[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the Fun and Games podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Brittany Laptain, and let the games begin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the Funny Games podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: How is everybody this beautiful Wednesday?
[SPEAKER_00]: I was able to hit the gym today.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is such a luxury to be able to say that and to go to the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like before last year, every once in a while, I'd be like, oh, it's such a drag going to the gym and I'd complain or I'd not want to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd make excuses on certain days.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now that it has been session long break from the gym,
[SPEAKER_00]: I am always so eager to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: I still have a little bit of gym anxiety, of course, but I am like, this is such a privilege.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is such a luxury.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, we are going and we are getting a workout in regardless, and it has been so good for my mental health.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I can already tell in just the past two days of going to the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: that I feel so much better.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to take a lot more consistency for me to be able to see full results obviously, like physically, but mentally I can already tell.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm on the up and up again, and it makes me so happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been so fun trying new pre-workout.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been fun getting into new gym fit.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even though it was hard, taking such a long break, I feel like coming back full swing has been awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like sometimes you need to take a step back in order to really love and appreciate what you have.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like having an entire year, obviously that's not ideal for taking a break, but I have so much energy and focus and momentum and I'm so excited for whatever is gonna come my way this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you have had to take a little bit of a break, see it in a positive that you are fully charged and ready to get back into it and sometimes,
[SPEAKER_00]: It can be a good thing to remind you how much you love and missed that thing that you haven't been able to do for a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moving on to the funny games part of this segment, I will talk about the gain of getting back into the gym and like how my workouts have been going and what it looks like because
[SPEAKER_00]: After not working out for such a long time, I definitely have to start from scratch from the basics, running has been easy and following classes have been easier because it's more body weight and running like I can walk.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can run.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those two things have been fairly seamless, but actually going in and lifting has been a little bit more difficult.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our body does have a great job at having that muscle
[SPEAKER_00]: but my joints haven't been used to adding in weight so I've been trying to emphasize a lot of warm-up and a lot of mobility.
[SPEAKER_00]: Luckily I haven't lost too much mobility or flexibility but that's something that I definitely want to improve on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that I'm kind of starting back from square one, I did squats yesterday and that took a little bit for like my body to feel good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did try to do
[SPEAKER_00]: But I ended up moving to dumbbell and I'll probably do more dumbbell emphasis exercises for the next week or so just until I can confidently feel like I can get back into the routine of doing barbell movements like squats and death lifts and
[SPEAKER_00]: Lifting a little bit heavier, I definitely want to kind of ease into it and even doing just a simple dumbbell workout yesterday has my legs hurting.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I know I just need to take it slow and that's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's more about building this consistency and building this routine and enjoying going to the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just doing what I can and knowing that it's going to like I'm going to be back to a good place sooner than later.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that and so I'm just
[SPEAKER_00]: being patient with myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just feel so much more like myself and truly just I'm just so happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's the huge fun and gain of this week is just being able to hit the gym and get back into it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Starting to feel like myself again and it's so empowering.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moving into today's podcast episode, it is gonna be fun because I'm gonna recap basically what the entire last week was It was checking off the number one item on my bucket list.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't say it's like number one But it has been on my bucket list for so long and the fact that this opportunity just kind of fell into my lap It just to me was a sign that
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything's going to be okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a good year of things around the up and up again.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was I got to participate in Disney's marathon weekend and they sponsored this whole weekend or not even weekend.
[SPEAKER_00]: They sponsored like a whole week at Disney and I'm just going to kind of talk about prepping for the 10k race.
[SPEAKER_00]: and running that with my mom, the experience, and just kind of how that whole week went.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I talked a little bit previously on how special and specific this particular opportunity was to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mom had a really good friend when I was in high school who would invite her to run all these Disney races together and they would like always stay at the Disney Resort,
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, that is so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, she'd come home with these metal, and she would send the family pictures and show us her pictures, and then she came back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, that looks like so much fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was just something that I always wanted to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I really looked up to my mom.
[SPEAKER_00]: In doing that, we were able to run a five K together, I think it was like a color run through an amusement park called Kings Dominion when I think I had maybe just graduated high school or I was a senior and that was so fun and I was like I felt so proud and I loved doing that together with my mom, but I was like I still always wanted to do a Disney race like there was just something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Very nostalgic and special about that because I always looked up to her running those races So again, when this opportunity came, I Jumped on it and I called I first asked Darien like Darien is it okay if I run this race with my mom like I know my pace is not gonna be where Darien's is right now because he's been able to work out But I
[SPEAKER_00]: obviously I had to take a whole year off in everything so my running pace is not as fast so I was like are you okay if I call my mom and we invite her to this week and I run the race so turn he was like oh my gosh totally like that would be so awesome and that's so fun like I told in the back story and everything so we called my mom and she was so excited and I was so excited my mom flew in Disney put us in at the boardwalk resort.
[SPEAKER_00]: We stayed at a couple of resorts, like on our own before this we stayed at the Beach Club, a couple times the Caribbean, a couple times, and what is it like animal lodge?
[SPEAKER_00]: And our absolute favorites are definitely Beach Club, the Caribbean and the Riviera.
[SPEAKER_00]: So like if you are asking for a recommendation, if you're planning a Disney trip, those are the three.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Beach Club is awesome, their pool is one of the best, and it has a great water slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: It has some really good food, like outside by the pool that we love.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are close enough that you can walk to Ebb caught, and you're really close to the Skyliner, which also takes you to a couple of their resorts in Hollywood Studios, which is nice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like anytime you can avoid the buses, it's the best, so we do love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the boardwalk is also part of, like on that same place, like they're literally in the same circle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you walk the boardwalk to get to each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Caribbean and Riviera are also right next to each other and they're both right next to the Skyliner, which takes you into the parks, which is really quick and easy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it just makes traveling so quick.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like instead of waiting for a bus and then taking the bus, it's so nice to take the Skyliner plus if you have kids genuinely like this Skyliner is a Vinnie's favorite thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes if we don't even want to go on the park, like we will just ride the Skyliner across.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the thing that has like you sit in buckets and it just like,
[SPEAKER_00]: You travel in like cable cards to the park or two different resorts, which is really nice.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we love the Caribbean for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is beachy.
[SPEAKER_00]: We love anything with the beach.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like obviously we moved by the beach.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we love the tropical setting and the Caribbean is that vibe.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Riviera is also such a quiet, quaint vibe.
[SPEAKER_00]: it has amazing rooms, all like any Disney resort is great.
[SPEAKER_00]: You get a little bit extra hours and you don't have to read about park transportation, which is nice, and literally apparently knows so much about Disney, so I'm sorry I'll stop talking about the resorts.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we stayed at the boardwalk, which was awesome because we could walk to Epcot or take the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we show up, we check into Boardwalk, and then we head over to Ebb Cot.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are like four main parks when it comes to Walt Disney World.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there is Ebb Cot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like with this, we were able to do one day in each park.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they pay for like our fast passes, so we were able to go to the front of the line, which was
[SPEAKER_00]: freaking insane.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, wow, this is such a luxury, like pretty much got to walk on any three rides we wanted each day at each park, which was top tier.
[SPEAKER_00]: We went on guardians in ratatouille, and then we met up with kind of like the team that is sponsoring and hosting us for the marathon weekends.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were only
[SPEAKER_00]: to creators a couple of like press people and then the Brooks team.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was really cool because we went to like this secret hidden room and it like takes you up in this like hidden elevator to have like a private dinner which I felt so fancy I was like oh my gosh.
[SPEAKER_00]: and after like the introductory dinner when we got to meet everybody we then got to have a private like dessert and fireworks show in ebb caught which was cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: I loved their show at night and we felt so special as like oh my gosh like having gone to the Disney parks before
[SPEAKER_00]: and then going and experiencing like the backstage and like private tours and a private guide, I was like, oh, this is so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got a private escort to the frozen ride, which always has such a long wait.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was really fun that we were able to kind of just,
[SPEAKER_00]: Hop right on that ride at night and that was a wrap on day one day too.
[SPEAKER_00]: We woke up and had like private transportation to the Grand Floridian and we got to eat at one of their restaurants.
[SPEAKER_00]: Still with like the same group that we ate with the night before and it was so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have the cheesy grits there and like
[SPEAKER_00]: fresh ham they were like carving um that was such a good breakfast and it was cute because there were characters all around and they kept coming up to our tables and everything and of course like Vinny loved that my heart was just so full like just comparing how the start of last year was to this experience
[SPEAKER_00]: I was just so grateful, like truly, so grateful.
[SPEAKER_00]: After that, we then went to the running expo, which was overwhelming.
[SPEAKER_00]: We went the first day.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where you go to pick up your race bib and other items.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was so grateful.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got my mom and I, actually, all of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mom, Daryne and I all got free pairs of Brooks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, we got to pick which,
[SPEAKER_00]: collab.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shoe we wanted.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess for the Disney marathon weekend they always do a collab.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so my mom and I picked the Castle theme shoe and then Daryne picked the Mickey.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got our race bibs.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were so many people though.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was so overwhelming.
[SPEAKER_00]: But since we went with our special Disney person, we got to skip all the lines and she snuck us into everything and I was like, this is the best.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I would not want to go to the Expo on the first day.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was very overwhelming.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were so many people, the lines were insane as opposed to like, we ended up going to the Expo the very last day, Saturday morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mom and I and like nobody was there.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was not overwhelming.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was such a better experience, but, of course, like the first day, it's going to always be a little bit more chaotic.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was still really cool to experience and just to kind of catch the vibes and the hype around this weekend.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to pick up our matching race shirts and...
[SPEAKER_00]: After that, we headed straight into him trying to think what Park was day two, I think it was Hollywood Studios.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we did all of the rides at Hollywood Studios that we wanted to, and with those fast passes, like we were able to do so much, so quick.
[SPEAKER_00]: We did Tower of Terror, which is
[SPEAKER_00]: Vinnie's favorite, he's like a little bit scared of it, but like that is his favorite.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's always like, I wanna go on again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanna go on in again, and that was such a blast.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we did rise of the resistance, and then smugglers run.
[SPEAKER_00]: We also hung out at the pool, which was really nice back at the resort.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Vinnie and Darian headed back home early so that he could get back to school.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thirds day, I think I've logged that day.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's like the what I ate in a day.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think my mom and I did a shakeout run.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we had breakfast at the Riviera, which is the best breakfast, like hands down.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is so worth going there for breakfast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thing after that, we hung out at the pool for a while, which is so nice, like my mom is like, it's so crazy that it's such a good weather.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can hang out at the pool in January.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, I know, don't you want to move here.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the best.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got some good fun in the sun, and we read our books.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I finished the once upon a broken heart series.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh!
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like so sad because after I finished reading a series or a book, I'm like, oh my gosh, I just don't want to leave this universe.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like I need to soak it up like even more.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I honestly finished the entire trilogy and it's January 14th and I finished like that all three books and then I've also read the wedding people which I surprisingly really really liked.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really, really like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm track the trigger warnings with that one because it does have to deal with some like Meda Health things.
[SPEAKER_00]: We read our books at the pool.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mom is currently reading Queen of Shadows.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had her start the Throne of Glass series and
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just she's never gonna be the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's never gonna be the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, I cannot wait like I'll have to give you guys updates as she reads it because still that is the best book series of all time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I miss being in that world like every day I think about it like not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of that book series in some way or another I love it so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: After that, we then walked over to like one of the neighboring resorts, and it just got like a bacon cheeseburger, which was fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we went to Animal Kingdom where we got to meet up with the group again.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have like a news utopia show.
[SPEAKER_00]: It used to be like it's tough to be a bug, but they changed it to utopia, which was fun, and then we did another team dinner with characters and we ate.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was fun, it was a buffet, so we got some good food, and then my mom and I did two rides.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just did Everest and Avatar, and then we headed back to the hotel kind of early that night, because our race day was the next morning, and we had to wake up at like 330, race day, so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: So good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll say I only the longest I had ran before this 10k was 4 miles.
[SPEAKER_00]: I only had, I'd say, 5 days to prep for this race because I wasn't cleared to work out or to run or anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: until like early January, but I did run four miles so I knew I'd be able to be okay and again, I knew I was going to be running more at my mom's pace because it really was just about running the race together.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think we ended up walking.
[SPEAKER_00]: some of the 10k it's just 6.2 miles and it was really cool because you run through the park.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we had pretty much walked all of Ebb caught and then when we ran we were like wow we pretty much like walk a 10k every single day you think about it and like when you're walking the Disney parks you're pretty much walking what you would run which was cool so
[SPEAKER_00]: The race was really fun though, like the vibes and the energy is so high, and they have like DJs and music and movies and characters like every quarter mile.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's something and it is fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is super early, so it's all dark when you start running.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you know, a lot of the times like you'll run while the sun is coming up depending how long your race is, but it was really special.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's something that I'm never going to forget.
[SPEAKER_00]: Running that race together and crossing the finish line together.
[SPEAKER_00]: They like announced our names as we were coming up on the finish line, and I was just like What are the chances like I just happened to be filming at that second?
[SPEAKER_00]: I had just started my camera and I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just mean so much like especially is like I'm getting older and my mom is getting older and like
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to think about parents getting older like that's, you know, it's scary.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just am grateful for every memory and every moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can really enjoy with my parents.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm grateful for all of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think next time if we have a little bit more time to prep, we'll do costume ideas.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that'd be so much fun because there were a lot of people who were dressed up.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you can like see all that in pretty much like my Instagram videos and my TikTok and my YouTube if you want to see visuals there's a lot of content over all of this and pretty much like Everything I'm talking about in this podcast you can watch over on my YouTube.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is basically just the audio version recap of it after the race.
[SPEAKER_00]: We honestly felt really good, which I was surprised.
[SPEAKER_00]: We went home, we shoured, and then we went right to Magic Kingdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: We did our fast passes, and I think we went on Tron, which honestly you guys do not wait in line to ride that ride.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is like 10 seconds long.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only good part is the part that's outside.
[SPEAKER_00]: I do not want you to wait, because the line is like 180 minutes, not worth it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not worth it, though.
[SPEAKER_00]: We did Space Mountain, we did Tron, we did Splash Mountain, and we did Peter Pan, and then they had this special photo shoot opportunity for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when I got to take pictures with their photo pass, memory maker thing, and that was fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it basically was like a 20 minute book session with someone specifically to get good shots, which I'm thinking, like,
[SPEAKER_00]: That actually would be a great thing if I was going with my family or like a family reunion, you know it's worth paying that because you're going to get good photos in those 20 minutes and then you don't have to worry about like trying to get the perfect photo, the whole trip, especially if you have like a big family or like you just want nice pictures with.
[SPEAKER_00]: a camera.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, oh, that is such a good clutch thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm glad we have all of those photos.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Disney was a nice two book, a massage after the race.
[SPEAKER_00]: So then I got to enjoy a massage.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was at the Grand Floridian.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we hung out kind of at the beach and relaxed and did that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did a little bit of shopping.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I think we headed, oh, no, I think that's the night.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of these nights we had a really fun rooftop dinner at the Riviera's restaurant.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we also went somewhere good at the Polynesian.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was just so nice to celebrate with my mom and celebrate our race and just sharing so many good memories together.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was really proud of being able to run and we walked a little bit of the 10k.
[SPEAKER_00]: and I'm excited to run some more races this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really want to do another 5k, I want to do another 10k, I want to do a half marathon, so I'm going to be writing a different training program so that it's pretty hybrid, so I can maintain running, maintain some good mileage, but also lift and be able to build back some muscles.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm really excited about a new workout split.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just the opportunity to move my body again.
[SPEAKER_00]: next week's Q&A is an advice column.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you have questions, you can ask them in an email to hello at funigainspodcast.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: That will help ensure that I see the comment or that I can see your questions.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll also be putting up a question box so you can look for that as well on the
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that this was really pretty much just a story time and like an audio version of what my YouTube video was going to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: I need to finish editing that and uploading that this week, but I think if anything, I want to encourage you to make some memories with your family.
[SPEAKER_00]: your parents.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're married and have a family of your own, making those experiences are so important and crucial, those are core memories.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think also, as my parents are getting older, as I'm getting older, I'm really trying to be intentional about spending as much time with them as possible and making
[SPEAKER_00]: all of those days count while they're still in good health.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm still in good health and not to be morbid or anything, but time is so short.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to bottle up as many shared experiences as possible and to be able to cherish those.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it doesn't have to be in elaborate Disney trip.
[SPEAKER_00]: It can be something as like, if you live close to them, like, take your mom up for dinner, take your dad off for dinner, like, ask them questions about their lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not everybody has the best relationship with their parents.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this could then just be with your media family or really close friends or grandparents or anything I just want that to be your challenge this week or this month or this year is to try to really deepen
[SPEAKER_00]: your connection with your family or with your friends and create some really good new memories and have good and positive shared experiences that you can talk about for years to come and again they don't have to be something elaborate.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes the best times are just hanging out and making memories at your own house, but just being intentional with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like it was the boost that I really needed after a pretty difficult year last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's already been such a positive, I feel so much better already.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you guys are all doing good and being kind to yourself and loving yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Reach out to somebody that you probably haven't talked to in a while, family, friends, start making those new connections, and don't forget that going to the gym is a luxury.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a privilege!
[SPEAKER_00]: So enjoy it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Get after it if you're able and work hard.
[SPEAKER_00]: Reach your goals.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got this.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a new year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's bring the heat and with that being said, bring the questions for next week's episode with having sad.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll talk to you all next week by answering your questions for some more fun and games.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are listening to the fun and games podcast with your host, Brittany Lapton.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to another episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast, and we'll see you all next time for some more fun and games.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye!