Where Have I Been? WDW!!

4:38PM

I need to apologize to all my fans. Ok, to the few people that read this. Ok, ok, the one person that happened to stumble upon this blog. Sorry, dude. I know I haven’t written in a while. The end of the school year was absolutely crazy and I found myself with no spare time to sit down and type the last couple of weeks. Any time that I did have was at night and I was so tired. I found myself having to get up super early every morning and I was just too tired to write anything. Plus, to be honest, I didn’t relaly have anything worthwhile to say so I would’ve been just rambling about something unimportant. But now that summer is here…..I’ll still be busy. It’s a full one. BUT, I will try to find time to keep this thing updated at least once a week. And at this very moment, I have several things to write about, the big one being Disney. We just got back. Disney 2010 is officially over. What follows is the report. What we did. What we saw. Blah Blah Blah. If you’re not interested, skip to the last paragraph for some running news. But if you are interested in all that Disney stuff, here’s what went down.

Our flight left at 8:30 last Wednesday morning. We got to the airport and caught the bus to our hotel. We stayed once again at the Sports. We love our All Star Sports. We were meeting Susan’s parents this time. They were driving to Daytona anyways for their annual trip and we asked them to join us a couple of days in Disney. What’s funny is our bus arrived at our hotel and the exact time their car arrived. I mean we literally saw them getting out of their car as we pulled in. What are the odds? We didn’t plan it at all. We checked in and had great rooms. Close to the main building. First floor. We were there by 1:00 Wednesday afternoon and so we had the whole afternoon to do whatever. We swam in the pool for a couple of hours and then caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge (via the Animal Kingdom park). We had reservations at Boma in the lodge. We loved it so much last time, we wanted to go again and let Susan’s parents experience it. It was great again. We got there a little early so we went out back to see the animals and search for hidden Mickey’s. Loved doing that again this time. Found some I had been looking years for as well as some of the same old favorites. The boys really got into it too.

The next morning, we were up waiting at the bus stop at 6:40 to catch the first bus to the Magic Kingdom. We got there a little after 7:00 and were the first ones at the turnstiles. The park would open at 8 for resort guests. We had a great day at the MK. It was hot as it would be every day. We were worried about crowds for this time of year and they were worse than in October when we’ve been going, but it was still manageable. We followed our regular plan and never waited longer than 25 min. the entire trip. We rode everything there that we wanted to ride, several things more than once. I got an amazing score on Buzz Lightyear. Wish I knew how I did it. My score just kept going up but I’m not sure what I was shooting. We rode the “new” Space Mountain. Seemed the same to me. We ate at the Crystal Palace that night. Great meal but I was not super hungry. The rest of the family decided to leave around 8:00. I wanted to stay for the fireworks. I hadn’t seen “Wishes” in a long time. When they left, I decided to ride a couple of things that we don’t usually do. I did the “Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor” and “Stitches Great Escape.”. The laugh floor was good, pretty funny. Stitch was terrible as I expected it to me. There is just nothing to that “ride”. But I’m glad I got to try both. It started raining right before the fireworks were to start so they did an abbreviated show. Bummer. Tinkerbell didn’t fly and the show was obviously shorter. But it was good anyways. I got back to the hotel around 11:15 and went to bed knowing I would be getting up in just a few hours for Epcot.

Epcot wasn’t an extra hour morning so we didn’t have to catch the bus until 7:30!! Wow – got to sleep “late”. We were first in line once again at the turnstiles. There were a few people there when we got there but luckily, there were several turnstiles. When they dropped the rope at 9:00, we ran to Test Track and were the 2nd family on it. Always a fun ride. Then we ran over to Soarin’, got fastpasses, and rode it. This is when we waited about 25 min. – our longest line of the trip, but it really wasn’t too bad. We ended up riding Soarin’ later in the day as well and I’ve decided this is my favorite at Epcot and one of my favorites in all of WDW. I really love that ride. Definitely saw the hidden Mickey on the golf ball this time. We got to ride everything in Epcot and several things multiple times. We ate dinner at LeCellier – soooo good. I was so full when I left. I always eat too much at Disney. I’m afraid to get on the scale right now. I decided to leave when the family left around 8:30 and not stay for Illuminations. I just saw it in October and I was tired. Plus the next day was another early morning hour at the Studios.

Susan’s parents went ahead and left for Daytona the next day so they didn’t go to the Studios with us. I am very glad they went with us though. We enjoyed having them and I think they had a good time. It had been a while since they had done Disney and I don’t know if they’d ever stayed on property. We got to the Studios early for an 8:00 opening for resort guests. First again. We got to the rope ready for the most stressful part of the whole trip – TOY STORY!! Our plan is always for me to get fastpasses while Susan and the boys wait for me. We ride it immediately so we get at least 2 rides with the FP’s. It worked beautifully. I threw the stroller who knows where and walked around the crowd and was first at the fastpass booths. So important. By the time I got the 4 fastpasses, Susan and the boys were just going into the ride and I hopped the rope and joined them. It was perfect. We ended up getting FP’s one more time and so we got to ride 3 times that day. Fastpasses were gone by 10AM. Such a popular ride, but one of the best. We again got to ride everything we wanted and several things more than once. It was Star Wars weekend there which made the park crowded, but a lot were doing that and so the other rides weren’t bad. We didn’t care a thing about Star Wars – thank goodness. Susan got picked AGAIN for Indiana Jones, however, the show was cut short due to storms so she didn’t get to do much. Bummer. It did start raining on our way to dinner but it pretty much stopped once we came out so we didn’t get too wet. The best surprise of the trip was that they added Fantasmic back into the day. It wasn’t on the original schedule and I was upset b/c it’s my favorite show by far. But I guess b/c it was SW weekend and so crowded, they put it back in. We were afraid they might cancel with the rain but it stopped about an hour before and so the show went on as scheduled. It was great and the boys loved it too. It was the perfect end to our trip.

We didn’t do Animal Kingdom this time and while I missed it, it would’ve been hard to do a fourth day. Being the end of the school year, I was worn out before we started and Susan and I agreed that we’ll try to go a different time in the future. It’s hard at the end of the year b/c you are worn out plus it’s more crowded than we like. We may try February in the future.

Overall, it was a great trip. I’ll post some pictures and our video soon. Quick running news – one of my 2010 goals was to run at Disney. I learned that was a bad goal to make. I was way too tired to run any morning or night, but I didn’t want to back out on my goals so I ran 3 miles this morning before our flight home. It was hot but fine. I’m glad I did it. It got me thinking about the Goofy challenge in January and I cannot wait. Also, tomorrow morning, Carter and I are running in our next 5K here in Nashville. We haven’t trained as much as we did for the first so we’ll see how it goes. I’ll post about that this week at some point.

Sorry for the long post but it’s Disney you know. Hope everyone has a good week. I’m worn out and am going to bed early tonight. Yeah, right.

Keep runnin’,
Albert

2011 - Already!?!?

9:57PM

I just ran to my parents' house. I needed to borrow their truck and I hated to leave my car there so I just ran the 5.5 miles there and drove home. I didn't want to carry my liscense whilst I ran so I drove home without. Sorry. I know it's illegal. But I drove really slow and safe. I promise. I need to get some mulch tomorrow. That's why I borrowed the truck. I guess after I'm done I'll drive it back to them and run home. If I feel up to it. I hope I do.

It's almost Summer Time! I can't believe this school year is only one week from being finished. It has flown by. It's been a great one but I'm ready for a change. I am really looking forward to all the exciting things we have planned for the summer.

Speaking of time flying, I am already looking to 2011 and what races I'll run. You know if you run in these marathons that you have to plan early. I know I'm running Disney in early early 2011, but I need to soon plan out my other big races during next year. I am thinking towards a Spring Marathon and a Fall Marathon again. For the first time in 4 years, I don't think I'm going to do the Nashville marathon or half. I may volunteer. I'd love to do that. But here are my thoughts at this moment which are very subject to change:

Spring:
1. Atlanta - during Spring Break so timing is good but I've heard the course is tough. Also, I have family there so that would make it easy.
2. St. Louis - this is one of my goal marathons. I would love to run it. It would be early April so the timing would be pretty good.
3. Little Rock - This is also on my to-do list but it's early March. Almost too early.
4. Cincinnati - I'm really leaning toward this one. It's the week after Country Music. Heard great things about this race and it's definitely on my goal list. However, it does conflict with our annual church retreat I think.

Fall:
Not much thought here yet. It's quite a ways off. Maybe D.C. I would LOVE to do that one. Also Huntsville in December or Chickamauga in November. I'll think more about this one later.

That's all for now. It's past 10 and I'm tired. Hope everyone had a good week.

Keep runnin',
Albert

Was I Wrong?

8:10AM

So I co-hosted the "Runners Roundtable" podcast this week. I thoroughly enjoyed helping out for the third time. The topic as I mentioned in my last post was "Avoiding the Medical Tent". I, along with Steve Runner, told our stories of recent races where we both suffered medical-type issues. After telling our stories, we discussed what we did versus what we should have done as well as how to avoid it happening again. There was a lot said and I can't possibly sum it up here, but I thought Steve made a great point toward the end. He said we all know there is going to be pain in these long distance (and even short distance) races. That's part of running. And that's true. I love running, but I can't say it's pain free. I am always glad to be done with a workout. Sometimes when I'm done, I feel great and feel like I could keep going but other times, I can't wait to see my driveway. But it's never as comfortable a feeling as sitting on the couch relaxing or sleeping in my bed for that matter. I think we could all say that.

So when we run races, whatever distances, we are going to have pain or uncomfortableness. Is that a word? Anyways, these races are endurance events. If they were easy, everyone would do it. They are supposed to be a test of our endurance and strength. So I expect pain every time I race because I'm pushing myself. That's why the finish feels so good. Not just the sense of accomplishing the race, but the feeling of the pain going away. I think the feeling at the finish is one of the big reasons I keep doing the races.

So here's the big question: Where's that line between pain and danger? And we talked about that on the show and the fact that it's hard to see. At this most recent half marathon, I knew I was having pain pretty much the whole time. I could tell it was going to be a tough race and I wasn't going to feel as good as I have in other races, BUT I didn't know I was in TROUBLE until around mile 12. By then, I felt I was close enough to the finish line to keep going even though I knew I might be in danger. So I ask the question again:

Was I wrong??? Should I have stopped and at least walked or should I have done what I did and kept pushing to the finish knowing it was close and also knowing I had a chance at a PR? I think I made the right choice, but some might disagree. My plan is always to push myself to the limit until I physically can't go on. I was hurting but I could still go on so I did. I'm still not sure what exactly happened but that's another topic and this post is already too long.

I ran a mile last night with both boys. The 5 year old wanted to go too so we did. We all made it without stopping. Still looking toward the 5K on Memorial Day. Hoping they still have it despite the flood damage. I think they will. 2 more weeks of school!! Can Not Wait until Summer Vacation. I have a lot to do this summer but it will be a nice change. Plus - it means Disney is coming up. Yahoo! Have a good weekend and....

Keep runnin'
Albert

What a Weekend!!

2:08 PM

It's been quite a weekend. One I will never forget. Granted this has nothing to do with running, but it's important enough to post. This weekend we experienced the biggest disaster that I ever remember Nashville having. The great flood of 2010. I was on a church retreat Saturday early morning when the rains began. We knew rain was coming but had no idea how much. The rain did not stop until Sunday night. Over 13 inches in Nashville. The retreat was in Kentucky but we got almost as much rain up there. We were packing up Sunday to leave when a fire truck and emergency management vehicle came roaring into our camp. They told us to stay put that the roads were impassable. Our leaders determined that if we couldn't leave before 5PM, we were going to stay another night so as not to risk driving at night. I called my boss and told him I might not be at work Monday. He said I wasn't the only one stuck. We finally did decide to leave around 2PM but it took an hour longer to get home than it did to get up there. We were diverted 3 times by police. We finally made it home only to see it get worse.



The videos and pictures I've seen on Facebook, internet, TV, and newspapers have been overwhelming, unbelievable, and devastating. So many homes and possessions destroyed. Some very close to home. People at our church and at the school where I teach. So hard to hear their stories. Thank God that we only got a little water in our garage but nothing serious. We were spared. But much prayer is needed and it will take months to clean up the mess. I put one of the most amazing videos below. This was just floating down the interstate. You don't see that everyday.




As far as running news - I didn't get to run from Friday-Sunday due to the rain and retreat. I finally ran 6 miles last night and 10 this morning. My first long run since the 1/2 marathon. My legs are sore today, but I'm glad I got the miles in. I'll try my normal 12 mile long run next Sunday morning as usual.

I will again be a co-host tonight on the Runners Roundtable podcast. We are discussing "How to Avoid the Medical Tent" which apparently I don't know how to do. I'm sure I'll be sharing my recent 1/2 marathon story (below). I think it will be a great topic and I look forward to talking with Mike and Lesley again. Steve Runner will also join us which is awesome. It begins at 7PM and you can listen here or download it later.

Sorry it's been over a week since I posted. I'll try to post again later this week. Hope everyone has a good one.

Keep runnin',
Albert

An Incredible 24 Hours

1:25PM

OK, here goes. Very long race report ahead. You might want to go get a snack to enjoy while you read this one:

First of all - last night. The YMCA Country Music Kids Marathon. Carter had run 25 miles one at a time in the last couple of months and the final mile was at LP (Titans) Field. We (actually just me, he really didn't care too much) were hoping to get low 8 minute. We had run an 8:33 during our 5K so I thought if we pushed it for just one mile, we could get the low 8. I secretly had a hope of breaking 8 but I didn't want to push it. We lined up at the starting line at 6:30 when the 2nd grade boys were supposed to. There were 15 boys from Carter's school. They started us and 14 of the boys took off in full sprint. I knew we had to pace ourselves and not burn out too quick so we hung back. We had a good pace and I did have to really encourage Carter to keep up. He said he was fine but I could tell we were going pretty fast b/c he was having a little bit of trouble keeping up. He asked me to slow down at one point. We ended up passing all but 3 of the boys at his school. They all ran great and I saw some future Cross Country runners for my team. When we turned the corner and saw the finish line, I told Carter to sprint but he didn't have much left. To his credit, he was giving it everything he had and he ran a great race. I stopped my watch as we crossed the line. 7:25. Wow. We busted all hopes and were way under where I thought we'd be. I was so proud of Carter and he was certainly proud of the time. It was a great night and a very fun event.

Ok, now to today. My first half marathon in a year and a half. I wanted so much to break my PR of 1:34:44. That was my goal. It was one of my year goals as well. I woke up at 4AM, showered, ate breakfast (bagel, peanut butter, banana, water). I headed to LP field at 4:45. I got there a little after 5 and sat in my car debating. Do I take the Ipod or not? There was a storm on its way. They had already made the call that they weren't going to allow any marathoners to go past 4:30. If they weren't on 4:30 pace at mile 11.2, they would divert them to the 1/2 marathon course. I really didn't want to lose another Ipod, so I decided to go without. I never got rained on. I could've run with it. Not sure if it would have made a difference in my time.

I got in line to get on the shuttle bus to the start line. All of the sudden there was a tap on my shoulder. My sister. My older sister Allison was going to run/walk the 1/2 marathon as well. Her first. I had just been thinking in my car how cool it would be to see her but thought the chances were slim at best. But she found me and I'm so glad she did. We rode the bus together, and spent the next hour+ talking before the race. It really helped pass the time and I enjoyed being with her for a while. By the way, she ended up finishing strong and had a great first 1/2. Congrats Allison! When we were in line for the port-a-johns around 6:15, we heard the announcement that the race was going to start at 6:45 instead of 7. They were really trying to get everyone done before this storm. By the way, as I'm typing this, it's storming pretty bad. Hope everyone's done.

I went right to my corral and stretched really well. I saw Ryan from church. He would end up getting 5th in the whole thing. Congrats to Ryan as well. I was a little worried when the race was starting in 5 min. and the 1:30 pacer, Greg, was nowhere to be seen. I finally saw him hurrying to our corral with just a few minutes to spare. It was my plan to try and stay with him as long as I could. I would've loved to stay with him the whole time and get 1:30 but I didn't know if I could do it. I couldn't.

We started right at 6:45. I stayed with Greg really well at the start. We were hitting our 6:50's right on. I was still with him at the 5K where we were right over 21 min. Around mile 5, he started to get a little bit ahead of me, but I wasn't worried yet. The pace was good and I still knew that I didn't have to stay with him the whole time, just as long as I could. Right after mile 5, I saw my wife and boys. Always my favorite part of the race. I gave them 5 and enjoyed their smiles. Susan tried to take a picture of me. It was decent. Todd also took a picture. He's a friend from church and I know he'll read this so just wanted to give him a shout out. Miles 6-9 were tough. Greg was getting further and further away. I knew I had lost beating 1:30 which was fine but I was starting to doubt getting a PR. At mile 10, I started thinking what I would have to get on the last 3 miles to PR. I was going to have to run close to 7:30 min. miles to do it which was going to be tough. I was really slowing down. I don't know what it was. It was very humid. It wasn't super hot, but hot enough where I was sweating a lot. Also, my feet were starting to hurt and I could tell I was getting blisters. Not sure why. Haven't had any in a long time. I think my feet were just really hot. At mile 11, I started feeling pretty bad. Not nauseous, just light headed. I decided during mile 11 that I was going to visit the medical tent when I got to the finish line. If nothing else, to attend to the blisters that I knew I had. Free medical help - why not? Then it went from bad to much much worse.

At mile 12, I could tell I was in trouble. I was still running a good pace, but I was feeling very weird. I've never passed out before, but I'm 98% sure that I was very close to doing so. I could hear people cheering but it was hard to make them out. My vision was different. I was just hoping and praying that I wasn't going to pass out. I knew I was close so that was motivation to keep my pace but I was not feeling good at all. Now I know mile 12 was only a mile but I promise it seemed like 3. It seemed so long. I finally got near the finish line. I tried to speed up, but I honestly couldn't. I felt like I would fall if I did. I barely remember crossing the finish line. I had sense enough to stop my watch and look down. 1:33:06. I beat my PR by 1 minute 38 seconds. But I had no sooner looked at my watch then I was pulled to the side.

The medical people grabbed me. I later asked and they said they could tell I was close to passing out. They said I was extremely pale, I was walking funny, and my eyes were glazed over. They took me to a cot that was right by the finish line and had me lay down. They started asking me questions and I stayed conscious the whole time even though I felt terrible. I could barely move. What's weird is, I was talking a lot. I'm kindof a quiet guy but for some reason, I wanted to keep talking. I started asking them questions. I said some weird things also. I told them I was sorry for taking their time. Also, I thought one of the helpers was one of my former students so I called her "Leah". She looked at me kindof funny and said "I have no idea what you're talking about." I would later apologize and tell her that she looked just like a former student. She really did. I know a lot of what I said was just babbling, but I don't remember everything. They had me eat 2 packs of salt. They took blood to check my blood sugar. They looked at my feet which were indeed blistered. They propped up my feet. I lost all feeling in my hands which scared me. They told me to keep making fists with my hands. I ended up staying on that cot for about 15-20 minutes. I finally started feeling better and slowly sat up. When I finally stood up for the first time, I almost fell back over. I was still a little dizzy. They had me sit down again and I just watched them in action for a while. It was incredible watching so many people get medical treatment. I saw people passed out, vomiting, crying. It was a hectic place. I flagged down one of the guys who wasn't busy and asked who was in charge. He told me Matt. I found Matt and thanked him. The medical staff really did do an amazing job and made me feel so much better. They were so nice to me even though I was a babbling idiot. Matt seemed genuinely grateful for my thanks.

I was feeling close to normal again so I decided to leave. I walked through the finish chute and got my medal. I was still feeling a little weird so I walked pretty slowly. I got to the food section which was Heaven. I needed food. I ate a lot but it all tasted so good. I sat down on the curb and ate and watched people. I ran into another friend an we talked for a while. I finally left the finish section and very slowly walked to my car.

It was a weird day. I'm very happy with my time. My goal was to PR and I did. I don't know what happened to me or why I almost went down. It was just a very weird feeling. From miles 9-13 I swore off half marathons. I couldn't imagine ever running one again but of course now that I'm feeling better, I can start imagining it again. I would love to break 1:30 but I just don't know if I could. Maybe if the weather was a lot cooler and it was a slightly easier course. Maybe. Nashville's course is pretty hilly. We'll see what the future holds. For now, I'm looking toward a 5K on Memorial Day and my 2 marathons in the Fall/Winter.

I know this was long and I apologize but a lot has happened in the last 24 hours. It's been incredible. Not always great, but certainly incredible. Thanks for reading. You know, there were a couple of times today when I thought about walking. I can't help that thought when I'm hurting. But I'm proud to say I didn't. I stuck to my signoff and I encourage you to....

Keep runnin',
Albert

Is It Even Possible?

11:52AM

I got a new Ipod!! As you'll remember, my old one went to Ipod Heaven the day I ran with it in the rain, even though it was INSIDE A ZIPLOC BAG IN MY POCKET! Stupid humid air inside the bag. I hated to spend the money, but I knew I needed something. It's tough to do those long runs with nothing to listen to. At least it is for me. I decided to not get the Ipod classic as I had. It's just too much space and too much $$. I don't need that much. I got the Nano instead and I love it. It's smaller, cheaper, and has many new features that my other one didn't like a voice recorder (could I do a podcast with it?), video camera, radio, and the list goes on. Yes, it's only 16GB instead of 80 like my old one, but I filled it up with everything I had and I still have 11 left. I think it'll be just fine. I also got an arm band and have been putting it on that instead of carrying it in my pocket. So much better. Now I can wear short shorts with no pockets and my pasty but beautiful legs can be the talk of the neighborhood again. I got purple. I don't know why. Color doesn't matter but I figured since they were offering that I wouldn't get just white or black. Boring. So I went for purple. Still dark and manly but pretty at the same time.

So this Saturday is my fourth half marathon. Yikes, gettin' close. I haven't run one since October of 2008. That was in 1:35. My fastest is April of 2008 in 1:34:44. I would love to beat that but I ask the title of this post again. Is it even possible? I mean I know it's possible but I have no idea if I'm in shape to do that. Most of my long runs lately have been done with 7:30-8:00 miles. and for 1:34:43 (a new PR), I would need to run 7:12 average for each mile. I know I can do a few at that pace, but 13??? I just don't know. I'm just going to stick with my plan to try and stay with the 1:30 pacer knowing I can drop off at the end if needed. We'll see. I'm cautiously optimistic but I'm not going to get my hopes too far up. Who knows what could happen.

The Boston marathon was yesterday. I watched the live feeds on the Boston marathon website. Oh to have been there watching (or dare I say running). If the qualifying times were just 10-15 min. slower, I think I would have a shot, but they seem to be out of reach at this point. I'll never say never, but it would take a lot. I was rooting for Ryan or Meb of course. They got 4th and 5th respectfully. Here is a video of Ryan Hall's post race interview:





I'll try to post one more time before the big race Saturday and then I'll post a race report Sat. night or Sunday. Have a great week!

Keep runnin',
Albert