The Fickleness of a Long-Distance Runner

By now, dear readers, you may have heard the news. Ross has (understandably) bowed out of the early winter 2012 marathon agenda to focus on school and not going bankrupt. These seem like good reasons.

As for the marathoning, that leaves me and Gordon going a deux, which is fine, if not a little sad. The good news is that Oliver has expressed an interest in running Disney. Just like that, one friend is swapped for another. How fickle.

Now, I know what you're saying. Sam, every time you bring up that big fat bag of shit getting back in shape, it's like watching Lucy pluck the football away from Charlie Brown's earnestly swung leg. Yeah, yeah. But this time it's different, you see. This time, Dear Uncle Walt is involved, and we all know that Oliver can't say no to him. Sure, the question still remains as to whether it's Oliver or myself living in the Land of Make-Believe, but we'll know soon enough--once we get something nailed down with registration.

Disney is probably somewhere in the low double digits when it comes my ranked preferences among the early winter marathons. But, hey, who am I to complain if Gordon took the time to Google a JPEG of Mickey Mouse and post it on the blog? I am game for anything as long as I can complete my dream of dominating the Made-Up Upstate Mile Series (Wilber-Duck, Ithaca Festival, Charlie McMullen, East End) in 2012. Running Disney in January gives me time to do that, so game on.

The Disney Proposal

While we hash out the details surrounding the next marathon, I'd like to throw a few considerations out there regarding Disney. Some are pro and some are con.

#1 - I have not been to a Disney resort since I was one year old and got stung by a colony of red ants.

#2 - The last time I had the opportunity to go to Disney was in California when Oliver, Gordon, and Mongeon went. I opted instead to take a nap and pocket what was left of my meal money. I ended up investing that money in Netflix stock, which eventually paid for the down payment on my house. Was it a good decision? The jury is still out. They did seem to have a lot of fun.

#3 - By my cursory count, Disney is 22 weeks from Gordon's wedding. This actually seems to be a pretty good time frame since I don't want to think about marathon training before then, but I want to make sure that it works for the soon-to-be Honeymooners. Natalie and I ran most days on our Honeymoon if I remember right, but I can't really remember the runs. It'll probably be harder if Molly insists on you feeding her grapes all day.

#4 - The race starts at 5:40 am on a Sunday. Do we go down on Thursday, get a park park-hopper pass on Friday, and then chill out Saturday/hit the less physically demanding stuff? Will it be crazy busy if we do it this way? One backdoor option to consider would be to go down on a Saturday, relax, race Sunday, and then hit the rides early in the week. The obvious problem with this plan is our physical condition. I'm pretty sure I will cramp up if I have to make any sort of muscle contraction post-race. History tends to repeat itself.

#5 -Cost for a base pass (one park) is $80, and a park-hopper pass is $133. The race costs $135. When you add lodging, airfare, and food, we're probably looking at $750 pp easy. I'm thinking Disney will be about twice what any other East Coast marathon might cost, but this is just a guess.

#6 - Would a Disney trip lure anyone else into coming over other winter marathons?

#7 - Disney's course looks really challenging. http://as1.wdpromedia.com/media/ewwos/pdf/rundisney/2012WDWMarathonMap.pdf

#8 - #7 was a joke. Here's the real elevation profile: http://www.marathonguide.com/coursemaps/elevationchart.cfm?MIDD=481100110