I decided to do my speed work Friday morning and then take my races as 'fun runs'. I got in 6 pace miles at the beach (shooting for 8:00/mile and ended up averaging 7:36/mile) before heading to Anaheim for the weekend.
I went up to Disneyland on Friday morning for the #TeamSparkle Donut Meet-Up, stayed around for the Cigna Blogger Meet-Up (recap coming soon), grabbed Ryan from the train station once he got off work and then we hit up the parks for the night. I mean, closing down the parks the night before starting a 19.3 mile running challenge is DEFINITELY a smart call, right?! (Like my mom always says, you can sleep when you're dead.)
With all the time I was on my feet the previous day, I knew the 10K would be rough, but decided I would stop for all the pictures, especially since I went a little cray-cray with my costume. Running in a costume reminds me that running is supposed to be fun! And what better place to go all out than Disneyland?! The theme for the weekend was Dynamic Duos. I didn't want to go with the obvious choices, so finally decided on Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket for the 10K.
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| #FlatCarlee consisted of PRO Compression Socks, a Handful Sports Bra, a Sparkle Athletic Skirt, a Road ID bracelet, QALO silicon wedding bands, Brooks running shoes (complete with Shwings), my Garmin Forerunner 735XT, Momentum Jewelry wraps, and a few props (including suspenders, a duct taped vest and oversized collar, a fake nose, hat with feather and a bow). |
We didn't get back to the hotel from the parks and start getting ready to go to bed until about 11pm (Honestly though, I never sleep before a race so what's better: rolling around in bed all night or seeing Paint the Night and the Celebration Fireworks with the hubby? For us it was an NO-BRAINER!) so the alarms definitely came EARLY on Saturday morning, but since I was planning on taking it easy I wasn't too worried.
Although the costume I selected was pretty detailed and layered (including a duct taped vest and suspenders), getting ready didn't take too much time. I was shooting to leave the hotel by 4:30am so I could be over to the Family Reunion Area close to 4:45am to meet friends before heading to the corrals around 5am (for the 5:30am start time).
When I made my way to my corral I ran into two amazing ladies - Pam and Paula! We chatted it up for a bit and then it was time to get down to business (to run... not to defeat the Huns). I looked at them and asked them what their game plan's were. Both of them seemed like they wanted to take it "easy" so I figured I'd hang with them (at least until I got into the parks for character stops). Funny story though... once the race started we quickly found out that Pam thought anything between 7:00 and 7:59 was a fun run, so the first couple miles were SPEEDY!
Since the first two-ish miles are outside of the parks, on the dark and quiet streets of Anaheim I was okay trying to keep up with the speed demons (even though I had attempted my speed work the prior morning and wasn't sure how much gas I had left in my tank). When I looked at my watch and saw a 7:15 for the second mile I had to chuckle. Laughing because I didn't think I could pull off a 7:15 on tired legs and because I normally tell the hubby I'm taking it "easy" and he misses me on the course because I come in much faster than I anticipate.
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Around Mile 2.5 we hit our first character stop and I let out a quick sigh of relief... because now I could let off the gas a bit. First up it was Goofy and Max.
Then I stopped for the trolley because one of Ryan's favorite movies is The Newsies so it was technically for him (and another quick breather for me).
After that I stopped for Nick Wilde (and this one actually had a legit photographer, which I much appreciated because my iPhone doesn't take the best pictures in low light).
The #BeYourDisneyBest cheer squad had photo booth props, so I jumped in with one of the kids (I probably should've held the frame on my own, but my brain wasn't really working as quickly as my legs were that early in the morning).
I found Jasmine and Abu near it's a small world and had to get a shot with them. (Although I have NO IDEA where I am looking at for this picture - HA! I half look crazy in this shot!)
And then it happened... I saw Pinocchio and Geppetto! There wasn't a photographer so I thought I would have to take a selfie (even though trying to take a selfie with anything other than a super scary up-close picture of my face is near impossible for me) but I was able to sweet talk an employee standing nearby to take a photo for me (and she only agreed because I was twinning with 'the real boy').
Then it was time to head through Downtown Disney to see the hubby and cross that finish line (the first of the weekend). Like I mentioned, I normally underestimate how long it will take me to finish so Ryan almost missed me (like he got to his spot, pulled out his phone to look at 'Find my Friends' and looked up to see me coming in hot :)).
Carissa gave me a shout out when I came in towards the finish line (and gave #WeRunSocial some love). I LOVE knowing announcers at the races, even though my heart is still sad that Rudy is no longer at the Disneyland races.
I was pretty surprised when I crossed the finish line, stopped my watch and saw that I was mere seconds off my PR. Not only that, the official results show that I got 7th in my age group (of 1086) and I even stopped for 6 character stops/ photos. (Those first two extra speed miles were definitely to
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| If you don't finish a runDisney race with a HUGE smile on your face you may be doing it wrong... |
The Disney Photo Pass folks got some great shots of me throughout the morning (not only do I appreciate the affordability vs MarathonFoto, but the quality of the pictures is pretty awesome too {especially with the lighting}).
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| Trucking through CarsLand |
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| It's a Small World after all |
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| Getting ready to go through the castle |
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| Running through the castle... Nothing is better, right?! |
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| High-fives are MY FAVE! |
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| Running down Main Street before the park opens is hard to beat! |
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| FINISHER! |
My Garmin had me at 49:44 (and 6.29 miles) which averaged me at 7:55/mile and the official results showed me at 49:45 which on a 6.2 mile course would have averaged 8:01/mile (still nothing to scoff at after the previous day's workout, stopping for pictures and having a blast).
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Originally I was a little worried about my costume - either folks not understanding it or it falling apart, but I am super stoked to report that I got so many comments about "It's Pinocchio" or "Don't lie" AND my costume held up perfectly!
And I had to grab a couple quick pictures with the two speedsters that pushed me at the beginning of the race! I love that we were all rocking yellow in honor of the #GirlsRunTheWorld campaign I shared about last week.
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| I hope when I grow up I can be as fast and amazing as these two women! |
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| These medals are LEGIT! They even TASTE like gold! |
After draining my nose (in case you were wondering, YES, I did wear it the entire race, YES, it did fill up with lots of 'condensation' and I had to pour it all out afterwards, YES, I was left with the elastic marks on my cheeks for at least 12 hours, and YES, I do have a slight bruise on the top of my nose from the pressure and rubbing) and taking a couple last photos it was time to head back to the hotel, take a shower and watch the Michigan Wolverines DESTROY Hawaii in the first game of the season! #GoBlue
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| Hubby taking some bling pictures while I chat (and laugh it up) with friends and have NO IDEA! |
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| I will consider this race a success! And it tells me I'm ready for a 10K PR soon! |
runDisney races are never about the time on the clock for me, they're always about the miles, magic, and memories. And the 2016 Disneyland 10K did not disappoint! (If you couldn't guess, I'll be signing up for the Dumbo Double Dare again next year, as long as I'm able, to get me my 5 year legacy status!)
Do you think the costume would have been as recognizable without the fake nose?
2 comments:
Looks like so much fun! I think they still would have figured it out..but the nose was awesome. What was it made of?
Ok, a) you're adorable, b) what a rad costume, and c) did you really run the whole race with the fake pinocchio nose on your nose? :)
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