Avengers Half Marathon: Race Recap

In honor of early registration for the now re-named Super Heroes Half Marathon, here's my race recap from the inaugural run in 2014. (Apparently I never hit publish!)

The Good, The Bad, and The Windy as Heck: the Avengers Half Marathon

I woke up at 4am the morning of the race feeling very... blah. All I wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep. I had an intense case of the sniffles, a little souvenir from the rainy Wine & Dine. Plus I was running solo, so I knew the motivation for the next 13.1 miles would have to come from me, and me alone. The theme of the race wasn't too exciting for me and the course didn't look that appealing either. Basically, I wasn't amped to run this race.

I threw on my Lilo costume, attached my running buddy, Stitch, and headed to the start.

Ready to run. Stitch doesn't seem too pleased to be up at this hour.

The corral start was different this year. Although there were corrals A-H, corrals A & B went together. C & D did as well. I'm not sure about E-H, as I started in D.

Christmas Carsland!

After the first mile I started to not feel well. I'm not sure if it was the lack of a proper breakfast or the banana I ate too close to the start of the race, but I got really nauseous. Thankfully nothing happened, but it was at this point that I knew I would be taking things slow.

All the mile markers looked the same.

Can't resist the Christmas Decor!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves were on the Carousel

Only the first 3 miles were in the parks, so I jumped in line for Mickey & Minnie.

An important note about the characters: 

Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America were out, but the lines were SOOOO long!!! Even starting in corral D, the lines were at least 50 people long already. I was already taking my time and I wasn't about to risk getting swept.

Once we left the parks, the winds started. This is what most of the mile markers looked like. It was so windy they were falling over- I saw the 10 mile marker attack a poor woman trying to take a selfie with it.

Christ Cathedral. Can you see all those wind swept cups?

Graphics painted along the Santa Ana River Trail

Love the folks that came out to cheer us on! Lots of great costumes!

Through Angels Stadium

Check out these guys! I'm not sure if they're retired military or reenactors, but they were awesome.

Spotted this van just outside Angels Stadium. Definitely not close to the race end.

The winds were so strong and blowing things over, like the tents in the finishers area, so they had folks wait outside of the reunion area. 

An idea of how windy is was- a fountain in Downtown Disney

Finished!

Final time: 2:54.

He asked if I survived the wind. My response: just barely. 

This was the first half that I had run solo- and it wasn't that bad! I much prefer to run with friends (always have more fun with friends), but running solo is no longer holding me back from signing up for races.

Did you run the Avengers half? Do you run solo or with friends?

I Made the Avengers 5k Official runDisney Video!

The costumes I made for the Avengers 5k for my friend and I were one of the biggest sewing projects I've ever attempted. This was the first time I made clothing, but I think they turned out pretty well! We got a lot of compliments along the course and even made the runDisney Facebook page and video! :)

Here are our USO Dancing Girl costumes. Photo from the runDisney Facebook page.

You can find us in the video around 1:29. 

Please excuse my face. The guy filming was using his phone or Go Pro, so I didn't realize that he was an official person. I thought he was just some random guy filming us. Haha. :)

Avengers Half Marathon: Expo Shopping

Today I'm headed down to sunny Southern California for the Avengers Half Marathon Weekend!

I'll be stopping by the expo while I pick up my bib for the 5k and half. Here's a little preview of the official merchandise!

I'm not a huge fan of the shirts, but it is nice that there's a nice variety of designs!

There's a special Dooney that's being released for the event. What do you think?

This is the race shirt for the half. I like this one!

I also heard that the 2015 runDisney New Balance shoes are going to be revealed this weekend. Who's excited?

Facing My Fear of Racing Alone

I've been running and participating in races for about 4 years and for the most part, I have always run with someone. It's mostly been my husband (bless him for being my constant motivator), but I've also run with friends and family.

I've been lucky to have a decent medal collection from all these races. 

So it may surprise you to know that of the races I've run, only one of them I've run by myself. I know it's irrational, but I get really nervous about racing by myself. 

I had to overcome my fear when I ran the Tinker Bell 10k. 

It was strange walking to the corrals by myself, but I met some awesome twitter friends in the corral and they helped to pass the time. Plus I was in Corral A for the first time ever and I was gawking and taking pictures of the "A" corral marker. ;) 

The run itself was great. I loved the freedom of being able to hop in a character photo line or just jump to the side to snap a picture. I could go as quickly or as slowly as I wanted without having to consider someone else's pace.

I got some great photos during the race.

And took my first ever photo with characters during a race! Pretty unique characters for a photo!

But... this was a 10k and I was pretty used to the mileage. I think that's part of what made me feel at ease with running alone. It was only an hour or so and I knew I could easily complete the distance.

 This time around, my solo running comes with a longer distance- the Avengers Half marathon.

I'm really nervous about this race, mostly because I am very under-trained for this race and it's been months since I ran double digit miles (not including Wine & Dine this past weekend). I worry that I won't finish the race or that I'll get swept. Maybe it's a lack of personal motivation to keep moving? Does anyone else get this? The companionship of a running buddy has always been great encouragement, but as nervous as I am, I'm looking forward to running this alone and overcoming my fear of racing alone.

Do you race alone? Have you run with other people? Which do you prefer?

Forget Moving! I'm Going to Disney World!

I finally have some updates! We are moving back to CA- and very soon! My husband got transferred to a new team and with that came an "accelerated schedule" to get out to CA. All in all, from the day we found out, we will be moving in 2 weeks. 

Lucky for us, this move is covered by my husband's work. A moving company is coming to handle everything. At first I was really anxious about moving, probably because my move to Texas was such a train wreck. 

But... it turns out my husband will be handling the move while I am enjoying Disney World and running this:

YAY! It still makes me nervous, but there's nothing I can do, so I'm channeling Elsa and letting it go. *cough* bad joke *cough* I couldn't resist. ;)

I'll meet my husband in CA for a couple days and then it's off to Disneyland for this:

It's going to be one heck of a crazy month, but I am really looking forward to being home in CA and enjoying Thanksgiving with family. 

Are you a Half Fanatic?

November is right around the corner bringing lots of fun stuff! Fall is officially here and I can't wait for Thanksgiving. But before all the turkey eating commences, I've got two half marathons to run! First up is Wine & Dine on Nov 8th, then the Avengers Half on Nov 16th. Completing both of these qualifies me to be a Half Fanatic! 

There are different levels of being a Half Fanatic, starting with Neptune: 2 half marathons within a 16 day time frame or 3 half marathons within a 90 day time frame. You can see the rest of the levels here. 

They offer different merchandise and I could always use another Sweaty Band! :) 

Have you looked into becoming a Half Fanatic? Is it something you're interested in?

Moving, Running, and Work. Oh my!

The blog has been quiet for way too long now and there's so much to share! If you're reading this, thank you for staying with me!

Moving...

Still no solid news on moving, but I have the feeling we will be here through at least Thanksgiving. We're debating whether to fly home or not- airfare is just so expensive, especially Thanksgiving weekend. Regardless, I'm excited. Thanksgiving is my favorite meal of the year! 

My hope is that we will have concrete moving plans before Christmas. I hate this feeling of one foot out the door. Pictures are still not hung up. I haven't decorated for Halloween/Fall. I can't imagine not decorating for Christmas! 

Running!

With the Wine & Dine half marathon a little less than 3 weeks away, I've finally gotten back on a decent training plan. It's certainly not on pace with the marathon training plan I had in place, but it'll get me through next month and the 2 halves I have scheduled. 

Now that the weather has finally cooled off a bit, running has been a lot easier. I never thought I would think mid-80s was great running weather. Oh Texas, how you're changed me! :) I've been running ~5 times a week, between 2-3 miles each time with one long run. Last week my long run was 6 miles, this week I'm going for 9, and next will be 12. I know it's a fast ramp up in mileage, especially so close to the race, but I think it's the kick I need to get me back on track.

I finally worked out my air travel for both Wine & Dine and Avengers. If you recall, I had no idea what to do/book with our new moving adventures. 

But that's why I love Southwest! Flights are cheap and best of all- no change fees! I was able to move my flights around easily and now I'm all set!

I still need to put some finishing touches on my race costumes and I'm starting to think about what to pack. This will be my first trip to WDW and I really don't know what to wear. How's the weather?

Work?

I saved the best for last, of course! I recently embarked on a new business venture or sorts and it's actually taken off a lot better than I expected! It was a little overwhelming at first, but I'm learning to juggle things. I don't know about you, but the less time I have, the more things I seem to get done. I've been really good about running, I've actually been making decent dinners, and I feel like I'm working more hours than my 9-5 job.

I'm certainly not raking in the dough and if you calculated my hourly rate, it would probably be less than minimum wage. But I'm enjoying it! I feel like I finally have something real to do instead of just putzing around pretending to clean the house. ;) 

Stay tuned- I'll have a nice post this week about this new adventure.

For my WDW friends- what kind of clothes should I pack? What kind of temps can I expect?

Avengers Official Race Guide

The Official Race Guide for the Inaugural Avengers Hlaf & 5k Weekend has been released!

You can find the whole guide here.

I've included some of the highlights below.

I'm really looking forward to the 5k. After all the time and effort I put into making our costumes, I can't wait to wear them with my friend. :)

Will you be there for the Avengers weekend? Looking forward to anything in particular?

Official Avengers Half & 5k Courses!

The official courses for the Avengers half marathon and 5k courses have been posted to the runDisney website! 

Avengers 5k

Avengers Half

It'll be nice to run different courses at Disneyland other than the Disneyland races over Labor Day weekend and Tinker Bell in January.

What do you think of these new courses?

Training Tuesday

Training for:

Weekly Recap

Tues: 1 mile

Wed: cross train

Thurs: cross train

Fri: rest

Sat: (out of town)

Sun: (out of town)

Mon: cross train

My motivation to run has faded. And it's my own fault. Last week or so I went for a run right before sunset. It was beautiful, only like 85 degrees and there wasn't any sun beating down on me. For the first time since I moved here, I was able to run and just enjoy it. I was able to run at the speed I used to, and boy did it feel good! But since then, I just get discouraged at the thought of running during the day. I know I could always go in the evening or early in the morning, but spending time with the hubs or sleep always seems to win out.

On the upside, I discovered a new fitness app that I've been using to cross train. It's called FitStar and it's got a ton of great 20-30 min workouts ranging from Boot Camp styles to more relaxing morning wake ups. I try to do one a day or two if I don't run.

Saw this on a giant Jenga piece when we went out.

This weekend we also took a quick (like 30 hrs) trip back home to CA to celebrate the marriage of one of my childhood friends. It was great to see people I haven't seen in a long time. It's probably just me, but I've known these friends since birth. Crazy that we've gone from the playground to weddings! *sniff*

Best Friends since birth!

My goal this week is to just get out there and run. Bite the bullet and get over my dread of running in the heat. I know it has to be done, especially if I want to have any hope of finishing the WDW Marathon!

Do you ever get discouraged about running? How did you overcome it?