Hola! Bonjour! Guten Tag! Hello!
I’m baaacckkk. It’s been a while since my last blog take over.
For those of you who don’t know me – I’m Alec’s only favorite sister. Since she was busy having an East Coast adventure, I decided to take things to the West Coast. Welcome to my 2016 Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend recap!
Marilyn Monroe once sang: “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” Clearly the woman never received earned a runDisney medal. Let me start by saying I absolutely loathe running, but if anything can get me to stop a Netflix binge sesh it’s the bling they place around your neck at the end of a runDisney race! It’s my precious…
After work on Thursday, I drove a glorious eight hours from North Carolina to Georgia. The inclement weather had me getting in at 4AM. Thank goodness for energy drinks and lip-syncing the Spice Girls because without them I don’t think I could’ve made it. I slept for maybe three hours before my mom woke me up to go to work with her.
“Why, at twenty-five years of age, would you go to work with your mother” you ask? Two words: Industrial Shredder. That and Starbucks. (It’s the little things in life like getting pre-check at the airport or finding a peanut butter M&M you missed at the bottom of your purse that make life more enjoyable.) A few drinks and a five hour flight later, we landed in Los Angeles around 10PM (1AM EST).
We woke up early overslept Saturday morning and got around to going to the race Expo to pick up our bibs for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Even though I’m used to the runDisney races at Disney World, I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to how they did things at Disneyland. Let me just say I LOVED it! There weren’t as many people, so you can move about the cabin freely. I was able to take my time walking around looking at things though instead of being hurried to make my indecisive decision. However, we were a little disappointed in the official runDisney merchandise selection as there was barely anything for those of us running just the half marathon. Did it sell out early or something?
Afterwards, we went to Downtown Disney where we had lunch at Tortilla Joe’s where they make guacamole table-side. It was like love in a bowl! We did a little shopping before giving our feet a break by going to see Captain America: Civil War. (You’ll have to excuse the photo below – my mom can barely work a hotel room key let alone an iPhone… #techchallenged)
After the movie, we went back to the room where we were in bed watching the Disneyland fireworks through our hotel window by 10PM.
Sunday morning, we woke up bright dark and early at a lovely 3:45AM. We laced up and headed to the park to start the race! I have to say, I’m surprised at how few people dressed up (myself included).
I was incredibly nervous about this race because I didn’t train as well as I should have…unless you count horizontal running or Netflix marathons. Once we started going, I was shocked at how well I was actually doing though. I’m a firm believer that running only sucks as much as your playlist does. Luckily, I had just updated mine.
Miles 1-7 were a piece of cake! In fact, for the first time in my short running history I actually had time to stop for character photos.
The Lost Boys asked if I would be their new mother. I told them I wasn’t ready yet…
…that is until I hit Mile 8. I would like to blame it on stopping to get free candy from strangers along the course, but to be honest, I just lost momentum. It was at this point I stopped taking pictures just so I could make up time.
Mile 13 was the longest mile of my life…and I’m including all the gym class mile runs I tried to get out of back in middle school. But, I finished! Even though I didn’t finish under 3:00 like I had hoped, I did knock over 15 minutes off my last half marathon time which is good. My first PR! I’m not going to lie – I’m proud of myself none the less. I lapped everyone on the couch!
After the race, we went to a Mother’s Day lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Steve. The food was great and the company was even better!
Do you have a towel I can use for my drool?
Afterwards, my mom and I wobbled to the parks and rode a few rides before succumbing to exhaustion. We went back to our hotel and enjoyed room service while watching Zootopia thanks to OnDemand!
On Monday, we went back to the parks and hobbled around some more. We had way too much fun! My mom was quite the sassy Birthday Diva since she shares her 60th birthday with Disneyland…
After spending the entire day at the park, we went back and packed for our flight the next morning. We were so tired we ended up sleeping through dinner – which if you know me is completely unheard of!
Now, I am 30,000 feet in the air enjoying a cheese plate while writing this post. Check back soon for my Disney World vs. Disneyland park and race comparison post. I promise it will be a quicker read than this!
Stay classy, my friends!
xoxo,
Logan
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