Tinkerbell Half Marathon Review

The first leg of my coast to coast challenge medal is done! I ran with the flu, it was the most awful feeling in the world however, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I didn't even come close to achieving the time that I had hoped for but I finished and there were moments I even questioned that. I am thankful I finished. I am thankful that my tinkerbell medal will proudly hang on my wall and I will remember this race.

I LOVE RunDisney events. Yes, I know they are more expensive than other races but they are worth it, every single penny. I would run them all if I lived closer to Disneyland or Disney World. Seriously, I love the characters along the path, I love the chance to run through the parks and backstage of things that I otherwise wouldn't get to see and experience. I love the magic that is involved. I love the chance to explore the parks after the race and all the people wandering around with their medals. I LOVE RunDisney events.

I have a goal of getting a complete set of RunDisney half marathon medals. I want to earn one of each of them in my lifetime. They are so wonderful.

The Tinkerbell Half marathon was an interesting one because you ran half of the race through Disneyland Park and California Adventure and half through the streets of Anaheim. The Disney portion was my favorite part, but the run through Anaheim was nice as well. There was plenty of water/gatorade stations along the way and I saw plenty of medical tents (thankful I didn't need one), there also seemed to be an overabundance of port-a-potties. You finish the race in a back parking lot, which was nice because there was so much space for everyone to spread out a bit.

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and I would highly recommend staying near or on property the night before the race because we saw lots of people arriving after the race had begun and heard them complaining that they had to park over a half hour away and had to walk much further than they anticipated. It was amazing to be able to roll out of bed and walk downstairs in our hotel and nearly be at the start of the race and then when the race was done to only have to walk a few hundred feet to be at our hotel and be close to a shower before heading to the parks. It  was fabulous to not have to wait for a bus or anything to come get us and take us to our hotel.

We did wait in line to get our pictures taken with Tinkerbell at the parks, we waited a couple days because Sunday and Monday Tinkerbell's line was crazy long. The challenge with getting these photos is that Tink is in pixie hollow at Disneyland park and there are always two fairies in the hallow however you aren't guaranteed to get Tinkerbell, so it was kind of a timing game. There were lots of half marathoners waiting for Tink when we went through, it sort of made us all laugh.

DISNEYLAND

My parents and I with my our favorite mouse

I have been to Disneyland in the past (I was five and got to go with my older cousins, who I idolized, I still remember this trip and getting to ride on my cousin's shoulders and getting to pick who I rode on all the rides with - loved the trip, but the details are a bit blurry) however this was the first time since then and I am fairly certain a lot has changed since then. I was there one afternoon when I was in college when my college band marched in one of the parades and we had an hour free time to do what we want, so this hardly counts as being there. The first thing I had to do was to get over the fact that Disneyland was not Disney World. While there are several things that were similar and there were things that were alike there were lots and lots of differences and they are wonderful too.

channeling our inner 4 year olds

There are two parks, Disneyland Park and California Adventure, unless you only have a few hours I wouldn't do it without a park hopper. We walked between both parks all day, it is only 149 steps between the two parks (literally, I counted). It was glorious, we became the masters of the "fast pass system" which essentially lets you cut in line and go in a shortened line instead of waiting for the ridiculously long lines some rides would have from time to time. I would go to Disneyland any January, the week we were there was glorious, other than the half marathon day the park was essentially empty, not really but sort of, we never waited in a line more than twenty minutes and we even walked up to many characters for meet and greets.

Cruella de Ville
I seriously could not stop laughing at her, she was AMAZING
she acted exactly as I imagine she would if she were real - soooooo funny
my dad is a character in and of itself 

Disneyland and California Adventure were both wonderful. I equally loved them both, they both have amazing aspects to them. The new Carsland is PHENOMENAL! I loved the radiator springs ride and we got to ride it a lot due to the small crowds, it is awesome. I can't imagine the line for it in the summer when the line in the winter got long at times. The most we saw the line was at 150 minutes (no thanks in my opinion).



I loved the World of Color show at California Adventure, I could watch that show every night, seriously, it was wonderful. I highly recommend going, and getting the "pass" to get in a good section. It was fun to watch, one night we even watched from the "splash zone" and really we only got misted on, I wouldn't necessarily say it was a "splash zone."

a photo of the Ferris wheel just before World of Color began

Food was great, I recommend splitting meals because the portions are huge, we often shared because we couldn't quite finish them all. I enjoyed the Wine Country Terracotta restaurant  it was fabulous,  one day we figured out that from some of the tables you have an outstanding view of the parade (discovered on accident), I totally recommend making a reservation during a parade time.

I could go on about vacation and Disneyland and California Adventure for posts upon posts, seriously. We had a blast, it was fun to spend time with a good friend and my parents. I have planned a few posts about the vacation and the running of the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. If you want to know anything in particular or want more pictures and posts let me know, I could do many more. I loved this trip.

September.

Where did summer go and how is fall upon us?! It is an exciting time in the church (as well as other places I realize), it is a time of new beginnings and ministries going strong. I feel like I have spent the past month preparing for this month, making photo copies, ensuring I have adult leaders to help where needed, making all the necissarily curriculum, and general long range planning and announcing all that is coming. It is exciting and terrifying.

Excitement in my world in terms of work this summer has been found all over, but one thing in particular that I have been working on for this fall is that we are switching out 2nd-4th graders to Family Faith Journey in terms of Sunday school. What does this mean?! Good question, we named it ourself. We are moving to a whole family Sunday school for our 2nd-4th graders, meaning they get to come with their parent(s) to Sunday school and together learn. The problem with this whole deal is currently there is not any curriculm written for this type of Sunday school unless it is extremely fundamental or not quite where we want to be at theologically so I am writing all my own curriculum. I forget how much time this takes. I am excited to see where this all goes and how it transpires, I know we will have to make adjustmetns as we learn what the year looks like and what this group of people need but I am excited none the less.

I am also jazzed that fall is around the corner. I love fall and look forward to sweatshirt weather, football season, all things pumpkin, runs where I am not over the top sweating when I walk out the door, and a 'normal' (or as normal as things get for me) routine. I am ready to get back in the swing of things as intimidating as it may be, it is exciting.

Personally I am also excited because the training plan that I am using for the Disneyland Tinkerbell half marathon officially kicks off midway through September. I look forward to long runs in the cooler weather. I am not however looking forward to the long runs on the ice or snow or on the dreaded treadmill.September I am going to focus on celebrating the miles I get run, the laps I get swam, and the days I get in a good workout and not focus on beating myself up for the miles I should have run or the laps I should have swim or the weights I should have lifted. I choose to rejoice in the victories that will happen.

I am also excited because I have a really hard time getting motivated to crochet during the summer months, it never seems like time to create things, so I sort of take a break through the summer months and fall always kicks me back into time to crochet things again.

It is crazy to think of everything this year will hold and I couldn't be more excited. There are lots of things happening at church and in June I am getting married. Which I still don't think I have gotten used to that idea fully. Crazy! It should be a wonderful year of planning and at the end of it all I get to get married (one of these days I should start planning).

Training Plan

There is something utopic about planning for future races, there are the things I hope for (much fast times and personal records), the plan that seems totally do-able at the start (clearly not considering life, the weather, or any injury that will inevitably happen), and there is the excitement of upcoming races. I think I have most of my races planned out for the summer and into the fall. I need to fill in a few more races in September, November, and December, but I am excited to say that I am finally going to earn my coast to coast medal in 2013.  Ever since I heard of this medal I have wanted to earn it. I signed up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon this coming January.

I just sat down and mapped out my training plan up through this race. I worked my schedule so that it easily fits the other races that I am registered for. It will take dedication to be committed to my training schedule, particularly since I have a couple mission trips this summer.

Note to self:

• you will miss some of the training runs and cross trainings that you have planned - it'll be okay
• keep dreaming big - keep challenging yourself - keep working hard
• update your ipod - stop being lazy - you know you are sick of the music on there
• this is a challenge between you and yourself - don't compare yourself to others - you are unique and you will have great victories and great challenges - embrace them - grow from them
• update your ipod - seriously - get it done