Race Report: Disneyland 1/2 Marathon 2012

Best weekend and worst weekend all rolled into one magical weekend.

This was the weekend of the Disneyland 1/2 marathon. Team Sparkle had a booth at the expo, so I was busy prepping all week, then working the expo all weekend, and running the race at the end of the week.

Although I was ready for the busy weekend, Desmond and I both got sick. And did I mention Skyler was out of town in Germany? I learned what it's like to be sick with a sick baby, not fun. All I wanted to do was sleep. I lost my appetite and was running a fever. Definitely not how I wanted to feel days before a big race. But life goes on.

Despite being super busy and sick, I still found time and strength to play with my girls. The race expo started at noon on Friday so the girls and I spent the morning running around the theme parks in our costumes. I absolutely LOVE this photo of us!

I even got my first ride on Radiator Springs! And thanks to Kelly's hook-ups, we got FastPasses. I felt so VIP!

But soon we got to work. A busy weekend of selling Team Sparkle skirts, visors, wings, and tiaras. Oh and my first boyfriend ever stopped by the booth. So weird and exciting at the same time. Saturday was even busier than Friday. My favorite part of the day was when my mom brought Desmond by the booth to say hi. He was so happy to see me and so sad when he had to leave.

Adrenaline and excitedness must have been pumping through my body that day because I started to feel better. I managed to eat an Egg McMuffin and a croissant (and maybe a few cookies), but I was definitely not race-ready.

The expo ended and the girls packed up our stuff and headed over to the Grand Californian hotel. Yes, it was a girls night out, no kids and no husbands (most of the time)! We ate a quick dinner and ran around Disneyland to ride all the "big kid" rides. I had so much fun!

We managed to be in our comfy hotel beds by midnight and I was dreading our wake-up time of 4am. Yes, 4am! Disney likes their races to start early since they run through the theme parks. Since we stayed in a hotel, we literally had to roll out of bed and walk to the start line. I want it to be this way every time!

I ate a bite of a cereal bar and a gel before the race. My stomach was queasy, but it always is before a race. I just didn't know it was because of something else this time.

Kelly, Carrie, and I dressed up as Fireside Girls. My first thought is probably the same as yours...who? They are like Girl Scouts from the cartoon Phineaus & Ferb. Desmond doesn't watch cartoons, so I was clueless too. But Disney fans seemed to know who we were.

The race started and we were off. Carrie and I ran together for the first 4 miles. We posed for lots of photos in the two theme parks (while still running of course). After the mile 4 aid station, I slowly inched ahead of Carrie. This is also when I felt weak, hungry, and sick. These weren't race jitters, I was actually sick. I made sure I stayed hydrated and ate my gels as often as possible. My whole body was weak and kept screaming to stop, but of course I didn't. My fastest mile was my last one and I was so happy to be done. I finished with a time of 1:43:00. I had a faster goal in mind, but I think considering the situation, that was pretty awesome! It was actually 1:11 faster than my previous fastest 1/2 marathon time, so I was pretty happy.

And did I mention that Skyler ran the race too? Yes, he flight back from Germany landed about 10pm and he got to the hotel around midnight, the same time I went to bed. So we both only got 4 hours of sleep. He had a great race too with a time of 1:35.

We hung around to mingle with other Team Sparkle racers and got to hang out in the VIP booth too. On our way to breakfast my stomach started cramping up, like really bad. I could barely walk. I made it back to the hotel and just laid in bed for a few hours. I felt so awful! We had to check-out and pick-up Desmond, so I drove home to unpack our stuff. The pain was so unbearable, I thought my stomach was going to pop out of my body. I was so bloated. I still don't know what it was from: being sick all week and pushing my body too hard or maybe being dehydrated? It took about four hours before I felt well enough to eat something and actually walk normal again.

Another race complete. Here are my stats:

Time: 1:43:00
17th of 1647 in division
78th of 9841 in gender
392nd of 14,839 overall
5k 24:24
10k 48:50 (how's that for consistent!)

Skyler's stats:

Time: 1:35:47
20th of 962 in division
148th of 5498 in gender
169 of 14,839 overall
5k 23:49
10k 46:32