2017 was another running year.

I ran more virtual events than ever before. I spent my 40th birthday run/jog/walking a half marathon at Disneyland.

I wore my fitbit, of course. But, I switched my focus from 10,000 steps a day to concentrating on the number of miles I ran.

My plantar fasciitis was still a bit of an annoyance. But, it was better than in 2016. My guess is this is due to the fact that I was training for a marathon in 2016. I didn’t do as many long runs in 2017 – which would then make sense that I didn’t log as many miles in 2017 as I did in 2016.

I completed the You vs Year challenge sponsored by MapMyRun & Under Armour. The goal was to run 1017k in the year 2017.

* RUNNING HIGHLIGHTS: MONTH BY MONTH *

January

• Due to snow & ice, many miles were done on the elliptical
• Total miles this month: 60.29

February

• Finished HRC’s Mad Eye Moody 5K
• Total miles this month: 58.99

March

• Finished Yo Ho Ho Virtual 5K
• Finished Shamrock Run 15K
• Total miles this month: 46.01

April

• Finished Race for the Roses 10K
• Finished HRC’s 10K and SPEW
• Finished HRC’s Unmasked 10 miler
• Total miles this month: 66.98

May

• Finished Hippie Chick Half Marathon
• Total miles this month: 49.27

June

• Finished Helvetia Half Marathon
• Total miles this month: 43.02

July

• Finished HRC’s Eternal Glory 4 Miler
• Total miles this month: 33.28

August

• Finished She Believed She Could Virtual 10K
• Total miles this month: 34.55

September

• Finished the 5K, 10K, & Half Marathon in Disneyland
• Finished the Quest for the Lost Scroll Virtual 10K
• Finished HRC’s Platform 9 3/4K
• Total miles this month: 68.32

October

• Finished HRC’s Sirius Half Marathon
• Total miles this month: 84.48

November

• Finished Wobble Before we Gobble 4 Miler
• Total miles this month: 61.89

December

• Finished Virtual Santa Hustle 5K
• Total miles this month: 49.41

I RUN FOR BLING

This year’s medal count: 19

2017 Stats

5K Events: 4
10K Events: 5
Half Marathon Events: 4
Other Events: 4
Total Miles Run/Jogged: 656.5

2015 Total Miles: 440 miles
2016 Total Miles: 761 miles

I have signed up for a couple events in 2018 already. So, apparently 2018 will be a running year also. I will complete a half marathon or two (or three), but I would like to focus on speed. I know I can accomplish the distance. Now, I would like to go the distance a tad more quickly.

Happy Running!

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This was it. This was my day. My 40th birthday spent doing a half marathon in Disneyland.

Packet Pick Up & Expo

I was so excited doing my first half marathon during the Tinkerbell weekend I took a similar photo on the carpet. Then, I took one during the Star Wars weekend. So now apparently it’s my thing.

Here’s my Disneyland Half Weekend shot:

The Start

The start, as always, had an excited vibe. However, it was hot. Too hot. The announcer said the feels like temperature was 87°. It wasn’t even 5am yet. Blech!

Running through California Adventure

I stopped a number of times throughout DCA.

• I had seen Mike & Sully during the previous 2 races, but didn’t stop. I’m glad I stopped this time.

• Since my daughter is a gymnast, I stopped to take a pic of the girl flying around the Toy Story bar.

• The crowd of runners on Hollywood Blvd.

• Cowgirl Jessie must stop for a photo op with a horse.

Running Through Disneyland

• One of my favorite photos from the entire weekend is this one with Minnie & Mickey

• At one point, I was hoping to get my Castle to Chateau medal and run the event later in the month in Paris. This pic with Remy will have to do instead.

• I was slightly disappointed that my only photo op with Woody, during a Toy Story themed race, was this one of him up on the balcony of The Golden Horseshoe.

• Runners on Main Street

Running the Streets of Anaheim

•  It was crazy hot, but the sunrise was lovely.

• After stopping for all my pics in the parks, I ended up with the corral I run/walk 3 hour pacer. I kept with them for awhile, but eventually went about my own pace. I did enjoy the bit I was with them. I will have to keep it in mind for another event.

• During the run, the red flag came out.

• As always, I enjoyed all the entertainment along the way. This time we had a Polynesian group, a Mexican group, and a car show featuring Lightning McQueen.

• The Hogwarts Running Club had ice in a cooler for the runners. So, so awesome! I was sweaty and obnoxiously hot. I grabbed a refreshing handful of ice and shoved it down the back of my shirt.

• I can’t stop for every sign that catches my attention, but I had to stop for this one with Chandler.

• This was a different course than my previous RunDisney half marathons. This time, we ran through Angel Stadium. I’m not really a fan of ball sports, but it was a nice change to run through the stadium.

The Finish!

I’m always happy when the finish line is in sight. But, I was especially thrilled this time. Given the choice, I would absolutely run on a 30° day before running on a 90° day. Run/walk/jogging for 13 miles in high temps and high humidity is not my idea of a good time. To be nearing the finish line was a huge relief.

I love/hate the photo on the left. It’s one of my favorite finish line photos ever. I typically look like a dufus. This one, though, is a lie. I appear to be in great spirits – in reality I feel miserable and half dead.

After finishing the race, I headed to the medic tents for ice. I walked more during this half marathon than I ever have before. Unfortunately, I’m not a good fast walker and I know my posture was horrible – resulting in back shoulder pain. I placed the ice on my achy back shoulder and also on my face to cool me down.

By the time I got a pic with my medals I felt much better and ready to conquer the rest of the day.

I earned 4 medals that weekend: a 5k, 10k, half marathon and the double dare challenge medal for completing both the 10k and half.

— More than Running —

My 40th Birthday

I don’t usually celebrate my birthday, not even with a family dinner. That works well for me.

However… I was in Disneyland and somehow 40 seems like such a milestone. I totally enjoyed the day in every way I could.

• I got my birthday button, which looks amazing.

• I found a cake and balloons in Mickey’s house and pretended they were for me.

• By coincidence, we were having a little snack break at Refreshment Corner when Alice & the Mad Hatter came by to play musical chairs. I absolutely talked my friends into participating with me. One of my favorite moments ever! To top it off, the Mad Hatter sang me a short, silly birthday song.

• I made us shirts for the occasion. Mine said, A Very Merry 40th Birthday to Me. The others said, A Very Merry Unbirthday to Me.

• A friend of mine had her 35th birthday during the trip. We celebrated our special days with a margarita from Rita’s Baja Blenders in California Adventure. I like margarita’s, but I didn’t really care for this one. I did enjoy the company and atmosphere, though.

This was certainly a RunDisney event / Birthday I will never forget.

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The races for this RunDisney weekend started at the before-the-sun hour of 5am. Oy! This meant every day I got up between 3:00 and 3:30. Oy, oy, oy!

They’re worth it. I’m sure I’ll do it again.

The 10K theme was Monsters, Inc – which I liked better than The Incredibles theme for the 5K.

Packet Pick Up & Expo

During packet pick up I took this photo because I was running the Double Dare challenge – meaning I was running both the 10K on Saturday, then the half marathon on Sunday.

Our Costumes

My friends have done a number of RunDisney events. The girl in the middle makes aprons to wear as their costumes. This time they were Snow White and the Evil Queen. So, I dressed as Dopey.

The Start

This time I was placed in corral E for both the 10K and the half. During Star Wars, I was in C for the 10K and B for the half. I’m not exactly sure how the corrals work, but I think there were more corrals this time. Even though the actual corrals weren’t the same, I feel like I was placed correctly for all events. Until I started stopping for photos, I seemed to be staying similarly paced with the other runners.

Running through California Adventure

It was a hot, humid morning so I didn’t want to dilly dally too much during the 10K. I took pics going through DCA, but none with characters.

The Backlots

The back areas and tunnels had a few fun surprises. I love all these kinds of detail. There was an employee from the Child Detection Agency searching the area, as well as doors and Monsters University posters displayed.

I have a few favorite places to run during the Disney events – one of those places is through the large doors into or out of the parks.

Running through Disneyland

I don’t love the pic of me on the left, but I love that Daisy & Donald are right behind me.

The Final Stretch

• Well… I do look Dopey in the photo on the left….

• Still one of my favorite sections to run is the fenced area between Disneyland and DCA. The spectators are always amazing.

The Finish

Maybe it’s because I create photo props, but I loved all the photo ops with props available.

I am now an official runner at MU:

Despite the heat, I kept a pretty good pace the entire race. It makes up for my seeing the balloon ladies at my last RunDisney 10K.

My first event of the Disneyland Double Dare is complete.

— More than Running —

It’s My Unbirthday

The next day was going to be my birthday – making this day my unbirthday. I snapped this photo while on the Alice in Wonderland ride.

Dining at Disney

I had never eaten at the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country before. We decided to try it. I got a wrap and fries for somewhere around $10. It was ok. Not the best, but not bad.

Well, that’s a wrap, I have finished my 7th RunDisney event.

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When I found out the Disneyland Half Marathon was being held the day of my 40th birthday, I knew I must go. And go, I did.

Thankfully, I have fabulous friends who didn’t mind going to Disneyland.

Packet Pick Up & Expo

Thursday afternoon we stopped by the expo, grabbed our race packets, spun wheels, won prizes, took photos…

On the way to the expo we stopped by La Brea Bakery for blackberry mojitos. They were dee-lish!

Our Costumes

I have been friends with these two since high school. We dressed in a group costume as the Main Street Electrical Parade. We were the Blue Fairy, Pete’s Dragon, and the Cheshire Cat lit up with LED lights. They are not runners and I so appreciate them coming to do this with me.

The Start

Walking through California Adventure

My fav is our pic on the trolley.

Walking through Disneyland

We didn’t stop for many pics in Disneyland, but we did get a mandatory castle shot.

Hogwarts Running Club

One of my favorite places during a RunDisney event is the section between the two parks. During this 5k, though, it was virtually spectator free – except for these two from the Hogwarts Running Club. I knew they were a good group to associate with.

The Finish

The anticipated finish line.

We did it!

Our bib, tshirt and medal for our accomplishment:

— More than Running —

Theme, theme, theme

I do love having fun with a theme. Since my friend dressed as the Blue Fairy, a pic with the fairy while on the Pinocchio ride was a must.

Dining at Disney

The night before, I ordered this citrus chicken plate from the Cocina Cucamonga in DCA’s Pacific Wharf. It was amazing. It was a little spendy – somewhere between $12-$15. But, I have paid that much to eat at Tortilla Jo’s in Downtown Disney.

The evening of the 10K we ate at the Plaza Inn. I had fried chicken and mashed potatoes, with green beans. It was also really good, but a bit more expensive than the chicken from DCA.

I don’t know if my friends loved waking up early to do a 5k, then spend the rest of the day at Disneyland. But, they were good sports and I’m so glad they came. One of them, though, is talking about doing a 10K – so that’s a good sign. Maybe I’m slowly converting her. Bahaha…

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This is me dreaming big.

I love to travel. I run. I could really never have too many Runcations.

On my bucket list is traveling to all 50 states in the US. Add in the running thing and I have one more reason to visit the states, with the added bonus of keeping fit.

We have 3 busy kids and a farm, is it realistic to think I can actually accomplish this goal? I don’t know. But, it doesn’t hurt to dream and try. I’m turning the big 4-0 this year. I figure I still have a good 40 more years to cross off every state.

I’m off to a slow start with checking off 4 states. But, a slow start is better than not starting.

I have found at least one half marathon in each state as a possibility. Some are events I’ve been wanting to participate in for awhile. Some I found while researching for this list. Also, I’m not against doing a virtual run, if that what works. It’s my bucket list; my rules.

Alabama
Mercedes

Alaska
Alaska

Arizona
Sedona
Rock n Roll Arizona

Arkansas
Little Rock

✓ California
✓ 2015 – RunDisney Tinker Bell
✓ 2016 – RunDisney Star Wars
✓ 2017 – RunDisney Disneyland
Surf City
San Francisco
Big Sur
Yosemite
Humboldt Redwoods
Carlsbad

Colorado
Run the Rockies
Steamboat Springs
Estes Park
Rock n Roll Denver

Connecticut
Faxon Law Fairfield

Delaware
Rehoboth Beach

Florida
Fort Lauderdale A1A
Key West
Space Coast
RunDisney Princess
RunDisney Wine & Dine

Georgia
Thanksgiving Day
The AthHalf
Rock n Roll Savannah

Hawaii
Maui
Kauai
The Hapalua

Idaho
Famous Idaho Potato
Redfish Lake Lodge
Idaho Falls
Sun Valley

Illinois
Lincoln Presidential
Rock n Roll Chicago
Chicago
Run Mag Mile

Indiana
500 Festival

Iowa
Marathon to Marathon

Kansas
Garmin In the Land of Oz

Kentucky
Run the Bluegrass

Louisiana
Rock n Roll New Orleans

Maine
Bar Harbor
Shipyard Old Port

Maryland
Baltimore

Massachusetts
Boston’s Run to Remember
Martha’s Vineyard

Michigan
International

Minnesota
Minnesota
Garry Bjorklund

Mississippi
Mississippi River

Missouri
Rock n Roll St. Louis
Rock the Parkway

Montana
Missoula

Nebraska
Lincoln

✓ Nevada
✓ 2015 – Rock n Roll Las Vegas

New Hampshire
Rockfest

New Jersey
New Jersey
ORC Seaside

New Mexico
Santa Fe Thunder

New York
United Airlines NYC
Rock n Roll Brooklyn

North Carolina
Southern Fried
Rock n Roll Raleigh

North Dakota
Fargo

Ohio
Capital City
Akron
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus

Oklahoma
Route 66

✓ Oregon
✓ 2016 – Vernonia
✓ 2016 – Helvetia
✓ 2016 – Bridge of the Gods
✓ 2017 – Hippie Chick Half Marathon
✓ 2017 – Helvetia

Pennsylvania
Hershey
Rock n Roll Philadelphia

Rhode Island
Providence
Jamestown

South Carolina
Kiawah Golf Resort

South Dakota
Run Crazy Horse

Tennessee
Rock n Roll Nashville

Texas
3M
Alamo 13.1
Chevron Houston
Rock n Roll Dallas

Utah
Salt Lake City
Ogden

Vermont
Covered Bridges

Virginia
Rock n Roll Virginia Beach

✓ Washington
✓ 2016 – Virtual National Park Service 100th Birthday
Rock n Roll Seattle

West Virginia
Hatfield McCoy
Parkersburg

Wisconsin
Madison Mini

Wyoming
Jackson Hole

Bonus:
Washington DC
Rock n Roll DC

4 Down, 46 to Go

More Places, More Races
Disneyland Paris
Victoria

Well, this outta keep me busy for awhile.

ALWAYS DREAM BIG!

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Doh! The big day. A Disney Half Marathon. And, not only that is was the second race of the Rebel Challenge. The Star Wars 10K + Star Wars Half Marathon = Star Wars Rebel Challenge. 2 races in 2 days. 3 medals.

I woke up at the should-still-be-sleeping time of 3:30am. I didn’t do much for costumes. But, I did decide to wear orange. I don’t know a lot about Star Wars, but I did see the Rebel pilot suits were orange. Plus, it seemed like good luck since I wore the same orange shirt and skirt during the Tinker Bell half.

Waiting to Start

I don’t know how to explain it, but the energy with this crowd was different than the last two days. You could just feel the excitement of everyone.

I was placed in Corral B for the half.

When our corral was just about to go, I spotted the balloon ladies. Oy! Just the reminder I needed to keep movin’. I had no desire to repeat the 10K fiasco.

The Start

MapMyRun logged my start time at 5:41am. These people were definitely ready to move. I was barely able to snap a pic of the starting moment.

Running Through Disneyland

I moved through here fairly quickly. I stopped to take a few quick pics, of course. But, other than that kept moving. I didn’t wait for character pics.

Running Through California Adventure

BB8 had a 25 minute wait line. Nope. Didn’t do it. My pace dwindles quite a bit between a 10K and a half, so I didn’t feel I had the time to spare. I snapped a quick pic as I ran by, though. I did the same thing with R2D2.

Running the Streets of Anaheim

By mile 5, we were out of the parks and running the streets. The crowds were awesome. There were a few cheer teams and bands, and a number of people dressed as Star Wars characters.

I don’t know enough about Star Wars to know who this group was. But, they were fantastic. They were somewhere between miles 8 & 9 and were just the pick me up I needed. Honestly, I was getting kinda bored and still had a few miles to go. They totally got me outta my slump. So, I thank you guys, whoever you were.

The Final Stretch

We came down the final stretch from a different direction than the previous two races, which was a fun change. We don’t have palm trees in Oregon, so running down a street lined with them is exciting. I remember loving it during the Tinker Bell Half, too.

The Finish

I did it!

I knew I would, but I was still nervous about it. I don’t train as much as I probably should. I was also unsure how running the 10K the day before would affect me during the half. I was concerned my legs would be tired, but they weren’t. I made a good decision by choosing not to play at the parks after the 10K. Instead we spent the day hanging around the hotel and Downtown Disney. If I were to do this again, I would absolutely make that decision again.

My time was about 10 minutes faster than the Tinker Bell half, but about 2 minutes longer than the Rock n Roll Las Vegas. I average a 12:00 mile during a 10K. So, I give myself the goal of a 14:00 mile for a half, including photo stops. My pace this race was almost exactly that. However, that doesn’t quite get me to my ultimate goal of completing a half in less than 3 hours. I have to shave off almost 11 minutes to beat the 3 hour mark. That’s nearly one minute every mile. I have some work to do.

By finishing the 10K (by the skin of my teeth), and now finishing the half earned me the extra Rebel Challenge medal. Woo hoo! I brought home 2 medals that day.

Snacks & Stuff

The snack box and drinks were exactly the same as the 5K and 10K.

3 days. 3 races. 4 new medals & 4 new shirts.

This was a must. I wanted my medal pic with the castle in the background.

To Sum it Up

I’m totally thrilled with how the entire weekend went. It wasn’t absolutely perfect. But, what is?

We didn’t have any issues with our flights. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, which was a first for us. It was great, of course. We also did a character breakfast, which we hadn’t done before. Packet pick up was easy peasy. I collected more pins. Pins! Bonus – I converted my kids into loving pin trading. I came to finish all 3 races and feel good when I was done. I did that.

The one looming bummer in the whole thing was that my hubby & kids didn’t get to do the 5K. I knew Disney races sold out, but I wasn’t expecting it in just a couple hours. I didn’t even sign up for the 5K during the Tinker Bell weekend until a day or two after registration opened. Them not doing it sucked for two reasons. One, I loved the Run Disney experience so much the first time, that I wanted my kids to experience it too. And second, I’m not even a Star Wars fan. I chose this weekend because of my kids. I earned all this Star Wars stuff and I don’t even know what half of it is. However, I did learn a lot about Star Wars this weekend.

Thoughts on bringing the kiddo’s: During the Tinker Bell weekend I came kid free. That was the first time I’d left my kids for so many days. However, I was there to run. And, that’s what I wanted to focus on. I’ll admit, it was great. I had a fabulous time as an adult with my friends at Disneyland. This time, though, I had wanted my kids to experience it with me. As it turned out, they didn’t get to actually experience the run, but they did get to cheer me on. It was great having them near the finish line hooting and hollering for me. And, of course, a day at Disney with your kids is magical. I certainly can’t complain about that. But… race weekends are crowded. I prefer Disneyland on less crowded days. It’s quite expensive for a family of 5 to do a Disney trip, with or without extra stuff. So as much as I loved them being there and even though it all worked out well, I’d prefer to go with my kids at off times – which aren’t race weekends. However, I’d still love to participate in race weekends.

I thought so the first time, and I still think so, Run Disney puts on great events. It’s amazingly calm even with thousands of people running about. I will say, though, they need to get rid of that rubbery 5K medal. It’s cheesy. I happen to love the one from the Neverland 5K. But, being made of rubber when the others are decent medals makes it seem as though a 5K just isn’t good enough. A 5K is good enough. Any distance you get off your buns is worthy.

Unfortunately, my Run Disney days are over for awhile. I’m going to be rooting for all of the participants in the upcoming races, but I’ll be totally jealous, too. If I were to dream, though, I’d love to do the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend or any of the Walt Disney World runs to earn a Coast to Coast medal. Until then…

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Saturday was the first race of the Star Wars Rebel Challenge at Disneyland. It was a 10K, which at this point, is my favorite distance. It’s more challenging than a 5K. But not near as challenging as a half marathon. I still feel fairly new to running. I’ve actually not run many 10K’s and the next day would only be my 3rd half marathon. So, I was looking forward to this event.

I woke up bright and early at 3:30am. Left the hotel at 4:30 and headed to the start line. I followed this routine each of the race days.

Waiting to Start

The start line was in the same place for all 3 races, making it even simpler to find the next day. Based on my submitted time, I was placed in Corral C for the 10K.

The Start

MapMyRun says I started the race at 5:46am.

Running Through Disneyland

I kept a decent pace through the Disneyland section. I stopped for photos, of course. But, didn’t wait in lines for character pics. It was as amazing as ever running through the park.

One of My Favorite Things

I love running through the gated section between the parks. The crowd cheering the runners is amazing and I feel like I’ve already accomplished a section of the race and it’s exciting knowing I’m moving on to the next.

Running Through California Adventure

Well.. now things didn’t go quite as planned. A good learning experience, though.

Hollywood Blvd, beautiful as always.

This is the line for BB8. I missed him the day before at the 5K and knew I wouldn’t have time to spare the next day during the half. So, I got in line. We were told it was about a 45 minute wait – longer than I would have liked. But, I guess I didn’t feel in a huge hurry and I love the photo ops. So, I stayed. Not far behind me, they shut off the line and didn’t let anyone else in. I guess I thought since I was already in the line, I was safe from the balloon ladies…

I waited in line about half an hour. I didn’t mind. I was chit chatting with the others in line and watching the runners go by. Right about the time I was getting close to my photo op – just another zig and maybe a zag in the line – the sweeper guys came by. Not far in front of them were the balloon ladies. We saw them go by, but we didn’t know for sure if they were the official balloon ladies. I’ve never actually seen the balloon ladies and somebody near me said they carry much bigger balloons. We thought we were fine, although we knew we needed to hurry.

The sweeper guys said we were behind pace and if we didn’t hurry there was a chance we’d be swept.

Less than a minute later, a sweeper said if we didn’t leave now we would definitely be swept. We had to be at Mile 4 by a certain time – a time that was very soon. That was the incentive we needed. We got out of the line we’d just been waiting in forever.

I snapped this quickie selfie as I high tailed it outta there.

Things weren’t quite so fun anymore. It was stressful. I’ll be damned if I was going to get swept – especially just for a photo.

So, so happy to make it to mile 4. I didn’t even stop to take a decent pic. I snapped this as I was running by. At this point, I heard I was 45 seconds behind pace.

The rest of the race was uneventful. I took a few pics. But, I was mainly concerned about finishing before the balloon ladies. Once I passed them, I had no desire to see them again.

The Final Stretch

When I reached Downtown Disney I heard I was 4 minutes ahead of the pace. Ah, a sigh of relief. However, I wasn’t going to breath easy until I crossed the finish line.

My kids and hubby were near the finish line ringing cow bells and Farm Kid2 was holding the sign he made at the Expo. Amazing! Very, very rarely do I have supporters at a race. It was a great end to a stressful race.

I did cross the finish line in time and received the medal. Woop, woop!

Never again will I take the pace time for granted. It was way too stressful.

Snacks & Stuff

The drinks and snacks at the finish were the same as the 5K, plus we got a heat sheet.

The medal

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I’ve spent the last few days at the Star Wars Half Marathon weekend in Disneyland. This was my second Run Disney event weekend. They sure know how to put on a good event. That has to be one of the reasons their events are so popular.

There was only one down side to the weekend. The only reason I signed up for this particular weekend was because I wanted to do a Run Disney event with my family. My kids enjoy doing 5K’s and I knew it would be a fun thing for us to do together. I thought my boys would really get into the Star Wars theme. However, that’s not how it worked out. I got to my computer 10 minutes after registration opened. The rebel challenge was already 85% sold out, the 5K was at 50%. So, I got to clicking as fast as I could and eventually got signed up for the rebel challenge. Then the mission was to get 5 of us signed up for the 5K. Ha! What a joke. After probably over an hour, I finally got into the registration system and signed myself up for the 5K. There was no option for signing kids up with me. I never got back into the system. Within 2 hours it was completely sold out. I’m not gonna lie. I had tears after that. Literally, the only reason I wanted to do the Star Wars event was so I could do it with my kids. I’m not even a Star Wars fan. I’ve never seen the original movies. And, it took me about 10 tries to get through episode I. I’ve seen most of episode II. And, I took the kids to see the newest movie one night when our power was out. I’ll admit Rey is a great character and I’m fond of BB8. But, still bummed not to be doing the race with the kids.

Costumes, or lack of

My lack of Star Wars mania resulted in not much in the way of costumes for any of the races. I found 2 Star Wars themed shirts at Kohl’s I thought were cute and a pair of galaxy printed running pants. That’s it. Between those items and stuff I had at home, I put together 3 themed outfits. They weren’t fancy, but it was a little somethin’ Star Wars related.

Just because I’m not a Star Wars fanatic doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time. I was still frustrated about not getting to do the 5K with my family, but it wasn’t going to help the race any by being grumpy about it. So, I enjoyed being at Disneyland, had fun seeing all the costumes other runners wore, started my morning with a workout, and earned new bling. I certainly can’t complain… too much.

Packet Pick Up & Expo

First thing we did after checking into our hotel was head to the expo. Just like during the Tinker Bell Weekend, packet pick up was super simple. The lines weren’t long and I quickly grabbed my goodies and moved on to the expo. We looked around for a bit, but we were antsy to get to the park. The line for the official Disney merchandise was 2 hours. Ummm. No. I had preordered the 10k, half, and rebel challenge pins. I received them at packet pick up. Unfortunately, the 5K pins were sold out or not available at the time, so I couldn’t order them ahead of time. I wasn’t waiting in a 2 hour line for one pin. I was just going to have to risk them selling out. They didn’t. I came the next day, waited in a 10 minute line and bought the pin.

The second day it was just Farm Kid2 & I at the Expo. We listened to a couple speakers and he made me a sign to encourage me during the next two runs. Love that kid.

Waiting to Start

The race started on a street near the Disneyland hotel. I knew the general direction and headed that way. Once I got closer it was easy to figure out where to go. The 5K is not a timed race and I didn’t need to submit a proof of time. I was placed in Corral B, but I’m not sure why. I got to the corral around 5:00, which seemed to work out perfectly. I didn’t have to stress about being late and it wasn’t a horribly long time to wait.

The Start

The wheelchair racers and Corral A started at 5:30. My corral started at 5:40. The announcer counted us down, confetti was flying, and we were off.

The First Mile

Since the run started on the street, we circled around a bit until entering Disneyland.

Character Sighting

At about 3/4 of a mile into the run was our first character sighting. It was Chewbacca. The line was 15 – 20 minutes. I waited.

Running Through Disneyland

I run Disney for the entire experience. I don’t do it to get a pr. It gives me incentive to train. I train, then I enjoy the event. For me, enjoying the event involves taking pictures. So… I stop a lot during the run. I never took walk breaks during the 5K. But, I took plenty of stop, enjoy the scenery, and snap a photo breaks.

It’s a Small World was gorgeous.

I waited in a short line for a photo op with characters from the the cartoon Star Wars Rebels. I’ve never seen it. But, I loved the ladies outfit and hair.

Storm Troopers were hangin’ at the train station.

Running Through California Adventure

I apparently dilly dallied in Disneyland too long because by the time I got to the droids the lines were closed, which meant you couldn’t get a pic with them. Boo.

There are so many beautiful sites in California Adventure including Hollywood Blvd, Cars Land and the Fun Wheel.

The Final Stretch

Somewhere around the 2.75 mile mark you enter Downtown Disney. Run passed the shops towards the Disneyland Hotel, veer right and you have reached the finish line. Woop! Woop! Race 1 of 3 complete.

Time wise, this was probably my slowest 5K ever. That’s ok. I had a good time and I completed the event – my two goals accomplished.

Snacks & Stuff

First up, the water and powerade tents. Then comes the little box of snacks and a banana. I had never heard of the 3 items on the right of the snack photo. I gotta say, all 3 were quite tasty.

Woo hoo! The medal to go with the matching tshirt and bib.

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I started 2015 as a runner-ish type person with the goal of finishing a half marathon. I surpassed that goal by finishing two. They are definitely personal highlights of 2015.

I’m very mediocre in the running department. I’m probably even below average. So, my end of the year recap isn’t full of fast times and a kazillion training runs. What I do have are my personal accomplishments at finishing what I set out to do and my version of keeping my heart healthy.

RUNNING HIGHLIGHTS: MONTH BY MONTH

January

• After taking a month off, I started getting back at it

February

• Training began for my first half marathon.
• Finished a Virtual Groundhog Day 10K
• Finished Heart Breaker 10K
• Finished Mommathon 10K

March

• Run/Jog/Walk the furthest I’d gone until that point – 8 miles. Bonus points for making the 12 minute pace I was striving for. To be exact my pace averaged 11:58/mile

April

• Run/Jog/Walk the furthest I’d gone until that point – 10 miles. Average pace was 12:35/mile. Didn’t quite make my goal of a 12 minute pace.
• Took a 2 week break from running while vacationing in Europe. I had plans to run, it just didn’t end up happening. However, I did walk… a lot.

May

• Walked the Neverland 5K with friends at Disneyland
• The big moment arrived. I completed my first half marathon!

June

• Ran 2 miles on National Running Day, averaging an 11:15 pace
• Finished Love Rocks 5K

July

• Finished Red, White & Blues 10K

August

• Finished Garlic Fest 10K
• Ran 5 miles on the beach to celebrate signing up for another half marathon
• Completed the 100 Miles of Summer challenge. But barely. I squeaked in the 100 miles by running outside, walking a number of times with my girlfriends and running on our elliptical machine at home.

September

• The kids started school, so I was able to get into a good running routine.

October

• Same routine as September, but had to kick it up a notch since another half was soon approaching.

November

• Finished the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Vegas.  I averaged a bit over a 14 min/mile. Not quite the time I was hoping for, but the weather sucked and I had horrible hip pain. Still, totally happy that I finished.

December

• Finished the year off with my hubby and kids. We ran/jogged/walked 4+ miles with Portland Running Company to Peacock Lane.

I RUN FOR BLING

I will never be the first to cross the finish line or even win an age group award. I’m not being down on myself. It’s true. I’m ok with that. I don’t run to win. If I did, I would have given up a long time ago.

Instead, I run for the self satisfaction of completing what I set out to do. It’s not easy for me. I’m slow, but it’s still difficult. Completing any run is an accomplishment.

I also run for the bling. There are so many fun medals in the world of running and I enjoy collecting them. This year I earned 8. My favorite is definitely the TinkerBell. A close second, though, is the one from Vegas. It is pretty awesome.

Badges are fun, too. These ones are from the Rock n Roll Half in Vegas

2015 Stats

5K Events: 2
10K Events: 4
Half Marathon Events: 2
Virtual Events: 2
Other Event: 1
Total Miles Run/Jogged (training runs included): 440.47

I just loved this sign from Brooks at the Rock n Roll expo in Las Vegas. It’s such a good reminder.

All in all, not a bad year for running. Bring on running adventures of 2016!

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In May, I ran my first half marathon – it was the Tinkerbell at Disneyland. That was an accomplishment I was super proud about. Who knew I could do such a thing?

And now I can say I’ve completed two half marathons!

Besides a Disney event, the other event calling my name was the Rock n Roll half marathon in Las Vegas. I thought it would be a year or two before I’d do it, but it ended up working out to go this year. So, two RunCations in one year. Amazing! It’s getting slightly addicting. Somehow I convinced two of my very best friends to tag along with me. They aren’t runners, but they are always up for a girls weekend away.

It was a quick trip leaving early Saturday morning and arriving back home early Monday morning. We’ve all been to Vegas a number of times, so a quick trip was perfectly fine.

Heading to Vegas

Believe it or not, the carpet throughout the Portland International Airport has become a thing. The old carpet was being replaced and it became a game to find sections of the old carpet and take a pic. The old PDX Carpet was even the Grand Marshal in the Starlight Parade and has its own Instagram hashtag. There’s not much left of the old carpet, if any at all, so our obligatory pic is with the new carpet.

The Expo

First thing we did once landing in Vegas was take the monorail to the Expo.

I grabbed my bib, bag and shirt – which was a simple process. Walked through the Brooks/Rock n Roll merchandise area. Bought a shot glass. Exited into the main vendor area. And left. I would have liked to check out the vendor area more, but I could tell my friends were bored already so we moved on.

The Strip

We spent the rest of the day and most of the next day wandering the strip.

The only extra thing I did was the CSI Experience. It’s in Vegas, so of course it wasn’t cheap, but it was a fun way to spend an hour. And, we did solve the crime.

Our Hotel

This was our first time staying at the Monte Carlo. I don’t have much to say about it. It was a typical Vegas hotel room. However, we did get one with a view of the strip – so that was freaking awesome.

Race Attire

In my head I had a fabulously blinged out Vegas/Elvis costume planned. However, time and reality toned down the entire idea.

Here is what I ended up wearing – still Elvis inspired, but not so much in the bling department:
Shirt: From Kohl’s, with an added red “scarf” sewn on by me
Pants: Nike
Elvis Glasses: From Amazon

Before the Race

The strip was closed well before the start time, so many people walked down the road to the entrance. Many people, myself included, were taking pics standing in the strip with all the famous hotels in the background.

I got to the pre race area a little later than I would have liked, but it worked out fine. I watched the end of Kid Rock’s performance, tinkled, then it was time to head to my corral.

I knew these dark clouds rollin’ in couldn’t be good…

The official start time for the race was 4:30pm. However I was placed in corral 39, so I had a long wait until I made it to the start line.

Waiting is the worst part. But since I’m not fast, it’s expected and I usually am prepared for the wait. This time, though, it was particularly rough. I wasn’t dressed for cold weather (rookie mistake), and it was cold. Then the rain came. Not a drenching mass of pouring rain, but enough to make the cold seem even colder. Plus, I’ll admit, the rain just made me grumpy. I live in Oregon; I’m used to rain. But, I didn’t travel to the desert to stand in the rain. Then the wind joined the cold and rain.

Finally, around 5:35, my corral made it to the start line. It was still cold, rainy, and windy, but at least we could finally get going.

Miles 1-2

The first attraction to see was the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. It’s at the far end of the strip, so I’ve only seen it once before. Seeing the sign slightly regained my excitement.

The blustery weather stayed with us throughout this section and it seemed to take forever to make it to the main part of the strip.

Miles 2-6

These were the good miles, from about New York, New York to the Stratosphere. The rain had stopped, although wind gusts still came and went. The scenery was fabulous. And most importantly, I felt good.

There were a number of photo ops, although none with Elvis like I was hoping. I did find a “Run now, Tequila later” guy, though.

The Eiffel Tower at Paris had gone dark due to the recent events in France.

Maybe I missed something, but I only noticed a couple stations playing music, no actual bands playing until about Mile 4 when I ran by the KISS stage. And, I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t Kissed Alive playing like what was advertised. I enjoyed whoever was playing, though, for the short time I stopped and listened.

Miles 6-11

Around mile 7 my hips started bothering me, so I started walking more. I’m not sure why. I haven’t had hip pain while running in a long time. Since it was cold, maybe my body stiffened up in that hour while waiting to cross the start line. ??? Being in pain makes the moment less enjoyable, but I tried to keep positive.

After the Stratosphere, we went into an older section of Vegas. We went by many wedding chapels and the Pawn Shop from the show Pawn Stars. We went through a neighborhood and ended up on Fremont Street before making our way back to Las Vegas Blvd.

Thankfully, the rain didn’t return. However, strong wind gusts would come plowing in occasionally. I don’t know exactly how strong they were. I’ve read some reports of 25mph all the way up to 60mph. I can tell you, though, it was strong at times, making it difficult to continue running. About 30 feet in front of me a metal gate that was being used to block a road was picked up and blown across the entire road right in front of a group of runners. Thank goodness they were paying attention and dodged it.

I was happy to hear 3 or 4 bands playing throughout this section of the race.

Miles 11-13.1

Unfortunately my phone died during this section, which means I don’t have any pictures of the finish. Boo! My hips were still bothering me, but I did pick up my pace hoping to make my phone last all the way to the end. No such luck.

I don’t remember a whole lot about this section except being thrilled once I passed the Stratosphere and the main part of the strip was getting closer.

A little more than 3 hours after crossing the start line, I crossed the finish line. Woop, woop!

The finish section was long, but I didn’t mind. It was like a built in cool down. There were lots of snacks available and a much needed heat sheet.

Celebrating

Remember that “Run Now, Tequila Later” sign? Well, I finished the run part. Now was time for the tequila (or two) part.

I probably didn’t express it, but it meant the world to me that my girlfriends came with me to Vegas.

Swag

I run for bling and I absolutely love the medal! The shirt is awesome, too.

Rock n Roll Finisher Badge

I was emailed a bunch of badges from the Rock n Roll series. I am nerdy enough that I thought they were all awesome. My favorite, though, was the one saying I finished 13.1 miles.

FitBit Info

It’s interesting to me to see my heart rate throughout the course. It’s exactly as I remember it. The first half is fairly steady, then the second half clearly shows many walk breaks.

To Sum it Up

I’m not going to lie, I preferred the Tinkerbell Half to this one. I think there are a few factors weighing my decision. One – I’m a morning person. I prefer to run in the morning. The Tinkerbell was in the morning. I was sleepy tired by the time the Rock n Roll race even started. Two – The wait time for the Tinkerbell was 26 minutes. Rock n Roll was 65 minutes. Three – The weather totally sucked at the Rock n Roll. I was tired, cold and wet before I even embarked on the 13+ miles.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the Rock n Roll event. It was a good experience and I loved running down the strip. I even enjoyed the section off the strip. By then I was hurting, but I still enjoyed the atmosphere. The lack of bands was disappointing, but maybe I went there with false expectations. I came home with aching muscles, an awesome medal and a fabulous feeling of accomplishment.

Apparently I’ve already forgotten about the less than ideal weather and achy breaky hips because once home I signed up for 3 more half’s, on top of the one I was already signed up for in January.

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