Okay…I’ve procrastinated long enough on this review. The good news…bonus content.
Let’s start out with the Weston Rotary Run For Tomorrow Half Marathon, which took place on December 3, 2023. I would typically dedicate an entire post to this race, but it’s always the same: My least favorite race...Three-hour time limit...One mile walk/run with lots of kids that finish exactly when I do...No one handing out medals at the end...Ugly shirts and okay medals. I sound like a broken record; just read one of my previous posts to get more details.
The race itself: 272 runners, which was about the same as last year. The temperature was 72° when the race began, and the knee felt great. I do have to give them credit for one thing…water stations almost every mile.
Now on to the good stuff. Lindsey was coming back down for the holidays. Since she’s not the biggest fan of Mount Dora, I had to sweeten the pot…How about a few days at Disney and Universal? That was all I had to say, and she was all in. We left early Wednesday morning and checked into Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. A quick bus ride took us to our first port of call…The Magic Kingdom. We had not been to the parks since 2018, and it sure felt great to be back. It wasn’t super-crowded, but when is the Magic Kingdom not crowded? It was rise-and-shine early Thursday morning and off to Epcot. The park was not busy at all, and we were excited to go on Remy's Ratatouille Adventure for the first time (Fun fact…Ratatouille is Rachel’s favorite Disney movie). We did a good amount of eating and drinking around the world and bought sweatshirts before leaving (you know it’s super cold in South Florida). We slept in a bit Friday morning and made the drive to Universal Studios. I hadn’t been there for a minute, and many of the rides had changed. It was pretty empty early on; we left the park around 2pm to make our way to Mount Dora.
After checking into our cottage, we walked a couple of blocks for race packet pickup. Glenda, Lindsey and I were walking the 5K, along with special guest participant Pam. Mary was registered but had to unavoidably drop out at the last minute 😢. The shirts for the 5K were very nice, but the shirts for the half marathon were just okay. We shopped for a little while, and then dined at the Goblin Market. It’s become a tradition to eat there on Friday night as our official anniversary dinner.
Pam parked at the cottage on Saturday morning, and we walked over to the start. We hadn’t seen her since last October, and I was excited that she was coming down to walk with us. The weather report for the weekend was not positive (to say the least). Rain, rain, and more rain…nonstop! That being said, it wasn’t going to start until after the 5K was over. It was fun catching up with Pam and we went to breakfast at One Flight Up Café afterwards. Once Pam hit the road, we did a bit more shopping before the skies opened-up. We have been doing a boat tour for the past few years; this year...no such luck. Fortunately (for me), there was pro football on all day, so it wasn’t a total loss. We dodged a few raindrops on our way to supper at the Olive Branch restaurant, which has also become our go-to for Saturday night dining. We got back to our cottage relatively dry, but it literally rained all night, making the start of the half marathon a major concern.
To my surprise and delight, the rain stopped about an hour or so before the race. It was around 56° when the race started, with 835 runners battling the elements. The ground was wet, but not really a factor. However, the wind was pretty strong and made it difficult to run if it weren’t at your back. I can’t explain why, but I didn’t really enjoy the race this year. Maybe the adverse weather, but I wasn’t “feeling it Mr. Krabs.” The knee felt good, but there were less people behind me than ever before. A little depressing, but it is what it is. I love the course, but my only real complaint is the lack of water stations. With about three miles to go, it started to rain. Not heavy, but enough to add to the misery of the cold weather and strong wind. As I crossed the finish line, Glenda and Lindsey were there to cheer me on (and take photos), but most of the folks had cleared out by this point. The medal was nice (they always are for this race), and they had lots of pizza at the end. I’ve done this race every year since it started, and I’m already signed up for next year.
2023 ended with the traditional 12 Miles of Christmas training run, hosted by Runner’s Depot. I usually do all 12 miles, but I decided to do six this year to save some wear and tear on my knee. Just as the run was about to begin, it started to pour. It delayed us for about ten minutes, and it was only sprinkling when we started. Funny line of the run…I went out with the ten-minute pace runners, since I know everyone was going to pass me anyway. As another group caught up to me, one of the runners said, “Good morning. I guess you’re running with our group now.” My response…” Good morning. I’m pretty sure I’ll be running with every group.” I was feeling froggy and did seven miles instead of six.
All in all, I did 78 more miles this year than last year. Hopefully, the upward trend will continue.
