The Happiest Race on Earth

Once race down, three more to go! We got back on Tuesday from out trip down to Southern California for the half marathon and I feel like I'm still recovering! The race went very well and the trip was a lot of fun... here's the breakdown:

SATURDAY: Up at the BCo'D (Butt Crack o' Dawn) for the long drive down south. Phil, Rocky, Karen and Lindsay met Claudia and I at our place at 5:00 and we arrived in Anaheim around noon. Not too bad, considering that we stopped to pee/refuel the car/refuel our bellies a few times! Once we got there we decided to grab some lunch before it got too late. Then it was off to the EXPO to pick up our packets. The EXPO was a little smaller than expected which was good... we got in, got our packets, shopped a little and got out! Just one of the cool things about this race, our bibs were personalized! The shirts weren't bad either but they are long sleeve and a little on the big side--who gives away a long sleeve shirt for a summer race?! Once we checked into the hotel, we relaxed, unpacked and then went for a yummy dinner across the street. Good thing we headed over there early because the wait was super long. The food was well worth it though :D Once we got back to our room, it was time to get ready for bed so we could get enough sleep before our alarms went off the next morning at 3:00AM!!! It ended up being a good thing that we woke up so early on Saturday morning because we were all able to get to sleep around 8:30. That should be the end of the story for Saturday but unfortunately it wasn't... about 9:20 Karen, Linsday and I were woken up by Lael, calling to wish us luck. Right after he called I thought I had been transported to Beirut... the fireworks show at Disneyland was just starting so we got to listen to about 30 minutes of extremely loud fireworks... not so fun for all us runners! At 12:30 AM came a text from Jeanette wishing us all good luck!

The Suburban all decorated for our road trip!

After picking up our packets we couldn't resist checking out the 50th Anniversary Disney stuff


Our bibs even had our names printed on them!!

SUNDAY: Alarms went off at 3:00... BCo'D again :( We shoved some food in our mouths, got ready and headed to the lobby to catch the 4:00 shuttle. The shuttle ride wasn't too long and we made it to the "holding" area around 4:30. There wasn't much to do besides sit around in the semi-cold listening to some obnoxious Disney character yelling out stretches and checking out all the people decked out in disney gear-- mickey mouse ears, Pirates , Snow White, and quite a few Tinkerbells! Then it was off to our corral where we hung around some more waiting for the race to start. I was very impressed with the amount of porta-potties at the start and during the race. I think I went to the bathroom about three times and never had to wait in line too long! Kudos to Disney for some good planning! At 6:00 a pyrotechnic show at the start signaled that we were officially OFF! I was probably one of the coolest starts that I've had... a bunch of Disney characters were at the start cheering us on!

The race itself went pretty well... it wasn't my best but I definitely can't complain! It was VERY well run for being an inaugural event-- lots of potties, BOTTLED water at the water stops and lots of cheering stations along the way! Phil, Claudia and I started out together since we're pretty much the same pace. Running through the park was so cool... they had both Disneyland and California Adventure lit up with all the lights, some of the rides where going and Disney employees and characters lines the streets cheering for us! Partway through the parks, Phil and I got separated from Claudia so it was just the two of us.

Once out of the park, it got a little boring... Anaheim really isn't a pretty town. I needed a potty break around mile 5 so we made a quick stop-- the line was moving quickly so it was only a short detour. Miles 5-9 were uneventful... we were running along the streets in Anaheim, sometimes directly into the rising sun :( The only thing notable along that section was the 24 hour Mexican restaurant (hmmm, maybe Phil and I should have stopped in for some breakfast:D), quite a few liquor stores, some Polynesian dancers at one cheering station and Hispanic musicians/dancers at another. Somewhere along this stretch of the course I saw Claudia in front of us and yelled her name so our little group was back together again :D A little before the 9 mile marker, we reached Arrowhead Pond, where the Mighty Ducks hockey team plays, and the Santa Ana Trail (supposedly where the car racing scene from Grease was filmed but it looked completely different). About a mile later we reach Angel Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels and the hated rally monkey! Claudia stopped off to go to the bathroom but Phil and I continued on. The run through Angel stadium was very cool... it's not everyday that you get to be on the field of a major league stadium :D Phil and I are major A's fans though so of course we had to show Oakland some love!

When Phil and I left the stadium (Mile 10) we were definitely feeling the heat and were starting to feel drained so we took a 2 minute walk break. My internal thermometer was telling me it was around 90 degrees but I think it was actually in the high 70's. Soon after we started to run again, Phil's calf started to cramp. He's had problems with calf cramps before and we knew it was probably due to the heat and not enough electrolytes. We pulled over for a couple minutes so he could stretch it out (we were bad runners and never stretched at the start of the race...whoops) and then we were off again. Those last two miles were definitely the hardest... it was really starting to warm up and the heat was beating down on us. But we soldiered on and made it through California Adventure and back to Downtown Disney were the race ended. Phil got excited once we hit the 13 mile mark and started to sprint... I told him that we still had .1 to go (which feels like an entire mile after you've already run 13) and that we could start sprinting when we saw the finish line. I knew I didn't have enough in me to sprint the entire way! Around the corner we finally saw the finish line and sprinted our way across the finish line!!! Final time: 2:34:55

After we stumbled across the finish line and got our HUGE medal :D we grabbed some snacks and met up with Claudia, Rocky and Lindsay to get our picture taken. Karen came in not too much later and we headed back to the hotel. After some pizza and beer by the pool (instead of an ice bath) we all took a nap and then headed back to California Adventure around 2:00. We decided to spend Sunday there since we heard it wasn't as big is Disneyland and we wouldn't feel rushed trying to see everything. It was fun but I don't think worth the cost of the ticket... less rides, and one of the major ones wasn't even running :( But I did get the corn dog I had been craving... I spotted the Corn Dog shack during the run :D I loved the Tower of Terror though... that one was so much fun :D For dinner we went to a yummy Mexican restaurant in Downtown Disney and then off to bed for the sleepy pandas :D

MONDAY: Monday we actually got to sleep in a litte since our reservation at Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast wasn't until after 10:00. We stuffed ourselves with the food at the buffet... my favorite was the creme brulee french toast! By the time we made it to Disneyland it was around noon and we spent the rest of the day going on rides and eating :D Even though the park seemed crowded, it lines for the rides really weren't bad... and since most of the lines are inside, we weren't standing in the heat all day.

TUESDAY: Back home for us. :( After a half marathon and 2 days of walking, sitting in the back seat of a cramped Suburban wasn't very fun. But we played some car games to take our minds off the boring trip! A little after 2:00 we made it home... all tired and sore but happy that we went. :D

My next half marathon is Rock N'Roll San Jose in three weeks so after taking the week off, it's back to training on Saturday! I also just signed up for Nike (thanks to some spots that opened up last minutes) so two weeks after San Jose I'll be running that. You don't have to say it... I think I'm crazy too!

I'll update with some pictures later :D