TR - Running for my Disney II: Let's Make it a Half

[Montanabel]

Hi Zanzibar
Sorry I am a bit behind on this TR, but just wanted to say I love your Jessica Rabbit outfit.

 

[lffam]

Following in....

Chapter 1: Melbourne - Hong Kong
<snip>

As business class passengers, we were able to skip the line at the boarding gate, but there wasn't a separate entrance for business class, so we still had to wait on the jetbridge to board the plane. The business class cabin was spacious, with large private seats. The seats were all on an angle, the two middle ones facing each other, with the outer seats facing the windows. Each seat had direct aisle access and folded down into the capsule style seat back to form a completely lie-flat bed. Unfortunately (and to my great disappointment) we were not provided with pyjamas. However, we were provided with a great little amenities pack with lip balm, hand cream, moisturiser, toothbrush and toothpaste, ear plugs, eye mask, and great socks with a grippy sole, all in a cute little toiletries bag. There was a compartment under the armrest for shoe stowage. In another compartment, there was a pair of noise-cancelling headphones waiting for us. Before take-off, we were offered hot towels, a selection of newspapers and magazines, bottled water, and a pre-flight beverage (orange juice, champagne, or a specialty juice that was delicious!). The blanket and pillow provided were plush and comfortable (the blanket was almost like a mini doona - very cosy!).

<snip>
Soon enough, we were landing in Hong Kong. It was kind of a strange experience taking off and landing on an angle, but for most of the flight I didn't notice the angle of the seats. We weren't provided with express passes for immigration and customs at Hong Kong, but it wasn't really required anyway. Our bags had been checked all the way through to LAX, so it was a nice easy exit.

When I read that your bags were checked through to LAX I assumed that HK was juts a transit stop. I didnt even know you could check your bags through when you had a stop over!!

Hmm... not having any problem on the inserting the links end, just can't get to the individual post to get the URL. When I click the post number, it just gives me a URL link to the whole TR.



Yikes! I'm not trying to sound like a snob! I just thought people might appreciate the detailed description - it might help you decide whether it's worth the miles in the air to get it

I really enjoy hearing about Business class experiences also. I reported about ours on my last TR and I did also worry about it sounding a bit like you said, however it's really a luxury part of our trips which we treat ourselves to through point hacks which Ive become quite adept at maximising. So please keep reporting on the detail!!

The angle J seats look nice, albeit a bit different, but then hey, it's J so easy to enjoy!.

 

[lffam]

ok for some reason I only read the first page before I posted my reply above ^^.

Now I've caught up and really enjoying the read. The parks do look crowded, but then that's Disney I guess. Did you do amny pre-booking of Dining or are you just seeing where your tastes take you the day? Also partly inspired about the running, but then the 3:30am start shocked me back to my realty again lol


When I read the part that you were going to LA to go horse riding I was a little bit unsure why you would go all the way to LA to do that, and then when I saw where you were going and the photos I completely understood. Such a great idea and looked so great. I really love the Griffin Park area

keep those updates coming...

 

[zanzibar138]

Ours was about an hour I'd say. We also shared the tracks with motorbikes, but luckily there weren't any on the tracks when we were there. Ours was just a walk, which was good for the kids, who had never ridden before, and me who hadn't ridden since a school camp a good 30yrs ago!

I used to have to deal with motorbikes when I took my pony out bush riding - was never much fun! Usually I find the trail horses are pretty much used to everything that goes on though, so I'm sure it would have been fine.

Hi Zanzibar
Sorry I am a bit behind on this TR, but just wanted to say I love your Jessica Rabbit outfit.

Thanks you so much!

Following in....



When I read that your bags were checked through to LAX I assumed that HK was juts a transit stop. I didnt even know you could check your bags through when you had a stop over!!

Technically HK wasn't a stopover, just a layover. We were only allowed one stopover on our fare, and we needed to do it in LA. It was kind of weird not picking up/dropping off our luggage for an international arrival/departure.

I really enjoy hearing about Business class experiences also. I reported about ours on my last TR and I did also worry about it sounding a bit like you said, however it's really a luxury part of our trips which we treat ourselves to through point hacks which Ive become quite adept at maximising. So please keep reporting on the detail!!

The angle J seats look nice, albeit a bit different, but then hey, it's J so easy to enjoy!.

You sound just like us. We don't stay at luxury hotels or anything. The way I see it, we pretty much spend all our time sight-seeing, and are really only in the hotel for sleeping and showering. However, we are stuck in the plane for hours on end, so may as well make the effort to make that bit more comfortable

We also use points hacks. DH is the expert in our household. We got this flight with US Airways miles we purchased (before the merger with AA) with 100% bonus points. It was still a splurge compared to flying economy, but a ridiculously low price for business.

ok for some reason I only read the first page before I posted my reply above ^^.

Now I've caught up and really enjoying the read. The parks do look crowded, but then that's Disney I guess. Did you do amny pre-booking of Dining or are you just seeing where your tastes take you the day? Also partly inspired about the running, but then the 3:30am start shocked me back to my realty again lol

I only booked one meal, which was our post-run celebratory WOC lunch at Carthay. I booked this about a week in advance and had my choice of times. Apart from that, we really just stuck to counter service and DTD.

When I read the part that you were going to LA to go horse riding I was a little bit unsure why you would go all the way to LA to do that, and then when I saw where you were going and the photos I completely understood. Such a great idea and looked so great. I really love the Griffin Park area

keep those updates coming...

TBH I didn't even consider looking up horse riding places closer to Anaheim! We've never actually been into LA before, so I was interested in doing something there, but the normal kind of tours don't really appeal to me. The horse riding was a perfect fit.

 

[zanzibar138]

It may be a while before the next instalment. Still waiting for Mum to buy our half marathon photo package. Hopefully she won't take too long!

 

[PrincessInOz]

It may be a while before the next instalment. Still waiting for Mum to buy our half marathon photo package. Hopefully she won't take too long!

No rush! We'll be here.

 

[zanzibar138]

Chapter 6 - The Main Event

Another 3:30am start this morning for half marathon day! Some of us *ahem* slept in, and we weren’t as early as we’d planned, but Mum, DH and I were still within the front few rows of our corral. Dad, who had managed to get into corral A, was right at the front of his (the more serious runners tend to get there a bit later). In contrast to last year’s 10k corrals, plenty of the half marathoners sat down while we waited. The corrals filled up fast, and we were glad we’d made the effort to get there early. After the race, I heard all sorts of reports about ‘what happened with the corrals’. Apparently people who arrived late weren’t able to fit into their corrals at all, and they had to make a makeshift ‘very last’ corral. People from D and E were starting after corral F in the end. Apparently lots of people had jumped up corrals (ie people who were placed in corral E or F actually started in corral D), which meant that people who were supposed to start in those corrals couldn’t fit. I personally didn’t see any of this, but don’t doubt that it would have happened. Anyway, because we’d gotten there early, we were happily sitting at the front of our corral, blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding around us.









We couldn’t see the race announcers from where we were, and could hardly see the big screen either. We could hear everything nice and clearly though, so at least we knew what was going on. The announcers tried to get a Mexican wave happening, but people just weren’t into it. From the start of the elite athletes, it seemed to take forever to get to our corral. We didn’t even start to move up until well after corral B had started. We couldn’t for a while anyway, because there was a traffic jam of runners who couldn’t get into their corrals in front of us (the only clue we had at the time that there was some sort of problem). When we did get to the move up to the starting line, we were in the perfect spot to have a great view of the stage AND the starting line, and it didn’t take long at all before we were off and running!





There wasn’t much street running at all before we headed backstage at DCA and spotted our first of many, many entertainers in the form of a band. We entered DCA near TOT, and ran through Carsland in the other direction, exiting where we had entered during the 5k. As we entered DCA, I couldn’t help thinking back to last year’s run, and realising just how far I’ve come. By that time during last year’s run, I’d already had lots of walking breaks and just about thought I was going to die! This time around, we were doing intervals of about 1km running and 1 min walking, and I was loving it!

In the backstage area around the back of California Screamin’, they had some parade floats out for photo opportunities. We re-entered DCA around past the Toy Story M&G area, and ran along past Paradise Garden Grill, Ariel’s Journey, Grizzly River Run and Soarin’. There were plenty of water stations, which all had powerade available as well. Unfortunately my tummy was a little unsettled right from the beginning, but I was finding a small sip from both cups at each water station was going down pretty well.



We really didn’t get to spend much time in DCA, and soon we were heading across the esplanade to DL. The esplanade was packed with people cheering. Something that was completely new to me was seeing the cheering crowds lining Main Street! You can only gain access to this area during the half marathon, by buying a special spectator’s package.







We round our way through on-stage and off-stage areas at DL. There were plenty of characters out, in sets of heroes and villains (eg Jafar was out with Aladdin, Lady Tremaine with Cinderella etc). There were a few decent rare villains in the mix, but I’d sworn that the only character I’d stop for was Mulan, and I didn’t see her out on course (wasn’t really expecting to, but had lots of thoughts about how awesome it would be if I got to see her when I was dressed as Ping, and daydreaming about different poses I could do for the photo lol!). By the time we were leaving DL, it was really getting light. I really liked that they had Mack (from the PTN parade) out for photo opportunities, and it was still just dim enough for his light effects to still be effective as we ran past.

 

[zanzibar138]

Unfortunately that was the exciting bit of the run over already! We were out on the streets of Anaheim then, running down Ball Road with the sun in our eyes. The cheerleaders on the freeway overpass were a welcome sight. RunDisney do an awesome job of keeping runners completely distracted, providing so much entertainment along the course that you barely have time to think about running! Along the next few kms, we took some fuel (energy chews), had a bathroom break, and saw plenty of singers, dancers and musicians. My tummy was getting more and more sensitive, and with the sun well and truly out, I was starting to get fatigued. We started to see people handing out food – lollies, pretzels etc. They weren’t organised by RunDisney, just local residents and running groups etc who wanted to help out. Nothing was appealing to me with the state of my tummy, until I got to the person handing out orange slices! One of those went down really well, and gave me the extra energy I needed to get a bit of a second wind. The wet sponges they were handing out helped cool us down a bit too (and get rid of the sticky orange juice from our hands!).













We passed another couple of singing/dancing groups before starting the mile of cars. This was, quite literally, a whole mile of classic cars along the course, on both sides of the road. Some people had signs, some were handing out food, all were offering support. This is where DH did the most walking lol!







At the end of the mile of cars, we reached the Honda Centre. I only figured out that they must play hockey there when I saw the sign saying ‘Home of the Ducks’. It is ice hockey they play, right? Oh, and there were a few more cars for good measure, including the famous Lightning McQueen car I’d heard about.







It was about here we entered the Santa Ana trail. This bit causes grief for a lot of runners, because it starts off as an unsealed trail. I’m used to training on unsealed trails, and I actually found it quite nice after the heavy impact on the concrete. I was really disappointed when it turned back into a concrete path… about 20m further along. Those road runners really are a bunch of wussies!



I had actually been quite excited about running part of the Santa Ana trail, knowing how lovely our river trails are for running along. This was a bit different! It was just a concrete path, alongside an empty concrete riverbed, next to a concrete embankment… I’m sure you see where I’m going with this. We did pass the new ARTic Transit Centre, which looked pretty speccy, and we could see Angel Stadium beckoning from a distance.





Our excitement was building as we got closer and closer to Angel Stadium, and soon we were passing right underneath that giant ‘A’, and through the official Cliff fuel stop. They were only handing out gels, so I didn’t bother to stop there. However, there were more random people also handing out food, and I took another orange slice, which I think powered me on right to the finish.





We ran through the tunnel and into the stadium. To our left, the stands were full of cheering crowds, and there were kids along the fence giving us high fives. We felt like real sports stars! Going around the corner, we saw ourselves on the jumbotron. It was a very cool experience, especially for Dad and DH since they went to a baseball game there last year. There were more bands and cheerleaders outside, and another water station.















We’d passed the 10 mile marker at Angel Stadium, which meant we only had about 5k to go! Having had his photo taken at Angel Stadium, DH decided to run on ahead. It was about here that I really started to struggle. There was nothing else exciting to look forward to along the course now – it was just a matter of making our way back to the DTD for the finish. The heat was intensifying, and my tummy was still feeling a bit yuck. I was over it and just wanted to be done! There were a few more bands, and we noticed a few medics out on course too. Soon we were running down Katella, and could see DCA in the distance! It lifted my spirits to know we were nearly there.







My longest training run had only been 18k, and I could definitely feel the difference after that. My body was well and truly ready to give up. I felt sick, everything hurt, and it was all I could do to just put one foot in front of the other. With Mum by my side urging me on, I was running as much as I can, but our walk breaks became quite extended for those last few ks. We approached the finish line through the Disneyland Hotel carpark, It was right out in the open, with the sun beating down on us, there were no spectators, and no entertainment – nothing to distract me. That was the worst stretch.

Suddenly we were entering DTD to crowds of cheering spectators. I could see that finish line, and managed to keep up a slow jog. I had always planned to sprint to the finish, but I just couldn’t muster the strength! It was all kind of a blur at that point – I don’t even remember seeing the characters by the finish line for high fiving. I just remember Mum grabbing my hand and telling me that the track in front of us was wide open so we might be able to get a good finishing photo lol! Then we were done!









As we crossed the finish line, I burst into tears (and I don’t just mean a bit teary – I was actually sobbing lol!). The pain, the relief, the pride at having actually done it… it was all too much to deal with! I had tears running down my face as we got our medals, then I managed to pull myself together.





We grabbed our water, powerade and snack boxes, and saw Dad waiting for us at the exit. He’d been there for about an hour waiting for us. After a short reunion and catch up on all our races, we began the long search for DH. We assumed he and Dad would have found each other, but Dad said he hadn’t seen DH. We looked through all the crowds lining the exit, the people watching the band, people on the sidelines… we just couldn’t find him anywhere! We were about to give up and figure we’d see him back at the condo, when we finally spotted him. We had a bit more of a reunion, ate some of our goodies, and headed back to the condo.



For anyone who’s wondering, Mum and I completed the half in 2:43:51. I was expecting much closer to 3:00, so I was absolutely stoked with that time, and suddenly realised why I’d struggled so much! My tummy was still a little sensitive for a little while after we’d finished, but the rest of me recovered nice and quick, and my tummy felt better in time to enjoy our celebratory lunch.

When we got back to the condo, we had a bit of light brekky, and leisurely had our showers and got changed. We had a 12:30pm lunch reservation, and we were just planning to leave in time to get to that.

 

[Zosha]

Well done Zanzibar on getting through that challenge!

 

[aussie shaz]

I nearly had tears for you at the finish line too! Well done! What an amazing experience.
I decided while reading this that I had to do a run Disney.....for about 3 seconds....then I realised I don't run!!!

 

[zanzibar138]

Well done Zanzibar on getting through that challenge!

Thanks

I nearly had tears for you at the finish line too! Well done! What an amazing experience.
I decided while reading this that I had to do a run Disney.....for about 3 seconds....then I realised I don't run!!!

Thanks! Definitely a once in a lifetime thing (I may or may not do another half marathon at some point, but doing my first one at Disneyland with my mum was pretty special ).

You should do one! I had never run before deciding to do a Disney run either If you're really against running, you could always do a 5k and just walk it.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Great race - yep maybe one day I'll do the 5km mix of running and walking but that would be my max. You have some patience with your Mum - DD would have been getting fed up with me and my will I leave the bag or not indecisions (sorry but it sounded like me that's all)! Nice run pics of you both I thought.

Looked like a good option to watch the fireworks from where you were and I love the projections on IASW. having now seen Paint the Night at HK interesting to see the same and different floats. Your horse ride looked fun - if you haven't ever made it over to the Sth Isd of NZ yet when you do, you must do a ride with Dart Stables in Queenstown even if you are not a Lord Of the Rings fan. I have done a walking pace (beginners) one but J has done a couple with them now including their more advanced one and is rapt.

 

[zanzibar138]

Great race - yep maybe one day I'll do the 5km mix of running and walking but that would be my max. You have some patience with your Mum - DD would have been getting fed up with me and my will I leave the bag or not indecisions (sorry but it sounded like me that's all)! Nice run pics of you both I thought.

Looked like a good option to watch the fireworks from where you were and I love the projections on IASW. having now seen Paint the Night at HK interesting to see the same and different floats. Your horse ride looked fun - if you haven't ever made it over to the Sth Isd of NZ yet when you do, you must do a ride with Dart Stables in Queenstown even if you are not a Lord Of the Rings fan. I have done a walking pace (beginners) one but J has done a couple with them now including their more advanced one and is rapt.

I would be interested to see PTN in HK now too, to compare and contrast.

The Lord of the Rings ride has been on my wishlist for a number of years now. And no, I am not a LOTR fan at all - I fell asleep in the one movie I let my boyfriend at the time drag me along to lol! It's the only time I've EVER even come close to falling asleep at the movies.

 

[zanzibar138]

We headed off at about 12pm. Outside it had really gotten warm, but luckily our bodies had recovered enough from the run that we weren’t in any physical pain or anything, just feeling a bit fatigued still. We walked straight through DTD to DCA, and then straight to Carthay. We were asked to take a seat in the lounge while our table was readied. After the long hot walk from the condo, we were all pretty pleased to be able to sit in comfy chairs in a cool air-conditioned building. Five minutes later, we managed to make it up the stairs to our table.

It was a great celebratory meal! We had an awesome server. I actually really enjoyed the salad I was served for an appetizer, and without even thinking about it, had ordered a salad based dish for my main meal too! I’m not usually much of a salad person, so saying that I thoroughly enjoyed both dishes is quite a big statement.



After lunch, we just wandered around the park for a bit. Mum and I had our photo taken with Pluto on the way through Grizzly Airfield, and we wandered towards Pacific Wharf. Dad and I thought we’d see if we could use the FPs that DH and I got the other day for Screamin’. Turned out they needed to be used on the same day (thanks for the heads up CMs!). With half an hour wait, we decided not to bother, but there were some very nice people entering the FP return line who decided to give us their spares! After our ride, we wandered further into Pacific Wharf, and had a walk through Boudin Bakery and Ghirardelli. Of course, we were too full to attempt to eat anything. Knowing that we had a long night ahead of us, and not finding much that was relatively easy to do in the hot and crowded park, we decided to head back for a rest. We just caught Five & Dime on our way out, but didn’t bother to stand in the hot sun to watch.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Just finished your half marathon entry and had to say how amazing you are. To be able to keep going with a dicky tummy and the heat even more so as I can well empathise with that. You should feel very proud of yourself and what you have accomplished especially given the short time really since you had your op. I am also impressed with your parents who I suspect must be around the same age as me - no way could I do a half marathon without a significant commitment to training long in advance - and I haven't the motivation to do so - lol! Well done all of you. I can also see how with all the distractions, RunDisney would be a good one to cut your teeth on for any wannabe long distance runners out there.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Oh I also had to laugh at the Santa Ana Trail comments and dirt track comments - I prefer jogging and walking on trails than concrete any day. When retired I still might look at orienteering. I have a friend who used to compete as well as do social runs and have had a few trial goes and they were fun
.

 

[zanzibar138]

Just finished your half marathon entry and had to say how amazing you are. To be able to keep going with a dicky tummy and the heat even more so as I can well empathise with that. You should feel very proud of yourself and what you have accomplished especially given the short time really since you had your op. I am also impressed with your parents who I suspect must be around the same age as me - no way could I do a half marathon without a significant commitment to training long in advance - and I haven't the motivation to do so - lol! Well done all of you. I can also see how with all the distractions, RunDisney would be a good one to cut your teeth on for any wannabe long distance runners out there.

Aww thanks Wendy Yes, I am very proud

My parents have been running for several years now. They got into it from cycling. From there they moved to triathlons, then they did the half iron man a few years back. Since then they've done a few running specific events. So they are very fit - much more than me! I definitely hope to be as fit and healthy as they are when I get to that age.

Oh I also had to laugh at the Santa Ana Trail comments and dirt track comments - I prefer jogging and walking on trails than concrete any day. When retired I still might look at orienteering. I have a friend who used to compete as well as do social runs and have had a few trial goes and they were fun
.

Orienteering sounds like fun. A bit more distraction than just plain old running.

 

[zanzibar138]

Duplicate post

 

[PrincessInOz]

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

Congratulation on a marathon run and finishing in a super awesome time. Did I mention that you were awesome???

That's one heck of a way to run the marathon. Shame that you weren't feeling the best but it looks like you managed to push past the pain and icky-ness.
Love that medal!

 

[zanzibar138]

After a nice break, we returned to the park in time for dinner and a show! We decided to have dinner at Flo’s, and enjoyed watching the sun set behind RSR. Mmm those ribs are so good!







After dinner we made our way over the WOC viewing area. We were about half an hour early, and managed to snag one of the last spots at the top of a set of stairs. While we were chatting among ourselves waiting for the show to start, one of the people in front of us turned around and asked if I was ‘zanzibar’! He said he followed along on the half marathon thread, so he knew me, but he didn’t post much, so I wouldn’t know him. Not sure how I feel about being famous lol! Anyway we had a quick chat, then got back to our respective groups.



We were asked to stand up after a while, so more people could fit into the viewing area. We were dismayed to see a balloon pop up a few rows down in front of us – right in our line of vision. Fortunately, a CM had also noticed, and must have gone to ask them to tie it down. I was actually pretty pleased with our view in the end.

I’m not sure how I feel about the new WOC show. It is *so* different to the original version – it’s really like a whole new show. I like that it’s more focused on Walt and the history of Disney, but somehow it didn’t seem as spectacular, and I’m not sure how I felt about Neil Patrick-Harris narrating. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against him, I think it just seemed like there was too much narration, which maybe disrupted the flow. And I really missed the original song. I also hated that there was one full song in the show, and I’m sure we can all guess which movie that was from. Having said all that, I did really have a soft spot for the original version because that’s where DH proposed, so maybe I’m just biased. It was still enjoyable and definitely worth seeing.





















After the show we followed the crowds out to DTD. As we were walking towards DL, we could see some of the fireworks going off – it was actually a decent view from some places!



When we hit DTD, there was some sort of major hold up. There was a huge crowd of people just stopped at LaBrea, waiting to get through. We couldn’t see anything from where we were, but we knew that this wasn’t just normal home time crowds. We were probably there for about 10 minutes before we were finally let through. To this day I still have no idea what the issue actually was!



Mum had been eyeing off ice-cream all day, so we made a quick stop for some as we went past. We almost decided not to, because there was a bit of a queue, but it seemed to be moving quite quickly, and we had our ice-creams within 5 minutes. We wandered a bit further up to find somewhere a bit quieter to eat them, then finally continued back to the condo, and all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows!