Avengers Half Marathon Race Weekend

I can't stand it that I am so behind on my blog.  I really can't.  But I'm working again, and, honestly, some things have had to give. Now that Christmas Vacation is upon us, I'm going to attempt to get caught up.

Don't get too excited, I said ATTEMPT.

Anyway....

Back in November, the weekend after Veteran's Day, I took a short Mommy-only trip up to Disney again.  I was going to run the Inaugural Avenger's Half Marathon.  Since we'd just been up to the parks as a family at the end of August, Matt stayed home with the kids, I went up by myself and skipped the parks entirely, other than when we ran through them, choosing instead to just hang out and relax in Downtown Disney for the afternoon.

I drove up and arrived right around noon.  The first stop was the Expo where I needed to get my packet of race materials.  

I had decided to be Iron "Mom" for the race.  Iron Man is arguably the coolest of the Avengers characters in my opinion because, well, his "outfit" is red and yellow (two of my favorite colors,) he's kind of (totally) a snarky smart ass, his super hero-ness is completely reliant on a bunch of toys and, AND, he has a habit (at least in the movies) of blasting music while he's doing his thing.  

Awesome.

Also, Peter was Captain America for Halloween so I didn't want to be him.

Anyway.... funnily enough, Iron Man was basically completely unrepresented at the event.  Thinking about it, I have a feeling they needed to avoid upsetting another popular race franchise with the same name.

These Mouse ears were the only Iron Man thing to be found anywhere.

Anyway, I found myself a souvenir sweatshirt and then headed out to explore Downtown Disney awhile.  I had a completely silly plan, actually, to get my kids some unnecessary presents just because.  In the end, I splurged completely getting A.J. an Elsa Dress, Lucy an Anna dress and a Captain America car for Peter from Ridemakerz.

I know.

I couldn't help myself.

The darnedest thing about having children is they drive you crazy a lot all the time and then when you finally get away from them for a bit you miss them times a billion.

Ugh.

Anyway, Disney, at least the Downtown part of it was fun and decked out for the Holidays.  They even had a Frozen themed skating ring!

I did NOT skate.  The last thing I needed to do was fall and break something the night before my race.  

My race manicure.  :) Love Jamberry, even if I almost ever have time to do them.  

As the day wore on, I ran out of shopping to do, even though I still had awhile until I could go check into my hotel so I decided to go see a movie.  I wasn't sure there was anything I wanted to see, but outside the theater they were selling these awesome Baymax balloons and there was a show of Big Hero 6 started soon, so I went with that, even though I had no idea what it even as supposed to be about.

It's funny now, how we used to see movies all the time and now going is like, SUCH a total luxury.

Anyway, so the movie was GREAT and I love Baymax the most now and I was so glad I saw it.

When I came out of the theater, the skating ring was open and it was so festive!

But I headed to my hotel to get some room service for dinner, relax, watch a college football game and tuck in early.  Disney races start EARLY.

My gear, laid out before I headed to bed for the night.

The next morning came quickly.  I'd splurged on a hotel as close to the Disney property as I could get (literally across the street) and had been determined to relax on race morning but who was I kidding.  Nerves were setting in enough that I woke up before my alarm anyway.  I wasn't anxious much, actually, except that I was in one of the back corrals (I hadn't had a recent enough qualifying time to move me up) and I hadn't exactly run even one single step since crossing the finish line of the marathon almost exactly a month earlier in Chicago.

Oops.

:)

Whatever.  

I decided I was just going to have fun with this one.  In my two previous Disney races I'd stressed out about my time and finishing and all of that and hadn't really had much fun at all.  And even with all of it, my times were pretty terrible in the end anyway.  I was determined to not care this time and enjoy myself.

After about an hour or so of the usual standing around, we finally go to the start.  It was probably just about 6 am.  It was DARK.  I wondered seriously how this was going to go.  But the thing is I was in the BACK.  And, even as slow as I am, I'd done this a bunch of times before and had just finished a FULL and I actually was in pretty freaking good shape so WHATEVER.  There was no reason to stress.  Just run.  Run girl run.  The vast majority of folks around me looked like they'd been dared into running this and appeared terrified themselves.  

I had this.

I really did.

We took off.  We headed straight up Disneyland Way between the hotels for a minute and then veered to our left back behind the California Adventure park.  We'd come back this way a couple of times during the Tinkerbell race.  I thought about how Disneyland feels a little bit like home to me.  I mean, not actually HOME, but, like I know it so well.  I've been so many times, and have explored it so well and I feel like I know it so well.  I've run through it and around it and behind it and even under it during races and so has Matt.  I thought about how different starting this race felt then Tinkerbell.  I thought about how if the Navy moves us soonish, we won't be able to go to Disneyland so often.  

*sigh*

Soon enough we came around another corned and entered the back of California Adventure.  Bug's Land was on our right and Carsland ahead of us to the left.  It was still too dark to put my sunglasses on so everything was blurry to me, but I got my phone out to take some pictures anyway.  FUN. Have fun.

It's weird actually, I don't remember feeling anything running related at this point.  I mean, I guess it has been over a month, but normally I have such clear memories of it sucking a lot over the first few miles.  This was not the case that morning.  No suck, just running and also DISNEY!  

I was annoyed they'd turned the lights off over by Paradise Pier.  It's so pretty when it's all lit up and I wanted a picture of it.  

We looped around, past the Wilderness Explorer (Up) area and then past the Airplane part, Condor Flats (I think?) seeing Dugg and the annoying kid who's name I can't think of right now, and then we saw Thor.  These next four pictures are in the wrong order, but, I'm too lazy to fix it (I have like 15 posts to get to!) so just try to deal with it.  

The pic I snapped as I ran by.

From RunDisney on Facebook

My photo

Run Disney's photo on Facebook

After Thor, we left California Adventure behind, having spent a disappointingly small amount of time in the park.  We exited out a big side, truck sized door (it had functioned as a exit during the park entrance's reconstruction a few years earlier) and crossed the plaza to head over and into the Magic Kingdom.  We came in another side door, off on the back side of Critter Country.  It's the same door we exited the parks for after about 5 miles during Tinkerbell.

We cut through a bit of backstage stuff for awhile and then came out by Winnie the Pooh and Splash Mountain.  We ran and weaved through the park and everybody around me complained about the "big" hill as we came around Splash Mountain by Rivers of America.  Whatever, there was a slope there, but nothing worth getting upset about.  I still hate (up) hills, of course, but this barely qualified.
Over near Pirates, I think we passed Hawkeye.

Then they sent us behind the scenes again for awhile.  It's strange because I can't really remember how exactly we went.  I might even totally forget that we went behind the scenes at all, except that I have these pictures that I took to remind me....

Actually, now that I look at this next picture, maybe I'm remembering a lot of this wrong because here is The Haunted Mansion.  Hmmm.  The Haunted Mansion sits right kind of next to Splash Mountain, across from Rivers of America and as definitely at the bottom of the alleged HILL that I already mentioned.  So either I remember it wrong or a LOT of these pictures are in the wrong order.  

Whatever.  You get the point.

I took this picture for Matt because it was all decorated for Nightmare Before Christmas.  We've never been on it during the Holiday season when it's themed like that, but both Matt and I really enjoy that movie so maybe some day soon (when the children wouldn't find it terrifying.)

Black Widow.  No idea where I saw her....

Maybe we stayed behind the scenes for awhile before we ever went into the park.  I don't know now. But I do, um, think I remember going through Adventure land, past the big river boat, around Thunder Mountain and then coming into Fantasyland, um, by Pinocchio's restaurant and the bathrooms.  (Maybe it seems dumb I remember the bathrooms, but when you have little kids, you learn the locations of the bathrooms at Disneyland REALLY well.  LOL.)

When we got to Fantasyland they had Dumbo spinning and I got a picture with it.

They also had the Carousel going with Snow White and her Seven Dwarves riding.

I snapped a bunch of selfies. as they zoomed past behind me.  

But of course the official Run Disney photos on Facebook were much better....

Then we were heading towards the Castle....

About to run through, which is supposed to be such a big deal....

Here's the "official" photo they took of me coming through.  

My ankle looks bad in this photo.  I hope I don't usually roll them like that.  Yikes!

On the other side I flagged down an employee and he took this picture for me.  I even posted it on Facebook while I ran on.  Ha.

The sun was up and the lights off by the time I got to the castle, but this picture from RunDisney of it all lit up was cool.

Not long after the castle, in front of the pink restaurant where we had Lucy's birthday lunch, we passed Mickey and Minnie.

Obviously even as one of the "faster" (but not really) runners from the back of the pack, by the time I got to any of the characters the lines were REALLY long, so I didn't stop for pictures with any of them.

I headed down Main Street. 

Captain America was at the end of the street, near the big circle and the Christmas tree.

My photo of the tree.

The "official" RunDisney picture of the tree.

I didn't notice this as I ran by, but I love that they had this on the buildings above Main Street.

Soon enough we looped around and went under the train tracks to put the Magic Kingdom behind us. 

We were maybe 3 or 4 miles into the race (if that) and the fun part was behind us already.  Ugh.

I dug out my headphones and turned on some music.

We ran out the the opposite direction of where we'd started.  And actually, we ended up running right out the direction of where our family stayed for our last visit in August.  We ran RIGHT past our hotel.  The one that was SO far from the Disney property.  Weird.  

For a good while there it was long straightaway, but because we were running up the main drag of off-propery Disney area hotels, the crowds were still good so that helped.  It was, strangely, starting to get pretty windy.  I listened to my music and just ran.  I felt.... good.  Really good.  And I noticed I was making really good time.  Even with all the stopping and fun in the parks, I was keeping a really good pace.  I started to wonder if I could PR.  

My half PR, as it turns out, is still from my first one, almost exactly 2 years earlier in Santa Barbara.  I ran that one in something like 2 hours and 35 minutes.  Since then I've only gotten slower.  Tink was around 2 hours and 45.  Disney World half was 2 hours and about 55 minutes.  Then I started training for the full and, well, I just got slooooower.  It's not that I care (much) about pacing, but it would be cool to get faster again, if only a little.  I was holding around, or just under an 11 minute mile.  Lately I'd been known to be much closer to a 12 (or even a.... GULP.... 13 minute mile.)  If I kept it up, I might beat my best ever time yet.  

Side note:  I know those of you who, like, actually know me, are wondering if I started beating myself up for screwing around in the first few miles.  If  I hadn't stopped all those times to take pictures, etc, one could only imagine where my pacing could have been at that point.  BUT.  Oh goodness people, I didn't stress.  I did NOT.  I mean, it crossed my mind, of course, but I was all "whatever woman."  Just do yo' thang.  See where you end up. 

Guys- I think I had a break through!

Anyway....

so, I was running.

(Do me a favor and read that like Forrest Gump please.)

Eventually we got to the end of the Hotel strip and turned left again, back toward the freeway.  I knew this because we'd headed this home the last time.  But, oh, we were going to go past the Crystal Cathedral.  That would be fun.

Oh but the wind.  And it was a bit of a long, very gentle, uphill.  In. To. The. Wind.

Now, I don't want to be overly dramatic, but, like...  Holy hell!

It was like gale force, straight into our faces.  Dust and leaves and sticks and random trash and debris was flying at us.  I was very, very glad to have my sunglasses.  My Oakley military grade ballistics lenses that Matt ordered for me after he ordered his own similar ones for while he was actually in Iraq.  Like, these glasses are actually designed to protect your eyes from shrapnel and junk.  That was a blessing for sure.  

People were losing costume accesories and hats all around me.  I didn't even notice, as I was trying to keep my head down, draft behind tall people moving at a pace similar to my own and just keep moving forward, but at some point my sparkly red headband blew away too.  (So so sad!)

It was nuts.

Wind.

Who knew?

When we finally we made a right turn into the back lot for the Cathedral we all collectively breathed a sigh of relief to get some coverage from the gusts.

The relief didn't last long.

We came out on the other side of the church, took a side road for a few quarters of a mile, up a pretty good sized hill (over a freeway or train tracks or something) and then came back down on the other side onto another main road, heading back, headfirst into the wind.

Grr.  I kept pushing.  I was still doing well pacing wise.  My PR was still there, just within reach if I could just keep pushing.    

I have no idea what mile we were at, but Im guessing it was about the half way point.  We tok a little turn around thing onto a bike or running path along, what I'm presuming was supposed to be a river or a dried up part of the Aquaduct canal system.  Whatever it was supposed to be, it was a big huge, wide dust pit.  We were running along side of it, heading North.  The wind, if you're wondering, had been gusting east to west up until this point, so I thought we were going to be okay.  Except we were down in this valley area and now it was swirling into our faces again, getting trapped in the valley I guess.  Ugh.  All the dirt and sand that was on the bottom of what had been the canal or the river or whatever, and all the leaves and twigs and things that had been settled on the path was getting blown into our faces again.  

Crazy.

The only saving grace was the distraction of a big merry band of cosplayers in their extraordinarily elaborate costumes who line the path for a good while.  It was hard to focus on them though,   It was hard to stay upright at all.

I started to laugh to myself.  It was so ridiculous.

This stupid wind was kicking my butt.  It was literally beating the snot out of me.  

If we weren't almost as completely far from the finish line and the Disney property as were were ever going to get on the race course, I might seriously have just quit.  But honestly now, what good would that have done me?  I would have still had to find a way to get myself the 6 or so odd miles back to my hotel and my car to go home.  And then I wouldn't have gotten my medal.  So I kept moving.  

Finally, and it seemed like an eternity, we came upon Angels Stadium.  We were going to run through it before officially heading back to the parks to finish our race.

(I know this picture looks super overexposed but that's just the way the light was 

with the wind and all the crap in the air.  Just this side of a dust storm I guess.)

Heading into the stadium.

Going through the stadium was fun because there were several marching bands playing and you could see yourself run by on the big screen.  Once we came out on the other side, I reminded myself that it was all "down hill" from there.  Not actually of course, but there were only 4 or 5 miles to go, and that was going to be, well, easy.

Also, if we were lucky, the wind would finally be at our backs.

I don't remember a great deal about those final miles.  I know outside the stadium they had loads of volunteers in old military uniforms.  I don't know if they were retired vets or volunteers or what, but I stopped and shook the hands of most of the older ones.  They deserved the thanks and recognition for just standing there all morning.... regardless of whether they were actual veterans or not.  

We weaved and wound our way back towards the freeway for awhile.  Then we ran along side of it before finally literally running under the freeway in the same place where we normally exit the highway to visit the parks.  We ran toward the Disney property and then took an odd little lap behind and around the back side.  I feel like I'd been on all the streets around the area but again this lap proved me wrong.  I'd figured out recently that my skirt was continually getting blown up and tangled on my water bottles leaving my spandex clad tush hanging out and ridiculous so I kept fighting with that.  Thinking about it now, how stupid because I wear those pants by themselves all the time, so it's not like I was exposed, just, with the skirt up like that, I felt exposed anyway, for some reason.

Then finally we wound back around the back side of the hotels and wound up on the street between the Disney hotels and Downtown Disney that would lead us to the finish line.  It's weird to me again because I don't remember at all how we got there, just that suddenly there I was running the last half mile or so.

I'd lost a lot of time back before Angel's Stadium by that river thing. A lot.  My PR wasn't going to happen.  I was close, but I was already behind it.  Feeling slightly frustrated and quite spent I started pushing towards the end.  I wished for some family to meet me at the end, but shook it off when somebody yelled at me for my Iron Man shirt right about the time I saw the finish line arch appear in sight ahead of me.  

That's when somebody yelled for me.  :)  It looks like I'm finishing, but I wasn't quite yet.

Anyway, finally I crossed the line.

How much cuter would I be if I still had my red sparkly headband?

My official time came in at around 2 hours and 39 minutes.  Less than 5 minutes off my PR.  Grr.

Stupid stupid wind.

Oh well.

Maybe next time.

And also, Disney races aren't meant for PRs.  They're meant for fun.

Whateves.

I had somebody snap this photo of me before I left.  I swear my eyes really were open, a little.
 Just, there was so much dirt in them.  Ouch.  

When I took my sunglasses off back at the hotel I had dark circles of dirt on my cheeks where the dirt had caked my face around the glasses.  Yuck.

It had been a good race though.

I was super glad I did it.

Not that I've run again, since.  Haha.



And and btw, when I got home and gave the kids their gifts, this happened.