I survived the Half Marathon!

Hubby and I at Disneyland

Yes, it's Tuesday morning and Hubby and I will be heading home today.  I would have written sooner about the race, but we have been on the go since then.  

The race was definitely a challenge, but like all RunDisney events we have done, it was a lot of fun, well-organized, and worth the hassle to do!  

Hubby and I got up at 3:30 am on Sunday, did our pre-race rituals and headed over to the start.  With 12,000 participants, we saw other runners as soon as we walked outside.  The 1.5+ mile walk to the start got up limbered up for the run and gave us a taste of the many outfits, costumes, and unique apparel we would see throughout the race.  You can always count on seeing people dressed up for Disney races, even the half marathons!  

The thing we like about the Disney races is the corral placements.  They are very strict about not allowing "corral jumping."  You can move back in corrals, but you can't move up.  So if you are in corral C, they won't let you get in corral B, but you can move back to corral D. By the time we go to our corral, they have checked out corral number 3 times.  Which means (in theory) the people in your corral will all be going about your pace.  And for this race, this seemed to hold true (we've been in races where people will run across the start line but stop to walk after a block, which means you are nearly running them over or tripping to avoid them).

They have pre-race entertainment, sometimes fireworks, music, and "hosts" for the races that talk to participants, give stats about the races (all 50 states were represented and 12 countries), and get the participants energized for the race.

Our corral, C, started at 5:37 am.  Started out good, with a 3 mile run through the Disney Parks, then onto the streets of Anaheim.  Then we noticed the haze... and then we noticed the wind.  No problem, right?  What's a little wind?  Well, the breezy morning turned into wind gusts of 20 to 50 mph... for the whole race!  Not only that, but most of the race (and I wish I was exaggerating!) we were running directly into the wind.  A head wind for about 7 to 8 miles of the race!  It was at our back for about a mile when we came out of Angel Stadium, but that was it.  The wind was strong enough to knock down the mile markers (and they are fairly heavy duty, wooden stands, with electronic clocks), sent the filled water cups flying in all directions, and in several spots, actually overturned tables.  But the volunteers at the water stations were awesome, several volunteers would fill cups held by other volunteers who would immediately hand the cup to the passing runner.  They were so fast that it didn't really hold up the runners at the water stations.

And the on-course entertainment held their ground, and were there to cheer on the runners.  There were local cheer leading groups and marching bands.  Also a group from a Comic Book/Sci-Fi club that came out, decked in their favorite comic book Super Hero (and Villain) costumes.  Some the outfits were incredibly detailed and was a great distraction from the howling winds.

The "bling" from the half marathon

Hubby and I got tired of trying to fight the head-winds, so we walked whenever the wind was at it's worse and jogged when it wasn't as bad or was at our backs (which wasn't often).  Still, considering the wind, with my knee starting to give me issues at mile 10, and my lack of training for the race, I did pretty well.  I finished the race and got my medal (Yea!) and I finished the race in under 3 hours.  Not my best race time by any means, but I'm happy.

I was very sore as we walked back to the hotel, but we showered, dressed and headed back for a little time in the parks and to get some lunch.  We took a nap in the afternoon and by evening we were both less sore, but tired.  One of the highlights from all the running and walking on Sunday is that both Hubby and I earned new "badges" with our Fitbits.  We walked over 60,000 steps (for me a total of 27.4 miles in one day!), which was new step record for both of us!

Yesterday we took a break from "all things Disney," rented a car, and drove to the San Diego Safari.  We spent the day walking around the safari and taking a back-stage tour of the park.  It was a great break from the crowded Disney parks and gave my Hubby a chance to experience the "joys" of driving in California traffic.  

Today we are going to spend a few hours at the Disneyland Park before heading back to Montana and the colder temperatures.

And once we are home, I will need to jump right back into training mode so I can be ready for the Star Wars Half Marathon Challenge in January!