Star Wars - Light Side - Half Marathon
My alarm went off at 3:30AM. My husband was going to sleep in a little longer than I since he wasn’t too worried about where he would be in his corral. I got dressed and wished him a great race and started towards the corrals. There were a lot more people walking around Downtown Disney this morning. Many of them went into the pre-race entertainment area and I instead decided to walk towards the corrals as I wanted to be as far away from the balloon ladies at the back of my corral as possible! This time they didn’t hold us until 4:30AM to get to the corrals and I was able to head that way even though it was just barely 4AM. I actually was the very first person to show up in my corral. The volunteers called me crazy for not having a jacket as it was a little chilly this morning. It wasn’t long though until someone else showed up and I asked them to take a photo of my full outfit since my husband didn’t get one this morning for me.
I spent the next 90 minutes entertaining myself with either my phone, conversation with people around me, including a very nervous first time half marathon runner and the same guy I had seen at the 10K the day before who had run Dopey. He made the joke that I had to have a better day after the race yesterday than him as he spent it doing laundry. Joke was on him as I totally did the same thing in the afternoon! Having great conversations with these people really made the time fly! Eventually, we started moving towards the start line. I was kinda annoyed as I got the text message notification that I had started the race while I was waiting for it to actually start. Boo for it unnecessarily adding 3 minutes to my time! My husband had already completed the first 5K portion of the race before I started.
Start Time: 31:01
We were let free a little after 6AM and I kept with the intervals that had been working for me all weekend - 30/60.
Backstage Disneyland
Bad Boba Fett
When I reached the first mile, my pace could be considered either 16:14 if I go by Disney’s start time for me or 13:14 if I go by when I actually started…
Mile 1 - 47:15
And just like the day before, once we got past Mile 1, people apparently forgot this was a race and it turned into a slow walking mass. Too many people trying to get through!
Eventually, I broke free from those crowds and made my way through Tomorrowland!
Stormtrooper Selfie
My Mile 2 pace was 18:58 which annoyed me greatly as I still had tons of energy in the bank and the crowded spots killed it.
Mile 2 - 1:06:13
Approaching Disneyland Castle
Mile 3 took 15:26 to complete! I only had to deal with crowded spots when going through the castle and immediately leaving Disneyland. Not nearly as bad as what Mile 2 was!
Mile 3 - 1:21:39
I received my tracking text that I had completed the 5K in 49:54 at a 16:04 pace. Boo!
They had empty cars running in Radiator Springs!
At Mile 4 in 15:48!
Mile 4 - 1:37:27
As you leave property between Mile 4 and 5, I saw a lady with a cocker spaniel that looked so much like mine at home! So cute!
I also shortly saw my husband passing on the other side of the road as he was getting near Mile 12.
Mr. Dis_Yoda in front of the bright yellow shirt guy
I hit Mile 5 in 15:04!
Mile 5 - 1:52:31
I got to Mile 6 in 14:04! That is such a great speed for me at this point in the race! It also was a good mark for my mental being. As I've mentioned previously in the report, Mile 5 to 12 last year resulted in a nasty mental breakdown/self loathing session. I was really happy that I hadn't repeated that yet. I was feeling stronger physically and mentally. This race was going better!
Mile 6 - 2:06:35
I gained during the 2nd 5K portion when I received my text for the 10K. I did the 10K in 1:38:38 at a 15:53 pace.
Around the time I finished my 10K portion of the half, I had received notification that my husband had finished. He completed in 2:01:50 at an overall 9:18 pace! That is awesome considering that is his 3rd straight day of racing. It didn’t meet his goal of under 2 hours but he realized he probably would have hit that if he hadn’t done a 5K and a 10K the previous mornings. He has Princess & Star Wars - Dark Side to try again!
After the initial 10K, my pace took a bit of a hit. I was getting tired physically as I realized I hadn’t really taken my gus at my normal training intervals. I made it to Mile 7 in 17:30
Mile 7 - 2:24:05
It was nice to see people out around Garden Grove!
I hit Mile 8 in 18:08.
Mile 8 - 2:42:13
At this point, I had my only negative thought of the race. The band had started playing “My Worst Enemy” right as I reached them. I totally ranted about it in the group chat I have with my husband & some friends. Luckily, shortly after that, you reach main street Garden Grove along with getting to the 501st! It was a nice pick me up.
R2D2!
Yoda
Steampunk Star Wars
Mile 9 was completed in 17:29 which wasn’t bad considering how many photos I taken!
Mile 9 - 2:59:42
I received notification of my 15K mark as being hit in 2:29:17 as a 16:01 pace. I noticed my face started feeling gritty as well. I broke the “nothing new on race day” rule yet again and began getting the powerade at the water stations instead of water. Luckily, it didn’t create an issue for me, most likely because its so watered down.
Mile 10 was done in 16:55.
Mile 10 - 3:16:37
Mile 11 was done in 15:12. I’m glad this mile went better!
Mile 11- 3:31:49
My energy died heavily after Mile 11. I pretty much just started only walking at this point. Mile 12 took 20:24.
Mile 12 - 3:52:13
Mile 13 - ???? It was off!
Mile 13.1 - The Finish!
Officially complete in 3:35:16 at a 16:26 pace.
Official Garmin Data
I went through the finisher’s shoot getting my half marathon medal. I went to get my Rebel Challenge medal and was cleared for it; however, apparently they had ran out of medals?!?!?! I think the crowd was about to revolt to the poor volunteers but eventually they found another box of them and we were given our stuff!
Dis_Yoda with Medals
Overall, this half went way better than 2015. I may not have had an awesome pace (actually pretty much the same officially as last year even though I know I really did 3 minutes better) I finished feeling strong and accomplished rather than physically and mentally drained. To me that is a major win!