Tinkerbell Half - Race Recap

2:18:54 (Stopped multiple times to wait in line to take pics with characters.)

Steph and I left at 11:30 pm Friday night. We got to LA around 5 am, and she called the hotel and was able to get an early check-in time. Score! We got to the hotel a little before 6, napped for a few hours, then got breakfast and headed to the expo to pick up our bibs and Disneyland tickets. The expo didn't open until 10 am. Booooooo! That was two hours of Disneyland we would be missing. This 10 am expo opening was the only negative thing about this whole experience.

Bibs secured, Disneyland tickets in hand and we were off to go play. I never used to understand adults who went to Disneyland without kids. I always thought Disneyland was so boring. And then I had kids. Now I know that going ANYWHERE without kids is a joy.

 

Staying up all night during the drive and having only a few minutes sleep in the morning left us feeling pooped by 5 pm. So we split a fried chicken meal and carrot cake at Disneyland and called it a day and headed back to our hotel. We were asleep by 8 pm and up at 3:30 am to get ready.

4:30 am and Team Eat Our Pixie Dust was good to go. It was a bit cold, but not that bad as we made our way to the start. Everything was easy to find.

We were in Corral B.

Tons of people were in costume. It was all so cute. However, it kind of sucked being behind people wearing wings if you don't like your eyes being poked at.

The gun went off at 5:45 am. We were at the front of our corral, so we managed to cross the start in about 5 minutes.

It was pretty neat running through Disneyland, they had it all lit up. I wasn't worried about time. My aim was to have fun, so I gave Steph my garmin before the race because she wanted to beat her previous half time.

I saw Captain Hook and had to get a pic with him and that's when Steph and I split.

 

Sure I had to wait in a line, but come on, how often does one get this chance?

The neat thing about it was not only did they have the Brightroom photographer take your pic, they also had a Disney worker there to take a pic using your camera. How cool is that!

We ran the first few miles throughout Disneyland, then Downtown Disney and out into the streets of Anaheim. The crowd support was amazing! There were tons of families out there supporting their moms or family members, but it was so awesome because they also cheered for everyone. It made you feel like a rockstar. There was crowd support at the Nike Women's Marathon, but I got a whole different energy and vibe from Tinkerbell's crowd. This was actually fun.

There was also a lot of entertainment along the way - cheerleaders, the Red Hat ladies, Hawaiian dancers, an Army Band and tons more I can't remember. You didn't run very long without something to see.There was an aid station at almost every mile. The volunteers were great. It made me smile every time I heard, "Good job, Mary!" thanks in part to Disney putting your name on your bib.

I remember feeling super awesome at Mile 9, thinking that was when my wheels normally fall off. But I felt great, and for the first time in any of my races I was sad it was nearing the end because I was having so much fun. I decided that when I hit Mile 10 I would pick it up. There was a guy pacing me, so I speeded up just because I could.

In the middle of Mile 13, I had to stop. I guess racing that guy earlier took its toll on me. However, I walked only a few feet before I came across this:

I actually ran again to hurry up and get in the line for this picture.

It was just the break I needed to finish up the race.

Steph got her PR and I came in just two minutes after. I'd like to think that if I didn't stop and wait in line for pics, I could have PR'ed, too, since my time was just a few seconds off from my PR. But who knows. Maybe those stops re-energized me. All I know is that I had an amazing time, and I actually had fun during a race.

I felt so happy afterwards and had that runner's high. I felt like I could run another 13.1 miles. I thought all the hype about Disney races was just that - hype. But they really are amazing. They are well organized, you can't beat the crowd support and I was never bored during the whole race.

Oh, and Team Eat Our Pixie Dust came in 16 out of 154 teams!

I was worried about my left foot, but it felt perfectly fine this morning. I went for a shake out run at the gym, but then my right arch started hurting, so I stopped after 2 miles. Looks like it's time to give my body a few days break from running.

Handstand Attempt #4 - charging like a bull

With no Martin around to help me up, I had to try it solo today.

The first time I kind of made it up, my head charged into the door. Yeah, just like a bull. My wrists bent all wrong and I crashed down.

The second time I kind of made it up, somehow I hit the door with my lower left back first before falling on my head.

Today's attempt was a complete fail. And now I think I have a giant bruise on my back.

3 miles and no pain!

I did 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday. After one one-miler and one two-miler where I needed to take breaks, I was curious as to how the 3 miler would pan out. I did it! Zero breaks! Incline set at 1.0 for the whole run, 11:00 mile pace for the first mile, 10:30 for the second and 10:00 for the third. I was so proud of myself... even when I saw the tall skinny girl on the treadmill over going at a 9:00 mile pace. What made me even happier was when I woke up this morning with no pain in my foot. Hooray!

My friend Steph and I are doing the Tinkerbell half in about a week and a half and I am a tad bit worried that I lost a lot of my fitness taking a running break for two weeks to let my foot rest. An, well, I'm running it for fun anyway.

Handstand Attempt #3

I still had to get Martin to lift my legs up, but I mananged to hold it for a few minutes, long enough for him to get his phone and take this pic.

Then when I went up again, I tried doing a handstand push-up. Negative. I think I managed to bend my elbows maybe a centimeter. I would assume it's the equivalent to shoulder pressing your body weight. Hm, pressing 130 pounds doesn't seem like a good idea.

Later on, I tried getting up all by myself. Once, I managed to get my legs all the way up. And then my wrists collapsed as soon as I got up and I fell on my head.

We shall try again later.

The wonders of being forced to use heavier weights

My hammies and shoulders are screaming today! I love it!!!

I went to the gym yesterday, but could not find any of the 7.5 lb, 10 lb or 12 lb dumbbells. I asked thses two girls if they were using all the dumbbells they had in front of them, and one told me I could use the 15 lb ones.

I only managed 10-12 reps instead of my usual 15 for a lot of the exercises But I am feeling that heavier weight today! I am so sore. It makes me happy. It lets me know I pushed myself and am getting stronger. The only way to progress is to step out of your comfort zone. 15 lb dumbbells for me from now on!

Handstand Attempt #2, and I ran!

I tried without success again yesterday to kick myself up to a handstand position against the wall. I think my biggest fear is actually making it up and then falling on my head and breaking my neck.

Anyway, when Martin came up I asked him to help me again. And again, I screamed like a baby when I was upside down. My second attempt was better and I actually held it for a few seconds before screaming for help. Martin tried it, too. I had to help him up. It wasn't that hard getting his legs up and he only kicked me in the throat once.

I haven't run since December 31st, 13 days ago. At the gym, I did 10 minutes on the elliptical, an hour of weights, 10 more minutes on the elliptical (planned on 20, but I got super bored), then headed to the treadmills to do one mile. I started out at a super-duper slow 5.0, took a minute break every quarter mile and upped the speed a teensy bit so I ended at a 5.8, which left me super winded, and sad since once upon a time it was my easy speed.

My fingers are crossed that my foot will feel perfectly fine tomorrow morning.

Handstand - Attempt #1

One of my New Year's resolutions (which I have yet to write down here, oops) is to be able to do a handstand.

My first attempt was actually a couple of days ago. I googled on how to get started and found that you use a wall to stabalize yourself. You face the wall, place your hands about a foot in front of it, kick up with one leg, follow through with the other, and have both feet rest against the wall for balance. Sounds simple, right?

Well, I found a nice wall in my house, door actually, that had an abundant amount of free space around it in case I go crashing down. I put my hands down, and kicked up with my left leg and tried following through with my right. Hahahahaha! I could not get anywhere close to the wall. WTH! Do I need super human strength for this? Perhaps it is because I carry all my weight in my bottom half?

After many failed attempts, laughing like a maniac while feeling like the biggest heaviest weakling, my husband took pity on me and volunteered to bring my legs up.

OMG! Yeah, I got no where close to the wall with any of my attempts, because he brought my legs up and just kept on going and going. The wall felt so far away. I felt super disoriented and could feel my shoulders giving out. I had no idea of time and space and how to steady myself. After screaming for him to lower me down, he graciously did so, and all was right with the world again.

Attempt #2 in 3... 2... 1...

5 minute plank!!!

I did it! I just did it! I held the plank position for a full 5 minutes!!! 5 freakin' minutes!!!

I was shaking like crazy towards the end, but I did it!!!

No more limping!

Today is the first time this year I've been able to walk without a limp. Hooray! I still feel a slight pain in my foot, but I'm no longer limping or having to walk super slow.

I'm already getting bored with my limited exercising. I tried doing P90X's Yoga last night, but couldn't make it past 15 minutes. It was just soooooooooooo boring. So I did my own thing.

Hammie exercise with oblique twist - 8 lb ball - 3 sets of 15 each side
Push-ups with legs on stability ball - 3 sets of 15
Planks - 3 sets (1st set 3 minutes, 2nd and 3rd 2 minutes each)
Side planks with leg lifts - 3 sets of 15 each side
Crunches on stability ball - 8 lb ball above head - 3 sets of 15
Rotator cuff exercise - 9 lb dumbbell - 2 sets of 8, 1 set of 10

I felt really good when I was done. I did most of it while watching I am Legend and Tomb Raider. The bods on Will Smith and Angelina Jolie were plenty to inspire me.

Oh, just a calcaneal spur... and a spur by my ankle... and a spur by my achilles tendon...

Spurs are little growths on the bone. It's basically my body saying, "WTF! You're doing too much. I'm going to grow these little suckers because you're hurting me."

And they don't go away. My doc told me to rest for a week or two, and then to build back up gradually. If the pain doesn't go away, then she'll refer me back to the podiatrist.

So I haven't run this year yet. I feel a bit antsy, but I'm actually not feeling too bad. I've been doing P90X, Shoulders and Arms on Monday, Chest and Back last night, and some pilates on Tuesday. I just really feel this need to get some intense cardio in somewhere.

I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest. Looking at all these fit bodies I have pinned on my board inspires me to do better and not eat too crappy. Oh, I still eat crappy. Just not 24/7. Maybe 20/7. :)

Starting the year with a DNS

Did Not Start.

I had registered for back-to-back halfs, one on New Year's Eve and the other on New Year's Day. And then I won tickets to my favorite band's concert.

I did the New Year's Eve half and finished with a 2:47. That was hard! It was my first trail half and the hills were killer! My left foot started hurting last week and the pain has been off and on. It didn't hurt the morning of this race. But it sure as hell did about 5 miles in. It stopped hurting later in the day though.

And then we went to the concert in Napa. I also won tickets to the sound check party and the meet and greet, but we couldn't make it to that because of baby-sitting issues. Totally bummed about that. But I still had the best time at the concert. Thanks in part to five beers. Yeah. We didn't get home until about 3 am, where I kicked off my boots and passed out in bed.

I already knew there was no way in hell I'd be able to do the New Year's Day half. It was the same trail course, just running in the opposite direction. I'd like to blame my foot. However, it really was due to my drinking. So hungover this morning.

So, to sum up - hungover, DNS and a jacked up foot. Great way to start the new year. Haha.