Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Expo, 10K & Kid's Race

Day 2:

Woke up early to get some park time before the opening of the the runDisney Expo. The runDisney Expo, should get it's own entry. It's really, a world of its own. My husband the children waited in two different lines. I stood in the line to pick up my packet and my husband and the children stood in the line just to get into the expo itself. (I highly suggest that you go with multiple people to do that.) The heat and the humidity was killing me. There was little to no shade and just standing out in the sun made me completely drenched in sweat. It was disgusting! Yes, I live in the land of humidity, but we don't have temps are higher than 90 degrees!

After waiting in line for what felt like forever, I got in!

Waiting outside 

Packet Pick-up

Packet pick-up was a breeze! I managed to pick-up my daughter's Disney Kid's Race and my 10K packet in less than 10 minutes, needless to say, the air conditioning was heaven sent.

After you leave the packet pick-up area, you leave and stand in another line which takes you into the expo, that was a line with not-so-friendly people. I would like to believe that the heat and humidity was making people irritable. I, on the other hand was more concerned about finding my family and getting my New Balance Minnie Mouse shoes. I had so patiently waited to buy the pair myself. I wasn't about to pay $250+ dollars for the shoes.

In a couple minutes I caught up with my husband and my children. We got inside the expo and I was in just total disbelief on how crazy the whole expo was! Though the mass chaos, I got my shoes!! We did manage to pick up other stuff from other vendors like Jay Bird, Clif Bar, Jelly Belly Sports Beans, etc.

New Balance Minnie Mouse shoes

2013 Inaugural Dri-fit Shirt 

I tried to buy other things from the race expo, but the line was just so horrendously long, wrapping through the building, that I said forget it. We ended up leaving and we spent some time in the park and grabbed lunch....

We had park time, ate lunch and left my children with my parents so my husband and I could maneuver through the expo without a stroller. Little did I know, the expo would be pretty cleared out and I wouldn't need to stand in a crazy busy line! We ended up meeting up with our friend that I was going to run with for the 10k and her fiancé. I tried to get taped up by KT Tape, but the line stopped moving so I opted out. I also tried to get my dri-fit shirt exchanged for a small (ordered a medium), but they said they didn't have any and to try and return later. I also skipped out on that too, so my husband gets to sport it.

After the return to the expo, we ended up meeting my parents for dinner, watched part of the World of Color and walked over to Disneyland to watch the fireworks.

Day 3:

Bright and early on the day of the 10K race; more specifically 5:30 a.m. I departed the hotel and made my way to the race area. It was chaos there, as I had no idea where I was since I followed others from the hotel straight to what was the family reunion/bathroom/bag check area. I had a hard time finding my friend that I was supposed to run with, luckily before they corralled us we found each other!

6:15 a.m. - Race started....

Corral F

It was humid. Grossly humid. I hadn't even ran a minute and I was already sweating. Luckily, this is what I trained for! I didn't take pictures along the way, sadly..... The ones posted are credited to my friend.

Awesome guy along the route

I absolutely loved all the cheering by bystanders and cast members. It really makes the experience so different than the GAR. But by far, this guy was the BEST sign out on the race!! 

So the 10K consisted of running through a little of Anaheim, alongside the Anaheim Convention Center, behind the scenes of both California Adventure and Disneyland as well as running through the park and ending in Downtown Disney.

Through Sleeping Beauty's Castle

My favorite part was running through the Castle! Yes, that's me. I wore all purple, head-to-toe purple including my KT Tape to represent Rapunzel! All I can say is it's the BEST run and the BEST experience EVER! None other can compare. From this race, I was officially hooked on runDisney.

Alls well that ends well.... Here's the medal.

2013 Inagural Disneyland 10K Medal

At the finish line there was the areas for pictures as well as the post-race snack box!

Snack box

It was filled with an Almond popcorn, a Clif bar, a bag of Skittles; sorry, having a brain lapse, I can't remember what else. Either way, it was a welcomed treat for some carbs!!

After the race, I had a long walk back to the hotel, showered and sent my husband to take my daughter down to Downtown Disney to get her lined up for the Kid's Race. She was scheduled to run the 200m dash and that she did (along side her Daddy)!

Signage

Waiting for the race to start

The Kid's Race was a bit different. No corrals, instead just a long line and what they do is they release the kids and their parent line by line. It took some time before I could find my husband and my daughter, but it worked out cause I could get a shot of her and my parents could see her run too! It was an awesome race, but for some kids, they didn't want to be there. There were tears since they didn't want to run, some fell down (luckily it's super smooth pavement no scrapes) and others were carried by their parents, overall it was neat to see all the little ones out there!

2013 Kid's Race Medal

All in all, this is the reason why I run. I run for Disney. Is that sad? To me it isn't. I get to run alongside friends, and enjoy the sights of Disney and get a pretty cool medal!!! Who wouldn't want in on that??? But because of this, like I stated in the post before, I signed up for the Tink Half! I hope that it will be just the same experience if not better!

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Arrival

 First things first. I just have to say, I suck at blogging, so this will be a super loooong entry.

So, a lot has happened since the last post. I did manage to complete my first Disney race, let alone my first 10k! After finishing the race, I got so excited that I immediately went back over to the runDisney Expo and signed up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Have mercy! Things you do while on a runner's high!!!

Day 1:

Arrival. We arrived at the butt crack of dawn in LAX, picked up the car and headed out to the Disney resort to check-in. The weather was not something I had anticipated, it was HUMID! I knew it would be hot, but not hot and humid....

Anyway, we got to the resort, I knew they wouldn't have a room ready, but at least we could give our stuff to bell services, change clothes, brush teeth and manage to grab breakfast.

My husband on the other hand decided at the last minute he was going to take the day to do a Disney Institute class, so I was left with the children; luckily my family had tagged along on this trip and kept us company. We left my husband and headed to grab breakfast at the one and only....

Earl of Sandwich, Downtown Disney(land)

Earl of Sandwich! We absolutely love this place! Everyone had breakfast meals, but I opted to get my Thai Wrap, even if this was breakfast. (Sadly, my husband missed out on this the whole trip.) After breakfast, we lulled around in kind of a big daze. (Lesson learned: red eye flights on NOT for this family.) I actually can't remember much of the morning, since I was living on minutes of sleep... We did manage to take my parents to see Cars Land and made our way through California Adventure until lunch. My husband had a break for lunch, so we met him at the White Water Snacks.

After lunch, my husband headed back to his seminar and my family and I hung out in Downtown Disney. My daughter insisted she get to go to Build-a-Bear (we don't have any in Hawaii) to get her MLP Rainbow Dash. She built it and bought some clothes and we headed to Wonderground. I absolutely love that store. I always buy artwork there and kept that tradition and picked up two really awesome prints.  After that stretch of shopping, we headed back to the Grand Californian and hung out in the lobby by the giant fireplace with the rocking chairs. I loved that I could doze off there along size my daughter and son. When we woke up, I got the text that our room was ready...

Grand Californian fireplace (great place for a nap)

5th floor of Grand California park view (day)

5th floor of Grand Californian park view (night)

That amazing view was from our patio at the Grand Californian on the 5th floor. It has been by far the BEST room view we have ever had. I felt so lucky to be able to soak that view first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. We could even watch the World of Color right from our patio too! It was just magical and it made this last visit extra special to our children.

Moving on, upon getting our rooms, I showered the children and dozed off more but on a bed this time.  I woke up to my husband sneaking into the room....

He showered and we headed down to Downtown Disney to show him some paintings at Wonderground and we went through to California Adventure, ate dinner and watched the World of Color....

Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January

Word on the street is the Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend in January during the Martin Luther King weekend. As much as I want to fly out and do it, I am not sure if it's feasible with a WDW trip around the corner from that weekend. I am on the fence.

Well... My 4th really took the back seat, being that I caught the virus that was passed from my daughter. I had it planned out that I ran extra on Wednesday to cover not running yesterday, only to get sick on Wednesday night. Here I sit on my butt blogging, texting and watching television, instead of running. I swear I would rather be running right now.....Injury and ailments really do bring a runner down!

I'll Take It

Summer officially started a few days ago, and these past couple of days were humid, cool and rainy, but I'll take it! I will take it over hot, humid, voggy days....

I managed to squeeze in a 5K run before the rain rolled in, but that meant having to get up at 6:00 a.m. but luckily the sun was already up. While my family is fast asleep, I pieced myself together and got out of the door. The smell of damp roads, mist in the air and seeing other runners besides myself out there, it's something I thrive on.

Yesterday was what I considered a "rest" day. I skipped the running, but mostly due to the high possibility of rain. Yes, I do run in the rain, but yesterday I wasn't in the mood. My calf hurt and I suspect it's due to the changing of the shoes. Husband tried to massage it out with The Stick, but it was still bothering me. I woke up this morning with residual pains, but it was much more bearable and I pushed on. If it had been bothering me though, I probably would have sat today out and KT Taped it.

On a side note... #2 had her first day of Keiki Steps, it's a three week Kinder class to help the transition to Kinder. Although she's been in pre-school for the past 2 years and 1 month, we thought it would be good for her to make new friends prior to starting. It broke my heart though because once we walked her in to her class, she already wanted to say see you later! There are no plans for #3, so this was pretty sad!

It's time to go pick up #1 so, it's off for now....

"You either ran, or you didn't."

1/2 of My Intentions

Sadly, today I only logged a 5K run, I was aiming for the 10K length, but not so.. I did on the other hand get to run with the husband. He gives me entertainment (other than my music) and it's nice to have him run with me, so that was nice compensation.

Today is another busy Saturday, #2 was supposed to have her track meet, but once again, we are skipping it, as we will again, next week too. We are seriously bad track parents, but this is her first season and it was supposed to be just for fun, especially since she is the smallest one on the track!

Breaking Bad In

Due to pain running in my arches in the midst of every run, I returned to Running Room Hawaii to see what my options were. I ended up replacing my Rapunzel purple Asics purple shoes that I bought for the Disneyland 10K with a pair of minimalists from Saucony. I am still a little leary about the transition to minimalist shoes from stability shoes.

I took them out for a run this morning and so far so good. I am not sure if it's because I KT taped my left arch, but my right arch seemed to hold up for the typical 5K run. We shall see how my calves hold up come tomorrow morning. According to other online articles and from the guy at the Running Room, they all concur that one should only break in the shoes 10% at a time. Sadly, that seems like a big setback in terms of training for my 10K. I don't want injury so I am hoping that that will pay off.

The shoes though did stand true to the weather though, it poured pretty hard, and they didn't get sloshy like the other shoes I have, so that was a plus! Will keep that part updated too as that was another worry about those shoes.

At the Start Line

Returning to the blogging world, but this time on the focus of running.

This is the "run down":

I started exercising in Spring of 2012, after realizing I had all this time on my hands since my youngest (of 2), started pre-school. I figured it was time to do something productive with myself, so this journey started in a local cemetery with a bunch of retirees.

It started with just walking, but the more walking I did, the more I felt like I could run. The music I was listening to I think struck something inside of me. The tempos were much faster than a typical walking speed, so I figured why not start running. I remembered hearing about my friend doing a 5k and she trained using the Couch to 5K (C25K), so I figured if she could do it, I could do it too! I used the Coolrunning.com's program, plugged it into the RunKeeper app and went from there. Low and behold, it was a true test of my athletic ability; there were days I felt like I was going to pass out, especially at the 5 minute intervals! In short, it's now over a year later and I am still running.

In the midst of the running routine, a healthier diet ensued, and I started a food diary with MyFitnessPal then lost almost 30 pounds! I have battled weight all of my life; always feeling like the "fat friend" and never feeling great about myself, but after all this panned out, I managed to find myself and actually love my body! I am healthier and smaller now, then I was in high school and I owe it all to the big man upstairs for helping me find running!

Like all runners though, I had my share of issues/injuries. The first was the shin splints, the culprit for that was downhill running, so I changed my route, then.... Hip flexor twinges. I think that was the most annoying. It was not painful, but it was weird sensations in my hip flexor in the midst of a run that irritated me; having to jab my thumb into the region through out the run got old. Now, I am battling plantar fasciitis! Thank goodness I have a supportive staff at the local running store, so they have been awesome by providing me with lots of help along the way.

Well, that's all for now, I hope to keep this updated more frequently than my previous blogs!