Tinkerbell Weekend Part 3 (the Half and saying goodbye to Disneyland)

Sunday morning was the half. I convinced my mom and Holly that there was really no reason for them to get up super early and come to the start. After seeing how fun it was and how many people were around they agreed there was no reason. I met my local running buddy at the corner and we went to the start line. Due to crazy work schedules we have not had as much chance to run together as usual so I was totally looking forward to being able to do this race together. Local ones are fun but there is something special about Disney with a friend.

We had the usual fun at the staging area and had our group picture. Then we headed to the start. I love how Disney starts races. Each corral was a different fairy and it was just so fun. Since we were in B, it seemed to be so quick and we were ready to start. It chilly at the start so I was glad I had a jacket

The Tinkerbell course was really fun. The entire first part is in the parks and there are just so many fun things to see and experience. It was not too crowded and we even had fun running behind some guys who were wearing SparkleSkirts they had bought the day before!! We had talked before we started and Jennifer and I had decided we were going to stop and take a ton of pictures. We did have some we skipped but not many. Because of how the course is set up, the character stops are at the beginning of the course so seeing our 5K/10K splits, we were SO SLOW but it was SO MUCH FUN!!! As we ran through Downtown Disney we got to see my mom and Holly waiting for us! I was also able to hand off my jacket so it survived 2 races without getting tossed!!

We had really been looking forward to some of the pictures. As you can see, the Monsters Inc group was the #1 stop we knew we had to get. There are also some at Disneyland that are just so special. The picture in front of the World of Color area is just so pretty. That area is all lit up and the music is playing. I think out of all the places at Disney (both World and Land) this one is one of my favorites. In some ways, it is even better than Cinderella's castle since it is not as busy!!!





I will admit once we got out into the streets of Anaheim it was a little harder than with the Disneyland Half. We ran through some neighborhoods and they had the cutest signs up reminding up to be quiet that people were sleeping. It was just a cute Disney thing.

We also went through what I think is more their downtown. It was a nice course. The Disneyland one takes you a different way so you go through Angels Stadium which is special but this was more peaceful.  Now, I made a rookie mistake, for the 10K I had worn a new pair of shoes. Not only a new pair but a new style. I love them but they were not something I was used to. I had switched to my old ones for this race. I think that was a mistake because by mile 9 or so my foot felt bruised. It was OK but annoying.

Now I had a brilliant idea that I was going to do a leap before the end of the race. I did one about mile 5 and then another at 12.5. Not as spectacular as some but it was fun and I am surprised I could even go it.

Once we got back to Disney it was a quick bit to the finish. The end was awesome. First we saw my mom and Holly and then not far away, we saw Scott.

I have to admit, I LOVED getting the space blankets at the end of the race. It was so nice and super helpful

After the half marathon we had met up with my mom and Holly and Jennifer's fiancée before heading back to the hotel. We had brunch reservations and we had to make sure we packed a lot into the few hours we had left. 

We had brunch at the Plaza Inn. Overall, it was another very disappointing Disney meal. I had fun with the people and they had a LOT of characters but it was just OK, nothing special and probably one of the worst Disney buffets I have experienced. Oh well. The characters were great!!!

We made sure to stop and get some castle pictures though I will admit the castle down not have the same backdrop as it does at Disneyworld.

 It was fun to get to show off my medal here and Merida made a fuss over seeing it!

At this point I think the 2 early days, a cross country flight and 19.3 miles had caught up with me. I left my mom and Holly and I headed back to the hotel for a short nap. I was really exhausted and just tell asleep for 30 minutes. It was exactly what I needed before heading back to meet them.

Our last stop before leaving was to watch the Mickey show and pose in the teacups.






It was so hard to believe this was such a fast trip. I mean we were on the ground in California for 52 hours. I think that hardest thing about getting on the plane was knowing that when we landed I was heading right into work. Oh well, made for an amazing girls weekend with some of the most important people in my life.

I really am so lucky to have such great friends and such a wonderful mom!

Running with a GPS in the Big City--A race recap of the RnR Chicago Half

Yesterday I completed my 4th half marathon. This one was the Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon. This is a race series that has races around the country. Chicago happens to be the closest but it is also in the middle of the summer!

To start off with, I was really unsure of this race and how it would go. The weather had been super hot for about 10 days before with high humidity. Also, I had had some off training because of long runs, weather, laziness, and life. Finally, we ended up walking almost 8 miles around the city the day before, oops.

Race morning I was up before my alarm and I was ready to go. I got dressed and headed to the lobby to meet to amazing Princesses from my running group! We were supposed to meet 2 more ladies so we headed out. Well, when we got there we realized we could not get to where we were meeting for a picture so the 3 of us took our pictures and got ready to run.


BIG plus for RnR, they had prerace stuff out for runners. They had small bottles of water, bananas and bagels. It was a really nice touch.

They also so a bunch of smaller corrals, unlike runDisney that seems to do fewer LARGE corrals. There were 28 starting groups that started about 1 minute apart. It was a long wait to corral 24. Now, I had put an estimated finish time of 2:30 and it ended me up almost in the back which is odd since even with runDisney that would be more like midway but whatever, I do wish I had started earlier but I could not control that. No one was checking the corrals so I could have gone up but I did not. **Funny story, a guy walking by was complaining about finding the right coral to start in. All I could think of was being in an under the sea race.

I started off strong and decided to run the first mile. I felt great. My pace on my Garmin seemed crazy but sometimes it takes time to get it right and I was not really watching. At mile 1, my Garmin said 1.10 which is not too weird and I was about at a 10 mm pace which again was too fast, which is always my problem.

I got to mile 2 and my Garmin said 2.3 and an 8:30 pace which was impossible. Then I remembered all I had read about GPS. One of the biggest issues is that if it cannot get a good satellite signal, it throws everything off. Sure enough, with all the tall buildings my GPS was all off. Crap. The time was the only thing correct. I was really lucky though, I had put on a Westin pace bracelet so I knew I was on pace. Just to give an idea, my Garmin logged the course as 13.96 miles and my final pace at 11:16 which is not even possible!

I stayed on pace until Mile 5 when there was a HUGE backup for water/Gatorade, it was horrible. It was my fault because there were other tables but I could not see them because of all the people. It completely threw me off.

I was only about 3 minutes off pace but I was annoyed. I could not check my pace, my Garmin was saying I was over a 1/2 mile further. It was so off. Finally I got to Mile 7 which is where my mom and the kids were in front of the hotel waiting! It was so awesome to see them. The next 3 miles were nice, not too bad but it was getting hotter and we were out of the downtown building area so the shade was gone. Mile 10-12 were hard. I was trying really hard but it was just off. A lot of nice people were around but a lot of people were walking in HUGE groups and I kept getting boxed in. At mile 10 I actually ended up cutting someone off and I still feel so guilty for it. I spent almost a mile thinking about it.

Another plus for RnR was the cold water sponges at Mile 11. So cool in many ways! It was weird seeing all these sponges on the ground and kind of neat

At this point I ran into another Princess who I identified from her SparkleSkirt. We talked for a few minutes before splitting up and heading under McCormick Place. This was weird. It was so sunny and then we went into the dark where they had colored lights and glow stuff and then we came back out into the sun!

I finished about 10 minutes off where I wanted to be but I did finish. I got my medal and headed through the stuff. I ran into my mom and the kids without even looking for them! It was awesome but Abby was heartbroken. They had headed to the finish area and she could not see over the barriers. She was so sad. I felt horrible for her. She was better after we took pictures together like we do at the end of the races! I love her and love that she enjoys coming to see me. It means the world.

Highlights--Lots of crowd support, great signs, fun and nice people and awesome course support. From the medical people who just showed up out of no where when someone stopped to the sponges and the volunteers.

Cons--Chicago is a LOT hillier than I ever imagined. Big City running means not being able to depend on my Garmin which was hard. It was my hottest half ever and it was rougher than I had thought it would be!

I wish they did more fun races in Detroit!

Subscription Boxes Review

I have been hearing a lot about the running subscription boxes. These are boxes that are sent on a regular basis (either monthly or bimonthly). They contain different samples of products each time. Now I love running stuff. I don't know why but I do love trying different stuff. I also like accessories. These boxes seem to be a fun way for me to try stuff.

The first one I tried was The Runner Box. I had wanted to sign up for the small monthly subscription for $10 a month but when I signed up it was not available. It seems as of now (a month later) it is available again but honestly I really liked the size of the bi-monthly one for $20. They also offer a one time gift box and a gluten free box. They also have a TriBox for tri-athletes. One thing is that you do pay shipping on the box.

My first surprise was I got an email asking me for my shoe/socks size. That was interesting. Well when I got my box I knew why!!!

 This was my fun mail day. I also got a new SparkleSkirt with this shipment (I will review this later).

In the box I got a green card that explained all the things inside with web addresses and some discount codes if I wanted to order the products!

Fuel wise the box included:

• A Sample of Clif ShotBlocks-Margarita
• Energybits
• Chocolate Gel #9 that I am excited to try
• A Recover Bar
• Huma Gel that I also can't wait to try
• Cytomax Sports Drink mix

Then there were the really fun things. First the blue packet of WIN is a laundry detergent for atheletic stuff. I used it and liked it though I am not sure I noticed anything different than using my Woolite Dark. Also there was a nice sized sample of Slik Skin Strong to prevent chafing which is not a problem for me but it looks like a good product. Another fun surprise was a fabric hair-bracelet. I love these things. I have a couple and they are awesome. This one supports Haiti efforts. Finally the best thing was a pair of Injinji Socks. I love them. I have worn them for for short runs and they are great. I am not sure if I want to try a long run but I like them a lot and there was a 40% off coupon.

REVIEW: I am impressed and I am glad to keep my subscription

A couple days later I received my second box. This one was the StrideBox. This box I signed up for the monthly subscription for $15 a month with free shipping. There do not appear to be other options at this time. When this box arrived my wonderful husband began to tease me and he thinks I am slightly crazy.

This box came with a nice colored card with information and prices on each of the items to give you an idea of what the value of the box is.

Fuel wise the box included:

• Assorted Sports Bean package--Love these
• Honey Stingers--Again, love these
• Just Great Stuff Bar--I tried it and not my favorite
• VFuel
• Bonk Breaker in PB& J
•  Perfect Fit Protein-Vanilla, now this is another exciting one for me since one of my summer goals is to get a good morning smoothie going that I can tolerate before I run

The other things in the box that were fun was a sample of a bottle cleaner from Bottle Bright that I am excited to try. There was a sample of blister protectors from Pro-Tec Athletics and finally my favorite thing, Klitch clips! The Klitch clips let you clip your running shoes on the outside of a bag. I can't wait to use them!

REVIEW: I am unsure if it is worth it. I can get the single samples at the sports store or the running store. I am going to give it one more shipment before making a final decision about keeping it. It had less in it than the Runner Box but it was cheaper and no shipping.

My final real running subscription box is the Kona Kase. I was able to get this box for half off through a deal I found so the box with shipping was $7.50. The box was a nice red box and inside there were fuel and snacks.

• Popcorners-- popcorn chips that I am excited to try
• A Luna Bar
• GU Energy Gel in 2 flavors
• GU Chomps in 2 flavors
• GU Electrolyte Brew (I have tried this before and did not like it then)
• GU Recovery Brew that looks OK.

REVIEW: Out of the 3, this is the one I will not continue. I just was not impressed, especially compared to the other 2. I am going to cancel this box just because I do not see the real value of this box.

I also order the NatureBox which has snacks that I want to try as healthy, natural fuel but this might also be snacks. I will post this separately.