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.
Haute Running Mama 