The Raven's Roost

IT'S SO FREAKING COLD

The WDW Marathon Weekend course maps are out. I think I'll casually take a look at the Facebook group and see what everyone's mad about this year.

Let's see:
Parking lot laps at Blizzard Beach - we're familiar with this one. Since we no longer run around ESPN we've got to pick up miles somewhere. The water parks are usually closed that time of year so this is an easy place to have us run around and set up food and water tables. Also BB has a couple of sets of bathrooms.

EPCOT is the same as last year, I think. Around the World Showcase to start, then out to the highway past The Seas. Back into EPCOT for the last mile looks like same as last year - we don't stay in the park that long because it will be open for guests at that point.

Magic Kingdom - this is different! Perhaps I do "Disney Adult" wrong, because I like it when things change. Anyway, we still run up the highway along the monorail line, but once we're inside the Mouse House, we are going to circle the park the opposite way of what we normally do. We get to run through Adventureland, which I've never done, then through Frontierland, etc, through the castle, then out through Tomorrowland. This is likely because demolition will already be starting on Rivers of America, so we won't be able to exit the park through that back gate.

Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios look about the same as previous years - by the time you get to these locations, they'll be open for guests, so while Disney wants you to be able to get your park photo ops in, they also don't want runners taking up too much walkway space. It looks like we still run past the elephant and rhino barns, so we get to smell the magic there.

The narrow foot path between EPCOT and HS that's usually the bane of my running existence should actually not be super crowded that late in the race. Last year it seems like there were quite a few of us, but we weren't elbow to elbow. We don't exit EPCOT by Mexico which is good and bad. No margaritas = bad. Not needing to run past several large dumpsters = good.

The start time has been moved up significantly, which Fox and I actually like. Starting earlier means finishing earlier. Disney says they've done this to give runners more time in the parks. We'll obviously be needing to go to bed even earlier but I think on the whole that it's a good change. Gets us slower runners out of the sun a little earlier.

Oddly enough I can't find maps for Wine & Dine Weekend, but they're probably the same as last year.

(The image is a screen capture of the RunDisney registration page, thanking me for my patience. I've underlined in red a bit that says 'do not refresh as you prepare to begin the registration process.')

In other words, fixin' to get started.

We got to Disney on Wednesday but that's just a set-up day. We typically visit with Fox's parents, then get to Fort Wilderness and set up the camper, and we don't do much else to speak of. We mainly don't want to set up the camper in the dark if we can help it. Thursday was a blackout day for our passes, so we noodled around other places.

We got our awning and stuff up that morning and I'll get some pics later. We've changed how we use the inside of the camper, too, so it's less cluttered and crowded. It's an ongoing learning process. Anyway, we're right at the bus stop which is going to be nice for race morning. I thought it would be more annoying here, with the bathrooms next door, too, but I haven't noticed.

Yesterday we went to Disney Springs for pizza and then decided to go look for a Publix to buy some camp food - namely a bag of the fancy sauerkraut we like, since I haven't been making my own as much lately. We ended up in Celebration, which is Disney's planned community. It's a really attractive little area, but I imagine their HOA is on steroids and I would not want to deal with it. Especially since as soon as someone tells me shit like, "You need to mow your grass more frequently, it's too long, and your mailbox isn't painted an acceptable color" I go full Contrarian and will do any and everything in my power to NOT comply. I was probably a fun child to raise.

Anyway the upshot of all this is this.


Yeah, that's an electrical pylon shaped like Mickey Mouse! Fox has been meaning to show me this thing for years, but they built a freeway flyover lane and it blocks the normal view he was used to. But as we were exploring the Celebration area and found this "retro 50's" looking Publix, we pulled around behind the store and ... there it was. If you're curious about it, here's an article from Atlas Obscura.

I'm trying to actually add descriptions to my pics for folks using screen readers, so if my text is confusing or my descriptions are bad please don't hesitate to comment and let me know.

We made it home safely, picking up Feisal from boarding along the way. The vet says his diabetes is controlled well enough that she was able to vaccinate him, so he's all up to date now, and he charmed the workers by meowing for pets every time someone walked by his crate.

I'm trying to post a more complete update here but I'm dead tired and my brain is a plate of scrambled eggs. We've been busy since we got home, and now of course there's a HURRICANE because why not. Though from what I'm seeing, Nicole will basically be a category 1, then make landfall and drop back to a tropical storm. But all that's going to happen overnight.

Anyway, the races this past weekend went really well for Fox, who PR'd both! He was feeling good so he just took off out of the gate, LOL. On the half, he slightly strained or overdid his calf muscle and was in a bit of pain, but the medics at the finish line tied a sack of ice to his leg with saran wrap, and today he says it basically just feels a little stiff. Now he's just got either a seriously bad cold or allergies - con crud.

I had a less than stellar run. And when I say "my times were bad," I mean compared to my previous times, and not in an absolute way. But my half marathon performance was awful. I came in at JUST under three hours and was dead. I was in agony the whole time, but I managed to talk myself through the whole ordeal and not give up, so I'm proud of myself for that.

See, I bought some Hokas recently. Extra cushiony bouncy happy, should be great for a long run, right? Except, all that pain I have on long runs anymore isn't overtraining, it's the stupid maximalist running shoes. Some people do really well in them, but others don't, because it doesn't allow your feet to act like springs, the way they're supposed to. The shoes were absorbing a lot of the energy when I'd push off, so I struggled with getting up to speed and staying there. Some studies were done showing the softer shoes increase force, and your joints end up paying for it. It was an interesting series of papers to skim over, but basically, they may benefit some runners, but be very bad for others. Lesson learned for me - the Hokas are recovery shoes. I'm better off running in a less cushioned model and should stick to my Asics and Mizunos. But yeah, I had YouTube Music give me the heaviest of heavy metal - the loudest, fastest, screamiest stuff it had and managed to drag my carcass over the finish line but I did not have a good time out there.

So, of course I'm running a full marathon in two weeks! :D

Actually I went out for a 7 miler this morning and felt really good. I figured I should get a run in before the storm hits, and hopefully the rain will pound the sand down some. I also passed a house a couple of miles down the road that has pigs! A couple of adults and a whole bunch of piglets.

We're still more or less ready from when the last hurricane went through, so getting ready for this one wasn't difficult. Where we live, we won't know too much until tonight or in the morning. I may sleep through it, but I'll probably go look at NOAA if I wake up during the night. It's been very windy all day, with a lot of cloud cover, and it sounds like the winds are picking up some.

My nearest neighbor, the one with all the pit bulls ... got rid of them.

Yes, you read that right. And it was a day of much personal rejoicing. She sold all three of the shitbeasts and I'm now happily back to my dog-free existence. More or less, there are still some on my running route, but on a daily basis I don't have her stupid fucking dogs in my yard, barking through the night, or dragging trash everywhere. So it's been a good couple of weeks to be me.

It's also been good to be me because I went to Disney World! I mean, I ran a whole bunch while I was there, too. But I saw a guy wearing a shirt during the marathon that said, "I RunDisney so I can EatDisney," and I was like, me too, brother. Me too.

This year's Dopey Challenge was my fifth. I went into it feeling a lot of anxiety because I'd spent much of my summer and fall focused on a fast half-marathon, then tried to cram a massive mileage increase into six weeks, and felt simultaneously over-trained and under-trained. I couldn't finish a twenty mile run to save my life. I was constantly tired, and I finally just dreaded lacing up and going out the door.

So I was happy when Fox found we were in the same starting group and suggested we run together, with the idea that we could keep it slow and save ourselves for the full marathon on Sunday. Good idea, Fox! And we did more or less that. The 5 and 10k both were done at an easy pace. So far so good.

Saturday's half was almost a disaster. I wasn't sure whether Fox was behind or in front after we got separated, but I was having a great run up until about mile 11.5 when ... my old calf injury woke up and said, "Hey lady, fuck you!" and I limped the remaining distance. My finish line photos are painful to look at. I'm trying not to cry - not only from the pain but because I'm now telling myself, "You've just fucked your marathon, you won't finish, you'll have wasted all this money on the challenge and won't make it, you suck, you stupid, out of shape, moronic fool." I hobbled around that afternoon trying to work it out, stretching, using my accupressure pad (a Christmas gift to myself - a Spoonk mat) and Sunday I woke up feeling stiff. Both calves kind of ached. Well, I can walk, and run slowly, so I'll just take it easy and make sure I don't get swept.

By mile 8 or so I was definitely feeling tired and grouchy - running is stupid. Fox and I caught up to each other just outside the Magic Kingdom and ran together for a while. The companionship was nice and we could bitch to each other, and keep each other's pace in check. After Animal Kingdom, Fox was feeling faded and I had started feeling pretty ... decent? So he said I should run on if I felt like it. And I did.

Holy shit, I felt good. Who feels good in mile twenty? WTF. I busted out some nine-minute miles there, and started hitting the stretch where Disney has set up aid stations every mile. So I'd run between them, walk while I drank water and Powerade and chewed energy gummies, then run again. My race photos from this part are crazy - I look deliriously happy. I'm exhausted but it must be endorphins now. I'm not even remotely going to PR this but at least I'm finishing strong. Fox came up about ten minutes behind me.

I've spent the past couple of days back home just resting, and will start doing some yoga and maybe taking long walks tomorrow. Time to start stretching those muscles out again.

As for me, I'm dead tired again and ready for bed, though it's a couple of hours out from "lights off." But I got used to turning in at seven pretty quickly, LOL. If I didn't think I'd wake up at three, I'd go now.

I hung back one corral to stand around freezing with Fox, and my 10k time today was 1:02:22. Disney races aren't really the place to try to PR unless you're up towards the front, but I was also not expecting a spectacular finish time here. Man, was it miserable waiting at the start, though. 58 degrees and dropping as it misted rain and the wind gusted across the open asphalt of the Ticket and Transportation Center. I really regretted not having a mylar blanket. I was shivering, even in among all the other people huddled up like baby penguins in a creche.

I know Disney races are supposed to be fun, every mile is magic, and all that good stuff, and I don't want to take anyone's good time away. But I really feel like folks could use a race etiquette refresher, or a primer for those who are running their first in-person event. Namely, what I think it's important to impress on everyone is that

SLOWER RUNNERS
STAY TO THE RIGHT

If you need to slow down and walk, that's fine. Hold up your hand to indicate to people behind you that you're stopping, then

GET RIGHT

If a faster runner on your left needs, for whatever reason, to slow down themselves, please for the love God, LET THEM GET TO THE RIGHT. I got boxed in at one point, someone's trying to pass me on the left, and I have no place to get over and give them room, and I'm embarrassed about it.

But just like driving, you're always going to find some slowpoke in the far left lane, forcing traffic to stack up behind them, oblivious to the chaos they're causing. Please don't do this. I don't want to hate you.

Headed over to Epcot for a little while this morning, but most of the afternoon is going to be resting and eating ahead of tomorrow's half marathon. I may not really hit my goal time on that one, but I'm willing to bet I can PR, especially since I'll be in my "real" corral and I have no qualms about creeping up to the front of said corral.

Aside from that though, it was a great morning to run. Once you get going it's cold enough that you stay cool, and it didn't start to rain hard again. I was pretty thoroughly soggy by the finish line, but I managed to avoid puddles until literally the mile 6 marker, when I stepped in one up to my ankle (aaarrrrrrgh), but I ran most of the race with dry feet.

Fox finished just behind me at 1:06:54 but he also had an emergency potty stop, otherwise we might have finished at the same time.

The official first day of autumn actually feels like fall. Yesterday was pleasant and today it was actually nice and cool when I got up. The humidity is still high or we'd have the house open for a while, but by next week it should be comfortable enough for some of that.

So, while I knew it was extremely likely that Disney Marathon Weekend was going to be cancelled, yesterday they finally made it official. But they seem to have learned from the Wine & Dine cancellation and actually took steps to entice people to not request full refunds. For half our Dopey Challenge fee, we still get all six medals and the "opportunity" to run virtually. You also get the Dopey tech shirt, and you can get the other five if you want to pay extra. We're awash in tech shirts so we're going to pass on that one.

I think with Wine & Dine, if they'd allowed people a similar option maybe more would not have cancelled. I was just not thrilled with the medal designs, and for me the big draw of doing that race was actually being there for the Food & Wine Festival. But for this, it will allow me to do my fourth Dopey Challenge, and while there isn't the "Disney Experience," there also isn't a required minimum pace, no bathroom lines, no corral waits, no getting up at three a.m. unless you just really want to, and no mental pressure to try to PR.

Today I'm trying to clear some chores and routine things early so around noon, I can start downloading Untitled Goose Game on Steam. I can pretend to be a bird and terrorize people! Wait, I already do that ...

Speaking of, I purchased the instructions for making a paper raven mask from one of those papercrafting sites. Next time I'm out I'll need to pick up some sheets of colored card stock.

Today was going to be my shopping day, but Fox's parents are driving up to see us, so I postponed. If it were just a trip into Middleburg I wouldn't have, but I had Fleming Island and Jax stops as well, so I'm just going to do it tomorrow. And honestly, the main reason I wanted to go today is that I have a library book ready. Our county library is open for limited hours, with each branch only being open on certain days of the week. Oh wait ... I may have to do this Friday, Clay Hill isn't open tomorrow. Anyway, you have to reserve books online then go pick them up. They don't want people just browsing in the stacks, which makes sense.

I was also in the middle of packing up a simple bento lunch, which I partially finished and stuck in the fridge for later eating. A spicy barbeque seitan sandwich with broccoli slaw, homemade protein bar, and some herb-flavor crackers. I'd have liked some red onion for the sandwich and maybe a spinach salad, but that's why I'm going shopping - out of produce. And the malabar plants aren't quite big enough to start harvesting leaves yet.

The garden is doing decently well. The serrano pepper is covered with peppers, I have a couple of Seminole pumpkins, and even some beans coming up. Also the usual contingent of herbs and flowers. I'm trying to get some more plants going by soaking seeds as if for sprouting, then putting the sprouts out into the garden beds. It worked with the arugula, so maybe it will work with some other things.

RunDisney signups opened yesterday morning. We didn't manage to get in during the passholder registration, but we did snag Dopey Challenge spots this year! They'd sold out of every single race within a few hours, the exception being Castaway Cay, which you have to go on a Disney Cruise to do. The speculation is that they have a much more limited number of bibs this year, coupled with increased demand because of self-quarantine stir-crazies and the fact that WDW's 50th anniversary is in 2021 meant that everything was gone much faster than usual. Most years you can register for the marathon almost all the way up to the night before. Anyway, that gives us something to look forward to and train for.

I'm killing a little time until the parental units get here. I cooked up a batch of nectar for the hummingbird feeders and it's cooling on the counter now. But I also sat down to check my email and Crowley materialized on my lap, and I haven't had the heart to move him.

 My previous post mentioned that Fox and I are okay, and that was an important point I wanted to make in case anyone was reading on some of the unofficial runDisney sites, because the marathon yesterday was abso-fucking-lutely brutal. 

I've run three marathons so far, and they're not easy, just by definition. 5ks are easy. Marathons are meant to be challenging. And in the previous two I've had moments where I wondered if I could finish, "fuck it" moments where I was convinced I wasn't going to finish, and times when I've had to just find something else to focus my attention on and run through some serious discomfort and pain. So if I said yesterday was tough, that could easily be put down to my relative lack of experience at that distance. 

So far as I'm aware, no one died, but Fox and I each saw four people go down and need medics on the course. I saw one lady twist or injure her knee and just faceplant right into the asphalt. Fox saw one guy who was already on IV fluids, and he may have been the same man that I saw who was being tended to by some other runners, but medics hadn't made it to him yet and he looked ... honestly if he hadn't been breathing so hard I'd have thought he was dead. Then there was a collapse just after the finish line. The heat and humidity took a toll on everyone, though, I see a lot of longer finishing times in the results. I ran an unspectacular 6:15 but I knew after the first five or six miles that this was not going to be a race to try to PR, and my mantra became "just finish, just finish." I walked a lot, and when I was running it was not fast. I took doubles from the powerade and water stations and was so on top of my hydration that I had to make four potty stops. I was annoyed at myself for needing to go pee since I can usually hold it, but then I thought, if I didn't need to go I'd be worried about dehydration. Hydrate or die-drate. I also don't want to see the inside of a porta-potty again for a while. 

BUT, all that aside, we both finished! And Fox completed his first official Dopey Challenge! We don't have a lot of pictures because getting our phones out of soggy, sweat-soaked running belts was annoying, and also because sometimes when you finally get started running again, you don't want to stop while you have momentum. I did get a picture in Animal Kingdom with "Sparkle Poptart" the opossum, who was cute as hell and I love dearly. They also had a macaw, a goat, and some sort of "chubby tailed" lizard that I'm sorry I didn't stop to see. Since we were in backstage areas, we also both got a chuckle out of the warning signs posted on habitats where big cats live. Those boiled down to "kitties will eat  u" And while standby time was only 10 minutes for riding Expedition Everest when I passed, I was paranoid enough about my time that I didn't risk it. I never actually saw the sweepers, but I worried that if my ability to run gave out and I had to walk it, I might not be able to keep pace. 

And just after Fox and I got out of Blizzard Beach, they closed off that part of the course, shaving about two miles off. I think at that point there were red-flag heat warnings. And now I wish I had more to say about funny spectator signs or costumes, or anything else, but I had my head down for much of the race, just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. OH - wait, I did see one cute thing. Three guys dressed as Huey, Dewey, and Louie were stopping for photos with "dapper" Donald and Daisy near the Grand Floridian. That made me smile.

So we're finally home, alive, but tired. I'm definitely getting out my yoga mat tonight. The cats missed us (of course) and the sitter took good care of them. Water's full, boxes relatively clean considering she comes in the evening, cats in good shape despite their nervous habits when we're gone. I'll get a photo album together and share that later this evening, right now we're waiting on our official race photos to process. They're having some problems with the Photo Pass system, too.