TRAVEL
There are a few things to consider when debating doing a race. The first thing I think about is, how accessible is it? And what I mean by that is, is it hard or easy to get to or fly to? The race I did over this weekend was in Orlando, the haven of a certain mouse, there are flights in and out of there from practically every single airline. Yes, it does cost more to stay outside your house, but if you book a flight way out in advance, then you’re okay.
I have spoken to at least one other runner, Farrah, who has commented that she doesn’t like out-of-town races because it takes you out of your normal routine. I’m all about structure, I admit it, and this race over the weekend had me completely discombobulated. I had gotten up way early, earlier than usual, couldn’t get the requisite meals at the right times and didn’t get to bed until after 2 AM (and after the Nats immolated in that 18 inning marathon). If you aren’t a fan of traveling, then your best bet is to do a race close to home. I live in DC, so I’m lucky enough to have quite a few races going on in the area, and have yet only done one DC-based race.
DISTANCE
So you think you’re a runner? As I ran at this last race, I can tell you, we come in all shapes and sizes, or as my father likes to say, extra small to quadruple extra-large. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, what colour you are, if you root for a terrible team that’s cursed with bad luck, anyone can run. If you can put one foot in front of the other for several hours and make a slow plod through a course, you can run.
The larger question I think people need to tackle is how far can they run. I overheard, far too many times this weekend, people commenting that they should have trained. Yeah, you think? Don’t be stupid, which might be a challenge for some. Unless you’ve been running track since high school, you can’t roll out of bed and do a half marathon. I mean, I was up to a high of eleven miles and ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) and was a hot mess afterwards, and I had trained. Some people like to learn lessons the hard way, but not me, I’m good, learned and moved on from that lesson. If you can’t find time to run a few times a week, then you can’t commit to a race. I mean, at an average of $100 for a registration (on the low end for some races, Disney races are almost always at least $200, not counting their ‘challenges’ which can net you upwards of $500 for registration), you don’t want to register and waste that money, do you? Or worse, and my fear also, register and not be able to keep the pace or finish and end up not getting a medal or have Goofy behind you in a golf cart laughing hysterically as he picks you up for not maintaining race pace. I would be furious with myself if I dropped $500 and didn’t get the medals I should have earned because I was too foolish to train.
WHICH RACE?
And so, we’ve gotten the basics out of the way there, nutrition aside (I’m still trying to figure that one out myself – a steady diet of Cinnabon is not the answer, for those curious). If you’ve passed my litmus test above, then let’s talk about races. Now, if you’re new to racing, start small. A 5K is only 3.1 miles. Yes, only 3.1 miles. Don’t jump in with a long race if you’ve never done a race, you won’t know what you’re getting into. Now, you don’t have to heed my advice, but I know a little something about making bad decisions. If you still think you’re the boss, then by all means, sign up for a marathon, but you’d best be ready to train. The easiest training schedule is in excess of six months. That means three days a week, for six months, you need to lace up your trainers and head outside, rain or snow, sleet or shine, dogs or butterflies (!).
For me, the decision of which race came to availability. What could I race in that was open? The Rock and Roll series are pretty massive. I’ve done two of their races and there are runners for miles and miles no matter where you are in the pack. I just did a Disney race and while I might be able to say the same here, they cut off registration when they’ve reached a certain number. I am curious what that number is, but I feel like people probably register and don’t show, so the numbers might not be totally right. I do wish Disney had a way of letting people not just defer, but pull out and free spots up for others, like a wait list.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
With that in mind, a Rock and Roll series race is pretty much all over North America. This year they expanded to Canada, into Vancouver no less, and the medal looks quite impressive. The Disney races are limited to Orlando and Anaheim (Disney World and Disney Land respectively). If you can’t get to either, then you really can’t race there. The Rock and Roll series offers a variety of price points and registration options and gives you a lot of activities to do while there. When I registered for the DC race, they gave us a discount code for Wizards tickets in addition to the race and hotel basics. The options that Disney gave for other activities was spending practically full price on an admission ticket or going to a Mickey Halloween party, also not free. One feeling I got throughout the Disney weekend was that it wasn’t enough for them that I had registered for a race, flown down, stayed in a Disney hotel and ate at Disney locations, they kept pushing more and more things in hopes that I would spend more and more money. I don’t know if this is their normal practice, but I was pretty fed up with it early on and it didn’t get much better as the weekend went on. I would think a place like Disney wouldn’t have to push the hard sell, but that was pretty much all I heard for about twenty four hours.
Despite that, there was nothing wrong with anything I did get or pay for. With the Rock and Roll series, I was always able to bring my own things, food, water, whatever. Since I had to travel to the Disney race, I was forced to purchase everything there and while paying over $2 for a bottle of water is obnoxious, it wasn’t bad and I didn’t get sick. The interesting thing Disney had going for it, which I was fascinated by, was the Magic Band. Yes, you read that right. For those of you who have been to Disney in the last few years, this won’t seem new, but imagine my surprise and muted delight when I was given a box with a band with my name on it (example below):
The Magic Band is used to pretty much do anything and everything and was ‘free.’ I use the word free loosely here. Free is relative in the sense that I was paying for everything. They very happily offered to connect my credit card to my Magic Band. I declined. It was a very snazzy addition to what became a rather exhausting weekend.
COURSES
I’ve run two Rock and Roll races, one Disney race and without a doubt, if you’re a new runner, and you want to go on an easier route, Disney is the way to go. The majority of the 10-mile course was on straightaways on Disney’s private highway in Buena Vista. There were few hills and the openness of the track kept a very nice breeze blowing through. The Rock and Roll races are tough. The DC race had a hill that felt like a steep incline and the buildings blocked any breeze from coming in on an overcast morning. The Virginia Beach race was like Chinese water torture. The heat was unbearable, the humidity made it feel like you were plodding through walls. How anyone completed that race in a ‘good’ time I’ll never know. I was never happier to see the finish line then when I crossed there. Hydration was a major issue in VA beach and an IV wouldn’t have helped.
If you’re a seasoned runner looking for something challenging, go with a Rock and Roll race. If you want something fun and easy, a Disney race is for you.
CHEER SQUAD
The Rock and Roll series does an interesting thing at their races. They invite local high schools or college cheer groups to compete to see who can motivate and cheer on the runners more. The incentive for a reward, I think, makes them work a lot harder.
The Disney races have their employees out there. Needless to say, I could tell they were getting paid and I don’t think it was enough. People waving at you and saying you’re almost there at mile six isn’t helping me. I couldn’t read a lot of the signs that were made because it was night and the characters that were promised came once every two miles and had a queue with each. If you didn’t care about your finish time, by all means, stop and take a pic with Captain Hook or Jafar or whomever. I was underwhelmed by the characters, but I do realise it is a Halloween race. If you’re not a fan of the bad guys (pronounced bad giys), then this might not be a great place to showcase character interaction.
BLING
Let’s face it, we all want a trophy. We all want something that says we’re fancy.
The first medal I got was from the DC race, then three at VA Beach and one more this past weekend. I stand to accumulate a whole slew more, but training is key. On the ride to the airport (on the Disney Magical Express, which is not so much magical as slow and free), they had a short feature on creating medals.
The weight of each medal is pretty impressive and displaying them on your wall, or wherever, is pretty snazzy. I am going to have a larger wardrobe of exercise shirts as well. So far, I think I like the Tower of Terror shirt the best. It has orange in it and is an interesting Buccaneers grey (Tampa football).
ANSWERS
I don’t have answers, the header lied. I have signed up for a lot of races, all Disney, through the next year. For me, I wanted to try something, and I’m a bit of a completion-ist. What I failed to verify is if you get any extra bling for doing all the Disney races in one calendar year. They award a coast-to-coast medal for doing a race in both Disney World and Disney Land in one calendar year, but so far, that’s all I’ve found. Whereas Rock and Roll has a Heavy Medal section of their site. Do two races, get an extra medal, and so it goes, up to eight, skips nine for some reason, and then ten, which is one big honking medal.
For me, I’ve signed up for races, I’m going. But, I may want to do one year of straight-up Disney, then one year of straight-up Rock and Roll. That might be a better assessment of who really is ‘better,’ if there is such a thing. One thing that might be getting lost in my ramble, and boy what a ramble (!), is that you’re supposed to be enjoying yourself, having fun, competing against yourself and all that jazz. When I did my race this past weekend, I wasn’t paying attention to the people around me (save for the extra-large that kept passing me in her walk-sprint-walk and it was starting to get annoying), I was trying to shuffle my little Hina legs and keep moving. The key is, it is an accomplishment, despite anything your mother (or mine) might say. Running a race doesn’t make you a failure, though I won’t go so far to say you’re a winner either. You committed to something and saw it through. Hats off, until the next race.
Currently signed up for the following races:
-Avengers Half Marathon November 14-16
-Walt Disney World Marathon Dopey Challenge January 7-11
-Star Wars Half Marathon Rebel Challenge January 15-18
-Disney Princess Half Marathon Glass Slipper Challenge February 19-22
-Tinker Bell Half Marathon Pixie Dust Challenge May 7-10
No comments:
Post a Comment