I was going to run this race last year, but that morning I woke up extremely sick. Kimberlie didn’t have her running clothes so we ended up watching the whole thing from the 67th floor of the Westin Peachtree.

This year went much better, even though it was pretty warm for a half-marathon.

Tristan cheering for the runners

Me running at mile 12.85

I want that bag of groceries!

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Sometimes, I miss working for Publix

I loved running around Atlanta

Probably the coolest non-Disney medal I have

I had so much fun, I’ve already signed up for next year!

It was warm enough at Disney for a dip to play around with it.

I have tons of others.  And, the underwater video is also amazing.  I can’t wait until our Disney Cruise this summer!

If you want one, here it is on Amazon.

I’ve been drooling over the Canon T3i, but by the time I add all of the accessories I want and the waterproof housing, it would be well over $1000. We currently have another financial goal so that is a little steep.

Flash forward to Black Friday. Old Navy’s offer was a FREE waterproof digital camera with a $40 purchase. No problem there. I needed some jeans and we needed to pick up our gifts to donate to the kid’s school as we do every year. The only issue: “quantities are extremely limited”.

I arrived at 7:30pm on Thanksgiving in anticipation of the midnight opening. Several other adventurous shoppers confirmed that there were only 40 cameras available. I was number 9 in line when I got there and about 23 by the time the store opened (thanks to some very unethical people).

Now I don’t think many people actually shop for holiday gifts on Black Friday. People pretty much just buy things for themselves. I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t stand in a line like that for anyone else.

Here are my tips for other Black Friday shoppers:

• Black Friday is not necessarily the best time to score a deal. Other than the “doorbusters”, like the cheap laptops and TVs (and the camera), the prices aren’t that competitive. Of course, the selection on Black Friday is better than the selection near Christmas when the deals are better. It’s all a trade off.
• Those aforementioned “doorbuster” TVs and laptops are usually cheap knock-off brands like Dynex, Visio, Emerson, etc. They aren’t worth even what you paid for them. Hold out for a good deal on a Samsung or Toshiba instead.
• While the coffee and hot chocolate might be great in the 40 degree weather, you will need to get out of line to relieve yourself. It’s better to go without.
• You might think you are making friends in line, but when those doors open, it’s every man for himself.
• When you arrive, count the number of people in front of you. That number is guaranteed to at least double before the doors open. Suddenly, everyone is best friends with the person at the front of the line.
• Don’t call the cops. It is private property, so unless they are invited by the property owners, they probably aren’t going to help with crowd control. Besides, it isn’t a crime to cut in line. Besides, they probably aren’t happy about working on the holiday anyway.
• If you’re too fat to get out of your car, you need to stay home. Sitting in the car doesn’t count as waiting in line.
• I’m all for equal access (OK, so not really. And I really mean not really.), but wheelchairs and handicapped people have no business trying to compete on Black Friday.
• Prank calling the store workers so that you can watch them answer the phone through the window doesn’t accomplish anything.
• Calling the cops a second time for the same reason (see above) just pisses them off.
• Don’t cut in line. It will piss people off and you don’t know what kind of rage they are capable of.
• Trying to be the line police makes you look more like an asshole than the people cutting in line.

I’m sure I could keep going, but you get the point.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I got the camera! And I got some mediocre deals on clothing. So look for some awesome water shots right here, next June!

I was amazed at how many stay-at-home-moms have nothing better to do than accompany their kids on preschool field trips.  The drive from the preschool to the mall was as long as a small funeral procession.  In an effort to stay on topic and not start ranting about how much I loathe stay-at-home-moms, that’s all I’ll say about them.

Mackenzie's class posing for the parent paparazzi

Mackenzie’s teacher had a special arrangement with Santa for me to take photos, but not in Santa’s usual chair.  Apparently, that would violate some mall contract or something.  The kids, however, didn’t seem to mind visiting Santa on a mall bench several feet away.

Mackenzie with the Mall Bench Santa

Mackenzie shares her Santa letter

Afterwards, the class walked down to the ice cream place formerly known as Baskin Robbins, which had promised to be open at 10:00 in the morning.  Unfortunately, the indian who runs the shop must have decided that nobody would care for ice cream that early in the morning when its 30 degrees outside, and decided not to open.  So down to the food court Wendy’s at the other end of the mall with 14 kids we went.  After all, a Frosty on a frosty morning makes perfect sense to a class of 4 year olds!

Mackenzie shows off her loot from Santa

A Frosty on a frosty morning

Those of you who know me are aware of how much I love all things Disney.  In fact, I share the same story told in previous newsletters by several other Macon Tracks members:  one main reason that I started running almost three years ago was to run the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon. Of course, I didn’t stop with that race.  In fact, I’ll participate in my third Disney Marathon this January. 

Disney is packaging their race series under a new “brand” called runDisney and Jeff Galloway has signed on as the official training consultant.  When Disney announced that they were combining the Tower of Terror 13K with the Race for the Taste 10K to create the new Wine & Dine Half Marathon, and I knew I had to participate in the inaugural event!

A few days before leaving for Orlando, I saw a twitter post that said “Check the Disney Parks Blog at 11:00 for an opportunity to go on a training run with Jeff Galloway”.  I checked the blog, quickly submitted my name, and waited.  At 2:00, I got the confirmation that I was one of only 20 people chosen!  Needless to say, I quickly modified my travel plans to be there.

On the morning of the training run (the day before the half-marathon), the other participants and I arrived at Epcot at 6:30am.  We checked in and signed waivers allowing Disney to photograph and video the activities.  We also received a nice moisture-wicking runDisney shirt, which is currently not available for purchase.  Then, Jeff Galloway arrived.

Some of us chatted informally with him, while others jumped at the chance to take photographs of the beautiful sunrise over the closed theme park.  After a little while, we were told to warm up for our training run.

The training run consisted of a run through Future World followed by two loops around the World Showcase, which was bustling with activity in the early morning hours in preparation for the first day of Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival. We had the option of running at our pace, staying with Jeff (and his run/walk/run method), or falling behind.  Of course, I stayed within earshot of Jeff.  It was amazing to be able to run in such a small group through such a beautiful place with an athlete like Jeff Galloway. Of course, you can’t run at Walt Disney World without Mickey Mouse.  He was on hand too to welcome us back to Future World. 

After the run, there were numerous photo opportunities.  The photos of our group with Jeff Galloway will likely be used for future race publicity.  It was surreal having my photo taken with the world’s most famous mouse and one of running’s best known athletes.

Jeff Galloway is a great guy.  After even more photo opportunities, he took over an hour to answer all of our questions and share tips and strategies.  The most popular topic by far was how to properly eat before a night race, because running in a long-distance night race is something that most runners have yet to do.  As expected, stretching and injuries were discussed as well.  Did you know that Jeff has not had a running-related injury in 31 years?  That’s my entire life span!  And as for stretching, Jeff doesn’t do it!  He told us that current research shows that stretchers are more likely to get injuries than non-stretchers.

Other Disney Sports administrators were on-hand as well, including Disney’s well-known race director Jon Hughes.  They told us that Disney is actually planning a fourth race for the 2012 series to complement the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, WDW Marathon Weekend, and the Princess Half Marathon.  That’s great news, but not for my wallet!

After the Q&A session, Jeff gave us each an autographed photo.  He even offered his email address in case we had any additional questions.  Then, we all exited the park, which was about to open to regular guests.  The training run with Jeff Galloway was, by far the highlight of my weekend.

Later that day, we were off to the expo.  Although it was smaller than the expo held during the regular marathon weekend, it was still very good.  That afternoon, my kids participated in the Disney Kid’s Races.  I constantly tell people that the kids’ races are the best deal at Disney.  For $10, each child gets a shirt, a nice finisher’s medal, snacks, a goody bag and lots of fun.

The next morning my wife Kimberlie, one of Macon Track’s newest members, participated in her first 5K ever: Mickey’s Halloween 5K.  It is currently the only short race that goes through the Magic Kingdom.

The Wine & Dine Half Marathon was later that evening.  With a starting temperature of 74 degrees at 10:00pm, it was the hottest long-distance race that I’ve participated in.  During the run, I actually caught up with Jeff Galloway at mile 11!  He was pacing someone using his run/walk/run method.  I ran (and walked) and chatted with them for a while before they left me at mile 12.  The race wasn’t my best half-marathon, but it wasn’t my worst either. 

The course started at the newly rebranded ESPN Wide World of Sports, and followed Osceola Parkway to Animal Kingdom where we ran through the park.  Animal Kingdom almost always closes to guests at 5:00, so it was extremely rare to be there at night.  There was a “Jurassic Park” feel as we ran through the darkness, knowing that animals were nearby but unable to see them from the darkness.  We then ran back down Osceola to Hollywood Studios and continued through the resort area to an Epcot finish. For those who have run the Disney Marathon, the last eight miles of this course nearly mirrored the marathon course.

The staging area and pre-race activities were surprisingly the best I’ve seen at Disney.  At that point, I was impressed that an inaugural race was that well organized.  However, the finish line area at Epcot was a logistical disaster.  To retrieve a bag from baggage claim, the tired runners were funneled into a very long line down a relatively narrow hallway. 

A post-race party was held in the world showcase and each runner was given vouchers for “one drink” and “one taste”.  However, when you divide 15,000 runners (and the many others who purchased party tickets) among only 26 food stands, those lines were excessive as well.  The lines were so long that I didn’t have the energy to stand in them.

Although overall I had a great time, I doubt I’ll continue participating in this race annually.  It always takes a few years for a new race to work out all of the problems, even at Disney.  Also, I typically do much better racing in cool mornings than warm, humid evenings.  Next stops for me: Chickamauga Half Marathon in November and back to Disney for marathon weekend in January!

When I was about 6, we had a little snowfall and had to use cardboard to slide down the hills in our neighborhood.  My grandmother was determined that I would not be sliding on cardboard anymore!  So for Christmas that year, my sister and I were given these awesome sleds from the JCPenney catalog.  Then they sat in storage for 25 years, waiting on the next great snowfall . . .

This is one time that being a pack-rat paid off!  Those sleds were worth the wait!

It was a fabulous weekend!  Sledding was finally conquered and multiple snowmen were built (pieces of some still remain). I’m probably the only person in central Georgia who owns real sleds!

(BTW, I totally stole the title of this post from Kristi F)

The Expo

Friday morning I ran the Up and Away Family Fun Run 5K.  I didn’t really have any time goals for this race.  My current 5K PR is around 24 minutes and I knew I wouldn’t come close to that.  With 5000 runners in a race, it’s nearly impossible to run for a time goal.  Besides, I wanted to save my energy for the Half-Marathon on Saturday.  It was around 40 degrees at the beginning of the 5K, which I thought was pretty cold at the time.  Little did I know. 

The 5K was a nice run around and through a pre-dawn Epcot. I finished in a little over 26 minutes.

UP house at the 5K start

5K Start at Epcot

On Saturday came the race I’ve been waiting for.  The Half-Marathon.  This was the race I had trained for.  I thought the 5K was cold, but on Saturday it was in the very low 30s with a wind chill in the 20s.  And sleet . . . in Central Florida.  Lots of sleet and rain for the entire 13.1 miles.  Nevertheless, the family came out and cheered for me.  We had previously made signs and shirts and Kimberlie committed to getting up at 3:30 in the morning and chasing me around Walt Disney World.

My family at 3:30 in the morning

Me and an army man before the start

Tristan with his sign

The race started and I felt really good at first, but then the heel pain started creeping on. My time goal was 2 hours, but it ended up taking me 2 hours and 14 minutes. Of course, part of that was stopping to take pictures with characters, part of it was the sleet (and ice in my eyes) and the rest can be attributed to heal pain.  By 8:00 am, it was over and we were back in the hotel.  It took my body until well after noon to heat up and stop shivvering.

Princess Tiana along the course

Daisy with the family after the half-marathon

On Sunday morning, my feet were killing me.  Unfortunately, I had to get out of bed at 3:30 and run 26.2 miles before sitting in the car for a six hour ride home.  How was I going to do it?  On marathon morning, it was 26 degrees with a wind chill in the teens.  Brrrrr.

Starting Line	Characters at the Start	Pluto at Epcot
Hot air balloon	Reindeer in the cold	Dopey

It was so cold, that the course was icy. The powerade was slushy. The bananas were frozen solid. People dressed in layers and shed them as they ran. Disney collected the clothing, laundered them, and donated them to charity — over 30,000 pieces.

Somehow, I was able to finish. Over 8,000 of the 24,000+ marathoners did not finish.  Although it took over 6 hours.  At the time, I didn’t think I had ever been in that much pain before, but now I can’t remember — sort of like when a female goes through childbirth.  In fact, I plan on registering for all of the races again next year.

This photo made it worth all of the time, energy, effort and expense.

My bling bling: UP medal, Donald medal, Mickey medal and Goofy medal

Now we typically help various organizations, from giving in church to volunteering in various things, to sending canned goods to feed people who apparently only eat at Thanksgiving, to making donations, etc. Even with all of that, we have never received joy from giving.  In fact, we hate giving.  It’s like a chore.  We do it though for various reasons — whether political or religious or otherwise.  But because I love Heard Elementary School, I wanted to sign up immediately. 

Kimberlie tried to throttle me back.  We’re already room parents for Tristan’s class.  We donate classroom supplies and send paper money and sell wrapping paper and buy BBQ tickets and support the PTA, so I understood her concern. But being room parents, we’ve met all of Tristan’s classmates.  If there is someone in Tristan’s class, school, or our community who needs a token gift to improve their holiday season, I want to help.  I filled out the form and committed to purchasing a gift at the $15.00 level and returned the form. 

The next day, Kimberlie was picking up the kids from day care when Tristan handed her a paper light bulb.  It said “Jacket for a 6 year old girl, size 6/7″.  Her eyes teared up.  We don’t live in a wealthy community, but it is the suburbs and I never imagined that someone nearby might not even have a jacket.  We thought we were going to be purchasing a token gift for a child who might not have as many toys on Christmas morning as our kids, but instead, we were purchasing a necessity that in our household would never be considered a gift.  And so we were off — to find the perfect jacket!

Being the bargain-hunter than I am, we ended up with a $40.00 Old Navy jacket.  All of their outerwear was 50% off plus I used a 30% Stuff-n-Save discount to end up spending $14.00.  It could possibly end up being the nicest garment the unknown little girl owns.  Tristan’s birthday is coming up later this week and we actually enjoyed shopping for this unknown child more than we enjoyed shopping for our own child.  The jacket has already warmed our hearts — for the first time since I can remember, we feel good about giving.

Let’s hope the little girl can stay warm until Christmas!