More Medals!

I had the sudden realization last week that August really isn't that far away.  I was excited because that meant I would be heading home in just a few short months, but then again I'd also be running the Dumbo Challenge in a few short months.  And my running... ya, it probably isn't anywhere near what it should be.

But you can always count on Disney for releasing new information to keep you excited for any race, no matter where your training is.  Just a few days ago they released pictures of the four medals you could gain at the Disneyland Half Marathon.

In all honesty, i don't really care about the Alice in Wonderland medal or the Dumbo one for their design, but that's more of because they were movies I never really connected with.  I still love the D medal for the actual half, and of course I'll be collecting a fourth medal that weekend, my second Coast to Coast.

Speaking of Coast to Coast, they recently announced a few more races and new medals.  When I say new races, I mean more 10k's and double race challenges.  There will be the Glass Slipper challenge in February with the Princess Half Marathon (another 10k and Half pairing).  Then if you do the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January and the Princess in February, you get a special Coast to Coast medal.

In all honesty, I'm not a pink kind of girl, so I won't be going after this specific coast to coast medal.  Good luck to everyone who is!  That's a quick turn around, but should be fun!  Now the glass slipper I may do just to keep my running up for all these weekends.  Plus, the Princess Half is the only race I have done every year since I've started running these races.  There are a lot of special memories with the race so I figure I might as well...

So now, coming the the realization I better start training some more.  I have been able to get to the gym for elliptical and spinning training to help salvage my knees and then a few road workouts just to keep that training up.  Speaking of which... it's almost time for spinning!  Enjoy your workouts, whatever they might be today... I know I'll have a sweaty, but great time at mine!

Break Boredom

The taper before and break after the race are nice times to relax.  I already talked about how I relaxed during my taper and currently I'm getting ready to start running again... thus my break is coming to an end.

And thank heavens for that!  I've been wanting to run and workout again since only a day or so since I got back to Florida.  The weather is getting cooler, I have new shoes, and quite frankly I am bored.  

Just 2 days after getting back, I did get on the treadmill for a 1.5 mile run.  

Then yesterday, so nearly a week from the race, I was able to get back down to the gym.  Unfortunately, my foot was having some issues so I chose to just use the stationary bike and then I used some weights for abs and arms.  My arms are a bit sore, but part of that might have been from a shot I got for work that gave me dead arm.

I'm thinking I'll get back on the treadmill or out on the road in the next few days. Maybe Monday?  Maybe tomorrow even after work?  We'll see I guess.

O!  And check out my picture from the Disneyland Half Marathon.  All 3 medals (Princess 1/2, Coast to Coast, and Disneyland 1/2)...  

Thanks to my father for being a personal photographer for the day!

Race Recap

So it's been two days now since the Disneyland Half and it's about time I start looking ahead to the 2012 Princess Half Marathon.  So, to put the race behind me it's time to recap all that happened.

The first mile was spent trying to get around people.  The first few miles of the Disneyland Half is spent weaving through the parks so it bottlenecks a lot and you tend to get stuck behind walkers and slower people.  Which brings up my first issue... those people who somehow get into the higher corrals and are walking within the first .5 mile!  The starting line was still visible and I was passing walkers.

For those of you who believe that moving up corrals doesn't hurt anyone... it really is annoying and it can be dangerous if runners can't get by or aren't expecting you to stop.  So, if you are in a higher corral and are planning to walk early, go to the back of the corral so those who are serious about the running part can get by.

Once we were in the parks I took pictures with Phineas and Ferb, Dug and Russel from UP, Rapunzel and Snow White, and then Belle and Cinderella.  There were other characters out, like Darth Vader who had the longest line, Tigger, and Sleeping Beauty and the fairies.  Sleeping Beauty was actually on the Carousel which was pretty neat.  They also had some floats out from the parade, but without any character so that was kind of iffy.  If you're going to bring a float out, at least have the character with it...  They had the trains out again which was a cool and that was my last picture before hitting Anaheim.

The course looped through more of Disneyland than it did last year considering California Adventure (DCA) is still under construction.  I liked the fact you saw a lot more of the park, but again, there's a lot of bottlenecking through the parks.  Maybe next year when DCA is open again they can have more of the race inside the parks?  What do you think runDisney?

 Between miles 4 and 8, it was pretty boring.  Let's face it Anaheim isn't the prettiest of cities.  There was a bit of snaking up and down streets to get the miles up before heading to Angel's Stadium.  I hit my first and biggest wall just before mile 5.  I didn't feel good and fatigue was just tearing apart my legs.  I walked a bit to get over the nerves making me feel like I was going throw up, but then once I calmed down and got some water and powerade I was feeling better.  I was still feeling a bit sluggish though.

Around mile 7 the soundtrack from Illuminations, the nightly EPCOT show, came on.  That music helped push me through the next mile and and once I hit mile 8 I was feeling a lot better.  It also helped that mile 8 is like the turning back to home point for me.  I know it's over half way, but there's so much more after that marker and it just pushes you that much harder.

First was the Honda center, although they didn't any hockey players of the Duck from the Anaheim Ducks out.  After that we ran on the Santa Ana trail.  That's a pretty narrow area so again, it's important to make sure you're out of the way when walking and just make sure there's no one who can run into you or for you to run into.  There was a nasty little hill coming up from the trail, which I did walk, but after that it wasn't too bad.

Almost immediately after the trail we were at Angel's stadium.  The Boy Scouts were out again cheering everyone on and trying to get high fives from the runners.  I was more than happy to run on the side and slap there hands... Then we turned into the tunnel, and ran onto the field, just like the teams.  They were getting the field ready for a game, but we were still able to run around home base (see picture below).  They had the jumbo-tron on again and it's always fun to see yourself on a massive tv.

After Angel stadium it was almost a straight shot back to the parks.  You hit Mile 10 in the stadium's parking lot, and then Mile 11 out on the streets.  Mile 12 was right when you hit the parks.  Now, but this time my ankles were on fire, my calves were tired, but still my quads were good.  The last mile weaved through the service roads behind DCA and then through the hotels.  

Finally, between Downtown Disney and Disneyland Hotel, the finish loomed over everyone.  Mickey and the rest of the Fab 5 were at either side of the finish cheering everyone on.  It felt amazing to finish... I had finished another half.

Getting the Disneyland and Coast to Coast medals was the best feeling ever.  As soon as I have a picture with all of my medals on, I will be posting it!  I wore them around most of the day, even though they were smacking each other the whole time and being annoying.  They were heavy, but I was proud to bear that weight of those medals to show off what I had done.

If you've been reading this blog then you know how bad my training has been since my move.  The fact that I survived and my quads didn't hurt nearly as much as either of the last halves is a testament to how important strength training is to a training plan.  However, I was running about a 11 minute mile so the endurance training would have helped to get that time down.  

I know the things I need to work on before the next half and the things I need to just keep doing.  I need to get my endurance up again and my strength training needs to stay strong.  Other than that... less than 6 months to Princess!

Some tips for those who might be running the 2012 Disneyland Half or even the 2012 Tinkerbell (if it's the same or a similar course).

• Get to your corral early because there are a lot of a people, not a lot of room, and you'll just get a better position.  Then again, please be mindful of your speed (walking vs running) when you decide where to go in the corral.
• Enjoy running through the parks.  Take pictures with the characters you want.  They are only in the first part of the race since the rest is in Anaheim.
• Spread out and focus on your own pace while running through the city.  You have pretty much the whole street, so use it!
• Enjoy everyone cheering you on.  There are a lot of bands, cheerleaders, and dance groups out there for YOUR entertainment.
• And most of all... HAVE FUN!

So there it is, my recap.  For those who haven't thought about doing a Disney race, I would HIGHLY suggest it.  Personally, I plan on looking forward to Princess next year, then maybe Disneyland again and Food and Wine?  I might possibly be looking to do all runDisney events in the next 5 years or so...