Never Land 5k

The Never Land 5k is one of my favorite races.  It was my first runDisney race.  This year I had signed up for the Never Land 5k as well as the inaugural Tinker Bell 10k and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon. Yikes.  Three races in three days. I must have lost my mind!

This is a fun race.  The race begins in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle.  They do fireworks before the start and Tinker Bell flies above the castle.

I'm in the crowd at the start of the race!

Since this is a 'fun run' and is an untimed event so they don't have official starting corrals.  It's first come first served.  This year I managed to work my way to the front of the start line. 

I hadn't been able to train like I wanted to leading up to the race.  I had a few niggling issues that required me to give them some time off.  I wasn't able to run at all the week before my races. 

Peter Pan, Windy and me.

I huffed and puffed a bit but over all I felt pretty good.  I stopped a few times for some quick photos.  I was even able to get in a character photo op.  I was shocked to see a short line for Peter Pan and Windy so I stopped.

 

 

 

 

Crossing the finish line.

I finished in 37:04.  Not too bad considering the photo stops.









After the race I stuck around to cheer on the other runners as they finished.  I found a member of the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Facebook group I belong to.  She was also cheering on the runners.  I got a picture with her Pixie Power! sign.

Pixie Power!

 

 

Finisher's Photo and Finisher's Medal

New Years Race Resolution 5K - January 4, 2014

My first race of 2014!

I did the inaugural running of this race last year.  So now I'm a legacy runner. LOL. Of course I had to do it this year.  This is a night race through the streets of downtown Los Angeles.  They offer a half marathon and a 5k.  For this race I do the 5k.  Last year at this time I wasn't up to doing half marathons.

At the expo.

I've been training for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon but my training had taken a hit over the holidays.  I wasn't as prepared for this race as I would have liked.  So I wasn't sure what to expect.

Last year I had gotten stuck in traffic and wanted to avoid it this year.  I left home early, as it turned out I was way too early.  I hit no traffic and was at the race 2 1/2 hours early.

After milling around for 2 hours my feet were cold and stiff and my back had started to hurt.  I was starting to have some doubts about the race.

They start the half marathon runners and the 5k runners at the same time. They do use a corral system and I was in corral 12.  The race stared at 7:00 p.m. but my corral didn't get under way until probably 7:20 p.m.

And they're off and running!

Despite my fears I had a great run.  This wasn't my fastest race.  I didn't even come close to a PR. But I was running easily and comfortably throughout the whole race.  I finished with some thing left in the tank. And that is worth it's weight in gold.  

Course Map

This is an interesting course.  It's run at night and run through the streets of downtown Los Angeles.  It's not an area I would normally be in, let alone be on the some of those streets after dark.

Running through the streets of downtown.

The race starts and ends a few blocks apart.  So I had to walk back to my car which was parked in the Pershing Square parking structure.  It can be a little creepy walking those streets alone.  Luckily I found another lady who was also headed to Pershing Square.  We walked back to the parking structure together.  We got pan handled by a homeless man.  When we told him we didn't have any money on us he started to follow us.  It was a little unnerving so we ducked into a restaurant for a few minutes to let him pass. We managed to get to our cars without further incident.

My time for this race was 37:04.

Finisher's Photo

Home after the race.

Divas Half Marathon Southern California - December 8, 2013

The Diva Half Marathon is a traveling 'series' type race.  They do this race in various cities.  The cities change from year to year.

Flat me before the race.

I love pink and I couldn't resist doing a race that gave me the opportunity (and excuse) to dress in pink from head to toe!

The Southern California race was held in Ontario, CA.  That's about an hour drive for me.  I had to drive out to the expo in the pouring rain on Saturday to pick up my race packet. 

At the expo.

Luckily race day dawned bright and clear, no rain.  However it was cold.  I got up before the sun and made the long drive out to Ontario.  

For every race I make a plan.  Plan A, is how I'd like to do the race. Plan B, is an alternate plan in case Plan A isn't working. Plan C, is simply to finish the race even if I have to crawl.  So far I haven't had a race go according to Plan A. Thankfully I have yet to need to revert to Plan C. 

My plan for this race was to run non-stop for the first 5 miles.  Then I would switch over to the Galloway method of run/walk at intervals of 2/1 (run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute) up to 11.5 miles.  From there I would walk to mile 12, run for 5 minutes then walk to mile 13 and then run to the finish.

Around mid point in the race.

This race went perfectly.  For once I was able to stick to Plan A!  I ran easily and comfortably for the first 5 miles.  I was really enjoying myself.  At mile 5 I switched over to the Galloway method.  For the most part I stuck to the 2/1 intervals.  There were times when I ran a little longer and sometimes my walk break was a little longer. Mostly this depended on my refueling needs.  I was still feeling good at 11.5 miles.  I walked to mile 12, then I ran for 5 minutes.  I started walking again but I was a bit sore and stiff walking and it felt better to jiggy jog along, so that's what I did.  At mile 13 they have a stand where they give you a pink boa and tiara to wear as you cross the finish ling.  I picked up mine and run for the finish.  My tiara wouldn't stay on my head so I carried it across the line.

Crossing the finish line.

Because the course was relatively flat and fast I was able to set a new PR (personal record) for this race.  I finished in 2:49.55. 

Course Map.

After you cross the finish line you get your finisher's medal, a glass of bubbly (sparkling apple cider) and some roses. 

Finisher's photo!

Finisher's Medal

The course was a wee bit on the boring side. But I really enjoyed this race.  I had a good run, everything went according to plan and I set a new PR.  You can't ask for more than that.  You could say I was tickled pink LOL.

At home after the race.

 This was my last race of 2013.