Running with Friends - Pictures Galore!

Do you like this gif? Because there are more coming! If not, um... sorry.

So this post is loooooong overdue. I have all these cute pictures that I've been wanting to show even though they've been posted on umpteen different blogs already. (But I bet my dear friend in Santa Fe hasn't seen them yet - hello, Amanda!!!)

Earlier this year, I had been struggling with getting back into running but you know what makes it so much easier? Running with friends! I've been so fortunate that these early weeks of my official marathon training plan have coincided with so many fun group runs.  The trick is to make sure there are awesome peeps there (check) and that there is some type of drink/food activity afterward (check).

Blogger Meet Up

The first one was a blogger meet up organized by Aron from Runner's Rambles. This was a super fun one as I only knew a handful of the girls there prior to the run. Met a lot of cool and really interesting people that morning!

Photo from Aron at Runners Rambles

They all have some amazing blogs and I encourage you to check them out!

Top row (L-R): Alisyn, Naomi, Page, Kristen, Caitlin, Kerry, Layla, Beth, Courtney
Bottom row (L-R): Alyssa, Tara, moi, Jana, Katie, Megan and Aron
Missing: Cate

I ran with Naomi during the actual run which helped me a lot because she pushed me to run faster than I had been doing on my own.

Afterward, we hung out at Peet's for coffee and chitchat. We all hit it off! At one point, I was just sitting there listening to all the conversations going on and I kind of looked around our area and realized, wow, we are REALLY squeal-ly loud. Not as a bad thing, more of a "I'm pretty impressed" thing. (That's because I've been known to be particularly loud and squeal-ly myself on occasion.)

Photo from Aron at Runners Rambles

During our coffee chat session, Naomi invited me to another fun group run that was going on the following weekend...

Ramen Run

Ah, yes, Ramen. Can you believe I've never had this before? (with the exception of the stuff you eat in college, of course) Well, it turns out that Alyssa from Diary of an Average Runner (which, by the way, she is so *not* average, but whatev) is a HUGE Ramen fan so she organized a super fun meet up called the Ramen Run. We met at the Conservatory of Flowers, ran around Golden Gate Park, and then chowed down at Genki Ramen afterward.

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

From left to right: Naomi, Layla, Karin, Sandra, moi, Kerry, Alyssa, Jana, and Kristen

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

I have to thank Alyssa because I think the Conservatory of Flowers is my new favorite meeting spot for running in Golden Gate Park. It's fun to sit on the steps and people watch (there was an awesome and very spirited singing roller skater that morning) and you can't beat the view with the spectacular flower gardens. Plus you've got easy access to a restroom, water fountain, and a snack stand.

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

Here's our little pack running to the buffalo patch along JFK. I kept up with them up to that point but it was pushing my pace just a bit past my comfort level so I ran the rest on my own and met them all back at the Conservatory.

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

Then we all headed to Genki Ramen!!! Now I'll be honest, I'm not really a noodle person. I recently had my first experience with pho and wasn't impressed so I wasn't sure how this would turn out but I actually liked it! The noodles are a bit more hearty and it had just enough soup for me. It was a pretty satisfying post run treat.

Veggie Curry Ramen with a side of Gyoza

While enjoying our Ramen, you would never believe what happened - we discussed yet *another* group run for the following weekend!

DSE 6 Hour Distance Classic

As I understand it, Alyssa was once again the mastermind of this super fun social run. Her local running club had organized a 6 hour run where people would run around this one mile loop at Crissy Field as many times as they wanted. It was pretty convenient - easy access to a fully supported aid station (and I mean, supported - peanut M&Ms, gummi bears, watermelon, cookies, etc)  *and* a restroom. And I loved the idea that you could kind of feel like you were running with your friends even if they were way faster than you. At some point you'd see each other during the many loops.

I had to do 9 miles that day so this was perfect for me. The loop was pretty flat and it was nice and chilly so I actually finished with a 10:45 pace which is really good for me these days. Because I started late (Naomi and I spectated the Jungle Run half marathon that morning down in the south bay), everyone finished before me and were hanging out by the aid station. Knowing I would see them every mile kept me on my toes. :)

OK, now get ready for animated gif overload... I honestly can't help myself!

Photos from RoadBunner's BF

Did I mention we had professional photographers during this run? Or at least friends with professional cameras? :P

Photos from RoadBunner's BF

Listen, if people are going to cheer so enthusiastically for you *and* take pics - of course, I'm going to ham it up!

Photos from Aron

Aron took some pics of all of us, too!

I was the last one to finish and it was super nice of everyone to hang out until then. (I *hate* making people wait for me.)  I'm sure everyone was just having fun hanging with friends and chilling on the lawn on a lovely Sunday afternoon. :)

We all got ribbons!!!

Later on...

Photo from Alyssa

... well, of course, we ended up back at Genki Ramen!!!

(Note: Since then, I've done two more long runs up in SF and both times, we followed up with ramen. It's like a Pavlovian response now - do long run, must have ramen. :P)

I get to see the running crew again this weekend! I'll be spectating the SF Marathon on Sunday - should be fun to bust out the cowbell again!

Changing things up

Don't worry - you're not on the wrong site! I've been wanting to get rid of the dated style of my blog (old one shown below) for awhile now.

So I'm trying something new here. I'm not 100% in love with it so I might keep tweaking things but I like it enough for now.

In the meantime, are you on DailyMile? I've been posting all my runs there starting with this training cycle. You can add me here.

Have a great week!

Marathon Training is ON

So guess what? I am officially IN MARATHON TRAINING!!!



Yep, it is now 12 weeks to the Akron Marathon which I'm only running so I won't die during the NYC marathon 6 weeks later. (Same thing I did with CIM and the Goofy Challenge - odd, I know, but it works for me.)

These will be my 5th and 6th marathons, respectively, but I've really only properly trained for the first one and that's primarily because I was taking advantage of the Nike Club Run SF training runs.

Since then, I sort of just "wing it" when it comes to races. I never really have a set training plan that I follow and the only runs I make sure to get in are the weekend long runs. Everything else is sort of a crapshoot. I know - it makes no sense!

When I first got into running, I was really into it. I always was trying to push myself to go faster or further in distance. I wasn't into reading running blogs / magazines / books yet so eventually I started having knee pains and other issues. I took a break and then got back into it to train for my first half marathon and I was hooked! Again, I was obsessed with seeing how I could improve so I ran another one just two weeks later and shaved 5 minutes off my time (which is about 30 minutes faster than I am capable of today, lol).

But now - lots and lots of races later, I've been more into the experience of the race (and the related swag), and not so much into how I performed. I mean, in my head, you get the same schnazzy medal if you finish in 5:30 or 4:30. (Of course, the related runner's high is not the same, won't argue that.)

I'm still kind of more into the experience, but I won't lie - it is a bit disheartening to see my race times get slower and slower over the years... so while I'm not aiming for a new personal best, I wouldn't mind avoiding a new personal worst. :)

So I'm trying something ~new, I'd going to actually follow a training plan this time. I picked the Runner's World moderate plan with a base mileage of 16-21mi/week. I think this plan would be laughable for most of you but I think it is perfect for someone that had been used to running 1-2x a week.

This plan is based on 3 runs per week:

• An easy run *aka, classic Audrey run
• Speedwork/Tempo run *Excited, because I haven't done too much of these, other than running with friends who are much faster
• Long run *Will probably need to head to SF for these to escape the HEAT

I might re-evaluate the plan at the halfway point but I think this is a good start! And by announcing it here, maybe this time I'll actually follow it! :)

I do feel like such a n00b these days...  like I need to re-learn all my fueling strategies. I couldn't even remember if I can do a short run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. (I polled some girls over the weekend, I think I can and will test it this week.) I'm also slowly incorporating some strength training here and there. Just old school stuff like push ups, crunches, lunges, squats, etc - things I can do while watching TV. :)

Anyway, I am excited to be out there and running again! Especially since there are so many fun group runs going on - more about that in my next post!

Race Report: See Jane Run Half Marathon

Normally, I like to release these in order but since the See Jane Run Half is fresh in my mind (ran it Sunday) - I'm gonna go with that. But if you're dying to hear how Bay to Breakers went, you are welcome to check out some awesome race reports from my super fun run buddies, Roadbunner and Naomi.

So... back to the See Jane Run Half Marathon... it's a girly race (tagline is "I Run for Chocolate and Champagne") and I like girly races and this is the first year I've been able to do it.

To be perfectly honest, I was not properly trained to run a half (due to my typical procrastination) but just went for it because this is sort of a milestone / checkpoint for me on my way to the NYC Marathon after taking almost a year off from running. The race is walker friendly so I knew I didn't have to worry about time.

I skipped the expo and took advantage of their in-store bib and goody bag pick up at their Oakland store earlier in the week as I was already in the area. The race shirt is pretty cute! It's a little bit on the shiny side and when I tried it on, I swear it looked like satin jammies on me (keep in mind I don't actually own any of those). But that might also be because it was a size too big because once I exchanged it for a smaller size, it looked less like sleepwear and more like an actual running shirt.

So cue race morning... race started at 8AM. Race website recommended getting to the start at 6:30AM as the suggested parking lot only had 500 spots and would be closed off early. So being the nerd I am, I got there right at 6:30AM. There were maybe 10 other cars there at the time. No worries, better safe than sorry and I always had my iPhone to entertain me.

From here, it was a little confusing because there were separate start and finish areas but they were located fairly close to each other. So a bunch of us went to the finish area first. Oops! Once I got to the correct area, I picked up my timing chip which was an ankle bracelet. I think the only other time I had to wear one of these was the US Half Marathon. It's a little odd because I thought everyone used D-tags by now, but it was fine. It didn't bother me at all.

I'm on house arrest!

Now I still had over an hour to kill, so I parked myself on a bench and just people watched and played on my iPhone. As I was watching everyone warm up and stretch and stuff, I started cracking up and how unprepared I was for this. I didn't even have any kind of hydration or fuel on me. Definitely winging it!

The one thing I thought I was prepared for was the weather. I had been checking the forecast daily and the night before, it told me to expect this:

But it didn't rain at all that morning. In fact, something weird happened. The sun started peeking out! GAHHH!!! MY NEMESIS!!!

Luckily, I had thrown this in my bag totally last minute. I think I got these from a previous goody bag -  I save everything!

Luckily, it did stay overcast for most of the race with just a little bit of sun here and there. Phew! I had heard the race was a real scorcher in previous years.

Right before the race start, they did some group warmup exercises. This reminded me of Nike.

Sun, sun, go away, come again another day (when I'm not running)

Then we all lined up at the start. I realized this might just be the smallest half marathon I've ever done - I mean, this is the view from the *back* of the start corral:

I'm not sure what they used to signify the start of the race because I didn't hear anything, I just saw everyone start running.

Here's the course:

It reminded me a little bit of the last 10 miles of the Nike full course. You do a long stretch, then a big old loop, and then repeat the first stretch back. Luckily, you couldn't visualize how big the loop was (like you could with seeing Lake Merced) so it wasn't annoying.

The course was mostly flat and had some nice scenery here and there. Apologies for the poor iPhone 3G photos... below pic was taken from the bridge around mile 3 - there's a line of runners in the middle of the photo.

We passed what I *think* is the headquarters for the Oakland Raiders - that's football, right? (KIDDING!!!)

The course got a little more interesting at mile 7:

We got a nice view of SF:

Headed back on the bridge:

With about a mile left to go, I noticed a bunch of little kids running our way. For some reason, I thought they were coming to cheer us on. Uh, no... it was the kids' race merging with the half marathon runners toward the same finish line! Listen, I love kids (I adore my nieces and nephews) and I love kids' races (they're hilarious!) but I really question if this is a good idea. Good thing I wasn't aiming for a PR because some of these kids were all over the place! Not to mention they're not exactly in my line of vision and I was already kind of wobbly legged at this point. Thankfully, their parents tried to keep them in line (haha, ok, not really, but I appreciated their effort).

Finally the scenic finish line!

Chip Time: 2:40:47
Pace: 12:16 min/mi

I know for most people, this is slow as molasses but I actually was pretty pleased with myself! Based on my training run paces, I was expecting a new personal worst (currently ~3 hours). I think it helped that everyone around me was doing the run/walk thing, too, so it encouraged me to keep my walk breaks brief and get back to running. As expected, my legs were dead after mile 10 but I just focused on my playlist music (especially with all my new fun tunes from Alicia!) to keep going.

Once I crossed the finish line, I got my medal, handed my ankle strap to a volunteer (actually someone just grabbed it from me - hope he was a volunteer! lol), and then... well, it was a bit of chaos (but maybe I was too tired to figure it out). I'm used to people handing you water as soon as you finished but I didn't see it anywhere. I actually was completely confused on where to go for anything. After asking a bunch of other runners, I finally figured out where to get water, where to get the food, where to get my gear bag, where to get the champagne glass plus chocolate, and where to get the champagne.  There was a super long line to the water and food table so thankfully, there were volunteers handing them out to us as we waited in line.

My friend came out to meet me at the race which was super nice of her since it was about an hour from where we live. I gave her the impression that I would be closer to 3 hours so she just missed my finish. But that's OK, because I had someone to hang with while I stretched and stuff. Here's a pic she took of me chillaxing while she headed over to meet me. For some reason, I think this is funny. This is actually how I am at most of the races I do since I usually do them by myself. (cue wah wah wahhhhhhhhh music, haha)

Side note: I love iPhone autocorrect. I asked my friend where she was and she texted back, "by the porta porgies". LOL!

Here are the goodies:

I didn't really need the actual champagne but I had to get some, right? I asked for just a little but got a bit more than I needed (I have the tolerance of a 5 year old). I had to drive right afterward! *whispers* I pitched most of it. :-O

Cheers!

Afterward (much much later), my friend and I celebrated with some In N Out. Even got a milkshake, too - yummy!

Once I got home, I realized how teeny tiny the medal is. Here it is compared to my smallest medals:

All in all, it was a fun day. If you're looking for a small, casual race to do with your girlfriends - I would recommend. I think once was enough for me though.

Finally - I have to give a special shout out to my friend who actually WON the See Jane Run Half Marathon with a 1 FRICKIN 25 time! I'm not sure if this is viewable to the public but she has a very interesting race report posted on dailymile.  All I will say is that if you are a man running a woman targeted race and then catch up to the lead woman just to draft off her, YOU ARE A DOUCHEBAG. But maybe that's just me.

Unless you're doing it like this, because then it's just funny.

2011 Race Calendar!

Well I guess it's finally time to officially announce my race calendar for the year :)

Let's start with the biggest and the most important: 

Yep, that's right. I *finally* got in. Longtime blog readers know that I have consistently tried to get into this race ever since I ran my first marathon in 2007. For three years in a row, I was rejected in their lottery.

Well, luckily for me - NYC Marathon rules dictate that in these situations, you are automatically accepted in the fourth year of entering the lottery. YAY FOR ME!!! See, persistence does pay off :)

I am so excited about running this race since I absolutely love New York City. I often would take trips there with my mom and my sister mostly so we could see Broadway shows and of course, sight see, shop, eat, etc.  And then for about two years, I lived in Hoboken, NJ which is just across the river from lower Manhattan so I got to spend a lot of time in NYC then. I think the highlights of those days were getting to be in the audience for some events at the MTV studios :) (hint: think heyday of Britney Spears, haha)

This is going to be a once in a lifetime experience since I'll probably never get the chance to run this marathon again and to be perfectly honest, I'm not quite sure I'll want to run another marathon again after this. (Half marathons are more my thing, if anything.)

So I don't want to blow it. As some of you know, my running has sort of tapered off after the Goofy Challenge and I pretty much need to start rebuilding my running base. I'm probably doing my own version of the "couch to 5K" program right now.

I have until November to get into marathon shape. To make sure I stay on track, I've scheduled some other race events throughout the year...

... such as the See Jane Run half marathon. I've been wanting to run this race for awhile but could never fit it into my race calendar. The tagline is "I run for chocolate and champagne." Do I really need to say anything else?

With a race date of early June, it's a perfect milestone for marathon training.

This next one is more of a fun one. Bay to Breakers has always had a special spot in my heart because it was one of the first events I did when I first moved to California in 2001 (from Hoboken actually). I just remember thinking how fun and crazy this place was! For six years in a row, my friends and I paraded down the streets of SF in our group costumes - fun trip down memory lane here. In 2008, I decided to actually run it since you know, it is an actual race after all with real elite runners and all that. (My friends were shocked that people actually ran it, believe it or not. They just assumed it was a party for everyone!)

I figured once was enough for me (that Hayes Street Hill is no joke, man) but this year, Bay to Breakers is celebrating its 100th year anniversary!!! 100 YEARS!!! How crazy is that? So to commemorate the special occasion, all runners get a special finisher's medal! People that know me know that I'm a total medal whore, especially a unique medal that will only happen this year! Of course, I was in. And it's a 12K in mid-May so it should also help me stay on track for the See Jane Run half the following month.

This last one is a kind of random one but I'm excited for it. I'm kind of a weird runner because I believe the best way to have confidence and to be fully prepared for an important marathon is to... well, basically run another marathon before it.

It worked really well for me when I ran the Goofy Challenge. For those that aren't familiar, the Goofy Challenge is the Disney event where you run a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon the next day. Well, I was worried I wouldn't be properly prepared for such a feat, so I decided to run another marathon (California International Marathon) about 5-6 weeks before it. Used it as a long run of sorts (I did another one in between the events). Well, it worked out great because I ended up setting a PR at CIM!

Timing-wise, the Akron marathon fits in well as it's 6 weeks before NYC. Akron is also an hour away from my hometown where my parents and my sister and her family live. (Did I mention my sister has a 3 year old and 2 month old that I miss terribly?) And what cinched the deal is that my dear friend Roadbunner could not stop raving about the race and its awesome swag.

So to summarize, here is my 2011 Race Calendar:

• May 15th: Bay to Breakers 12K
• June 5th: See Jane Run Half Marathon
• September 24th: Akron Marathon
• November 6th: NYC Marathon

Race Report: Disneyland Half

Over Labor Day weekend, I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon.  I ran the race before in 2008 - here's the race report, if you're interested. It's Disney so of course it's a fun race. But is it an amazing one that everyone should run year after year? No, not really. Once is plenty, if you ask me. However, I needed to run this race again this year for one reason only:





Note: This is the one from 2008. You'll see my new one later down the post.

Ah, yes, that would be the elusive Disney Coast-to-Coast Challenge medal. In order to obtain this special prize, you have to run either a Walt Disney World half or full marathon (or in my case this year - both) in Orlando, Florida AND run the Disneyland Half Marathon in Anaheim, CA in the same calendar year.

So basically, it's for the super awesome runners... you know, just like how doing Goofy was for the super awesome as well. My goal during race weekends is to one-up as many people as possible (in a way that does not involve speed). "Oh, you're doing just the full? Not me, I'm doing Goofy." *smirk* "Just getting the half marathon medal today, huh? Not me, I get the awesome Coast to Coast one, too. See my special wristband???" *double smirk*

I'm just kidding about that part. Well, kind of. But it's no fun to have your accomplishment overshadowed by something bigger. Right? OK, whatever, so yeah it's probably definitely just another way for Disney to take more money from suckers like me yet still make me feel good about it.

Disney: 234078329857329573987
Audrey: 0

(I don't know what those numbers represent specifically... not dollars, although sometimes it feels like it.)

Anyway, to be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to this race since I have pretty much been on a running hiatus since the Goofy Challenge in January. But I needed to get that medal plus it's Disney so it's not like I need to worry about my time so off I went.

This was another one of those "wham bam thank you ma'am" kind of trips. I flew down to Anaheim Saturday afternoon and flew back Sunday afternoon. Unlike 2008, I didn't even get a park ticket.

I will say this about the Disneyland Half - it is a very convenient race in terms of getting around. You don't need a car, I just took the Disneyland Resort Express to the hotel, which by the way, can be quite affordable. If you want to be as close to the race start as possible, you could definitely stay at one of the official Disney hotels. Otherwise, they have tons of less expensive motels that are still nice enough that are right on the perimeter of Disneyland so it's still walking distance to expo and race start (I would guess 20 minutes vs. 5 minutes.) I stayed at the Anaheim Camelot Inn both years, mostly because it's cute and is not far from the main entrance to the Disney parks. Save more money and grab a runner to stay with you - that's how I got Roadbunner to be my roommate. :)

EXPO

I got there a little toward the end of closing. When I first arrived, there were all these signs about previewing some of ABC's new fall lineup. In case you didn't know, I'm a TV junkie and I'm all over stupid things like getting early access to new TV shows. I did one in Vegas with my sister where we got to preview this medical drama called Three Rivers and then answer this 45 min questionnaire afterward. I'll be honest... I thought that was fun! One of the main things I remembered was that the show didn't have that "processed" look yet so instead of a primetime drama, it looked like a daytime soap opera and it was really hard for me to get over how cheesy that looked. HA! I'm sure that was helpful info to the production team.

ANYWAY... I was tempted to ditch to watch TV shows but knew I didn't have the time for that nonsense. So I went straight to packet pick up to collect my stuff. As usual, the shirts were a unisex style and ran large so I would be swimming in the one I got. I noticed a bunch of peeps were waiting in the "Size S" line. I guess they would allow you to start swapping sizes at 5PM (a couple of hours from that point).

This is very boyish.

I walked around the expo for a bit but surprisingly didn't see anything I liked. Not even at the official merchandise booth... I don't know if it's a Disney issue or a Champion issue but somebody is dropping the ball because they rarely have cute stuff. Not like the cute stuff that Nike delivers.

By the time I finished my rounds, I decided to go ahead and wait in line for the shirt exchange as well since I had time to kill. The line eventually got really long and once we finally moved, a lady cut in line. Now I believe it's possible that she just got confused where the line ends since it was really crowded in that area, but I was completely amused at how quickly the other women ahead of me were all "I don't think so!". I guess there were only 20-something size S shirts left and there were at least double that in line. So, you know, it was a DIRE issue.

After that, I shopped around Downtown Disney, making sure to text my Disney-loving sister images of where I was at to make her jealous. Bwa-ha-ha-ha... It's OK, I got her and her little boy some souvenirs so she didn't hate me.

Then I went back to the hotel to wait for Roadbunner to arrive. We later had a late dinner with my favorite Glee crew member, Penny. This was my first time meeting her so it was nice to actually hang out with a good Twitter buddy. Sadly, we forgot to take any pics at dinner.

RACE DAY

Race start was at 6AM. I have this thing where I like to consume all my pre-race liquids and fuel as close to 2 hours before the race as possible so I was up at 4AM. Bleh.

Roadbunner and I later headed to the race start. Neither of us had gear check bags which was nice. After the potty stops, we wished each other good luck and goodbye at the start corrals. She had an early airport shuttle pickup right after the race so I was certain I wouldn't see her then. Once in my corral, I realized I had lost one of my yurbuds - so sad.

I had no time goals for this race. All I wanted to do was take lots of pictures and cross that finish line, no matter how long it took. And boy did I take my time!

The course was pretty similar to when I ran it in 2008 - except for a big part that I will get to later. You start down Disneyland Drive and the course is pretty ho hum for the first mile and a half. Then you enter California Adventures! From there, it's about two miles of sightseeing through the parks with tons of characters to take pics with. And since I wouldn't actually be going to the parks separately, I decided to make the most of it. During those two miles, I had a blast! I was truly happy to be a runner and to be participating in this event. It didn't feel like I was running a half, it was more like a scavenger hunt where I was going from character to character collecting pictures. I was mostly successful, well except for Woody and his gang from Toy Story. So rebellious, that crew! Toward the end of the parks I ran into Penny and her running posse who were sporting the cutest tutus! (And I hate to brag, but me and Julianne did the tutu thing early on - are we trendsetters or what??? *snort*)

Here are just some of the highlights through the Disney parks:

Arriving at California Adventures

Moving on to Disneyland

Walt and Mickey - just like on our medal!

Approaching Cinderella's Home

Storming the Castle

Hanging with my fellow princesses - we went for tea later

What kind of chafing do you think this costume causes?

Once I got out of the parks, I was hit by the brutal realization that oh yes, I really am supposed to do a half marathon here. The middle of the race (miles 5-8) was pretty dull as we were just going up and down the streets of Anaheim. They tried to make it interesting with school bands and cheering squads which I appreciated, but they were definitely nowhere near as fun as going through the parks.

Again, I have to wonder about the chafing

After running past the Honda Center and along the Santa Ana trail - things got pretty exciting once again around mile 9. At this point, the course is slightly different from the one we had in 2008. This year, instead of running by it, we got to run *through* Angel Stadium. I had this weird idea that we would actually be running the bases, which we didn't because that would be dumb, but instead we ran along the outside while peeps were cheering from the seats plus cheerleaders on the field so it was still an amazing experience.

Oh did I mention we were also on the jumbotron? Like any good picture whore, I immediately tried to determine where that camera was angled at... I had to ask one of the lovely cheerleaders for assistance although to be honest, all I had to do was look for the line of runners (same thing with all the characters in the park). While waiting in line, I watched to see what the other runners were doing in order to capture the jumbotron shot. I pointed my camera at the jumbotron and then when I was ready, I looked into the big camera while clicking my point and shoot.

Ta-da!

I was sad to leave the stadium because that was such a fun rush. Plus it was nice to experience something new from my previous Disneyland Half.

After that it was another 3 miles to the finish on nothing but boring streets. That was another part of the course they changed but not for the better. Last time, our last mile was through Downtown Disney which was fun because there usually would be a lot of people cheering at that point. But that's OK, I'll gladly sacrifice Downtown Disney for Angels Stadium.

I wasn't surprised by my finish time which is once again, a new personal worst for the half. Although I do find it funny that I missed a sub-3 finish by mere seconds.

At the finish area, I saw Penny again and this time we got a picture!

Check out the bling!

We got a special medal for the half because it was the 5th anniversary of the race. Now I know some people have some strong feelings about this (something to do with the 5 making it look like a 5K medal and celebrating a 5th anniversary is like "celebrating mediocrity" LOL) but I don't mind it. Actually, I *prefer* anniversary years at Disney races. Why? Because your medal is unique, no one else from any other year will have a medal like yours. Otherwise they use the same medal for at least four years in a row but just change the year and the strap. Like my Coast-to-Coast medal, it's pretty much identical to the one I already have. Makes me wonder why I went to all the trouble to get something I already own. :P I actually really like the castle medal this year... it's extra "blingy" which I like. And I also like that it has some color in it, too.

Official Results
Chip Time	3:00:07
Overall Place	9268 / 12372
Gender Place	5447 / 7857
Division Place	943 / 1311
Age Grade	36.9%
5K	44:53
10K	1:33:09
15K	2:13:56

Afterward, I picked up this post-race treat in Downtown Disney. A candy and chocolate coated caramel apple. It was delish!!! Although, admittedly, it took me days to finish... that would be a lot of sugar in one sitting.

So that's about it for Disney races. I won't say "never again" but I will say definitely not in 2011. I've already got plans to spend my race $$$ elsewhere next year.