Lexxiefern
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2003
- Messages
- 3,709
Monday, Sept 3rd - race day!! I barely slept the night before. Had a wakeup call for 4am. After hanging up with Mickey, I got ready, stretched and left the hotel room without waking the kids. I just followed the crowd to downtown disney - and boy was there a crowd! It felt like a 2 mile walk to the corrals and then I finally found corral E. I made my way to the end of the corral and then was finally able to enter it. I started working my way up through the chute, since there was a lot of empty space. Most people were sitting down and I was wearing one of my skirt sports skirts (in camo) and I didn’t want to snag it on the pavement. So I worked my way down to where people were standing. I end up stopping behind a woman who turns and asks me the time. I end up talking with her until the race starts. I really appreciated the distraction. Thank you Darlene!!
Right before the race started they gave a heat index warning. They told us not to go for any PR’s and to stay well hydrated on the course. They said if the heat index got to a black flag - they would stop timing the race. Yikes! It had been awfully hot in Anaheim, but I had no idea that this was abnormal until I talked to Darlene. I kept giving myself pep talks that I could do this (if I forgot to mention, this was my first half marathon. The longest distance in a race was the Minnie 15k in May).
The race starts with some fireworks that scare the poor birds out of the trees. It really didn’t take that long for me to start. Looks like about 13 minutes to cross the start line. I was also surprised to see corrals F & G. I didn’t have proof of time, so I figured I would be in the last corral. I must say I was glad I wasn’t last.
The roads weren’t too bad. We had lots of room to run, I stayed to the left side as much as I could, it was easier to pass. Most people were running in the beginning, so I didn’t have to do much bobbing and weaving. The first 4 miles, which took us through Disneyland and California Adventure, were very good. I felt really well, was able to jog continuously, I even passed the water stops (I had my own bottle with me that I kept drinking). As soon as I passed the mile 4 marker, I decided to stop, walk and have my first Gu. I did this as we were going up the biggest hill in the race, so it was good timing on my part. Once I finished my gu (it takes me a few minutes to get it all down), it was really hard to transition to running again. But after about a mile, I was good again. That is, until we turned the corner on a road and were running directly into the sun! Oh, it was horrible. There was no shade at all. I found myself trying to run in people’s shadows, just to get some shade.
Mile 7 was my hardest mile. For some reason I just pooped out. I started doing walk/run intervals at this point. I also tried to keep certain people in my line of view, that helped motivate me some. By mile 8 I felt so much better and was back to running. At mile 9.5 we reached Angel Stadium. That was fun to run through. There were so many people and a lot of kids cheering us on. It was so cool to hear “Good job, Becky!” or “Way to go Becky!” It was like I had my own cheering squad. To all the volunteers and scream teams along the course, THANK YOU!! It was so unbelievably awesome! As soon as we exited Angel Stadium was mile 10. I knew at this point I only had a 5k to go. I looked at my time and I was really excited - I knew I was going to make my goal time of 2:45, maybe even better if I stayed at this pace!
At mile 10 I ate my next gu. Once again, it was really hard to get running again, but I pushed through it. Miles 12 & 13 were pretty tough and I started doing the run/walk intervals again. I was able to run the last .6 miles to the finish - so I finished strong as my DH would say.
As soon as I finished I felt great! It is amazing how you can go from feeling like you are dying (maybe not that bad) to feeling so amazed and happy and proud of yourself. It is so worth all the hard work! I got my chip removed and got my wonderfully fabulous castle medal put around my neck. They offered my one of those trash bag things with the DL logo on it (what are those for??) I was looking at the people like how can you put that on - it is so stinkin hot out here…well, I made my way through the finisher’s chute, grabbed some water and some mandarin oranges (wish they had those at the Minnie) and worked my way over to the W tent. I waited around there for about 3 - 4 minutes, didn’t see any lime green, so I moved on. Sorry WISHers! I don’t have lime green yet. I am surprised I didn’t see Matt - I thought for sure I would’ve. But he must have been looking for Cheryl. I called my DH and told him I was done. He got some of the updates, but not the finish one. He had filled up the tub with ice for me and was going to grab me some breakfast. I then called my sister, who also didn’t get the finish update, as I walked back to DTD and watched other poor racers as they came in for a finish.
I had to wait for a break in the runners so I could cross to get back to the Grand Californian. If you do this race in the future, stay at the GC! It was so close to all the race stuff, very convenient. I wobbled back to the room and spent the day with my 22 month old, with ice on my knees and ordering room service. My Dh took my 6 year old to DL for the afternoon. Oh and what is up with all the salt?? I could have filled a small salt shaker with all the salt all over me!
My DH was supposed to run this race with me, I had hired a babysitter in CA. But I got cold feet at the last minute and he stayed behind with the kids while I ran. I am SOOOO glad I did that. My DH would have been absolutely miserable running in that heat. Plus he probably would have been pooped for the rest of the trip. Since I was now running alone, I ran out a couple days before the race and bought myself and ipod shuffle (cheaper than getting a babysitter!). One of the best investments ever! I don’t know how I ran without one before.
There weren’t that many characters out on the course, I am glad I decided to forgo the camera. I thought it would be a little too cumbersome. There were way more characters during the 5k the day before.
For those of you who made it this far (thanks for reading!) here are my splits according to my garmin:
Mile 1 - 11:24
Mile 2 - 11:41
Mile 3 - 11:01
Mile 4 - 10:44
Mile 5 - 11:30 (ate my first gu)
Mile 6 - 11:08
Mile 7 - 11:51
Mile 8 - 12:21
Mile 9 - 11:49
Mile 10 - 12:19 (ate 2nd gu)
Mile 11 - 12:16
Mile 12 - 12:22
Mile 13 - 11:19
Last .41 mile - 4:22
Total of 13.41 miles time 2:36:08
Average pace 11:39
Official chip time 2:35:58
I was shooting for 2:45 and I beat that by 9 minutes! I can’t imagine how good I could’ve done if the weather wasn’t so hot!
Thank you for reading!
Becky
Right before the race started they gave a heat index warning. They told us not to go for any PR’s and to stay well hydrated on the course. They said if the heat index got to a black flag - they would stop timing the race. Yikes! It had been awfully hot in Anaheim, but I had no idea that this was abnormal until I talked to Darlene. I kept giving myself pep talks that I could do this (if I forgot to mention, this was my first half marathon. The longest distance in a race was the Minnie 15k in May).
The race starts with some fireworks that scare the poor birds out of the trees. It really didn’t take that long for me to start. Looks like about 13 minutes to cross the start line. I was also surprised to see corrals F & G. I didn’t have proof of time, so I figured I would be in the last corral. I must say I was glad I wasn’t last.
The roads weren’t too bad. We had lots of room to run, I stayed to the left side as much as I could, it was easier to pass. Most people were running in the beginning, so I didn’t have to do much bobbing and weaving. The first 4 miles, which took us through Disneyland and California Adventure, were very good. I felt really well, was able to jog continuously, I even passed the water stops (I had my own bottle with me that I kept drinking). As soon as I passed the mile 4 marker, I decided to stop, walk and have my first Gu. I did this as we were going up the biggest hill in the race, so it was good timing on my part. Once I finished my gu (it takes me a few minutes to get it all down), it was really hard to transition to running again. But after about a mile, I was good again. That is, until we turned the corner on a road and were running directly into the sun! Oh, it was horrible. There was no shade at all. I found myself trying to run in people’s shadows, just to get some shade.
Mile 7 was my hardest mile. For some reason I just pooped out. I started doing walk/run intervals at this point. I also tried to keep certain people in my line of view, that helped motivate me some. By mile 8 I felt so much better and was back to running. At mile 9.5 we reached Angel Stadium. That was fun to run through. There were so many people and a lot of kids cheering us on. It was so cool to hear “Good job, Becky!” or “Way to go Becky!” It was like I had my own cheering squad. To all the volunteers and scream teams along the course, THANK YOU!! It was so unbelievably awesome! As soon as we exited Angel Stadium was mile 10. I knew at this point I only had a 5k to go. I looked at my time and I was really excited - I knew I was going to make my goal time of 2:45, maybe even better if I stayed at this pace!
At mile 10 I ate my next gu. Once again, it was really hard to get running again, but I pushed through it. Miles 12 & 13 were pretty tough and I started doing the run/walk intervals again. I was able to run the last .6 miles to the finish - so I finished strong as my DH would say.
As soon as I finished I felt great! It is amazing how you can go from feeling like you are dying (maybe not that bad) to feeling so amazed and happy and proud of yourself. It is so worth all the hard work! I got my chip removed and got my wonderfully fabulous castle medal put around my neck. They offered my one of those trash bag things with the DL logo on it (what are those for??) I was looking at the people like how can you put that on - it is so stinkin hot out here…well, I made my way through the finisher’s chute, grabbed some water and some mandarin oranges (wish they had those at the Minnie) and worked my way over to the W tent. I waited around there for about 3 - 4 minutes, didn’t see any lime green, so I moved on. Sorry WISHers! I don’t have lime green yet. I am surprised I didn’t see Matt - I thought for sure I would’ve. But he must have been looking for Cheryl. I called my DH and told him I was done. He got some of the updates, but not the finish one. He had filled up the tub with ice for me and was going to grab me some breakfast. I then called my sister, who also didn’t get the finish update, as I walked back to DTD and watched other poor racers as they came in for a finish.
I had to wait for a break in the runners so I could cross to get back to the Grand Californian. If you do this race in the future, stay at the GC! It was so close to all the race stuff, very convenient. I wobbled back to the room and spent the day with my 22 month old, with ice on my knees and ordering room service. My Dh took my 6 year old to DL for the afternoon. Oh and what is up with all the salt?? I could have filled a small salt shaker with all the salt all over me!
My DH was supposed to run this race with me, I had hired a babysitter in CA. But I got cold feet at the last minute and he stayed behind with the kids while I ran. I am SOOOO glad I did that. My DH would have been absolutely miserable running in that heat. Plus he probably would have been pooped for the rest of the trip. Since I was now running alone, I ran out a couple days before the race and bought myself and ipod shuffle (cheaper than getting a babysitter!). One of the best investments ever! I don’t know how I ran without one before.
There weren’t that many characters out on the course, I am glad I decided to forgo the camera. I thought it would be a little too cumbersome. There were way more characters during the 5k the day before.
For those of you who made it this far (thanks for reading!) here are my splits according to my garmin:
Mile 1 - 11:24
Mile 2 - 11:41
Mile 3 - 11:01
Mile 4 - 10:44
Mile 5 - 11:30 (ate my first gu)
Mile 6 - 11:08
Mile 7 - 11:51
Mile 8 - 12:21
Mile 9 - 11:49
Mile 10 - 12:19 (ate 2nd gu)
Mile 11 - 12:16
Mile 12 - 12:22
Mile 13 - 11:19
Last .41 mile - 4:22
Total of 13.41 miles time 2:36:08
Average pace 11:39
Official chip time 2:35:58
I was shooting for 2:45 and I beat that by 9 minutes! I can’t imagine how good I could’ve done if the weather wasn’t so hot!
Thank you for reading!
Becky
Wow, that's awesome Becky, way to go! So, I guess we'll see you in January? lol
Good job.
). You look great!
