Disneyland Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Anaheim, CO
Sunday, September 1
Half Marathon #91
Disneyland Half #3
Weather - the Sunniest!!

And of course to complete the Dumbo Double Dare challenge, we would be running the Disneyland half marathon (again). We read and RE-READ the information to be sure that we were NOT confused on the start time. This time, there were four of us that needed to get ready. We got out the door only about a minute late. We had a friend that was meeting us in Downtown Disney before we headed back over to Haagen Dasz to get a latte. I know, we have problems.

We were able to hit the bathrooms a few times, parted ways with the other Heather and then managed to wander into corral B (even though I somehow ended up with a D bib). We did start at the very back though. Thankfully, the race started early enough that it was dark and not YET a billion degrees.

So, the friend that we were running with had only run a handful of times in the last year, so I was a bit concerned that our Disney PR would be out of reach. SPOILER - WE PR'D!!!

Anyway, the plan of the day was to NOT be the very dead last people on the course, take pictures, have fun and try to get as much running in as possible before the sun melted our skin off.

Pictures:

 

I don't even know what is happening here

 

And as always, the magic pretty much ends when you leave the park and you don't have any more characters or random farm animals to get your picture taken with. I feel like we normally hit the blinding sun on the overpass, but we lucked out and I don't feel like had to deal with that until at least mile 5.

The sunniest sun ever!

The classic cars went on much longer than last year, which I guess gave us something to look at. And of COURSE, I loved this section of signage. Hilarious!!

Things sort of started to fall apart for Piglet when we had to run along the canal before entering Angels stadium. The BEST part of the entire race was the random tent that was handing out DONUTS. L and I managed to each grab a chocolate donut with M&M's that we split with Heather and Piglet. THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD DURING A RACE. I grabbed a couple gels but did NOT take one, I sure didn't need it. I was so pumped on sugar I almost crashed giving all the kids hi fives.

I mean, I know a Disney PR doesn't MATTER, but I had been looking at my watch all day and I knew it was attainable as long as we at least ran a LITTLE. Piglet sucked it up and ran quite a bit, and here I am obnoxiously telling her WE ARE ALMOST THERE:

Official Time - 3:08:24

Official 5k - 41:38

Official 10k - 1:32:52

Official 15k - 2:14:26

Overall Place - 10631/15847

Gender Place - 6034/10008

Division Place - 982/1601

Garmin Time - 3:08:34

Garmin Moving Time - 2:49:23

Mile 1 - 11:35

Mile 2 - 13:17

Mile 3 - 15:02

Mile 4 - 23:07

Mile 5 - 13:41

Mile 6 - 12:09

Mile 7 - 13:42

Mile 8 - 12:48

Mile 9 - 12:43

Mile 10 - 14:20

Mile 11 - 13:21

Mile 12 - 14:38

Mile 13 - 13:39

Mile 13.36 - 12:44

Thoughts:

• I love Disney races. They are so much fun.
• I will not run this race again (Heather, you need to hold me to this!!) - for no reason other than it has gotten really expensive to run Disney, so I am going to stick with just running Tinkerbell (I'm still a legacy runner!)
• Unlike WDW, they did not run out of gels, which was nice. Also, they did not run out of cups or water, and I think there was Powerade at every aid station.
• Very well organized event.
• My main complaints are the same - TOO MUCH MONEY AND I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE THE UNISEX SHIRTS.

Normal (Week 1)

I kind of enjoyed doing the weekly summaries for #NotEatingAllTheThings (more for my amusement and not for yours, sorry) and cramming all the pictures from the week into one post instead of short posts more often. So... I'll just keep doing that.

Tuesday - 1 mile run at the track with A. She decided with about .15 to go that the other random guy on the track was NOT going to pass her and she took off. Fastest pace? 6:23. I died trying to keep up. We also did a 2 mile ride around the neighborhood and I did arms, core and butt/thigh videos.

Wednesday - 8+ mile run on the treadmill. I had planned on an hour, then maybe 7 miles. I felt good, so I ran longer. That's nice.
Thursday - Got up early and did the arms, core and butt/thigh videos. I left work at 12:30 and had lunch with my co-worker. Picked up A at school at 2:30 and then drove to the airport. Flight to California was uneventful. Delicious dinner of PIZZA (start of an #EatEverything weekend). We went to Yogurtland, where we briefly met up with Madison. No pictures, since I am the worst blogger ever. I feel like we went to bed early, but I already have forgotten.
Friday - Stopped and got donuts for breakfast. TASTY TASTY TASTY. Heather got an extra pass for Disneyland, so in addition to the other Heather, me and A, L and H, we had Gabs along for the ride too! Did you know that California was the HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH on Friday?? It melted the kids in submission and they were the most well-behaved children on the planet. We rewarded the children with giant waffle cones and a trip to Build-A-Bear. We spent about 45 seconds at the expo. Bought zero things, and still SUPER DUPER UNIMPRESSED WITH THE DUMB UNISEX GIANT SHIRTS. For the billions of dollars I spend running Disney races, I would REALLY like a shirt I could actually wear again. Grrr. Dinner was spaghetti! Deeeelicious.

 

 

And the kids didn't even make it home before falling asleep...

Saturday -Disneyland 10k!! (You'll have to wait for the recap). We went to the INKnBURN warehouse sale, where I bought ALL THE THINGS. If only I had more time and money... our plan for the remainder of the day was going to the "lagoon." A fancy schmancy "beach" about a mile from Heather's house. We spent all afternoon there. Zero pictures. We had Costco pizza for dinner since the power at Heather's house was out ALL DAY. Bed early?

The bottom right neon tank was actually for someone else...

Just kidding. I took ONE picture. Not of the kids, but of the hot guy in the white swim shorts. Yum.

Sunday - Disneyland Half Marathon!! (Again, you'll have to wait for the recap). Brief trip to Downtown Disney, where I was on the lookout for a shirt for my next Disney race, but FAIL. After we all showered, we went to In N' Out for lunch. L had to leave to go back to Denver early afternoon. UNINTENTIONALLY, we went to the mall afterwards. Tried on some things at Lulu (buying nothing) and had CUPCAKES!!! Tasty dinner of hot dogs and... more beer!

Monday - Wake up at the crack of dawn to go on a 10 mile trail run with Heather on the Pacific Ridge trail. We were lucky enough for a bit cooler temperatures and some heavy fog for the first half. Turns out, most of the downhill was in the beginning as well. The second half was uphill and hot. But so pretty!! Took the kids to the pool for a few hours and then did... nothing. But, we had MORE PIZZA for dinner. I love pizza so much. SO, SO MUCH.

SOOOOO...
NO WEIGH IN THIS WEEK...

• I ate EVERYTHING this weekend. Seriously, all of the things. I had donuts - every single day. I had pizza (3 times!!!). I had In N' Out. I had candy. I had so many food items I really can't even remember what I ate.
• I had the best time visiting California. It is so much nicer to go out there and not have to just turn right around and come back.
• Also nice? Heather living the dream and not having to work while I was there!
• Social life is still non-existent. I posted a ridiculous status on Facebook and have been informed that internet dating is the new cool thing, BUT NOT THE FREE SITES. I guess I will check that out at some point.
• I am registered for double half marathons this weekend, but I think I'll skip the one on Saturday and do a 22 mile run with Hope and my new training group.