Running My First Half Marathon

Hey guys! How was your Labor Day weekend? Hope you’re enjoying your day off if you’re in the US and well if not, Happy Monday to those overseas! So after getting some good rest, I am able to write this post recapping my first ever half marathon.

Back in January my little sister Jackelyn bought me an entry in to a half marathon for my birthday. I was like, umm are you CURAZAY!?!? But I agreed anyway since running has never really been my “thing”. I was more of a Pilates and weight lifting type of girl. Back then the only cardio I really enjoyed was kickboxing. Let me tell you that 8 months later, completing the race was not only a reality, but dare I say, “fun”?

Let’s take you through yesterday’s Disneyland Half Marathon in Anaheim, CA! This is a photo-heavy post so I apologize in advance if it takes forever to load. (I also filmed myself on my iPhone WHILE RUNNING, so collage video coming next!)

The night before we left for LA, I had only slept for 30 min. Yes 30 min. And remember that the whole week before, I was complaining that I had been going to bed at 4am? Yeahhh…not the best conditions for my first race…

5:15 am: sleep

5:45 am: wake up

6:20 am: leave for airport

8:00 am: fly to LA

9:20 am – 12:00 pm: get picked up from LAX, drop off luggage at hotel, and eat lunch

1 pm: One of the first things I saw after we checked in. So Disney. And so me!!! A glass slipper with treads.

We picked up our bibs which were very cute. Our names were printed on them which was a special treat! My sis who is the actual runner in the fam told me that this is not the norm – usually you just get your number. We were in Corral C which means we were in group 3 to run. I believe there was A-G. A is for the elite runners who are actually trying to win and G is for the mommas with strollers.

We passed a fake finish line to see if the barcodes on our bibs would work for tomorrow’s start and end timers. They worked.

Faking my super awesome speediness on a super fake track after completing registration!

3:00 pm: I didn’t get to even START my costume when I was still at home so I had to begin cutting PRONTO as soon as we got back to the hotel. I used an XL tshirt that my mom had laying around to cut my Pocahontas costume.

5:00 pm: The whole thing was made with no needles or thread. Just my hands and the scissors. My sister helped make the back contour to my shape for a better fit. I will post a tutorial on how to make my Pocahontas costume later. It was really easy and cheap! Didn’t finish quite yet but had to get ready for the Angels game!

5:20 pm: Next some friends picked us up to go see the Angels game! I am not a big baseball fan but it wasn’t too bad. Fireworks shot up every time the Angels made a home run. That was interesting. Then Ne-Yo came out afterwards to perform which made my sister very happy. He was great, but too bad stadium speakers don’t give a singer justice for his talent. We left around 10:45 pm. I was extremely tired.

1:00 am: I stayed up to finish my Pocahontas costume. I had the fringe on the neckline to do. It was the last touch and I didn’t even plan for it but I honestly think it “made” the costume. I was impressed by how much this tan jersey cotton looked like suede. Working with old tees is great because the fabric doesn’t fray – you can do so much without real sewing! I couldn’t wait to put it on in a few hours. Oh yea, and I also encountered a BIG PROBLEM at this time. My phone was not taking new songs from iTunes. WHAT!!?? I had 6 songs total on my phone at this point. Oh well. I was tired and hoped that Pandora wouldn’t use up my whole data plan!

4:15 am: Woke up! Made some oatmeal in a mug and sliced in 1/2 a banana. So yummy and perfect carboliciousness before the race. Makeup and hair in 45 min.

5:20 am: My sis and I walked outside to wait for the shuttle to take us to Disneyland. It was still dark. I wasn’t tired at all suprisingly! 3 hours and 30 minutes of sleep in 2 days? Crazy and NOT at all healthy but I was SUPER excited to run! I think dressing up helped make the experience THAT MUCH MORE SPECIAL. (That’s why I like wearing nice fitness clothes to workout!) I’m wearing a Lululemon jacket, Nikes, some volleyball booty shorts, and a Lululemon sports bra under.

5:50am: In our corral waiting to move. Still dark. Sister is a pretty fitness fairy. I bought her that tutu yesterday before the race. So cute right!!?? It matched PERFECTLY with the pink sports bra I gave her from ALO. It’s one of the tops I got from ActivewearUSA for my Fashion of Fitness review videos (the one on this bra is coming soon in a “How to Dress like Jillian Michaels” edition). It’s $36 but honestly, the design on the back makes it worth it. You can see it here. I am happy that we can fit into each other’s clothes because it’s like having a double closet.

6:15am-ish: Finally A and B left and it was C’s turn! Running!!!! Yay!!!! There were lots of bright colors, running skirts, tutus, princesses, and Disney characters. Oh and lots of Lululemon. HA!

Yes I am holding my phone in my hand and not listening to music. Pandora was being a B****! It kept playing slow songs even when I pressed on my Top Hits Radio station! My Britney station! My Bruno Mars station! Everything they were playing was Enya status. I’ll never know why but I really didn’t think I would have to thumbs down a song WHILE running my first ever half marathon. Sigh. I eventually put my buds back in but did take a ton of video during the race.

One of the COOLEST parts of the run was when we ran onto the actual Angels baseball field!!! I never looked at the route so this was a surprise to me. I am thankful that our friends took us to the game the night before. It was like everything came full circle. My sister also said that right as we got into the stadium a Ne-Yo song started playing. That’s pretty awesome!

Here’s a really unattractive shot of me as I was reaching for my phone to record a vid but instead took a pic. Don’t you think that with the blue sky background and my braid flapping in the wind, I look ultra Pocahontas?

Also throughout the race random spectators yelled “Pocahontas!!!!”, “Go Poca!!!!” It was sooooo motivating!!!! I didn’t expect this but it definitely added a magical element to the experience that only Disney can provide 🙂

8:35 am-ish: DONE!!!!! 13.1 miles!!!!! I didn’t stop. Miles 1-11 were fine. But at 12, my ankles started to ache. At 13, my calves felt like they were about to become Charlie Horses. I had to curl my toes for the last mile while running to keep from cramping. It was the longest mile ever. I wish I could have sprinted the last 10 seconds but there was no way. I’d be limping for days if I did.

Coronation.

Celebration!

Time to eat!!!! This is the Cheesecake Factory sweet corn tamales. I love these things. Not exactly healthy though. It’s 1590 cals for 3 sweet corn cakes. EEK!! I ate 2 cakes and saved the third for later. I think it’s all the cream sauce that makes the calories add up. I want to try making these. Maybe next week.

I also ordered some Thai mushroom lettuce wraps. These are shiitake mushrooms in a butter lettuce leaf filled with some veggies and noodles. They weren’t very good actually. There was no flavor. Took 2 of the wraps home for dinner later.

And of course we had to celebrate with sweet potato fries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And tabasco sauce.

Today is a day off from working out. My hamstrings and calves still hurt. I am walking like a duck. Hahaha. I wouldn’t exactly say that I love this soreness. I don’t think this is the “good kind of sore” 😛

Turns out my sis and I finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 22 min! Not bad! Like I said before, I had no time goal – just wanted to not stop running. And I did just that. I feel very accomplished and have my sis to thank for signing me up. I love her!!! Running with someone made it 20 billion times easier. Plus running a race with tens of thousands of other people give you a certain energy that you can’t get from just nutrition, sleep, and exercise. Haha, guess that’s why I was able to run a half marathon on 3.5 hours of sleep, bad music, and (my period). Maybe I will try another one on better conditions later.

Much love! Enjoy your Monday!!! Any of you thinking of signing up? And to those of you who ran with us, comment! I wanna hear your experience too!

Cassey