Dumbo Double Dare Recap- Day 1 and Expo

There is so much to recap about this weekend! This is pretty...wordy.

I can hardly organize my thoughts. We left on the first flight out of Phoenix to Orange County on Friday morning, which was at 6:30AM. Luckily, my dad was willing to pick me up at 4:15. What a guy!

We had wanted to get to the expo right when it opened, but there was no reason to really leave that early except that the next flight out was significantly more expensive.

We arrived without a hitch and got a cheap $10 ride on some random shuttle to our hotel, The Anaheim Plaza Inn and Suites. It was cheap and within walking distance to the park, but it's not really the nicest hotel. Too bad we're too poor from doing these races to be able to afford to stay on property!

Hanging out at the concierge desk. Can we help you?

Ronda and Shawn were staying at the same hotel, so we decided to join them for breakfast at the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney before the expo opened. Little did we know what kind of nightmare situation was waiting for us at the expo.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Disneyland Hotel Exposition Center and holy crap. There were people everywhere. We arrived right at 10:00 and people had been waiting for hours in the ridiculous heat (seriously, it was so hot the entire trip, I couldn't believe it). I wish I had taken pictures of the mobs and mobs of people trying to form some semblance of a line in front of the hotel. It was an utter disaster and inside was no better. You would have thought that they were handing out free money inside.

Utter mayhem. For realz.

But I joined in with the rest of lemmings, because well, I'm a lemming and I need mah merchandise! Items were being ripped off of the racks as soon as a cast member brought them out. I roamed around trying to find things I liked, but honestly, sometimes it seems like runDisney lets the interns do all of their designing. I'm so over the unisex sized shirts, runDisney! I didn't see a single female that these looked good on. Just sayin'.

The rumors better be true that we're getting women's sized
 shirts starting in 2014. These fit terribly!

I did like the design of the Dumbo tech shirt for purchase, but I hate wearing white, so that was a no go for me. Last year, I bought one of the cotton tees for the half and it was cute, but the shape was wrong and the print screen started wearing off after the first washing. I know, I know, whine, whine, whine. There's starving children in Africa!

Anyhoo, I did like this one, so I chose it. I was also on the hunt to pick up a shirt for Abby because she wasn't going to be arriving until later and we thought maybe everything would be gone by then.

Oh, and I also ran into Emily! I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't think of it at the time. Sorry, Emily, but I'm glad we saw each other!

After hemming and hawing and punching children in the throat and stealing their merchandise, I was ready to brave what can only be described as a cluster f*ck of a line situation. First of all, it was nearly impossible to find the end of the line and the poor rD volunteers were having a hell of a time controlling the masses of people storming the registers like they had mad cow disease. Or rabies.

I finally found the end of the line and proceeded to camp out with everyone else. It wound all through the expo and in and out into the lobby, including down into the stage area when Jeff Galloway was speaking.

Yep, that's a line of people right in front of Jeff Galloway
while the audience is trying to listen.

But I did get close to him, which was cool.

I am not exaggerating when I say that I was in line for nearly two hours to purchase two shirts; one of me and one for Abby. I knew I would be disappointed later if I didn't get a shirt and I wasn't going to let Abby down, either, so I stuck it out. But, um, wow.

By the time I finally made my purchases, I still had to go get my bib and park tickets in the parking structure and then make my way back to the expo for the shirts. I really think the shirt pick up needs to be with the bib pick up, but what do I know?

When I made my way back into the expo, they had to shut down the merchandise booth for an hour just to get the crowds under control, get the line caught up and regroup in the booth. What a mess.

This is the fourth year that I've done the Disneyland Half Weekend and I have never seen such a messed up expo situation. To be fair, I don't think runDisney could have prepared for the mayhem in advance because it has never been like this before. I think I waited in line for 20-25 minutes to purchase merchandise last year and I thought that was bad.

I know a lot of people were upset about how it all went down, myself included, but I really don't know if I could throw all of the blame at runDisney. I think that the overwhelming social media attention the event had drawn is the cause of the problem. One thing I do think that they are responsible for is not producing enough merchandise in the first place. rD is notorious for selling out of merchandise at their races and for a lot of people, this was their first really big challenge, so of course, they were worried about not finding souvenirs. Get with the program rD!

By the time I had gotten my merch, picked up my bib and my tech shirts, I had already been at the expo for over 3 hours. I usually start getting claustrophobic long before then. At least things were less crazy in other areas. I also got to peek at the some of the new medals. It seems like maybe rD is going to change up their medals more often than every 5 years, because all of the WDW Marathon weekend medals were new and so was Wine and Dine. I don't think any of those were anniversary years.

2014 Marathon Medal

2014 Dopey Medal

I was hoping to see the Glass Slipper Challenge Medals, but they weren't displayed. I like the new medals a lot. I'm sad now that I'm not doing the inaugural Dopey Challenge...except, ya know, for the whole running a shit ton of miles part.

We did a little more shopping. I forgot my sports bras, so I had to purchase a new one, which is always risky. Nothing new on race day! But it worked out great because the one I chose was at the Champion booth and it was perfect. In fact, I usually get chafing along the band of sports bras and this one didn't rub at all. I need to run to Target and see if I can get another just like it.

Couldn't resist this photo opp on the way out the door...

Whew! After all of that craziness, we went back to the hotel for awhile and didn't head out to the parks until it was almost dark. Our prerace meal was in California Adventure at Flo's V8 Café. It was pretty good. I've never eaten there before.

The roast beef and mashed potatoes were delicious.

We had to model some fashion, too.

Everyone will be wearing these next season.

Whatever genius came up with the single rider line idea, should get a prize. Seriously. Totally genius. We decided to ride Radiator Springs as single riders. Last year, Cars Land was so packed that I only rode it once and it was day time.

If you get the chance to ride it at night, I highly recommend doing so. This might be my new favorite ride. Sorry, Indiana Jones.

It's hard to look bad ass when your car
has giant cartoon eyes.

Love that guy's face. hee hee

We stopped by the Mad T Party on our way out. I wish I could buy a sound track for the music they play. It's just current stuff, but remixed. I'm always looking for good running music.



If we weren't running the next day, we'd
probably have spent more time here.



Nope, not creepy at all!

And with that, we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep for the Disneyland 10K in the morning! Stay tuned!

PDD: Post Disneyland Depression

Wow, I have so much to write about Dumbo Double Dare Weekend when I get home and on a real computer. Some good and some, well, not so good. I just hope runDisney gets some things figured out for next year's Dumbo. And if they could control the weather, that would be swell.

I'm sitting at John Wayne (aka Orange County) Airport right now and my already late flight has been delayed until 8:55pm. Good thing my flight is only a little over an hour. So why not do a little blogging while I charge my iPod, which I totally forgot to do last night?

It's always hard to go back to reality when I've been at Disney even if the weekend didn't quite go the way I wanted it to. Regardless, I had an amazing time with Team Freedom: Shawn, Tara, me, Abby and Ronda.

I <3 these guys so much and they made this trip a whole hell of a lot better. So, thanks, guys! I can't wait to do it again some time! (Preferably when the temperatures are more bearable.)

Love Me Some Disneyland

I know my blogger friends will understand the love for Disney parks, even if my other friends don't. Now that I run Disney races, I'm rarely at Disneyland or Disney World unless there is a race going on, but it's always fun. Races just make it that much better.

Anyway, like all of the other people in the blogosphere, I'm getting super hyped for Dumbo Double Dare. I'm not really sure why there is such extreme excitement over this race more so than the other runDisney events, but I'm just as stoked as everyone else.

Since there's two days of racing and the expo, my trip is 5 days long. The great thing about giving yourself that kind of time is that you don't have to rush to do everything. It also gives you a chance to check out some stuff that you might otherwise bypass in favor of the faster "adult" rides, such as Indiana Jones, Space Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers.

I know several people have written posts about their Disneyland favorites and must do's, but there's several lesser known attractions that are pretty cool, too. And there's definitely a few that I'd like to check out.

The first one is Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sully To The Rescue. I love this ride. It's so cute and if you go at night, there's rarely a line. I didn't even discover it until a couple of years ago. It's hidden in DCA in the back in Hollywoodland. It's a kids ride, but really cute. The details are really cool, as well.



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If you want a good laugh and want to experience some very vintage Disneyland, hop on the Disneyland Railroad. It's loops the park beginning and ending at Main Street, USA, with stops at Mickey's Toontown, Tomorrowland and New Orleans Square. I really recommend riding the whole loop at some point, not because this is the greatest ride ever, but because some of the scenery is so out dated, it's funny. You'll see what I mean if you check it out.

 

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Another ride I love that masquerades as a kiddy ride is Goofy's Sky School in DCA. It looks like a little kid coaster, but it's pretty fun. It's certainly a lot more fun than Gadget's Go Coaster in Toontown.

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Another ride that is easy to skip is the Storybook Land Canal Boats in Magic Kingdom. Sometimes there's a long line, so I don't always ride it, but if you happen to walk by and the line is short, give it a try. You ride through different miniature towns from old Disney movies. It's pretty cute.



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I think I want to check out the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island this year. I haven't gone to Tom Sawyer Island since probably the 90's. Back then, it was just Tom Sawyer Island. I think it might be fun to do something I haven't done in a long time.

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And if you're dying to have a Dole Whip, I'll tell you where to find it. You need to go to Magic Kingdom and visit the juice bar right outside of The Enchanted Tiki Room. I don't know if I would recommend actually going into the Enchanted Tiki Room, but that's where you'll find the magical Dole Whip.

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And of course, don't miss any of the main attractions, like Indiana Jones (I think this is probably my favorite ride of all time).

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I'm so ready to go, I could leave right now! By this time next week, we'll have our 10K medals around our necks. See you there!

Oh, and if there are any other hidden gems you think I should check out, let me know!

Sunrise Saturday

Being as how I just recently remembered that I am a runner and a blogger, I deemed it necessary to actually do a Saturday long run. I know, right? Shocking. Plus, I will be at a horse show next weekend and even though I will easily be walking a ton of miles, I know I most likely won't get any running in.

My alarm went off at 4:15 this morning. It was surprisingly...not terrible, temperature-wise, outside. It was about 80 degrees and still dark, but there have been times when I've gotten up at 4 and it was already over 90.

I headed out to meet my friends, Lara and April, at Reach 11 Sports Complex. There's a wide desert trail that looks like it's in the middle of nowhere...until you run under the freeway. Anyway, they are zippier than I am, so I let them take off ahead of me.

Yes, I know. Terrible quality. But I wasn't awake, yet.

The good thing about starting so early (aside from the cooler temps) is getting to watch gorgeous Arizona sunrises. Seriously, Arizona has the most amazing sunrises and sunsets.

Usually, I lose some of the color in pictures,
so just imagine how bright this was in person.

And here's my Instagram version.

I won't lie. This run felt tough. It's not surprising since my training has been somewhat sporadic. The weird thing is that I had a really hard time keeping myself at a slower pace, which sounds awesome, but I ended up walking more than I wanted to. I'm not sure which is better: to run faster and walk more or to keep it slow and steady. Someone once told me that the only way to get faster is to run faster (duh) so I'm hoping it'll work out in the end. Also, dropping a few more pounds couldn't hurt, either. Damn happy hours...

At some point in my run, I got passed by a pack of high school cross country runners. I often see them out running on Saturdays and honestly, they make me feel so old! I admire that they get up so early on the weekends and they are so young.

And WOW, are they fast. Those kids can run.

At this point, I was getting burnt out, sore and bored. I was about 6 or 7 miles into my run and all alone. So, of course, I did what any serious athlete would do: I took a picture of myself! I can not take a good photo of myself to save my life, so I will distract you with colorful stars.

Nerd alert!

By the time I was 9 miles in, my hips had stiffened considerably. I need to break out the Stick and get to work. Stretching would help, too. Need to hit up Master Google for some stretching ideas...

When I was finally close to my car at about 10.5 miles, I could smell breakfast. I was starving and all I could think of was getting some food. The Gu and Sport Beans just weren't cutting it at this point. My stomach was literally growling when I got to my car and I could not figure out where that amazing smell was coming from. Seriously, there's nothing quite like the aroma of cooking bacon.

And then I saw it.

A food truck. In the desert. Shit just got real.

All I wanted to do was scramble over and stuff my face full of eggs and bacon. Honestly, I had burned enough calories (over 1000) to justify a couple of eggs and a few pieces of bacon, but you want to know what stopped me?

The teenage track team that also happened to be stretching in the parking lot. I simply was not going to drag my aching chubby ass over to the food truck in front of those teenagers and their short shorts. Just couldn't do it.

In all of the times I've run at this particular trail over the last few years, I have never seen a food truck waiting for hungry runners. Well played, food truck. (Except for me. I'll shovel food into my face in private, thankyouverymuch.) It would have been way funnier if I wasn't so incredibly hungry.

Oh, and I just discovered that I have Showtime on Dish Network. I've been paying for a premium movie channel for a year and a half and had no idea. Genius at work, folks. Watch out.

Twenty One Days Until Dumbo Double Dare

Holy cow, I can't believe there's only 3 weeks until I leave for Dumbo Double Dare! It seemed like an event waaaaaay off in the future and now suddenly it's almost here!

I wish I could say I've been a rock star in my training, but that would be a lie. I spent two weekends in a row on vacation drinking beaucoup vino, one of which was in Las Vegas.

There's champagne in those coffee cups. Great way to smuggle booze into a restaurant.

Anyhoo, I dragged my sorry ass back onto the wagon and ran the mountain on Tuesday night. It was not pretty.

I'm pretty sure I was sweating out booze. Regardless, I did a very sweaty 5.5 miles. When I was done, I was feeling pretty good about it, though.

The sunset was gorgeous.

I planned on doing it again last night. I got dressed, filled up my camelbak, got in my car and...dead battery. C'est la vie, right?

I'm planning on doing a pretty long run tomorrow- at least 10 miles. I'm away at a horse show next weekend so I need to cram in as many training runs as possible before heading off to my favorite of all Disney race weekends.

I also need to get my costumes figured out, too. I haven't quite decided how much effort I want to put in. We'll see how that shakes out.

Who else is super stoked about Disneyland Half Weekend? Woot!

How Not To Train For A Marathon

Anyone reading this blog has probably figured out that they should not follow my example...on pretty much anything. I'm like a little kid that runs around and runs around until I come to a screeching halt and pass out wherever my gas tank ends up empty. 

I'm currently on a 5 hour flight from Baltimore to Phoenix. Did you guys know that Southwest Airlines offers free Dish TV episodes for their passengers? I knew some of their flights had wifi, but free TV? Yes, please! However, after my one hour flight from Albany to Baltimore and an hour into my second flight, I was a little burnt out on old episodes of 30 Rock. I had to break out the Visa and splurge to pay for wifi because I still have 2 plus hours to go.

I'm blogging from the sky because not only have I been a lazy blogger, but I've been a lazy runner. And I must share my vast wisdom with you all because a certain friend of mine ( although she's from Delaware and when she says " mine", it sounds like "Mayan") thought it would be awesome to take lots of pictures of me while I was stupid drunk. 

Everyone needs pictures of themselves passed out in a chair...wearing rain boots, no less, without there being any actual rain.

I'm very proud of these boots, by the way. On the way to purchase obscene amounts of booze, we stopped by the shoe store. Leave it to the girl from the desert to insist on buying rain boots. I may not have done any training, but I did wear my Disneyland Half 2011 gear, so I figure that counts for something.

 

In my defense, we had some extreme flash flooding last weekend in Arizona, hence my need to purchase rain boots. 

Okay, so polka dots may have had something to do with it, as well. These boots are adorbs.  

Anyway, I met up with friends from all over the country for a 4 day vacation in Amsterdam, NY. I half assed brought some running clothes, but I knew there was no way I'd be running. I think I was supposed to do a pretty long run on Saturday in my training for NYC Marathon - like something over 10 miles - but that just wasn't happening. I really should have considered taking advantage of running in that area because, holy shit, do they have some hills I could have trained on. Instead, I trained my liver. And my stomach, because the food was beyond amazing.

I'm guessing I consumed approximately 10,000 calories a day while in NY. I'm really scared to get on the scale when I get home. It was totally worth it, though.

I better get serious, because Dumbo is only a month away. Oh, and that little thing called the New York City Marathon *chokecoughchoke* is getting dangerously closer. I think the weekend before I left for Disneyland last year, we did a 15 mile run. 

The gist of this long, rambling post filled with narcissistic drunken photos is, don't do what I do, kids. I'm a lousy example of an athlete. 

Yes. Yes, I am.

Mumbo Jumbo and Dumbo

Man, I feel like my life has been a nonstop whirlwind of activity. And that activity has included very little actual running.

First, I had a birthday. I'm getting way too close to 40 for my liking. I still have a few years, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of turning the big 4-0. 

I celebrated the week before with a friend who also has a birthday the week before mine, so we had a dual celebration. This is my dairy free, gluten free, soy free, calorie free, kosher cake. 

My actual birthday was a week and a half ago and I spent it packing up the horse trailer for a horse show. We showed up in the mountains in Flagstaff and had a great show. 

We show on an old racetrack, which is pretty cool...unless you have a horse that used to be a race horse like I did in high school. Then it's a bitch because horses never forget being on a track. 

On Sunday, I got my highest score ever. Louie was perfect. The whole barn did well. 

I won't bore you with the details of the truck breaking down on the way home pulling a trailer full of horses. It was nerve wracking, to say the least. We didn't make it home until well after midnight.

The other thing going on is that my horse trainer is fostering a litter of kittens and their mom. Originally, I planned on taking two of the kittens, but the mom is at my house right now so the kittens can be weaned and I'm sort if in love with her. This is Chloe.

I'm pretty sure she's going to end up mine.

Lou hurt his leg, so I have to trek up to the barn twice a day. Doesn't he look pitiful? I'm icing his leg and he wasn't too happy about the process.

See? Equine athletes need icing, too.

Anyway, I did finally remember that I was a runner and went running this morning at 5AM. Wow, was it humid and hot. I do not understand how anyone can survive in the humidity. I tried to keep myself going with thoughts of DUMBO DOUBLE DARE!!! Can not wait. So I pounded out a very sweaty and disgusting 8 miles.

 It can't get here fast enough. I'm already excited about the cute Dumbo shirts I can get at the expo. Seriously. Could he be cuter?

It's no wonder I can't get stuff done. I feel like I'm spinning in circles. I'm leaving Thursday for Albany, NY, and I'm pretty excited to be going on a trip that doesn't involve running around like a maniac.

How is everyone else surviving our national heat wave?