238: Running to the Castle: Dr. Ali's Quest for Stronger Runners

A race weekend can feel like pure fun until real life breaks through. We start by remembering Lauren Bullis, a beloved Rise and Run community member whose kindness showed up in every Holler Hype, comment, and encouraging word. In the wake of her passing, our listeners do what runners do best: we show up. A simple, powerful idea takes hold, dedicating runs across the country to help Lauren reach her dream of racing in all 50 states, turning grief into a shared tribute and a reminder that community is built one mile at a time.

Then we pivot into Springtime Surprise mode with the kind of practical runDisney talk that actually helps on race week: meetup details, travel stress, early alarms, and the latest Brook's runDisney shoe drop (including what’s available at the expo and what ships later). If you’re heading to Walt Disney World, juggling a challenge, or just trying to enjoy the parks without your legs falling apart, these small logistics matter.

Our featured guest is Dr. Ali Marty, a physical therapist, run coach, and host of the Running to the Castle podcast. We dig into running recovery, injury prevention, and smarter training: the “too far too soon” trap, underfueling, how to spot early warning signs like plantar fasciitis symptoms, and how to tell normal soreness from a problem. Dr. Ali also shares simple strength training for runners (single-leg heel raises and single-leg deadlifts) plus her favorite recovery non-negotiable after hard workouts, and yes, her famously simple pre-run fueling approach.

If this helped you, subscribe for more runDisney training tips, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more runners can find the show.

Transcript

Remembering Lauren Bullis

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Greetings to our Rise and Run family. It's unfortunate that for the second race weekend in a row, the weekend will now partially be overshadowed by some sad and unfortunate news. We learned this morning, and that is the morning of Wednesday, April 15th, that a beloved member of our Rise and Run community, Lauren Bullis, tragically passed away due to a senseless and terrorizing attack just a couple of days ago. Lauren's passing, believe it or not, has made national news as her life was taken again in just a random and shameful act of violence. Here at Rise and Run, we are incredibly heartbroken to hear of this tragic, tragic news. And we are here to support and offer our thoughts, our prayers, and our condolences to Lauren's family, her friends, and the many friends that she made here in the Rise and Run community. Lauren joined our family just about a year ago. And even though she, you know, was new word to the Rise and Run family, her impact within the community will be everlasting. You know, reading through Memorial Commons today on our Facebook page, there were so many of you that commented about how happy you were to receive holler hypes from Lauren. She was very, very active on the app and very encouraging. And it just goes to show the type of person that Lauren was and you know how she wanted to lift up so many in this community. Lauren was an extremely active runner. You know, just a couple of weeks ago, she, you know, we talked about her on the race report. She did a 404 run on uh April 4th, because that is uh Atlanta's area code where you know she's from. But you know, she was extremely active in our Facebook group in in so many fun ways. You know, just you know, a couple of weeks ago, she had this great Facebook post about uh because I there was this reel that went, I think, a little viral on Instagram about runners making butter, about putting all the ingredients to make butter in like essentially your you know bladder of a hydration vest, and with all the running around, um, by the time they were done, you know, you made butter. So she went out and did that, and you know, she did that on a on a 12-mile run and it worked for her. And you know, it was probably one of the most I wouldn't say it wasn't a race report, but it was just so unique, and I was so glad, you know, that that she went out and posted that just this year alone, back in March, Lauren became a marathoner for the first time when she ran the Publix Atlanta marathon. And the thing is, you know, even though Lauren achieved so many goals, you know, just in you know, the short amount of time that we're here in 2026, you know, she had so many other aspirations, you know, that included Run Disney, but you know, she was registered to participate in the Dollywood half marathon that is just coming up here in a couple of weeks. I know we were all chatting with her because she was looking to do a trip to come up for Burden Hand this fall to be able to participate in that race and again just be part of the Ryzerun family. She just had so many goals, and we're just so incredibly sad that she will not be able to participate in those with us in person, but we know that she will always be there with us in spirit, whether that's this weekend, at Springtime Surprise, again at Dollywood, at Burden Hand, and many other races. Uh, we had learned um you know earlier this year that LaRne actually had a goal uh to be able to run not necessarily a marathon or a half marathon, but at least some race in all 50 states. And you know, she had already crossed off California, Florida, Louisiana, obviously Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. She was also going to be able to tick off Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. And uh this morning, Bob was chatting with our friend Kristen, who came up with this wonderful idea that we go out and we help Lauren achieve her goal by dedicating a run in Lauren's memory so that she can cross off all 50 of those states. And it's just been so touching to see so many Facebook comments of people across the country and across the globe who are willing to do this for Lauren this weekend and in the weeks coming up. And you know, I'm I'm on our Facebook page right now, and I'm I'm looking at a post here from our friend Michelle in Erie, and what she's doing is she printed out a map, and she's writing the names of everyone who is dedicating races in Lauren's memory across the country. And folks, I I'm impressed. I mean, almost every single state is filled in with the exception it looks like of Alaska and the Dakotas and another state that I'm unfortunately can't name right now, just looking at a generalized map here. But it just goes to show that when something like this happens within our community, we rise and we run together to be able to support our friends. And I know there are friends in our community that are hurting, um, you know, especially you know, because Lauren made so many friends again, just in a year's time within this community, running friends that didn't even live in Atlanta. And again, that just goes to show the immense impact that Lauren had on our community. So if you haven't commented on any of uh these Facebook posts, please go ahead and do so because it would be amazing within this weekend or the coming weeks if we could fill out this map and get all 50 states so that we can honor Lauren, that would just be an absolutely beautiful tribute. Obviously, I wanted to chat about this now because when we recorded last evening, obviously we did not know the news of Lauren's passing. So, you know, that's why when you go to hear this episode, you know, there's no mention of it. And obviously, you know, we're just chatting about the excitement of this upcoming springtime surprise. While we're there down in Walt Disney World this weekend, obviously embrace one another, support one another, you know, just as you know, we said right before Princess with Jeff's passing, you know, be there to support one another. If you personally knew Lauren, had the opportunity to run with Lauren, you interacted with her online, know that as a family, we are gathered together to grieve and process this grief and be able to support one another through all the highs and lows of life. So, once again, to Lauren's family, her friends, and her running friends, we are so incredibly sorry. And on behalf of the entire Rise and Run podcast, the hosts, and the community, we just want to offer our thoughts and prayers and condolences and know that Lauren, you will be with us during all the runs this weekend and in the future. My friend, you will be missed. But now please enjoy this week's episode of the Rise and Run Podcast.

SPEAKER_06 8:59

Expo lights and cheering lines, costumes bright and hopefully signs we're not alone. This path is wide with every listener by our side from training, tips and tales and dine, inspiration in every line. We may follow the wind rise again in the field of my community and friends. We belong in this rhythm.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Hi, it's Laura Ann and Sin from the Tampa Fatin on the runway. Have a good day. Happy running.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Thank you so much, Laura Ann and Sin for that wonderful intro. I I I hope you were being safe the entire time because if you're you're running on a runway, hopefully there, you know, you don't have like a Toy Story 2 situation and planes are flying over you as you're uh as you're doing your race there on the runway. But we'll hear more about Lara Ann and Sin's epic adventures a little bit later on in the race report. But friends, welcome to episode 238 of the Rise and Run podcast. It is race week, it is springtime surprise race weekend, and to say that we are excited is an understatement. But you know the reason why I'm also excited, not because it's it's race weekend, but it's because I'm joined by my wonderful friends, Jack and John.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

Hey, how you doing, Bob? Oh, Greg, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

It's been the running joke of the night. Yes, obviously, once again, I I'm not Bob. Uh Bob is preparing himself for springtime surprise uh and lots of epic adventures that Bob has coming up in the next couple of weeks. So we wanted to make sure that he had some time uh in order to prepare for all of those. So uh so I I'm in the hot seat tonight, but it's been a while, so hopefully I remember how to do this. But I know John and Jack will uh set me on the right direction if I do go a skew. On this week's episode, we will have a lovely conversation with our new friend. You might know her from Instagram as Dr. AllyPT. Or uh she also has a wonderful podcast called Running to the Castle. We we talk all things recovery, coaching, training, and you know, and how to nurse those uh nagging little injuries. So be sure to stick around for that interview coming up here in a little bit. And because it is a race weekend on this episode, we do our favorite thing leading up to the race weekend, and that is the Rise and Run roll call for Springtime Surprise 2026. And we'll do that a little bit later in the episode.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

If you enjoy the Rise and Run Podcast, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family. We want to share in their Run Disney journey. Please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise and Run Podcast, on Instagram, on Rise and Run Pod, check out our YouTube channel and visit our webpage, Rise and RunPodcast.com. If you have a question, comment, race report, or want to introduce an upcoming episode, call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

We also want to thank our Patreons whose support helps us keep the Rise and Run Podcast rising and running. So if you would like to join the Patreon team, please check out patreon.com slash rise and run podcast.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

The Rise and Run Podcast is sponsored by our extremely awesome friends over at Magic Bound Travel. And I will say, Walt Disney World dropping a lot of announcements lately, especially in the one I'm most excited for. I don't know about you guys, but in just a few short weeks here, Big Thunder Mountain finally reopening after what I uh it's probably what close to a year and a half, I think it's been closed. Easily, yeah. Yeah. So and you know, and not to mention um the newly refurbed uh Buzz Lightyear has finally reopened. So, you know, maybe I can get a score above five points because for as good as I am at Toy Story Midway Mania, boy, am I terrible at Buzz. So I'm really looking forward to uh getting back on that attraction. But if you want to be able to experience all of these newly reopened, refurbished attractions, you gotta visit magicboundtravel.com. Get hooked up with one of their agents, they will get you a free, no obligation quote. And again, if you're interested uh using them for any Run Disney race weekend, if you mention that in your quote form, you will be working with an agent who has some Run Disney experience so that they can guide you throughout the entire weekend. And I know they haven't released it yet, but just something to uh to keep your ear to the ground on is I have a feeling, and then I have no inside knowledge, even though my wife is a travel advisor with Magic Bound Travel, that um packages for 2027, I would have to imagine, will be coming out probably within the next couple of weeks. I guess based on like historical perspectives, it's yeah, they've been getting like pushing them earlier and earlier in the spring. So for those of you that were lucky enough to get bibs for marathon weekend in 2027, obviously you got your bib, but unless you're DVC, right now you have nowhere to stay. So what you can do is again visit magicboundtravel.com. You can fill out a form, and that will get you into their queue so that the moment those packages and those rooms open for next year, they can contact you ASAP so that you can get the absolute lowest price, especially, like I said, for marathon weekend. So again, MagicboundTravel.com is the website. Be sure to go check them out. All right, let's take a look at the training. Oh, wait, there is none because again, as we've mentioned several times here, it is officially race weekend. So that means in terms of the Run Disney schedule, we have nothing to train for right now. But uh, you know, I'm looking at our spreadsheet here, and it looks like the next time we will get to do this. Uh let's see what episode number it's gonna be. It is gonna be So is it in June? Yeah, it's in June. So uh we won't be giving you an update until actually 10 episodes from now, episode 248 is giving the next time we'll be able to say something because that is when wine and dine training starts. But the good news is that one week later, marathon weekend training starts. So it will be no time before we are giving you those training updates. But in terms of other races where we have lots of rise and run friends going to, believe it or not, we are just a little over two weeks out from flying pig. I know Bob uh will be heading up there after the uh the rise and run cruise to um, I can't remember exactly if he's just doing the half or he's doing one of those challenges because I know Pigworks has all those different challenges, especially themed after the chili. Remember, there's like the the three-way and the four-way, and you know, and all sorts of different options to choose from there. So again, we're 15 days away from the start of Flying Pig uh Marathon weekend, and then in just 148 days, so many of us will be gathered in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. So we can uh run through some cornfields and dodge some road apples for uh the bird in hand half marathon race weekend. So, really, really looking forward to that. Uh, before we get into some news and then again our featured interview, uh just a couple of uh announcements we just wanted to make here at the top of the show. The first, I know we have repeated it over and over, but with it being springtime surprise this weekend, we will be hosting a rise and run meetup that will be taking place. Again, if you listen to this episode prior to uh the 10 miler, uh we will be having that this Saturday, Saturday, April 18th, 3 p.m. in the food truck area down Disney Springs. So again, if this is your first race weekend and you're not familiar with Disney Springs, uh it is on the west side. Uh, look for the characters in flight balloon that will get you in the in the right general area. You'll see Starbucks, hook a left, and it'll be right there. If you need another wayfinding point, the food truck area is just across the way from the Salt and Straw ice cream shop and the AMC movie theater right there. Uh, so we're looking forward to seeing old friends, making new friends, and typically we are going to try to aim to take that group photo around 3:30 in the afternoon. Again, that's Saturday, April 18th, uh, and in the food truck area of Disney Springs. Now, speaking of other races, uh, you know, I know we just talked about uh bird in hand and flying pig, but for those of you that are in the greater Atlanta area or are looking, uh, you know, maybe you want to travel in for this, you can still register for um the 5K that is going to be occurring as part of the um memorial celebration for our beloved coach uh Jeff Galloway. That is happening on Saturday, April 25th, uh, and you can still sign up for that event. Uh, we do have a link pinned uh to the top of our Facebook page if you are interested in participating in that. And then the last thing I'll mention, just in terms of a scheduling thing, because you know, even though we are very, very excited about seeing you all at Springtime Surprise, as soon as that race weekend is over, we are heading to the first ever Rise and Run cruise. And I I'm a little nervous about it because I've never participated in something like this, but at the same time, I'm equally excited. Uh, so I just I can't wait to uh just create so many new memories. I know I can't believe we have close to a hundred people booked total on this cruise, but we have lots of fun activities planned. Um, you know, and we're gonna enjoy the utopia of the seas. So because of that, obviously, there we will be delaying our uh recap of Springtime Surprise by a week. But what we're gonna do to be celebrating, there's two things that we're gonna be celebrating. So on that Monday, so this would be April 20th, that is when that week's episode is gonna come out. So please do not expect one next Thursday. It is going to be coming out this Monday, uh, which is the same day as the other thing we'll be celebrating, the Boston Marathon. So to all of our friends running Boston, best of luck. We can't wait for you to smash it and get your unicorn. We're so excited and we're so proud of you. So while you're running from Hopkinton down into Boston, you can listen to that week's episode, which will is a a tribute, a love letter, a uplifting memorial to again to our dear friend and coach Jeff Galloway. And we have so many wonderful guests on this episode. It includes some of Jeff's teammates, uh, Amby Burkfoot, Bill Rogers, you know, you know, Bill Rogers, I still can't believe we got to talk to that guy. Four-time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon. Not to mention he's an Olympian himself. Uh, so we got to chat with those gentlemen. We also got to talk to uh Jeff's friend Dean Carnassus. Uh we definitely talk about a lot, are highlighting a lot of their journeys together in Greece. Uh, we have our wonderful coach, Chris Twiggs, on there. And then we also uh talk with uh Jeff's son Weston and his uh wife. Uh you better know her as a Run Disney race announcer, Carissa Galloway. So lots of wonderful, wonderful friends to celebrate the life of Jeff Galloway. So again, be sure to go ahead and download that. And that episode will be dropping on Monday, April 20th, uh just Time for the Boston Marathon.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Okay, announcements are out of the way. We were crossing our fingers that we would get some news day of recording so that we could talk about this. Because sometimes I feel like Run Disney loves to give us good news the day after we've recorded.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

But we got the announcement today. The uh the Brooks shoes that are gonna be coming for springtime surprise. John, fill us in on the two brand new designs that we'll be seeing this weekend.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

So we kind of talked about it last week that we think there was gonna be uh Tigger and Pooh sneakers. Well, there are, but they're on the same shoe. So you have Tigger on one shoe on your looks like your left shoe and your right, no Pooh on your left shoe. Let's cut that out. That's that sounds really bad. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

Wait, don't step on Pooh.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

Winnie the Pooh on your left shoe and Tigger on your right shoe. And the surprise I saw, which I didn't see this one coming, the genie. They look really interesting. I mean the colors are really springtime-ish. And uh hopefully, and they're I think they're all the ghosts for the Winnie the Pooh shoe. So if you're a Winnie the Pooh fan, they're gonna be ghosts. And if you're genie or glycerin's, the glycerin 23. So uh I don't know. I know some people can't wear certain shoes. Hopefully they're the brands you like and they're the bottles you wear, but uh they are pretty cool. What's your take on it, guys?

SPEAKER_02 23:44

They look nice. I mean, I just I Okay, Bob. I know I I didn't mean to sound like Bob, but they do, they look nice, they look nice. Uh, but I I don't usually wear um Brooks. I I've never actually worn Brooks sneakers before. So I I personally wouldn't probably get them just because I've never ran in them in those sneakers before. So I think they look very, very nice. They look very cute. The Winnie the Pooh and Tigger one, especially, because I love Winnie the Pooh. Um but anyway, sorry. I was thinking of like a gift I got one time of Winnie the Pooh, and it had it was like a t-shirt that says run like you need to poo or something like that. And yeah, anyways.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Did you wear pants? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Yeah, yes, I did. I didn't need the little asterisk uh notification to make sure that I wore pants for that t-shirt.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Not not to go on a on a tangent real quick. I promise we'll go back to shoes, but but John, um, we should like set a Vegas line to see how many people during the uh the 10K are going to be wearing like like a nude colored like bodysuit or something like that, so that they can you know skirt around that whole bounding as poo but not wearing pants.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Nude bot nude or yellow bodysuit. I could see it.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

You know, you know be funny if someone did like a you remember, I don't know if you guys ever watched Friends, but Joey goes and puts on all of Chandler's shorts, and it would be kind of funny if they did that. Am I wear enough pants for you, Disney?

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Uh in terms of my opinions of the shoes, I I think that they they look nice. They uh crave. It would have been funny if they would have although specifically did a tigger set that like were carbon plated, because you know, you know how they always say that like those shoes make you faster and like bouncy, so you go you know tigger and you go bouncy, bouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. Uh but I I I think they're cute. Um, I will say, in terms of all the shoes that we got from this race season, while design-wise, I think they're great. I I don't think they're as great as the princess ones. I I I think probably in terms of all the shoes that got released this year, they they hit it out of the park the best at Princess Weekend. But I if I'm gonna make a prediction here, you know, day of release, and hopefully people are listening to this while they're waiting to line the expo, I I think there will be a long line for um, especially the Winnie the Pooh shoes. I I think those are gonna be the the hot commodity of uh of the weekend. But the thing that I'm disappointed in is that I told myself after Marathon weekend, I saw the couple of people wearing the the generic um blue and white Run Disney shoe. Because that is the only shoe that they're doing the adrenaline in, and that is my go-to shoe. Um I I wear adrenalines all the time. So I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna get them during Marathon weekend. When I'm back down for springtime, that's when I'm gonna get them. And then I was reading over the blog post today, and apparently that is going to be the only shoe you can order it at the expo, but they will not have it on site.

SPEAKER_09 27:14

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

So you have to order it at the expo, and then they would ship it uh, you know, to your home afterwards. So I was a little disappointed in that. But that being said, the fact that it's been around all season, uh you know, I'm pretty confident I'll still be able to get it at some point in time. In looking over said blog post, um, you know, I just wanted to give a quick breakdown of all the shoes that are going to be uh available. So uh like John, you were saying before, the genie shoes, those are gonna be in Glycerins, and those are retailing for$185. Uh the Pooh shoes are ghosts, and those are$170. Uh, they still will have um the Chip and Dale shoes that were released during Marathon weekend. Um, those will be available again. Those are also ghosts, uh$170. Uh, the new updated generic Mickey Mouse shoe, again, a ghost. That is$170. And then, like I said, you can order the Run Disney adrenalines. They'll just be shipped to your house, and that is retailing for$165. Although, I think this is my favorite part of the blog post. I don't know if if either of you saw this. It says, please note there will be a limit on quantities per person on the first day of the expo. Two of each design, 10 pairs total per adult purchaser. Can you imagine someone walking around ESPN with 10 pairs of shoes?

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Oh, yes, the resellers.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

I could see it, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

You know, I'm curious because I've I never actually bought a Brooks pair before, and I'm sure Disney's gonna get me sooner or later with them. How much do they normally run for?

SPEAKER_03 29:06

It's only like$10 more. Five to$10 more than what they're not much of a markup on them.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

No, I I agree with you. Yeah, it's not much. I mean, obviously, I think with inflation over time, the price of them has gone up. I like I remember when I bought my first pair of adrenalines when I first started running, they probably were in like the 120 to 130 range. So again, factoring inflation and a Disney markup, I I think they're a fair price for these shoes.

SPEAKER_03 29:35

Yeah, so on the retail set price for a ghost 17 is uh$150. So what are they you said, Greg? They're$180?

SPEAKER_02 29:47

They're$180 and$170 or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

$185 for the genies, and then all the ghosts, which is everything else except for the Run Disney one, uh, is$170.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

$20 more on the uh the ghosts and the glycerins are$175 list. So you know,$10. It's you know that's not that big of a markup if you really look at it. But and there is no discount. Remember that, guys.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

There is no yep, yes, yeah. So you can use your AP or your DVC or anything like that. And actually, now that I think about it, I don't even think you'd be able to use like uh like a Disney gift card on them or something like that. So you just definitely be aware of that. Obviously, they'll be in the same building as the Run Disney merchandise, where you can use you know those discounts and such, but just remember that uh it will be a separate transaction for the Brooke Shoes. And hopefully you won't have to wait in line as long as you all did during Princess.

SPEAKER_04 30:43

Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Some people in the running world wear a lot of hats, and our guest this week uh somehow makes them all those hats work together onto uh one head. Allie Marty is a physical therapist, she's a run coach, a personal trainer, and a passionate Run Disney runner who understands both performance and fun. You might know her from her podcast, Running to the Castle, or perhaps from Instagram as Dr. Ally, where she helps runners stay healthy, train smarter, and cut through all the noise with practical real-world advice. This week we'll dive into her journey, her approach to injury prevention and training, and how we can all become stronger, healthier runners without losing the joy that brought us here in the first place. Dr. Allie, welcome to Rise and Run.

SPEAKER_10 31:43

Thank you so much for inviting me and letting me be here.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Of course, the pleasure is all ours. So yeah, I it's getting a little cliche at this point, but you know, when we meet new friends here on Rise and Run, we usually start with a very simple question. And that is, but actually, you know what? I think we can flip it a little bit for you. What came first? The running aspect of your life or the physical therapy aspect?

SPEAKER_10 32:13

Uh physical therapy for sure. Oh I used to I used to hate running, so physical therapy for sure.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

And then how soon after did running fall into your journey then?

SPEAKER_11 32:24

It came a couple of years later. So I knew I wanted to be a physical therapist when I was about 16, and then I started running when I was already in college. I was like 19 or 20. I actually started to by just trying to lose a little of the freshman 15, and I also had to study. So I used to try and kill two birds with one stone and run on the treadmill and study my anatomy and physiology at the same time.

SPEAKER_10 32:49

And I was hooked.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

That's impressive. That would be hard for me to do that at the same time. It was it was interesting.

SPEAKER_11 32:58

Yeah. I used to just make note cards and I used to have a need to know and an already know pile. And so I had to put like, you know, your quad muscle or whatever, and it attaches here and it has this nerve and it does this thing. And I had a had to get all of the need to know over into the I already know pile by the end of running. And so it was just like look at the card, see the name, run through the list, flip it, check it, and be done.

SPEAKER_02 33:24

I love that. I should have done that in college. I know you said you hated running. You got into running because you were learning, but how does being a physical therapist change the way you approach your own training?

SPEAKER_11 33:40

Yeah. So it's really interesting. I'm like, I got into physical therapy because I used to be so interested in the sports I did play, like why someone was injured and could come back, and why somebody else who looked like they had the same injury wasn't coming back. And so I always have like looked at things of this lens of what's different here when it looks to be the same. And when I went through physical therapy school, I just started like diving into okay, if this person did this thing, like in the rehab aspect, what what would the problem afterward that would arise? Like in the physical therapy world, we call that the sequela. Like you break an arm, you're in a cast. Okay, well, what does that mean for the next step, the next step, because the arm is broken, it's in a cast, now it can't bend and straighten, and now you can't put a shirt on, and now you can't do this. And I've transformed that into like the physical, excuse me, the running world. And it's like, okay, well, if I increase my mileage too fast, or I run too fast, or I don't fuel what is happening next and next and next, and I start just like keeping tabs in my brain, I guess. And so as I'm training for something, like I'm at springtime surprise right now, and like as I'm training for this Run Disney race, it's like, okay, well, as I'm going, you know, keep tabs on how my body's feeling and remember that. So next time I don't have that happen. And I've just kind of racked up these years of all of these thoughts in the back of my head and eventually notebooks. I'll eventually write it down and try and just keep going with that. So I remember what was successful last time, what was successful this time. And I think my physical therapy brain really made me dive in that way.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

Going with what's successful and what's not successful, what are what are the most common mistakes you see runners making?

SPEAKER_11 35:44

So I would say the top three mistakes that I'm seeing like recently are runners will go too far too soon. They will meaning like if they're starting to train for something and they've never run before, they start at a 5k. And you know, you hear all the time, well, increase your mileage slowly. But if if they actually if they start too high, but they still increase their mileage slowly, four to six weeks from the beginning, uh four to six weeks in, it it's a problem and they have pain because they didn't start at zero, they started at 5k. And 5K is a very common distance because people think, oh, 5K fun run, everybody can do it, right? It is a lot of fun, but fun in that aspect actually is a fundraiser. So you see all these fun runs and it's a fundraiser run. So it makes new runners think, oh, I can just do a 5K, it's a short distance, even though it's the shortest of the longest distance. So I'd say that's a big one. And then underfueling, either not timing it right or not having enough fuel on board is massive. So I would say those are those are the top two that I'm thinking about lately.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

So what do you think is the best way, in your opinion, to actually start your run out with fueling? Like, do you what do you eat beforehand that you think makes the most successful runs? And what do you how do you go through your run?

SPEAKER_11 37:26

Yeah, my favorite pre-run snack is actually a full sugar Coke, like a can of Coca-Cola is my favorite pre-run snack. I will have that. So normally the way I do my training is I'll walk, I walk my dog in the morning and he gets all the time in the world. And then, so as I'm walking him, I'll have my Coke. And then when we get back home, I either hop on the treadmill or I go out for my run. And so having, you know, that amount of sugar, I think it's like 40 grams of carbs about half an hour before makes it like the perfect timing for me. And I get some caffeine because everybody I need a little bit of caffeine in the morning. I have my coffee before I walk the dog. I have the coke while I'm walking the dog, and I'll do that. And then once I'm on a run, I start fueling about half an hour into my run, and I'll take fuel every I do run walk intervals, but I do them a little odd. So I I will take in a little bit of fuel every walk interval I have, or if I'm on a course, I'll do it every mile marker because that's a visual representation for me. And so I just make sure I'm having a constant, almost a constant feed of sugar throughout the my run or my race. And I aim to get about 60 grams of carbs per hour. So one gram of carb per minute that I'm out there.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

I love that you brought up Coca-Cola. And so I have to ask, when you when you're enjoying your Coke, are you going by the Jeff Galloway principle that he used to do? Do you go de-fizzed or do you go straight fizz when you're uh drinking the Coke?

SPEAKER_11 39:11

So if it's before a run, it's full fizz. I pop open a can and I drink it. That's the the fizz doesn't bother me like pre-run, but if I do have a Coke on a long run, which I will when I'm training for a longer race distance, I will shake it up and I will defiz it.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

Okay. Interesting. Well, there we go. Two influential uh names in the uh in the Run Disney running sphere that I've recommended, Coca-Cola, not sponsored by the way, uh, when it comes to training. But Al, you know, one question that I thought of here, you know, in terms of just, you know, again, focusing on your style and and your your practice as a PT is if you could give every runner a non-negotiable habit that they should develop in terms of their training and their recovery and such, what would it be in your opinion?

SPEAKER_11 40:09

Yeah, my absolute favorite, non-negotiable, is add a hot or cold recovery aspect after your workout. So, meaning take a hot Epsom salt bath. If you like cold plunges, take a cold plunge. If you want a heating pad or an ice pack, like I like to say, Olaf loves warm hugs, I love warm baths. So I take a hot Epsom salt bath at the end of every long run or any hard workout, speed workout, strength workout, because that lets your body reset, recover, and handle any inflammation that is happening before it really sets in to cause a problem. So just make it, it's it's part of your run. It's not even in my brain, it's not even separate. It's I'm going for a run. That means I'm doing 20 plus minutes hot Epsom salt bath after.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

All right. Let's transport now to your office in your physical therapy office. And what would you say are the most common running injuries that you treat on a day-to-day basis?

SPEAKER_11 41:25

There's a lot of them. Um, I do specialize in meniscus problems and arthritis. I also see a lot of runner's knee, IT band syndrome, plantar fascitis, and Achilles tendinitis or Achilles tendinopathy is another name for it. It sounds like me personally, yeah. It they're so common. They just they keep they pop up all of the time.

SPEAKER_02 41:52

I had run, what was it, 2021? I had ran the Chicago marathon just two weeks after running the Berlin Marathon, and then I was like, I'm so tired, I just need a break. And so when I went and took a few weeks after Chicago, I still had the Disney World Marathon. I took a few weeks off. I went back to it and I thought I could start off right off the bat with my normal speed that I was doing beforehand, even with just that time frame, went too hard, and I knew something went wrong because I ended up walking the last bit of that long run back. And I was so mad. But yeah, the physical therapy or the person, the doctor I met, because I only went to physical therapy once because there was like, I think of like a free session that I could take with the guy. He gave me some exercises because I at the time I there was no way I could afford it. Um because I didn't really have that good of health insurance. But he gave me some good exercise and is and it worked great.

SPEAKER_11 42:48

That's perfect. And so many clinics are like that where it's like, here, come in. I I do that all the time where it's one the person comes in for one session, for it's it's usually my insurance doesn't cover this, but I need it, right? And it's like, okay, great. Here, boom, boom, boom, do these. If it, if it doesn't get better, switch and do these. If it does get better, go ahead and move forward with this. I do that kind of thing all the time.

SPEAKER_03 43:14

We're injured or we have some pain or other stuff going on. What are some of the early warning signs we tend to ignore?

SPEAKER_11 43:22

The early signs are like those, you know, people call them niggles, right? Where it's like this random, like, ugh, something just isn't right. And it it isn't necessarily something we associate with the run. That's that's what gets you is you feel it, but not during a run. So, like with plantar fascitis as a common one, people will say, Oh, yeah, you know, like a couple months ago, I woke up in the morning and it I felt like I stepped on a Lego and it it killed me. But then it went. Away. And then, but that's this same pain, but like a month or two later. And that first symptom, that feeling like they stepped on a Lego, because anybody who's had plannar fasciitis, that first step in the morning, it just feels like you're like ripping your skin on the bottom of the foot. And they think, oh, well, that was just like so random. I stepped wrong when I first woke up. And so it's little things like that where it's not necessarily associated with the run, but it was weird and random. And I'm not saying that all weird and random things are problematic, not putting fear into anybody. But if that happens, that's that's just a sign of, okay, something is going on. Like if it happens and it's not, you know, you tripped off the curb, which I do all the time. I just, you know, you step off the curb wrong or you do something silly like that, right? But if it's very, you know, mundane and you're like, I stepped out of bed and that hurt. Like that's the kind of sign that it's your body's way of just saying, like, something is going on on the inside. Let's see if we can take care of it. And it usually is just like, okay, go ice it, go heat it. You know, if you have ever taken anti-inflammatories or Tylenol, you know, stuff like that, it's like, okay, just pay attention and see if there's something here. But it usually comes back like a month, maybe two months later.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

In terms of soreness, because sometimes you don't tell you can't really feel that soreness until the next day. You know what I mean? After a long run or a race or something like that. So, how should runners really differentiate between what normal soreness feels like and maybe something that's more serious?

SPEAKER_11 45:57

Yeah, and you kind of hit it there with like it happens the next day, but soreness is more global. It's like it's more spots and bigger areas. It's like my whole quad is sore. Both quads are sore. I feel like I did something yesterday. I kind of feel tight in places, maybe a little minor cramping. Something kind of feels bruised, but you don't actually see a bruise. And then the soreness feels uh better when you do some movement. It usually feels worse after you've been doing nothing for a while. Something more serious tends to feel better when you're at rest, tends to feel worse when you're moving around. And something that is more serious, it's gonna keep you up at night. Like it's just, oh, I just can't get comfortable. And uh, this is happening over and over and over again. Whereas soreness is just kind of like, oh yeah, I'm sore during the day and I'm I'm I'm feeling tight, but for the most part, you sleep just fine. That makes total sense.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

Allie, the one thing I'm noticing a lot in the the Run Disney community, uh, especially probably in the last couple of weeks, and and I will fully admit it is something that I am doing myself, is I am making sure that I am supplementing my run training with strength training because I want to be able to balance the two. What should runners specifically focus on? What or what particular exercises should runners focus on when they go to the gym to do their strength training again to supplement you know the their run training?

SPEAKER_11 47:59

Yeah, so for strength training, I start thinking about how can I recreate what my body has to get into when I'm running. And when we run, we're never on both feet at the same time. It's a series of single leg hops. So I think of doing things single leg, so single leg heel raises, single leg deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts, some people might call them. Um, you could do single leg squats, not my favorite, but it is possible. You could be doing it. I'll I'll keep both feet on the ground for that. But I tend to think of exercises, you know, if you only had a little bit of time to do something and you wanted to like really get going on it, the single-leg heel raises and the single leg deadlifts are two leg exercises that I think all runners should be doing because those work muscles that push our body forward as opposed to working on muscles that pull our body forward. Because the heel raises and the deadlifts, the Romanian, single leg Romanian deadlifts, they work the calf muscles and the hamstrings. So those are on our backside pushing us forward. Because the, you know, the hip flexors and the quads, those are super important. They tend to already be stronger than those, and those pull us forward. So think about things on the backside pushing us forward to make it a little bit more efficient on the running aspect.

SPEAKER_01 49:29

Now, obviously, we highlighted during your introduction that not only are you a doctor of physical therapy, but you are also a run coach. In a nutshell, describe your coaching philosophy.

SPEAKER_11 49:42

In a nutshell, so I have to keep it succinct, right? I'm not usually too verbose of a person, but I would say, if I can put it in like three words, balance, build, and support. So balancing out, building up your muscles and your endurance, and then supporting your body so that you can keep doing that. So when I'm coaching, I try and find the balance for everybody, right? Like some people need a little bit more on the run side and they need to be running more miles, or somebody needs to strengthen. They need to build up their strength as opposed to the other person building up those miles. Somebody else might need more recovery aspects. Maybe it's that hot Epsom salt bath or something like that. They need more of the support. So it's finding that balance, I would say, is how I would say my coaching philosophy is in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_03 50:42

What do a lot of runners get wrong about training plans?

SPEAKER_11 50:46

I would say, you know, I kind of mentioned it earlier where they're starting off their mileage too high. And I I was saying before, like you start off too high, and even if you increase the right amount, you know, everybody says increase your mileage slowly, increase it slowly, and you'll you'll be fine. And follow the 10% rule or add one mile here. And I would say hitting on that, not starting too high, and then increasing it. I my favorite is the 10% rule. So no more than 10% each week, which many runners don't recognize that one mile added is only 10% if you if that long run is already 10 miles long.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

For someone starting out, would you go more of a time base or a distance base?

SPEAKER_11 51:42

I go with what what the runner wants. So my personal, when I start out, I do it distance base, but I can flip it either way. So a safe way, here's my physical therapy world coming in again. A safe way to do it is you can run half the distance, or excuse me, you can run half the time that you can walk. So if you can walk for 30 minutes, it should be safe for you to go and run half that time. So 15 minutes. So I would I would have the runner go and walk three days a week for two weeks or something. Okay, can you can you complete 30 minutes? Can you do it without pain? And can you do it without feeling overly exhausted? If after doing it three times a week for two weeks, the answer is yes, okay, let's go for 15 minutes. Or we could do a distance base. And I typically have runners start at it's a very random number, but it's 0.68 miles. And it's based on some um personal research I did in the clinic with um getting runners back to injury, uh back to running after an injury. And that was a very common distance that was safe, that pushed them enough, but didn't push them overboard.

SPEAKER_01 53:05

Allie, I I loved your explanation there. And the one analogy that you used in the recent episode that I was listening to of yours is you compared increasing again, whether time or distance to that of eating a cheeseburger. And I thought it was brilliant and it just made so much uh sense in terms of your coaching philosophy. Could you share that um to our listening audience?

SPEAKER_11 53:31

Sure. I probably will butcher it because I will admit when I do my running and when I do my podcast, I talk. So sometimes my analogies come out a little different, but absolutely. You know, when you are thinking about running and adding more mileage, you you know what? Maybe I can say it a slightly different way because this is this is just how my brain is thinking right now. Because I I typically think of this as like after we've been sick and we don't want to eat anything because we've been sick and our stomach is empty. We don't go right out and we don't go eat just a cheeseburger, right? As our first meal after maybe having a stomach bug or something. We have some crackers and we have some soup and we start nibbling on a little bit of this, a little bit of that. We don't go gung ho on that cheeseburger, right? And it it's adding just a little bit more on top of what we can currently handle. And just a little bit more is okay, but that whole big meal pushes us overboard. I I doubt that is the exact analogy I do with.

SPEAKER_01 54:48

It was pretty darn close to it to what I remember, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:50

I don't think I've heard it quite like that, but that makes sense though. Because it's like when you are sick, it's like of course you don't want to eat crazy amounts because it just doesn't sound good. Like your stomach, you know your stomach's not gonna like it. And then you kind of work your way back up to it. Totally makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 55:06

No, I think the exception to the rule though is if you get the uh the smash burger over at Steakhouse 71, because that one is just so darn tasty. You know, sometimes you know, maybe you can eat two burgers in who knows?

SPEAKER_02 55:20

I've never had a burger there. Sounds too much.

SPEAKER_01 55:23

Jack, it's like labeled as one of the best burgers in all of Walt Disney World. And apparently there's now a breakfast version of it, too, which is even wild. Yeah. I gotta check that out.

SPEAKER_02 55:36

With you being a PT and a run coach, how do you approach Run Disney at all? Like training for Run Disney races for your runners differently than you would traditional races? Because I know uh Run Disney races is more has more geared towards run, walk, run.

SPEAKER_11 55:54

So I do. And part of it is with the run-walk aspect, but I'm actually finding a lot of runners have have started incorporating run, walk, run even in races outside of Disney. And so me bringing it up to non-Disney runners, it used to be like kind of a a what? What what do you what are you talking about? I I can walk during the race. And um, but now I'm really not seeing that as much anymore. But I also approach it differently for I'd say the biggest reason now is that most Run Disney runners are doing challenges, whereas other races, traditional races, yeah, maybe they do have a challenge here or there, but most runners who are going to those non-run Disney races, they are doing it for a specific race. Like, okay, I'm doing a 10K, I'm doing a half marathon, and not doing the two-course challenge or springtime surprise, three-course challenge, dopey challenge. And so now it's thinking about multiple days on their feet. And this is another aspect that's different, the early mornings, having to get up so early, eat so early, especially for people who aren't like breakfast people or wanting to eat before they run. Having to eat something at like three o'clock in the morning, and then you have to wait three hours, it's really different than somebody who gets up at six and has to go run at seven. And so you, you know, there are a lot of non-running aspects that I would say are more forefront in my mind. The traveling for it, not for other races. Some people just choose those races because they're local. And it's like, oh, great. Like I live in Las Vegas. I signed up for a 10K in September because it's local. And it's like, okay, well, what time do I have to leave my house and roll out of bed and get there? We don't need to think about this traveling across the country and staying hydrated while you're flying because that dehydrates you. You know, it's it's just a lot of non-running aspects as well. And then just factoring in that the majority of people doing Run Disney races, especially the people I work with, they're Disney fans first, runners second. And so they're doing the race so that they can also then go enjoy the park. So now we're factoring in yes, time on our feet for the race, but time on our feet to go to Animal Kingdom, Epcot. Should I do it before? Should I do it after? And so now we're thinking whole race weekend logistics. And you just don't have that for the traditional races.

SPEAKER_01 58:44

Well, Jack, I think that was the perfect question to ask to segue us into our next section of this interview. And that is let's just talk your Run Disney story. Give us, give us what drew you in to uh wanting to run races around Central Florida at, you know, five o'clock in the morning.

SPEAKER_11 59:03

Yeah, my sister got me into it. So she started doing Run Disney races. You know, actually, I'm not even positive. Uh, the furthest back I can think of is 2014. And I was still living in Rhode Island at the time, and she had invited me, I think, to Disneyland. She was really big into the Avengers um challenge that they did. She's so upset that they stopped doing it. She, I think she said she's one metal shy from getting all yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

Oh, yeah, it hurts. Oh, she can't snap her fingers now.

SPEAKER_11 59:39

No, she can't do it, and she's just so upset. But she's the one that got me into it. And she actually reminded me recently that apparently in 2014, she had invited me to do a run. And I said, heck no, I'm never doing it. I'm never traveling for a race. And now look at me. Like I was telling my husband, this is the third time I've been to Disney between world and land this year. So yeah, because I came here for Marathon weekend to um watch my runners go. And then I did the 5k at Disneyland, and then I'm here again, springtime surprise. So my sister got me into it, and I, you know, she introduced me years ago, and then she had all sorts of meniscus injuries and Achilles problems. And I I was just helping her because, you know, that's what sisters do, right? You you get a physical therapist in the family, and all of a sudden you hear everybody's ailments, and which is fine. I got into this, I love it. And she just would say, Oh, all of these Run Disney runners, like they're all having similar things. I sent them to your website. And it's like, okay, well, my my website is for in-home physical therapy in Las Vegas. So um, maybe I can send them like a pamphlet or something. And it just kept going where I was I started answering all of these questions. So I was like, okay, well, now I now I want to do all of these. The dopey challenge. Oh my God, you're running four days in a row? How cool! And so it just kind of kept going from there, and now I'm hooked for life. So I'm in it.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:22

Do you have a favorite Run Disney race or weekend?

SPEAKER_11 1:01:25

So so far, I I really loved the Halloween half marathon weekend at Disneyland this past year. But I I will say I am a theme snob. And so I I will love the race if I love the theme. And um so I I like half marathon distances. I love 10 mile distances. So, but this is my first springtime surprise in person. I did a couple virtual when it was, you know, pandemic time. So maybe, maybe I might have a different answer as opposed to Halloween half marathon weekend after this weekend. I might, I might switch it to springtime.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:10

Do you have any favorite on course moments or memories?

SPEAKER_11 1:02:12

My favorite memory was actually it it's not on course, so maybe this doesn't fit, but Carissa Galloway's speech at the end of Disneyland half in January. I don't know if you guys were there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:26

We weren't, but we heard it though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:02:28

Oh, it was it was so good. I was I was there and I I actually recorded the whole thing. And just hearing her talk about like how how grateful I am to I she quoted and she was like, I'm how grateful I am to be able to have loved something so much to miss it. And it just the whole speech was perfect timing, perfect quote, and so heartfelt. It was like, yes, we you know, this was so good. We will miss it. I hope it comes back. I hope Disneyland races come back. But I'd say that was a big favorite. And um, at Marathon Weekend this year, the first place uh runner uh for the females stayed and helped the helped, you know, walked with the final finisher ahead of the the balloon ladies across the finish line and like gave her her moment, but cheered her on and then stepped back so that she could have her. So I'd say those two are a tie. And it it was just it, it was just like kind of epitome Run Disney theme and community on those two. And I guess they weren't on course moments, they were definitely finish line, but they were really cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:50

That's a great answer because I mean it was after that moment that we realized, and I started dubbing Brittany Charbonneau as the Run Disney GOAT because just her her persona and how she's embraced this organization and how you know, even though she goes ahead and wins the darn race for the you know, two times in this in the span of five years, you know, she's willing to stick around to be able to help out that last runner. It's it's what a beautiful moment.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:14

Do you have any tips for first-time run Disney runners?

SPEAKER_11 1:04:19

I'd say the biggest tip is sign up and do it. It is so much fun. Sign up. Sign ups are so far in advance that you you can figure out the rest after. I truly believe anybody can do any of the distances they want with the proper timing, training, and everything. So sign up, whether you sign up on registration day or you go through a charity, just do it. I you won't regret it.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:51

That's that's easier said than done lately, but yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:55

Ain't that the truth? So, Allie, a little while ago I had mentioned that I I love the the the cheeseburger analogy uh that you had mentioned on your podcast, which is called Running to the Castle. So if you need another podcast to you know get into your Run Disney and running uh lexicon, you know, listening list, you be sure to definitely check it out. But you know, give us the background of how uh Running to the Castle got started.

SPEAKER_11 1:05:23

Yeah, it it was really just I saw a need. I actually had never planned on doing, you know, long form content, as they say, something that's longer than 60 seconds. But I was getting so many questions on Instagram. I was getting things through my website, people asking what they should do about this injury, and they're signed up for the challenge, and their physical therapist just doesn't get it. I can't not run it, I can't defer, I can't get. My money back. Like I have to do it. And there's only so much you can say in a 60-second reel. And so when I had started, that's the limit I had on my reels on Instagram. I'm sure other people had like three minutes. And it just didn't allow for the time to have the nuance and the explanation that that needed to happen. So I actually just started by answering questions I was getting often. I think some of my first episodes were how do I know what corral I'm in from my bib? Because that is one of the top, like non-running questions, run Disney but run Disney related that I get. And I mean, we see it all over Facebook all the time. I mean, we're seeing it this week where it's, oh, I'm bib number XYZ. What corral am I in? And it's like, okay, let's just put this out there. And so I just started answering questions that I was getting all the time. And I still utilize it that way too. Every podcast episode has come from some form of a question that I've gotten.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:09

All right. So over the course of this interview, we have talked to you as Dr. Allie. We've talked to you as coach Allie. And we have talked to you as a podcaster Allie. How do you balance all of that?

SPEAKER_11 1:07:24

I would love to say I balance it really gracefully. I'm it's hard though. It's really challenging. A good challenge, of course. Like I I love what I do. Like it's really weird to say when I'm like to hear someone say, Oh, I love injuries. It's like, no, I like I don't want somebody who's hurt. And but I do, I love injuries. And I I love just like kind of thinking about how it's affecting just somebody's everyday life. I mean, I was just sitting on um, I'm at Coronado Springs and I was sitting on those bridges, walking people, what watching people walk by. And like I I can't not like watch as like an older gentleman is like limping by. I'm like, oh, I wonder if that's hip arthritis or if his knee hurts. And so like I start balancing it out, you know, in my brain, just in the everyday. But I I have to constantly adjust how I'm spending my energy now that I am doing a lot more of it. Like the physical therapy world, like my physical therapist aspect, like that's in-person local to me in Las Vegas. And then when I'm online, I am more coach mode, right? And that's that's more logistics and kind of legality-wise, right? Like I'm licensed in the state of Nevada, and so that doesn't cross state lines. And so, like that aspect of like keeping those separate is a little bit easier to balance that way. But then when I'm online, it's like, okay, well, this is Dr. Alley, run coach. And so then there's podcast aspect, and there's Instagram, and there's DMs, and it's like, okay, I have to separate those. So like I've made a rule for myself, no coaching in the DMs that I would I would stay on Instagram all day long. And so I and I could be doing something for my own clients, and then I take a little break to go post a reel and I get sucked into the DMs. I'm like, nope, gotta pull myself out of there because I could be on there all day. I mean, I could be on there all day scrolling anyway, but you know, trying to balance all of that out. And so I I try to make sure I'm doing I do two podcast episodes a week. Most most weeks I get that done. Some weeks I will get a DM and say, Hey, is there no podcast episode today? And I go, Oh man, I forgot to upload it. Because it's it's all me. So it's like, you know, the these little things happen. Um, but at the same time, when I'm doing these things, I either get to be talking about injuries, which are fun for me, or I get to talk about Disney, which is fun for me. So it's it's fun to have to balance those.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:29

All right, Allie. It has been an absolute pleasure speaking with you. And uh, you know, we we haven't done this with a guest in a while. And in honor of another Allie, our former uh co-host Allie, who celebrated a birthday this week, by the way. I think we need to bring back our lightning round rapid fire questions segment when it comes to our guests here. So uh, Allie, do you want to play along?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:54

That would be great.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:54

All right, perfect. All right, Jack, hit her with the first one.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:57

Favorite recovery tool, foam roller, massage gun, or nap?

SPEAKER_11 1:11:02

Oh man, I love a good nap. I I could fall asleep. Give me 10 minutes, and I could fall asleep pretty much anywhere. Same. But I I I will say, like, if we're talking soreness prevention or like feeling good after a run, I'd I'd have to go with the massage gun. But it's a close tie.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:22

Treadmill, love it or hate it.

SPEAKER_11 1:11:24

Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:26

I love a treadmill run. One exercise every runner should do.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:30

Single leg heel raise. Favorite Run Disney costume you've seen or worn?

SPEAKER_11 1:11:35

One that I've worn, I love joy. And so I have a joy dress that I wore at the 5k at Disneyland, and I'm actually being an outfit repeater, and I am wearing it for the 10 miler this weekend.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:50

We won't tell anybody.

SPEAKER_10 1:11:53

Only a couple of thousand or million followers, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:11:56

I wish it was a million.

unknown 1:11:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_10 1:11:59

I'm putting it out into the universe for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:02

All right, and last one, since you mentioned that you're uh from Las Vegas, best Las Vegas show or experience you can uh you can see right now.

SPEAKER_11 1:12:13

Oh, that you can see right now? Gosh, you are asking the wrong Las Vegas local, but I don't know if they're in right now. I'll say Backstreet Boys. I haven't seen them, but I hear that show is absolutely amazing, even though I am an InSync fan.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:28

That is the correct answer. I knew I liked you for a reason, Allie. There we go. Perfect.

SPEAKER_10 1:12:32

In sync all the way.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:34

Yes. Bye, bye, bye all the way. Love it. All right. Well, again, Allie, it has been an absolute pleasure, but let's wrap it up with this. And that is what keeps you passionate about wanting to help runners of all shapes, sizes, and paces.

SPEAKER_11 1:12:56

I love seeing somebody do what they want to do, especially if somebody has told them they can't do it or shouldn't do it. I love seeing them the excitement and joy when they cross the finish line. And it just keeps bringing me back over and over again to be able to essentially live that moment vicariously through them is incredible. And if I could just like stay on that high all the time, I'd be golden.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:34

All right. Before we let you go, drop us all the things, the socials, the website, the podcast. Give it to us all so that way more people can learn about your your thought process in terms of recovery and training and coaching and nutrition and all the things.

SPEAKER_11 1:13:51

Thank you so much. Um, my favorite place to be is Instagram. I'm Rundisney DPT. And my website is dralypt.com. My podcast is running to the castle. You can listen to it anywhere you listen to podcasts. And I am occasionally on Facebook, but I am much quicker to respond to a message over on Instagram because that's where I'm hanging out.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:18

Well, Allie, we will see you this weekend at Springtime Surprise in that joy costume that you're not repeating, right? That she's not repeating now. It's a brand new costume. But we look forward to seeing you uh this weekend. Best of luck in all the races and in your future endeavors. Uh, you know, we can't wait to you know continue to follow along in your journey both online socially and with the podcast. And thank you so much for taking the time to join us this week.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:43

Thank you so much. I'll see you all this weekend.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:46

Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:50

All right, folks, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. It is the last time for the 2025-2026 season, we will be doing the Ryzen Run Roll Call, Springtime Surprise Edition. Uh, as Bob always likes to say, uh, you know the rules. Uh, once you hear your name, be sure to stand and remain standing until all names have been called, unless uh you are in uh takeoff or taxi on your flight. Big shout out to Rob and his team uh for compile helping us compile the names and giving us some stats for the 2026 version of Springtime Surprise. We set records in terms of names in the race report. Uh a new record for Challenge, 10k, and 5K participants. Uh, we we missed uh we missed a new record on the 10 miler um only by four names, which isn't bad. But I'm I'm glad to see that more and more people are uh embracing this weekend and uh and getting their names on to the race report. But without further ado, Jack is gonna start us off with the Springtime Surprise Challenge participants.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:09

For the challenge, we have Abigail first springtime weekend and first charity run. We have Adrian who is pacing. We have Alison, Alandra, Amber, Amy, Andrea completing first perfect Walt Disney World season, Ashley M, two Ashley Bs, uh Bob, Brandy, Brooke T, Brooke H, Kathy, Charlie, Chris, and Christina.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:40

We have Dan who's pacing, Debbie H and WW, Diana, Dina completing first perfect coast to coast season, Donna, first challenge, Dorothy, Doug, the author of Life After Cars, Ella, Emily and daughter Lexi, first run Disney event, Emily V, Erin, Glenda, Heather, Holly, Jacob, first run Disney running with Mom Tracy, Jekyll and Jared, Jason, and Jen.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:10

Continuing on with the Jens, we have Jennifer E, Jennifer K. We have another Jennifer K who is completing a perfect coast-to-coast season. Jennifer N, this is their first springtime surprise, which will complete a perfect season for them. Jenny B, Jenny and Cameron, our friends from Argentina, JJ and Valeria, Joanne, Judy, Julie, Katherine L, Catherine M, Katie, K, Kayla, Kevin and Brian, Kim, Kazay, Larry, and Lara. First race at Walt Disney World and also getting Coast to Coast.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:52

We have Linda B, Linda W, Lindsay and Anthony, Lisa C, who's doing coast to coast, Lisa V, Lori, Melena, Margaret and John, Mary L, who's doing a Coast to Coast, Marilyn, Mary Joe, Mary, Matt and Robin, Matt with the flag. We have Matthew, Meg, Michael and Terry, Monica, first challenge, and first Ted Myler, Morgan, and Morning Star.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:27

We have Nicole and Mom Cheryl, Noelle, first springtime surprise. We have Pamela, Patricia, Patrick, Rachel, Riley, Rob M, Rob V, Roz, Sam completing first perfect Walt Disney season, Samantha Sandy finishing up her perfect season, Sarah M, Sarah C, Sherilyn, Sonia, Tara and Brian, Taylor and Todd.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:55

And rounding out our challenge participants, one of the best looking podcasters that I know, Tom and Diana from the Will Run For podcast. Tracy, first springtime surprise, and she is running with her son Jacob. Another Tracy, Troy, Valerie, and another Valerie, who is completing their perfect season, and Coast to Coast. Give it up for our springtime surprise challengers. All right. Let's move over now to the inside out themed 10 miler and running that race. Our favorite pacer who wears a cape, Adam will be running, as well as Avery, Becca, Beth, Bradley, Carly, Carol, Chelsea, and friend Anna, both doing to 10 miler for the first time. Christina H, Christina M, Christina W, and Danny.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:58

We have Eileen, Elizabeth, Greg, Heidi, Jeff, Jennifer F, Jennifer K, Jessica, John, Katie, Kendra, Christy. There are two Lindsay S's, and Marissa, who's doing their first Run Disney.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:18

We have Nancy and another Nancy. Nancy with an I and Nancy with a Y. Nick, Nicole, Rachel's first Run Disney event, longest run to date. Ravi, Sarah, Tara, Thomas, and we forgot up top our other hulk host, Alicia.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:36

Yes, because Alicia always forgets to put her name into the race report. So way to go. All of our 10-mile participants. All right. And John is gonna start us off because he will, even though he's not running, he will be wearing pants that day for the Winnie the Pooh and Tigger 2 10K. Take it away, John.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:58

I already know I'm wearing pants, Bob, Greg. Okay. Okay. Uh Anna, Brooke, and her mom Patty, first run Disney event. Carol, Caroline, Chelsea, David, Donald, and Donna's first run Disney race.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:13

We also have Erica, Jackie, Jeanette, Jen, Jennifer H, Jennifer K, Julia and her dad Andrew, Katie, Kelly and her husband Bob, Carrie Ann, Krista, Lindsay, Maureen, Megan, and my beautiful wife Meredith, running her first ever 10K.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:40

Well, we have Nicole, Paul, first 10K as well. We have Rachel and Chris, uh, Chris's first Run Disney race. We have Riley, Robert, Ron, Ryan, Sarah O, Sarah C, Stephanie, and Sin.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:00

Congratulations to all of our 10K runners. All right. Next up, it's time to grab your carrots. And let's uh let's shake our hips like Shakira for this uh Zootopia.

SPEAKER_07 1:22:16

Shakira, Shakira.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:18

Thank you, Jack. For our Zootopia 5K. Take it away, John.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:25

Okay, so for the 5K, we have Bennett, Carol, Cassie, Cindy, who's Rachel's mom, Eileen, Emmy, second 5K, age 5. That's Taylor T's daughter. Ferguson, second 5K, age 5, that's Matthew D's son. Jack, Jace, age 11, third run Disney race, running with mom Jennifer, Katie and LJ.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:49

We have Mary Joe, Mary Kate, Nick, Paul, and Riley, Ryan F, Ryan S, Samantha, Melissa, Bobby Monroe, six-year-old, um, and Tripp, 11-year-old. And it is Tripp's first Run Disney event. Um, we also have Tom, who's also running his first Run Disney event, and Tracy.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:15

Way to go, 5K runners. I love hearing about all the kids. It's such an awesome experience for them. And uh, and I hope they all have a blast. But I mean, here's the thing though: there is another event as part of this weekend, and that is yoga this year themed after Lilo and Stitch. And we do have a bunch of participants uh in yoga, and that includes Ashley, Chris, Catherine, Katie, Kay, Lara, Margaret, Meg, Pamela, Sarah, and Tara.

unknown 1:23:53

Woohoo!

SPEAKER_01 1:23:56

And that, ladies and gentlemen, are all is your roll call for the 2026 Springtime Surprise Race Weekend.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:05

Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:11

Well, friends, before we get into the race report, just a few last reminders. Uh, we wanted to send out again reminder this Saturday, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in the food truck area of Disney Springs. We will be having our Rise and Run meetup. Uh, please try to be there by 3:30 so we can get you included into the group photo, and we really do look forward to seeing you then. One note that uh, again, since Bob couldn't be here this week, a note that he wanted to pass along is um after the Rise and Run cruise next weekend, um, Bob has been given the honor uh that he will be one of a few people to be giving a presentation at the Jeff Galloway Celebration of Life service that will be occurring next weekend in Atlanta. And I think in the most appropriate way, Bob wants to talk about us, the community, the average runner, you know, the the type of person that Jeff convinced that, you know, you could do the impossible. So if you would like to share any thoughts to pass along to Bob uh to be part of his presentation, please be sure to send Bob an email. And you can do that at Bob at Riseandrunpodcast.com. Or also you could leave a Facebook comment on the post that Bob had made a couple of days ago. And again, reminder it's still not too late to register for Jeff's memorial run that is occurring on Saturday, April 25th in Atlanta. And again, the link is also in that Facebook post. And then upcoming episodes, like we said, next week's episode, instead of releasing on Thursday, is going to be releasing on Monday, April 20th, Boston Marathon Day. And that is our salute to Jeff Galloway. And then the following week, so that would be the following Thursday, what we will be airing is the podcast that we recorded on the cruise. Uh, we're very excited to be doing a live podcast recording. The first time we have done this since the um when our friends Kristen and Devin had us be part of their first uh Run Fit Fab pop-up event all those uh years ago. Uh so, but during that episode, that is when we are going to be doing our springtime surprise recap. And be sure to stick around for that entire episode because even though we will be doing a trivia contest uh as uh part of that episode for all the listeners to participate in, we want you to be able to play along uh at home as well, too. So we uh have a bunch of rise and run themed questions. Uh, so I think that should make for a great time. So, again, that salute to Jeff is going to be releasing on Monday, April 20th, and then our springtime surprise cruise recap that will be releasing on our normal Thursday, so that would be um April 30th for upcoming episodes.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:19

And now please stand clear of the door.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:25

It's time for a race report.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:33

The race report is brought to you by Stoked Metabolic Training. Uh, and if you're interested in signing up for Tom's programs, be sure to visit Stokes.fit slash rise and run coaching. I'm sure we'll be seeing Tom this weekend, and we'll be very interested to see um what costumes he may or may not be wearing um during this race weekend. But it'll be good to see Tom. But let's get into the race report. And let's start on Saturday in Asbury Park, New Jersey for the Runapalooza Half Marathon. Kelly was there. She goes on to say that this race had about 2,500 runners that ran through five shore towns with great ocean views and past iconic landmarks such as the Stone Pony and the convention hall. Put on by the Jersey Shore Running Club. She said they did an incredible job with race report, had enthusiastic crowds along the boardwalk, helped cheer everyone on to the finish line. And she finished with a 12-minute PR.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:42

Congratulations and is now on to springtime surprise. In Burlington, Vermont, Lucy ran the half marathon unplugged. This is her first half marathon in a year, and she was really proud of herself. She got a one-hour 34-minute chip time for a new PR and proof of time. This was also her first training cycle where she was coached by, we mentioned her earlier on in the episode, the GOAT of Run Disney, Brittany Charbonneau. Uh the finisher's medal was a coaster, uh, which goes well with the post-race uh finish festival that uh took place at some local breweries. And she said this is the second time she has done this race, and it was just as fun as the first time. Moving down to Nashville, Tennessee, Kylie did the Music City Dairy Dash. Now, Music, that's O-O-S-I-C. I think we've we've talked about this race in the past. Um, but this is the third time that Kylie has run this race, but it was the first time taking on the 10K course, and she ran a four-minute PR. It was a bit warm, uh, especially at the finish, but that's okay. She finished with some noodling and ice cream. So, yeah, great race. And Kylie wants to thank everyone for the holler hypes. Continuing to go south in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Emily ran the Fat Boy 5K, a cool but humid race morning. This is a very local race, uh, neighborhood race capped at about 800 runners, and it's certainly one of her must-d's each season. It's an out and back route that is pretty tucked away in neighborhoods with some surprising hills. Uh, this was her first run in the uh quote unquote masters category since it was her birthday last week, which we talked about. This age group tends to be full of fierce and fast women. Still, uh, she managed to win her age group and snagged a five-second PR. Congratulations, Emily, and once again, happy belated birthday. Lola ran the Palace Saloon 5K in Tallahassee, Florida. And Lola says that this was a nice, easy course until about uh a hill at mile two, but at least the uh last half mile was all downhill. Uh, the the race ran to the Palace Saloon near Florida State University's campus, where they got a bottle opener medal and a free beer. It's a lot of fun uh until she had to walk all the way back to her car. Uh, but her training is definitely paying off, and she's getting closer to the pace that she was running before she got pregnant with her boys. Uh Lola, that is so great to hear and uh keep up the great work. We know you'll be back to those old paces in no time. In Dearborn, Michigan, we had the Martian Marathon Weekend Meteor 5K. Christy and her son Isaac uh ran the again, the 5K as part of this event. This was Isaac's first 5K, so of course we know what that means. It was a fantastic day of races, and uh Isaac ran the the he ran the kids' marathon for years before he aged out. So again, he moved up to the 5k. We already gave him the bell, and now, you know, like any kid, they got one under the belt and they want more. And Isaac, we can't wait to hear about your future endeavors. Congratulations. Sarah ran the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon in Springfield, Illinois. It was cool running past uh President Lincoln's home at the beginning and his resting place towards the end. Sarah started with the two-hour, 15-minute pacer, but the end was hilly and she lost them. She must have caught up because her finish time was two hours, 14 minutes, and 10 seconds. Funny how things like that uh work out. Congratulations, Sarah. We head over to Fort Smith, Arkansas. And if we're going to Fort Smith, you notice we're only talking about one person, one person only, and that's our buddy Joe. Joe participated in the We Care 5K Charity for Children with Cancer. No places for the two amigos in the 60 to 99 age group, but Joe did manage his fourth. Uh Joe looked strong at the finish, uh, and they ended up with hats instead of t-shirts, which was nice change. Way to go, Joe. In Vestiva Hills, Alabama, we had the Cookie Crusher 10K, and Heather participated in that event. In Lushenbach, Texas, we had the Outlaw Half Marathon, and Joseph ran that. This is half marathon number 20 for Joseph, and it was by far his toughest. A lot of rain in the morning gave away to endless hills and humidity. Uh, the course was the most challenging yet, but even with a difficult course, he finished in two hours, 19 minutes, 33 seconds, and got a shiner bock and sausage at the finish line. He says it wasn't pretty, but he got her done. Way to go, Joseph. Lisa uh participated in the Mud Girl Run 3M obstacle course in Tampa, Florida. We had a run through the decades race in Colorado Springs, and Leslie participated in that. Uh, the options were a 6K, 7K, AK, or do all three uh to make a half marathon. She chose to go the 8K route and dressed up in 80s colors, uh, completed with an aerial hat. Uh, the first half of the course uh climbed in elevation, and the AK turnaround was in the fourth hill. Um, but after that, she took advantage of all the downhills heading back to the start-finish line, and that to her was the most fun part. Moving to my state, Pennsylvania, in New Holland, Pennsylvania, specifically for the garden spot village half marathon. Our council of costume member Margaret participated in that. I loved Margaret's post. She dressed as a butterfly, thinking that that was the theme of the race. But in actual event, it was uh the butterfly theme was the theming of the sponsored retirement home uh or retirement community. But it all works out, it's fine. Um, Margaret did this race because uh she was up here in uh the uh the Pennsylvania area uh celebrating her husband John's birthday. Uh but they uh they did this race so that they could get the coveted road apple award when she comes back up this fall throwing bird in hand. So smart move on you, Margaret. Uh she took it nice and easy because and I mean we talk about insane schedules on this podcast. This one has to be up there. She ran Garden Spot this past weekend. She's participating in the challenge at Springtime Surprise. She's running the Boston Marathon, and then the weekend after that is running Dollywood. Margaret, I hope you're taking a nice long break or getting a massage or something like that after all those miles. We can't wait to hear about all those stories, but congratulations, and we can't wait to see you this weekend and then uh especially in Burden Hand this fall. We mentioned it. They were our intro at the top of the episode. Laura Ann and Sin were at the TPA 5K on the runway, again in Tampa, Florida. Uh Laura Ann and Sin ran together. It was a beautiful day and fantastic temperatures in Tampa. Just did a normal pace, you know, no reaching for PRs today. The brunch after the race, they say, is the reason to go to this event. But this year, even though they raised the price to over$60, the brunch was terrible. I'm so, so sorry. And I think because of that, they're most likely not going to do uh this race again. But um, I'm glad you were able to at least experience a terrible brunch together, and then we hope you had a great run as well. Wrapping up Saturday in Savannah, Georgia was the Publix Savannah Women's Half Marathon. We had a couple of uh friends there. Uh first up was Elizabeth. She goes on to say that everyone killed it with the holler hypes. She's got sent 19 hypes while running, and she wants to thank everybody so much. She wanted to try to get a PR, um, but she finished in 217, and she's happy with her second best time. Lindsay was also there. Uh, this was her first non-Disney run in over 10 years. Uh, she was nervous about being away from her people. I totally get that. Luckily, she saw plenty of crowned athletics and dopey uh shirts, so she felt like she was in good company. Uh, she was trying to achieve a time that would get her a higher corral. Two hours 40 won't do it, but it is still a PR for the half marathon distance. Way to go, Lindsay. And then Jessica was also at this event in Savannah. Uh, she ran this both for a dopey POT and with the goal of getting her first sub-two-hour half, and she killed it. She finished in the time of 155-15. This course was equally as beautiful as the metal. Uh, so way to get all those goals and way to uh to crush that race in Savannah. All right, we actually had a lot of weekend events uh this past weekend. And the first one, we're gonna head back up to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Knoxville Marathon weekend. One of the weekend events that took place uh during this uh this marathon weekend was the Marble City Challenge, which is a combination of the 5K and the Half Marathon. And Bradley ran that. Uh, it's been four years since they ran uh in the half marathon, and two years ago since they did the 5K at this event. But when it was announced that they were going to add a challenge for this weekend, they knew they had to do it. Uh, the race was a tough one, and they totally forgot about how hilly the half marathon course was, and it was warmer than normal normal, but they finished both races and got that extra metal way to go, Bradley. All right, a couple hours north of me, the home of the TV show, The Office in Scranton, Pennsylvania was the Scranton Half Marathon and 5K, and our buddy Steve was there. Uh, the weekend started on Saturday at the expo before the 5K. Steve took it easy. Most walked. Uh, smart move there, bud. And then on Sunday, this year's half course was a new course. This year's course was a bit different because uh they were doing some construction on a bridge that was closed that was on the old route. Uh, this news course was a nice change with some different areas, however, it resulted in a lot more hills. So sorry about that, Steve. Uh, but for completing this challenge, there were also um a rock's glass and a runner's belt uh and a metal pin uh to attach to your lanyard. So nice little interesting things there. Uh so way to go, Steve. Next up, Liz participated in the Greater St. Louis Marathon weekend. So Liz has also uh been working with Britney Charbonneau in order to work towards a goal of a POT. And all of that coaching and running slower drills paid off. She said that there was one wicked hill that was a paceucker for three miles, but she still managed a one minute and three-second PR. Congratulations, Liz. Our buddy Rob participated in the Parkinson's 5K at Lee's Health Hammond Stadium, which is the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins and the Class A home of the Fort Myers Mighty Muscles. Boy, say that five times fast. Uh but Rob Randis in honor of his uh former boss who was a baseball fan and had been fighting Parkinson's for the past few years. Good on you for doing that, Rob. In Elizabeth City, North Carolina was the Coast Guard Marathon weekend. And our friend Elizabeth ran the Semper Paradis Challenge, which was the 5K and half marathon. Probably the biggest event of the weekend took place in our nation's capital, and it was the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler and 5K. Uh, we had a bunch of friends there and a few friends who did the double blossom challenge, which is the 5K and the 10K. First up, we had Hannah. Uh, Hannah goes on to say that Sunday was just not the day the PR like she had trained to do, but that's completely okay. Uh, still had a great time. And if anyone knows the people who normally give out Oreos at miles seven and a half, please tell them that they were missed as uh she was really sad not to have that mid-race Oreo. And actually, now that I think about it, the one year I did Cherry Blossom, I do remember those Oreo Oreo people. So I'm that is such a bummer that they weren't there. I'm so sorry about that, Hannah. But uh glad you were able to get that race done. Yeah, we talked about Emily uh down Baton Rouge. Now her sister Jen was uh in the nation's capital. She did uh the double blossom challenge. Uh the 5k course, according to Jen, was uh disappointing. And she said there was a pretty gnarly hill on the out and back, and lots of potholes to dodge. Still, she's thrilled that she got a 3030, uh, which is a PR on the course. Sunday started chilly, but it was one of the most beautiful and scenic races she has ever done, looping around the Lincoln Memorial, over and back the Arlington Memorial Bridge, past the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and back to the Washington Monument. She ended up with negative splits and shaving 13 minutes off of her last 10 miler in the fall. Way to go, Jen. Our buddy Kay was there. Uh, she didn't give a full report, but I did get a uh I did see a picture in typical K fashion, was just dressed as a cherry blossom tree uh for the 5K. And uh I even she did send me uh a photo with the official mascot of the cherry blossom uh weekend, and that is Stumpy. Randala was also doing uh the double blossom. She got a PR for the 10 miler by 29 seconds. She said that she really enjoyed the medal this year. Uh it was great weather, and uh she got to uh run with her husband for his first 10 miler, so automatic PR. And rounding out the double blossom challenge, Sia was also there. Uh she said that the 5k course was a bit crowded, uh especially through the uh Northern Virginia neighborhood. But the 10 miler was great. Uh, they uh even though the cherry blossom trees were past their peak, there was still a couple of cherry blossom trees blooming that um were mostly done, but she was able to get a PR. Now we did have some friends that were also there running just the 10 miler. Kayla was there. Grace ran it. Uh, she said no PRs for her today, but she was joining the sights and running with her cousins. The medal also had to be one of the prettiest ones to have. And Matthew was also there, couldn't have asked for better weather. It was the first time that he had done this one, and he got to run it with some dopey challenge friends, kept a nice, easy pace and had a blast the whole time. Had a Donald Duck shirt on, which got lots of compliments from the spectators and the races, and he loved to do this one again. And I do have to agree with him. I was actually in DC uh this past weekend for work, and uh yeah, you guys had great weather on is truly um an awesome event. So if you're in the DMV area or you know you can easily access it, I definitely recommend the Cherry Blossom Weekend. All right, and then our last weekend event was the Milwaukee Marathon Half Marathon and 5K. Noelle was there. Um, and on Saturday, she finally did it. She got her POT 22745 during the half marathon, and that was a five-minute PR for her. All right, let's move to Sunday and go across the pond to the United Kingdom for the London Landmarks Half Marathon. Anna was there. Anna goes on to say this is one of her favorite half marathons, as it does a good bit of London without all of the estates and boring bits of the marathon. The weather was good, even though it did rain. Well, of course, it was London, it rains there all the time. Uh, but it did rain a little bit for the uh last half mile. She wants to thank everyone for all the holler hypes uh during the race. And uh the costume, uh, she dressed as Mary Poppins was a massive hit, and she met a celebrity. I wish I could meet this celebrity. She got to meet Bluey.

SPEAKER_07 1:47:01

No, all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:47:03

Well, we were in London, but now we're going to stay in the continent of Europe and we're going to the Paris Marathon. And our buddy Jason was there. He says this was an awesome race, a beautiful course, 60,000 runners, and he said wonderful crowd support. He was a little worried about how he was going to feel because just three weeks ago, when we talked about this, he did 72 miles um during that Blackbeards challenge. Uh, but he mostly stuck to his plan. He felt great. The miles called off to him at around mile 24, but he rallied at 25, finished strong. He stayed a couple uh blocks from the start and finish area. Great tip. Um, but he got up and watched the elite starts. He went back to his room, um, and they finished before he even left his room. And he capped it off with a wonderful celebration of champagne atop the Eiffel Tower, along with his usual burger and shake for dinner. All right, let's come back over to the United States and specifically to Orlando, Florida, where Mary ran the great American Bacon 5K. Uh, she said it was a uh race was great, and she finished with a 10-second PR. Way to go, Mary. And the city's so nice, they named it twice. New York, New York was the New York Roadrunners run as one for Miler, and uh both Brennan and Nikhil were there just over the bridge. Well, I guess just over the bridge, and then a couple of hours south in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was the Ameri Health, New Jersey April Fool's Half Marathon. Uh, Pete ran this event. Uh, Pete says it was about 45 degrees at the start, rising to about 50. I don't know about you. I think that's perfect weather. Cool headwind during the second leg of the race. Overall, flat on the boardwalk and on the road runs. He loves this series. Uh, not a PR, but a solid run for him. Now, here's the part that I'm confused about. This race took place on Sunday, so that was on April 12th. Why do they call this the April Fool's Half Marathon if it's not on the first? Because maybe. John, any insight as our resident New Jersey native?

SPEAKER_03 1:49:21

That's a great question.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:24

Um I'll have to get back to you on that one. Okay. All right. John will report back to us in a couple of weeks. Jack, do you have any theories?

SPEAKER_02 1:49:31

I don't know if it's like one of those things where it's like, there's no there's a number one in front of two. So April 1st. No, it's the 12th. Okay. I I have I've got nothing. I'm not even funny. That's all right.

Final Thoughts And Race Weekend Sendoff

SPEAKER_01 1:49:46

I mean, maybe that's the joke that it's, you know, uh a race from the yeah, that's supposed to be on the first on the 12th. Who knows? But we'll look into it. All right. We talked about cherry blossoms in Washington, DC, but there was also a cherry blossom 10K in Newark, New Jersey. Heather ran that. Now, believe it or not, according to the race report notes here, Newark, New Jersey is the home of the largest collection of cherry blossoms in the country. I did not know that. Yes, it is, Greg. Ah, well, there you go. Shine the uh NBC graphic, uh the the more you know. Uh but this was the uh 50th anniversary of the event. Overall, it was hillier than what Heather was expecting, which did slow her down. Uh, but some of the views of the cherry blossoms made up for it, had great crowd support and volunteers, and what surprised her the most was the number of runners using the run-walk-run method. Uh, so the first time she had ever had a local race where she saw other runners with a gym boss. That is very, very cool. Way to go, Heather. In Columbus, Ohio was the Ohio State four-miler. Brandy was there. After a 13-month break and no time goals today, she just wanted to go out and enjoy the event. Her kiddo did the kids' race and never left off the gas pedal pedal, and uh, she kept her dad on her toes the entire time while uh while she waited for at the finish line. Let's go over to the west coast to Agora Hills, California for the great race. And Mark ran that. Uh, the first and last three miles are on the road, and the middle is a trail. Uh, the volunteers were tremendous, and the community spirit made this a wonderful experience. And the pancakes at the end are the reason to get done so quickly. In Houston, Texas was the Vintage Park 5K, and Brandy was there. And uh Brandy's been on this kick lately, and I love hearing stories like this. Uh, Brandy has been doing a lot of guide runs uh with Achilles International, and this was another event uh where she did just that. She said today was the amazing day for a race uh for guiding for Achilles, and this was her athlete's first race in two years, which brought her so much joy. Brandy, so glad that you were doing this. Uh, this is something that I truly hope uh is my fault, but good on you, and we can't wait to see you this race weekend and on the cruise. In Cheshire, Connecticut was the Cheshire Ion Bank Half Marathon. Erica did this with her dad. Erica says that the weather was perfect, lows in the 40s and sunny, a mix of hilly neighborhoods and paved rail rail trails. Uh, they ran on the rail trails for about half the race, which was nice, scenic, and flat. She ran the whole race with her dad, and they finished in one hour, 59 minutes, and 52 seconds. For Erica, that was a coarse PR, but not a half PR, but we're still gonna give you the bell anyway. For her dad, though, this was a 13-minute distance PR. Erica is so proud of her dad, and they were glad they were able to eke it out for him and make it happen. Her husband also ran the race, and guess what? He PR'd too. The post-race included a brick oven pizza truck, and everything coming out of there, she says, was delicious. Let's go north of the border to Ontario, Canada for the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, Ontario. Phaedra was there this morning. She completed her longest run race ever, her first 15K, and we know what that means. She also came in under her time goal of two hours. Uh, the only disappointing thing was that they ran out of 15k medals by the time she finished, which meant that hers has to be mailed to me. I'm sorry that happens. That should never happen in a race, but good on you for keeping your spears up, getting that race done, and hopefully you'll be able to do that medal Monday uh in short order here when you get that medal. And in rounding out the race report for this week, we're gonna head to Jacksonville, Florida for the April Showers 10K. But but this is interesting. April spelled A-P-R-Y-L-E. Never seen like that before. But Lisa was there, and just like so many other friends in this week's report, she wants to thank the Ryzeron community for all of the holler hypes during the 10K. Uh, she didn't have a guide as it wasn't easy to find one in the Jacksonville area, um, as it is in Orlando. She had five seizures uh during the course, but she PR'd her first mile with a pace of 12 minutes and 20 seconds, way to go there, PR bell here. And Lisa had so much fun. Congratulations, way to battle through those elements, and uh, we're glad you're able to enjoy that race. And that, my friends, concludes the race report for episode 238. Well, my friends, if you run, you know, you are our friend. We are so excited to be down in Walt Disney World for the last race of this season. I I again we talked about last week, it's got that melancholy feel to it, you know, the fact that another season is coming to an end, but we are going to cherish the memories that this race weekend will bring. And it's just gonna build up that anticipation to start the 26-27 race season. For all of you that are participating, make sure you PR and fun, stay safe. I know it's gonna be a hot weekend. So hopefully by the time you're listening to this, you are well hydrated, uh prepared for that race. But again, we're really looking forward to making so many memories with you, whether it's before the race, during the race, at the meetup, or for those of you that are coming on the inaugural Rise Run cruise, we can't wait uh to cement those memories with you. It's gonna be an absolute blast. Enjoy the weekend, be kind to one another, love each other, support one another, and until we meet again, happy running. 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.