Disney Marathon Mementos & Running News

Over the years I've found different souvenirs to commemorate my Walt Disney World Marathons.  I try not to buy clothes as souvenirs as a general rule but have gotten some Disney gear now and then since the race shirt is pretty much a dust collector for me.  I rarely wear these garments solidifying in my mind the uselessness of garment keepsakes.

Here are my favorites:

Got this in 2008 to commemorate my first Goofy.  Wasn't a huge fan of it, but it was the one of the few things I could find with Goofy, Donald, and Mickey.

Can't remember if I got this in 2010 or 2011.  The race runs through all four parks so I had them personalize the ornament with "26.2."  I meant to use it as an ornament, but with the races in January the tree trimmings were in storage so it went on the shelf in the interim...  And stayed there.

 This year, I finally got the keepsake I had been eyeing for years:

I never quite knew what I wanted on this.  Did I want Goofy since that was the pinnacle race experience I completed.  Did I just want Mickey?  Did I want the whole gang to show the whole Goofy Challenge?  I saw this again this year and thought maybe I'd wait until my 10th anniversary to get one.  But then I was struck like lightening with exactly what I wanted to be written on this and went straight to an artist to put an order in.  I had my favorite Walt Disney quote which I think pertains well to long distance running ("It's kind of fun to do the impossible.")  put on the drawing as well as, "26.2 Magical Miles."  I told the artist, "No year.  I do the race too often for that."

I was having a conversation with the artist who drew my marathon Mickey.  I really wanted to ask him more about what he did, but he kept questioning me about the races and how many marathons I had completed.  While I was chatting with him a gentleman walked in who I learned walks 3 miles, five times a week in a Disney park.  Wouldn't that be a great thing to do when you're retired?  Mr. Disney Walker pretty much dominated the conversation after that with a lively debate about whether Disneyland or Disney World was the better location (interestingly, I felt World is superior but he prefers Land).  He proceeded to show me all the photos he had of Disneyland on his phone to prove his point.  The artist pretty much had to segue to an exit strategy for me (I guess Mr. Disney Walker is a bit of a talker) so I never got to ask him about his job as much as I wanted.

Ed, the artist, and Mr. Disney Walker.

I thought I'd just share some of the things I've brought home over the years to commemorate the races even though none of this stuff was for sale at the expo.

My return to running has been going okay.  I started adding mileage, days, and eventually speed work very conservatively.  I have to do as much damage control as running to keep my leg happy but it is work I am willing to do if it means I can run.  

I've been going to Bikram yoga 4x a week for a while now.  Not running as much I have the energy, time, and hydration reserves to do this.  I got totally burnt out on it after the marathon and didn't go in for almost two months.  I really wish I had as I think this whole injury would have been much better if I had been doing yoga back then.  My annual membership expired right around the time of the marathon and I couldn't bear to pay per class after the awesome rate I had gotten the year before.  I also didn't want to purchase another unlimited plan since the entire month of December was pretty shot yoga-wise with our honeymoon.  But I pump so much money into the chiropractor, massages, and PT and none of that does as much for me as yoga does.  Even if I had to pay per class it would be worthwhile.  Lesson learned.

I am actually really enjoying the yoga now and going 4x a week I am making progress in the poses which hadn't happened in a while previously.  I'll probably start dreading the heat and time commitment later but for now I'm going with it.

I unwisely penciled the half marathon training plan I had wanted to use into my calendar.  I'm trying to slowly bring myself up to following it more or less.  As of this week I am doing 50% of the workouts the way they are written and am not stressing too much about the other 50%.  I am still uncertain what will happen at my half in May which was supposed to be a goal race.  I am feeling pretty confident I can finish it and not be crippled at the end which is progress from a month ago.

Monday Mario

Mario is still not quite 100% but doing better.  I just finished his last round of antibiotics so I'm hoping once that clears his system he'll feel normal and eating and pooping will get back to normal.

Thank you, everyone, for your experiences with bunnies, teeth, and anesthesia.  Mario was put under when he was neutered but that was 9 years ago so I worry about him now.  I found a vet who prefers to do the dental work when the rabbit is not under general anesthesia.  He might have to go in for more procedures but I feel more comfortable with that than putting him under.  I have an appointment for this Friday so we'll see what she says.

All of my fixation on Mario's droppings this week reminded me of this:

Sick Day

Mario had a little bit of a health scare last week.  In retrospect he was a little off for a few days and when I finally realized that something must be truly amiss I was in a tizzy to get him in to the vet.  He was not eating as much as he normally does (though not off food by any means), his droppings were not normal, and he was less active than usual.  He was not even close to the condition he was in a little over a year ago but I did not want him sliding down the slope.

Waiting to see the vet in his snazzy carrier.

The vet had good news.  He had great gut sounds -- overactive, if anything -- and his temperature was normal.  I had thought that his tummy seemed bloated the night before but she reported that he wasn't full of gas like last time.  He was perhaps slightly dehydrated and has a dental and ear issue we'll need to address down the road.  Interestingly, the course of treatment for when he was full of gas and totally shut down was exactly the same as when his gut was working.  He's on an antibiotic and anti-gas medication.  I was supposed to force feed him Critical Care until his droppings are normal but I only did that one night because Mario just hates it so much and started eating more within a day.

Getting his fluids.  I passed the time playing Hay Day.  If you don't know what Hay Day is, back slowly away from the computer and let the productivity of your life thank me later.  If you do know what Hay Day is, find me and be my friend!

I was instructed to do sub-cutaneous fluids which I think is what really perked him up.  I've been hospitalized for dehydration and there is nothing like being connected to a bag of saline to bring happiness back into your life.  I was going to repeat the fluids again since he went into kidney failure the last time, but he underwent such a great turnaround that I let him get his fluids the natural way.

Mario still isn't 100% but he's enough himself that if today was an isolated day I wouldn't think anything of his slightly off poops or leftover pellets in the bowl.  Fingers crossed he keeps moving in that direction.

Does anyone have any experience with rabbits requiring dental work?  He needs some filing work, not an extraction, but it will require him to go under general anesthesia which I am very concerned about.  If your bunny has gone through this, I'd love to hear your experiences.