** I was waiting to post this until I received the pictures
that Megan took during the actual race, but at the request of my faithful friend
and fellow blogger Chrystie I will post sans photos cause even without them
this may just be one of the longest posts ever **
Last summer my friend Laura decided to take up running and
begged me to join her. Running has
never been something I’ve wanted to try (I had friends that ran in Auburn
everyday for 10 years and never once was I tempted to join them) and besides
that I had a series of hot yoga classes I had regrettably purchased and needed
to use up before I could force myself into any further exercise. I told her I’d run once with her before
the end of the summer just to prove to her that I wasn’t made to run. I did a couple short (under a mile)
runs with Abigail in preparation, but it was hard. Laura was running with a fun group of women, but there was
no way I was going to jump in and try to keep up with them so it was just Laura
and I on my first attempt around the 4-mile Mill Pond loop. It was hard for us both and we were slow. We walked part of it, but I did
it. When I got home Justin and the
kids were shocked. Here’s the girl who hadn’t run in nearly 19 years and probably
never more than a mile – I had survived a 4-mile run/walk at a pace of 11:49
min/mile.
It was near the end of that first run that Laura asked me to
run the Disney Tinkerbell Half Marathon with her and three other friends in May
2015. It took some convincing, but
she promised to be by my side and help me train during the next nine
months. Within a few weeks I had
registered for the run, bought a plane ticket, and was running twice a week
with Camden – the best running partner a girl could ask for. My heart became stronger, but my body
seemed to become weaker. After
about a month I started to experience severe knee pain anytime I ran more than
two miles. The race was
nonrefundable so I was determined to find a way to get through it. I’ve become quite familiar with knee
braces, frequent icing, Ibrophen, rolling and stretching.
The training program I decided to follow (entitled “To
Finish in the Upright Position”) started in January adding a Saturday run every
weekend with a long run every other week.
I continued to have problems with my knees on the long runs and during
my last long run before the race (a 14 miler) I was in so much pain I had to
run/walk the last few miles. It
was a discouraging last run to have going into the race.
While I stuck to my training program all sorts of commotion
was occurring with my fellow Tinkerbell runners. In January, Laura decided she wasn’t up for the half and
finagled her way into the 10K by raising money for a charity team. Another friend had to back out to
attend her sister’s wedding in Scotland that same weekend. And just days before the trip another
friend needed to stay home for IVF treatment. So our group of 5 half marathoners dwindled down to just me
and Megan running the half and Laura running the 10k (which we affectionately
called the Diaper Dash).
Our flight left at 6am Friday morning. After picking up our rental car and
checking into our hotel in Anaheim we picked up our racing packets and headed
to Disneyland.
So official!
Laura is the Queen of Selfies so there were lots of pictures
like this…
We picked up some Minnie ears to complete our racing outfits
and wore them the rest of the day.
That’s my bag of racing stuff hanging from between my legs. We were going to rent a locker, but
instead just decided to carry them around all day.
Exploring Disneyland without kiddos is completely
different. We didn’t even enter areas
like Fantasyland and Toontown opting instead to focus on just the big
rides. I’ve always said Disneyland
is my kind of amusement park – I don’t like super intense thrill rides that are
found at other places like Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags. I can handle every ride at Disneyland
& California Adventure with the exception of the Tower of Terror. To be honest, of all the trips I’ve
made to Disneyland never once have I actually ridden on the Tower of Terror,
but I’m familiar enough with the concept of sudden death defying drops that
I’ve always been happy to volunteer to stay back with any kiddos too young to
ride. Laura and Megan weren’t
going to let me stay behind this time.
Let’s just say I nearly lost my mind. I cannot believe I’ve sent my four year olds on this ride,
year after year!
This picture is deceiving in that it looks like I was
smiling, but I was pretty close to having a massive panic attack (to Megan’s absolute
enjoyment). I couldn’t handle not
knowing what would happen next and exited the ride pretty much in hysterics. But if you ask my dear friends what their
favorite ride was I’m pretty sure watching me lose my cool would rank the Tower
of Terror at the top of their lists.
I thought we’d close the park down, but our early morning
caught up to us and we decided to head back to the hotel early and get some
sleep.
So the big race…
Megan was a big time runner in high school but hadn’t run
more than six miles in many years so we had no idea whether we would be running
together or not. I didn’t know how
long my knees would hold up and knew there was a good possibility I would be
walking myself across the finish line.
Here we are waiting for the race to begin.
As well as 13,047 other runners!
When we registered for the race I had no idea what kind of
pace I could keep so based on my estimated time we were placed in one of the
last corrals (F) – I had no idea how much that would impact my race. Turns out it totally sucks to try to
keep a 9-9:30 pace amidst thousands of runners pacing at 15-16. Our slowest miles were by far miles 1-4
because we had nowhere to go.
Super frustrating. I tried
to weave myself through the crowds but I kept losing Megan and it was really
only adding extra mileage onto an already long run. Once I accepted that my time wasn’t entirely under my
control it was easier to deal with the crowds and enjoy the race. We even stopped several times to take
advantage of some photo opps inside Disneyland…
** INSERT PICTURES FROM MEGAN’S
PHONE :) **
The race itself was surprisingly good – only my right knee
gave me problems, but I was able to power through it and run the entire race
(when crowds didn’t interfere). I
was so glad that Megan and I were able to stay together from start to
finish. When I was slowing down
she picked up the pace and vice versa.
Laura was at the finish line cheering us along.
I sure earned this bling! Megan and I finished the race in 2:20:29, which I couldn’t
be happier with especially since that includes so much walking in the first
four miles, photo taking, and a quick bathroom break. According to my phone I picked up an extra half mile (due to
all that weaving) with my final stats at 13.68 miles with an average pace of
10:10 min/miles. No, I’m not going
to win any awards for speed, but I feel great about my times. My fastest miles were mile 5, 12, and
13 at 9, 9:03, and 9:11 min/miles which is where I’ve been training.
A few pictures from the Disney photographers:
I look pretty miserable don’t I? The next two are a little
better:
The Three Mouseketeers – even if one of us did only run the
Diaper Dash ;)
The rest of the weekend was spent shopping, eating, and
relaxing. Megan hooked us up with
a bungalow at the Pelican Hill Resort, a super posh hotel in Newport Beach for
Sunday night. I’ve stayed in some
nice hotels, but this was by far the most luxurious. The only place I’ve been with a more luxury cars was in
Monaco. We sat by the pool enjoying
the lemon water and sunshine while we waited for our room to be ready.
Unfortunately I didn’t get many pictures of the actual
resort so I pulled a few off the internet.
Our room was just as fabulous
We walked along the beach
Watched the sunset while enjoying milkshakes and french
fries
Laura desperately wanted to go on a whale-watching excursion
on Monday morning. We hoped that
the hotel would give us a late check out so we could come back and enjoy the
pool and shower before heading home, but I think they caught on that we were
mere mid-class woman who’d gotten lucky on Priceline and they wouldn’t
budge. So our morning was a mad
dash to get everything thrown into the car and still make it to the pier in
time to get on a tour.
We saw some sea lions on as we pulled out of the pier;
however, this was the extent of our whale sightings…
If you can’t tell, that’s a grey whale with her young calf.
What was lacking in whale sightings was more than made up
for when we came across a playful pod of dolphins.
A photo of the $15 souvenir photo collage we didn’t purchase.
We had just enough time in the afternoon to get pedicures
and lunch before heading to the airport.
Just as we were finishing lunch two police officers walked into
Chick-fil-A with masks on and headed straight back to the kitchen. Um, interesting…
So the big question is: will I run again? Yes, I will run. In fact Camden and I were back on the
loop yesterday morning (though my right knee was really painful – it’s really
is a miracle I was able to run the whole race). Not sure if I’ll run another race, but I have truly enjoyed
my early morning runs with Camden over these last nine months. She keeps the conversation flowing and
my feet moving. My knees may be
miserable, but my heart is happy and healthy and I got an awesome mini-vacation
out of it as well.
