Tinkerbell Half Race Recap and Review

I am going to do a combo post of my recap and review. I figure you all would rather get it all now then see a zillion separate posts about one event right? Riiiiggghhhhtttt.

The Recap

3:35 alarm. Have you ever had one of those moments where you wake up, are confused, feel kind of dehydrated and look like h-e-double-hockey-sticks from a serious lack of sleep? That was my morning.  And we all know I wasn’t out on a bender on Saturday. I rolled out of the rack and attempted to start drinking water and getting ready.

Somehow I managed to get my ruffles on (love,love,love), place a sparkly Bic Band in my hair and even decided that a little make up wouldn’t hurt. This was, after all, a Disney race and there would be a lot of glitz. I couldn’t show up looking like Cruella Deville…or could I?

I hopped on the 4:20 shuttle that dropped off at Downtown Disney (or close). It was about a 20 min walk to the start area where there was a bag check, plenty of potties, water, entertainment. Pretty sweet. No line for the bathroom = go twice to be safe. Walked down to my corral and got into “A” with no problems. A few celebs spoke, star-spangled belted out, fireworks galore (super cool) and we were off at 5:45 a.m on the dot.

Y’all know my hip/glute has been wacked out. I know this. We all know this. Yet for some unknown reason I figured I would just take off and hold sub 8’s for 13.1 with no pain. Yes you can smack me the next time you see me. I deserve it.

I got to Mile 1 and I had no idea where we were. I remember running by the hotel I was staying at, over a couple of bridges and  then entered Disneyland. Ahh familiar territory. Characters were out (fun!) and I felt ok.  I decided to pick it up a little waaay to early. I think I was averaging a 7:40 pace through 10k which would have been ok if I was 100%. Hindsight is 20/20.

Around mile 7 I had to go to the bathroom. Bad. What? I went twice before and I have never had to go during a half! Then I remembered that thing about not taking ibuprofen before a race. Something about kidney function? YES I DID. I admit it. I took ibuprofen because I didn’t want my hip/butt to hurt. DUMB. Finally found a bathroom at the 15k mark and took my time. That was not a good idea for 2 reasons:

1. It made my hip/glute tighten up and become sore.

2. It took me out of the zone

But at least I didn’t have to pee anymore. As soon as I started running again my hip was screaming. Boooo. It didn’t hurt so bad that I had to stop or walk but enough to slow my roll and just enjoy the rest of the race.

Around mile 10 we entered Downtown Disney and finished through California Adventure. I crossed the finish line in 1:46:34, 8:08 pace with a big fat smile on my face. Redemption from last weekend, right?

Went through the finishers shoot (tons of freebies) and easily made my way to my family. Coming off a DNF the weekend before I would call this a success.

Tinkerbell Half- DONE!

The Review

The Tinkerbell Half marathon was held at Disneyland/Disney’s California Adventure on Sunday January 29th at 5:45 a.m.. This was an inaugural race and when I signed up the entry fee was $120. I think it may have gone as high as $145. Expensive, yes, but worth it? Yes

I did not have to park a car but from what I understand parking was a breeze. I do believe standard parking fees applied. Most hotels in the area had a shuttle that arrived every 20 minutes starting at 3 a.m. The shuttles dropped runners in Downtown Disney and it was a short walk to the start area.

Corrals

There were 5 corrals, clearly marked A-E. Each runner was placed in their respective corral based on a previous race time submitted at registration. If someone did not submit a time I believe they were placed in the last corral, but I could be wrong. This info came from a few ladies I was chatting with on the shuttle to the start.

The  corral assignments were printed on the race bib. The staff did check mine prior to walking up to corral A so it appeared they were sticking to their guns. I didn’t see anyone corral hopping and they seemed to place people appropriately as I did not have any congestion at the start.

Course and Aid

The course was flat (other than a few bridges) and fast. It started near Downtown Disney, went through Anaheim, into Disneyland, back into Anaheim, through Downtown Disney and California Adventure and ended back near the start. There were characters spread throughout both parks and a ton of photo ops! I even remember pirates being on a microphone around the 5k mark encouraging people to run faster! AWESOME!

There was aid every 1.5-2 miles (very organized) and Clif shots at mile 9. Disney had an amazing amount of volunteers and they did a great job. In fact, I don’t remember even stepping on a cup which is usually unavoidable in a race. Not sure if they had someone continuously cleaning up between runners, but whatever they did worked!

Spectators/Crowd Support

There were a LOT of spectators throughout the course (even at 5:45 am!). I am talking families, friends, neighbors, bands and cheerleaders lining the streets. I was so impressed with the support- people were cheering and encouraging every runner. I have never seen a race with so much support from the crowd.

The Finish

After crossing the finish lines runners entered a secure zone. You received a medal and could have your pic taken. There was also a tented area that had water, PowerAide, Clif Bars, Luna Bars, bagels and fruit. There was also an immediate baggage claim that was organized by the last name. It was easy to grab your bag, put your stuff in it and go meet up with friends family.

Overall

I was so impressed with this race. Beings that this was an inaugural event I expected to have some slight mishaps and probably would not have been too mad about it. I do not have a single bad thing to say. From the start area, to corral assignments to the course and support this race went off without a hitch. Bravo Disney, I will be back…maybe even for the inaugural 10 miler this September!

The Day Before The Race

Before we get into the Tink recap/review let’s discuss events leading up to the race. I could have easily not run at all and you will know why momentarily. Well, maybe not momentarily- this post is kinda long.

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Saturday we rounded up the troops and headed to the OC. I figured it would be easier to stop by the expo before checking into the hotel. It was held at the Disneyland Hotel and was super organized. We got there around 11:30ish and had no problem parking and walking right in.

We walked around and checked out the vendors. Luna Bar had a lot of little bite sized bars they were handing out and we got a cup of yogurt from Oikos. There was the usual booths (iFitness, insoles, gels, the stick, etc) and some cute Disney themed ones. The kids got “pixie dusted” and we ended up with 48 hours worth of glitter. They loved it.

After doing the once around we headed to our hotel to get checked in before driving to Irvine for a Ragnar meeting!

I used trusty old Priceline and we ended up at Hotel Menage.

For $90 for the night the place is pretty nice. Room slept the 4 of us, good restaurant on site, a really nice pool/spa with an outdoor bar/lounge and it’s only .25 walk to the front gate of Disney. It is $10 to park overnight, but that is still cheaper than at the park itself. Bonus: there was a shuttle stop there that took me to the start of the race.

We literally threw our stuff into the room and headed out to Mason Park in Irvine to meet up with Team “So Much Cooler Online” to start getting organized for our Race in April.

OUAL is our head honcho and is very organized. If I was in charge we would be “Team Disaster.” Fact.

We talked serious business. Like how to battle a coyote on a dirt trail and how totally smelly we will be after 24 hours of awesomeness. Oh, and little things like vans, food, volunteers. No biggie.

I am so excited for this race. We have a great group (we missed those of you that couldn’t make it) and I know we are going to have a blast this April!

After hanging out with these cool chicas we headed back to the hotel to hang poolside and get some R&R before an early call on Sunday morning. What was supposed to be an awesome afternoon of sun and swim turned into a scare.

My 4-year-old ended up in the deep end, under water, not able to get to the surface. I had turned my back for literally 10 seconds to make sure my daughter was ok when he jumped in the pool to play with kids. He didn’t realize that it was the deepest part of the pool when he did it. I didn’t know he jumped in. I turned around and saw towel on the ground and no little boy. I literally ran to the side of the pool, saw him underwater and jumped in to get him. It was horrifying to see him underwater struggling the way he was. Thank the lord it was only for 10 seconds or so but it felt like a lifetime. My husband came running but by then I had him up out of the pool and we got him taken care of.

We had a very long talk about not going into the pool without a parent and the importance of learning to be a strong swimmer. I felt horrible as if I did something wrong and it made for a very long night. It’s one of those things as a parent that you replay over and over again in your head. Water safety is no joke- so glad everything turned out to be a-ok.

I think I finally fell asleep right before midnight…that 3:35 am alarm came way to soon.

No DNF this weekend!

Me and my gimpy hip/butt survived Tink and crossed the finish line in 1:46:34. Yes it was sore but not as bad as last week. Operation Booty will be ongoing. More on the craziness leading up to the race (which resulted in almost no sleep) and my race review tomorrow.  I NEED SLEEP!

Goodnight Neverland!

Operation Work that Booty- Days 3,4 and 5

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

Guess who RAN today?!?

Butt (ha! Pun totally intended) before we get into that…

For those of you wondering what all of this butt talk is about, I hurt my rear end a week ago and have been working to get it back in shop. Operation Booty is in full effect.

Let’s talk about the past few days, shall we?

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Day 3 Wednesday:

I started the day with another crazy strength workout. The gym was packed which is odd for the crack of dawn. I know it’s still resolution time but I have to give major props to those going for the cray cray 5 am schedule. It’s not an easy one to keep! I hope that I still see all of these people 2 months from now. After getting my stuff situated the workout was as follows (just in case you are secretly doing the operation booty workout too!):

40 min on the moving stairs. Started at level 14 ended on 19. 19 is NO JOKE. There was more than one time that I thought I could fall off. Scary. Sweaty. Scary and sweaty.

20 min w/the medicine ball. Squats, lunges, rotations, toy soldiers and iron cross.

20 min stretch/cool down

This was a tough workout. I think I did around 60 squats and 40 lunges by the time I was done. Hurt.so.good.

Wednesday Night:  90 min sports/deep tissue massage. Ok, for those of you who have had this type of massage you know it can hurt. Especially if you have tight/sore muscles.

I scheduled it for 8 pm so that I could go straight to bed afterwards. Probably not the best idea because it was not relaxing like a Swedish massage. Hindsight is 20/20.

I told my guy exactly what was going on and he told me step by step what he was going to do. It didn’t sound too terribly bad so I figured I would survive. Reality check! For 30-40 min of the 90 he tortured my glutes/hips/piriformis. I was trying to breathe but it felt nearly impossible. Holy freaking toledo people. In my mind I was begging for it to be over. I am pretty sure at least one tear came out but I could hide it in the little donut/face thingy. Butttttt…I survived. 

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Day 4 Thursday: Full rest- no running, no gym, no nothin…

I woke up pain free. Poked and prodded my booty. No pain. Did a happy dance and made my way to the office. This afternoon I slowly jogged .25 to test it out. No pain. I am headed in the right direction.

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Day 5: FRIDAY!

Wicky wicky wicky whaaaaaaaaat. 3 miles on the TM- FLAT (no hills/inclines allowed for at least another week), took it easy and was done in 25 min. 3 miles. Man I wanted to keep going. My legs were so happy! In my mind I kept thinking when is it going to hurt? Does it hurt? It does feel kind of tight. Poke poke. Nope, doesn’t hurt but it does kind of feel like old lady hip. Like it needs to be popped back in. Crank speed up a little. No, don’t do that. Save it. This is an easy run. Just a test of the emergency hip replacement broadcast system. In a true emergency we would need to stop. Right now we are cruising.

And then it was over and I stretched and smiled for 35 more minutes. I still have permagrin.

Faith my friends! Just the tiniest bit of faith goes a long way!

Happy Happy Friday!

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Anyone overcome an obstacle this week? Maybe at home, work, school, exercise?

~ I had an a-ha moment last night while reading that made this week worth it. It was incredible!

Anyone going to be in the OC this weekend and maybe even running, say, a half marathon?

Rehab Day 1: Operation Work That Booty

Who loves a sale? Duh, I do! Oh, and you do. We’re smart like that. Anywho, today’s sweet deal is coming to you from  Aspaeris Pivot Shorts (a sponsor of our Ragnar Team). If you have been thinking about buying compression shorts now is the time. This rad company is currently offering 50% off (yes, you read that right. Half off) when you enter code “cooleronline” at checkout. Go get you some. Do it.

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I hit the gym this morning to get my rehab action on so that I can back to busting out miles ASAP.

Pinky McPinkerton here reporting to you live from my gym at 4:55 a.m. Today’s plan was to get some good cardio in to keep me race ready while strengthening my hips and glutes. This little pain in the rear has been a good reminder to me that I need to continue to incorporate strength training at least twice a week. I swear by it.

Operation work that booty is a go.

Started with 32 minutes on the moving stairs. Warmed up at level 12, ended at level 17. I completed 4 miles so if I was running that’s an 8 min pace. I’ll take it. I got through this with no pain so I am hopeful that the stairs will keep me in good cardio shape!

I then moved on to the open training room and did work (and may have pictured Dovlett yelling at me to get it done. just maybe):

6 sets of hip abductions
6 sets of leg lifts
6 sets of hip extensions
20 min of core: side and traditional planks, crunches, stability ball knee tucks (traditional and side) Stretched and foam rolled to cool down.

I am determined to get rid of this lame hip/butt annoyance. Watch out J-Lo, I may be the new VP of  Bubble Butts when I am done. I don’t think the world is ready for that. HA!

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I still plan on running Tink this weekend unless my butt says no. What? You’ve never heard someone talk out of their……oh…wait…awww man….

BFTY (Big Fat Thank You)

Good morning friends! I want to start the morning off by saying…

THANK YOU!!!

You kind words and support mean the world to me. Seriously, if I could hug each one of you I would. And not in a weird way. In a nice, loving, thanks for being my friend forever way 🙂

My hip/butt is a little sore this morning. You know, the kind of sore that says “Yea, I’m still here. Get me better because I am literally a pain in you hiney.” Roger that. I totally plan on stretching and strengthening in the office today so it’s a good thing my VP is travelling. He gets weirded out when I go into rehab mode. Not sure why. It;s completely normal to have a foam roller and stretch my bootie in public. Just ask SR ,Chacha, Heather and Julie. They watched me stand up in the middle of restaurant yesterday to show them where my hip/butt hurt. Totally normal.

Let’s talk about yesterday. Now that I have adjusted my attitude it’s time to regroup and look back at what I did right and where I need to adjust.

Positive Numero Uno: I took on the beautiful hills of Carlsbad. I actually loved this course and would run this race again in a heartbeat. It was a good challenge and it was so so so pretty!

Positive Numero Dos: I stuck to my pacing plan. Stay in the 8:20’s through 13 and then speed up. The first part happened!  This is a big deal for me. I usually go out way too fast.  It was dark at the start and I went out with Chacha (who had a major PR yesterday).  

Mile 9 was a heck of a climb and I paced it right beings that I was not ready for that monster jam. Pretty sure the Rocky theme song was playing in my head when I got to the top. I should have yelled “Yo Adrian.” That would have been sweet.

Numero Tres: Fueling. Carried my handheld with Nuun in it and took a block every 5 miles. This worked. No tummy ache, no full feeling. Nada. I finally learned what works after 2 years of tummy madness. Hooray! Took long enough.

Lastly: I stopped when I could have kept going. Could I have gutted out another 13.55? Maybe- but it would have been a really bad idea. Who knows what kind of injury I would have ended up with. Me 2 years ago would have tried to push through. Look at me. All growed up.

Overall summary before my pain in the butt:

So happy with this. Especially given the elevation gain. Yeeeehhhaaaawww!

OK, not lets discuss what I didn’t do right:

* My hip/butt started to bug me last weekend on my taper run. I just figured it was irritated and stretched it. When I look back at my journal it bugged me all week. HELLO ME. If it bugged me then why would I think it would last 26.2?

*Hill training. Although I got some decent training in before hand I need to do it more often. I like running hills. Call me crazy. It’s hard and I like that challenge. I also like to reap the reward of the downhill after. So awesome.

* I need to get back to doing more squats. After my soreness goes away of course.

I know I told y’all I started keeping a run journal and it has a spot for me to review my races and what went right and what needs to be changed. I love that I will be able to look back on this and make sure I have made the adjustments I need to so that I can run strong.

It took me a good 24 hours to realize that I am thankful for yesterday. Sometimes a big fat slice of humble pie needs to be ordered up and served. My friend SR said something yesterday during our brunch that stuck with me and I am so glad she did. Friends do that without realizing it sometimes. And that, alone, is awesome.

Hoping you all have a great Monday! Tell me about your weekend! What did ya do? Any race reports? Family stuff? Let’s chat!

There are no words to describe

Total Heartbreak. I am so disappointed. 

DNF.

DNF.

DNF.

Typing that hurts. Not as bad as my hip/butt. Piriformis. 

I’ve cried all of my tears and I need to rest, recover and get ready for next weekend. 

It’s The Little Things

After being told for the past week that heavy rain was in the forecast for Sunday (and for the record I have been kind of worried about it. Hills + rain+ clumsy me = scary) I woke up this morning and saw this

I have no idea what SOSA means (do you?) but as long as I am going to be running a marathon in DRY weather I don’t care! YIPPEEE! Hello sunshine and hello no need for a rain jacket! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE say this is right!

Yes, I realize how super spoiled I am. I pay for this beautiful weather and, darn it, I expect it. I love foggy beach mornings that turn into 64 degree days.  It’s perfect. Seriously perfect. Especially when it comes to running. Why ever would I want to run in pouring rain if I don’t have to?

It is crazy how easy it is to become accustomed to warm weather. I remember as a kid having coldish winter days in Northern Cal. It snowed once or twice in my town but it mostly happened up the hill a ways. Let’s face it, it’s still California and it’s never really “freezing”. Like ever. 

Enough of my weather girl chat.

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So did I tell you all that my parents hooked me up with a BELIEVE training journal?

(Source)

I.love.it. It has space to record goals, keep track of training and has inspirational quotes/advice throughout. Although I have only been using it since January 1st it has helped me significantly. How? By keeping me on track and focused on MY goals. Dang it if social media hasn’t steered me off course multiple times. It is so easy to lose track of what I want to accomplish when I see what others are accomplishing. Haven’t we all done this at one time or another? GUILTY!

 Having a diary has helped me to stick to what works for me (mileage, pace, etc) and hopefully will allow me to see what does and does not jive. It will help me to adjust when needed or continue to do what I am doing. Most importantly it will be a place for me to go and just record thoughts without worrying about being judged.  Being able to stay in a positive place is huge for me and helps me to be a better runner (and person in general).

3 more sleeps until marathon #5! Possibly in sunshine. It’s the little things. Woohooo!

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Do you keep a journal?

If not I say go for it! You don’t have to use it for running- it could be for any fitness goal in general. Something private for you to motivate you and keep you on track.

Are you a weather wimp like me or would you take on 26.2 no problem in a torrential downpour?

Remember the LA Marathon last year?!

So much awesomeness, so little time.

So many awesome things happened yesterday, where do I start?

Ok Numero Uno: Family

Every year me, my bro and sis (and our significant others) all pitch in and pay for family photos as a Christmas gift to my parents. It really is the best gift as we all get together, mayhem ensues and the outcome is memories that last a lifetime. Sure is better than a black friday clearance sweater from Macy’s that will get worn once and tossed in a good will bag. 

Yesterday we headed to Balboa Park for our annual session. We had photographer (and our dear friend) Jon Moyer and his beautiful wife Melanie take our photos. They were amazing. We never felt like we were being awkwardly posed and they knew just where to take us around the park. Together they took a ton of candid shots and just made everything so easy. With 4 kids all 4.5 and under we expected madness. It was almost too easy. I think it’s because they go to run around and play in between taking pics. So different from being stuck in a studio where meltdowns are all too common. Here are a few shots I got between takes

Yes I know they Moyers, however, even if I didn’t know them personally I would still highly recommend them to you! Jon has an eye for photography and is just so good at what he does. Melanie is ridiculously good at making people feel relaxed and together they are magical. If you are thinking about having photos taken, or just want to see pics of celebrities (because Jon is THAT awesome) go check out Jon Moyer Photography!

After out photo sesh we headed back to my parents house (and then across the street to my brother’s house) for some serious food, kid craziness (read: my son gave the kids it was a good idea to take a bath and my 3-year-old nephew put my 2-year-old nephew and daughter into a full bath and they all got caught) and sports action.

Which leads me into …

Numero Dos: Sports

Holy day in sports. My Aztecs beat UNLV in hoops! WOOT! The Niners took down the Saints leading to a huge family celebration, my brother’s Pats showed that the Bronco’s got lucky last week and the OLYMPIC TRIALS were crazy AWESOME!!!

Making the 2012 Team for the marathon are as follows:

Men

1	Meb Keflezighi	36	Mammoth Lakes, CA	New York Athletic Club (NYAC)	2:09:08	+0:00
2	Ryan Hall	29	Mammoth Lakes, CA	Asics	2:09:30	+0:22
3	Abdi Abdirahman	33	Tucson, AZ	Nike	2:09:47	+0:39

Women

1	Shalane Flanagan	30	Portland, OR	Oregon TC Elite	2:25:38	+0:00
2	Desiree Davila	28	Rochester Hills, MI	Hansons-Brooks Distance Project	2:25:55	+0:17
3	Kara Goucher	33	Portland, OR	Oregon TC Elite	2:26:06	+0:28

I cannot wait for the games! The summer olympics are my favorite and I have a feeling the U.S is going to bring it!

Lastly…

Numero Tres: Rest. Sat What?

I am at that point in taper when I am feeling like I need to go run 20 miles to prove to myself that I will be ok next weekend. This is so normal for  wacky old me and I hate it. I love taper until this point where doubt sets in. No bueno. I may go for an easy short run this afternoon to keep my legs going. This week will consist of one speed work sesh and one short tempo run and then EEEEEEEEEEEE! Marathon time 🙂 I can’t believe Carlsbad is here! And then Tink the next weekend…which did result in a new totally appropriate outfit (Please ignore the bad photo quality. I am a mom and business woman, my photo skills are not quite there)

Speaking of races please head over to Heather’s blog and consider participating in her virtual race that will benefit Team Gab! Besides being a super hero and donating to pediatric cancer research you could win some awesome prizes. That’s a win/win, no?

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Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!