Rise and Run
Rise and Run
138: Rise and Run Roundtable: What is a Perfect Season?
We tackle the serious issues this week. Stuff like: What is a perfect runDisney season? How do you plan for one? How do you train for one? This was too much for us to handle alone, so we invited our friends Fred, Tara, and Stephanie to weigh in. Seriously, though, the term "Perfect Season" has a personal resonance for each runner. It could mean completing every race in a season, achieving personal bests, or simply overcoming personal hurdles to cross the finish line. This concept sparked a broader conversation about how running events can offer a structured goal for athletes of all levels. The pursuit of a perfect season is not merely about the physical feat but the mental and emotional resilience that comes with pushing oneself beyond perceived limits. If you're planning to running multiple race weekends, we hope you'll find this discussion helpful.
By now you've likely heard the news that Pamela is done with Fluffy Fizzies. The decision to step away from a venture that had formed deep connections with customers and friends is never easy. It was a poignant reminder of the close-knit nature of the running community, which often extends beyond the race itself, influencing other aspects of life. Pam's been such a good friend for so long that we are going to miss her at the expos, but we know she made a smart business decision. She stopped by to chat with us about it.
Finally, the episode wrapped up with a race report roundup, a celebration of achievements and the joys of running events. Jimmy took time during his lunch break to visit with us in the Race Report Spotlight and tell us about the Dolly (Parton) Dash 5K in Ringgold, GA. We also salute all our friends who took place in the Will Run For virtually live race this weekend.
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3 am again. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast. Join our group of Run Disney friends. As we talk about running at Walt Disney World and beyond. We'll discuss recent runs, training, upcoming races and surprise topics suggested by you, our listeners. Well, the alarm's gone off, so let's go.
Speaker 4:Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast. This is Brittany Charbonneau, the funny runner. Welcome and thank you for listening that's our friend britney.
Speaker 1:Thanks, britney. We appreciate you left us those a while back, but we're playing tonight because britney's going to join us again next month. We always look forward to speaking with her. It's so much fun speaking of fun friends.
Speaker 1:Welcome to episode 138 of the Rise and Run podcast. We are super happy that you're here with us. I'm Bob. I'm here with Jack Hiya, with Greg, hey, hey, hey. With John hey, how you doing. And with Alicia, hello. And apparently not with the crickets tonight. I think it's too windy for the crickets. I think instead you'll be treated to our wind chimes in the distance, but crickets will be back next week, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1:All right, friends, this week's episode we've got a roundtable discussion. This week there were questions about perfect seasons. Now we did a recap of the run Disney season a couple weeks ago, so we don't necessarily want to do that again, but we want to try to answer some of your questions about the perfect season especially. Don't necessarily want to do that again, but we want to try and answer some of your questions about the perfect season, especially if you're planning to do one in the not-too-distant future. We visit with our friend Pam from Fluffy Fizzies. Pam dropped some big news on Facebook this week. You've probably read about it, but if not, hang with us and we'll talk with Pam about that In our race report spotlight. Our friend Jimmy did the Dolly 5K in Georgia.
Speaker 4:If you enjoy the Rise and Run podcast, please share with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family. Welcome. We want to share in their Run Disney journey, so please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise and Run Podcast and Instagram at Rise and Run Pod. Check out our YouTube channel and visit our webpage, riseandrunpodcastcom. If you have a question, comment, race report or want to introduce an upcoming episode, just go ahead and call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.
Speaker 5:We will also want to thank our Patreons, who support helps us keep the Rise and Run podcast rising and running. If you'd like to join the Patreon team, please check out patreoncom slash riseandrun podcast.
Speaker 2:The rise and run podcast is sponsored by our friends over at magic bound travel. Big news drop. This week we got the official opening for Tiana's by you adventure and day of recording. They announced what was it the annual pass holder, the DVC and D 23 special events that will be going on, you know, to get a preview before the attraction opens.
Speaker 2:So if you're part of any of those affinity groups and you're looking to get an early preview of the latest attraction coming to the uh, the magic kingdom, definitely give our friends over at magic bound a call. Or if you just want to go when it's going to open on normal schedule this summer, uh, they can definitely help you with that as well too. But get down there, celebrate the, the beauty of that incredible movie, and I'm, I'm beyond excited. They announced today there's gonna be beignets in the magic kingdom, and if that doesn't bring peace to the world.
Speaker 2:I don't know what does, so be sure to go visit our friends over at Magic Bound, the website magicboundtravelcom.
Speaker 1:Thank you, sir. Hey, let's look at the training schedule. I love looking at the training schedule. We have one for Disneyland Halloween. This is week two of training for that event. It's now 16 weeks away. If you're running the challenge or the half marathon, your long run this weekend is four miles. Hey, training, any training notes? Jack, I think you had something for us.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I officially am back on to doing customized training with Chris Twigg.
Speaker 2:Oh good, yes, he's back, I'm glad Jack Back again. Thank you for that. Jack is back.
Speaker 4:You guys don't know this, but I'm totally bobbing my head to this and dancing, anyway, yeah. So I was curious to see what my schedule would be like for a 100 miler and I was like I don't know, I wonder if it's gonna be close to what that 100k for black canyon was gonna be like. And it's like almost pretty, pretty similar, except there's more days with, like progressive walking in it. So it's like three days of running, one day of progressive walking, so you do certain paces during that day. But I mean my longest run on any of my days would be like a triple day of 10, 10, 10. So about 30 miles in one day. Kind of surprised, because that's close to what black Canyon was.
Speaker 1:So I'm like I've never done one. I'm not gonna.
Speaker 2:I admire you for trying it, but uh, if anybody knows how to get you through that, chris is the guy hey, jack, when you have those triple tens or or a triple of anything, do you still have to follow the same rule? You know, you know how we talk about that. Like, if you have to divide up your run, that you have to get back out there two hours before you finish. Does that rule apply there, or is it something different?
Speaker 4:So the way he has it is you run 10 miles, then wait after you're finished, about two to four hours in between. Then you do another 10 miles, another two to four hours in between, then another 10 miles.
Speaker 1:So it's not bad. It's just a very long day. Yeah, it would be sure would.
Speaker 2:but again, I got confidence in you and I got confidence in that training plan and you're going to do great me too and speaking of training, I know I wasn't here last week, but but, jackie, you just lifted your arm up and I saw that bicep, so good job.
Speaker 4:Oh, and that's the other thing, though, is like now that I have my schedule, so I know we're going to talk about him in a little bit, but Tom from Stoked Metabolic Training, so he's actually, if you're curious about training with him, he's actually going to help work around my customized training schedule to see what fits perfectly within that running schedule. So he will work with anybody to make sure that you get your running in, as well as, of course, what you would do with him and with weightlifting. So this is an exciting journey.
Speaker 1:Awesome Quick training note on my part, and I posted this. I graduated from physical therapy for the fourth time in the last two years. Love those guys over at physical that's the name of the building Not far from me. Uh, they worked me hard and I appreciate it. And for seasoned veteran runners, I finally got it through my head that I need to do something other than just run. So I've got a training program now that includes some strength training working on my hips, working on my hamstrings, things like that, trying to not make a fifth trip to physical anytime soon.
Speaker 2:Now, Bob, when you graduate, do you get a cap and gown you?
Speaker 1:get a t-shirt as you're and gown, you get a t-shirt as you're walking out, you get a t-shirt, t-shirt, t-shirt, yeah.
Speaker 5:I've got four of them. I didn't get a t-shirt when I graduated.
Speaker 2:You haven't been there. I can just picture it now, bob walking out of the building cap and gown t-shirt in hand. That Vitamin C graduation song is playing in the background.
Speaker 5:It's got a what do you call it Stretch band with them.
Speaker 1:I do Stretch bands while playing Pump and Circumstance. I got the flex band. Yep, I do.
Speaker 4:In fact, that's one of the things I'm using. Is it a different t-shirt for each time?
Speaker 1:No, it's the same t-shirt. I think I have three of them, I think. One time I just said no, thank you, but I didn't want to be rude this time, so I got it. They're great people. They genuinely are, and they, boy, they helped me out a lot and I get a kick out of them.
Speaker 1:Physical the physical therapists of the world. God bless them. They, they do a lot of hard work but I get a kick. I mean, this is Florida, right, and a lot of physical therapy places. There are folks my age or older who are just trying to walk or just having a problem with balance. So if you get somebody who's fairly athletic in there, oh, they love messing with you. They love. I remember the one time it was all right stand on this Bosa ball with one foot and I'm going to toss this weighted 10-pound ball back and forth to you. You catch it with one hand. I don't think I could have done that when I was 18. They were having fun, but they're a good group and I appreciate them and I hope I don't see them again for a while.
Speaker 1:Friends let's get to our topic for the week. Friends. It's only been a couple of weeks. We did our season recaps. But since then and now looking forward actually a little bit we've had friends ask us about perfect seasons what it is, how do you get ready for one. Perfect seasons what it is, how do you get ready for one. So while we're still getting ready to start training for these this upcoming season, we thought it'd be a good time to just talk about that idea, so we've invited some friends to join us this evening. I would like to introduce you to Stephanie.
Speaker 7:Hello.
Speaker 1:To Fred Hi there. And to Tara hey there. We're glad you're here, friends, because and we asked Stephanie, fred and Tara because they're coming off a perfect run Disney season this year. Now, it's not a recap episode, but since our friends were so kind to join us, I'm going to give them an opportunity to just talk a little bit about how the perfect season went for them this year. And, stephanie, I'm going to ask you to start, please.
Speaker 7:All right. Well, you know, I call it my accidental perfect season. I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, because I only signed up for the Wine and Dine 5K for myself and my eight-year-old at the time and I had no intention of running the challenge. I didn't really care for Encanto or Figment. Please don't crucify me.
Speaker 4:It's okay. I don't like thing, then either. It's okay. Thank you for that.
Speaker 7:And so I had. I intended to do the perfect season for the 2024, 2025 season, and you know I? But I was already signed up for um, what comes after wine, and I was already. I was already doing dopey, so all those races were covered and I was going to do princess.
Speaker 7:Because I've never done princess, I've paid for it twice, I think I've never shown up for it, injuries and overslept you know, ironically, uh, with that I I never showed up because I didn't believe in myself, which is really now seeing what I've done in retrospect is ridiculous.
Speaker 7:Yeah, things have changed a little bit and um, so I was already going to do princess and I was already going to do springtime. So at that point, um, I said you know what, if, if, uh, one of those slots opens up and I am able to get through and get the get the thing, the registration through, then I guess that's my perfect season. I'll take that as a sign from the universe that that's. This is when I'm intended to do it and, as most people know, it did not shape up the way I thought it would be.
Speaker 1:Right, I was just going to. Let's go down that road a little bit. You had another challenge.
Speaker 7:A little bit of one. In August I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I felt I was so upset that my perfect season was out of reach. You know, because Disney doesn't do refunds and a lot of the money was just yeah and granted. I am in a lot better position than most. I live right behind Magic Kingdom, so the logistics for me are absolutely you know nothing, absolutely you know nothing. So I didn't have to worry about airfare, hotels or anything anything to that with. You know, 98% of the people, everyone does. But I thought I was. I felt like I was failing my eight year old because I was signed up with him and that was our thing to do together and I thought I felt like I was failing him and I know that's ridiculous together. And I thought I felt like I was failing him, and I know that's ridiculous.
Speaker 7:So I had my double mastectomy on October 27th and then my one week follow up at my plastics appointment I, which was expo day for wine and dine, and I hadn't heard back from run Disney because they said they'd give me a 50% refund, but he never got back to me to actually process the gift card and so I took that for the sign of the universe like, well, maybe I'll try this. So I asked the plastics NP can I walk? I have full range of motion, I have no pain. I'm only taking ibuprofen at nighttime so I can sleep. She said, well, it's a great area, since you have your drains in and you have somewhere for the swelling to go. I don't want you to power walk. I'm like I won't, I promise, and so I did it. I walked all three races of wine and dine with my two JP drains in from my mastectomy a week before.
Speaker 1:Unbelievable, unbelievable. Then you go to marathon weekend and you go to the runs in the morning and radiation in the afternoon.
Speaker 7:Yes, sir, I started radiation treatment on the 5k day.
Speaker 1:All right, I mean, at this point I feel we should drop the mic. But, um, hey, hey, let's, let's. It's okay, fred, it's okay, I, I've got a segue, I promise, I promise, I can, I'll get over there, I promise. And then, of course, most famously, to finish this all up, you run with Pelkey.
Speaker 7:I, I did, I, did, I, I. Well, we've skipped princess, but princess was yeah yeah, princess, happened and then. So springtime surprise. Springtime surprise comes in um by a tremendous act of the universe, aligning, aligning the stars. I paced John Pelkey to his first 10K finish line and, honestly, that was the most memorable race, one of the most memorable races I've had.
Speaker 1:His 10K PR.
Speaker 7:Yeah, exactly, To watch someone finish something that they never thought they could is such an honor to be there to watch it. And you know how the metal folks give the metals in the little plastic bag and I completely understand why. But I asked the volunteer to actually take out John Pelkey's medal and put it around his neck because he has never had that experience of being medaled by someone after finishing a race and I wanted him to have that experience and it was beautiful.
Speaker 1:Stephanie, you did all the races for all four weekends at Walt Disney World. Did you go to Disneyland? No, sir, that's okay, it's okay. No, I did not, neither did I, it's okay. I know somebody who did, and not only did he go to Disneyland, but he came from California to Florida four times to make his perfect season. Fred, that's impressive, buddy. How'd you pull that off.
Speaker 5:Thank you.
Speaker 6:It's a red-eye flight. So, there's nothing like flying into MCO at 530 in the morning and going straight to the expo. Oh, I wouldn't recommend it. Wow, I wouldn't recommend it.
Speaker 1:Wow, well, I don't plan on doing it, but thank you.
Speaker 6:I appreciate it. How'd your season go, though, fred? My season, you know. There's things that went expected and then things that went unexpected. I only started running two years ago and last year I did a perfect season because I'm crazy, and then this year I would call it blue perfect because I added the Disneyland races. There you go, we're going to get back.
Speaker 1:We're going to get back to that in a minute. We need new titles. I like that. Okay, hold that thought.
Speaker 6:So, yeah, I think I think everything went again as expected. There were some things unexpected on the way, but I stuck to my training and I got through it all. So, yeah, it was a lot of miles, a lot of miles.
Speaker 1:A lot of miles on your running shoes, a lot of miles in the air, yes, wow.
Speaker 6:Unfortunately there's no three-point flyer mileage for my feet, that's a good idea though.
Speaker 1:I would like that.
Speaker 5:We need to work on that.
Speaker 6:I think that's a great idea.
Speaker 1:Tara you, I know you did all five. You were out on the West Coast.
Speaker 3:I did do all five race weekends. Yeah, yes, and I'm traveling from Baltimore, so it's not so far to go to Florida. California was a little bit further.
Speaker 1:Not like Stephanie and me, where we just Stephanie just walks out her back door and I just well, I had to drive Interstate 4, so I need I get credit for that. But yeah, well, I had to drive Interstate 4, so I get credit for that. But yeah, so even coming down from Baltimore, that's significant, I think. And you got here all four weekends.
Speaker 3:Really lucked out with the weather. It lucked out with nothing ever really getting canceled this year. There wasn't any storms that like delayed me or made anything terrible. Oh, good.
Speaker 3:You know, my goal was really just to finish all the races and stay healthy and be able to to complete them. I didn't have any challenges anywhere near close to Stephanie's challenges, but I did get into PT early in the fall and stayed in it for like three months because I didn't want to leave, because I just wanted to make sure I would. I, I would, I would get to dopey and be well.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was I.
Speaker 3:I really love going to PT personally cause it keeps me on the straight and narrow, so had had a great PT team working with me and got me through everything.
Speaker 1:And I got a chance to. I got a chance to run. I didn't get a chance to run with Fred We'll fix that, I hope but we got a chance to run with. I didn't get a chance to run with Fred We'll fix that, I hope but we got a chance to run with Tara and Stephanie quite a bit and that was a lot of fun. All right, let's bring everybody else back in to this conversation here and let's kick something off that Fred kind of started with my friends. What is a perfect season anymore?
Speaker 3:A perfect season, I think, is really what anybody really wants it to be. Some people define it as doing a race at each race weekend. Some people say it's doing the most that they want to do at each race weekend. I think it can really be whatever's perfect for you and what you want to get out of your run.
Speaker 1:Disney experience experience totally agree to that I agree, I do, and I noticed in our facebook group or across facebook, I'd see someone post I just finished a perfect season. I ran every race except, and if you think it was a perfect season, I'm good with that, I am. So you're the ultimate arbiter of what a perfect season is. But being devil's, advocate.
Speaker 7:Let's talk about it.
Speaker 6:So let's talk about it. If you show up every weekend but you don't run every race, is that a perfect season to you? I'm kind of scared to answer and put in the miles and maybe couldn't finish a race but pushed and pushed to get past that finish line. I think perfect should fall into the category that you've done all the races. But there is definitely gray as far as does it mean Castaway Cay no longer exists, but does it mean a Castaway Cay is involved or Disneyland races? But the sentiment of whatever your goal is, you're perfect. I love that, because if it's just to get out there for one race per weekend, you know then you've done your perfect season.
Speaker 3:But I'm a little bit of a stickler and a rule follower, and also paid. You know, I don't even want to think about it.
Speaker 1:I hear you, but yeah, you know what that's. The sad thing, though, is that there is no perfect season badge. It's a shame that Run Disney doesn't recognize this. They could give us the rules and say hey, here's a certificate medal. They could do something.
Speaker 2:Well, speaking of recognition, this actually brings me to a follow up question that I have not only to our guests but also to everybody here is really, up until a couple of years ago, the word perfect associated with run disney was, you know like, for example, alan young and chris twiggs. You know, perfect marathoners, our our buddy jeff, a perfect dopier. Our very own alicia, a perfect two-course challenge participant. When and how do we think the idea of the perfect season came about? Because, again, this was a foreign concept, as in you know, probably. I don't even know if it was even talked about before. Covid, like, like, did covid cause this like? Were we just like so like sad that it was gone? That like we just like came out in a vengeance and everyone did all these races? I'm really interested in everybody's theories.
Speaker 5:I think after they did not make springtime a perfect eligible race, that's when this all started, that next year yeah, I wouldn't disagree.
Speaker 1:That might be coincidence, but that's an interesting point. I'm going to go back real quick to what Fred said. Last year I was there for all four race weekends but did not run all the races and I never used the term perfect season, just for being for the four race weekends. Maybe we can coin a term for that later today. People who make all four race weekends what do we call them?
Speaker 4:I feel like nowadays it's so hard to get a perfect season, because even to just get in one of the races, I mean you can't sign up for all three at the same time. You have to pay for the challenge per se and then go back in and pay for the 5K, unless you have the club run Disneyney. I mean it's really hard. So you guys doing it, praise you, praise you. You gotta teach me your ways, because I've definitely not gone into some of the races this year, um, but I just think that's so awesome and jack you.
Speaker 1:You don't have to pay for them. You've got to register and then go back and then register again and you can pay all at the end. I mean I go back, I do the 5K, then the challenge, then I go back and get Becky and then I pay for everything at the end. But I don't do one and pay and then do another and pay.
Speaker 5:I kind of do a Jack test, like if I was going to do wine and dine I'd make sure I paid for the, the challenge one that matters most, yeah, the one that matters the most, then go back in.
Speaker 2:if I didn't get to 5k I wouldn't be upset, but I at least I got that one because I didn't want to get shut out, waiting for it to go through again well, you actually brought up a really good point and I'll direct this question towards Tara because I know, tara, you are a platinum Club Run Disney member. Do you think that maybe this got generated because of Club Run Disney that you know, allowing that earlier access, you know, to the races before the general public?
Speaker 3:that earlier access to the races before the general public. Well, I certainly think it makes it easier. I mean, and that's really why I did it, probably why I did it this season, because I have Platinum Club Run Disney. I want to. You know, it encourages you pay a lot of money just to be in a Platinum member.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:And then you have access to two signups for every weekend, and so if you're going to use your membership to the greatest extent you possibly can use it for um, that would be to sign up for everything. Of course, they get you every which way for more money, Um, but I do think that it, like the club run Disney um for platinum members, it does allow you to do a perfect season if you're going to do every single race every single weekend. So I think that can make a lot of sense.
Speaker 4:So my big question for you is do you think Club Run Disney, let's say, if you're not doing a perfect season, do you think it's worth it?
Speaker 3:Well, I think it really depends on why I do I enjoy having it. I definitely I'm very blessed to have had it and I plan to renew my membership, so I do think it's worth it If this is really like your thing, that you really enjoy as your hobby. That's what I say. Rent is my hobby, so it's an expensive hobby, but there's lots of expensive hobbies, um, and so this is just happens to be mine, um, and I think that, um, you know, to me it's worth it. I definitely did it really to be able to register for the races. That was my number one. You know all all the benefits that you get. That was the one that made me sign up for it. I signed up for it right after I wasn't able to get into Dopey for 2023.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that was a tough year.
Speaker 3:That event that happened. I was actually in Walt Disney World with my family on a vacation that day, and so I had one phone, I was in Epcot and I was trying to sign up and I was stuck on that cycle for three hours and I was so mad that I was missing my vacation, to be completely honest, and I said I will never do this again. If I can possibly sign up for Club Run Disney, I'm going to do it, and so for me, I feel like I get that money back just by not having to take time away from work on those days of registration. So I'm not, you know, I'm, you know, working through those days. Most often I have, have you know, been on in the wheel of death as an adjunct member, trying to get my husband in or something like that at times, or getting someone else in.
Speaker 3:But, you know it, it pays for itself, and just the calmness of being able to register. Um, you know I don't plan on doing every single race for the next season. Um, so I'll I'll have to really look at it again and see if it still feels like it's worth it to me, but, um, I do enjoy all the different benefits that I have of having it. Um. So not just the registration, but it's great to get into the expo early. It's great to have advanced corral placement. It's great to you know be able to benefit from those perks as well. Makes sense.
Speaker 1:Well, I don't want to go too much further in it. We can talk about what's a perfect season Is every weekend, every race. Do you have to do Disneyland and Walt Disney World to be considered perfect? I liked Fred's title Plu Perfect, I like that. Do you have to do the virtuals? I think the bottom line is whatever you say it is. I'll give you a good example. One of our friends and I think it's Sharon I hope I'm right Sharon said she was a perfect 10 this year. Perfect 10. She did every 10K and then in springtime surprise she did the 10 miler. So everything that was a 10,. She was a perfect 10. I kind of liked that, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Hey, listen, perfect seasons. Actually, Terry, you already started talking about this. Guys, how did you plan this? Is there any special planning that went into doing your perfect season?
Speaker 7:I just had to make sure that I had the races on the calendar. So my husband is an airline pilot and thankfully he's an instructor pilot, so he only has to fly real I call it real airplanes three days a month, and sometimes I wish it were longer.
Speaker 2:This is being recorded, you know.
Speaker 7:Oops.
Speaker 1:Does he spend the rest of the time in the sim? Is that what it is?
Speaker 7:Yes, he, yes, he's an instructor pilot and so, um, I just have to make sure it's on the calendar and then he just bids and bids those days to not work.
Speaker 1:Did you get one of the weekends wrong? Am I remembering this correctly?
Speaker 7:Yes, I don't know. I don't know what happened. I thought that springtime surprise was a weekend earlier and so my husband had bid for that weekend to be to be free. And then, probably about a month prior, he gets a schedule. And then I'm looking and I'm like, wait a minute.
Speaker 7:I'm looking on the run Disney site and I'm looking on my calendar, I'm looking on my planner and I've got like three or four different calendars going at one time and I feel like I'm in the twilight zone and I'm just so confused and I mean I even asked like the interwebs, like did they change it after we registered? Like I really thought they pulled something on me. And so, of course, he had to be at work at six o'clock on the morning of 5k and I was like I started asking my local friends, like can someone come over? Granted, it's a, you know, I need you here, like 3 30 in the morning so I can drive to Epcot and I'll be back right at 7. And um, I had one friend, that, a few friends that say, yeah, they probably could, but, um, we just flew in my dad.
Speaker 1:So I flew in my babysitter. Good old dad yep well if it makes you feel any better. Stephanie, I was at Disney World two weeks prior because I got it wrong. Also, instead of sacrificing our hotel reservation non-refundable, we went over.
Speaker 7:I remember that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fred, if you did something like that, that'd be big trouble.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I did the same thing. I got the wrong weekend for some surprise, so there must have been some marketing that had a wrong date on it because I booked the Grand Floridian. I was all excited and then, luckily, I looked and in time enough to cancel, but I had the wrong date. Too Crazy.
Speaker 5:It changes every year.
Speaker 1:That's the problem with that race weekend. Maybe that could be it, John. That could be it, but I feel better. Thank you for saying that. I feel better, Fred. What kind of planning and I'll use you as the example who is someone who has some real travel planning? That has to be done very extensively, Tara, you do too. What kind of planning goes into getting here for all four weekends?
Speaker 6:Wow, Kind of thankfully the races go on sale so early.
Speaker 6:Sometimes that's annoying because I don't know what's going to happen at work in a year in advance, but the good thing is, I could start searching for flights. Just like a lot of us, we look for those superfares on Southwest and some other airlines. I do. I'm a point person. I do say point. So it does take a lot more logistics for me because it's not in my backyard like the two of you, but it makes it for me. For me, it makes it feel more like a vacation, though, which is nice to get away.
Speaker 1:Okay, when do you typically get in and how long do you typically stay?
Speaker 6:oh gosh um, I will red eye from um the night before expo and then I'll have lots of joffrey's coffee and go yeah, go into expo. And then I will always religiously leave the Monday after the races because I do love to go in and do my medal photos at Magic Kingdom, but I can't stay longer than that, or else you know, obviously I'm a working individual. Friends come from the West Coast.
Speaker 1:We're getting up at two in the morning. That's 11 o'clock the night before in your time.
Speaker 6:Yep, some major jet lag is involved with these race weekends.
Speaker 1:When we head out to the West Coast and we have to get up at five, it's like eight o'clock, so it's a benefit. Taro, how are travel arrangements for you?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm very blessed in that I am a contractor, I'm a consultant, so I work multiple different places and I make my own schedule at all of them for the most part, so I just schedule myself off. I don't, unfortunately, I don't have any PTO, so if I don't work I don't get paid, but so I just schedule myself around whatever days I'm going to be at Disney, and so that allows me to to do more of what I want to do. And so, in terms of flying, I buy my tickets as early as possible, as soon as the flights come out, and then I watch the fares and change my tickets often to get money back. On Southwest. I also do Southwest gift cards from Costco that save you 10% or whatever it is.
Speaker 6:So there you go. That's a good tip.
Speaker 3:Buy your tickets early and then you keep changing your flights as the fares go down, so that saves a little bit money on the airfare at least.
Speaker 1:Good tip, all right. Next question, and gang, I want your input on this too, because this applies to multiple races in the year, not necessarily perfect seasons, although it was a question that was asked how do you train for the perfect season? Well, that's easy, chris Twiggs.
Speaker 3:Just never stop, well, yeah.
Speaker 1:Customized training plan. That's a good way to start.
Speaker 3:I took the easy way out. I did customized training.
Speaker 7:Yeah, I signed up shortly after springtime surprise last year. What year is this? So 2023. And because I didn't, I trained on my own using the Jeff Galloway plan for the Pixar weekend and I knew that I could do better, but I needed someone to help me and I needed that coach. So I found customized, because I needed someone that you know, lived and breathed the Jeff Galloway method, cause that's the only way, with all of my injuries, that I can run somewhat injury free. So, um, I told him that you know, I had my a race in August and here in central Florida, which was an absolute stupid idea. Um, that did not go well. I mean, I was first in my age group. Um, that's the perk of a local, very small race. There was only probably about no, I think. No, it was first female overall. Um, yeah, I think there were five females.
Speaker 3:Oh okay, hey, You're still number one.
Speaker 1:That's right. You can only beat who's there, that's right.
Speaker 7:Touche. So I put Dopey. I wanted to do well on Dopey and we just trained for, we trained for Dopey and then the other races. Fellas catered training runs to include the Donna half marathon up in Jacksonville.
Speaker 1:In January.
Speaker 7:Yeah, February.
Speaker 1:February okay.
Speaker 7:Yeah, that was a week before my radiation treatments ended.
Speaker 1:I'm going to toss this out. This is the way I typically do it, and I'm a customized training guy too. But in a nutshell, I train for Dopey. That usually starts a week before Wine and Dine, although this year I think they start at the same time they do. But that's okay. Neither here nor there I train for Dopey. Wine and Dine falls in between. By the time I finish Dopey, I figure I can do anything, so I just kind of goof off and do the last two. I mean I don't quit. But once you've trained yourself to do 48.6 in four days, doing 19.3 isn't quite the challenge it used to be.
Speaker 7:No, and it feels so weird to say that, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:It does, it does and I should do better. I really should do better. But and I use Chris, of course, and I try very hard to pay attention to what he tells me but mentally, mentally and for people who are considering doing this and that's what I'm trying to think about here in talking through this, in talking through this Mentally, it gets challenging, after you've finished dopey, to say okay, I'm going to go hit it hard and knock out Princess in springtime, because you know you can do it and you know you still have to do something. But it's hard to get out there and go hard. Fred, how did you handle training for your perfect season? Because you had five of them. So did Tara for your perfect season? Because you had five of them.
Speaker 6:So did Tara. Yeah, I'm nodding with you because I'm learning all the running lingo. By the way, like I said, I'm new, so I didn't know what the word taper meant other than with your pants. But I learned that the season that you do, you do your major training until Dopey Dumbo, and then I kind of tapered off too. I still ran. I worked on my speed a little more because that was something I was focusing on, but that's cool, that's good, that's a good point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 6:But you're so right, Bob, once the um, the mental um completion of those 48.6 miles happen, you kind of feel like everything else is, is a cakewalk. But you have to be very careful. You know, I'm an older individual, an older athlete, and you have to be careful with injury that you don't just stop running and wing it. I still had to continue my training but I didn't. It wasn't as crazy as it was for Dopey, my gosh, those. The hardest part, we can all agree, is those last miles, long races, being around the holidays, when you want to, you know, be drinking eggnog and wrapping gifts with your family, when, when the actuality, you're saying like good morning everybody, I'll be back in eight hours.
Speaker 1:I'm going for my long run. Yeah right, those of you new to the DOPI training. We'll be talking about that throughout the season.
Speaker 7:Well, the long runs around the holidays were actually my favorite because, you know, living in Central Florida, I get up before the surface of the sun starts heating up and you know, and I'm, I'm, I've got feet hitting the pavement at two 30, at some mornings two 30, just to get my long runs in. And um, I really enjoyed the long runs around the holidays because it gave me my center, it centered me. That was my me time when, as a, as a parent, as a mom, you are stretched so incredibly thin to make sure the holidays are so magical and things move on their own. Um, because you, you just got to make sure that the house is clean enough for things to move on their own, and and and and. Parents will understand that yeah good point.
Speaker 5:Good point you guys did a lot of training miles. Uh, how did you guys deal with burnout? Because I mean I didn't run past. I did dopey with my last race for the entire season and I know I was able to relax and not have to run for another three races that weekend. How do you guys deal with burnout?
Speaker 3:I think I was just viewing that everything was sort of downhill from Dopey so I was just looking forward to the celebrations that could ensue, without like really stressing too much about it. So I did two marathons on the way to Dopey as my catered training runs. I did the Marine Corps marathon and I did Honolulu, and so those were fun in their own right.
Speaker 1:Good choices, by the way, thank you. Good choices.
Speaker 3:So I really thought at Honolulu that I may not ever run a marathon again. But after that one, because I ended up having COVID um doing my marathon I really didn't realize it until two days later that I had COVID and that's why I felt so bad, awful, terrible running that marathon, um. But after that when I realized that, oh, that was COVID, and I was like, well, maybe I'm going to make a decision after dopey whether I ever do another marathon again. And I loved my marathon, adobe, it was great.
Speaker 3:I got a 10 minute PR, I felt fantastic and I was like, okay, that all that training even though I slogged through all of that nonsense, um, you know, had me coming out the other side and then to be able to go to Disneyland the following weekend and and enjoy that weekend and feel strong and feel great. Um, then I just, you know, I did. I did do my training miles, but I didn't like stress about them. I definitely wasn't going for any time goals in princess or in a springtime surprise and I just really wanted to enjoy, you know, and stay healthy through the remainder of the season. So that's what got me through of of not really getting burned out Cause I wasn't really aiming for anything other than having a great time.
Speaker 7:No, I didn't hit burnout until after springtime, because to me, the perfect season, to me, you know, wine and dine until springtime, and so my, my finish line, you know, metaphorically and literally, was the 10 miler at springtime. And so I've taken two, three weeks off and the only thing that actually got me started was the mother's day present from my nine-year-old, where he and my husband put together this little tiny book, or this book of all of my running achievements over the past year, and I and I cried and I'm like well, I guess I got to get back into training now.
Speaker 1:Fred, I'm going to let you handle the burnout question first this time, so that I can say, yeah, I agree, go ahead.
Speaker 6:I didn't have burnout either, because which I know is a whole separate episode but I'm kind of the costume king and so I would get excited while I'm running about the costumes coming up and, you know, spend those three or four hours out there running thinking of, um, you know, costume ideas and stuff. So I never experienced burnout. But again, I'm a new runner, I'm only two, two, three years in, so that might be something that's on my plate, that's possible Interesting, interesting.
Speaker 1:I can't. I can't say I'm with you 100% on that one, because you're more into costumes. I love the costumes too. You're new to running, I'm new to costumes. But I would say, john, my answer to your question is it goes back to what I said before I don't really feel the burnout too badly because, again, I'm with Chris and I'll look at the schedule out. Too badly because again, I'm with Chris and I'll look at the schedule and now that we're done, dopey, the long run that's going to be on the schedule is going to be 13 or 14, maybe 15 miles at the most. And I kind of look at that now and just shrug my shoulders and go, yeah, okay, I can knock that out.
Speaker 4:All right. So, having done the perfect season, which race weekend was your favorite and why? And which race weekend was your favorite and why? And which race weekend was your trouble race weekend and why?
Speaker 1:I'll start. Mine's easy and for the favorite. I mean you've heard me say it on the podcast and my friends here know it I'm never going to top marathon weekend. I mean it's a week after my 70th birthday, I'm doing dopey and I pushed my friend Woody for most of the marathon, so that's, I'm never going to top that. So that's my favorite. I don't know that I had a trouble weekend, jack I. You know how much I love being there and seeing our friends.
Speaker 4:I when I mean a trouble weekend, I mean like I always know, like there's always going to be that one race that you're kind of like, oof, that was a bit rough. Well, I mean.
Speaker 1:I fell down, I fell down, but Stephanie and I think Tara were there to help pick me up. So, um, I know, stephanie, was you there, tara, yeah, yeah, I had a lot of help and I I say that, I say that and I appreciate it.
Speaker 3:You actually grazed me on the way you actually grazed me on the way down. Bob, you didn't know you were falling into me. I did, I was right in front of you.
Speaker 1:I honestly no joke. I honestly made the conscious decision not to grab. I didn't realize it was you at the time, but I remember I started and I went no, you're just going to pull that person down too. So I stopped and we answered the question.
Speaker 7:If a Bob falls in the middle of a crowd, does he make a sound?
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7:I love Dopey. It was it was not my first race weekend. My first race was the Tower of Terror, 10 miler in 2013, when it was at night and in Hollywood Studios around the Sorcerer's Hat so cool. But Dopey, I think it holds a special place in my heart because hardly anybody runs marathons. You know, as a whole, phenomenal, but to do it after doing a 5k, 10k and a half is ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Insane.
Speaker 7:Absolutely, and it's kind of fun to do things that you didn't think that you could and I loved, and I love being able to prove to myself that, no matter what's going on, I can do hard things I can. I can do dopey, even if I have to walk and, and you know, phone a friend during the um round to mile 13, 12, 13,. I often phone a friend and I would say that my least, my troubled race this week or this season was probably the princess half.
Speaker 1:I was going to go for running with Pelkey. No, okay, okay, that was amazing, that was great.
Speaker 7:No, that was such an honor. No, the princess. So a week after princess or two weeks after before princess, excuse me, was the dawn a half where I PR'd the half marathon, um, and then I came to princess and I had high aspirations for even doing better than that and that was, that was dumb. And you know, coach, then twigs, you know, kind of just rolled his eyes at me and he just lets me do what I want to do sometimes. Yeah, because you know I learned the hard way. But a lot of times it was so congested and it was the most congested I've ever experienced on a Disney race, on a course, and a lot of times I got elbowed in my chest and I've had a double mastectomy and I have expanders in and that hurt, that hurt so bad, and then it was just. I don't know, it was just. The vibe of princess is different and each weekend has a vibe and it's my least favorite weekend.
Speaker 1:Now, Tara and Fred, you got an extra race to consider when answering the question. And I'm going to rephrase it Jack, your best and your most troublesome.
Speaker 6:Fred, go ahead, I'll start with most troublesome was Wine and Dine. It was the one that my family and my partner came. My family and my partner came. Well, I had to run the 5k with my mother in the ER because she had gotten a really bad stomach bug. So to try to be happy and in your costume and in that Disney bubble but worry that you're you know that your mom is five miles away at Florida hospital, that your mom is five miles away at Florida Hospital. That was really hard. You know I still did it and I ran for her. You know, I thought, gosh, if I can be strong out here on this course, she can be strong in the ER.
Speaker 6:And then my favorite one, which is a surprise, is Springtime Surprise was really super fun. I didn't have my typical friends with me we all have our core friends but it forced me to step out of my comfort zone and meet different people. So I got to know different people and I got to watch Stephanie with John Pelkey, which was so cool. So I loved Springtime Surprise, surprise. That was the surprise.
Speaker 1:That's a good one.
Speaker 3:All right, tara, I can't really pick a favorite Waves Weekend. It's like trying to pick one of your favorite children.
Speaker 3:Fair enough, that's fine, but you know, I don't know. I love all of them. I love Wine and Dine because it's like homecoming. I love Mar of them. I love Wine and Dine because it's like homecoming. I love Marathon Weekend because it's the big show I really enjoyed.
Speaker 3:Princess this year, bob, rachel, heidi and I we all got to run together for the whole half marathon even though it rained, even though it poured. It was just fun. We had a really good time. And springtime was just a blast. Springtime was just a. We had a really good time, um, and springtime was just a blast. Springtime was just the full on party. Um.
Speaker 3:So you know, I I would say, if I had to pick one, my least favorite weekend probably is princess. I don't, you got your perfect season. Stephanie is holding up a perfect season banner. Yup, we were. We were so perfect, so, um, I don't know so ridiculous all weekend and we had a really really great time. So I think, yeah, princess is probably my least favorite weekend overall, but not really that. I didn't love it. I loved it, but I love all the weekends and I love Disneyland too. Disneyland's different, different vibe, you know so many different things. It was just. It just didn't feel like home to me, um like at Disneyland. I definitely enjoyed it, but it didn't feel like my race home. Um, I am going for um Halloween coming up, so you know, we'll see if I change my opinion on that, but I, I, I just I love them all.
Speaker 1:I thought one of our two disneyland runners would mention the water stop, but you didn't, so you must be over it.
Speaker 3:That's good I was lucky enough, I think, before the really big, huge bottleneck happened, I was, I was ahead of it I was in the midst of that.
Speaker 6:It was not good.
Speaker 1:It was full, fully blocked all right, friends, it's been fun. I hope that in our conversation we have helped some folks who are considering doing a perfect season. Stephanie, tara, fred, before we let you go, what are your goals for upcoming seasons? Stephanie?
Speaker 7:you start Well now that my nine-year-old is hooked on the Run Disney 5Ks, I really can't do another perfect season, but I'm afraid I will.
Speaker 3:I love doing the challenges.
Speaker 7:I know another accidental perfect season. I love doing the challenges, they're so fun. But I was talking to Coach Twiggs and I'm turning 40 in October and so over the next decade I've got a lot of goals to hit, to include a 50K Ultra. I guess I can make it public. Jack, I'll see you at Daytona.
Speaker 1:There you go.
Speaker 4:You're going to think way before I will, but just know that I'm there in spirit at the finish line for you.
Speaker 7:I'm going to help you build your little van thing. I'm in cahoots with Adam to help build it, so I'm trying. I've got my eye on all the world majors over the next decade. I'm going to try to break a sub two half and Ironman Florida get back into triathlons. Ironman Florida is on the schedule for 2026.
Speaker 1:Very ambitious, I'm impressed.
Speaker 7:It's going to be busy. I'm already tired and apparently I've already filled up my race schedule. Twigs told me to pump the brakes because I found two more races with Space Coast and and maybe pacing my best friend for the Every Woman's Marathon in Savannah. So I was told to pump the brakes.
Speaker 4:That's what I need. You just go for it, man.
Speaker 7:Why not? Why not? You know, in the month of March, I walked 100 miles. I walked 100 miles and I started two days after my total hysterectomy. I couldn't run and I wanted to keep my endurance, and so I just walked every day.
Speaker 1:It's impressive, it is, it's inspirational, it is. How about it, tara? What are your plans coming up? How about?
Speaker 3:it. Tara? What are your plans coming up? Well, my plan for the next run Disney season, is to run all the challenges. So I'm doing the challenge. Well, not all the challenges. I'm going to do Disneyland Halloween. I'm going to do Wine and Dine Challenge, marathon weekend. I'm doing Goofy, but because of the Rise and Run Dalmatian concept, I had to do the 5K also. So I'm doing 5K plus Goofy. I'm planning to skip Princess and then I'm planning to do Springtime Challenge. All three races for the challenge. So that's my plan for Run Disney. And then, just like Stephanie, I have my eyes on the six stars, the six world majors, and I'm also going to try to do it in the next well, eight and a half years. So six stars by 60 is my plan.
Speaker 1:You know they're going to add a seventh. You know that.
Speaker 3:I know, then I'll have to be. Maybe I'll have 10 more years to get that seventh star, I don't know Seven stars by seven.
Speaker 1:That's going to be an expensive one. Yeah, Australian Fred, take us home. Man, what are your plans?
Speaker 6:Well, I want to be Stephanie when I grow up. For sure, that's definitely in my plan. But unlike Stephanie, turning 4-0, I'm turning 5-0 next year, so my races will all be in celebration of that. I'm not doing all of them, that's not a perfect season, but I'm doing, I think, all the weekends. And I'm most excited for marathon weekend. My husband is doing two races with me and then we're getting on the Treasure, the new Disney cruise ship.
Speaker 1:Oh, very nice, Very nice, yeah, yeah, that's. That's a wonderful weekend to do that. That's a great way to finish. Um, yeah, listen, you youngsters, you got plenty of running years ahead of you, I promise.
Speaker 7:Yeah, I completely forgot about run Disney Ironic. Um, I am in for wine and dine, cause that's going to be the bookend to my whole running through breast cancer. I'm slated to have my final procedure in August or September. I'm roped in for dopey. I'm like you, Bob. You know we're going to come up with a saying dopey or death.
Speaker 1:Dopey until I die.
Speaker 7:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Not dopey or death, that's too. No, we don't want that.
Speaker 7:Give me dopey or give me.
Speaker 1:Dopey until I die.
Speaker 7:It's going to be a war cry. I'm in for dopey. And then I think I got peer pressured into princess the other day, got guilted into it.
Speaker 1:This sounds so familiar because I'm sitting here going. I do not want to do another perfect season, I don't. I am, however, signed up for every run Disney race that has registered, so I don't know. We'll see friends. Thank you, stephanie. Tara, fred, thanks for taking the time again. I do hope that we help some folks out here, but I appreciate you being with us and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming race weekend Next up.
Speaker 5:Talking about perfect seasons, I think this is a perfect season that not many people have accomplished.
Speaker 1:Oh, I would say, maybe only one.
Speaker 5:They ran all the Disneyland races in one year Plus. They worked the expo every day that same race year. Our guest coming up is our friend Pam from Fluffy Fizzies.
Speaker 1:My friends, we got some news this week. You read about it on Facebook. Our good buddy, pam Allison, of Fluffy Fizzy's fame, is folding the tents. Fluffy Fizzy's, I'm not going to have as much to say about the expo anymore. I don't know what to do. I'm going to say go see Jeff and then go see. No, I don't know. But how could we let her go without inviting her back at least one more time and we may see her again after that to say Pam, welcome back to the podcast, how you doing? Well, you've been such a good friend I mean, on and off, you and I go back about as long as Alicia and Greg and I do, and we were trying to think about that last night. I think we became friends on Facebook early on, which is why you used to get warnings when I was in the area.
Speaker 8:I know I miss those warnings. And now what am I going to do? No, I always knew when you got to the expo, because I would get a Facebook warning that your friend Bob is in the area and I didn't know how close you were and what you were doing.
Speaker 1:But she didn't. But what she would do is run and hide.
Speaker 8:Nah, I couldn't do that. I had to be at the booth.
Speaker 1:It's been a good run, it's been a lot of fun it has, and you made a tough business decision and I know you very well and I know that it's a smart decision and we certainly respect it. Let's clear up one thing for sure How's your health, pam? You doing okay?
Speaker 8:I am doing good and you know, one of the things is I got to make sure I maintain my health and I'm not overtaxing, and so this was definitely a hard decision, but my health is just fine, thank you. I don't want anybody to think that that was yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's why I asked I'm not prying. No, but I wanted to clear that part up. So what happens now with Fluffy Fizzy's? I know you, I know you got a bunch of orders I did, oh my gosh.
Speaker 8:So first of all I want to thank everyone, and I mean that sincerely. It was a very hard decision and there are decisions that you know in business you make. Obviously, you try to make everything logically with your head, but the closer you are to your business you start making them with your heart, and so this was a very hard decision that I had to make. On more of the logical side, I had to ignore the feelings that went with it. I don't want anybody to think there was not a single tear, because there were many tears and you know it wasn't a rash decision, it wasn't anything that was made spur of the moment. But once I decided it was time to do it, I said, okay, let's do this. And you know, I kind of told over that post for a bit and wrote it and looked at it and wrote it again and cried while writing it and said, am I doing the right thing? And then as soon as I posted it, I said whew, I posted it and I felt a weight off my shoulders.
Speaker 5:Felt relief huh.
Speaker 8:And then within a moment, I started getting the likes and the comments and it was all names I know and that brought another round of tears. Of the names I know, first, everybody that was, you know, liking or that sort of thing, and then the comments. I don't know if you've gotten a chance to read the comments. I've read every single comment across all the platforms and hopefully I liked or loved you know your post if you posted. But, man, seeing the names and hearing the comments and you know some of these people like you guys I've known for a very long time. You know a lot of the customers were with me from day one when I delivered from hotel to hotel on foot for the first expo and that was back in 2018, dopey of 2018.
Speaker 1:Is that right?
Speaker 8:It was, and I remember, you know, I had twelve hundred dollars worth of orders, yeah, and I literally went from hotel to hotel delivering those orders that I took on PayPal and that was how we got started and so, but there were people who that they bought with me then, and so you know, seeing, seeing the names and the comments, I can almost hear the voices. And then some people posted pictures, boy, you know, I know, and I hope you don't mind me sharing this, bob, when Bob asked if I wanted to come on tonight, I said yes, but you might have to edit out quite a few tears. And Bob's response was From both of us.
Speaker 8:Exactly so. You know it's and it's still. You know I'm doing fine, I'm happy the decision was made, but but even you know, talking to you guys, I have a few tears in my eyes and so, but those, those who are running right now, hope you have extra hydration, because Because you know, I'm thinking about that, pam.
Speaker 1:I'm sitting here thinking about our friends who are listening, and so many of them have become friends of yours. I don't think this is a surprise. I think they've already read about it on Facebook. But whether they have or they haven't, I can kind of put myself in their shoes. They're not here, but I can hear them saying I'm going to miss Pam. They're not here, but I can hear them saying I'm going to miss Pam, but we're just going to miss that booth at the expo. We're not going to miss Pam, are we?
Speaker 8:No, no, as it is, I am signed up for the 5K of Wine and Dine. Mike and I will be there, so we're going to be there bright and early. If anything, this will give us a little more time to see everyone, everyone, I might be able to hit one of these meetups one day and you can buy the margaritas. Oh, is that part of the deal? I didn't know that that's an.
Speaker 1:It's an old joke, pam. We haven't used it for a while, but you know it's appropriate pam I.
Speaker 2:I just have one question because you usually, when we have you on it's, you know what's the latest and greatest product or what have you improved. What is the design? And upon hearing the news and then processing my thoughts, just really only one question came across my mind, and that was did Tom Stokes sell you out of your glitter so that he can continue?
Speaker 8:to glitter pecs um oh, glitter pecs, uh, glitter pecs. I um okay. So what's tom gonna do? What's anybody gonna do? You know, you think about carissa wearing the lipstick every single.
Speaker 2:That was going to be my follow up, yeah exactly.
Speaker 8:I do know there is lipstick on its way to her right now.
Speaker 1:Nobody panic how about yeah, there's Bob, there's Bob.
Speaker 8:Bob has some lipstick coming to him as well. Actually, today the post office came in and picked up just a plethora of packages, so a lot of people's packages are on their way to them right now. Um, I you know, let's face it, I don't want to see all this work and and all of the loyalty go to waste. So I do have a couple of people who saw the post, who saw that we're interested in selling and are now considering it. So there's actually three people who are really seriously considering at this point and you know, no surprise, they're all affiliated in some way, shape or form, as a runner, as you know, whatever with with Run Disney. So they they see the value.
Speaker 8:Honestly, if I would have had more time and I mean time to spread you know around, you know we were on, or still are, on Amazon on Walmart. We still are on Amazon on Walmart, we just had buyer meetings when I was in Disney this last time and we have two grocery store chains that are now very interested and that would have brought its own set of rewards. But for us it's our own set of challenges and I had to make the decision. So, as I put in my post, you know I have this university position. It is gaining momentum with. You know us helping other businesses that I just couldn't devote the time that the business needs. And you know, over this past year all we did was run Disney Expos, even so much as we're already going to be down there for wine and dine, we could work the booth with them to get them.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 8:So that is my hope. You know, this has been seven years of really intense work, for you know, towards this brand and building the brand, and it is paying off, but I really want to see somebody who can devote time and take it to the next level.
Speaker 1:That'd be great Well.
Speaker 2:Pam I, I, I know an expo. An expo will never be the same without you, but please, please, know that while this iteration of fluffy fizzies may be gone, just know that you and the hard work that you put in and the hard work that your family have put in will never, ever be forgotten, and thank you for all that you have done for our community.
Speaker 8:Thank you, Greg. Once again, we have the tears.
Speaker 8:So sorry you know those of you take a sip hydrate again. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So I have to tell you. You know, we have great support from all of our customers, from all of our friends, but we also have great support from Run Disney itself, and just today I received a care package that said Run Disney on it and I thought what is this? I shouldn't have anything coming to me from Run Disney in the mail right now, and it was a little swag bag with a very touching handwritten note. I actually have not even told them, but they obviously see some of the posts and things from our business development manager, who I've worked with from the day we started as well, and she wished us the best of luck. She understood and said it's never going to be the same. I can tell you from my side sorry, it's never going to be the same for me either.
Speaker 1:You're good. Yeah, we're going to see more. Well, we'll see you at different places. We'll see you at different places, but we'll see Exactly. That's the big deal. That's the big deal, pam, on behalf of all of our friends who are listening, who would love to say this right now, I can. I can hear them yelling at me we love you, we appreciate everything you've done. It's great having you as a friend. That's not going to change and we'll see you pretty soon.
Speaker 8:I'll definitely be out there at one and nine okay alright, my friend.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much thank you guys well.
Speaker 1:I appreciate Pam spending the time with us. I don don't I don't want to be sad because she's not going anywhere. I'm glad she's healthy, glad she's doing well, glad she and Mike are doing well and, uh, we're going to see her down there. So I'm excited about that and we may even see her at the meetup. That'd be pretty cool. A couple of quick announcements.
Speaker 1:My friends, those of you running as one of the 101 Dalmatians in the 5k at Walt Disney world weekend, monica has been working hard and she'd been working with our friend Alec at at Kauai and Pizza Apparel. Look for a mock-up of the shirt design early next week and a sign-up for puppy names the first week in June. Look, you don't have to buy a shirt, but after you see it I think you'll want to. We're working with Alec to keep the price down as much as we can and she delivers a real quality product, so we're excited about that. Speaking of shirts, our friends at zippity teas have announced they're going to have a discount code for Rise and Run listeners when they drop their new line of Zippity T-shirts. Now they've dropped some, but they haven't dropped the complete line. They still haven't dropped the shirts for Dopey Weekend, but when they do we'll have a discount code to announce. Taking a look, look, friends at upcoming episodes next week the family feud episode greg. Any news on the family feud front?
Speaker 2:I gotta say I mean I'm always impressed by the rise and run community, but you folks you folks floored me this week.
Speaker 2:So, you know, I I was working, you know, with our gang here and and our wonderful friends over we'll run, for we, you know, formulate just a bunch of questions. But, you know, because we needed to be able to survey, you know, 100 run disney runners. So I created this google form and I was like, okay, I'm gonna get it up. It's probably gonna take like maybe two to three days until we, you know, get 100 responses and then I'll start. You know, because I'm playing the role as host slash executive producer of this whole thing and I I set the google form live and, no joke, within 20 minutes we had over 100 responses.
Speaker 1:It was like a Disney registration you got that right.
Speaker 2:And it was funny because I was actually keeping my eye on it, because once we hit 100, that's when I wanted to shut it down and my wife was working from home that day and she happened to come up to my office to chat with me about something and it actually distracted me and by the time I like hit the refresh button, we were up to 100 and 103 responses or something like that, and then I had to shut it down before things got too crazy. And I know our friend of dallas was was so upset that she was in the middle of filling out the form when I turned it down.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so again, you all continue to to really really, you know, shock and all me when it comes to, you know, just providing us feedback and getting involved in this podcast and you know, and just building this this and getting involved in this podcast and just building this family. So we're really looking forward to it. We have a bunch of really good questions, some hysterical responses. I'm just so looking forward to next week. I think this is going to be one for the record books and hopefully it provides everybody a lot of joy and a lot of laughter and just a ton of fun. So we're really looking forward to having our friends from We'll Run For On and we're going to play the feud.
Speaker 1:I don't know how it's going to come out, but I know Greg's going to enjoy it, so that's great. That's next week. Week after that, our friend Fitz Kohler is back with us Speaking of fun. Fitz, fitz is speaking of fun. This is a lot of fun. We look forward to having her back. All right, my friends, it's time for the race report. Friends, the race report is brought to you by our friend Tom at Stoked Metabolic Training.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so if you are interested in training with him, he does a free consultations and if you like to go ahead and do that, just go ahead and contact him on his website for stoked metabolic training with Tom. I call it muscles by Tom because I've only been doing it for about two and a half months and I've seen a huge difference in the way that one strength and two my arms are so different. Now I do think there is definitely benefits with training with him and, yeah, he'll work around your schedule, whatever you want to do, and yeah, he's pretty easy to contact.
Speaker 1:Sounds good. Stokesfit, slash, rise and Run Coaching is the site. There's a link in the featured section at the top of the Facebook group page. So let's take a look at the race report. It started a week ago.
Speaker 1:On Thursday in Orlando, jason ran the Corporate 5K. I remember this one from last year. This is Orlando's largest office party with over 10,000 runners. It's the last run of the season over there in Orlando. It was 94 degrees. It is getting really, really warm in interior Florida at this time of year 94 degrees. So the 5K got cut to a 2.4 mile race, which makes this a PR for Jason. I don't know, jason, you take it. You earned it. That bell was for you. His first run in three months. Time to get back to building for next season.
Speaker 1:Hey, we just got done talking about our friends at Will Run, for they had their virtual what they call their virtually live event this weekend. They do, as I've said over and over. They do a wonderful job. I've got a couple of names here of people who I know participated. This is by no means all inclusive Gang. If you know anybody I'm leaving out. I did Judy Allie without an E. Heather, who was rolling. Heather's doing great after recovering from major surgery this last winter. Karen, greg, you did it, I know you did. John, you did too. I know you did John, you did too. Yep, our buddy Tony Kate did it in her Rise and Run shirt. Well done, kate. I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Far superior merch, you, betcha, tara, who was just with us, tara did this one, laura, david, doug and, as I said, I'm sure I'm leaving folks out, but that's just from memory. So, rise and Run family, thank you for participating in that. It is a great event. I admire those guys for putting it on and this was a very special cause for them this year. So thanks for doing that. Us move now to saturday and start in ringgold, georgia, for the dolly dash 5k, and we are super happy to have with us this evening jimmy, who participated in that race and is here to tell us all about it. Jimmy, how you doing, man? I'm doing great. How about? We're doing great, and we appreciate you. I know you're at work. You've taken time off from work to come out and talk with us and we think that's great. Thanks for doing that. All right, my friend, let's start a question. I usually start these off with Jimmy. When did you get started running?
Speaker 5:January last year, that ain't long ago.
Speaker 9:No, it's not. I actually got injured at work and my strength in my left arm is 25 pounds, so I have no upper body technically on that side, and I knew that whenever I used to do theater I could dance and I knew my legs were still good and I started watching my 600 pound life and I'm like they're getting out walking, they're getting out running. At the time I was over 300 and I said, okay, let's try a race a month and go from there and it blew up.
Speaker 1:Okay, it blew up. How's it going?
Speaker 9:It's going good. It's going good, I mean finished second half last month.
Speaker 1:so just working in progress. Yeah, and I don't know, jimmy, I don't have a calibrated eyeball, but I don't think you're over 300 pounds anymore either.
Speaker 9:No, no, I'm around 250-something, so I've lost at least 55 that I know of.
Speaker 1:Good deal. That's excellent. That's excellent. I don't have to tell you how good that is for you and how good it is for you as a runner too. Just makes everything a little bit easier.
Speaker 9:Exactly Like my knees have finally quit hurting after a year and, yeah, like certain things are finally starting to relax more and I'm like, okay, I can deal with this better.
Speaker 1:Good deal, so you started in January. What have been some highlights to this point?
Speaker 9:I've been trying to pick races that are unique and that give you the unique medals. So it's like last year. I ran Cathedral Cavern, wanted to run in a cave. Um signed up for the 7.4 last year, which was the first one that I pulled Alicia into with me in less than a month for training. But it was technically my first trail run.
Speaker 9:First it's half trail, half road, so I pulled a jack at that point and I tell alicia that all the time it's like okay, I pulled a jack, don't know what I'm doing, but we're good yep, I love how that's become a verb. It really has.
Speaker 1:I jacked Completely. Well, listen, I mean Alicia's, right here. You talk about her in a conversation. What has Alicia just whisper? Don't tell. I don't want her to hear. What has she done for you so far?
Speaker 9:Oh, she knows we talk all the time at that point. But I mean, it's like I went from not knowing what I was doing and listening to Jared and him saying that he could do one minute, three minute intervals and I took that as OK. I can run a minute, walk, three minutes, let's try that out. And that's how I started. And I was doing that all on my own. I was doing like the week up to the race I was out running four or five days a week and then trying to run the race and then when it came up to that 7.4, I was like, well, this is over five miles or over the 5k, it's over five miles, so I need help. I don't know what I'm doing. And that was when alicia made her statement on the podcast and I'm like, yep, you can hear a message as I'm listening and I'm at work, so got together and it's just been great ever since. Like I, I know I'm not gonna hurt myself at that point yeah, that's because I have somebody that's done that.
Speaker 9:Plus I've not done run disney yet, so I knew she's done it. You guys have done it. You guys do galloway. It was to the point of I want to find somebody that knows what to do for Disney. So when I get ready for it, I know what I'm doing at that point and I'm not overwhelming myself at the event.
Speaker 1:All right, sounds like you got a plan, my friend Trying to Good for you. Well, let's talk about last weekend, the Dolly 5K in Ringgold. Now I know the answer to this, but I'm going to let you tell us. What does Dolly, who grew up in Tennessee, have to do with a race in Georgia?
Speaker 9:In 1966, her and her husband Carl got married and it was just them and her mom and they took off and left nashville and they picked up mom up in pigeon forge and drove down there because they didn't want the publicity. Ah, okay, because it was right when she was starting. She was 20 years old at the time when it whenever they got married, so it was right at the start and that's something that would have blown up at that point did you do this?
Speaker 1:did you do this one last year, jimmy?
Speaker 9:I did, which is why I did more detail in the race report, because you were all confused of where ringgold and dolly came in at yeah, no, I, I remember it.
Speaker 1:I remember it from last year. I'm starting to remember some of these things as I go through them year after year. Well, tell us about the race. How was it?
Speaker 9:uh, it was actually a lot better than it was last year. This was the second one, last year was the first one and last year was a lot hotter than what it was this year, which made that easier. Plus, they actually added a 10k and a mile run, so that cleared up some of the 5k people oh, there you go and instead of having two waves that they had last year, we actually had four.
Speaker 9:So the 10k started first and then we had the first wave of 5k. That was as far as I know. The non-timed second wave to 5k was 15 minutes after that, and that was in my group, and then the miler started 15 minutes after us. So it it was a lot better that way. There was still congestion up on the course at a point and I just had to run more and go around, but it it was a lot better organized and it was a lot fun, like I'm ready for next year's race that's not unusual to see big improvements in year two, kind of a shakeout in year one and things get a little better in year two.
Speaker 1:That's good. That's good, nice swag at the end Metals giveaways.
Speaker 9:Metal was a four-inch metal this year compared to last year where it was a two-inch, so super excited about that. They actually sent us the email about that, like december, november last year I was like yep, signing up doing that, one want that medal.
Speaker 1:Good for you. What's on the schedule, jimmy? You said you haven't done disney. You got one coming up.
Speaker 9:We've talked about it, me and Alicia, and we've decided that I need to do my first marathon first, before I try to tackle doping. So we're going to look at doping for 2026. We were talking about springtime for next year, but the next one in my books is actually Sunday and I'm running the 15K at Biltmore.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, that's a very pretty area also, yeah.
Speaker 9:Yeah, yeah, and I pulled up a video and it looks to be fairly flat, so I'm very excited about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not sure. I've been to the Biltmore, but I know that area isn't necessarily necessarily flat, so I'm not sure about the race course. But anyway, whatever it is, you'll have a good time oh, I'm totally excited about it.
Speaker 9:I mean we've worked up to it, back from the half marathon, I mean, and honestly I mean if I didn't have Alicia, I know I wouldn't be able to do these longer runs like I have been. I mean, she's made it to where it's been so much easier, and it's not only having a coach, she's turned into a friend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course.
Speaker 9:Of course I understand that completely yeah, yeah so that's the big perk about having her on my side on that one.
Speaker 1:Well, Jimmy, it's been great having you with us. Anything you want to add before we leave here?
Speaker 9:Yeah, Only thing is is I'm excited to train up to get to run, to get to actually run Disney and actually meet everybody that's in the group and everybody that's in the podcast.
Speaker 1:Oh, you'll love it, man. You'll love meeting the family. It's a. It's a great, great thing. All right, my friend, get back to work. I certainly will. Thanks, jimmy. Our friend Cassie was also at that event.
Speaker 1:Lexington, kentucky, the Run the Bluegrass 5K. Brandy did it for her 10th year. Actually, a 10K distance. It says the 5K but it's a 10K distance it was new this year Really hilly. I can believe that In and around Lexington Kentucky. I can believe it got hilly. Brandy still got it done, but she's waiting to see what happens with the course before she registers for year number 11. I'd hate to see you break the string, brandy. But that's your call, randy, but that's your call.
Speaker 1:In Erie, pennsylvania, they ran the Art and Soul 5K, not the Heart and Soul. The Art and Soul S-O-L-E. Michelle did this. One fun race. Top finishers and age group finishers get to pick out art pieces that were created by children as their award, and a t-shirt was designed by a child. Even though it's uphill for 2.3 miles out of the 5K, it's still one that Michelle likes to do every year.
Speaker 1:Monica in Melbourne, florida, the Run for the Gecko 5K. This is the last of the seven races for the Run Brevard Series for this season. Great course through Wickham Park. Over there, beer and cupcakes at the finish line. What a combination. Monica's daughter, kennedy, who's 11 years old, beat her by nine seconds Time to hand over the bragging rights to the young one. She earned it. Monica's proud of her, and now she's going to train her tail off to make sure that Kennedy doesn't beat her again until she's a teenager. Good luck with that, monica. That youngster's fast. I know you are too, though, so we'll see what happens. Winter Garden, florida, the Mother's Day 5K. Kayla was there, margaret was too. I didn't see margaret post anything about the race. Margaret's been posting photos from marceline walt, disney's childhood home. If you haven't seen those, those are worth looking for. In solvang, california, the wine country half marathon, jackie and fred ran this gorgeous course in beautiful weather, lots of animals out, great finish. This is jackie's last race in her 50s.
Speaker 2:She is looking forward to lots of decade prs coming up you know, I saw some of these photos and you grant lots of animals. But did they have a camel? Because you know bird in hand has a camel bird and and not many races can say that.
Speaker 1:No, that's right, I didn't see a camel. Camel in Solvang, california. In Dade city, florida. The mud girl race, mary Jo and allemale obstacle race. Not, the obstacles weren't all female, it was females all. Oh, I'm going to get in trouble. Not sure what the official distance was, but there were 17 obstacles including a giant inflatable slide. That was lots of fun. Could have used more water obstacles. It was warm this weekend in Florida. Great medal for this one. Here's one we need to look into gang Springfield, illinois. The Fat Ass 5K. Rachel did it. This is not a timed event, but the course has food stops with popcorn, donuts, pizza, cookies, corn dogs, dogs, lots of beer stops. No metal at the end. You know what you get at the end instead of a metal more corn dogs tums, bacon, tums.
Speaker 1:I like that. Tums is good. Now you get bacon, bacon. Then. Then you go to the street party that's got live music and you get barbecue for lunch, all the beer you want, all included in the price of entering the race. I need to book a flight to springfield, illinois, next year.
Speaker 1:Marlboro, massachusetts, theoe 5K. This is a small 5K from a local brewery, the Lost Shoe Brewery, celebrating their fifth anniversary. Avery was there. Riley, on her birthday weekend, ran with her Husky and she was dog-sitting her friend's black lab. That got a little bit chaotic but it was fun, celebrated with tacos on the finish. Like I said, it's her birthday weekend. She's back on Sunday for another race.
Speaker 1:Santa Cruz, california, the she is Beautiful. 10k Sylvia another woman-only event. Cloudy, the ocean breeze felt really great. Lots of nice affirmative message signs throughout the course. On this one they even had a mom's pushing strollers division perfect for Mother's Day weekend. Spartanburg, south Carolina, the love where you live. 10k. Susan ran that. Safety Harbor, florida, just up the road here the Hippie Dash had a 5k, a 10k and then what they called the Keep on Truckin' Challenge, which was both nice event, pretty coarse by the bay, really warm. Safety Harbor is kind of an artsy town. Really nice, I ran it. I was there first time ever. I don't want to get too graphic or too detailed, but this is the first time ever I had to make a port-a-potty stop in the middle of the race where I had to be seated, and I was seated for about six or seven minutes. It was not fun, but no pun intended. I put everything behind me, got out of there and finished.
Speaker 5:So why don't you call it Corral P?
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, I thought about that, John.
Speaker 2:It might be a different letter of the alphabet. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1:It could still be P, it's still Corral P. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you, I'm with you. I promised I wasn't going to get too detailed in this one. Look, here's my message to my friends. It's the only time this has ever happened to me. My message to my friends is it can happen to anybody, and fortunately that port-a-potty was there when I needed it, thank goodness.
Speaker 2:It would never happen to Lexi, though Lexi would not allow that to happen.
Speaker 1:Ooh would have been rough. Would have been rough. I started with Judyy. Judy was there, ran the 10k. She did. She did that with a friend. Her friend was a pt, a physical therapist. Tiffany was there. Tiffany and stephanie ran the 5k. Super fun day. It was a nice event. They had a car show. They had a lot of things afterwards. Uh, food, beer was good. Tiffany says they had a Volkswagen Beetle car show. As a matter of fact, she no longer has her convertible Beetle named Candy and Tiffany missed Candy. Today. The old Beetles right, not the no, that's right, that's right the old like Herbie the Love Bug.
Speaker 5:Herbie the Love Bug, volkswagen buses too.
Speaker 1:I didn't see any minibuses there. Didn't see any, just the bugs. Rounding this out, carrie was there for the Keep on Truckin' Challenge, the 10K and the 5K. Didn't get a chance to see Carrie. I don't think I can't. I'm sorry, I'm terrible at this. I do know that as I was finishing up there were a couple folks behind me Carrie was not one of them who had said I signed up for the Keep On Truckin' Challenge but I'm done after this one's done. It was. It's just it's too warm to be running in Central Florida right now. Keep on keeping on.
Speaker 1:In Connecticut, in Ansonia, the Ansonia Trail Run A 5K. Sue was there, turned this one into a 3.7 mile 5K when she took a wrong turn. Been there, done that For Sue town number 153 out of 169. A new friend in the Rise and Run community, a new listener Dorothy ran the Fit City 5K in Kennesaw, georgia. In Fall River Mass, the Watupa Trail Races. They had several 10K, 30k, 50k. Heidi did the 10K. That wraps up Saturday on Mother's Day. Sunday in Deerfield Mass, the Western Mass Mother's Day half marathon. Riley's back on her birthday weekend pacing this half marathon Three-hour pacer came across in 2.59.19. Nice job. Now she's going to take a little bit of time off, get ready for Goofy.
Speaker 1:In January, winter Garden, florida, laura and 8-year-old Sam ran the Dreamfinders Homes Mother's Day 5K. Sandy Hook, new Jersey. The Run the Hook 10K Bridget. Bridget said this one was wet, cold and windy, thought about bailing a couple times but didn't uh even it's a two-loop race. Thought about just cutting off the first loop doing a 5k. And then she thought about her daughter and she wanted her daughter to know that if you put your mind to it, you can do hard things. That's good motivation. Shoes were squishy with water, hands were freezing from the wet and the cold, but she finished. She's happy with her time because, quoting Bridget now, running postpartum is freaking hard. Congratulations, bridget, we're proud of you. Heather was there at this one. Also.
Speaker 1:At the Lake Norman Half Marathon, just a little bit north of Charlotte, north Carolina, bryce convinced his friends to sign up, train with him and then run their first half. Now Bryce PR'd this one by over 12 minutes. Now, bryce PR'd this one by over 12 minutes and got a sub-two-hour finish. Good job, but and I love this he enjoyed watching his friends finish just as much as he did finishing himself. I understand that I do, and I think our friends here do too. It's a big deal. I like that. Good for you, bryce. See you at the Walt Disney World Marathon in Ainsford, I believe.
Speaker 1:In Kent, england, the Darrington Valley 10k. Rob Rob said it's the hottest day of the year so far in England. It was 80 degrees on this hilly 10K. Hilliest bits were off-road. Thankfully the mud had dried up. It's been wet over there lately. He describes his photos as the agony and the ecstasy. Finally, notre dernier course Enfie Kikour in Trois-Rivières, quebec. How'd I do? Anne Ann challenged me on that one. This is the girl running 10K in Three Rivers, quebec, beautiful course Runs on the waterfront in the Old City and in the Old City. This was where she ran her first 10K under 60 minutes last year. That's a significant milestone. Went into the race with no expectations, surprised herself with an 8-second PR and a new POT for Princess 2025. And we'll see you marathon weekend. That wraps up the race report. My friends, all right, my friends and you know that if you run, you are our friend. Thank you for being with us. Hope you enjoyed episode 138 of the Rise and Run podcast. Keep training, keep hustling Till we see you again. Happy running running.
Speaker 2:The Rise and Run podcast discusses general information about Run Disney and is in no way affiliated with Run Disney or the Walt Disney Company. Any information or advice discussed on this podcast should not be considered medical advice and should always consult with your healthcare provider or event organizer.
