Inspirational story

Some take their inspiration from Inspiration Falls in the Jungle Cruise, while others take their inspiration from stories such as this from the Animal Kingdom . . .

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing.

The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant.

Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

This is for everyone who emails me

those heart-warming b.s. stories.

Well, no goopy heart-warming b.s. stories or inspiration here today folks. If you're going to train, then train already.

I'll check back in later with a status report regarding today's flogging at the gym. Hopefully I'll still be walking when it's through.

Still goofin' . . .

____________________________

Daily Training Note: 5k treadmill, 5000 meter rowing machine, 35 minutes elliptical machine. I feel like someone dropped the proverbial hammer on me. I'm creaky, sore and cranky. There will be more self loathing and punishment at the gym tomorrow.

You idiot

You idiot, this isn't supposed to be easy.

Sometimes I forget just how hard training for a marathon can be. Once you wrap your brain around that fact (for the first time, or again), the training process becomes a lot clearer. Oh, it's still hard, but the mental part becomes manageable.

Physically, I am doing a lot better than before. I am dealing with some kind of sprain, not a break in my left foot. This I can deal with.

I am going to run less than I want to at this stage in my training. I've got to work on my endurance without destroying my foot.

Here's the plan. I will be supplementing the running with the elliptical machine. The elliptical will let me work on endurance without the high impact on left foot from running.

Tonight I did a 10K run on the treadmill, followed by a 2000 meter stint on the new rowing machine, and 45 minutes on the elliptical. Tonight's workout lasted 2 hours. I would have gone longer but they started turning out the lights at the gym. I guess I'll just have to go back tomorrow.

Back to the goofy grind . . .

I Spy the Disney Dream

It's safe to assume that most of the folks who frequent this blog likely know that the Disney Cruise Line is building two new ships: The Disney Dream and The Disney Fantasy. Both are being built by Meyer Werft Shipyards in Papenberg, Germany.

The Disney Dream will come online on January 2011. While I would love to go aboard, it is not in the cards at this time. We went on the Disney Magic for a 7-day cruise in 2001 and loved it, but I digress.

The Meyer Werft shipyard has two indoor construction docks, pictured above with the Celebrity Solstice leaving dock. Several years ago when I heard that Meyer Werft was building Disney's new ships, I checked them out. To my delight I found that they have webcams, updated weekly, that show what they are constructing.

However, to my dismay, Disney stated some time ago that their ships would not be constructed in front of the webcam. Or would they?

While checking out the weekly webcam update today, I ran across the picture above on the Meyer Werft press photo page. This is no webcam shot. This shows a much wider view of Building Dock II than the webcam, where they are currently constructing the Celebrity Eclipse, a sister ship to the Solstice. Something caught my eye. Another ship is taking shape in the same construction hall.

What ship could that be? Hmmmmmm? How about we study the photo a bit.

As stated on the Meyer Werft site, the Disney Dream will be take form through a block construction process in which pre-fabricated complete hull sections are joined together in block units and are then brought together to form the ship. The Disney Dream will be made up of 80 blocks, with the first block weighing in at approximately 380 tons.

This photo shows a number of blocks sitting waiting to be put in place. If you count the decks in these blocks, we are looking at Deck 4 of whatever ship is being constructed.

On the Disney Cruise Line site, they have a deck-by-deck breakdown of the Disney Dream. Deck 4 shows a starboard-facing theater with stadium seating. This is the Buena Vista Theatre which will show current Disney-company movies. If you notice, the Deck 4 diagram shows the promenade running along each side of the ship.

Now, take a look at the photo above. This is clearly a block with a starboard-facing stadium theater. A promenade deck is located on both the port and starboard sides of the ship. How do we know it is Deck 4? Look at the block behind it. Count the decks. This is the Buena Vista Theatre block waiting to be put in place.

Now, look at the block behind the Buena Vista Theatre. On Deck 4 of that block you can see forward-facing stadium seating that spans the entire width of the ship. What could this be? That is the Walt Disney Theatre, which will someday host live broadway-style stage shows. This too matches the Deck 4 diagram. On the diagram, there is no promenade on the port or starboard sides of the Walt Disney Theatre. The theatre goes the entire width of the ship.

One final piece to the puzzle: The Celebrity Eclipse is being constructed in Building Dock II, the larger of the two Meyer Werft buildings. See right-hand side building pictured above. Since the Disney Dream is the largest ship Meyer Werft has ever built, they would likely be using Building Dock II for the Dream as well.

The more I study this photo, the more I am convinced that it is the Disney Dream under construction.

The press photo in question here was released on October 13, 2009. It is now about a month out-of-date. The current webcam photo shows a different arrangement of ship blocks on the right side. However, on the left side there is now a ship taking shape in front of the Celebrity Eclipse.

If I am right, that is the Disney Dream. I wonder if Disney has noticed that Meyer Werft has released photos of its Top Secret under-construction ship?

Donald #37 for 2009

Saturday was a beautiful warm day here in Iowa. Temperatures were between 67 and 73 degrees F all day. In all, it was a perfect day for a half marathon run. So, it was up to the Wabash Trace for a half marathon--probably one of the last for the year (in fact, now I'm sure it was).

About 7 miles into the run my left foot started to hurt. The pain kept getting worse. The good news, I was already on my way back to my truck when the pain started. The bad news . . . I had about 6 miles to go.

Eventually I limped all the way back to the truck and drove home.

It's been a couple days and my foot does not feel any better. I am hoping it is just some kind of sprain or strain. I'm really hoping it is not some kind of hairline fracture in my foot. The timing on this is terrible. We are 60 days out from the WDW Marathon Weekend and I am unable to run at all. I've been limping around since Saturday afternoon.

If I can't run between now and then, I've got to figure out what I can still do to train for those races. I am still doing the Goofy Challenge.

Here's hoping I just strained something.

Shanghai Disney

Okay, this is a little odd. This is the first time that I have seen Disney openly acknowledge in print that they are going forward on a Magic Kingdom-style theme park in Shanghai China. So far, none of the Disney fan news sites have picked up on it. Granted, it's one of the worst kept Disney secrets right now, but still. And announced on twitter.com/disneyparks no less. The press release from the official Disney Parks blog is below.

Thoughts?

__________________________

We have exciting news tonight. The Walt Disney Company has released information concerning the Shanghai theme park project and we wanted to share it with you first on The Disney Parks Blog. Here’s the news release:

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REACHES ANOTHER MAJOR MILESTONE
ON SHANGHAI THEME PARK PROJECT

BURBANK, Calif. – November 3, 2009 – The Walt Disney Company today announced that the Project Application Report (PAR) for a Disney theme park in the Pudong district of Shanghai has received approval from the relevant authorities of the central government of China.

“China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone for The Walt Disney Company in mainland China,” said Robert A. Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

The PAR approval will enable Disney and its Shanghai partners to move forward toward a final agreement to build and operate the park and begin preliminary development work. Upon completion of the final agreement, the project’s initial phase would include a Magic Kingdom-style theme park with characteristics tailored to the Shanghai region and other amenities consistent with Disney’s destination resorts worldwide.

About The Walt Disney Company China
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a diversified international family entertainment enterprise with five business segments and is a Dow 30 company with revenues of nearly $38 billion in its most recently reported fiscal year. Our first animation screened in China in the 1930s and today our long association continues with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with over 600 employees.

About Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are where families experience and enjoy the magic of Disney’s beloved characters and where dreams come true. More than 50 years ago, Walt Disney created a new kind of entertainment families could experience together, immersed in detailed atmospheres and vibrant storytelling. His vision now includes a collection of five of the world’s leading family vacation destinations – Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, Calif.; Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan; Disneyland Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, France; and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, located on Lantau Island. In addition, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts includes the world-class Disney Cruise Line; Disney Vacation Club, with 10 resorts and more than 400,000 members; Adventures by Disney, a guided group vacation experience to some of the world’s most popular destinations; and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates and designs all Disney parks, resorts and attractions.

Happy Halloween

Sometimes people ask the question, "What do you run for?" On a day like this, the better question is, "What do you run FROM?"

Only someone twisted enough to voluntarily run 13.1, 26.2, or 39.3 miles would be twisted enough to appreciate this vision of Disney.

Sweet dreams.

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Training Note: Today was a 10K plus 2000 meters on the new rowing machine at the gym. Good core workout.

Until next time, just keep goofin' . . .

39.3

In 71 days we storm the Magic Kingdom! Marathoners! Prepare for glory!!!

Marathoners never retreat! Marathoners never surrender! Go spread the word. Let every runner assembled know the truth of this. Let each among them search his soul. And while you're at it, search your own.

Are you doing what is required to prepare?

I am doing what I must. Tomorrow I start daily 10k's. Without a doubt, I have much to do to prepare for the 39.3-mile Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge.

Runners, whatever your race this January, remember . . . THIS IS DISNEY!!!!!!