I ran!

Just a quick update, I did follow through tonight and ran for a bit back on the Treadmill-o-doom!

I've also added a little widget on the sidebar here to show my most recent RunKeeper activity.

I took it easy tonight to see how my legs would be after 3 weeks of absolutely no running.  It went very well.  I started off with 1/4 mile walking warm up.  I then alternated 3/4 Mile jog at 4mph followed by a 1/4 mile walk at 3mph.  I did this to total out at 3.25 miles.

Beginning Tuesday, I'll be following a modified B210K plan again, this time with a focus on getting my speed to increase!




Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

Motivation ZERO

Well, it's way past time that I do an update on the weight front.  To be perfectly honest, it's not going anywhere right now.

Since coming back from Marathon Weekend, I've been totally unmotivated.  I've not been back on the treadmill or ran one step since crossing that finish line on January 7th.

Week	Date	Kipp		Weekly%	Overall%
0	3/22/2011	275
1	1/6/2012	247		10.18%	10.18%
2	1/13/2012	249	-2	-0.81%	9.45%
3	1/20/2012	248	1	0.40%	9.82%
4	1/27/2012	247	1	0.40%	10.18%

I'm now making plans for this year.  I've been looking at the financial situation and have decided that another Disney trip later this year just won't be possible.  I will be planning a visit to family in Florida at Thanksgiving time, with no intention of hitting the parks.  By that time my annual pass will have expired and I don't think that I'll be justified in having it renewed, as I don't think I'll be able to get at least 10 days of visits in.


So after digging deep and looking at how I stand, I'm looking at hopefully visiting friends that I've not seen for quite a while, out in the DC area later this year.  I don't know at this point if it will be Memorial Day weekend, or if it may be some other time.


New friends in the Chicagoland that I met during the Marathon Weekend would like for me to go up and run an event with them up there and I'm really interested in at least one of them.  There are also a couple of events here in the Indy area that I'm also considering.


In the very least, I've put into my budget for this year to save money to go to the 2013 Disney World Marathon Weekend again.  I'm debating with myself, I think I'll go for the 5K plus a Half distance (either the normal 1/2 again, or possibly a leg of the relay.)  I don't know if they have some cute name for doing a 5K and 1/2 Marathon like they do for other combinations (Half + Full is officially "Goofy", 5K+Half+Full is un-officially "Dopey").


The plan for later on today is to get back on the treadmill and start waking those muscles back up.  I'm planning on just an easy run with no particular time or distance in mind.


Beginning Tuesday, I'm back into training mode with my focus on bringing my pace time up!



Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

Marathon Weekend Trip Report - 1/9/12

1/9/12 - Resort Checkout, W.I.S.H. Meet and the Journey Home


I get up and get ready for the day.  I pack up the last items and begin to look over the room several times over to make sure that I've not forgotten to pack anything.  After I've convinced myself that I've not left anything behind, I leave a tip for Mousekeeping and close up my room.


This morning I'm meeting with the W.I.S.H. members again, it's a show off your bling meet.


But first I have to get my big luggage checked into the airline.  I've already paid my $25 fee for Delta by phone earlier in the morning and have my confirmation number in hand.  Since I had checked into the airline the night before on the Delta iPhone app, my room bill also had printouts of my airplane tickets!  Cool!  I didn't know they'd do that.  I get into line for the baggage check and one of the attendants pulls me out to go ahead and check me in since I have everything in hand.  He takes my ID and tickets up to the counter.  A short wait later hes back and hands me my tickets and another tag for my carry on.  Since it has electronics in it, they're putting it into the locked cage area.


I then make my way over to the buses.  I'm catching the Studios bus and then I'll walk over to the Boardwalk.  As I start over, I notice that the river area is VERY foggy!  Here is a picture from the path by the river, the orangish thing you see in the center of the picture is the Tower of Terror at the Studios!  

View of the Tower of Terror from the River Path to Boardwalk.

The Boardwalk area is also very fogged in.  But I can see that it's starting to burn off quickly now that the sun is coming up higher. I'm early, so I hit the Boardwalk Bakery and grab a chocolate chip and Banana nut muffins.  I also grab a Diet Coke for a shot of caffeine.  I'm just finishing up my breakfast as I see some of the W.I.S.H. people coming up.

I was just expecting to hear a dingy clang.

I once again meet up with many of the people I met on Friday, plus many others!  

W.I.S.H. Bling meet at the Boardwalk.

Did you notice part of my story earlier?  Neither did I.  Shortly after we took the above group photo, I get a call on my cell phone from a 407 area code.  Knowing that this is Orlando, I'm worried that this won't be good... a problem with my luggage or something.


Nope, it's the luggage check-in desk, they have my ID, it was left on the counter!  DOH!  I should have grabbed that Diet Coke at Pop Century to get that caffeine to wake me up some more! I start to say goodbye to everyone and make my way back to the Studios to catch a bus back to Pop Century.  I'm there and back with in the hour, but it still has taken a chunk out of what little time I have left for park time today.


My first rides as I get back to Studios, Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Rollercoaster.  It's about a 20-30 minute wait at ToT, not bad.  Once I've gone through the Tower gift shop, over to RnRC  I head.  Single rider line for me is almost a total walk on.  I'm only about 5 or 6 people back in line and surprisingly it goes fast.  I'm on the ride in no time.


It's beginning to warm up some and I'm wearing my Mickey Hoodie for the trip back.  I decide it's time to catch one of my favorite snacks.  A frozen lemonade!  I sit and watch some of the Hollywood Characters do one of their shows as I drink down my little treat.

I feel, a brain freeze comin'!

I come around and begin to head back towards Toy Story.  The fastpasses are gone and the ride wait is long.  Sorry, no more Toy Story this trip.  I decide that I'm going to go ahead and have lunch.  I grab a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich from the Studio Catering Co.  It's better than some of the other food I've had from this location.  The buffalo sauce isn't the greatest, but it's okay for today.

Buffalo Chicken sandwich with fries and Bottle of Water from Studio Catering Co.

After lunch, I head towards Star Tours.  It's all too quickly getting to the time I need to catch a bus back to Pop Century again to catch my Magical Express bus to the airport.  I take a Star Tour and then go to the Great Movie Ride to close out my rides for the day.


After getting out from the Great Movie Ride, I head over to Sweet Spells for a little treat.  I pick up a piece of chocolate peanut butter fudge.   I sit down and watch another Characters of Hollywood skit as I eat my fudge.


This is it.  It's time to call it.  An end of a trip.  I take another look at the big Hat and head on towards the buses.

Big Hat at Studios

Bus stop for Pop Century

I'm back at Pop Century much too quick for my liking :) I go to the food court and pick up a diet coke and another bottle of water.  I've still got 40 or so minutes before my Magical Express bus is due.  I get my carry on bag out of baggage services and sit down to watch some Disney cartoons in the Pop Century waiting area.  


As it gets to be about 15 minutes before my bus is to arrive, I walk outside to wait at the stop for Magical Express.
  

Magical Express waiting area at Pop Century.

The trip home... where to begin.


The Magical Express bus was a bit late.  No worries.  We get on board and off we go.  They're going to stop at the opposite terminal than the one I get off at.  So this adds time to our journey to the airport.


Since I had my tickets and my baggage was already in Deltas hands (iPhone app from Delta has luggage tracking, NICE feature.)  I make my way to TSA Security Checkpoint.


Now, the last time I flew in and out of MCO, they had the security checkpoint split into 3 categories.  A family line for those that are going to need the extra time through the line.  A standard line and a frequent flier line.  I always went to the frequent flier line, as I know the drill and can break my stuff down very quickly to go through security.


Forget all that.  Obviously that made to much sense, because the now have about 5 lanes of lines going into one feeder line that heads to the checkpoint.  HINT for flying Delta out of MCO, take the line farthest to the LEFT.  This line feeds directly to the beginning of the feeder line.  The TSA agents were not bringing tubs back to the beginning of the lines quick enough, meaning people are standing waiting for tubs to put their stuff in.


We finally make it through the security checkpoint.  I'm aggravated at this point.  What a Cluster-F of a mess they've made that into.  My original plan was to grab something to eat before getting to the plane, but that's now scrapped.  The long line and wait at security means I've got only about 15 minutes before we're supposed to start boarding.  Maybe I'll have some luck at Atlanta.


Plane trip to Atlanta goes fairly well.  As we get near Atlanta, I notice we're spending a lot of time circling.  We're notified that things are backed up at Atlanta and we'll be on the ground shortly.  We're actually going to be wheels down ahead of time.  Here's the kicker, sure, we're on the ground ahead of time, but it takes us 40 minutes to get to a jetway!  ARRGH!


We finally disembark the plane and I find that I didn't luck out again.  I've got to switch terminals!  Off in a rush I go to get to the subway to get to the next terminal.  Once over to the terminal, they're saying that we'll be boarding a little late.  Cool, I passed a Nathans coming down to this gate, I head back there to grab SOMETHING for dinner.  I wait around for them to get me a Chili cheese dog, fries and a drink.  I wolf down my food.  I get back to the gate, only to see that they've already started boarding!??!  I see... the words late and early are now interchangeable.  Luckily I didn't spend too much time eating and they've not started to board my "zone" yet.


We get on board and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  They finally push us away from the jetway, a plane had been blocking us in.  Then, we get stuck in traffic.  WHAT???  Yes, we're stuck in traffic at the terminal.  We're not even queued up to be in line for takeoff yet!  Finally we get queued for position in the takeoff line.  Up and away we finally go.  They notify us that we'll only be a few minutes late getting into Indy.


Okay, now to see if I can get some shuteye for a little nap.  


*tap tap*
"Hunh?" I mumble.
"Would you like something to drink?"  idiot stewardess asks me.
"I was trying to sleep." I reply.
"Oh, sorry.  Would you like something now?" idiot stewardess asks of me.
"Sure, now that I'm awake, I'll take some water." I reply.


The guy next to me is trying to not laugh. I'm not amused.  I'm sore and tired.


We're about 10 minutes behind when we land in Indy.  Other people are rushing past me, I just make my way to the restroom to take care of some business.  I then make my way to luggage claim.  I'm in no hurry, as I KNOW the luggage won't beat us down there.


After about a 10 to 15 minute wait, my luggage comes down the belt and I'm off to get to the economy parking lot.  One thing, they tell you to write your row down on your parking card.  They DON'T tell you to also mark down what bus shelter you were picked up at.  I of course get off at the wrong one and end up having to walk quite a distance in the cold with my suitcase and carry on dragging behind me.


I finally find the car, toss the luggage in, swap out to my heavy coat and I'm off to the exit.  I get checked out of the lot and I'm headed to the Interstate.  It's now about 12:30AM and I've got about a half hour drive to home.  I'm around 465 to my exit to home right on time.  I pull into the garage at almost 1AM on the nose.


That morning I was at Disney World, that evening I'm at home, back in the cold weather.  Bleh!





Thanks for Reading!  Writing these reports up have brought back a lot of good memories already.


Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED

Marathon Weekend Trip Report - 1/8/12

1/8/12 - OUCH!  Back to the Parks


I got up somehow and got ready for the day.  I think better living through chemistry helped a lot in how I felt this morning!  I took a muscle relaxer before going to bed  the previous night and I slept very soundly.  Once I got though the shower and dressed, I really wasn't feeling as bad as I thought I would.  Sure, I was sore, but it could have been worse!


Dad let me know that he and my Step-mom were going to go ahead and go back to Naples that Morning instead of going into any of the parks with me.  Dad had to be back to work on Monday and had some things he wanted to do back at home.


We had breakfast at the Pop Century food court and was I ever HUNGRY by this time.  Even though I had eaten a lot for dinner, I felt like I could eat everything in site!  I chose the big breakfast, the Bountiful Breakfast.  This was my normal breakfast any other time I'd be visiting Disney World.  Each resort has one variation of this breakfast.


Once I saw Dad and my Step-mom off, I headed to the buses.  Which park do I want to go to??   Off to Magic Kingdom I go!  Yes, I know I was just there the day before, but I wanted to walk around the Kingdom with my shiny medal today!

I really didn't do a lunch at Magic Kingdom.  I kinda just snacked a lot.  I had an Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich in Liberty Square.  It was VERY good.  The Cast Member made a mistake, and had made it with Vanilla.  So he left the Vanilla on and just added the Peppermint Stick Ice Cream on there too!  

Rides: Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad,  Haunted Mansion, Walt Disney World Railroad.  


New Experience!  I tried out the early public testing of the new game at Magic Kingdom.  It's called Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.  You start at the former Fire Department on Main Street.  You receive 5 cards and a map.  You go through a short "training" mission and you are given your first spot to find in the park.  The screen will show you a symbol that you will find on the map.  You head to that spot and use your key card to open the portal.  You watch a short video and battle a villain by holding up one of the 5 cards you received.

Sign at the Fire House on Main Street

One of the Portal Locks, use your key card on it.

Stand in the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom circle to interact with the portal.

This is one of the portals.  Once activated a video will play in the window.

The map, trading cards and key card.

I did 3 series of adventures, one in each land of Adventureland, FantasyLand and Liberty Square.


I decided that I wanted to have dinner at one of the quick service counter at one of the World Showcase Pavilions at Epcot.  So I left the Magic Kingdom and took the Monorail over to the Ticket and Transportation Center to get onto the Monorail to Epcot.

Once in Epcot, I began to try and figure out which pavilion I was going to try.  I'd been to the UK quick service MANY times before, so that one I put off the list right away.  Last September, I had lunch at the Morocco Pavilion, scratch that one.  I finally decided to try the remodeled Japan Pavilion quick Service.


On my way around to go to the Japan Pavilion, I of course stop by to listen to Off Kilter at the Canada Pavilion.  Since the Beatles tribute band is gone from the UK Pavilion, Off Kilter has become my favorite live entertainment to visit.  Obviously.

Katsura Grill is the name of the quick service at the Japan Pavilion.  I decided to get one of the sushi combos, Spicy Tuna Roll and Tsukemen Salad and a Matcha Roll for dessert.  The Matcha roll is Green Tea cake and what I believe to be red bean paste in the roll.


The Tsukemen Salad is noodles, lettuce and some shredded crab meat.  The dressing on it was very good too.


The Spicy Tuna Rolls were also very good.  Once I had eaten all of that, I was quite unsure how to tackle the Matcha Roll with Chopsticks!  I decided to take the chopsticks and squeeze them together as to "cut" the cake into smaller pieces.  I did a little research later and found that I was fairly right in doing it this way.  I try to learn about etiquette, as I don't want to be offensive.


My picture has a bit of an etiquette error, how I've rested my chopsticks.  They should have been together at least and back in or on the paper they came in, since I had no chopstick rest.  

Dinner!

Desert! Matcha Roll (Green Tea Cake & Red Bean paste)

After I finish my dinner, I start to take a stroll around the rest of World Showcase.  

View as I come out of the Japan Pavilion after dinner.

I make my way around and decide to hit the Mexico pavilion to ride El Rio del Tiempo to visit with Donald and friends.

Day of the Dead celebration in El Rio del Tiempo

I'm beginning to run out of steam at this point.  I visited Mouse Gear once again.  A shirt I had been looking for is still not in stock in my size, anywhere that I had seen it.  Oh well.

I head out to catch the bus back to Pop Century.  Realizing that the trip is coming to a close very soon.  I know that I've got to get packed up so I can get the bags checked into the Airline and my carry on stowed at the baggage services.


On my way through the shopping area at Pop, I decide to hit the Food Court and I pick up a big chocolate chip cookie and a Diet Coke and another bottle of water.


I munch on my cookie as I'm starting to pack things up.  Again, thanks to eBags packing cubes, things I didn't wear just get tossed back into my suitcase.  My dirty laundry is already in one section of my suitcase, so packing doesn't take long at all.  I settle in and watch Once Upon a Time on ABC.  I take the last muscle relaxer that I have and go off to bed.

Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

Marathon Weekend Trip Report - 1/7/12 - the rest of Race Day!

1/7/12 - RACE DAY!


Take a look at my post about the race for the full "run" down.


I left off with me meeting back up with my family in Florida.  Dad, Step-mom, Step-sister & my Niece.  Sis's Husband is going to pick up my Nephew from school after the band returned from playing in band at the 1/2 Marathon, it was against school policy for him to just stay with us at the park!


I get to pick what we're going to do, I'm HUNGRY!  The banana and protein bar sample didn't last me long right after the race.  I checked the Runkeeper app on my phone and see that the 1/2 Marathon I should have burned almost 2000 calories!  No wonder I'm so hungry.  We head to Pecos Bill's for lunch.  I get my normal chicken wrap and decide to get the fries instead of the apple slices and a bottle of water.


Dad gets a call and Sis's husband and my Nephew are at the front of the park.  We let them know to come to Bill's.  As they get settled in for their lunch, Dad, my Niece and myself head on over to Big Thunder Mountain for a quick ride.  We wait for everyone else to finish up their lunch.  


One of the first rides we all do is Pirates of the Caribbean.  With 7 of us, we take up the first 2 rows in a boat.  They must have just topped off the water supply in the ride, as we wind up getting SOAKED!

We work our way around to ride some other rides and attractions.  Haunted Mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic and on into Tomorrowland.  My Niece and Nephew decide to ride the Speedway... twice!  


While we are waiting for them to ride, we are almost bombarded by birds.  There is someone nearby us that has decided to do the stupid thing of feeding the birds.  Worst of all the gulls.  They're first to swarm in, then some sparrows and another bird that I'm not sure what it was.  We move out of the area, as we don't want to get pooped on by the birds.  


After the Speedway and birds incident, I decide that I'm sore enough in several places, that getting beat up on Space Mountain isn't going to really matter much at this point.  I ride with my Niece and Nephew. 

 At this point, we're close enough to our reservation time for Dad, Step-Mom and myself say good-bye to everyone else and head out of the Magic Kingdom to head over to Epcot.  We take the Monorail to the Ticket & Transportation Center to catch the Monorail to Epcot.  We don't have a long wait at either stop, which at this point I'm glad!  


We're early enough that we decide to head over to the Canada pavilion to catch an Off Kilter Show before dinner.  They put on an excellent show as usual.  We then head back to The Land pavilion to wait for our reservation time.  We're still earlier than our 20 minute window and the let us know we may have to wait a while.  It turns out that we only wait a few minutes before our restaurant buzzer goes off.


We had not eaten at the Garden Grill at The Land Pavilion before.  It's a family style serving.  You get a salad, beef, turkey and fish with side dishes and a dessert all served family style.  This meaning that they bring out dishes and you load up your own plate with what ever you want, as much as you care to eat.  Much of the meal comes from the pavilions own gardens and sustainable fish tanks!  Many people don't give favorable reviews, but we all enjoyed the food very much!


This is a rotating restaurant.  As it turns, your view changes to different scenes in the Living with the Land tour that is in the level below.  It takes about an hour for one full rotation.


This restaurant is also a character meal, meaning that characters come and visit your table throughout your time there.

Pluto showing off for us!

Kipp and Chip

Kipp and Dale

Kipp with the one and only Mickey Mouse!

As a celebration of my 1/2 Marathon finish, I received a card signed by Pluto, Chip, Dale and Mickey with a special cake!

After dinner, we ride Soarin'.  By this time, I'm wiped out!  I'm thinking we headed over to Mouse Gear for some shopping and then went back to the Resort.  I'm rather fuzzy at this point as to what we did.  I'm pretty much exhausted at this point of the evening.  Once back to the resort, I went to the food court and grabbed a few sodas for us.  It was lights out shortly after that!



Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHER

Marathon Weekend Trip Report - 1/6/12

1/6/12 - Friday - Parks, Expo and W.I.S.H. Meet

Dad and I get ready and once again start out day out by having breakfast down at the Pop Century food court.  We discuss what to do today, as I'm really planning on trying to keep it as light as I can.  So, of course, we go to the biggest park of them all, Animal Kingdom.

We ride the Safari first.  Managed to get some nice shots of the animals out and about.

One of the young Giraffes.

The elephants seem to be active this morning.

Another Giraffe, checking us out, checking him out.

Baby elephant with Mamma.  

Rarity!  We see one of the Jags!

Simba on the air condition rock.

After the Safari, we note that we missed the Flights of Wonder show, but there will be another soon.  We go on over to Expedition Everest so I can get a ride on this in.  Dad passes on t he ride and waits for me outside.  


We then head back to Flights of Wonder bird show.  Anyone going to Animal Kingdom should not pass this show up.  The birds are fantastic!

Owls heads don't go 360, their head would pop off!

Mouse problem not 100% taken care of yet.

An Eagle!  I think I will call him Sam.

I think this owl has had too much caffeine!

The crowds are beginning to get heavier at Animal Kingdom and Dad and I don't feel like really hitting any more attractions there.  We look to see it's lunch time and decide to head over to Downtown Disney for some eats and shopping.


We try and think of where we'd like to eat for lunch and decide to give Raglan Road for lunch a try! 

Raglan Road Entry

Place setting and coaster

Chicken BLT-E Club

I wind up being a tad bit adventurous in my choice for lunch.  It's called a Chicken BLT-E club.   It's chicken breast, Irish ham, lettuce and tomato.  The -E is for the fried egg that is also on it.  It turns out to be very good.  I also got the fries.  I have to say, that I LOVE the iced tea at Raglan Road.  It's probably the best iced tea that I've had on Disney Property. 


After lunch, we go to the World of Disney store, Team Mickey to see if any other running gear is available and finally the pin store.  I only pick up one pin, as I'm pretty tight on money.  I also really didn't see much that caught my eye this trip.  So I picked up my year pin as I try to do for every year that I visit.  We poke around a couple of the other stores for a little while.


Dad says that he's going to head to my Step-sisters place where Step-mom has been.  They're deciding on how they're going to handle coming to the park for the race.  I warn him that travel is going to be VERY rough in the morning.


I ask him to drop me back off at the Expo, as I don't have any energy gels with me and they didn't give out any freebies.


We once again manage the line of vehicles trying to get into the the World of Sports complex.  Once back in the Expo I take a look around after I picked up my Clif Shots for the next day.  Out of the flavors I prefer, they've only got Mocha left.  All of the chocolate is gone.  I grab one cherry chocolate that has some caffeine in it.  I notice my time, and I think I may be late meeting up with the DISBoards W.I.S.H. team at Pop Century Food Court!  I make my way to the buses and manage to catch a Pop Century bus right away!


I made it back to the room to drop stuff off and back to the food court in plenty of time.


I meet a LOT of people that I've met online through the message boards.  I'm eagerly waiting to meet Rick from the Chicago area, as he and I have started this running gig at about the same time!  Rick finally makes it to the meet and I enjoy talking with him.  Rick has been training with someone that has been running for a while, Mike.  Mike shows up a little bit later, before we head outside to the stairs to the pool to get a group photo.

Ricks wife and son show up after we've gotten some pictures taken.  We then all agree it's a good time to go ahead and grab some dinner.  I sit with Rick, his wife and Mike.  It's fascinating to hear their stories on how they got to the point to prepare for the half.


After chatting for a while, we're all in agreement that it's time to try and go back to the room to get some rest.  That alarm clock is going to ring awfully early in the morning.  Someone mentions that they're going to go grab something from the food court for in the morning, which I think is a good idea.  I pick up a couple of Apple Cinnamon bars, a couple of bananas and some bottled water for when I wake up.


As I'm getting my running gear ready, Dad and Step-mom show up.  They think it'll be best to be on property.  Their plan is to see me at Magic Kingdom and at the finish line at Epcot.


Off to bed I go!  The big adventure begins in just hours.




Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 20