Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap–Race Day!!!!

Here is the 3rd post on my half marathon weekend.

I was in bed by 8pm. At about 10pm I sneezed and had the beginning of a runny nose. I went to the bathroom and filled the sink with hot water. I then stuck a towel over my head and breathed in the steam. The last thing I needed was a runny nose on race day. Went back to sleep with Kleenex near my pillow.

At 1am they tested the race PA system and I could hear trucks dropping off gates. The draw back to have the start line right in front of my hotel and being on the 3rd floor.

A very early breakfast at 3:30 am consisting of frosted flakes ( thanks to the hotel convenience store the day before) and coffee from the hotel room coffee maker. I got dressed and headed to the start area at 4:45am.

11300 women and 800 men racing today. I was in Corral D so a bit of a wait till we were herded into the corral.

Fireworks went off at the start - nice touch Disney. Each corral was sent off by an image of Tinkerbell flicking a wand.

I can't run and take pictures. It amazed me how many people stopped dead to take photos in the middle of the road not mention how many we're running in the shirt they gave us or cotton - a typical no no.
Loads of fairy wings and got smacked with a few when people passed close by. That wasn't a big deal it was nice to see so many in the spirit of the race.

The lower sea level gave me energy at the start. Anaheim is 100 feet above sea level where Calgary is a few thousand. That extra air is kind of awesome plus no wind chill. There was much zigging and zagging due to the high volume of runners and some pretty narrow parts especially through California Adventure and Disneyland so that took a bit of energy.

I did something pretty stupid as due to my feelings of increased energy I was doing 2 min run, 1 min walk not how I trained. That lasted till mile 6 as I then started to run out of energy. I tried 3 min walk and 2 min run for mile 7 and 8 but then i started just walking.

Here's the breakdown. Garmin said 3:15, I did pause it when I had to hit the bathrooms at mile 4, 13.42 miles (I forgot to turn it off and didn't realize till I was waiting to take the finish photo). Pace 14:34/mi, 831 calories burned. I found my pace per mile interesting.
Mile 1 13:21

Mile 2 13:23
Mile 3 13:54
Mile 4 13:15 - due to the bathroom stop I did run for a longer period to gain back time
Mile 5 13:37
Mile 6 14:06
Mile 7 14:19
Mile 8 14:06
Mile 9 15:16 - here is where I started to hurt a bit and switched to walking
Mile 10 15:14
Mile 11 14:33 - a wee 2nd wind still walking
Mile 12 15:43 - really started to hurt - kept telling myself all I had left to do was the same distance I walk to weigh in on Saturdays
Mile 13 15:26

Official results:

3:13:45 and finished 6911 out of 120000 runners, 9386 people finished the race. So it is my 2nd best time in long distance career.

The runny nose disappeared during the race but returned when I got back to the room. I swear there's some sort of scent in the room. I think that's the culprit. I’m back in Calgary now and yup runny nose is gone.

Here's my after shot. Oh boy was I hurting especially feet and knees. I was wearing compression tights and I do think I would of hurt more without them. Note the sparkle skirt survived.

The best parts of the race:

Guy with the sign that said: Worst. Parade. Ever

The 100 Red Hat ladies lining one pare of the route cheering people on

The abundance of cheerleaders in California cheering us on

The group of little girls doing a luau on the route

The 4 military personnel in desert fatigues dancing away and cheering us on.

I went straight back to my hotel room after collecting a banana and an orange. The bonus of the hotel as this was a short distance. I downed a bottle of chocolate milk. My fingers were swollen as it was getting pretty warm for the last half of the race I should have had more water and the powerade. I had one GU gel at the 1 hour mark. I breezed past the first 5 water stations as I was also carrying water, I should have used every water station.

I didn't move from my bed for an hour and a half then popped two Tylenol, took a bath and the dragged myself to California Adventure and Downtown Disney to pick up a few souvenirs. So happy I brought my Nike flip flops with me as they felt like pillows. Here I am lying in bed trying to take a picture of the medal.

I got two new Star Wars Mr Potato Heads. Mashter Yoda and Chipbacca. I really wanted the Darth Maul one but that was no where to be found. I was tempted by the boba fett one. I need them in pairs to balance out the office window. I don't really like the C3-PO one Got another mug that says "I'm wicked awesome" with some Disney villains on it plus a Tinkerbell necklace with my birthstone, Mickey earrings with my birthstone and a Mickey tea infuser - I need to start drinking more loose tea. It's so cute.

I came back to the hotel for lunch and then started to organize my packing. Need to be on the airport shuttle by 9:50am tomorrow. So I think I'll have a Mickey waffle once again for breakfast.

I've been reading Run your butt off and I've put together a new workout plan to focus on when I got home. Now the priority is goal weight. I want to work on the running starting from basics to build. I would like to come back next year and do this race again or the Disneyland Half and maybe the Princess Half in Florida so I can get the coast to coast medal :). I’m actually thinking about the Disney Wine and Dine run in November this year but that’s just a glimmer of a thought at this point. I have so many trips to the US planned already and the Disney World runs would be pricey. RunDisney puts on a good show and the bling is so worth it.

Today it’s just hard if I’m sitting for awhile and then try to move as the muscles are still pretty sore. The 3 hour plane ride home had me hobbling to customs. Sitting here and posting these is pretty interesting as well. So happy I decided to take tomorrow off and not go back to work till Wednesday.

All in all I am pleased with how I did as I have to admit I didn’t stick to the training plan 100% and winter threw in a few curves as well.

I do hope all of you had a great last few days and thank you so much for your support!!!!!

Hugs