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Ep 3 - The truth about the Balloon Ladies
307 Plays1 year ago
This week, we’re tackling one of the most talked-about (and misunderstood) topics in the runDisney community... the Balloon Ladies! We're breaking down who they are, what they do, how to stay ahead of them and why you shouldn’t let them live rent-free in your head. Plus, we share our own experiences related to theBalloon Ladies — including some funny stories... one involving a porta potty, and the other a cast member with questionable intel — and as always, we'll wrap up with tips for building confidence in your race prep.
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode Three
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome to episode three and in this episode there might be a few hot takes because we're talking about the balloon ladies Hey everyone, we are Erica and AJ and the goal of this podcast is just to share some of the tips and tricks We've learned about rent Disney along the way with you so that hopefully you can have a good race
00:00:26
Speaker
That's right.
00:00:27
Speaker
Erica, where'd the name come from for this podcast?
00:00:29
Speaker
Because you said something one time and I was like, that's actually the name of the podcast, whether it makes sense to anyone else or not.
00:00:36
Speaker
So you want to share the story about where it came from and then we can dive into today's topic, which is the balloon ladies.
00:00:39
Speaker
But real quick, where'd the name of this whole thing come from?
00:00:42
Speaker
Because I think it actually helps...
Exploring Personal Running Styles and Origins
00:00:45
Speaker
in the topic.
00:00:46
Speaker
Yes.
00:00:46
Speaker
So one more run is what we named it.
00:00:48
Speaker
Where did that come from?
00:00:49
Speaker
Yes.
00:00:49
Speaker
So I do some form of run, walk, run.
00:00:53
Speaker
Um, and one of the times you were running and you were with me and I was like, I just have to do one more run.
00:00:59
Speaker
Like there's one more running segment in this training session that we're doing today.
00:01:05
Speaker
I just got to make it through one more run.
00:01:06
Speaker
You were done.
00:01:06
Speaker
If I remember right, like it was hot, it was all the things.
00:01:10
Speaker
And you knew that all you had to do was one more run.
00:01:13
Speaker
Yes.
00:01:14
Speaker
That was it.
00:01:14
Speaker
And I was like, Hey, that's a good name for the podcast.
00:01:17
Speaker
And then interestingly, it actually kind of applies, I guess sort of in a weird way to the different kinds of runners that we are.
00:01:23
Speaker
Right.
00:01:24
Speaker
Because that was a moment where, and that happens, I guess, right to you.
00:01:27
Speaker
A lot of times you're like, you're just like, I just got, I just got to do one more, you know?
00:01:31
Speaker
And I actually, because I enjoy the process of running, but I've never been injured.
00:01:35
Speaker
So knock on wood is like, I'm actually like, ah, maybe I can get one more run in this week.
00:01:40
Speaker
Right.
00:01:40
Speaker
It means totally different things to us.
00:01:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:42
Speaker
Or one more, you know, not one more run on this run.
00:01:45
Speaker
Like maybe I can get another five miler in today.
00:01:48
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:01:49
Speaker
Yes.
00:01:50
Speaker
And that just kind of represents who we are.
00:01:52
Speaker
And we have different corral placements and we have different just goals and different time goals and just different approaches to running.
00:02:00
Speaker
But we both love it.
00:02:01
Speaker
Yep.
00:02:01
Speaker
Right.
00:02:02
Speaker
And so the one more run means something different.
00:02:04
Speaker
And honestly, it means something different every day.
00:02:06
Speaker
Right.
Understanding the Concept of Balloon Ladies
00:02:07
Speaker
Right.
00:02:08
Speaker
But that's kind of where the name came from.
00:02:10
Speaker
And I kind of wanted to talk through that because like as we talk about the balloon ladies, which people may not know what that are or they may know exactly what that is.
00:02:18
Speaker
But as we talk about it, like know that we're coming at this from two different styles of runners.
00:02:22
Speaker
Right.
00:02:22
Speaker
Right.
00:02:22
Speaker
You love to run, walk.
00:02:24
Speaker
You drink a ton of water.
00:02:26
Speaker
So you stop on the course a lot.
00:02:28
Speaker
A lot.
00:02:29
Speaker
To use the restroom.
00:02:30
Speaker
I don't, I mean, I've only stopped because you stopped.
00:02:32
Speaker
Right.
00:02:32
Speaker
You know, I can hold it.
00:02:35
Speaker
And so we're just two very different kinds of runners.
00:02:37
Speaker
We go out of different corrals sometimes.
00:02:39
Speaker
Sometimes we just go out of the same corral.
00:02:41
Speaker
So anyway, as we talk about the balloon ladies, I just wanted to kind of frame that up.
00:02:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:45
Speaker
What are the balloon ladies?
00:02:46
Speaker
The balloon ladies are a visual representation of the 16 minute per mile pace.
00:02:51
Speaker
Right.
00:02:52
Speaker
they are absolutely 100% running a 16 minute pace, which is the absolute slowest you can go.
00:03:01
Speaker
But there's like variables to this.
00:03:02
Speaker
And we're gonna kind of talk about that.
00:03:04
Speaker
But like, that's what they are, is they're just the visual representation.
00:03:07
Speaker
They're the last ones to cross the finish line.
00:03:09
Speaker
What else do we need to know about them?
00:03:12
Speaker
they are not there to scare you or you shouldn't be afraid of them.
00:03:15
Speaker
They are super encouraging people.
00:03:18
Speaker
I've never talked to them, but I've read that they are super helpful, that they will try to push you along so that the people on the bikes are actually the ones that sweep you.
00:03:28
Speaker
Yeah, so the balloon ladies don't do the sweeping.
00:03:31
Speaker
The sweeping being the, hey, I'm so sorry, you've fallen behind the minimum pace and we have to remove you from the course.
00:03:38
Speaker
There is a team that does that.
00:03:40
Speaker
The balloon ladies, despite what the internet says, are not the ones that do that.
00:03:46
Speaker
There's a whole group of people, unfortunately, and there's people actually really nice too.
00:03:50
Speaker
I've heard them on podcasts and seen them.
00:03:52
Speaker
They're really nice, but they actually have to be the bad guys and take you off the course.
00:03:58
Speaker
I mean, they have theme parks to open and parking lots to open and roads to open.
00:04:02
Speaker
So if you fall behind that minimum
Psychological Impact of Balloon Ladies on Runners
00:04:04
Speaker
pace, like...
00:04:05
Speaker
That pace is there for a reason.
00:04:07
Speaker
The balloon ladies are not the mean ones.
00:04:10
Speaker
Right.
00:04:10
Speaker
You know, they really aren't.
00:04:11
Speaker
I've seen them in person, interacting with other people or whatever.
00:04:14
Speaker
And they do.
00:04:15
Speaker
They really seem like actual nice people.
00:04:18
Speaker
Anything else on the what?
00:04:19
Speaker
Like defining what they are before I have like a soapbox moment on the balloon ladies.
00:04:25
Speaker
But is there anything like on the what that you would say, hey, you want to understand this about them?
00:04:30
Speaker
No, I don't think so.
00:04:31
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:31
Speaker
So here's my soapbox about the balloon ladies.
00:04:35
Speaker
They're there to basically hold us all accountable to finish, right, on time.
00:04:40
Speaker
And depending on where you start in the race, because it starts in waves, you might start an hour.
00:04:46
Speaker
a half hour before they even start, which means you have tons of time.
00:04:50
Speaker
You don't actually have to maintain the 16-minute pace.
00:04:52
Speaker
You've got tons of time.
00:04:53
Speaker
But if you're starting with them, then you have to maintain that 16-minute pace.
00:04:57
Speaker
Here's my soapbox thing.
00:04:59
Speaker
I think we've all... I don't know how you feel about this.
00:05:03
Speaker
I think we've all, like, villainized them or whatever, and they get in our head.
00:05:08
Speaker
And even during training, you read about these balloon ladies, and you're kind of...
00:05:14
Speaker
I mean, they're scary.
00:05:15
Speaker
Like, like, and then you're just, oh no, the balloon ladies are gonna get me.
00:05:19
Speaker
Right.
00:05:19
Speaker
You know, like, and you have that.
00:05:21
Speaker
Here's my thing.
00:05:22
Speaker
I think like the power of a positive attitude, like, like even if you are slower and we were a lot slower when we first started running, I,
00:05:30
Speaker
or you're at the beginning of your training cycle, don't give them a seat at your table.
00:05:34
Speaker
And I know that sounds really dumb, but they're allowed to come to your party and they're allowed to be there, you know, and they should be there.
00:05:41
Speaker
They're the security guards.
00:05:43
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:05:43
Speaker
It's your party.
00:05:44
Speaker
They need to be there.
00:05:45
Speaker
But that doesn't mean that they belong in your inner circle or they, you know, and that they just shouldn't have a foothold.
00:05:52
Speaker
on your training, on your race day.
00:05:54
Speaker
If something goes terrible, you get hurt, you cramp up, anything happens.
00:06:00
Speaker
And unfortunately you have to meet the balloon ladies and the people that come behind them.
00:06:04
Speaker
I am so very sorry.
00:06:05
Speaker
And I hope it never happens to me.
00:06:07
Speaker
I hope it never happens to you.
00:06:08
Speaker
But I think 30,000 of us live in fear of the balloon ladies when we don't really need to.
00:06:16
Speaker
However, I understand that people have been swept by the balloon ladies and it happens at every race or, you know, the sweepers behind them happens at every race.
00:06:25
Speaker
It ruins your entire experience.
00:06:27
Speaker
I can't even imagine what it feels like.
00:06:29
Speaker
You know, I understand that.
00:06:31
Speaker
I think for the average runner that's trying to do a run Disney race, don't give them a seat at your table, deal with it if it happens.
00:06:39
Speaker
But, but I just, I want people to run and enjoy the experience.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:43
Speaker
without running or walking in fear.
00:06:47
Speaker
Right.
00:06:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:48
Speaker
That's, I guess, my soapbox.
00:06:50
Speaker
Okay.
Strategies for Maintaining Race Pace
00:06:51
Speaker
Anything else on that?
00:06:52
Speaker
We need to talk about the how to avoid the balloon.
00:06:55
Speaker
So we just did this whole thing about, you know, they're actually not bad people and all that stuff.
00:06:59
Speaker
But let's be honest.
00:07:00
Speaker
The point is to stay ahead of them.
00:07:02
Speaker
Right.
00:07:03
Speaker
Yes.
00:07:03
Speaker
You know, and it's that pace.
00:07:05
Speaker
So here's the easiest way to
00:07:08
Speaker
to stay away from the balloon ladies, maintain a 15 minute and 59 second pace per mile.
00:07:18
Speaker
Including stops.
00:07:19
Speaker
Because that's a good point.
00:07:21
Speaker
Because they run that.
00:07:22
Speaker
They run a 16 minute pace.
00:07:24
Speaker
I think they walk it, but yeah.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yeah, they're speed walkers.
00:07:27
Speaker
It's actually really impressive.
00:07:30
Speaker
So they're doing 16.
00:07:31
Speaker
They actually stop.
00:07:33
Speaker
if they're behind or they get too fast, which too fast for them is like by like a few seconds, they'll stop at every mile marker and make sure that their watches and everything are synced and then they'll continue.
00:07:44
Speaker
But if they get slow for any reason, or just a bottleneck, something like that, they'll speed back up.
00:07:51
Speaker
But every mile they check in and they will not move past that mile marker if they're not on pace.
00:07:56
Speaker
So if you maintain a 1559, then go ahead.
00:08:00
Speaker
You're good.
00:08:00
Speaker
You have nothing to worry about.
00:08:02
Speaker
Right.
00:08:02
Speaker
However, if you maintain a 1559 or a 16 minute pace and you make five bathroom stops, you know, in the Magic Kingdom and those take four minutes, you're then then you that's a different story.
00:08:16
Speaker
So a good thing there, obviously, is as you're training at home and all that stuff is.
00:08:20
Speaker
Hey, can I work my way to a 15 minute pace?
00:08:25
Speaker
Right.
00:08:25
Speaker
You know, can I, can I get there?
00:08:27
Speaker
So that's my suggestion.
00:08:28
Speaker
Number one, what about you?
00:08:29
Speaker
How else can we avoid getting swept?
00:08:31
Speaker
I mean, corral placement definitely plays a big part in this.
00:08:33
Speaker
So like AJ said, the corrals are sent out in waves.
00:08:37
Speaker
So by the time the balloon ladies start, the people that started in corral a are probably like an hour ahead at least, um, which, um,
00:08:48
Speaker
If you're worried about the balloon ladies, you're probably not gonna be in Corral.
00:08:50
Speaker
But let's just be real.
00:08:53
Speaker
Can you explain briefly the corral, like how many numbers, letters there are so that like anyone that's never been to run Disney has like a, it changes on average, like how many corrals there are?
00:09:05
Speaker
I feel like it's through like G or H normally.
00:09:09
Speaker
Maybe some races have a little bit less or some have a little bit more depending on the amount of people.
00:09:14
Speaker
Yeah, the marathon's bigger.
00:09:16
Speaker
And like recently, there's been like way more waves in each corral.
00:09:21
Speaker
That has been an interesting thing.
00:09:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:23
Speaker
So like you might be in corral sea, but there's like five waves of corral sea that go through.
00:09:27
Speaker
So just to kind of help with like the bottleneck situation.
00:09:31
Speaker
So let's say the balloon ladies are at the back of F, right?
00:09:36
Speaker
A is going to go out.
00:09:38
Speaker
I think in most races, it goes out altogether or might go out in two waves.
00:09:41
Speaker
So the first wave of A goes and then two and a half minutes later, the second wave of A goes.
00:09:48
Speaker
And then B goes and B has more waves, has like three or four waves.
00:09:52
Speaker
And there's several minutes in between each wave.
00:09:55
Speaker
So let's say you went out of the second wave of B, right?
00:09:58
Speaker
You still have wave three, four, five of B, then waves one, two, three, four, five, six of C. Then waves one, two, three, four, five, six of D. Then wave, you know, you have all these waves and there's minutes in between.
00:10:13
Speaker
So if you go out of B or C,
00:10:16
Speaker
then you've got a huge head start on the ladies because the 16-minute minimum pace requirement doesn't start until they cross the line.
00:10:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:25
Speaker
Sorry, I kind of hijacked your point here.
00:10:26
Speaker
But let's say they're going out of, what did I say, F?
00:10:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:30
Speaker
They go out of F. There might be five waves of F. If you can get yourself to the front of F, which unfortunately means getting there early and sitting in the front of the corral for an hour and a half, but you're buying yourself time.
00:10:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:44
Speaker
So even if you get a terrible corral placement, which we've had, you and I both have, we have gotten there so early and sat in the cold and ate our breakfast in the corral in order to build in as much buffer
Achieving Personal Records and Overcoming Challenges
00:10:59
Speaker
as possible.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:00
Speaker
Right.
00:11:01
Speaker
Okay.
00:11:01
Speaker
So corral placement is a thing.
00:11:03
Speaker
Here's a suggestion I have is on course.
00:11:05
Speaker
Let's say you're falling behind.
00:11:07
Speaker
No matter what the circumstance, you had to go to the bathroom and that took way too long.
00:11:10
Speaker
Right.
00:11:11
Speaker
You tripped and fell.
00:11:12
Speaker
You didn't get to train as much as you.
00:11:13
Speaker
I mean, there's a number of reasons why you might be falling behind.
00:11:16
Speaker
And now you find yourself...
00:11:19
Speaker
really behind or whatever.
00:11:21
Speaker
If you're running a long distance race, half marathon or marathon, I say join a pace group.
00:11:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:27
Speaker
And a pace group, they have these flags and it says on there what their pace is.
00:11:32
Speaker
So we've run...
00:11:35
Speaker
Have you ever run with a pace group?
00:11:36
Speaker
I have one time.
00:11:37
Speaker
Briefly.
00:11:38
Speaker
But what you can do is you don't have to like officially register to be with them or anything.
00:11:42
Speaker
You can just be like, oh, there's a pace group that's running a, so in a half marathon, they're running a three hour half marathon.
00:11:49
Speaker
You can just join that group and not even say anything to them.
00:11:53
Speaker
I mean, you could say something like, hey, I'm joining you guys.
00:11:56
Speaker
I'm dying here.
00:11:57
Speaker
And the positive of doing that is that they'll say, oh, we got you.
00:12:00
Speaker
Come on.
00:12:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:01
Speaker
Join us, you know, and they'll do like a run walk thing.
00:12:04
Speaker
We'll talk run walk in another episode.
00:12:07
Speaker
Or if there is no pace group, so like the 10Ks don't have a pace group or you just can't find one.
00:12:14
Speaker
I suggest attach yourself to another runner who looks like they're at least doing relatively well.
00:12:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:22
Speaker
Right.
00:12:22
Speaker
They're kind of going your speed or maybe a little faster.
00:12:26
Speaker
And if they're wearing an awesome costume, it makes it even easier because then you can see them.
00:12:30
Speaker
Yes.
00:12:31
Speaker
And introduce yourself to them.
00:12:33
Speaker
I've seen people all over the course be like, hey, I'm dying.
00:12:37
Speaker
Can I run with you for a minute?
00:12:38
Speaker
Right.
00:12:39
Speaker
And no one I've ever seen says, no, get away from me, weirdo.
00:12:43
Speaker
Like they all say, absolutely.
00:12:45
Speaker
What's your name?
00:12:45
Speaker
Where are you from?
00:12:46
Speaker
This is why I love run Disney.
00:12:48
Speaker
Exactly.
00:12:49
Speaker
Have you ever attached yourself to another runner?
00:12:51
Speaker
Totally.
00:12:51
Speaker
Yes.
00:12:52
Speaker
So, uh, and usually it has to do with what they're wearing.
00:12:55
Speaker
So, um, I think I've shared this before in some videos that we've done.
00:12:59
Speaker
I followed a guy once whose shirt said like running is an option.
00:13:03
Speaker
Walking is an option.
00:13:04
Speaker
Crawling is an option.
00:13:05
Speaker
Stopping is not an option.
00:13:07
Speaker
Or, you know, anyone who's watched any video that we've ever done has heard me say that if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.
00:13:14
Speaker
I watched that on the back of someone's shirt for a while.
00:13:16
Speaker
There was a couple, I don't know what race it was, but there was a couple that every time they ran, I ran.
00:13:20
Speaker
Um, so yeah, stick with somebody that, like you said, is going about your pace.
00:13:25
Speaker
Um, that when you get tired, you just keep going.
00:13:28
Speaker
You just follow them.
00:13:29
Speaker
That's right.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:30
Speaker
uh, introduce yourself or not, it doesn't really matter.
00:13:32
Speaker
If you do introduce yourself, the positive there is that they'll probably talk you through a few miles, you know, as long as they're not dying, you know, they'll, you know, where are you from?
00:13:41
Speaker
I love your outfit, you know, like they'll do all of that.
00:13:44
Speaker
And next thing you know, you've gone like two miles and you're distracted enough.
00:13:50
Speaker
And even if you don't talk to them, I have a funny story about that.
00:13:52
Speaker
Um, it wasn't me
00:13:54
Speaker
I inadvertently helped somebody else.
00:13:56
Speaker
Yes.
00:13:57
Speaker
So someone was trying to get their PR and my pace was a little bit faster than theirs.
00:14:01
Speaker
And she noticed that.
00:14:03
Speaker
And I didn't know this.
00:14:03
Speaker
So she told me after the finish line, she said, she came up behind me and she said, hey, I've been following your pink shorts for about seven miles.
00:14:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:14
Speaker
I was wearing the pink shorts, you know, that we talked about this in a previous episode.
00:14:17
Speaker
Princess.
00:14:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:18
Speaker
Princess.
00:14:19
Speaker
And they're bright pink.
00:14:21
Speaker
And she was following them because she could see them.
00:14:23
Speaker
They were easy to follow.
00:14:24
Speaker
And she never introduced herself to me on the course, but she could tell that if she stuck with me, that she was going to get that pace that she was looking for because it was a little hard.
00:14:33
Speaker
I was going a little faster than she was.
00:14:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:36
Speaker
Just a little bit.
00:14:37
Speaker
And she stuck and she held on the whole time.
00:14:40
Speaker
And then she told me at the finish line, she said, hey, I got a four minute PR because of you.
00:14:44
Speaker
And I was like, that's awesome.
00:14:46
Speaker
Like I felt like I did something and I really didn't, you know?
00:14:49
Speaker
And so.
00:14:49
Speaker
Yeah, but you encouraged her.
00:14:50
Speaker
But I didn't even say anything.
00:14:52
Speaker
And I think that's the point on this one.
00:14:53
Speaker
Right, right.
00:14:54
Speaker
Is that you don't have to introduce yourself.
00:14:55
Speaker
You don't have to whatever.
00:14:57
Speaker
You can attach yourself to me.
00:14:58
Speaker
I'll attach to somebody.
00:14:59
Speaker
I followed a Donald Duck one time.
00:15:01
Speaker
You know, someone dressed as Donald for a long time.
00:15:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:05
Speaker
Because he was, you know, he was an easy thing to follow.
00:15:08
Speaker
Right, right, right.
00:15:08
Speaker
Going faster than I was or at least as fast as I was.
00:15:12
Speaker
Hey, for some of our new runners, what's a PR?
00:15:15
Speaker
That's a really good example.
00:15:16
Speaker
Good question.
00:15:16
Speaker
I mean, PR is personal record.
00:15:18
Speaker
You can also hear it referred to as a PB.
00:15:21
Speaker
Personal best.
00:15:22
Speaker
Yeah, personal best.
00:15:23
Speaker
I feel like that's like something you would say in like England or something, which I know is not.
00:15:27
Speaker
But PB doesn't sound the same for me as PR.
00:15:29
Speaker
Which one do you use?
00:15:31
Speaker
PR.
00:15:32
Speaker
PR.
00:15:32
Speaker
Personal record.
00:15:33
Speaker
So like my very first half marathon was my PR because I had no record before it.
00:15:40
Speaker
Right.
00:15:41
Speaker
Right.
00:15:41
Speaker
So that was my first one.
00:15:42
Speaker
Then I was able, very fortunate to PR my second half marathon because it was faster.
00:15:48
Speaker
And then several half marathons after that where I did not PR.
00:15:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:53
Speaker
I PR'd in something else.
00:15:54
Speaker
We talk about that all the time where instead of PR, PR in time, we'll PR in fun.
00:15:59
Speaker
In fun.
00:16:00
Speaker
I PR'd in a personal record in character stops.
00:16:04
Speaker
Yep.
00:16:05
Speaker
So we, we like to have fun with that.
00:16:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:08
Speaker
That's some of the how to kind of, you know, strategy, I guess on, on how to deal with the balloon ladies.
00:16:14
Speaker
My biggest
First Experiences with Balloon Ladies
00:16:15
Speaker
suggestion there though, is don't let them in your head.
00:16:17
Speaker
Just don't, don't let them control your day.
00:16:20
Speaker
In a negative way.
00:16:21
Speaker
Correct.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:22
Speaker
That's it.
00:16:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:23
Speaker
Let's talk about our first and most recent experiences.
00:16:26
Speaker
So we're kind of doing this with each topic as we go through and we're counting down to marathon, wherever the topic is.
00:16:31
Speaker
We talk about our first experience with whatever that topic is.
00:16:34
Speaker
And so today's balloon ladies, and then we'll talk about a recent one.
00:16:36
Speaker
So I'll tell you my first experience with the balloon ladies.
00:16:39
Speaker
Yes.
00:16:40
Speaker
Was wine and dine 10K.
00:16:43
Speaker
You and I ran together.
00:16:44
Speaker
It was actually our first time ever running together.
00:16:46
Speaker
Do you remember that?
00:16:47
Speaker
Vaguely.
00:16:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:48
Speaker
Um, I think I told you the day of, I'm like, I'm running with you.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yes.
00:16:53
Speaker
I do remember that.
00:16:54
Speaker
You're like, what?
00:16:54
Speaker
We'd never done that before, but we'd also only had, I'd only had one run Disney previous to that anyway.
00:17:01
Speaker
But I said, no, I think it'd be really fun.
00:17:03
Speaker
So, um, it was my first experience to, uh,
00:17:06
Speaker
run with you.
00:17:07
Speaker
And we went out of Corral E, which was the last corral.
00:17:10
Speaker
And you drink a ton of water and you use the restroom.
00:17:14
Speaker
I know you do like 12 times before the race.
00:17:18
Speaker
And this race specifically, Erica, we're going and you, the first port-a-potty shows up at what?
00:17:24
Speaker
Like mile one and a half or something like that.
00:17:26
Speaker
I feel like it's before that, but the line is for about a mile long.
00:17:29
Speaker
Was it the first, I think it was one of the first or second port-a-potty stops.
00:17:33
Speaker
I think what had happened was we, we got to, we knew we were in the last corral.
00:17:38
Speaker
So we got there super early in the morning so we could get right at the front of the line, like you talked about, because we wanted to be ahead of the balloon ladies.
00:17:44
Speaker
But then I couldn't leave the corral to use the restroom before we left.
00:17:48
Speaker
It was too crowded to leave.
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:50
Speaker
And I think we sat there for like over two hours.
00:17:52
Speaker
So yeah.
00:17:53
Speaker
So you really had to go.
00:17:54
Speaker
Oh, yes.
00:17:55
Speaker
So one of the first restroom stops, you had to go, but so did everyone else who had been waiting a few hours.
00:18:01
Speaker
Right, right.
00:18:02
Speaker
And the line was pretty long, but you're like, AJ, I can't.
00:18:04
Speaker
Like, I have to stop.
00:18:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:05
Speaker
So I waited in line with you patiently.
00:18:07
Speaker
I was a great husband.
00:18:09
Speaker
Patient.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:10
Speaker
And then you went in, I'm holding the flashlight, you know, in the top of the porta potty, you know, like trying to, trying to give you some light in there and you're dealing with your costume and all that.
00:18:20
Speaker
And then the bikes come and the bikes there.
00:18:23
Speaker
It's interesting.
00:18:24
Speaker
We said the bikes are the bad guys.
00:18:25
Speaker
They, they actually send bikes ahead of the balloon ladies to give you a warning.
00:18:29
Speaker
that they're coming that they're coming and if you fall behind the balloon ladies is what they're yelling if you fall behind the balloon ladies then you're going to get swept right so again they're not the balloon leaders are not the bad guys so they're they came and told they in the everyone in the line hey just so you know the balloon ladies are about i don't know what they said three minutes out or whatever and i remember i don't know if this is how it came across you i'm like knocking on the potty like
00:18:55
Speaker
I don't care what you have to do.
00:18:57
Speaker
We're going to die.
00:18:58
Speaker
Right, right, right, right.
00:19:00
Speaker
And you're like, what?
00:19:02
Speaker
So you ended up wrapping it up and we got going.
00:19:05
Speaker
This is one of the reasons why I do super minimal costumes now.
00:19:09
Speaker
Because
00:19:10
Speaker
especially if you're like far into the race and you're hot and gross, like try to put all those layers on quickly.
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:17
Speaker
So I rushed you.
00:19:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:18
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:19:19
Speaker
And we got going and then I kind of wrapped that story up.
00:19:22
Speaker
The interesting thing is we, they were in our head.
00:19:24
Speaker
We thought we were, we were done.
00:19:26
Speaker
We thought we were toast on our, on our first Disney 10 K. And the reality is because we maintained, I don't know what our pace was at that time.
00:19:34
Speaker
1230, 13, something like that.
00:19:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:38
Speaker
We just slowly kept getting further and further away from, and they finished 45 minutes after us.
00:19:42
Speaker
So we didn't really have anything to worry about.
00:19:45
Speaker
That was my first experience with the balloon ladies.
00:19:47
Speaker
Do you know what yours is?
00:19:48
Speaker
Yeah, so when we did the Disneyland half marathon, we did what's called the coast to coast challenge.
00:19:55
Speaker
So we ran our first full marathon.
00:19:57
Speaker
Yep.
00:19:58
Speaker
And then a few weeks later, we flew to California and we were going to run the half marathon, but we registered really late.
00:20:05
Speaker
I think we had got like a last minute spot or something that opened up.
00:20:07
Speaker
That's right.
00:20:08
Speaker
And so we could not submit a proof of time.
00:20:11
Speaker
And so we knew we were going to be the last corral, but the way that it was sort of situated, we actually started behind the balloon ladies.
00:20:18
Speaker
They were like 20 feet ahead of us.
00:20:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:20
Speaker
And I was like, there is no way.
00:20:23
Speaker
I mean, we were exhausted from having run our first marathon just a few weeks before.
00:20:27
Speaker
No, this was the one that was the same week.
00:20:29
Speaker
Oh, it was the same.
00:20:30
Speaker
Oh, you're right.
00:20:31
Speaker
It was just a couple of days later.
00:20:32
Speaker
We ran on Sunday and then ran the next Sunday.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yes.
00:20:36
Speaker
With a flight in between.
00:20:37
Speaker
You're right.
00:20:37
Speaker
You're right.
00:20:38
Speaker
So it wasn't even a few weeks.
00:20:38
Speaker
It was a few days.
00:20:39
Speaker
A few days later.
00:20:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:41
Speaker
And we were, I mean, you weren't, but I was like so, so worried.
00:20:45
Speaker
But again, like we had already trained.
00:20:48
Speaker
We could maintain a faster pace than they could.
00:20:50
Speaker
So we just slowly, you know, made that separation.
00:20:53
Speaker
So it was fine.
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:56
Speaker
You have a recent story about the balloon ladies?
00:20:58
Speaker
Anything recent for you?
00:21:00
Speaker
I have a story
Perceptions and Roles of Balloon Ladies
00:21:01
Speaker
that makes me a little bit bitter.
00:21:04
Speaker
We were running, was it the marathon?
00:21:06
Speaker
Marathon.
00:21:07
Speaker
Well, if it's the story, I think you're going to tell.
00:21:10
Speaker
This year's marathon.
00:21:10
Speaker
Yeah, this year's marathon.
00:21:11
Speaker
And so in January, and we were running through Animal Kingdom.
00:21:16
Speaker
And this cast member- For reference, Animal Kingdom is mile 17, 18 or so on the course.
00:21:23
Speaker
So we've already-
00:21:25
Speaker
Run a long, long way.
00:21:27
Speaker
Yes.
00:21:28
Speaker
Yes.
00:21:28
Speaker
And so this cast member says the balloon ladies are less than a mile behind you.
00:21:33
Speaker
That's right.
00:21:34
Speaker
And I'm like, there is no way that they are less than a mile behind us because I, you know, had tracked them, which we'll talk about later.
00:21:42
Speaker
But he was like, no, they're they're just a few minutes behind you.
00:21:45
Speaker
He was announcing to all of us that we're running that they are within 10 to 15 minutes of us is what he was trying to say.
00:21:52
Speaker
He was lying.
00:21:53
Speaker
He was lying.
00:21:54
Speaker
Or misinformed.
00:21:56
Speaker
I think he was lying.
00:21:57
Speaker
I think he was trying to motivate people, but what it did was instill fear in a whole bunch of people.
00:22:02
Speaker
Including you.
00:22:03
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:22:04
Speaker
I was like, we are not stopping.
00:22:06
Speaker
I don't care how slowly we jog, we are not stopping.
00:22:09
Speaker
And you were like, Erica, it's like, we're fine.
00:22:11
Speaker
And I'm like, no, we're not stopping.
00:22:13
Speaker
Do you remember?
00:22:13
Speaker
I got like so freaked out.
00:22:16
Speaker
And then of course they were like, when we finished, they were still like an hour behind us.
00:22:21
Speaker
So again, like you're saying, do not let the fear of the balloon ladies get into your mind.
00:22:28
Speaker
Do your training, know your stuff.
00:22:30
Speaker
As long as you can maintain, you're good.
00:22:32
Speaker
It's the power of a positive attitude is a thing like is why I don't want you to let them have a seat at your table.
00:22:39
Speaker
Right.
00:22:40
Speaker
Is because if you're negatively concerned and freaking out, your body tenses up in a different way.
00:22:45
Speaker
Right.
00:22:45
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:22:46
Speaker
Like, like when you're in the porta potty, you, you know, you can't, you know, move smoothly because you're freaking out.
00:22:52
Speaker
So next thing you know, you're all tangled in your thing.
00:22:54
Speaker
You know, you can't.
00:22:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:55
Speaker
And then you're fiddling with your phone and you drop your phone because you're worked up.
00:22:59
Speaker
Right, right.
00:23:00
Speaker
So that's why I don't... Like, even if they are close to you, just don't let them... Don't let their presence ruin your day.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:10
Speaker
If you get swept, I'm so sorry.
00:23:12
Speaker
And if I ever get swept, it's going to destroy me.
00:23:15
Speaker
I understand that.
00:23:16
Speaker
But...
00:23:17
Speaker
The chances of you being able to run smoothly and move forward when you're not worried is a lot better than running in fear.
00:23:26
Speaker
Right.
00:23:26
Speaker
The fear doesn't work.
00:23:28
Speaker
No.
00:23:28
Speaker
In my opinion.
00:23:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:29
Speaker
Trust your training.
00:23:30
Speaker
Based on my experience.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yep.
00:23:32
Speaker
Okay.
00:23:32
Speaker
Let's talk about the good and the bad of the balloon ladies.
00:23:34
Speaker
You got any, I've got some goods about them.
00:23:36
Speaker
We're in some beds, but I got some goods.
00:23:38
Speaker
Okay.
00:23:38
Speaker
They were actually really nice.
00:23:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:40
Speaker
Like they're, they're lovely people.
00:23:42
Speaker
They're runners or, or speed walkers.
00:23:44
Speaker
And they're late, you know, they're, they're only ladies.
00:23:47
Speaker
They don't have any men that I'm aware of.
00:23:49
Speaker
And there's like three of them for per race.
00:23:50
Speaker
And I've seen them in person interacting with people and they're really nice people.
00:23:54
Speaker
And I've heard them on other podcasts, other podcasts as guests.
00:23:58
Speaker
And they're like the nicest people and they're normal people.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:01
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:24:02
Speaker
Like they go home and you know, they have jobs.
00:24:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:05
Speaker
You know, so they're, that's, in my opinion.
00:24:07
Speaker
They don't just live at Disney?
00:24:09
Speaker
They don't live to ruin your life.
00:24:11
Speaker
I think that's the thing is they're just there because they're going to be a visual.
00:24:16
Speaker
They're actually trying to keep you from getting swept.
00:24:18
Speaker
Right.
00:24:19
Speaker
Like, I think that's the big difference is like people think they're after me.
00:24:22
Speaker
No, no.
00:24:23
Speaker
They're encouraging you to keep going.
00:24:24
Speaker
Yes.
00:24:25
Speaker
If you do get near them, they're like, hey, want to run with me?
00:24:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:28
Speaker
Come on, let's go.
00:24:29
Speaker
Keep coming.
00:24:30
Speaker
You can do it.
00:24:31
Speaker
Right, right.
00:24:31
Speaker
They're actually really nice people.
00:24:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:33
Speaker
You have any goods?
00:24:34
Speaker
Um, I like that you can see them from a distance.
00:24:37
Speaker
So a lot of the races, uh, include like overpasses or things like that.
00:24:42
Speaker
Right.
00:24:42
Speaker
And so, um, races where I've been injured or had to use the bathroom a bunch.
00:24:47
Speaker
Like I like that I can look back over my shoulder or over the freeway on ramp and see where they're at.
00:24:53
Speaker
There's a little, little, little, little balloon bobbing along.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yep, absolutely.
00:24:58
Speaker
That is good.
00:24:59
Speaker
And that's their job.
00:25:00
Speaker
Yes.
00:25:00
Speaker
To be a visual, hey, that's the end.
00:25:02
Speaker
Right.
00:25:02
Speaker
You don't have to guess.
00:25:03
Speaker
Right.
00:25:03
Speaker
Is that the end of the race?
00:25:05
Speaker
I don't know.
00:25:05
Speaker
You know that that's the end of the race.
00:25:08
Speaker
Okay, I've got a bad.
00:25:09
Speaker
Okay.
00:25:10
Speaker
I've skipped one of your goods on the notes.
00:25:12
Speaker
No, no, I skipped one of my goods on the notes.
00:25:14
Speaker
Shoot.
00:25:15
Speaker
And I told you we weren't editing.
00:25:16
Speaker
Oh, we're not editing this out.
00:25:18
Speaker
Okay.
00:25:19
Speaker
I have a, I have a good, you can run with them.
00:25:21
Speaker
And I kind of just said that a second ago, but you can run with them.
00:25:24
Speaker
Yes.
00:25:24
Speaker
If you want to start the race with the balloon ladies, they I'm sure would love the company.
00:25:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:30
Speaker
All the way through the race.
00:25:31
Speaker
Right.
00:25:31
Speaker
You know, it's a dangerous position just, you know, in case you do need to go to the restroom.
00:25:36
Speaker
Right.
00:25:37
Speaker
Yes.
00:25:37
Speaker
And they're going to keep going.
00:25:38
Speaker
Right.
00:25:39
Speaker
Yes.
00:25:39
Speaker
And so, but anyway, you can run with them if you really want to.
00:25:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:25:44
Speaker
You got any bads?
00:25:45
Speaker
No.
00:25:46
Speaker
Goods?
00:25:48
Speaker
My bad is that they have a bad reputation.
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:50
Speaker
Like I hate that they do.
00:25:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:52
Speaker
And I understand why they do.
00:25:54
Speaker
Right.
00:25:55
Speaker
But that's probably the only bad is it's just their reputation.
00:25:57
Speaker
They're actually nice people.
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:59
Speaker
Okay.
00:25:59
Speaker
Moving on.
00:26:00
Speaker
Let's wrap this episode up.
00:26:01
Speaker
Frequently asked questions.
00:26:03
Speaker
I've got one in the notes and I'm going to ask you, can you, people ask this on Facebook.
00:26:09
Speaker
That's why I'm throwing it in here.
00:26:10
Speaker
Yes.
00:26:10
Speaker
Can you track the balloon ladies so that you know exactly where they are and you can
00:26:18
Speaker
know, ensure your safety on the course, right?
00:26:20
Speaker
Right.
00:26:20
Speaker
Can you do that?
00:26:21
Speaker
Is that a thing?
00:26:22
Speaker
It is a thing.
00:26:22
Speaker
There are a couple of ways to do that.
00:26:24
Speaker
You can track them by their bid number, but that's like a little bit complicated if you're trying to run with your phone and like update.
00:26:31
Speaker
Um, or there are lots of people that will do like a projected time, you know, based on previous years, the number of corrals there are, this is, you know, by, by this point in the morning, they should be at mile two, mile three, whatever.
00:26:44
Speaker
And so you can sort of look at that as a guide.
00:26:48
Speaker
There is, I think it's RunDiz, Team RunDiz is the Telegram or Twitter or whatever account that has like the most real-time information on it.
00:27:00
Speaker
And you can
Tips for New Runners
00:27:01
Speaker
follow their channel thing or whatever.
00:27:03
Speaker
And it will tell you when they've reached the 5K mark, the 10K mark, the 15K mark.
00:27:07
Speaker
So it's not giving you like an accurate, like this is exactly where they are on the course.
00:27:12
Speaker
You know, like a find my friends thing.
00:27:14
Speaker
It's not like that.
00:27:15
Speaker
But at least, you know, like if you're at mile nine
00:27:18
Speaker
nine and they just passed the 10k mark which is mile six then you know you've got a 16 minute times three buffer 32 is that no that's terrible math i'm not even gonna pretend like i know how to do math so you got you've got i was thinking about something else
00:27:36
Speaker
Stick with me.
00:27:36
Speaker
Okay, yes, I'm with you.
00:27:38
Speaker
You've got multiple miles or whatever of a heads up.
00:27:41
Speaker
So I think it's team run dis.
00:27:42
Speaker
Okay.
00:27:43
Speaker
It has that.
00:27:44
Speaker
I actually disagree with tracking the balloon ladies.
00:27:47
Speaker
And I don't know how you have a sense of how you feel about this.
00:27:51
Speaker
But because I say don't let them have a seat at your table and a foothold or whatever, I think you should just run your race and stay in your own world.
00:28:01
Speaker
Do you agree or disagree with that statement?
00:28:04
Speaker
If I didn't have to use the restroom or I haven't run injured for the last two years, I completely agree with that.
00:28:12
Speaker
I know that I can run faster than a 60 minute pace, but...
00:28:17
Speaker
I like we keep saying have to stop and use the restroom a bunch.
00:28:20
Speaker
So, uh, I like to sort of take the unknown out of the situation.
00:28:25
Speaker
So I don't have to know exactly where they're at, but like, like I was saying, like the projected, you know, like by this point, they're probably around mile three or five or whatever.
00:28:34
Speaker
That just gives me like a peace of mind to know like how much time I have.
00:28:39
Speaker
So you agree with tracking them?
00:28:41
Speaker
To a certain extent.
00:28:42
Speaker
You like that it's available?
00:28:43
Speaker
I don't need to know their exact location at all times.
00:28:46
Speaker
Okay.
00:28:47
Speaker
Because I trust my training.
00:28:49
Speaker
What about Marathon Animal Kingdom 2025 when the guy says they're right behind you?
00:28:54
Speaker
Well, that's when I knew he was wrong because I had looked at the thing and the girl was like,
00:28:59
Speaker
you know, I've always been within like a one to two minute range or whatever of being correct.
00:29:03
Speaker
And so I was like, no, there's no way that they're a mile behind us.
00:29:06
Speaker
Like they, we still have like an hour before they get to us.
00:29:10
Speaker
But, um, he did freak me out.
00:29:13
Speaker
Oh, you ran.
00:29:14
Speaker
I did.
00:29:15
Speaker
And then, and then like when we finished, like I said, we still had all that time.
00:29:19
Speaker
And so I should have just trusted my
00:29:23
Speaker
the thing that I had, I had like a screenshot of it.
00:29:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:26
Speaker
Trust your training.
00:29:27
Speaker
Trust your training.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:29
Speaker
Trust the tracker.
00:29:30
Speaker
Come on.
00:29:31
Speaker
Trust your training.
00:29:32
Speaker
Well, if I could run without having to pee all the time, I'd be fine.
00:29:35
Speaker
Oh, got it.
00:29:36
Speaker
You know, it's interesting.
00:29:37
Speaker
Total side tangent.
00:29:39
Speaker
Time seems to run differently when you're in the porta potty or in the restroom.
00:29:43
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:44
Speaker
Like it seems like you're in there for 45 minutes when really like I've waited for you to go to the restroom.
00:29:51
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:29:52
Speaker
in out and i'm like great minute and a half let's keep going right but when you're in there because you're standing still yeah you're freaking out right you know that you've been in there forever and now they've actually cleared the whole course and you're the only one left that is how you feel oh yeah you know what i mean totally but time but that's not the way time actually works okay running it back is our last section
00:30:16
Speaker
Is there anything related to the balloon ladies that you would do if you, if you ran it back, anything you would do the same or different related to the balloon ladies?
00:30:24
Speaker
I think the only thing I would do different is like the first year or so I was really afraid of them.
00:30:29
Speaker
I did not trust my training.
00:30:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:31
Speaker
Um, and so that's really the only thing I would do differently is like, I know how fast I run.
00:30:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:38
Speaker
So I don't need to be worried.
00:30:39
Speaker
What about when you're at the beginning of your training, not on the course, and you're not maintaining pace, right?
00:30:46
Speaker
Like, how does that factor into all of this?
00:30:48
Speaker
Because if you're new to running, you're trying to do your first 10K, you know, which is a distance that has the minimum pace requirement.
00:30:57
Speaker
You're trying to do that, but you're running a 17-minute pace.
00:31:01
Speaker
You have a suggestion on, you know, you got whatever, 15 weeks to go to your race.
00:31:07
Speaker
Right.
00:31:07
Speaker
What do you say?
00:31:08
Speaker
I have a couple of suggestions, which I might be crossing into other territory here, but one of them I would say is focus on your strength training, which I will talk about more later.
00:31:18
Speaker
Um, you know, stronger legs run faster.
00:31:21
Speaker
Um, I would also maybe if you're already doing a run, walk, run combination, um,
00:31:27
Speaker
play around with that a little bit.
00:31:29
Speaker
I think people think like if they walk too long, then they're going to, their time's really going to slow down, but that's not necessarily the case.
00:31:35
Speaker
Like if you give yourself a long enough walk break, you might come back stronger and faster when you're running.
00:31:40
Speaker
So play around with that a little bit.
00:31:42
Speaker
I forgot my third thing.
00:31:43
Speaker
I had a third thing.
00:31:43
Speaker
I don't know what it was.
00:31:44
Speaker
I think, um, trust the process is my thing there.
00:31:48
Speaker
Oh, speed drills.
00:31:49
Speaker
Speed drills.
00:31:50
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:50
Speaker
What is that?
00:31:52
Speaker
You could probably describe this better than I can.
00:31:54
Speaker
I'd love to hear your version though.
00:31:57
Speaker
Um, like short bursts of time where you're running like as fast as you possibly can followed by like a slow jog, you know, doing that a couple of days a week, um, for short periods of time or whatever.
00:32:08
Speaker
A really easy way to do this is like, if you play a song for one of your runs, like you jog or, you know, your normal pace for like the verses.
00:32:16
Speaker
And then on the chorus you run like, um,
00:32:20
Speaker
80 to 90% of your effort.
00:32:22
Speaker
And then, and then I would go back to like a slow jog for the versus again, but doing that on a regular basis helps.
00:32:28
Speaker
I feel like to speed you up a bit.
00:32:29
Speaker
Yeah, it seems counterproductive because you think you're trying to last as long as possible and whatever, but all of that has to do with strength and everything.
00:32:38
Speaker
And we're going to do a whole episode on that.
00:32:39
Speaker
Yes.
00:32:40
Speaker
So we'll save some of that.
00:32:41
Speaker
I think all of that is absolutely correct, you know, but I also think just trust that this isn't an overnight success thing.
00:32:49
Speaker
So if you're three weeks, four weeks, I'm even going to say 10 weeks into your training and you're not maintaining pace yet, you
00:32:56
Speaker
it's okay keep getting out there right keep running three times a week keep doing the cross training right keep getting good sleep if you're not doing any of those things yes start worrying about it right you know that would be the time to worry about it you know but if you're doing all that stuff and it doesn't seem to be improving or whatever right just keep doing that and what we're going to do a whole thing on run walk one oh wow
00:33:23
Speaker
Run, walk, run
Current Training Updates and Challenges
00:33:25
Speaker
next week.
00:33:25
Speaker
And then we're going to do a whole episode after that on strength training.
00:33:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:28
Speaker
And I would also say, don't underestimate the race day high.
00:33:33
Speaker
When you are surrounded by all those other runners, you're going to go faster than you've probably ever gone in your entire life.
00:33:39
Speaker
That's true.
00:33:41
Speaker
There's something about that day.
00:33:43
Speaker
Your body's like, let's do this.
00:33:44
Speaker
We're getting so off topic.
00:33:45
Speaker
My first princess race, that happened to me.
00:33:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:49
Speaker
And I'd never run as fast as I did on that race.
00:33:56
Speaker
But the competitive nature of it, the Disney stuff, the DJs, everything about it, I got to the end and I was like, looking at my watch going, oh,
00:34:07
Speaker
Whoa, holy cow.
00:34:10
Speaker
I was worried.
00:34:11
Speaker
Right.
00:34:11
Speaker
You know, how, why was I even worried?
00:34:13
Speaker
But the adrenaline gets, um, suggestion.
00:34:16
Speaker
Don't go out too fast though.
00:34:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:18
Speaker
Do not, do not.
00:34:19
Speaker
Also run Disney races for the most part are pretty much flat.
00:34:23
Speaker
Like there's parts where we go, you know, over the freeway or whatever, but for the most part it's flat.
00:34:27
Speaker
So like when we ran with, when I ran with Jesse for a princess last year, she had trained her hometown is like massively hilly.
00:34:37
Speaker
And she was worried because her pace wasn't great.
00:34:39
Speaker
And then she got there and she's running like two minutes faster per mile because like, she didn't have to deal with any hills, no hills, the runner's high from that morning, like with all the other people.
00:34:48
Speaker
So yeah, there's lots of things that are going to work in your favor on race day.
00:34:52
Speaker
I agree with that.
00:34:52
Speaker
Yep.
00:34:54
Speaker
Okay, cool.
00:34:55
Speaker
That was the running it back section.
00:34:57
Speaker
Anything you would do the same or different?
00:34:59
Speaker
I don't know if I ever actually answered that question.
00:35:02
Speaker
I think bottom line is I wouldn't worry about it.
00:35:04
Speaker
And I think that was your answer too, which is why my number one suggestion for you is don't worry about the balloon ladies, please.
00:35:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:14
Speaker
All right.
00:35:14
Speaker
That's it for this episode, except for maybe a little bit of personal, you know, updates or whatever on, on where you are in training.
00:35:21
Speaker
So this is now week three of marathon training for us.
00:35:26
Speaker
Where are you at?
00:35:27
Speaker
How are you feeling?
00:35:28
Speaker
What's been new?
00:35:29
Speaker
What's been working?
00:35:30
Speaker
What's not been working?
00:35:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:31
Speaker
So kind of a new thing for me, this, this run Disney season is, um, the value of strength training.
00:35:39
Speaker
The first few years that I ran, I just ran and that was it.
00:35:44
Speaker
I went to yoga, like that was it.
00:35:46
Speaker
And I was always injured always.
00:35:49
Speaker
Um, and then my PT was like,
00:35:52
Speaker
okay, we're going to work on other things.
00:35:53
Speaker
Like we've got to get you stronger.
00:35:54
Speaker
But you didn't have a PT before, right?
00:35:55
Speaker
I did not.
00:35:56
Speaker
Well, I mean, I did, but they didn't.
00:35:57
Speaker
You got a PT because you were injured all the time.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:01
Speaker
But some of my early physical therapists were just like, you know, just addressing the pain that I was in and they weren't like going to the root cause basically.
00:36:08
Speaker
So this year I'm strength training like three days a week, running three days a week.
00:36:14
Speaker
And I can already tell a huge difference.
00:36:18
Speaker
Um, do I like the strength training?
00:36:20
Speaker
Not so much.
00:36:21
Speaker
I mean, who loves split squats, but they do come in handy for running.
00:36:25
Speaker
So, um, I can't stress the value of that enough.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yeah, when we did the Peachtree Road race in Atlanta two weeks ago, I saw it.
00:36:35
Speaker
Like you've been, because you've been not running at all for a few months in order to get strong.
00:36:41
Speaker
And you ran different.
00:36:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:43
Speaker
I mean, you ran very different in that race.
00:36:45
Speaker
And so, yeah, I'm glad the strength training is working.
00:36:49
Speaker
I hate it too.
00:36:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:50
Speaker
Oh, it's my least favorite.
00:36:51
Speaker
I would much rather just go run.
00:36:54
Speaker
Right.
00:36:54
Speaker
You know?
00:36:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:55
Speaker
Which you can do, but you may end up injured.
00:36:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:59
Speaker
But yeah, I agree with that on the value of strength training.
00:37:02
Speaker
For me, running wise, it's just hot.
00:37:04
Speaker
I mean, it's, I feel like the miles are slow.
00:37:08
Speaker
Miles are slow and my heart rate is high.
00:37:13
Speaker
And so it's a little bit discouraging, but I also, and this is the benefit of having run through the summers now, a couple of times now, is I know that I'm building what I need for the fall.
00:37:24
Speaker
And then
Preview of Next Episode
00:37:25
Speaker
the temperature is going to drop in the fall.
00:37:28
Speaker
And all of a sudden.
00:37:29
Speaker
It's going to be super fast.
00:37:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:31
Speaker
It's amazing what the first week of October or whatever feels like, you know, when you go for that run and it's 58 degrees outside.
00:37:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:41
Speaker
Yep.
00:37:41
Speaker
But it's hot right now.
00:37:42
Speaker
It is hot.
00:37:43
Speaker
All right.
00:37:44
Speaker
Great.
00:37:44
Speaker
Next week, we're going to talk about the run, walk, run method, which is kind of like the Disney suggested way of doing these races, especially for new runners.
00:37:53
Speaker
But they also have suggested plans for experienced runners.
00:37:56
Speaker
Jeff Galloway is that's his method.
00:37:59
Speaker
He's like a big ambassador for all things run Disney.
00:38:02
Speaker
Olympian.
00:38:03
Speaker
Yes.
00:38:03
Speaker
So, um, we have had success with run, walk, run.
00:38:07
Speaker
We've modified it as well.
00:38:09
Speaker
Um, we've made it work.
00:38:10
Speaker
Uh, I've run races without it.
00:38:12
Speaker
So we can talk about all of that next week.
00:38:14
Speaker
This is, this is really good for new runners.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:18
Speaker
And run Disney is a perfect place for it because what would you say?
00:38:22
Speaker
50%, 70%?
00:38:22
Speaker
More than that.
00:38:24
Speaker
I was going to say like 80%.
00:38:26
Speaker
80% of the runners are probably doing.
00:38:28
Speaker
Some form.
00:38:28
Speaker
Some form of run, walk, run.
00:38:31
Speaker
Right.
00:38:32
Speaker
And just because you walk doesn't mean all of a sudden you're not a runner.
00:38:36
Speaker
Right.
00:38:36
Speaker
I walk.
00:38:37
Speaker
for sure on the marathon.
00:38:41
Speaker
You know what I mean?
00:38:42
Speaker
There's a million benefits.
00:38:43
Speaker
I don't want to spoil it all now.
00:38:44
Speaker
So yeah, we'll talk about next week.
00:38:47
Speaker
If you don't mind, please leave us a review.
00:38:50
Speaker
A review would be awesome.
00:38:51
Speaker
This is episode three.
00:38:52
Speaker
And so, you know, we're kind of trying to find our groove here.
00:38:54
Speaker
If you have any suggestions or feedback, we'd love to know.
00:38:58
Speaker
Follow us on Instagram.
00:38:59
Speaker
We've got a new Instagram handle.
00:39:00
Speaker
How do you feel about having a new Instagram joint?
00:39:03
Speaker
You don't care.
00:39:04
Speaker
Cool.
00:39:04
Speaker
It's a joint account.
00:39:05
Speaker
So follow us at AJ and Erica and Erica spelled with a K. I realize that that's like self-evident to me, but not to everybody.
00:39:14
Speaker
Not to everyone else.
00:39:15
Speaker
Yep.
00:39:15
Speaker
So follow us at AJ and Erica on Instagram.
00:39:19
Speaker
That's actually the YouTube channel name as well.
00:39:22
Speaker
So we're putting this hopefully helpful commentary on all the things.
00:39:27
Speaker
Yep.
00:39:27
Speaker
Okay.
00:39:28
Speaker
Next week, we are jumping into Run, Walk, Run.
00:39:31
Speaker
I'm going to leave you with something inspiring.
00:39:33
Speaker
Here's my, I'm not as like profound as you, Erica.
00:39:36
Speaker
My suggestion as you, especially if you're a new runner, is to build up your confidence by signing up for a local race.
00:39:45
Speaker
I think that whether you do well in that race or not, whether you enjoy it and whatever, it doesn't really matter.
00:39:52
Speaker
You're going to learn a lot, especially if you've never done one.
00:39:56
Speaker
Right.
00:39:57
Speaker
But it also takes some of those terrible runs, you know, long run, whether it's a 5K distance or 10K distance, something like that, in the middle of your training and you're getting sick and tired of your neighborhood or running the streets around you.
00:40:11
Speaker
A race, a local race, allows you to get that long run in and
00:40:15
Speaker
but learn something about yourself.
00:40:17
Speaker
Yes.
00:40:17
Speaker
Right.
00:40:18
Speaker
Or practice something like what you're going to wear or fuel or dealing with other runners.
00:40:23
Speaker
Yep.
00:40:24
Speaker
Right.
00:40:24
Speaker
So that's my suggestion.
00:40:25
Speaker
Not very inspiring, but it's kind of practical.
00:40:27
Speaker
Sign up for a local race.
00:40:29
Speaker
All right.
00:40:30
Speaker
That's it for episode three.
00:40:31
Speaker
Next week, we'll talk run, walk, run.
00:40:39
Speaker
Thanks for joining us for this episode of One More Run, the podcast.
00:40:43
Speaker
If you like what we're up to, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram.
00:40:48
Speaker
You can find links to all of that at ajanderica.com.