Well I Finally Got To See Disneyland…. Uh, Sort Of
As I am typing this, I have my left leg sitting in a garbage can full of ice and water. I'll admit that the pain is worth it because of what happened during a race I ran yesterday with a good friend of mine, Nat. Nat is a lifelong runner and once I was able to build up to a ½ marathon, we knew that we needed to run a race together even though we live in different cities. It almost happened 18 months ago, but a last minute snafu prevented that from happening.
Fortunately the opportunity arose again when Marc decided he wanted to fly down for a reunion with his club swim team being organized by his former coach, Lori (for those of you who have made comments about Marc's talents in the pool or lake, talk to Lori as she was responsible – LOL). During that same weekend was the Disneyland Half Marathon, which would be perfect for Nat and me to meet and run together.
Since Marc is the less-verbose of the two of us (ahem), I always enjoy it when I can meet people from his past that can share some stories with me. Coach Lori was no exception, and the most notable story was about Marc's refusal to follow her instructions about tapering before a big meet. Marc ended up doing really well in the meet, but apparently Coach Lori still uses my husband as an example about the concept of tapering. It was meeting some of his friends from that period of his life. Oh, and it was hot. Like 100+ F hot. Given the race the next day, I was calculating how much to hydrate without completely weighing myself down and feeling bloated. Plus I knew we were drinking wine that night when meeting Nat and Ric for dinner, so I had to account for that as well. It's not easy being me.
Marc and I met Nat and Ric for a great meal of protein and carbs (inc. above mentioned red wine), and then we went to bed relatively early. The race started at 6am and we were told that we needed to be in our start groups by 5:30am at the latest, which ended up being not true. But nothing like getting out of the elevator at 5am and seeing a bunch of people wearing Mickey Mouse ears pop up right in front of you. I then remembered – yes, I am running the DISNEY half marathon. OK.
See Nat and I had a different plan – given his Red Sox loyalties and my Yankee loyalties, we decided we would be thematic in our race attire with respect to supporting our teams. For those of you who wondered why we didn't race each other, it's because it wouldn't even be close as in Nat just effortlessly glides as he runs and coached track for many years. So yeah, he would kick my a** if we raced.
I didn't sleep well the night before and as a result, my right shoulder was barking a bit (this is related to the leg injury I have been rehabbing, believe it or not). My concern about racing with an injury probably also contributed to my anxiety – this is new territory for me. But I was at the start, so I was "in". It was dark when the gun went off and I figured we had about an hour before the sun would come up and really make its presence felt. It was also warmer and more humid than the forecasted temperature, which wasn't making me feel awesome. I had to decide if I wanted to get as far as I could before the heat started or just stay steady and consistent. Nat and I were pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to do the normal weaving in and out of people. Marc and Ric were waiting for us at the start of mile 2, and waved. I think Ric already had his tea – LOL. Clearly he doesn't mess around.
I started out pretty fast for me for the 1st couple of miles just to see how I felt. Nat was kind of just doing whatever I was doing. At mile 2 ½, you actually start running through Disney's California Adventure and then you run through Disneyland. You run through both parks in their entirety. Characters were everywhere and I'll just say that it was super fun. I knew at that point I wanted to come back and run it again, but not race it so I could take pictures with the characters. They had plenty of dance troupes and musical bands (like marching bands) all over the park. It was a blur, but it definitely brought a smile to my face throughout that phase of the race. Going into mile 4, I noticed my average pace was 8:27/mile. Whoa Nellie!
I told Nat that I needed to bring it back a few pips, which we did. My shoulder was still really hurting as we left the friendly atmosphere of Disneyland and hit the streets of Anaheim at the start of mile 5. The course was very flat with the exception of going over the freeway at mile 5 ½, so I appreciated that for sure. We saw Marc and Ric again just before we finished mile 6 and at mile 7 ½. They were great and Marc of course knew when to give me my beverages, etc. I yelled out to them that they looked good, which got some chuckles from the surrounding spectators and a high five from Nat.
The sun looked like it was about to come up and heat up everything, so I kept throwing water on myself at the aid stations to stay cool. They always say you don't want to do this once you feel really hot or dehydrated because it's too late, so I was trying to be proactive.
Halfway through, my shoulder is still hurting and I started getting annoyed. I think I must have gotten so annoyed that my shoulder got the message to shut up because I didn't have any pain there for the rest of the race.
Meanwhile, Nat and I were keeping score about how many cheers for Boston vs. New York were happening along the course. He was up 2-0 at this stage. We knew we would be running through Angel Stadium later on in the race, so we knew we were going to have to say something in the "non-kid-friendly" camp about the Rally Monkey, which is a mascot of some kind for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. We ran past the Honda Center where the Anaheim Mighty Ducks play hockey and then we hit some dirt path along something that looked like a wasteland.
I literally yell to Nat and say, "what the bleep is this [the wasteland]?" He informs me that it is a river (Marc later informs me that it is the Santa Ana River). Note that there is not a smidgen of water in this thing. He informs me that we are in Southern California and essentially, I should lower my expectations. We have a good laugh and trudge on to Angel Stadium, which is at mile 9 ½. We run into it together and are just taking it in since we literally got to run around the perimeter of the field along the warning track. We even saw ourselves on the Jumbotron and of course, we said what we had to say about the Rally Monkey. :-)
At this point, I should talk about the diversity of the bands that we saw along the course. Many high school bands and dance troupes. It really made the Rock 'n Roll races look lame just because the entertainment was so fun and diverse – think mariachi and African dance acts, for starters. Plus they probably rounded up every high school cheerleading squad in the greater LA area and bussed them in. They were loud and boisterous – everything you would want on the sidelines as a racer. It was fabulous and really kept me in good spirits. My splits are staying within a good range as I slowed up a little in the middle, so I could save something for the end.
I saw some Yankees hats and got some cheers, but felt I had to dock myself ½ a point because someone was wearing a RED Yankees cap. Huh? Nat ended up winning this contest. LOL.
At around mile 11 ½, one of the toes on my right foot started to really throb – a lot. To the point that I noticed that I was running with a weird stride. This wasn't good and apparently I had the same chat with myself that I had 5 miles earlier with respect to my shoulder. This led to me running with my normal stride again. We finish mile 12 and have 1+ miles left. Nat then says, "Jill, we only have one more mile to enjoy this." I yell back, "Are you freaking kidding me? I'm happy we have one more mile but I'm not going to enjoy it." Granted I was laughing as I said it, but I was working hard at this stage because once we left Angel Stadium, I knew I had a chance for another personal record (PR) so I was busting my rear to really get in under the wire.
Nat is just cruising at this stage and making it look so easy, and I am definitely huffing and puffing. We get into Downtown Disney and I know the finish should be appearing anytime, but it was one of those finishes where the finish line wasn't straight ahead where you could see it from ¼ mile out. Nat then yells out, "I see the finish!" Of course I yell out, "I can't!" I then saw it and we sprinted through the finish. I knew I had a PR – not by more than a minute, but still. My sister then texts me with a message from my nephew saying "Yay Aunt Jill!", so she must have gotten the alert that I finished. She then texted me that my time was 1:52:15. A PR by 48 seconds! Woo woo!
We get our picture taken together, and unfortunately missed out on the character pictures, but it was so much fun. We find Marc and Ric, who definitely admire our finisher medals. I then realize that I am soaking wet from throwing water on myself about 5 or 6 times, so a shower is in order and then breakfast with the guys. I wasn't hungry yet, so I opted for chocolate milk, which is a fabulous recovery drink and then a Mimosa. Yep, the breakfast of champions! We say farewell to Nat and Ric, and head off to spend time with the family, but we really had a great time and hope that THEY WILL COME TO SEATTLE SOON (yes, I'll make the cassoulet).
If you ever decide that you want to run a ½ marathon once in your life, do this one. The course is flat and the spectators are everywhere. So much fun. And oh yeah, I almost forgot. The sun never came up. We had the marine layer that has been so pervasive in Seattle this summer. What a lucky break! Thanks to Nat for running with me and keeping me in great spirits, and thanks to Marc and Ric for getting all over the course to cheer us on!
Pics here, but will add more once we get the e-mail that the official photos are ready.