We got to Disney's Hollywood Studios in plenty of time to see our mutual friends who had also been selected to be part of the meet-up. It was my first time meeting a couple of them in real life, but I felt like we'd known each other forever. The RunDisney staff gave us some fabulous Champion t-shirts with their logos and instructed us to wear them for the run. (There goes my carefully thought-out clothing choice!) But it's a great shirt and I thought it looked flattering on everyone, so no complaints.
Jeff Galloway led us on a 1.5-mile run through the Studios. (I found a brief video clip here: http://t.co/3lt342Pt) We used his usual 30-second run/30-second walk ratio. I normally use a 3-minute run/1-minute walk, but his shorter intervals kept us going at a decent clip that was actually faster than my usual half marathon pace. I might have to try this on race day sometime. I managed to run next to Mr. Galloway (can I call him Jeff?) for a bit and ask one of the questions that had been plaguing my group for a while. The answer, straight from the expert, is that we don't need to worry about our heart rate dropping during the walk breaks. Good, because I usually let mine get as close to my resting heart rate as possible.
It was so much fun to have the park to ourselves -- and to get to run in the parks, something that is usually forbidden when it's not race day. I snapped a picture of one of the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show cars as we went past. At first I thought they were performing just for us (ego much?), but then I realized this was probably just their usual rehearsal time.
Jeff Galloway started the discussion session and opened the floor for Q&A after. I was able to ask what one of my injured runners should do to get back on track, and I knew he wouldn't be happy with the answer: start from the beginning of the Getting Started program and work up to previous mileage gradually. No runner wants to hear that, even if it is sound advice.
Tony Horton spoke next. I am quite terrified of the P90X program, but the man seemed to be quite likeable when he wasn't making people exercise. He said something about distance running and enduring pain for a long time, but his program was more about "short-burst pain." All I could think was that I didn't want any kind of pain, even if it was only short bursts of it. He also talked about snack choices and the number of ingredients in a bag of Doritos versus a bowl of grapes. Food for thought.
I never watch reality TV, so I had low expectations for Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca. I had a vague notion he had undergone cancer treatment, but his story of how he would watch runners from his hospital room was quite moving. And Jenna had the best line of the day. When talking about dietary slip-ups, she said to think of them like old boyfriends; they're in the past, just move on. It cracked me up.
We next heard from show director John Phelan, and then the star of the show came out: none other than Mickey Mouse -- in track gear, complete with reflective accents. My friends and I were able to get a group shot with him:
I started to worry about time at this point. My children were participating in the Kids' Races at the ESPN Wide World of Sports, and I wasn't quite sure how to get there. Luckily one of the photographers came to my rescue. He was heading over to the Expo and didn't mind a hitchhiker. We got to the Milk House, I picked up my packet, took my proof of time to Runner Relations to move up to a slightly higher corral, and went to find my family.
