crazydaveh

Hello everyone! I hope training is fitting you well. If anyone is looking for a neat half marathon to run, the Daytona Beach half is Oct 30 this year. It's cool because you start and finish at the Daytona 500 track! The start line is the same start used for NASCAR races and the finish is the same as well. It's a cheap race too, $60 until Oct 1 to register. You run from the track to the beach and back, simple out and back course. Also, I might be out at Disney Land running their half in a few weeks. If anyone else is running that one, let me know!

This sounds awesome Robb! People may cry about the price, but that's a damn good deal! Let's not forget the afternoon trip to the Yuengling Brewery next door for some free beer! Any ideas on hotel deals? Some of us might be unable to safely operate a vehicle that night! Thanks for the awesome event! Robb Alvey... Breaking ground in the Sunshine State!

Do they sell booze at the parks there?

The original owners of White Water in Atlanta announced and even began clearing land for a second White Water on the Northeast side of Atlanta of I-85. For about a year, several pieces of blue water slides sat on a hill. Nothing ever came out of it requiring everyone on the east side of the ATL to head over to where White Water is.

Great stuff. Did you fly out of Orlando Executive Airport?

If that's the official video, that's pretty sad. If you're going to hire a crew to come out and shoot in a chopper, use a gyro stabilizer system! Oh my that's bad. Also, post it in the correct aspect ratio and have the ride full of people! They don't have to be guests, just employees in normal street clothes! I think it's a very poor "official" video from Cedar Point. I honestly expect better. I'm not looking for a lot of post production work, but I don't want to have to take Dramamine to watch it! Does this video make me want to ride... Not really.

Can anyone help me out with what airport is closest or easiest to the park and any quality hotels nearby? I might just make it up there for this one...

I had to go get a new router and get it working so I wouldn't feel the Rapture of my wife for not being able to use the WiFi on the iPhone this morning... That was fun. I took a nap.. That was great. I went swimming with my 2 year old who drowned her Little Mermaid doll multiple time... So poor Mermaid... at least she felt the rapture today... Now, I'm waiting on some wings and pizza... so another rapture will be coming to North Orlando in a few hours!

Hey all! I just learned I'll be going on my first cruise in a few weeks aboard the Disney Wonder up on it's first trip to Alaska! I'm looking forward to it, though it's not going to be warm and tropical. I'm kind of doing my own thing while at ports because they all seem to have their own brewery... Thus I'll be there enjoying some local beer that we can't get down here in Orlando! Anyone else going on this trip? I figure it will be mostly older people and being in Alaska, the pool won't be a hot spot, but still, I'm looking to have fun. One cool thing I see excursion wise is hanging out with some of the fishermen from Season Two of the "Deadliest Catch." I might just do that one!

A tardy Race Report here. Sorry for the delay, the normal thing called "Everyday Life" got going and I haven't caught up! Anyways, I ran the Georgia Half Marathon. Like I thought, the hills kicked the crap out of me. I honestly didn't think it would be as bad as it was, but man, I wanted to be done by mile 10. The first three miles were great, mostly downhill with small inclines running from Olympic Park through Georgia State University. MIles 3-6 started the uphill battle. It seemed never to end. I honestly didn't see much of what was around me during this time because I was eating the hills so much and just focused on going, looking down, and nothing else. The halfway point was a straight shot from mile 6-8, that was nice, then came HELL. It seemed like the final five miles were all uphill, reverse, dragon tails. They never seemed to end. Just to tell you how bad it was (for me), I was on a PR pace to finish in two hours at mile 9, I finished right at 2:29:17. I hit the wall harder than I've ever hit the wall before. I was running for a minute and then walking for two minutes. If it wasn't for my family being there at the finish line, I would have probably walked across the finish I was so beat. (There's nothing like seeing your two year old wave to you and yell "Love you daddy" at mile 13 to get you going). Anyways, other than the hills, it was a great race. It was very well organized from packet pickup to the finish line. It started at 7AM which was nice and unlike Disney, you don't have to get there three hours early. Most everyone that came in from the suburbs (Parents live in Lilburn/Stone Mountain) took Marta in and the start was a five minute walk from the station. The corrals were very organized and each corral didn't start at different times, once corral A started, everyone else just walked to the start line and began their run at the start. There wasn't anyone being obnoxious or over anxious to get going. I do wish they would have had at least two more water stops along the route and a lot of people were complaining about the lack of porta potties. At the finish, they would only allow each runner one bottle of water but were giving out as many chocolate milks as you wanted (not for me after a race). Also, Publix was the main sponsor of the race and there was a group broken up into smaller groups protesting Publix and their business practices preventing access to some of the water areas. It wasn't bad, but it did get annoying. I understand that we have the freedom to say what we want and protest, but keeping me from getting water and making fun of me for having the full marathon winner pass me at mile 11 isn't going to get me to listen to your message! The medal is pretty cool. It has a detailed skyline of Atlanta on it with a peach. The shirts for the half marathon were Publix green (only way to explain it as Publix was the main sponsor) and are pretty good quality. Will I run it again, probably not. Living in Orlando means I'm sticking with the races that are flat! I'm glad I did it though. Now, I am going to start training for the Disney FULL marathon! I figure I should run at least one full marathon to say I've done it.

great stuff! How long was the drive from Orlando?

Interesting about the lapbars on JTA. Can you tell a difference with them at the "splashdown" portion when you're thrusted forward?

Congrats on the Princess Nay. I didn't run it, but did have a long run Sunday morning and yes, it was hot here in Otown! I honestly can't decide if I want to head out west for the Disneyland 1/2. My wife doesn't seem too into going out there for a vacation and it's a lot of money to fly out and run and fly back home. I'm still on the fence about it. I am running the Georgia Marathon on the 20th though... It goes through downtown Atlanta and my family will be there (gerw up just outside Atlanta) so it should be fun! I'm just dreading the hills of Atlanta!

I'm interested. Airtran is cheap from Otown that time of year! I'll probably have three max in my group. One major question, will there be beer?

Less than 5 seconds on a slower than normal wifi network right now.

I am highly jealous of you sitting on a boat with a beer writing your report as I'm at work, where I've been for 18 hours now, waiting on some HD videos to convert over to WMV files so suits can approve them! Please have a beer for me!

The ship does look really fun for adults, and kids! Being that it is almost twice as large as the original ships, did it ever feel crowded? Being that you went on a previous cruise, could you tell a difference with the number of people on the ship? Also, this might seem odd, but what kind of beer do they serve on it? Is it the normal Bud Light type stuff or do they have quality craft brews? Thanks for the quality pictures! It honestly makes me want to max out the credit cards and take a vacation!

Ran the 5K at Universal this morning. Sorry, no pictures as I was going for a PR for the 5K which I accomplished. The course was flat and easy. It was nothing like the Disney races, as Universal made it clear they were just the "host" for Orlando's longest running race which benefited local children who are in abusive situations. There were more than 1,800 runners and walkers. We started out in the bus lot and ran into CityWalk between the Nascar Cafe and the Bridge to go to the Studios park. We turned left and ran in front of the stores and Maragaritaville and headed into IOA. Once in IOA, the crow loosened up and you could really run or walk your intervals without any issues. We ran all the way around IOA and exited in Seuss Landing and went backstage where there was a water/Powerade station (halfway point) and went into the Studios side on the backside of Rockit. The Studios was the simple loop over to MIB and back out in front of the park. The finish line was in front of the Hard Rock. Like I said, the course was flat and easy, but there was no entertainment along the route. Universal had employees at each attraction/show out cheering us on, but honestly the Universal Security team was the best at cheering everyone on along the course. One thing I didn't like, they pressured washed parts of the pathway overnight on the IOA side, this made for a slick surface. At the end, they had Scooby Doo, Curious George, and maybe one or two more characters out to get pictures with. It was a fun race, I'd probably do it again if I do more 5k's. I think I'm going to stick to 10k's and higher as I feel I cheated myself out of running a good distance this morning. Saturdays are usually my long runs. People in my Galloway group did 12.5 today... I did a puny 3.1. One good thing, I was in IOA at 9Am and walked on Potter, Dragons, and Hulk! I was in the car and on the way home by 1015! Not a bad morning!

How's everyone's training or recovery going? I hope well. I know it's just a 5k, but Universal is holding one next Saturday. I'm running it, I have stayed away from 5k's while training for the Disney Marathon, but figure, what the heck now that the Marathon has come and gone. If you're planning on running it, let me know! Also, the Georgia Marathon up in Atlanta is on March 20. You don't get to run through any theme parks, but you do get to see a lot of scenic Atlanta and some of the Olympic areas (that are still left)... Just passing it along. Happy running!

Great pictures! Glad you were able to visit the zoo. Like you said, it's not the best, but it's good for us who live near it with little ones. Tampa's is much better! Great pictures again! They looked awesome!

I'm going with Superman the Escape at SFMM. It was first to "break the record" of 400 ft (415) and it's in your backyard.

Nay, Depending on when you'll be living here in Otown, www.trackshack.com is a great place for simple 5k and 10k runs though the smaller less touristy areas surrounding Orlando. Tampa and Jacksonville also do several half marathons a year. Hardly anyone does anything between June and August for obvious reasons, but there are a few that do. Lots of running clubs here as well. If it wasn't for mine, I wouldn't have made it through the Disney Half!

I'm seriously thinking of doing the coast to coast this year. I brought up California to my wife and she was cool with it, saying we can only go to Disney one day while we're out there and be "tourists" at other places the rest of the time. I am looking into a lot of runs here in the Southeast. There's an Atlanta Beer Run that looks fun. It's a 1/2 but it looks like a lot of fun. Savannah also has a great half as well. I think the next Orlando Disney race I might try is the Tower of Terror 13k, if they have it this year.

The soreness is finally gone from my first half marathon. It was a lot of fun, but I tell you, going back into Epcot up that onramp and then over three overpasses really sucked at mile 11! Still, being my first half and finishing in 2:28:17 was great. My goal was 2:30:00 so I beat it. I really liked the race. I liked seeing the characters all over the place but didn't get my photo with any. Being my first race, I went for the time and not for the fun of it. I ran with "Team Training for Children" to raise money for the Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children here in Orlando. Combined, we all raised more than $75,000 to help build a new state of the art pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Center. My two year old ran the toddler trot. She loved it! She showed off her Mickey Medal to everyone that afternoon too, including Mickey and Minnie! Sorry, no real "running pictures," but I have a few from the start and finish line. Congrats to everyone who ran this past weekend! I agree, we should get a team going for next years race! Anyways, here's the pics! Here's what the Crazy D looks like at 430AM! Thank god for the race retreat tent! The Clubhouse is empty this morning! Everyone is at the race! I guess Pete is holding down the fort with Toodle! Nothing says run 13.1 miles like pyro at 530AM! Finishing my first half marathon! Got my medal and blanket! Time for a nap! The Disney Media folks interviewed me... Cause I'm AWESOME! Damn, I'm looking good for the camera considering I just ran 13.1 miles! Happy and sore! Hollis, the winner of the first "Cup Cake Wars" on TV last season ran with our group. She's a great friend to the Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children. My two year old showing Mickey and Minnie her Mickey Medal she received for running the Toddler Trot! This t-shirt says it all!

Hello all. I'm running the Disney Half this Saturday. It will be my first 'official' race. I'm looking forward to it. Been training here in Otown for it and it looks like the weather is going to be great (50's.) I also signed my two year old up for Mickey's Toddler Trot. It should be fun seeing her run. She loves to chase after her daddy on the soccer field. Anyways, If anyone wants to get a beer after the race, let me know! I'm hanging out for a few days down on property (even though I live 20 minutes away) to celebrate the run.