros Badges & Bases run this coming Saturday. I'm finding more cons that pros...

Pros-
- It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun...I mean, the Astros just clinched the pennant today, and we get to cross the finish line inside Minute Maid!
- It's another chance to try and meet my goal before the deadline.
- I haven't seen a course map, but this race would be in downtown...which is pretty flat. I've done a few 5ks from this spot and with the exception of one course, all of them had 0 elevation gain.
- My training plan for the 10k ended, but the one for the combo races is in progress and I have 5 miles slated for next weekend...so, 6.2 would work too.

Cons-
- A lot of people advised me to build in a rest weekend in between races so that your body can recover...so, 14 days. This would only give me 5 days.
- The idea of racing for time right now just doesn't feel very appealing...like I miss the peace and growth of my training time.
- It appears that the 5k and 10k start at the same time, so the starting line will likely be madness...since I see a lot of people wanting to do the 5k.
- While I'm sure parking will be well managed since it's HPD and an MLB team, dealing with parking in downtown...especially with race road closures, can be madness.
- The weather won't be any better...and I'll be juggling this with softball, a school banquet, and a big school arts fundraiser.

I signed up for it...so that's something...but, if things get too crazy or I'm not feeling it...I don't have to go. I would hate throwing the money away, but it's also not like Disney race $.

So, that's it for now.

Swissmiss · Sep 23, 2019

It it helps, you and I have very similar times for the 10k and the year I ran a half at WDW my POT was 1:15:16 and I wasn’t in the last corral.

Yesterday however, I was WAY off - I was passing the 10k marker at 1h30ish. Though it is possible that I ran nearly an additional mile over the course of the race weaving in the beginning and going wide in some places. And there were a couple of places where you had to choose to veer left or right and as I did so I remember thinking “idiot, you’ve got to go to the opposite side after that so you’ve just added unnecessary distance!”

MinnieM123 · Sep 23, 2019

Congratulations for even taking on this race, after all the other things you're dealing with lately. I'm sure your family is proud of your efforts.

Good for you!!!

Also, with the high humidity, (I saw how red your face was at the end), I know I would have passed out in that heat -- I don't know how managed to finish, even with prior training. Hot is hot!! (I'm not a runner to begin with, but the thought of "

ushing it" in that weather, would have done me in.)

HouCuseChickie · Sep 23, 2019

Swissmiss said:
It it helps, you and I have very similar times for the 10k and the year I ran a half at WDW my POT was 1:15:16 and I wasn’t in the last corral.

Yesterday however, I was WAY off - I was passing the 10k marker at 1h30ish. Though it is possible that I ran nearly an additional mile over the course of the race weaving in the beginning and going wide in some places. And there were a couple of places where you had to choose to veer left or right and as I did so I remember thinking “idiot, you’ve got to go to the opposite side after that so you’ve just added unnecessary distance!”

That's great to hear! I mean, I know I don't belong in a corral with what I'd describe as fast(er) runners, but it would be nice to have some of a buffer from the back and be able to run without some of the congestion I'm seeing in vids of the last corral. Nothing against the people in the last corral, especially since there are likely to be some who are fast and just didn't get (or know) to submit a POT.

I know some people don't do the Disney races with time in mind, but the time you've noted has me wondering how long it's actually going to take me to get through. I was only thinking about stops and bottlenecks, but having watched enough Disney race videos...there are a lot of spots where I could see something like veering left when you should veer right as another concern. I remember reading one guy's blog about how many people hurt their race times by adding mileage to the course with these decisions.

MinnieM123 said:
Congratulations for even taking on this race, after all the other things you're dealing with lately. I'm sure your family is proud of your efforts. Good for you!!!

Also, with the high humidity, (I saw how red your face was at the end), I know I would have passed out in that heat -- I don't know how managed to finish, even with prior training. Hot is hot!! (I'm not a runner to begin with, but the thought of "ushing it" in that weather, would have done me in.)

I could definitely feel the drain from the stress and poor eating from said stress, but it was also therapeutic to get out there. I think my husband gets it and he's always happy to hear about improvement, but the kids only understand absolute winning. I still firmly believe that finishing is winning. You never know another person's goals and battles.

Oh yea...I was HOT! And that was several minutes after I finished. It's funny...I can't drink as well from my little hydration belt bottles, so I let a lot of it just drip down my face to help cool me. I missed having the drink volume of the hydration pack, but I think using the belt did help keep me cooler. I keep watching the weather and this weekend looks like it's going to be even worse. The low is expected to be 79, but the high only 85 because rain is expected...which means humidity should be right up at 100%. 85 is nice for a high, but 79 is sticky and nearly August hot for a low. I wouldn't mind some rain, as it would help cool me, but my faster shoes don't grip as well in wet conditions. The course is very flat and on paved road for most of it. The race ends inside the ball park, so I think I should still be safe when running my hardest. Honestly, getting to finish a run in that kind of setting is approaching Disney cool...so, I think it's worth doing this one just for that experience. I mean, how often do you get to take a post race picture at home plate in an MLB park?

MinnieM123 · Sep 24, 2019

HouCuseChickie said:
I think my husband gets it and he's always happy to hear about improvement, but the kids only understand absolute winning. I still firmly believe that finishing is winning. You never know another person's goals and battles.

Hopefully in time, the kids will not see everything as a one answer only applies. Especially in your case with all you went through prior to this race, FINISHING is WINNING.

HouCuseChickie · Sep 29, 2019

I started writing this big, long, drawn out description of yesterday...and then I felt like it was too much. Still...it's too much for a little quick wrap up, IMO. It's going to be wordy in a lot of places since I haven't really perfected taking pictures or filming while running. So, while it may not follow the story, I'm just going to pepper the race narrative with some of my pre-race pictures.

Let's get the results out of the way first...I did NOT achieve my POT goal or even a PR...and I'm good with it. The exhaustion from "life" started to hit on Thursday. By Saturday morning, it had done a number on my stomach. I didn't want to bail on this because I wanted that finish line experience inside the ball park, so I decided to run it for fun. When I look back on the weather conditions (around 80 with 100% humidity at the start), the number of runners (the first mile involved a lot of leapfrogging), and the course (it was far from flat), my odds of getting a PR or a decent POT would have been really slim.

I think it was the course that would have been my undoing in this, no matter what. The original race description noted a flat course. My Garmin read this course as the most elevation gain I've had in any run in the Houston area...by close to 200'! Mile 1 was flat (like, I thought I might actually PR without trying...I'm running with so much ease kind of flat), mile 2 involved going down into a deep tunnel/underpass spot and then running back up that steep slope...and then up an overpass. It was an out and back, so the end of mile 2/beginning of mile 3 was repeating that overpass and underpass hill combo on the other side. And since the 10k was just doubling the 5k...I had to do this all over again in my second pass on the course. When I was thinking flat, I was thinking it would be like the 5k I ran in downtown in July...now that was flat!

I maintained my intervals until some point in mile 5. Ok...I think it was after doing the uphill from the tunnel/underpass and in the middle of the uphill on the overpass. The "fun" had started to slip away...and since I knew I wasn't running this for time...I just changed my intervals. The race suddenly became more fun again. In fact, not running for time and just running to run is so much more fun. I know some people love a race, but I think this is why I like my practice runs and like training for distance. i.e. I seem to get more joy out of testing my endurance in that sense. The course was not pretty unless you were looking off in the distance on the back portion, so that didn't help either. When I say not pretty...I mean we were running through a really bad area on the outskirts of downtown. In the 5k portion, I noticed a bunch of people sitting on the curb or in chairs...many wearing Astros gear...and I thought it was cool how they'd all come out to watch the race. On the 10k portion, this crowd had quadrupled and I realized that they were all lined up to get into a food bank/soup kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that there are resources like this for people...it's just not the kind of area you think about going for a run.

The ending of the race was really what attracted me in the first place...and it lived up to expectations. I made the turn towards the road going by the stadium and then got to turn and run into the street level of Minute Maid Park. They had us run through the NE corner entry bay and I was immediately hit by a blast of air conditioning. After making a turn, I hit the a downhill chute that was lined with some of the Astros' Shooting Stars girls cheering you into the stadium. There was one final turn in that downhill chute and that's where I could see the finish line...leading into right field of the ball park. I've been down on the field before during a stadium tour, but it's an entirely different experience to run into it like this. And because of the air conditioning and the steep downhill grade of the chute, I think most runners probably were able to finish really fast and strong.

I was thinking this would be just 1 post, but I'm already at 20 images (and I left out a few! well...from the pre-race), so I guess I'll be carrying over the post-race into another entry.

HouCuseChickie · Sep 29, 2019

So, I ran into the stadium...huge smile on my face...and I was instructed to move to the right...going along the outfield warning track. I stopped for a moment to take it in, but I had to keep moving along. They had a huge bank of refrigerated coolers with Powerade in a variety of flavors, but I didn't see any water. I was so darn thirsty, but I was just going to have to take what I could get. I ran with my belt today and had finished off my second bottle in mile 6. As much as I like my Tailwind, I hit a point where all I really want is water...so, I was a bit bummed. My hands were also too sweaty to open the bottle, so one of the catering staff needed to help. This would also be an issue with my phone. I was so sweaty that there was moisture on the protective screen, so I wound up taking it out of its case at some point in all of this.

Now, I saw nothing about medals for this run. Someone even asked online and I saw no response. I've had two bling-free races in a row, so I was getting used to it. As I made my way around the park, I started to notice people with some bling...and that's when I saw a line of soldiers holding medals. Yup...in center field, a line of fully uniformed US Army soldiers were handing out medals. I was so excited, because I really wasn't expecting it this time. I also had that moment while it was happening that I realized that I'm all excited over getting a medal for running 6.2 miles and this man could get called up to put his life on the line at any time. So, I quickly snapped out of it and thanked him for his service.

I then had the option to leave or join the line for a picture in front of home plate. I usually hate my race pictures, but I don't know when I'm going to have a chance like this again and I wanted to soak in the fun of being in the park, so I decided to get in line. While I consider myself a Mets fan over anything else, I've lived in Houston longer, and I really do love the Astros. We used to do mini-season ticket packages before the kids were born and we go through baseball withdrawal after each season ends. They were letting us into the dugouts, but I've done that before and didn't have anyone to take my pics; however, I noticed everything was already decked out for the ALDS. It was also a nice treat to yesterday to find out that they clinched home field with their win yesterday. I even had that moment...looking out at the mound ...realizing that it'll probably Verlander who is the next pitcher to be up there.

OK...so, I finished down on the field and decided it was time to head up and out, but not without seeing Mickey first. Some nice ladies helped me out by taking my pic and commented on my tiny iPhone. Hey, it's almost 4 years old and if it does the job...I don't see the need to spend on a new one.

I saw the Chik-fil-a cows on the way out, but I didn't need a pic with them. I mean, they are funny and they were fun to watch pose with other people, but I think I'm one of the only people I know who doesn't like their food. I had a gift card from them in my swag bag and I gave it to a coworker. My bib also had a voucher for a free Karbach beer...but I can't drink it and the vouchers were bib specific, so that also went to waste. And then it was time to head home.

So, now what? I'm done with this POT stuff for the January races, but will try again once things cool off here. I'm just so sick of trying to be fast when it's still so summery. I'm also going to be looking into some insoles...I might even do that today if I can take a break. My friend running the 5k with me was also interested in doing a 5k together in November. The one she wants to do matches with a week where I've got 4 mi for my long run. I figure I can probably make up the .80 mi in my warm up...so that's a definite possibility. Oh...I also don't think I posted that I got some black running pants for my half marathon costume. They are the same kind as the blue ones for my 10k costume. They were offering 20% off all orders last week, so I jumped on it. I've realized that their shorts are the only thing I like being in for anything over 5 miles, so it seemed worth it.

Side note...I don't remember my exact time and it's not posted yet...but I checked it at a race kiosk and I was about 2.5 min slower than last week. So, definitely...no PRs. Still, when you consider the heat, how I was feeling, the hills, and making the decision to run for fun...that's not awful. My pace was right around 12:30 and I felt like I had a lot more in the tank.

That's all for now!

MinnieM123 · Sep 30, 2019

Congratulations on running and finishing the race, in that heat and humidity! Well done.

Question: Noticed in your photos a helicopter -- do you know what that was for, such as for any VIPs, for example?

HouCuseChickie · Sep 30, 2019

MinnieM123 said:
Congratulations on running and finishing the race, in that heat and humidity! Well done.

Question: Noticed in your photos a helicopter -- do you know what that was for, such as for any VIPs, for example?

Thanks! I'm so over the heat and humidity. They say we may see our first taste of fall (which is still much warmer than what most areas consider to be fall) by some point this weekend.

That was actually one of the Houston Police Dept's helicopters. This race involved a kid fun run before the 5k/10k and these kinds of vehicles are really popular with the little ones.

HouCuseChickie · Sep 30, 2019

Mini update that's sort of big...

1. I bought park tickets today!!! So did my friend

She got a 2-day hopper because she won't be there as long, but I got a 5-day hopper. I was only going to get a 4 BUT the 5-day was only $0.03 more than the 4-day. I was originally going to avoid the parks the day of the 10k (day before the half), but my legs tend to cramp up a lot if I don't work them out after a run. I often get on my stationary bike for 10+ miles after a run of this distance. I won't have my bike, so walking in the parks is going to be my recovery.

2. No guarantees, but there's a lot of buzz that tomorrow could be the day that discounts are released for our dates. Option 1 (not my favorite option) would be to stick with CBR and go with whatever discount is available, but if discounts are decent...Options 2 and 3 involve WL and AKL. I would prefer WL, but I'll just have to see what the pricing looks like. The reality is that my Disney rewards points should cover all of my dining, so I might be able to splurge a little if discounts are decent.

More tomorrow IF discounts come out.

HouCuseChickie · Oct 4, 2019

I feel like I've been MIA on here for a while even though it's only been a few days. Work has been insanity and the kids have a million and one things going on. I need a mental break and I made some big changes today, so I figured I'd post.

Small things first...

1. I got fitted by my run shop for some insoles the other day...

Jury is still out on these. I took them out for 2.5 miles on Wednesday in the Levitates. They felt better in the Levitates during my fitting, but during my run, I felt like I was sliding around more than normal. I also felt some discomfort, but I don't know if that was necessarily from the insoles. My feet and ankles have felt better since running in these, so I think the pains were left over from overdoing it while racing. I'm trying them in the Glycerins tonight for another shorter run. I should know by then if these are keepers.

2. As we approach the proof of time deadline, I'm seeing all kinds of theories on what Disney does for people who have no POT, POTs slower than the cutoff and just estimates. Some people insisted that a POT slower than the cutoff will automatically land you in the last corral. That makes no sense to me. Logic tells me that a person with no POT or just an estimate should go after a POT closer to the cutoff. There's a guy on another forum who, from what I've heard, is pretty well versed in this stuff. He still thinks I've got a really good chance of making it into corral F if I submit the best POT I've got. He noted a slight chance it could even bump me up into corral E (which is what I was aiming for), but also a slight chance it could land me in corral H (the last corral). It sounds like I'd probably be in corral G if I submit no POT and just an estimate. So, no guarantees here, but I'm going to go with the best POT I've got and keep my fingers crossed that Disney puts me in the proper place. Another person is giving me last corral pointers just in case I end up there. I hate saying it that way, but I've worked hard to try and avoid this. So, we'll see what happens.

3. I know this isn't earth shattering stuff, but our first real fall front of the year is just around the corner. I might actually get to run in temps that are in the upper 50s by next weekend!!!

4. While I wasn't overly impressed with the videos of Epcot Forever, I would like to see it. Pkgs for R&C came out this week and I thought about it, but I just don't know if I want to drop $90. I would like to eat at R&C since I've read that they do gluten free and dairy free really well, but I just don't think I'm going to get value out of this package. I was able to switch my 8pm ADR to 7pm. Ideally, I want something closer to 6:30 (unless the space place opens up and I can get in), but I think I can make 7pm work and still be out and find a place for the 9pm show.

5. OK...if you're still reading...this video/song is your hint for the big stuff...

So, some discounts hit today for my dates. No Disney Visa discounts, no discounts on CBR for my dates (unless you count pirate rooms-NO!), very limited options at a number of resorts, and nothing over 25% (some deluxe as little as 10%)...so it wasn't the best promo. BUT, I did the math and a standard room at AKL was only $12.97 more than my booking at CBR. So, JAMBO! I had to deliberate over this for a while. I think CBR's location is probably a bit better, but plenty of people in one of my FB run groups said AKL was really good for race trips. I also think it's going to be a bit quieter (especially with all of the Skyliner traffic) and we'll have a bit more bathroom space (something that really bothered me when we stayed at POR). We have ADRs at Boma and Sanaa, so this should add some convenience. I was hoping to share this with my friend who's coming along, but she had some family illness issues earlier this week and her lack of a reply tells me that things took a turn for the worse

HouCuseChickie · Oct 6, 2019

Our change in lodging made me realize that it calls for some changes in ADRs.

If you recall, I was thinking Flying Fish or Kimonos for my dinner the night before the half. That made sense when booked in a Skyliner resort, but I wasn't really in love with this idea...even when we were booked at CBR, and it's just not the best plan now that we'll be at AKL. So, I canceled Flying Fish and booked Jiko. I've always wanted to try it. I know the reviews haven't been as great since the chef change and I won't be able to eat the raved about macaroni, but there's still a lot I can eat and it just makes a lot of sense for me to eat in my resort the night before the biggest race of my trip. It also sounds a lot more relaxing to just head up to my room after dinner vs. taking a boat to the gondola to get back to my resort on the night before a big race.

I've also changed up my dining for the day of the half. I canceled my breakfast at Garden Grill and booked a noon ADR at Rose & Crown. I know, I had just booked that for dinner for that evening, but I had a change of heart. After watching Epcot Forever a few more times, I decided that I don't "need" to see it. If I get to with my friend...great, but I think I should close out my last night in MK and also cover some wish list items for me. MK closes at 8pm that night, so I booked a 7:55pm ADR at Skipper Canteen. As I noted before booking our air, I've wanted to try this since it opened and I know there are a number of allergy friendly dishes for me. I've also always wanted to see the Kiss Goodnight. I'm hoping to catch it after I'm done with dinner...even if it means walking to the Contemporary and getting a Lyft back to AKL.

Side note...I was so excited about the resort change that it didn't even occur to me that I'll have access to a fitness center. Light biking after a run is my favorite way to help my legs recover...and now I'm going to have a gym in my resort so I can do just that! They even have a recumbent, so it'll be as close to home as I can possibly get while away and help me stay true to nothing new on race day/week.

Oh, and while I think my hydration belt may be able to do it, I realized after reading a runDisney post on FB that I should invest in a bib belt. I came home with some holes in my shirt after last weekend's race because my bib didn't really go well with the hydration belt. So, I ordered these...

I feel like such a newb not knowing about these and relying on safety pins.

With daylight getting short. longer runs on the horizon and the time change coming, I'm also thinking about a noxgear vest and some knuckle lights.

I have a couple of headlamps already, but I've decided that I really hate wearing anything on my head. Still, I think I'm going to wait on these things until November. I think that's when I start getting into double digit mileage and the potential for some predawn run starts. Who knows...maybe I'll work them into my costumes! Then again, I don't know if I want anything too reflective since it's a mess for pictures.

Which got me thinking, if you've followed any of my Disney TRs, while I like getting pics of the kids with characters...it's usually more for character meals...unless it's a more uncommon character. I've never been one who likes to stop for M&Gs. My pictures in my TRs also tend to be more of details. It has me asking myself...what characters would be so good that I have to stop running and wait in line? The answer...not many. I still see myself stopping for neat stuff, but I think I may buy myself some time in the races if I stick to this. It also has me seriously debating Memory Maker. Outside of race time, I'll be lugging around my DSLR, like usual...which means race times are really going to be when I'd use Memory Maker. So, if I don't think I'm going to stop for a ton of pictures...is it worth the expense??? I'm thinking- no. Still time to change my mind.

Oh...and I think I've come up with a basic cake design for a mini cake for my friend. She hasn't decided on a costume for the 5k and was starting to think about skipping that altogether. I'm trying to convince her to pick running pieces in solid colors to work around a themed running skirt. We'll see, but I think I've got the perfect cake. If she does do some kind of costume, she'll still probably be sticking in the Alice in Wonderland universe with me. She's also a big mug collector. I put the two together and I get tea cups...a la Mad Tea Party! So, I'm thinking fondant covered mini wedding cake to look like two different colored/patterned tea cups on the ride. i.e. each tier is a different color scheme. Hopefully they can make little handles coming off opposite sides of the cake for each cup. And then on top...some kind of edible tea cup. If it has to be...an edible image topper of one will do. If you can't picture it...don't worry...a sketch will be coming soon

HouCuseChickie · Oct 18, 2019

Little update...

I put in my order yesterday for my night running gear and it's supposed to arrive today. I ordered the Noxgear vest above, but opted for a wrist torch instead of knuckle lights.

I like that it has a red light on the back side to add greater visibility from a secondary angle + it has a siren...in case I encounter trouble. I read a few mixed reviews, but it seems that everything in this category has mixed reviews.

I also ordered some foot pad cushions. I know...not the most exciting thing, but with my supination and Morton's neuroma issues (something I dealt with in distance walking too), I think it's for the best. I read a number of positive reviews from runners, so we'll see how it goes.

WARNING- lots of words ahead :hilarious:

On a Disney related note, I've been reading about a lot of people having problems with the Magic Band orders and the website date. Apparently, the date has been off for a number of people and they've been stuck with gray. Others have had issues with the options the system is giving and getting things to lock. So, I decided to square this away now. My friend wants pink, which is a free color, so hers was easy and it locked no problem. I decided I wanted something fun, but the options were pretty cruddy when I first checked. Still, I didn't want to pay full price for an upgraded band. So, I went back to the Disney site after looking at the ShopDisney site and was surprised to see that the upgrade options had changed. I still didn't like any of them, but this gave me hope that something I liked better might become an option. After a few days of periodically refreshing the Magic Band portion of the site, a Small World band I'd been eyeing showed up and I jumped on it! For a solid week, the account showed that I locked in my MB selection and then yesterday, I went to check on something and with a page refresh...it was gone! It wasn't even an option anymore in the upgraded band selections. I pulled up the Shop Disney site again and looked for it on there, since that seemed to trigger it last time, but nothing. After trying numerous times, I tried to order a cute Stitch band instead...only to get a message that the Stitch band was no longer in stock. I refreshed the page and the Stitch band was still there, but it still gave me the same out of stock message when trying to complete the selection. So, I gave up for a bit. When I got up this morning, a Donald Duck band was an option on my phone. Now, I'm not a fan of this new animation style, but he is my fave, so I figured I could be happy with that...so I tried that instead...only to have it give me that darn out of stock message I got with the Stitch band. I tried a few more times and I thought third time was a charm, since it locked it and I could see it after going in and out of my account several times on my phone. I thought all was good, and then I checked on my computer...and it was gone! It was still showing as an option if I wanted to add it, so I tried and it was back to the stupid out of stock messages. I pounded my fists on the desk a few times and went back to Shop Disney to see what was on there again...and again, refused to pay full price for an upgraded band. I know it sounds crazy, but I went back to MDE and gave it one more try for an upgraded band. The selections had changed and that Small World band I first tried to get was back in among the options. I locked it in again and this time, it took me to a payment page. Hey...it's been a long time since I've ordered bands for an onsite trip (July 2016), so I forgot about this part. Everything went through, so assuming they don't mess it up...this will be my band!

Considering my friend is going for solid pink, it'll be nice to sort of coordinate. I am not a pink person, but this pink against all of it evokes mental images of Charlie brown cartoons and other mid-century modern artsy elements that used this pink in the background.

Other than that...I'm starting to think about POT races in case I decide to run Princess in 2021. There are several in February and March that are probably better options, but I saw one for December 7th and I kind of love the medal and swag...

We'll see. Running really hard for time put a strain on my body that training runs didn't do and I don't know if I want to compromise things when I'm a month away from the trip at that point. I realize Disney is racing too, but I will not be running for time, so it's not the same kind of stress.

Speaking of...I know I have a good 2 months before this happens, but I'm getting nervous about corrals after seeing W&D placement. I've seen all kinds of posts over the last week and it's making me stress a bit about where I'll end up. I also realized I shorted myself by a second when putting in my POT. Sure, they have access to the race result link to see that I actually rounded up, but it's one more thing to add some anxiety. In the end, it won't stop me from running. Time will tell, but I guess I still know it won't keep me from running.

Oh...one last thing(s)...
While I haven't done full blown costume testing, I have taken advantage of the couple of cool days over the last week and tested some of my costume elements.
1. Happy Puppies pants- LOVE! Seriously, I cannot begin to tell you how much I love these. I think I love them even more than the shorts. I can't wear knee high compression socks in summer weather because it's too hot, but I forgot how much I loved wearing pants that compress a bit in cooler temps.
2. Long sleeve tops for half and 10k costume- While I like the shirts, I think I am going to buy tanks and arm sleeves as my alternative plan. It was 52 when I started running on Saturday and 54 when I started running yesterday. In both cases, I was too warm by mile 2 to wear these tops. Now, I did have a tank underneath to help keep my core a bit warmer, so I'm going to have to test them again without the tank and see how I do.

That's it for now!

MySmallWorldof4 · Oct 21, 2019

HouCuseChickie said:
WOW!!! That's amazing! Great for you! I'm sure you feel a million times better too. Pain reduction and improved comfort make it worth all of the changes and effort...especially for WDW!

It looks like it's all DF too and I see she does alternative sweeteners for a number of items. We're planning on hitting Disney Springs at least once, so I plan on trying things in the bakery too. I've just asked my friend to keep me from eating my weight in GF/DF donuts! Speaking of...I think I may make a belated bday cake for my hubby this weekend and if I do it, I'm going to try your sweetener and butter substitute suggestions. Alternately, I'm going to watch them all eat supermarket cake! LOL

Super late to this ptr. I recently discovered a sugar substitute. It is a monk fruit and erythritol blend. Found it on Amazon. I use it in my gluten and dairy free baking.
Congratulations on all that weight loss. That's amazing!

Pre-Trip Run, Chickie! RUN!!!

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