Race Report: 2015 Disneyland 10k

We're back from Disneyland, starting to get caught up on sleep and laundry, and ready to reflect on a great weekend.  There were so many highlights, so be patient--you've got LOTS of posts coming your way!

Let's start with the races themselves.  No one ran the 5k, but by looking at pictures and reading other recaps, it seemed like a great race.  Darn work that keeps expecting me to actually show up in order to collect my paycheck! Hahaha!

The expo for us was fairly unremarkable.  We got our bibs and shirts, looked at the line for official merchandise and decided to not even bother, and I had a quick chat with Jeff Galloway about coaching.  He recommended a few books for me as a new coach and really got me excited about the opportunity ahead of me to coach all levels of athletes.  Needless to say, I'm taking his advice very seriously--he's a pro!

Let's jump to the morning of the 10k.  The whole crew was running!  My mom dressed up in race-themed Red Queen, and Bill, Chris, Katie, and I were the Dapper Dans.  This was BY FAR the most elaborate costume we'd ever done.  We had been crafting for months and I just barely finished ours the day before.

Got photo-bombed!

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel--can you say SPOILED!  Chris and Katie were asking if we were ready and we had just woken up.  I don't know how we'll ever go back to the other hotels.  We headed to the start line, all starting in corral D.  We must have been stopped a dozen times for pictures--the costumes were definitely a hit.

Being in corral D, we didn't get much of the beginning of race fanfare.  We kept ourselves occupied until it was our turn to begin.  We settled into a 1:30/1 run/walk ratio.  It felt great to be running in cool weather and of course, running through Disneyland.  Should I tell you all again how much I love this 10k course?  It has so much park time!

Of course, running pregnant means lots of port-o-potty stops for me, so I had to stop right after mile 1.  The rest of the Dans went along without me, so I had to really run to catch up. I ran into a few friends and got back to the crew within a few minutes (but phew...I was tired from running a 9:30 pace...I'm definitely slower pregnant!)

This is my fave pic from the course

The course sends you through the convention center area, Disneyland, DCA, and Downtown Disney. No need for music or distractions...it was all just pure fun!  I did get a cramp from either running too fast catching up or from too much water so my last half mile was all walking, but hey, I was just there for the fun!

The medal was impressive, but in all honesty I wasn't really into the theme.  Disney always does great medals though, and the finish is always a party.  It was getting warm and we were ready to shower and hit the parks, but first, we had BIG finish plans--we needed a picture with the real Dapper Dans!

We headed to Disneyland and a cast member told us that their first appearance was scheduled at 11. We had breakfast, rode a ride, and hung out on Main St waiting...and waiting...and waiting. No show for the Dapper Dans!  We were seriously bummed!  The irony was the rest of the weekend we saw them everywhere!!!!  Oh well...we at least had our awesome costumes and pictures together.

We met another set of Dans at the Finish Line!

Overall it was another great race and the start of a great weekend.  Baby S' second 10k, and our 3rd Dumbo Double Dare was off to a great start!

Race Report: 2015 Tink 10k

Race day was here!  I was psyched for my first ever 10K.  What a better place to do it but the Happiest Place on Earth!

It was a pleasure staying at the Disneyland Hotel.  We were so close to the start.  I was a little nervous, but Alyson had faith in me.  Now all I needed was a little trust and Pixie Dust!

We donned our Sparkle Skirts, Raw Threads top and Sweaty Bands and headed to the corrals.

As we settled into our places in corral E, numerous times Alyson was told she was in the wrong corral.  I guess it was hard to understand why someone in Corral A would move themselves all the way back to the last corral.   But Aly was determined to get Mom through this and I appreciated her company. 

Yes, the last corral was crowded. We were up towards the front, but looking behind me I saw a sea of runners.It was almost a half hour past the official start time when our corral finally crossed the start.  We were off!

The first few miles were amusing as we paced through our run/walk/run intervals. Alyson was in charge of the timer.   I kept hearing it go off and asked, walk? The answer was no.  It seemed like everyone had timers on all different intervals and that is what I was hearing. She had ours on vibrate and finally told me…I’ll let you know each interval!

There were some hills (ok, they were small but to me it was tough), but after that you got a good deal of park time.  I loved running down Main Street towards the castle.  The cast members in the backstage areas were such great chEarleaders!   Then you navigate California Adventure before heading to the finish. I absolutely love how much time was spent in the parks and backstage area.

I loved running down Main Street towards the Castle!

Beautiful day for Paradise Pier!

Because I was unsure of myself, I didn’t want to stop for any pictures.   I do wish I had at least gotten a mile marker pic.   Alyson did take a couple of selfies!

Only two miles to go!

We did it!

As the finish line came in sight, I knew I made it.  My official time wasn't good, but that was my fault.   I should have trained better. But, I finished and yes, I had tears in my eyes as I approached the finish.   I really enjoyed this race and was really proud of myself (and of Alyson who probably struggled to keep my slow pace!). 

Bill met us at the finish and we all headed back to the hotel to get ready for our visit to the parks.  When we got to the hotel, the kids surprised me with the best Congrats and Mother’s Day surprise (so good it deserves its own post!).  

My first "real" medal!

S'mores Bake

We celebrated at Disneyland Park with a late lunch at Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue where Alyson insisted she "needed" the s'mores bake dessert because she had to "carb load" for tomorrow's second half of the Pixie Dust Challenge.  Neither Bill or I questioned her choice.  It was delicious, but we really needed a "doggie bag"

I truly enjoyed my Mother's Day weekend racecation at Disneyland. Did you run Tinkerbell this year? How do you like to celebrate after a race?  Have you ever tasted the s'mores bake?

Adventures in Learning to Fly

"Think of the happiest things, 

it's the same as having wings!!!"

RunDisney’s countdown clock reads 25 days to the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend. 

 

This means my trip to Disneyland is getting closer and I get to spend some time with my “kids”.  I haven’t seen Aly and Bill since Christmas.   I’m even taking an extended vacation and visiting them in Vegas for a bit.  I registered for the Hot Chocolate 5k in Vegas the following weekend, but it was postponed.   (That was my “safe” race so I could come home with a medal in case I didn’t finish the Tinkerbell 10K.  Yes, I have decided that if I do not finish, I am not taking the medal.   It’s a personal choice and it wouldn’t mean anything to me unless I finish. )

Training has been tough in the northeast. I'm not motivated to run outside since the weather has been so cold.  It seems that when it warms up, it rains.   Alyson told me “it might rain on race day” so I should just go for it.  I won’t have a choice on race day. I have a choice when I’m training. I keep choosing the treadmill.

The treadmill and I are not friends.   I hate running on it.  And, the treadmill let me know it’s feeling for me a couple of weeks ago.  When I took my phone out of its case, my driver’s license (which wasn’t properly tucked into its pocket) went flying out and disappeared into thin air.   We looked underneath, moved the treadmills and couldn’t find it anywhere.   I’m thinking it conveniently fell between the belt and frame.  So thank you, treadmill, for making me stand in line at the DMV on the last day of the month!! 3 hours later, I had my new driver’s license in hand.   

Last weekend, I did my 4.5 miles on the treadmill, again (the temp was only 28 that morning).   I’m hoping it warms up one of these days so I can do my runs outside.  I’ve even tried switching up the training plan Alyson gave me to fit the forecast, but alas, on those days, the forecast was wrong (or at least was way off for the times I had to fit in my run).  

This week, as bib numbers and corral placements came out, it was like everything fell into place!  The gym called this morning and the treadmill finally “coughed up” my driver’s license.  I no longer fear the finish line.  I actually say “when” instead of “if”.  I realized that I did my 4.5 miles and it didn’t bother me.   I’m actually looking forward to my 4.5 miles outside this weekend.  And, hopefully the next few weekends of mile increases will also be outside.  

Yes, things are looking up.  My costume will be simple because I need to comfortably get through my first 10k. Alyson and I will be dressed alike.  I'm honored that she's planning to move back from corral A to run with me!!  I’m looking forward to “flying” across that finish line.   And then, proudly wear my medal as Bill and I watch Alyson complete the Pixie Dust Challenge!

Will we see you wearing one or more of these medals at Disneyland?  We'll be looking for you on the course!

Race Report: 2015 Star Wars 10k

I’ve been running so much, I haven’t had time to recap races—get ready—there’s lots coming your way!  

Just a few days after coming home from Disney World, I was packing up again to head to Disneyland for the Inaugural 2015 Star Wars weekend!  This was a much-anticipated race, and I’m not even a huge Star Wars fan!  I knew it would be a blast and Disney would do it big, and boy, they did not disappoint.

Every once in a while, I actually HAVE to work, so I couldn’t get away to be at the expo on the day it opened.  I knew this meant I would miss out on some of the merchandise, and I definitely did.  In fact, I ended up with nothing from the runDisney official booth.  I went on Friday morning, parked at Downtown Disney (it’s free for 2 hours) and pretty much made it in and out within that time.  The expo ran very similar to the Disneyland Half Weekend, with the bib pickup being on the lower “parking” level of the Disneyland Hotel and the merchandise being in the ballroom.  They continued with the current practice of taking your photo for the challenges, and that was right next to bib pickup.  I would imagine that Thursday was madness, but by Friday the expo was pretty manageable.  With that said, I saw tons of cute stuff I wish I could have had the chance to purchase.  Maybe next time…

The 10k started at 5:30, so we were in for an early wake-up call.  My hubby and I were running the 10k together, focusing on all the fun and not so much on time.  I’ve always been a procrastinator, but this took the cake-I was actually sewing my costume at 3:00 in the morning, the day of the race.  It didn’t help that I was nursing a cold I got sometime in Disney the prior weekend, and all I wanted to do was sleep.  It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself, and I got a ton of compliments on the course. 

We stayed at a hotel on Katella Ave, so we used the Good Neighbor Hotel Transportation which is free for the weekend for runners (be sure to stop by the transportation booth at the expo for vouchers).  It was definitely too far to walk, so this was a great option!  No one is awake enough to drive at that hour!  We walked from the buses to the start to meet up with some friends; we honestly were running a bit late.  The start line was right outside Paradise Pier hotel, which left only one bank of port-o-potties for me to hit prior to the race start.  I’m a bit of a ritualistic personality when it comes to races…two stops for me.  I figured I’d be okay since it was a 10k. 

We started in corral B.  Instantly we were impressed by the costumes and theme of the start line.  I cannot say enough how much I love 10ks at Disneyland!  They have so much more park time, and it seriously flies by!  We were off quickly heading away from Downtown Disney. 

We started in Disneyland.  Even though this park is usually all about fantasy, they really kept the theme going—there was no princess in sight!  Tomorrowland was where the best action was, and the line for Darth was HUGE!  We opted to not stop for characters and just enjoy the scenery.  I did sneak a little Stormtrooper action in the background.  Oh, and because it just makes sense, don’t be surprised that you don’t run through the castle.  That wouldn’t be very Star Wars like…

Once you exit Disneyland, you head into DCA through the front entrance.  Even the marque had the theme going on! 

We always love our Tower of Terror pic—we are starting to collect these from quite a few races.  Maybe we should come up with a new pose?

We came up around the back of DCA and we were done.  It was a great race!  Great finish line, great bling, great runners, just all around a great race.  Even though I’m not a Star Wars aficionado, I would definitely run this course again!  I’m definitely recycling this costume too—it was one of the best I’ve ever done.  I considered a Wookie Princess, but chickened out.  Look out for it soon, though.  I can’t wait to wear it again!

Up next, the Star Wars Half Marathon, and Part 2 of the Rebel Challenge!