Disney Half Marathon

Sorry for the 10 day hiatus, but I've been at the Happiest Place on Earth for a half marathon with my daughter and sister. Sixteen thousand people did the Disneyland Half Marathon. I only knew 4 of them. Above is Mick from church, then my sister Lori, me, and my daughter Bree. Drew Carey did the race too, but I don't think he counts as someone I know. It was dark when we lined up at 5:15 AM. People gathered as far as I could see in front of me and behind for the start of the race. Fireworks erupted when the count down reached zero. And then we were off in a blast. No, not really. We barely moved the first 100 yard. A lot of people dressed up as Disney characters and a lot of Disney characters posed with us before and during the race. Inside Disneyland, people would line up and wait their turn for a picture with a character. We did not do that. We were too worried about finishing on time. We did not want to be taken to the end in a golf cart if we fell behind pace. So if we could snap a picture without stopping, we did. Hence, a lot of my photo's are blurry.

The 13.1 mile route went through Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, through their back lots, then out on the streets and down to the Angel's Stadium.

Red faced, exhausted, and ecstatic that we finished, Lori and I proudly show off our medals at the end. Neither one of us felt ready for this race, thanks to pneumonia in July with a month of training lost for me, and a hip/knee injury for Lori. Yet we finished with our fastest time ever. Lori's stride is much longer than mine, so I had to jog a lot to keep up with her. And then I wanted to slow down the last two miles after seeing how far ahead we were. But Lori wouldn't let me. Thanks, sis! Because of you, we finished ahead of 6000 people. Yes, that means 10K people beat us, but we didn't get carted to the end because we were too slow! Whoo hoo! So I am super happy with our results. Bree, AKA Speedy Gonzales, finished in 2 hours and 14 minutes. Holy cow, that's fast! And it was only her first half marathon.

And now, I have an announcement to make. I'm done. Done! Done! Done! Yes, I think this was my last half marathon. Not because it is too difficult, which is it, but because of the time it takes to prepare. You can't just go out and walk for an hour. Getting ready for a half takes hours and hours. Two or three hour walks several times a week...that's just too time consuming!!!! I have writing to do and golfing with my hubby. So I am so happy to say, short 2 or 3 mile walks at lunch is going to be my speed from now on.

I'm glad I went out with a bang!