The Tinkerbell Half marathon was more than just 13.1 miles of running. It was about proving to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to. It was also a chance to get away with my husband without the kids for the first time in 10 years.....our 10th year wedding anniversary! So we combined the two. Yes, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by running a 5k through Disneyland/California Adventure Friday night, then by him supporting me in my first half marathon through Disneyland, the streets of Anaheim, and back through California Adventure. None of it would been possible without the help of my aunt, who flew in from Albuquerque to help with the three kids. I think she deserves the medal, not me! Taking care of all the kids while we were running around Disneyland....yep, she should get a big, shiny piece of bling for that!
So we left on Thursday night, right after work and flew into LAX. My cousin, Matt, picked us up and delivered us to our hotel. We had decided to splurge and stay at the Disneyland Hotel, which I'm really happy about. It was wonderful staying on property and so close to the Start/Finish line (not too far to hobble back after the race!). It was great to see Matt again and I was so happy he came out to support me. We grabbed a bite to eat in Downtown Disney, listened to some really BAD karoake at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen (at least, I think it was karoake...or just really bad singing), then got to bed early. I wanted to hit the Expo bright and early! I was excited for my first big race expo and getting to see all the big vendors there, plus I wanted to check out our surroundings. We went to pick up my race bib and on the spur of the moment, we decided we would register to run the Never Land 5k that night! I was a little nervous about running a 5k that night, then doing a half marathon Sunday morning but I figured I would take it easy on the 5k, have fun, stop for lots of pics, and not worry about time. HA! More about that later. I was really happy to be running with my hubby....we were there to celebrate our anniverary and had planned on doing a "fancy" dinner but decided we would spend the money on race registration instead...lol! After picking up our bibs and packets, we headed up the Expo, where we proceeded to check out all the goodies being offered, sampled protein powders/bars, energy gels, and checked out all the merchandise for sale. I picked up some Tinkerbell Half Marathon stuff, a running skirt, and other miscellaneous items, then we headed into Downtown Disney for some lunch.
The 5k was held at 9:30pm that night, starting on Main Street in Disneyland. We headed down around 9pm and got in line with the other 4000 people. The race was fun but very crowded. And as usual, my competitive side came out and instead of "taking it easy", I was weaving in and out of people, hauling ass. I ended up with a time about 2 minutes slower than my normal 5k time, which is saying a lot, considering how packed it was through the parks. In retrospect, I should have taken it easier so I wasn't sore on Sunday. I know it was only 3 miles, but having done so little training the last month before the race, I felt it. It ended in California Adventure right across where they show World of Color. It was great running it with my husband but I was ready for bed. I was starting to get nervous about Sunday. Saturday was a busy day as well because I had 2 different meet ups, one with my charity and one with the Facebook group. Slept in a little, hit the Expo for a bit, ate some lunch, had a little fiasco with husband missing his debit card and driver's license (somehow they ended up in my back pocket....oops....they weren't lost at all!). Then, we ended up going to a Disney Vacation Club presentation, which made me late for the FB group meet up so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with all the women. Checked in with my charity and then it was time for an early dinner. I wanted to get to bed fairly early but it ended up being around 10pm before I got around to it. Normally, that would be early but I had a 3:30am wake up call! I was so nervous to fall asleep because I had visions of waking up at 6am and missing the start....lol.
To be continued..........
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