Posts
I didn't know it at the time, but I'd made a grievous error when I got dressed to go run around the parks. I made a mistake I NEVER otherwise make. I wore my running shoes instead of my regular sneakers. It didn't bother me at the time, but as the day wore on, my feet started hurting really bad and I later discovered a nasty little blister underneath my toe.
Running shoes are for running. Not Disneyland-ing.
We made our way over to Disneyland park after about an hour in DCA and went hard until a little after 4pm. No rest for the weary! I'll have to put up another blog entry later about DL rides vs WDW rides. I liked to compare the same rides in the CA park vs FL park. Some things surprised me. More on that later.
The 3:30 alarm jarred me from my Disneyland-induced coma. I started getting my Piglet costume together- I had pink shorts, a pink striped shirt, and little piggy ears I'd made with hopes to attach them to a stretchy headband. After screwing around with the ears in front of the bathroom mirror for a few minutes I gave up on them. They just weren't sitting right and kept flopping over. I pulled a pink Bondiband over my head and then Scot and I headed back down to the bus.
The bus dropped everyone off at DTD again, and it was another trek to the staging area. I honestly thought that the crowds were going to be insane. I mean, for the Princess at WDW back in January, you couldn't even move in the mass of people. Lines for the bathroom were 30 minutes long! The DL half marathon area was a ghost town compared to Princess. 25,000 people last Feb in WDW, probably 15 or 16,000 for DL. We stopped for a few photos, enjoyed the people-watching (some of these folks has some crazy-ass costumes), then split up as I headed toward corral C and Scot went back to stake a spot in front of the Lego Store.
I was feeling pretty good, except my shins were sooooo tight! I found a curb in my corral and chatted with some other runners nearby as I sat and massaged the fronts of my legs. After that little rest and some stretches I was ready to go! C moved up to the start line, and, at 5:38 in the morning, our countdown was over and we were off!
There was less initial time on the regular streets for the first mile- it was really just around the corner and then directly into the parks! Just after the mile 1 sign, we passed the mile 12 sign! That gave me sort of an idea about how things were going to be oriented in 2 hours. I seriously had no idea where I was for this entire course. I mean, I'd looked at the map but decided to just take in the sights and not worry too much about where the miles were. Surprise me.
As I started running though the parks, as especially as I got into Disneyland, there were characters everywhere! It definitely made up for the zilch from yesterday! I mean, there'd be like 3 or 4 in a row once we got into the DL park! I didn't stop, even though there were next to no lines to see them. I just enjoyed looking! Before I knew it, after another trip backstage, mile 4 was coming up and my park time was over.
After that, things get a little fuzzy. Because I had no concept of where the hell I was, I'll be brief with what I do remember.
I remember the people!
The people who were watching. The "Citizens of Anaheim," if you will. They. Were. Awesome. I saw so many funny and motivational posters. So many people cheering. So many people passing out orange slices, pretzels, semi-frozen sponges, grapes, and of course hi-fives! One guy had a water mister and was spraying anyone who wanted to fun close enough. One guy had a sign that he was giving out "Free Hugs!" How could I not take one!? There were a couple nasty hills that went over I-5, I chose those times to speed walk a little. I'd forgotten to change my interval time on my app for a distance over 10 miles. However, I managed to make it work with the conditions as I encountered them.
Some of the route went through some sort of industrial area that I don't remember much about at all. But you know what really made it great? Every mile or so, there was some school band, cheer team, flag line, whatever- performing for us all! (btw, if you've never heard Tupac being done by brass, it's pretty awesome) There were hula dancers, Mexican dancers, and line dancers. I clapped for them, they clapped for all of us, everyone was so happy and excited it was fantastic!
As we went on, we passed down a few streets lined with classic cars. I'm guessing there's a club or organization or something in town for it, and there were what must have been hundreds of them for at least a mile! The people who owned them were hanging out on the road clapping and cheering (and they were all dressed in sweaters, but I didn't think it was that cold at all!) The classic cars turned to more modern ones as we approached the Honda Center (no idea what goes on there, I guess it's just an event center) and I even saw the Batmobile!
After Mile 7, I took out my Gu packet and sucked it down best I could. I noticed that the street was littered with Gu packs and other sorts of fuel trash from everyone ahead of me so I figured that was a good a time as any. The 8 Mile water stop was just ahead.
Passed around the Honda Center parking lot then the route took an unusual turn. It went out a fence and turned into a dirt trail that ran alongside a giant dirt ditch. I must have wondered out loud what the hell it was because someone next to me told me it was supposed to be a river. Oh, right. California's been in a bad drought for like 4 years. Anyway, the trail was okay. It was an interesting change from concrete road. It did switch to asphalt after not too long, then Mile 9 came into view as I exited the trail and headed on in to Angel Stadium.
I could hear the roar of the crowds before I saw them. There was a steep hill (down, this time!), which I took advantage of to build up some speed, then I burst into the stadium to the sounds of, oh I don't know, maybe a million boy scouts and spectators. I stopped at the entrance to get my photo taken, then started the run around the dirt area just outside the foul line. Somehow, the announcer in the stadium was getting everyone's names and I heard him call mine as I passed in front of the crowd. So. Awesome. I sailed around the back of home plate, took another picture, then headed for the exit.
Once I got out of the stadium, I slowed to a walk to fiddle with my phone. I admit, this half marathon was exactly one minute slower than the Princess one because I had to post my stadium picture and "check in" there on Facebook. Oh well!
.jpg)
Finished! Got my beautiful medal, someone handed me a cool towel (which I tied around my head...hm I guess it did warm up out here!), and another volunteer guided me over to the area to redeem my Coast 2 Coast and Dumbo Double Dare medals. I was feeling a little wobbly as the adrenaline wore off! I found my way over to the bananas and snack boxes, then headed out through bag check to find Scot waiting for me on the other side. Hugs all around, then we started heading back to the bus. He did bring my 10K medal with him so I could get a photo with all 4. Aren't they pretty?
The plan was for me to rest and clean up and try to get on the road to Yosemite before 11am. I made the mistake of sitting down on a bench while waiting for the bus and ohmygodmylegsnolongerwork.
It was a great race, though. I'm hard-pressed to say that this course is my favorite so far! Next up, Tower of Terror 10 Miler! That one was my very first Disney race one year ago. Safe to say, I've drank the RunDisney KoolAid. They've got me hooked!
Here's my results:
Place: 2,406/15.977 (Top 15%)
Age group: 183/1,890 (Top 9%)
Gender group: 901/10,142 (Top 8% )
Net Time: 2:10:58
No comments:
Post a Comment