Wine & Dine Half Marathon 2022 Recap
Pre race
We woke up just after 2a and made it to the first bus just before 2:30a. I knew we had extra time this morning so I told my mom we were going to get pictures with Genie if he was out. Of course he wasn't, but it was so early we decided to get photos with max and Elvis Stitch (we have a lot of really great photos but I'm not sure how my mom would feel about me posting them so prepare for lots of words and not many photos).
My mom was very very nervous. She only took up running in the last few years and the furthest she made it in training was 10 miles. She is fairly active otherwise so I kept encouraging her and telling her that we'd be fine. Anyway, we headed to the corrals right when they opened because she wanted as much cushion as possible. During the walk she asked me where the start line was.
. I thought that I had warned her about the walk out, but maybe not. 2000 steps later and we were in our corral and my mom found a seat by the rail. We spent the time talking to other runners and doing some dynamic warm ups, which were once again challenging due to how crowded it gets.
Race Time!
My mom kept telling me her goal was 3 hours. She ran the 10K in 95 minutes so I insisted that 3:30 would be a much more reasonable goal. I didn't know what the official conversion would be, but I knew there was no way we were going to run faster than she did the day before.
We ran the first mile in 13:39 which made me a bit nervous that we went out too fast. The next several miles were right around 15mm so we found our groove after that quick start. I really enjoyed running at this more relaxed pace as it allowed me to take in more of the sights than I had the day before. I made sure to point out the Christmas decorations to my mom which she had totally missed the day before.
The big goal for the race was to cross the finish line. I knew with the later start and the slower pace, that I wouldn't stop for nearly as many characters as I did in the 10K. I also knew that with my mom as nervous as she was that we needed to make it to mile 6 before we even considered getting in a line. The other goal for the race was to stop for a selfie with Gertie
. Some kind stranger took a photo of the two of us but apparently missed the memo that I wanted the dino and not the tree in the background. Luckily, I had snapped a proper selfie just in case.
Shortly after, we ran through star wars land and then into Toy Story. I can't really explain why, but for some reason seeing Woody with his guitar made me want to stop. The line wasn't too long so I was able to convince my mom that we should stop. The line moved quickly and my mom was able to rest up a bit for the second half.
On the way to the exit, we saw Mickey and his long line for photos. Mickey is my mom's favorite but she didn't want to wait in line so we kept going.
From here it was onto the highway miles. I know this is unpopular opinion, but I didn't mind them. I like being able to see all the other runners and their outfits. However, my mom did not obey the number one rule of race day: nothing new. She was taking Powerade at the aid stations even though she never drinks sugar. I think she was worried about how hot and humid it was but she should have been worried about her gi system because we needed to find a potty asap. Fun fact, they don't put the potties on the race map. And we're on the open road so I make a reasonable guess that we just need to get to the next medical area about half a mile away. We ended up walking most of this mile but we made it to the potties with no issues which were fortunately before the med tent. I had told my mom just to throw her underwear in the toilet if she needed to but she was relieved it didn't come to that
.
Anyway, we survived that near disaster and started running again. After mile 10, our walk portions became longer but we were still moving quite quickly. I was very impressed by my mom's ability to keep walking at such a good pace. She was still very nervous about finishing but I knew we could walk the whole thing in if we needed at that point so I just tried to keep her moving forward.
We had heard some runners talking about figment being on the course up ahead and decided we would stop for him. I was disappointed it was just a statue. I was hoping that they were trialing the new meet and greet character (maybe for marathon weekend
). However, that did mean there wasn't really a line so it was a quick stop. After that I did my best to hold it together while we ran toward the finish. My mom apparently didn't notice that I was crying so I was at least somewhat successful.
In the distance we can hear the choir and then it's onto the finish! Our finishing time was 3:31, just barely over our goal but I couldn't have been more proud!! My mom is a half marathoner!
Post Race
I immediately hugged my mom and told her how proud I was. She was still in disbelief that she did it. She was really struggling those last few miles but kept on going. She even thanked everyone that cheered for us along the entire course. She still swears she's sticking to shorter races from now on and that's fine with me. It was a great morning and a great race.
. Maybe I should have prefaced that with a spoiler alert, but as you can guess, not much running in the second half of the week. 
It's Monday now and I really wanted to get something done today but I still don't have the energy. I do feel moderately better so maybe tomorrow? Please send lots of good vibes that I'll be running again before the weekend. I'm scheduled for my first 16 miler but that kind of seems doubtful at this point. It'd be nice to at least get something!
Decorations had to wait for another day but here's a photo with about half the lights in it. 
. I thought that gloves, buff, and a jacket were a good idea but once I did my warm up exercises, I realized none of that was needed so ultimately it was just leggings, long sleeves, and an ear band. Even the leggings were a bit warm by the time I finished. I may be part snowman 
️. 
. 
. Plus, with the last few weeks being off plan, I decided it was best to skip it this year. 
. Anyway, probably needles to say, but this run did not go well. I'm going to give it another try this week so fingers crossed that it goes a bit better 
. Another reminder to do my stretching, which I actually completed this time 
) so I don't want to add to that clutter and I'm running out of rooms... Although now I realize I could definitely make space in our master 
you'll be back to your speedy self in no time
