I was super nervous the night before. It had been almost a year since I had done a half and while I have been training I was still scared. We had dinner at Wine Country Trattoria then rode Mater twice before heading back to the hotel room for the night. While I was getting all snuggled up into bed I turned on the TV and Aladdin which kind of helped calm my nerves and I fell right to sleep.
The alarm went off at 3:00 am and I hit snooze :) There was no way I was ready to get up. So at 3:40 am we got up and dressed really quick because the sitter was coming at 4:00. We were pretty much all ready to go minus pinning our bibs on when she got there.
We grabbed our water and bannana and headed down to the lobby where we each grabbed a bagel and the hubby got a coffee. About 4:45 we decided to head out to the corrals only for me to realize that I forgot my hair tie & to put deodorant on. I figured I would be nice to all those around me I ran back up to the room and put on deodorant and grabbed my hair tie then it was off to our corral. We were in corral G and were surprised how close to the front we got of the corral. So we hung out for a bit and then it was time to get running.
Heading towards the start line.
Time to start, once you get past the sea of people in front of you that is.
We started the race by running down the main streets and through the backway into California Adventure by Cars Land.
Then we ran through Disneyland and we got to run through the castle.
Star Wars Land!!!
Running through the parks is so much fun. It keeps you motivated and a smile on your face throughout. They have Cast Members cheering you on and it's just so pretty. Right before you leave the parks you run through this tunnel that has music playing and projections on the wall. I always enjoy running through the tunnel. We didn't stop for any pictures with the characters because we wanted to see what time we could get.
Then it was time to head out onto the streets. It's a bit of a shock running in the parks to running on the streets. They still have bands and cheer squads out there and there are lots of people who just come out on the streets to cheer you on but not as dense as in the parks. I was doing really well until about Mile 8. I just hit a wall. We had just ran up a big hill and the course just seemed to be so long. It was getting so hot (I was wearing running pants thinking it would be cold) and I just wanted water. We ran past a water station going the other direction and I couldn't stop focusing on being thirsty. I started thinking that I didn't know if I can do this.
I took this picture specifically because this is the spot I hit my biggest wall.
Right after we ran past the stadium sign there was a line of people decked out in 20's attire dancing and chearing us on and there was a group of Vetrans there as well giving out high fives.. That was exactly what I needed at that moment. I was fully energized and excited and knew I would finish the race.
All of the people lined up cheering us on
Ant Man
A shadow selfie :)
Look it says Disney Way. Almost there.
Right before hubby's watch died :(
Coming close to the finish.
I took this not only for the 13 miles but I loved the Dory Sign
Time to sprint to the finish
We ended up finishing with a time of 2 hrs 50 minutes my best half yet. We did the Jeff Galloway method of intervals and I think that helped out a lot. We run for 2 minutes walk for 30 seconds. Although we did run the last 2 miles with no intervals because we wanted to get a PR.
I cannot wait for the Star Wars half in January. Very nervous to do the Rebel Challenge though.
No comments:
Post a Comment