Mind what you have learned. Save you it can. - Rebel Challenge TR Jan 2016 - Completed!

[franandaj]

That Pixar Play parade messes us up all the time too! We always seem to be traveling right at that time.

I have only eaten at Carthay twice and neither was a particularly memorable experience. I'm not sure I could convince Fran to eat there again even to give it a try.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yikes, what a horrible service experience especially on the heels of it being so good before.. At least your meal was good though, too bad your hubby can't say the same.

Overall, we were pretty lucky with service this trip. One bad experience at Hearthstone Lounge and this were our only bad services! For 8 days/7 nights worth of meals, that really isn't too bad! It sucks but at least with the lack of TiW here, I can adjust my tip accordingly (although I think I did do at least 15% as I know it wasn't 100% her fault since it was obvious she was oversat.) My husband's anger was over once he got his huge ice cream! Ice cream makes anything better! Hopefully next year is better but if not, other places can have our money!

That Pixar Play parade messes us up all the time too! We always seem to be traveling right at that time.

I have only eaten at Carthay twice and neither was a particularly memorable experience. I'm not sure I could convince Fran to eat there again even to give it a try.

I'm just so used to parades being at well noon or 3PM that a 6PM just feels odd! At least they allow for breaks in the midst to cross the street which is better to than many of the other parades!

Sorry to hear that neither time you went to Carthay was memorable! At least there are so many other tasty options to branch out! Maybe next year, we'll get to the Cove Bar! There are certain places I can never get Shaun to go to again at WDW - luckily, they are also places I'm not a fan of either!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Star Wars - 5K

Our alarm went off at 3:30AM. We got dressed and ready for the run! I was just going to put up with the cold weather as I hate wearing a jacket while running. My husband was not as tough as me!

Dis_Yoda - Pre-Race

Mr. Dis_Yoda - Pre-Race

We both had corral A for the race and went to go out the front door of the Grand Californian to get to the corrals since we had been able to do that the year prior at Paradise Pier. Sadly, that wasn’t allowed anymore. We were forced to go to the pre-race area at Disneyland Hotel instead. We were super annoyed with this as the distance to the corrals were why we originally decided to stay at the Californian this trip and that it ended up being useless for that! We trekked to the main pre-race holding area to kill some time until they opened the walkway to the corrals. We walked through security - as we had no bags - they didn’t search us. It was nice to see they had stormtroopers hanging around along with a nice photo op that we had a stranger take of us! I warned Betsy about this in text as she was planning on just coming straight to the corrals as well (she says I didn’t wake her up but I’m still not sure I believe her *whistles*)

Stormtroopers wandering around

Stuck In Hoth

It was about an hour before the race started so I wanted to get to the corrals. We were towards the front of the corral and looked at our trackers to find out we already had walked 1.24 miles this morning! We waited as we watched the hosts and eventually were greeted by Betsy as she got into the corral as well! We all talked. I was planning on taking the 5K easy. My husband was doing to go all out. Betsy was undecided at first and said go ahead and she may catch up. I had my Garmin set for 30 second run/60 second walk intervals after a 3 minute ‘warm up’ which I would do whatever I wanted (mostly run) as I went up Disneyland Dr and towards the highway.

Tankgirl aka Betsy

Wheelchair Start

About a minute after the wheelchairs started, Corral A was off and off we all went, quickly separating. Once we got backstage at Disneyland, they had a long line up for Chewie so I took a flyby photo of him and continued on my way!

Blurry Photo of Chewie!

I was super happy when I saw my pace for the first mile! 12:58! I’ve never gone that fast for a mile in a runDisney race! I was also failing at taking this race easy like I had planned
Mile 1 - 12:58!

They had all holiday lights on throughout the park.

It’s A Small World

Monstro!

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Star Wars Rebels

Jedi Symbol

Leaving Disneyland

Right after arriving in California Adventure, we hit mile 2! That mile had taken me 15 minutes to complete which isn’t bad seeing as I had stopped for selfies and other photos!

Mile 2- 28:58

Going up Hollywood Blvd, I saw that they had BB8 - but I also saw the line was wrapped at least 4 times and was going to be a long wait. I knew if I stopped for it, it would be impossible to keep this pace up I was doing as my legs would stiffen. I took a quick photo to the side and continued down the course!

BB-8!!!!

Bad C3PO & R2D2 Photo

Stormtroopers leaving California Adventure

Leaving California Adventure, we headed out towards Downtown Disney where we hit Mile 3. It had taken 15 minutes to get to Mile 3 as well and in a short .1 miles afterwards - I was over the finish line!

Mile 3 - 43:58

I stopped my Garmin watch right over the finish line and was super happy to see what my total time and pace was! This was a great pace for me and I was happy to see that I was right on at 3.1 miles instead of gaining a lot of mileage during the race!

Official Garmin Data

I grabbed my powerade, water, banana and food box and walked back to the hotel! I ate the banana right away and chugged the powerade. When back at the room, I ate the Salted Caramel Puffed Corn and Goldfish. My husband stole the trail mix as it had dried edamame which he loves!

Done & Back In The Room!

Bibs & Medals

Food Box

After I had my runDisney box breakfast, I got cleaned up and we got ready to head to Disneyland before they opened!​

 

[kirstie101]

Yay for a great 5k!!!!
I agree that the walk to the corrals was super annoying this year! I wasn't happy with the change. Normally we stay at PPH but we stayed at Stovalls this time thinking it would still be a super quick walk.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yay for a great 5k!!!!
I agree that the walk to the corrals was super annoying this year! I wasn't happy with the change. Normally we stay at PPH but we stayed at Stovalls this time thinking it would still be a super quick walk.

I know! I'm so happy it was an awesome 5K even with stopping for all the photo/selfies!

There were a lot of not happy people in the corrals I noticed about the corral changes. Next year, we're going to stay at Disneyland Hotel to save us some of that walk at least! In some ways, it was a nice warm up for the legs but at the same time, I wasn't happy! Being in Corral E, I saw so many people trying to run to their corral last minute for the 10K and Half and realizing they had to go all the way around - wonder if they made it to their correct corral or ended up in the back.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Off to Neverland!

I put on my brand new Ariel shoes to break them in and we headed out to Disneyland!

We arrived at Disneyland before it opened for the day. We immediately headed towards the Castle where we were held until the park officially opened. We had a mission to get on Peter Pan before the line was super busy since they don't have Fast Pass here for this ride. We actually ran into the couple from the previous day’s Radiator Springs Racer line and they followed us towards Peter Pan since they didn’t know exactly how to get there. As soon as the rope dropped, all 4 of us walked fast towards the ride and were able to get on within 10 minutes. They were nice to talk to!

Peter Pan Selfie

Over London!

We parted ways with the other couple and we headed to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!

Our Car?

Except, when I went to sit down in the cart, after my husband, there was a loud noise! Using my engineering ear, it sounded like the seat under me had an issue but I knew the teenagers running the ride wouldn’t exactly believe a random park guest on that, even if she is an engineer that understands things. They ended up shutting down the ride…my husband proceeded to make fun of me for a while about breaking this ride.

We decided to try the Matterhorn as it was down for refurb last year when we were here as it only had about a 5 minute wait!

I think they may be our last time riding the Matterhorn! It hurt! I’m shocked at how jerky it is.

Mr. Toad was still down so we headed to Snow White for a very scary adventure!

We then headed towards Pirates! We really love this version of Pirates more than the Magic Kingdom’s version! I just love going through the Bayou and the dead pirate scenes.

I was starving at this time! Luckily, we weren’t far from getting to try a Mint Julip and some Mickey Beignets (Order of 3) I really enjoyed the Julip! My husband found it to be too sweet. I’m glad we only got 3 beignets as that was more than enough for us to split (although I think I ate most of them!)

We continued towards Critter Country to enjoy a visit to Winnie the Pooh!

We then did something stupid for people on a runDisney trip and worked out our butts by visiting Tarzan’s Treehouse!

Our gluts worked out, we headed back to Fantasyland to get in the last of the rides there with Pinocchio and Mr. Toad, which I didn’t break this time!

We were both hungry at this time. My husband didn’t want quick service again and asked about where we could go at Downtown Disney for a sit down. We decided that Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen sounded tasty! We had no problems walking in for lunch and were quickly sat inside near the piano that looked so lonely at lunchtime!

We started with the Garlic Cheese Bread to share. I’m glad we went with the small as any more, we would have had to leave some behind! Just enough cheese and garlic to not overpower it!

Southern Garlic Cheese Bread - Small - Basil, Mozzarella, Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil Puree

I went with the Fried Chicken Po-Boy. This was super filling! I could barely eat half of the sandwich! I felt bad wasting all that food but I know I wouldn’t eat the leftovers anytime during the trip.

Fried Chicken Po-Boy - Apple-wood Smoked Bacon, Lettuce, Creole Mustard Aioli served with Mardi Gas Slaw

My husband went completely outside of the norms of what I thought he was going to order. He went with Shrimp & Grits which shocked me! He loved it! The grits were just cheesy enough and the shrimp was well cooked!

BBQ Shrimp & Grits - “New Orleans” Style BBQ Sauce, Andouille Sausage, Grits

We skipped dessert here and instead grabbed milkshakes before heading back to the room!

Salted Caramel & Peppermint Mint Chip Milkshakes

Back at the room, naps were to be had along with relaxing before heading out for dinner!​

 

[franandaj]

The garlic cheesy bread is a must for us at Brennans! I love the sandwiches but they are huge. Normally we go for appetizers as I love the bread pudding chocolate soufflé, but in the middle of the day I can see where it would be too much we skipped it at luch our last time there.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The garlic cheesy bread is a must for us at Brennans! I love the sandwiches but they are huge. Normally we go for appetizers as I love the bread pudding chocolate soufflé, but in the middle of the day I can see where it would be too much we skipped it at luch our last time there.

They totally are huge! I do love the appetizers for meals sometimes as well - I probably should have done that more this trip for lunch. I am glad we got to try it at least this trip. Cheesy Bread makes me happy

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Stuffing Ourselves

We were restless in the room by about 4:15PM. I was tired of relaxing! I wanted to get some shopping in. The super dry cold weather was doing a number on my lips so I wanted to find something at Sephora that could help combat the cracking I was feeling. So not used to shopping in Sephora as I’m more of an Ulta girl but eventually I found a super moisturizing lip whip that became my best friend for the rest of the trip!

We then looked in the other shops in the area before walking across the way to check into Naples for our dinner reservation. I had made us a reservation right at 5PM as I knew we would try to get to bed early as we would be up around 3:30AM for the 10K the next morning. We were quickly sat upstairs and had an amazing server! We told her we were carbing up before the races and she was awesome at making sure we had water glasses that were filled to ensure we were hydrated! She also had a great attitude despite a very busy restaurant.

My husband got the exact same thing he got in 2015. He enjoyed it more this time around, probably as he was expecting the chili flakes and the different shaped pasta. He said it was flavorful and properly filled him up!

Garganelli - Quill Shaped Pasta, Broccoli, Chicken, Cream, Chili Flakes, Parmesan

I went with an individual pizza with a prosciutto topping add on. I’m so glad I went with prosciutto despite being an $6 upcharge rather than $2 like the other toppings. The salty flavor of the prosciutto worked so well with the melty mozzarella!

10” Individual Pizza w/ Prosciutto

Dinner took about 30 minutes. We didn’t feel like heading back into the room for the night at that point. My husband had seen the Boba Fett in the window at Build-a-Bear and joked that he wanted one earlier in the trip. Guess what I made him do?

Boba’s Debut!

Back at the room, we put together our clothes for the 10K in the morning and settled in for the night. I watched Reign on the CW at 8 and then went to bed afterwards!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Star Wars 10K - 1st 5K

I woke up at 3:30AM and was eager to wake up! I got dressed and was ready to go!

All Dressed!

Mr. Dis_Yoda all dressed

My husband told me I was crazy to want to head to the corrals this early so I left him behind! The event guide had said the corrals would be opening around 4AM and I wanted to be at the front of my corral! I kissed him goodbye and told him to have a great race! I walked the long walk all by myself.

Except this time, they hadn’t opened the walk to the corrals yet. I hung out there for a while. My husband ended up joining me around 4:15AM and laughed at my being an early bird to just wait!

At 4:30AM, they let us start walking to the corrals and my husband and I split as he went to Corral A and I walked all the way to the back. I was able to get in the front row! I passed the time talking to people in the corral. Some of them thought I was crazy for not having a jacket on and dealing with it being a cooler morning.

At 5:32AM, they let the Corral A go and eventually we started our slow walk to the start line! My husband was through the 5K checkpoint before I even got to start! He did the 5K portion in 26:35/8:34!

Start Time: 29:07

The first mile was pretty much the same as the mile at the 5K. I had my Garmin set for the same intervals and just took the first mile as far as I could. I didn’t grab a photo of the Boba Fett line as he wasn’t even out as it was a switchover. I was happy to see I completed the 1st mile in 13:36!

Mile 1 - 42:43

The next mile didn’t go as well. There were so many narrow spaces that the course got so tight and slow that it was almost painful for me to move that slow!

Just a casual walk

Yoda!

I was sad to see that my 2nd mile took 16:31 to complete! Those tight spaces killed my pace. Right before I got to mile 2, I got the notice from text message that my husband was done in 53:38, an overall 8:38 pace! Such an awesome job!

Mile 2 - 59:14

My anger shortly went away as I soon was able to see the Castle! The castle was another spot that killed the course with the narrow so we all halted to a walk.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Chewy

It’s A Small World!

Star Wars Rebels

Soon I was at Mile 3 in 16:02!

Mile 3 - 1:15:16

I received my text message stating I completed the 5K in 47:52 at a 15:25 pace! I thought I would be able to do better but at same time, looking at my intervals, there were times I wasn’t able to go faster than a 20:00 pace because of the traffic flow.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Star Wars 10K - 2nd 5K

After the 5K point, we were leaving Disneyland!

Stormtroopers

I hit the Mile 4 Mark in 15:03 which made me happy! I was finally in a decent groove

Mile 4 - 1:30:19

Something Star Wars

Even as someone who really hates Cars, running through Radiator Springs is such a great moment in Disneyland Races especially as the sun is rising!

I hit Mile 5 in 15:43 which isn’t too bad!

Mile 5 - 1:46:02

R2D2

More Stormtroopers

Paradise Pier

Grizzly

As we left and went towards Downtown Disney, Betsy (tankgirl) was cheering on the racers outside of Starbucks. The guy next to her was holding a sign “Come To The Dark Side, We have Cookies” and Betsy helped with handing out Oreos and Chips Ahoys. I totally broke one of my race rules of “Nothing New During Run” and grabbed an oreo! It may have been the best tasting Oreo I’ve had!

Dark Side Cookies

I completed this mile in 16:14.

Mile 6 - 2:02:16

After crossing the finish line, I took a shot of my watch and a selfie with my medal!

Garmin Data

This race felt better than how 2015’s 10K went. I’m happy with finishing with energy still left in my system. I’m not sure I like this course in comparison to 2015’s due to the amount of narrow spots that caused traffic jams. It makes me wonder how much better my time would have been if it wasn’t for the jams.

After my selfie with my medal, I grabbed my water and powerade. Again I immediately chugged the powerade as I made my way to the refreshment table to get my food box and banana. The banana was also quickly eaten. I made my way back to the room to clean up so we could head into the park.​

 

[franandaj]

Good job on the run! I can't even imagine running that far, I'm so out of shape!

 

[tnbrowne2004]

Ack, didn't see this trip report until yesterday, I'm all caught up now! Your trip reports are the best. Those medals, I need them, I need them all. Maybe next year. We're supposed to be taking a break from Disney this year so I'm living vicariously through trip reports. Good job on all your runs can't wait for the next installment.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Good job on the run! I can't even imagine running that far, I'm so out of shape!

Thank you
All it takes is dedicated training and you can do it! I'm still super overweight and am slow but if I can do it, almost anyone can!

Ack, didn't see this trip report until yesterday, I'm all caught up now! Your trip reports are the best. Those medals, I need them, I need them all. Maybe next year. We're supposed to be taking a break from Disney this year so I'm living vicariously through trip reports. Good job on all your runs can't wait for the next installment.

Yay for being caught up! I'm hoping to get some updates busted out this weekend especially since I'm less than two weeks away until the Princess Half Marathon Trip and I don't want this to drag too far past that for being posted!

Are you going somewhere else in your break from Disney? The bling is definitely motivating for doing all these runDisney trips!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Fly By Visits

Once we were dressed and ready for the park, we first headed into the Boudin Bakery Tour! We received a sample of their sourdough bread (super tasty!) and learned how it was made.

We went on California Screamin’ again as there was like no wait!

We really love that ride

My husband went to get a soda as I got in line for Toy Story Midway Mania and he would catch up with me. I won this time!

I Won!

After that, we were well, done with the park for the day. We though about going on Mickey’s Fun Wheel but the line was over 30 minutes. We headed over to the Disneyland Hotel instead to revisit the Star Wars Half Marathon Expo. At the Expo, I ended up looking at the official merchandise again and got myself the long sleeve shirt I talked myself out of on Thursday. I got another Sparkle Skirt that my husband picked out so he won’t think its ugly. We also got pairs of compression socks from Fit2Run and I picked up a pair of running sunglasses for like $35 which isn’t bad at all! We ran into Betsy there again and chatted with her for a bit until we broke away for lunch and she went to get herself compression socks as well as she didn’t bring a whole pair (much like I forgot to just pack mine completely)

All the new goodies!

My husband and I were starving at this point even though it was only like 11:30AM. We decided to check into ESPN Zone and see if they would take us as a walk in. It wasn’t a problem and we were quickly sat at a booth downstairs. I got a water while my husband got a Diet Coke. While looking on the menu, I let my eyes do the ordering for myself. I attempted to start with something green, even if it was only a caesar salad. It was a decent bar caesar - nothing special but not bad tasting.

Caesar Salad

My husband went healthy for his meal with the Turkey Wrap. He liked this a lot and even finished his whole meal!

Turkey Club Wrap - Sliced Turkey, Avocado, Three-Pepper Bacon, Swiss, Lettuce w/ Chipotle Mayonnaise wrapped in a Wheat Tortilla served w/ French Fries

I was not a member of the clean plate club. I’m not sure I even made it a third of the way into my meal until I called it quits as my stomach was like ENOUGH! These pulled pork covered cheese fries were so tasty though. I was very happy with them but it was heavy.

Cheese Fries - Smothered w/ Bacon, Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Pepper Jack Cheese and Smoked Pork served with Ranch

After lunch, we headed back to the room to relax. I didn’t really get to relax much as I did 2 loads of laundry, especially as we had 2 days of race clothes in the dirty clothes pile & no one wants that to sit around unwashed. I ended up starting to pack some as well with the clothes I knew we wouldn’t wear again during the trip. At least it kept me moving!​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Pour It On!

A little after 5:00PM, we headed to the Disneyland Hotel to check in for our dinner at Steakhouse 55. There was already a line for check in so I got in line to wait on the hostess. If it is the night before a half marathon, why would you be mad at a restaurant for not having walk-in availability? You should plan better! I felt so bad for the hostess as when I was waiting to check in, I saw two separate people berate the poor hostess that they couldn’t get in.

It wasn’t long before we were sat at a two top in the front corner of the restaurant. Our server was super attentive and quickly brought us our waters & kept them filled all evening!

We love their bread at Steakhouse 55! We didn’t finish the loaf but we did come close between the two of us.

Sourdough Bread & Butter

This is where I kick myself for not taking notes. I have absolutely no idea what was this amuse bouche this evening. I know it was another fritter (our 3rd one this trip!) and it was super flavorful. I feel bad not remembering what it actually was.

Amuse Bouche

My husband and I ordered the exact the same appetizer and entree. It always amuses me to see my husband order an onion soup when he hates eating the cooked onions in the soup. He just enjoys the cheese and the broth. I really enjoyed this soup as it wasn’t overly cheesy and super flavorful with its broth!

Onion Soup au Gratin - Rustic French Bread Croutons, Gruyere Cheese, Micro Thyme

We both wanted pure protein for our main event! This lovely 8 ounce filet was perfectly cooked and so tender. I felt bad leaving behind the bone marrow because as much as I like bone marrow - I was not going to risk stomach issues during the half marathon the next day because of the richness of that dish!

Center-Cut Filet Mignon

My husband skipped dessert; however, I did not. Something really stood out to me with the menu called the “60 Carat” Diamond - it was served as a solid chocolate diamond that had warmed chocolate sauce poured on top until it was melted open. Inside was a nice banana cream pie filling. It also was super light in comparison to the other dessert options and was the perfect choice for me! The presentation was totally a winner!

”60 Carat” Chocolate Diamond” - Banana Cream Pie, Manjari Chocolate Ganache, Candied Angelica

We paid our bill and headed back to the hotel. Back at the room, we got settled for the evening. Pretty sure I was asleep by 8 as I knew 3:30AM would come kick and I wanted as much sleep as possible!

Half Marathon Outfit​

 

[franandaj]

Thank you
All it takes is dedicated training and you can do it! I'm still super overweight and am slow but if I can do it, almost anyone can!

For me it would take a lot of equipment hunting as well. I had to stop running in Jr High due to the shin splints and they have bothered me ever since. Even when walking sometimes I get pain, so I would have to find the right shoes, maybe even compression socks and all kinds of other things. I'd rather just go back to swimming. Maybe once we get the old house cleaned out.

I had no idea that the bone marrow was now something that they were serving all the time. I tried it for the first time last summer and didn't really care for it all that much. I was sad because Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern both raved about it on their shows and when I finally tried it I was like, "meh".

The onion soup looked good! I would never be able to eat a plate of those pulled pork fries! That looked huge and full of all kinds of stuff. I might have been fine with the Caesar salad! that looked pretty good! I wish I could get a score on TSMM like that. I've never gotten higher than a Beaver. I guess I need to look up online what the tricks are to unlocking the surprises.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

For me it would take a lot of equipment hunting as well. I had to stop running in Jr High due to the shin splints and they have bothered me ever since. Even when walking sometimes I get pain, so I would have to find the right shoes, maybe even compression socks and all kinds of other things. I'd rather just go back to swimming. Maybe once we get the old house cleaned out.

I had no idea that the bone marrow was now something that they were serving all the time. I tried it for the first time last summer and didn't really care for it all that much. I was sad because Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern both raved about it on their shows and when I finally tried it I was like, "meh".

The onion soup looked good! I would never be able to eat a plate of those pulled pork fries! That looked huge and full of all kinds of stuff. I might have been fine with the Caesar salad! that looked pretty good! I wish I could get a score on TSMM like that. I've never gotten higher than a Beaver. I guess I need to look up online what the tricks are to unlocking the surprises.

I think getting equipment for almost anytime of exercise gets expensive and excessive at times. It took me a bit to find the right shoes (and then the shoes that I loved no longer worked when they were 'upgraded' for the yearly updated and I had to restart my search! Compression Socks - I love for recovery! I have an awesome sexy photo of my husband and I in our compression finest after I get through the Half Marathon Updates this week. When I struggled with Shin Splits in early 2015, I was really lucky to work with an A.R.T. therapist that was awesome! It was painful but they went away and once he fixed the muscle issue, I never seemed to get them again. I ended up in a discussion with my yoga teacher about how much it costs to try to be healthy. She thought my running yearly costs were crazy but then she admitted she spends crazy amounts on her yoga gear.

Swimming is good too! So much better for joints, especially if you have issues.

Last year we were given the bone marrow as well. I like Bone Marrow when not worrying about fatty unusual items in my diet. My husband (when he ate meat) was 'meh' on it so I get that. I guess thats the joy of having so many different foods in the world - something for everyone! I don't crave lobster or cavier. I'll eat it as part of tasting menus or in really strange moods. I'm not sure anyone could eat an entire plates of those pork nachos alone! I would really be impressed as that would be a ton of food to put away.

My husband and I play video games (him more than I) but we try to keep our wrists moving really fast (switching hands as needed especially in the final game) The easiest trick is to get the balloons at the top of volcano all gone a couple times so it causes it to erupt. After the volcano erupts, comets show up on either side and if you keep popping the balloons there and make them both 'crash' other high point balloons come up! Thats really the only one we've figured out that is super special. I've tried not to look up the surprises as we keep trying to just do it ourselves.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The Half Marathon - 1st 10K

My alarm went off at 3:30AM. My husband was going to sleep in a little longer than I since he wasn’t too worried about where he would be in his corral. I got dressed and wished him a great race and started towards the corrals.

There were a lot more people walking around Downtown Disney this morning. Many of them went into the pre-race entertainment area and I instead decided to walk towards the corrals as I wanted to be as far away from the balloon ladies at the back of my corral as possible! This time they didn’t hold us until 4:30AM to get to the corrals and I was able to head that way even though it was just barely 4AM.

I actually was the very first person to show up in my corral. The volunteers called me crazy for not having a jacket as it was a little chilly this morning. It wasn’t long though until someone else showed up and I asked them to take a photo of my full outfit since my husband didn’t get one this morning for me.

I spent the next 90 minutes entertaining myself with either my phone, conversation with people around me, including a very nervous first time half marathon runner and the same guy I had seen at the 10K the day before who had run Dopey. He made the joke that I had to have a better day after the race yesterday than him as he spent it doing laundry. Joke was on him as I totally did the same thing in the afternoon! Having great conversations with these people really made the time fly! Eventually, we started moving towards the start line. I was kinda annoyed as I got the text message notification that I had started the race while I was waiting for it to actually start. Boo for it unnecessarily adding 3 minutes to my time! My husband had already completed the first 5K portion of the race before I started.

Start Time: 31:01

We were let free a little after 6AM and I kept with the intervals that had been working for me all weekend - 30/60.

Backstage Disneyland

Bad Boba Fett

When I reached the first mile, my pace could be considered either 16:14 if I go by Disney’s start time for me or 13:14 if I go by when I actually started…

Mile 1 - 47:15

And just like the day before, once we got past Mile 1, people apparently forgot this was a race and it turned into a slow walking mass. Too many people trying to get through!

Eventually, I broke free from those crowds and made my way through Tomorrowland!

Stormtrooper Selfie

My Mile 2 pace was 18:58 which annoyed me greatly as I still had tons of energy in the bank and the crowded spots killed it.

Mile 2 - 1:06:13

Approaching Disneyland Castle

Mile 3 took 15:26 to complete! I only had to deal with crowded spots when going through the castle and immediately leaving Disneyland. Not nearly as bad as what Mile 2 was!

Mile 3 - 1:21:39

I received my tracking text that I had completed the 5K in 49:54 at a 16:04 pace. Boo!

They had empty cars running in Radiator Springs!

At Mile 4 in 15:48!

Mile 4 - 1:37:27

As you leave property between Mile 4 and 5, I saw a lady with a cocker spaniel that looked so much like mine at home! So cute!

I also shortly saw my husband passing on the other side of the road as he was getting near Mile 12.

Mr. Dis_Yoda in front of the bright yellow shirt guy

I hit Mile 5 in 15:04!
Mile 5 - 1:52:31

I got to Mile 6 in 14:04! That is such a great speed for me at this point in the race! It also was a good mark for my mental being. As I've mentioned previously in the report, Mile 5 to 12 last year resulted in a nasty mental breakdown/self loathing session. I was really happy that I hadn't repeated that yet. I was feeling stronger physically and mentally. This race was going better!

Mile 6 - 2:06:35

I gained during the 2nd 5K portion when I received my text for the 10K. I did the 10K in 1:38:38 at a 15:53 pace.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The Half Marathon - The Finish

Around the time I finished my 10K portion of the half, I had received notification that my husband had finished. He completed in 2:01:50 at an overall 9:18 pace! That is awesome considering that is his 3rd straight day of racing. It didn’t meet his goal of under 2 hours but he realized he probably would have hit that if he hadn’t done a 5K and a 10K the previous mornings. He has Princess & Star Wars - Dark Side to try again!

After the initial 10K, my pace took a bit of a hit. I was getting tired physically as I realized I hadn’t really taken my gus at my normal training intervals. I made it to Mile 7 in 17:30

Mile 7 - 2:24:05

It was nice to see people out around Garden Grove!

Costumed Cheering Squad!

I hit Mile 8 in 18:08.

Mile 8 - 2:42:13

Star Wars Car

At this point, I had my only negative thought of the race. The band had started playing “My Worst Enemy” right as I reached them. I totally ranted about it in the group chat I have with my husband & some friends.

Band!

Luckily, shortly after that, you reach main street Garden Grove along with getting to the 501st! It was a nice pick me up.

R2D2!

Yoda

Another R2D2!

Steampunk Star Wars

Mile 9 was completed in 17:29 which wasn’t bad considering how many photos I taken!

Mile 9 - 2:59:42

I received notification of my 15K mark as being hit in 2:29:17 as a 16:01 pace. I noticed my face started feeling gritty as well. I broke the “nothing new on race day” rule yet again and began getting the powerade at the water stations instead of water. Luckily, it didn’t create an issue for me, most likely because its so watered down.

15K Mark!

Mile 10 was done in 16:55.

Mile 10 - 3:16:37

Mile 11 was done in 15:12. I’m glad this mile went better!

Mile 11- 3:31:49

Cheerleaders

My energy died heavily after Mile 11. I pretty much just started only walking at this point. Mile 12 took 20:24.

Mile 12 - 3:52:13

Mile 13 - ???? It was off!

Mile 13.1 - The Finish!

Officially complete in 3:35:16 at a 16:26 pace.

Official Garmin Data

I went through the finisher’s shoot getting my half marathon medal. I went to get my Rebel Challenge medal and was cleared for it; however, apparently they had ran out of medals?!?!?! I think the crowd was about to revolt to the poor volunteers but eventually they found another box of them and we were given our stuff!

Dis_Yoda with Medals

Overall, this half went way better than 2015. I may not have had an awesome pace (actually pretty much the same officially as last year even though I know I really did 3 minutes better) I finished feeling strong and accomplished rather than physically and mentally drained. To me that is a major win!​