I Can Feel It...

It's been 5 months now...

After the Goofy Challenge I played nice and went to the Doctor to finally solve the knee problem that has been nagging me for almost 2 years now. He told me to get an MRI. Another one. Why do they have to be so expensive?! I kept putting it off "until I could afford it".

I have not run since.

Meanwhile, I have felt the deterioration of everything I have worked for in the last 4 years. Endurance, cardio and lung capacity... Weight has started to creep back up. Clothes feel tighter... and all the while my knee feels just as screwed up as it did in January.

So this is definitely not one of those "rest and let it heal" injuries. If I remain standing up too long, it hurts. If I run in anything but "The Beasties" it hurts. If I run in "The Beasties" it hurts somewhat less but it still bothers me. Last week I finally tried running again. I barely made it a mile before I called it quits. 

This blog has never been about quitting. I always look at the positive angle, even in moments like this. If I sound a bit depressed, it's because I can't run like I want to run. I want to run. 5 years ago I would have laughed in your face if you told me I was depressed because I was sitting on a couch not doing anything. Yes. I'm complaining about not being able to run. How times change... and while I can't say that I'm in a good place right now, the fact that my "issues" have to do me wanting to lead a more active lifestyle then I can't help but think that's a good thing.

If I were happy or content with my current situation, that would be sad. That would be very sad.

So I'm gonna continue to try running. I'm also gonna try some cycling and cross-training to see how that feels. While some might think it unwise to run injured, I think it's important that I do run, even if it is at a lesser capacity than before. If I'm to get that MRI (and I am gonna do it, I promise) then it might as well show the full extent of what's wrong and that's not gonna happen sitting around the house. 

I'm also gonna be reviewing a product I've had my eye on for a while and now seems to be the perfect time to try it and report it to you guys.

So while The Fat Runner has been down for some time, he is most definitely not out and if he is gonna be down, then he is gonna go down fighting.

Magical Miles: The Runner's Guide to Walt Disney World 2016 Giveaway!

Back when I decided to run the 2014 WDW Marathon, I had so many questions about what to do and how and when to do it. I remember looking at the runDisney site and thinking that this race was truly different from others so planning for it was going to be different as well. When should I register with such high demand? Should I stay on site or off? What's the pick-up process like? What time to get up? Are the Challenges worth the money? What about all those extras that they offer? Are they worth it? That is just the very tip of the iceberg regarding the questions I had.

Thankfully, I met many friends through this blog who pointed me in the right direction. For example Team Run Disney, which I have talked about here before. A group of great people that are Disney fans and can (and will) help you answering the questions you may have and supporting you every step of the way. If you think this Run Disney "thing" is something you will be doing, I highly recommend you join them on Facebook.

The other resource I found extremely helpful was the book we are talking about today, Magical Miles: The Runner's Guide to Walt Disney World, written by Megan Biller and with contributions by Krista Albrecht. I bought a copy of this book back in 2013 and I can say without hesitation that running shoes aside, this is the most important investment I made for Marathon Weekend.

I'm gonna try really hard to not sound like I was paid to say this (and I wasn't by the way, this is my honest opinion) but objectively, there is no other guide like this one out there and it covers every possible question you could ever conceive regarding any of the races held at Disney World or Disneyland (and Paris is coming in the near future I hear...) Accommodations (both on-site and off), meals, where to eat (runner focused), registration, what to bring, what happens on race day, what happens if you can't make it... it's all covered in an easy to understand way. It is also a great reference. If you are totally new to the world of Run Disney, you can pick up this book and read it cover to cover or if you have a little more experience or simply want some information on a particular matter, you can jump straight to that section with no problem.

Without going into the details -I would rather you get those straight from Megan and Krista- I will tell you the two things that I appreciate the most from this guide:

1. It is truly objective. This is not an "Official" Disney guide and the research for this book was done by going to these races and paying for them just like anybody else. When they give you the rundown on why something is worth it for you or not, it's because they tried it and are giving you first hand knowledge. Megan in fact is a Dopey Challenge finisher along with her many, many other pieces of Disney bling.

2. They work hard. Every year. Back when I bought my first copy, there was no Dopey Challenge. No Star Wars or Avengers Half Marathon. Therefore the guide didn't include it. Well, now it does. As Run Disney continues to grow, so does the guide. You can bet that if you get the most recent edition, you will have the most up to date information (at the time of publishing) in your hands. 

So there you have it. A complete guide to the oftentimes crazy world of RunDisney written by runners who are Disney fans. What else could you ask for?

Oh, you could ask for more huh? What, you want it free? You do? Well ask and you shall receive!

To celebrate my return to Marathon Weekend in January and to pay it forward since this guide helped me so much, I'm hoping it can help others I'm going to give away two copies of this guide's latest edition (2016). All you gotta do is this:

1. Leave a comment here. Come on, don't be shy. You can just let me know how bad you want this book or say hi but leave a comment

2. Follow this link to enter: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/7ece1ae025102dd4  

3. Once there it will ask you to follow me on Twitter so if you have not already done so...

And that's it! Easy. The entry deadline is December 7th so an entire week but don't wait. Enter and win. If you don't win, I still recommend this book so head on over to Amazon.com and grab a copy. All your questions will be answered. At least those regarding runDisney.

Silence... and a giveaway!

Sorry...

I know I've been out of it for bit but I can't seem to help it. It's the way it has been with me forever. When things get tough, I go quiet. This of course, is kind of stupid since the whole point of a blog is to share, especially the tough times, so that people can avoid the pitfalls and offer support where needed but, that is just the way the cookie crumbled and here we are.

First, there's the knee... again. There are no two ways about it. After Goofy, I'm gonna have to stop running, get it checked out and dealt with in some way or another. it is not gonna go away on it's own. I have wasted too much time giving it time "to rest" with no results whatsoever. In fact, I seem to get better when I'm running regularly. Something I have realized way too late and now I'm a bit behind on my training plan. I'm slowly catching up but it's gonna be close. No doubt about it. Do not worry though. I'm not harboring any thoughts of regular running as a recipe to get better. There is definitely something wrong and it will be taken care of... just not right now. If I ever intend to do a triathlon (a boat I missed again this year thanks to the knee) this will have to be solved for sure. Half-Ironman for my 40th birthday? We will see...

Secondly, there were a bunch of personal problems. This was the part that sent me into blogging hibernation. They were dealt with but I was sure going around depressed for a while there. At this point in my life, there are very few things that will push my buttons to the point of depression but oh boy, were they pushed. It happens. Not often but it happens.

Through it all, I ran. Maybe not with the same passion or determination and I surely missed a few here and there but I ran. Like so many times before I realized that running has become an important part of my life and that running actually helps deal with all the hard stuff. Even if it hurts -and it hurts- it is better than not running at all.

Ok, enough with the sad talk! Next week, as part of celebrating my return to Disney Marathon Weekend and (hopefully) tackling the Goofy Challenge I will be giving away... something. I'm not saying what it is yet but, it is something that helped me a great deal on my first marathon, especially in preparing for it and now I want to give the chance to a couple of people of having that same opportunity. So tell your friends, be on the lookout and get ready. The Fat Runner is going to do his first giveaway next week!

Because now it's getting serious

The Goofy Challenge is now 2 months away. Might as well be 2 seconds from now with the speed that time is ticking. While training has been pretty good, I can't say I'm totally happy about it. I have been plenty busy these past few months so keeping consistency has been difficult. Thankfully this is not the same guy that was training for his first marathon 2 years ago. I wouldn't dare call myself an "old pro" but it is definitely a wiser runner taking the road these days so I take things as they come in stride (pun intended). Like for example:

I'm having knee issues. Again.

Actually, It's the same issues as before. They never really went away but they had certainly subsided. It's funny because right around this time last year I was forced to visit a doctor and get an MRI and all that and here we are again.

3 weeks ago I went out for a long run and had no trouble whatsoever during it. The next morning though... ouch. I had to suspend the second long run scheduled for that day. It took a couple of days for the pain to go away but it did. When I tried to run the next time, I essentially limped for the first 10 minutes or so as the pain went away enough to run "normally". A painful start before everything kind of falls into place and goes away. I was starting to get worried but whatever happened seemed to work itself out. The knee still bothers me. It always does. But now it's back to "normal" levels of discomfort.

While it's not what I had planned, training for this challenge will happen without any speed work and at a much slower pace than anticipated. There will be a tempo run here and there sure, but I can't risk speeding up to the point where I make the knee worse. I have a pace, slow as it is, and I have to live with that so don't expect any PR's for the time being.

It has become pretty apparent that the knee "thing" is not gonna go away on its own and if I intend to keep on running over the long term (and I fully intend to by the way) I'm gonna have to stop, do something about it, recover and continue. What that "something" will be remains to be seen. Sorry if this post is a little "gloom and doom" but I guess that's the whole point of things like this. You show the good and not so good and yes, sometimes the bad but...

In other news: I hope you all got to see the latest trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens because it is the most awesome thing in the universe. I was pretty excited already but now... forget about it!

So I'm just gonna drop this right here...

Kamikaze WDW - Disney's Hollywood Studios

Here's parts I and II of this trip just in case you want to catch up.

Here's another interesting tidbit from our trip (read the previous post for the first): I've been to Orlando to visit the parks countless times. Of all those times I have been here as "the head of the family" with my daughters three times. Three times and we have visited the same two parks every time. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. There's a demographics lesson for you. Know your audience folks. Princesses and Disney Junior is where it's at. Hopefully, I'll be able to remedy the fact that my daughters have yet to visit Epcot and Animal Kingdom at some point in the future but for now, we came here for the Frozen Summer of Fun so here we are!

The day started... late. Everyone was pretty tired the night before and I told Mayline to allow the girls to sleep as much as possible so they could rest. These girls... at 5:30am they are usually up and about whether tired or not so I figured that with their level of exhaustion they would sleep all the way to maybe 7:30am but they went past that. Probably for the first time in their lives. After a record-breaking dressing and combing session we swallowed some breakfast and headed for DHS.

We literally walked through the gate to catch the start of the Frozen Royal Welcome parade. The main objective of this day was simple: Catch all the Frozen-related activities happening in the park. So, while late, we were off to a good start. Disney, being well... Disney, made sure to create the proper ambiance for the parade by making it snow along the parade route. You don't see that everyday. Especially during a hot, Florida, summer day.

So that got the girls amped up and after hearing Let It Go for the first time of many this day we headed over to the Animation Courtyard for some character time with some of the girl's big favorites.

This part of the day was Angelica's show by the way. "The Kraken" ran all over the Animation Courtyard leading the way to the characters she wanted pics with, which were all of them. At one point, we saw the line for Doc McStuffins to be shorter than the one for Sophia the First  so we switched. She went ballistic. I would've never guessed that this would be her reaction to the characters. Worst case scenario: she would be afraid. Best case? She would "tolerate" getting her pic taken with them. She ended up the bravest of the three. That's kids for you.

Next off was Olaf's Summer Cooldown over at the Main Stage. Here I made my best Queen Elsa impression.

And here is a tiny Cast Member for your viewing pleasure.

So Elsa can conjure snow flakes. So what? I can conjure cast members... apparently. Olaf's Summer Cooldown is essentially a dance-along and it was pretty fun. We did the Twist, threw around some beach balls and of course endured a rendition of Olaf's Ode to Summer. The streaming jets of cold mist at the end were extremely welcome. It was a pretty hot and humid day. 

I was a bit disappointed by Disney Jr. Live on Stage. Whether because of changes or technical issues, some of the effects on the show were missing and I think it took away from the experience. That didn't stop the girls from enjoying it of course but my gut feeling is that next time we come here, we'll be skipping this one unless they update it with something like Miles from Tomorrowland which is big at my house. Kids grow up. It happens.

Lunch was at Pizza Planet. I was warned that this place looks nothing like it does in the Toy Story films but the girls insisted and I obliged. I tried the Meat Lover's pizza. Nothing to write home about but you know, it's pizza. Can it ever be bad?

From there we did our first round of Star Tours. I say first round because the girls LOVED it so much that we went again later in the day. After all the girly stuff, after all the Princess stuff, after all the Frozen stuff... they are my daughters after all. I was so proud. Of course, that lasted all of 15 seconds. We went straight from Star Tours to the Frozen Sing-along.

This is the "main attraction" if you will, to the whole Frozen Summer of Fun. It is done in the stage where American Idol used to be. Here's the short version: Princess Anna summons Arandelle's official historians to tell the extremely truncated version of the events in the film. Think of the film, take out everything except the songs and you're there. Of course everyone is encouraged to sing along. Do I have to tell you that my girls enjoyed this attraction? Anna and Elsa can pop up a million times and it will never get old for them. Plus, they got to sing their tiny lungs out. My favorite part? When one of the historians mistook Kristoff for Justin Beiber. 

Then came the highlight of the day for me. My friend and coach extraordinaire Katrina Pilkington and her husband Gary drove from Tampa (she'll soon be moving to Las Vegas) to meet us at the park. It was absolutely amazing to finally meet someone who has inspired and motivated me so much in person. As much as I loved meeting you Kat, hopefully you'll get to see less of me next time we meet. Wink wink. By the way, Mayline thought you were taller. That's what happens when you have a bigger than life personality.

Mini-Coach Summit

Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania were waiting for us and we knew from previous experience this was a favorite for the girls. The best part here was when they all decided they had beaten my score by combining everyone else's so I guess I was the loser.

Which brings me to another attraction I was sad to see not working properly. Voyage of The Little Mermaid was missing all of the water effects. Again, maybe it was just broken but this and Disney Jr. Live on Stage were reminders that DHS is a park in a state of transition. There are big things coming here and the Frozen stuff is basically masking all that has been closed. Hollywood Studios has always been one of my favorite parks and I can't wait to see it 100% functional again.

We also ran into Minnie Mouse all dressed up for beach summer fun and dancing the afternoon away! Veronica and Maria did not want to dance with her for some reason but guess who was total game for this? Oh yeah. Time to "release The Kraken!"

This brings us to the low point of the day which I know sounds bad. It wasn't too bad I guess but sometimes, especially with kids, the only way to know you're gonna get burned is to put your finger in the fire.

Oh, the two oldest were gonna scream for real in a bit

The two older girls wanted to ride The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I was hesitant but they insisted. I explained what the ride was and how it worked. As we walked up to it I pointed at the fact that people were screaming inside the building. They bravely kept walking. A part of me thought: "well, they loved the Mine Train and they went crazy for Star Tours so maybe this was not gonna be so bad." Well, that part of me was wrong. As soon as the ride was over, Maria was trembling in terror (how fitting) and Veronica was outright crying. It took a lot of soothing to calm them down. Yeah, they're not gonna be riding this one anytime soon. To this day, The Tower of Terror is a touchy subject around our house, so don't bring it up. Me? Some of you may know that Tower of Terror is programmed to act differently every time and this particular turn was my favorite ever. It was the first time I felt truly weightless while riding it. Which is probably what scared the girls more than anything.

We are in the last row. The very last girl on the left, screaming and crying and laughing nervously is Veronica, then my Mom looking amused at her reaction followed by Maria, holding on for dear life. Quite the scene.

Fearing some permanent damage, we quickly went back to Star Tours for some badly needed happy memories. Did I mention how happy it makes me that they love this ride so much? 

After that we had dinner at ABC Commissary where everyone had Cheeseburgers except me, who was feeling adventurous and tried the steak. It needed a bit of salt but otherwise it was pretty good. ABC Commissary actually has a pretty decent and varied menu. I have tried different dishes here over the years and have always been happy. Definitely recommend this one if you are looking for Quick Service option in DHS. Quick side note: For the sake of order and peace, I sat everyone down and went to order by myself. The order was too big for me to handle and just when I resigned myself to doing two trips, the Cast 
Member who gave me the food happily offered to help me carry the trays to our table even though it was not his job. This is a Quick Service restaurant after all but that's Cast Members for you.

It was during dinner that it started to rain. Really hard. Thunder, lightning... it was pretty bad. it was at this time that I started fearing that we were gonna miss Fantasmic! and the Frozen Fireworks Show. Or rather, that it was not gonna happen at all. And basically, that's how our day ended. After a couple of hours of waiting it became evident that the rain and lightning was not gonna let up and my brother reluctantly went out in the rain and bought some ponchos, which did almost nothing because it was raining so hard and we ran to the buses and eventually our room. 

And so it was over. We almost got to do everything we set out to do. We missed Fantasmic! and the Frozen Fireworks although it was not our fault and we didn't get to see Frozen Fever which was no biggie as we had seen it when we saw Cinderella at the Theater. Everything else we had set out to do in this Kamikaze trip to Disney World, we accomplished. Oh yeah, I would have loved to catch Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular one more time since it's scheduled to close but that was a personal thing so it was never part of the official schedule. No joke, it took me about a week and a half to get rid of the felling of exhaustion after we returned home. It was just so crazy but looking back I wouldn't have done it differently. We made some wonderful memories on this trip and the girls... The girls are still talking about it weeks later. Sometimes, I'll be driving them to school and they'll ask me if we can talk about the trip. Tower of Terror and all. 

Yup, I'd say it was worth it for sure.

Kamikaze WDW - The Magic Kingdom

There's a logic to the madness. You can read part I and part II of this story to know what's going on.

We made it out of Puerto Rico by beating a tropical storm, got to Orlando and managed to settle into our hotel room. Now, it was time to get down to business. After a not-so-good-night's sleep (the girls were still on an adrenaline rush from it all) we woke up on Friday and had a good, strong breakfast to get ready for the day ahead. When we exited the hotel to wait for a bus to the Magic Kingdom we were pleasantly surprised to find one already waiting for us. So, on to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Here is an interesting fact about our day at The Magic Kingdom: We spent the entire day, from morning until the fireworks show that night, in Fantasyland. Yes, the entire day. Not only that, we didn't get to do everything there was to do there, including PhilharMagic and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh among others. I have to admit, I wasn't too sad to miss It's a Small World.

So, what did we do? Well, after the requisite pictures at the entrance and the oohs and aahs of walking towards the castle, (which never gets old by the way. Plus it was my youngest daughter's first time in Disney) we headed straight for Fairytale Garden to meet Angelica's favorite princess: Merida!

Let me tell you guys, this moment made all the planning, hassle and worrying worth it. When Angelica saw Merida, the look on her face... Merida started talking to her but Angelica was completely stricken in awe. Then she started to touch her hair. It's as if she was saying "You are real! Look at your hair!" Of course, I was too busy enjoying the moment to do stuff like, you know, take pictures. Thankfully, Disney came to the rescue here. I paid to include Memory Maker in my vacation package so they took care of that for me. My wife also lapsed out of her own personal coma to take some pics of the girls afterwards trying out the bow and arrow. They loved it! 20 minutes into the trip and it had already payed for itself. Everything from here on was pure profit.

And folks, we did some stuff. From Merida we went to the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, the Carousel and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I was a bit concerned that the girls were gonna find it too scary but they absolutely loved it. Angelica stayed with Grandma for that one though. Not tall enough.

On Dumbo my wife took this picture which I thought was priceless. Can you see why? My wife was calling Angelica and this was the result.

From there we made a short stop by Rapunzel's tower for something I had promised the girls we'd do...

Everyone around thought it was pretty cute. We even got some applause! Veronica actually wanted to wait to see if she would come out. I promised we would meet her later.

By then, it was time to head over to The Crystal Palace for our reservations with Winnie the Pooh.

Here, things got a little weird. Veronica, who is usually fearless, did not want her picture taken with any of the characters here. I don't know why. Not a Winnie the Pooh fan it seems.

The Festival of Fantasy Parade was next. I tell you, these girls simply can't get enough of the princesses. They cheered for every single one they saw in the parade. Thankfully we were saving the best part for later.

After the parade, we could tell the girls were exhausted. It wasn't part of the plan but we felt it best to head over to the hotel, have them sleep a couple of hours, then regroup and return to finish what was left on our schedule. Frankly, I don't think we were gonna be able to go through such a long day without a break. 

So they slept, then they overslept. It was raining so there was no point in waking them up so I waited until it passed to do so. I was forced to rearrange some fast passes and we ended up missing the one we had for Cinderella and Rapunzel but since the girls were able to rest, we managed to get all we wanted to do even with the extra lines. Besides, this was the most important part of the visit: Meeting the Princesses.

After we got back in the park, we first met Anna and Elsa. My own little Anna (Veronica) and Elsa (Maria Rosa) were speechless. I enjoyed seeing their faces as the sisters from Frozen took the time to talk to them. Not that my girls said much. They just pretty much nodded at everything they were told. The look on their faces say it best I think.

Cinderella and Rapunzel were pretty much the same experience in that my girls were just in awe. These are the "regular" princesses after all. By that I mean that when they are not playing Frozen, Maria says she is Rapunzel and Veronica says she is Cinderella. We were really lucky and happy that these two were together in the same experience. Veronica managed to tell Cinderella about how much she loves her shoes. Even at the Princess level, girls talk about shoes it seems.

 I should point out, that Angelica became a total character groupie! We literally had to restrain her from running over to the characters and giving them hugs while it was some other person's turn. She might have ruined a couple of pictures... I would grab her hand and explain we had to wait in line and she would cry and give me this face like "But Rapunzel is right there! Why do we have to wait?! I mean she is right within my reach Dad! I don't get it." Such is life. When our turn would come up, my brother would joke that it was time "to release the Kraken".  She was sneaky too. She would wait until just the right moment to escape my grasp.

From there we went to Enchanted Tales with Belle, where my oldest got to play the part of Maurice, Belle's father. I wouldn't mind more character experiences like this one. It was interactive, the kids loved it and you get to take pictures. It was one of my favorite moments on this trip.

 

Then, we rode on Journey of the Little Mermaid which is a classic "Dark Ride" It's so full of color and so many things going on. Everyone loved this one. I forgot to take any pics here though...

Finally, we missed Celebrate the Magic. The show where they project all sorts of stuff on the Castle from different Disney films. It started just as we were exiting the Little Mermaid ride and were taking a restroom break. We were just caught out of position I guess. The projection can only be seen from the front and Journey of the Little Mermaid is behind it. So while that was happening we made our way to a better spot so we could watch Wishes.

If Wishes causes the jaws in adults to unhinge, what do you think the effect is on a child?  Plus Tinkerbell "flew" right over us! This is one of those "moments" that parents live for. Veronica kept looking back at me like "Is this really happening?" I did not want it to end. Sadly, it did.

Of course, after that "moment" was over my body quickly reminded that we were on the tail end of a very, very long day and while the girls had been able to sleep during the afternoon, I hadn't. My feet were destroyed. In fact, I they hadn't hurt this much since running the marathon. The walk back to the room was painful. I was actually concerned I would have trouble getting up the next morning. I was exhausted. But the memories... no amount of pain will take those away.

Am I Absolutely Insane?

I need someone to confirm this. Please.

Like I don't have enough on my plate. Training for the Goofy Challenge, trying to make cross-training an ongoing part of my routine, becoming a Beachbody Coach, trying to adjust after a huge promotion at work and planning a cruise for next year, you could say I have plenty to worry about. But, when the flesh is weak and the will is strong there is always something else you can add to the stack.

My cousin just came back from this huge trip. She traveled to New Orleans for a volleyball tournament her daughter was participating in. Of course they did the whole tourist thing as well and had their share of Gumbo and Beignets. Then they drove from New Orleans to Orlando and visited some parks. Because really, if you are in Orlando, can you really not go visit a theme park of some sort? 

Anyway, of all the stuff they did, she simply could not shut up about their visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I found this weird at first. DHS is undergoing major changes and many attractions are closed. Not to mention that the Sorcerer's Hat is no more. Aside from Star Wars and Toy Story Mania, it could easily be skipped right? Well, no. Not if you are a Frozen fan...

You can see where I'm going with this.

Disney -ever the efficient revenue creator it has always been- has turned what could be a negative (empty, half-operating park) into a positive. Until September 7, 2015 DHS will be celebrating the Frozen Summer of Fun. Without going into the details, it will be everything Frozen. Frozen sing-along, Frozen Royal Welcome, Frozen parade, Olaf's Summer Cooldown, Frozen Fireworks... Frozen, Frozen, Frozen.

"All I kept thinking about was how much fun your girls would have there." she kept telling me over and over. You see, she has three girls as well but they are a bit older and while they had plenty of fun, they seemed to have just missed the Frozen bandwagon so it wasn't such a big deal for them. My girls on the other hand, have Frozen in the head. I think I have established that pretty soundly this past year.  In fact I could use a little Frozen break, really. But, as you parents out there already know, it is rarely about you.

Yeah, this whole Frozen fever is getting really old but my girls love it. Plans started to pop in my head. Ambitious plans. Expensive plans...

I needed someone to talk me out of the ledge. My Dad shows up right at that very moment. (serendipity?) I explain my situation and crazy ideas popping in my head. Surely cooler heads will prevail. He'll think it's crazy, talk some sense into me, end of story. Instead, he pushes me over the edge then jumps himself. Funny thing is my Mom (who also schemed in favor of this by the way) later told me "What the heck were you thinking asking him?" and she is right. I guess he just showed up at the wrong time and I just needed someone to talk to but I can see my mistake. I talked to him as my father and forgot that he is, for all intents and purposes, a GRANDFATHER. In fact we call him Iron Man sarcastically because when it comes to his granddaughters he breaks easily.

As luck would have it, my parents are gonna be staying at Disney's Pop Century Resort the last week of August because of a basketball tournament where my Dad will be coaching the Puerto Rico team. So, we are gonna fly that final weekend on Friday morning, spend Friday and Saturday there, then leave on Sunday. All this to immerse ourselves in Frozen Summer Fun. It's insane.

How did it come to this? There really is no justification but here was my line of reasoning, if you can call it that: We are not gonna be doing a full-on Disney Parks vacation anytime soon. Frozen Summer of Fun is a temporary thing. They did it last year and repeated it this year. Will they do it again? I don't know. As they ramp up work on the massive transformation that will turn DHS into Disney's Hollywood Adventure and permanent Frozen attractions (like the Frozen ride in the Norway pavilion) open, Frozen Summer of Fun could very well be axed. Even if it survives another year, we won't be able to go next year as we have another trip planned. If I wanted to take them to see this, it had to be now or never.

What sealed the deal for me though, was this: My girls will never be the age they are now again. Other films and fads will come and go but that sense of wonder, that sense of magic they have over Frozen and Disney and Princesses, that will eventually go away. Which also means you, as a parent get to enjoy that moment only once as well. Many people ask: "Why take a small child to Disney World? They probably won't remember it later." and they are probably right. But remember what I said at the beginning about parents and it rarely being about you? Well, this is the part that is about you. Getting to experience those thing through their eyes. You treasure those moments closely in your heart.

An Important Announcement

I admit I've been struggling a little bit about how to approach this post and in some moments I actually thought about not writing it at all. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I think it's important I talk about it for a bit just so you know where I'm at and since it is part of this fitness journey then why not?

As you may have read here lately, there have been some pretty big changes going on as I ramp up my efforts on my way to the Goofy Challenge. Nutrition, diet, even the entire family approach to how we deal with health and everyday life has changed and so far it has been a very positive experience for which I'm very happy, especially having my wife on board working out and eating better. One of those changes is cross-training and P90X3 which has kicked my butt in a million, albeit good ways. The effects of that have also been very positive, even if I have been sore most of the time for the past 4 weeks or so. People at work and friends are starting to notice the changes.

Which is why, I decided to become a Beachbody Coach.

Beachbody is the parent company that makes P90X3, plus many other workout videos and they have a business opportunity where you can sell their products and earn a commission for it. Coaches also give support to the people who buy the products through them at no extra cost to keep them accountable and increasing their chances of finishing their program and stick to their workouts and nutrition, thus adding value. For me, the logic behind the decision to do this is: If people ask me what I'm doing and I tell them, and they end up buying a video or Shakeology because of it, is it a bad thing that I earn a commission? For something I was going to tell them anyway? Heck no!

This is not something I was planning to do but then people actually started asking "You look good. What are you doing?" so I felt I should look deeper into it and give it a try. After all, we have three girls to take care of and money doesn't grow on trees. Plus, I got running shoes to buy you know. I see bloggers promote and endorse products they believe in all the time and in my case, P90X3 has proven to be a game changer in my fitness journey so far. I feel this a logical next step.

However, I do want to make a few things clear and put your minds at ease.

What I won't be doing

The Fat Runner has been, and will always be about my running journey and sharing it so that maybe it can help others. That is not going to change. I will not be pushing products on this blog or trying to convince anyone to buy them. 

I will also not pester anyone I have met through this blog to buy them either so friends and readers, rest assured I have not turned into a greasy car salesman and you can continue reading knowing that this place will remain what it always has been.

What I will be doing

You will see banner ads that lead to my personal Beachbody coach page on this blog. There were ads there before so the only difference is, you will see more Beachbody ones than the others. Hopefully, it will prove to be more profitable than the 18 bucks Google says I have made so far with Ad Sense... (and I'm rounding up)

When I do a workout like P90X3, I will mention it like always so you know what I'm doing fitness-wise. It is part of my journey after all. It will not be to sell it to you. If I try a new workout from them, I will review it as I always have, both the bad and the good. Just like I do when I report on running gear, watches, my bike etc... I know that cross-training is an important topic for runners and we are always looking for both practical and functional options so my reviews will focus on how these workouts impact runners.

Plus, there are several videos I have my eye on that I would like to try out and as a coach, I get a discount so it's like... cool. Win-Win.

You will see on my social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram...) mentions and invites for Challenge Groups. This is the support part I was talking about earlier. I will be setting up these groups for people who want support and accountability while doing the workouts. A haven if you will, so they can share their experience and motivate each other. I can tell you that the support I have received from friends online has been an integral part of why I have made running a really important part of my life so being able to pay that forward is something that interests me very much. So, when you see me mention it on social media you will have a head's up and will know what I'm talking about.

Of course, I will not turn you away if you ask me about it and I have always been here to help. If you have always wondered about these videos or Shakeology or anything else I'm always more than happy to answer your questions and help out in any way I can. This blog has put me in contact with some pretty awesome people and opportunities so I'm always more than happy to repay in kind.

So that is pretty much it. 

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

P90X3 - My Initial Impression

It's pretty amazing how the body adapts to things. Human beings really are creatures of habit. There was a time, when running was as foreign to me as the Chinese language and yet here we are, several Half Marathons and a Full Marathon later, training for the Goofy Challenge next January. Oh, I still struggle  on runs and obviously there is still a long, long way to go in my running journey but that initial shock of starting something I had never done before is long gone. My body has certainly adapted and I'm a stronger person for it. And I have very nice calves.

But running, while not a total body workout, is a total body sport and one of the main problems runners suffer through is muscle imbalance. In other words, we have strong legs and weak upper bodies, which I mentioned in a previous post, causes poor running form and makes you get fatigued faster among other things. Which is why pretty much every running plan or program includes or recommends cross-training as part of your training. What exactly that training should be is mostly left up to you. I chose a set of workout videos called P90X3.

Source

I explained here about how I stumbled upon this particular instrument of torture and how Kat is helping me figuring out how to both run and do this program at the same time. Well, as I approach the end of my first week doing this thing here are some observations.

This is really tough
"En guerra avisada, no muere gente." Or so goes a famous saying here in Puerto Rico. It roughly translates to: "When the war is announced, nobody dies." I have never understood this saying but it's a way of saying that if you know what's coming, or if you signed up for it, you shouldn't be complaining. In that respect, there were no surprises. This thing is kicking my butt and showing me I have muscles in places I didn't know I had. And I should know because they all hurt. This program is no joke. The original P90X had hour long workouts and for this one Tony Horton (who created it) essentially condensed that into 30 minute workouts so you can finish faster. In fact, in the included guide, Tony recommends doing X3 first, then going to the original but that doesn't mean that one is harder than the other. My opinion on this is that they are factoring in that it will be easier for people to manage such a tough program in shorter time chunks and after you get hooked (hopefully by seeing the results it can get you) then you can try the longer workouts.

This is not P90X: The Short Version
I own the original and I can tell you P90X3 is not the same stuff rehashed. Because the original is longer, Tony takes the time to do other types of exercises and focuses more on weights. With X3, the exercises are more functional (at least, that's the word that come to mind) and in some ways complex. It's a jam-packed 30 minutes for sure and while I'm suffering a bit, I like it.

I suck
Not having done a lot of cross-training(read: none) over the last three years, I sure wasn't expecting to breeze through these workouts but wow! I'm in pretty bad shape. Sure, I can run 5 miles no problem but my upper body strength? Zero. Push-ups and pull-ups? Can't do them. And don't get me started on my core, which is so important to proper running. When it comes to abs, I make the Pillsbury Doughboy look like Ryan Gosling.

And then there's X3 Yoga...

I swear, I think Tony Horton made this video just so he could laugh watching me try to do it. As runner, I knew tight hamstrings was in the cards. In fact, when I saw the Orthopedist for my knee, he mentioned that it was so. But this... is downright comedic. And it's not just the hamstrings. I'm about as flexible as a medieval boarding school. Having said that, I also begrudgingly admit that this is the video  I will likely benefit from the most.

Of course, the beauty of this program lies in it's variety. The program is divided into three blocks separated by recovery weeks with different workouts for each so I'm merely skimming the surface here. There is a lot more to it than this. So I will let you know how it goes as always.

Major Kitchen Makeover

"You can't outrun a bad diet." I can't begin to tell you how many times I have heard that over the last three years.

Not only do I keep hearing it, but I live it on a daily basis. It's really simple: When I watch what I eat, I lose weight. When I don't, nothing happens or worse, I gain some back. No amount of running can save me from that fact. Nutrition has got to be on point.

A while back I wrote about a documentary I watched called Fed Up that really put things in perspective about the need to cut back on processed foods and especially unneeded sugars. My family was totally stuck in the "Buy fast food because I don't have enough money to go grocery shopping./I don't have money for groceries because I buy fast food all the time." circle of total viciousness. I wanted to do something about it. Especially now with the Goofy Challenge coming up.

So last week I told you about how I will begin cross-training and stuff. Well, my wife bravely said she will do P90X3 too. In fact, she already began doing them. Before me. I'll explain why in a bit. The thing is, with so much positive energy going around the house (and a tax return check arriving at just the right moment) we decided to just do it and last Saturday I left home and when I came back, the mini-van was filled to the brim with good, fresh, wholesome food. Fruits, veggies, lean beef, fish and poultry and mostly unprocessed stuff. It felt so good to see the fridge filled with the good stuff.

I also sat down with the wife and developed a plan on how we were gonna eat. Essentially three meals and two snacks per day. Thankfully, we are already experts at using MyFitnessPal so tracking all this will be pretty easy. Also, as the resident chef of the house, I have been looking for healthier recipes as well as developing some of my own. Some exciting times going on in our house. Keep in mind, we didn't buy any "diet" products. No "low-fat" or "light" anywhere to be seen. I also bought some protein powder for after our workouts.

More than anything else, our goal right now is to severely cut down on fast food. Weekends especially are really bad in our house. This week has been pretty stellar so far.

So last Monday, my wife began P90X3. Why not me? It seems my excitement got the better of me or something. I must have been jumping for joy while I was sleeping Sunday night because when I woke up Monday morning, I could hardly move my neck. It was really painful. I spent the next three days like that. I'm a lot better now. It still hurts a bit but now I can move my neck somewhat. Things happen for a reason though because during the week, Kat sent over my running/P90X3 hybrid schedule so now Monday I begin full on. The bad part will be that my wife will already be past the "soreness stage" and I won't be able to make fun of her any more just as I will be going through it myself. Not fair at all.