Disneyland Half Marathon 2013

The second leg of the Dumbo Double Dare (and Ryan's very first half marathon) is IN THE BOOKS!

The morning started off pretty early - but that is what you have to come to expect with runDisney events [keep in mind, they still need to open the parks once the races are done, so they need to participants off the course by a certain time]. I set my alarm for 4am, but of course was up prior to it going off (probably closer to 3:45am or so).

Ryan and I got ready and were out the door by around 4:30am, on our way over to the corrals. We made a pit stop at the Disneyland Hotel to use the 'real bathrooms' one last time before the race. I thought I knew the 'secret' spot, but apparently everyone knew about it because there was a MUCH longer like than I have seen there at the last 3 races I used it for (Disneyland Half Marathon 2012, TinkerBell Half Marathon 2013, yesterday's Disneyland 10K 2013, and this morning's Disneyland Half Marathon 2013).

We were able to make it to our corral (Ryan was in C, so I jumped back a corral because we wanted to run together) by around 5:00am. We took a couple pictures, did a little stretching, sang the National Anthem, cheered for the wheelchair and challenged racers and the first two corrals and then it was time for us to take off!

Selfie!

The hoards of people! I think there were close to 25,000 runners!

Ryan getting ready for his FIRST half marathon!

Ryan's bib

We were able to ask a fellow runner to take a picture of us

The race was extremely hot and humid. Thankfully the sun stayed behind some clouds until we were near mile 6.5 (last year the sun was straight in our eyes for a good straight 4 miles, so thankfully we were able to miss some of that) - which was amazing.

Ryan wanted to be around 2:30, so at the Expo on Friday I picked up a bracelet from ClifBar that had splits that we were supposed to aim for to meet our finishing time goal. They were around 11:27 minutes miles. After we had been out in the heat on Saturday I told Ryan I didn't want him to be bummed or disappointed if we didn't hit the goal, since the weather did NOT seem to be in our favor.

I noticed around mile 3 that we were already under the pace, so instead of slowing down a bit, we decided to keep pushing it. We ended up keeping around 10:55 minute mile pace - which included walking through all the water stations (because I cannot run and drink at the same time, so it is safer to lose a few seconds and not choke) and a pit stop at the bathroom in CarsLand.

We ended up finishing around 2:22, which was 8 minutes FASTER than Ryan's goal - TOTALLY AWESOME!! And as you can see from the timing, we were actually getting faster throughout the course, which I was NOT expecting, especially with the temperatures rising quickly once the sun came out.

I think I started my watch a little late, but the weaving adding a little extra distance. 

Us with our medals in Downtown Disney

SMILE! WE DID IT!

The guy that took this "photo" actually was in video mode, so we had to screenshot a decent part of the 'movie' - bummer!

We were able to make it back to the hotel by around 8:45am, Ryan took a quick shower, and then we were able to eat our continental breakfast. We were on the road by about 9:30am and back to the house around 10:30am.

Of course he can have a waffle - he just ran 13.1 miles!

He was a little snooze-y on the way home and slept the WHOLE WAY!

OF COURSE I had to take some pictures of the BLING (I mean that IS why we run, right?!)!

Disneyland 10K Tech Tee, Bib and Bling

Disneyland Half Marathon Tech Tee, Bib and Bling

Dumbo Double Dare Tech Tee, Bib and Bling

All the medals from this weekend's runDisney races I ran in :)

To say I am proud of Ryan is the UNDERSTATEMENT of the YEAR! HE ROCKED THE RACE!! And he even mentioned he might think about doing another one... YAY!!

...Until next year Disneyland Half Marathon:)...

Disneyland 10K

Race #1 of the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare is COMPLETE!!

Please ignore the 5K background, I didn't realize it when I asked a fellow runner to take my picture (I guess that was why there were no lines to use this backdrop :)). 

This morning I participated in the Inaugural Disneyland 10K. It was a GREAT time! The heat and humidity were NOT fun, but once I felt the weather I knew I was going to take it nice and easy.

Feet ready to move

Normally I do not stop to take pictures during a race - the main reason is because I take my races 'seriously' and want to focus on my time (don't get me wrong, I am not speedy, but I still do try my hardest - especially when I am paying for the entry and training for the run). Today, especially since I am running a half marathon tomorrow, I wanted to just take it nice and easy.

I stopped and took a couple 'scenery' pictures along the course.

Cozy Cone

Mickey's Ferris Wheel

The Castle!

Thankfully I was in an early corral (I was in the front of Corral B, but they let us out with the end of Corral A), which meant the lines were SHORT for the characters! WHOO HOO!! The longest line I waited in was about 3 or 4 runners.

Farm animals on the course?! OF COURSE!

We will just consider him a pony?! 

Me and the ladies

Had to stop since it was a Wonderland themed race :)

Off with her head?! 

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Run!

Me and the Chipmunks! 

Like I mentioned, the heat, humidity, and fact that I have another race in the morning kept me going slow and steady throughout the course. Even with walking through the water stations and stopping to take a bunch of photos, I still kept around 10 minute miles (Ryan chuckled and said that it was still faster than his normal pace).

Pretty awesome bling!

'Artsy' shot [for my dad] of my finishing time, finisher medal, and shoes

I told Ryan that he could sleep in this morning, instead of coming down to the start line with me around 5am [not to mention he wanted to eat the hot continental breakfast that we got with our hotel stay] - how nice of me, huh?! That meant this morning was actually the first race that I have ever started without him being there, but thankfully I met some 'friends' that kept me company - YAY FOR Team#RunDisney (THANKS SPECIFICALLY TO KRISSY - check her out over at Outrunning the Monorail and Shiawase Life).

Team#RunDisney MeetUp before the 10K

Ry and I were planning on him watching me finish and then meeting up, but the silly boy forgot his phone at home, so when he missed my finish (they even announced my name when I crossed the finish line) we had a difficult time finding each other. Thankfully we were able to meet up after about 10 minutes of looking and he grabbed some 'finisher' pictures for me.

I had a great time and am glad I was able to get so many fun shots. Now on to tomorrow's race - RYAN'S VERY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!!! SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!

California Adventure

Yesterday, after we went to the Expo and the Bacon Challenge MeetUp, we decided to hit up the parks a little (we were lucky enough to have our annual passes NOT blacked out, since they have been all summer).

It was extremely warm (when we checked into the hotel around 2pm the thermometer on the car said it was 98*), so we made sure to bring in water bottles that we were able to fill up (for free) at the drinking fountains around the park. [Ryan even suggested I ask some of the food stands for ice and every time they kindly gave me a large cup of ice that I put in the bottle.]

When we made it into California Adventure it seemed empty. I mean, not extremely empty, but for what I was expecting it was empty! I was assuming it would be packed due to the race, holiday weekend, and a Friday.

We were able to walk right onto California Screamin',

[we took a fun picture, where we were both looking and pointing off into the distance, but the glare on the screens was super bad, so the picture didn't turn out on my phone]

ride the Silly Symphony Swings twice (we actually asked them if we could just stay on a second time, since there wasn't a long line and they let us - how fun),

drop in to the Tower of Terror,

and grab some fun photos around the park all within about 2 hours.

Pluto wanted HUGS

We didn't end up making it over to Disneyland (we were originally planning on heading back over after we grabbed pizza to hit up a few rides and watch the fireworks), but decided we would get the extra rest.

All-in-all it was a pretty great, quick trip - which reminded me of why we love going!

I SAY MICKEY, YOU SAY MOUSE!

Pump-Up Video!

GO BLUE!!

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Heading to DL!

IT’S DISNEYLAND DAY!! WHOOO HOOO!! 

We love our DL!

[Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple days, I have had a few things come up that I needed to handle before we head out of town for the weekend]

Today Ryan and I will be heading up to Anaheim!! It is the weekend we have been waiting for on pins and needles for a while now!! DUMBO DOUBLE DARE!! Ryan’s VERY FIRST Half Marathon!! DISNEYLAND!!

[Photo – Courtesy of runDisney’s Instagram]

Both of us are getting off a little extra early (normally Friday’s are our half days, getting off around 2pm, but we wanted to make sure we beat the holiday weekend traffic this afternoon) and hopefully hitting the road by noon.

We will be checking into our hotel (as long as the room is available) and then quickly heading over to the  Disneyland® Health & Fitness Expo. [PS YES I did allow Ryan to book the hotel room, seeing as I have had LESS THAN STELLAR picks in the past - see posts here and here about our last couple 'experiences'.] We will pick up our bibs and maybe do a little perusing (who doesn’t love grabbing the freebies and trials when at a HUGE Expo) – not to mention checking out the NEW medals that runDisney revealed for some of the upcoming races!!

[Photo: ©Disney]

After we are done at the Expo, we will head over to our Endurance Sports Connection Three Little Pigs BACON CHALLENGE MeetUp. We will be doing a VEGGIE BACON Challenge this weekend!! We thought it was an AWESOME idea and thought WHY NOT be a part of it?!

AN EXTRA MEDAL?! YES PLEASE!!

Then hopefully we can hit up the parks for a few rides, since our annual passes are still open today.

Tonight will be an early night though, seeing as I have a 10K in the morning. (I did tell Ryan that if he wanted, he could sleep in a bit and just meet me at the finish line [since most of the race is through the parks and he won’t be able to watch it anyway].)

I am bringing our computer with me, so hopefully I will be able to post some more ‘real time’ updates on here. (I figured I would have all day tomorrow, while watching COLLEGE FOOTBALL [thank goodness it is back, right?!] to post updates about the MeetUp, the 10K, etc.)