"It's my blog and I'll rant if I want to!"

This is really a P.S. to my Pasadena 5K report.
During the 5K I actually saw a group of people who "cheated"! I couldn't believe it. In longer distance races there are mats placed throughout the race, and the timer chip you wear will record your time when you hit that mat, i.e. if you miss that mat, you won't be timed and you will have a DNF (Did not finish.) For instance, in a 1/2 marathon you will also cross a mat at the 5K and 10K mark, or other predetermined distances. This is both for the runner to be able to check their times at certain points, but also to keep people from cheating. But with a 5K there usually are no "check points" since it's just 3.1 miles. I was, and still am, shocked. What possible gratification can you get from cheating on a race! And yet it happens. I am really big on encouraging people who are just starting out...even if you're a couch potato, you can do it...but come on! If you can't finish a 5K legitimately, don't sign up. And this was not a case of someone who was "in trouble" physically, as in, we've just got to get to the finish line. So, as I was on my back half of the race, on my way to the finish, I saw this whole group of people cut short of the 1/2 way point & cross over and join the return route. Unbelievable! I heard them rationalizing to themselves about how they had probably walked 3 miles if you count walking to/from the car, etc. I almost said something but didn't want to get beat up. And to think that they got a medal for it. Disgusting.

OK, I'm off my soap box.

Pasadena 5K - "Inaugural Redux" March 22, 2009

The inaugural Pasadena Marathon/Half Marathon/5K/Bike Races were originally scheduled for Nov. 11, 2008. Then Southern California was hit with terrible fires. The race officials sent updates all day Saturday saying it was still on, but Sunday morning (race day) at 4:00 AM, the message came that they had to cancel due to poor air quality. Probably a good decision, but I felt really bad for those who had trained for the half & full. So, it was rescheduled for March 2009. As we got closer to race day, the forecast was rain. When I left the house it hadn't started raining, but just as I was arriving, it started to sprinkle, and then standing in the corral it POURED. Fortunately I had a sweatshirt & a rain poncho. Oh! They had about 20 port-a-porties at the start for this huge crowd. Ridiculous. Other than that, they did a good job considering it was their first race & had faced a lot of adversity.Aneeeeeway, being primarily a walker, I hadn't done much training in the way of running, but decided to do some run/walk intervals, and I finished in 40:14, my best 5K time! If only I had run a bit more I could've done sub 40 minutes! For the 5K-ers, the rain stopped for most of the race, then poured again as soon as I finished.

Disney World Princess Half Marathon March 2009

Only 5 days (and 2 of those were spent traveling) at WDW, and I had to fit in 4 parks, an Expo, a 5K, and a ½ marathon. Oh, and some sleep. Didn’t get much of the latter. I learned a lot from this trip, namely that I’m not 20 anymore, and that you really can’t cram all this into 3 days! I hadn’t been there since 2000 so my “to-do/see” list was long!

Arrived on Thursday night with just enough time to meet my roommates Erica & Kelly, eat a sandwich and head to bed. On Friday morning Kelly & I headed over to Animal Kingdom to try out the “new” roller coaster, Expedition Everest. It was a blast, except when we rode a 2nd time & my head slid off the head rest & smacked into the side of the head rest. But other than that… Also checked out the Nemo show, then it was off to the Wide World of Sports for the Princess Expo. OMGoodness, I have never spent so much time at an expo! When we arrived the fairy godmothers sprinkled us Princesses with Pixie Dust.Then it was off to getting our race packets & SHOPPING! There were several running skirt vendors, plus all the Disney Princess stuff, and OF COURSE meeting my “imaginary friends” from DisneyRunning.com (Many of us know one another from the “club” but have never met in person, and some family members think our friends online are imaginary.)
We were there for about 5 hours! It was fun, but I hadn’t planned for this and ended up messing up my shoulders, neck, & back for the rest of the weekend from carrying a backpack that weighed about 20 lbs. Seriously. Another reality check on the age.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed to Epcot. That night we had fish & chips in England, went on Test Track, and watched Illuminations from our prime viewing area. Kelly’s cousin works there so instead of having to get a viewing spot an hour before, we walked up right at the start & had a place right on the pier!
Saturday morning was the 5K. Got up early to catch the bus to the start. A lot of the women dressed as their favorite princess, or at the very least, in the colors of their fav. The Cinderellas:
After the 5K, Erica, Kelly & I headed over to the Polynesian for a good breakfast, then on to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). Tower of Terror, Aerosmith’s Rockin Rollercoaster, Chocolate shakes at the 50’s PrimeTime Café, Great Movie Ride, Grauman’s Chinese Theater (had to put my hands in Mickey’s prints)We ate at Mama Melrose’s for our "carb load" dinner. The girls told the waiters it was my birthday so we got to celebrate that too! Soooo, it’s Saturday night before the big race. I’m already exhausted from the 3 hr. time change, slept about 6 hrs. Thurs. night, 4 hrs. Fri. night, and now we were also loosing another hour because it was Daylight Savings changeover time! We changed the hotel’s clock time & set the alarm for 3:00 AM. It went off at 2:00. Apparently the clocks reset themselves for DST, only we didn’t know that. Then Erica in her sleepy stupor kept hitting the snooze instead of shutting it off. She’s a deep sleeper. :-) I slept about 2.5 hrs., and by Sunday my neck & shoulders were really tight. We went to the food court for a quick bite, got on the bus & made it to the start line by 5:30 or 6:00. It was really cold (especially for this CA girl!), but all the DR people met up at the “R” tent and had fun waiting for the start. It was literally almost a full mile walk to the start (What were they thinking?) and there was one “last chance” porta-potty area, and then too bad. I don’t even want to tell you what some were doing. Let’s just say there’s a lot of swamp land out there!
As with the 5K, there were characters everywhere, both the Disney ones, and runners dressed as characters.The course took us through the Magic Kingdom at around miles 5-6 which was really fun. My eyes were darting all over the place trying to soak it all in and still keep moving. I HAD to stop for a few pictures…
Except for Magic Kingdom the course was a lot of open roads with trees, up and down on/off ramps with what I thought was a lot a camber, which is really hard on the joints. By Mile 10 my shoulders and neck were one big knot. I tried to massage my shoulders to work it out, but it hurt pretty bad. I was also feeling like a wet noodle…combo of not enough sleep, the humidity, and probably needing some nutrition.I can't tell you how forced this smile was.

Crossed the finish line, got my beautiful tiara medal, AND a DIET COKE! Yes!


















After a shower at the hotel, we all met up at the Floridian for a nice Princess character dinner. Cinderella and the whole family!
But we’re not done yet! After dinner it was off to the Magic Kingdom.There was so much I wanted to see and so little time. I decided to head off on my own & see a few of the sites. Visited Mickey & Minnie at Mickey’s house and I HAD to go to the Carousel of Progress! I guess it’s the nostalgic thing, and since we don’t have it at Dland, I really enjoy it. I bought some fudge to take home to Dad, shopped a little more, then headed back to the hotel. In the morning, Erica, Kelly & I had breakfast at the hotel (Mickey waffles!) then Kelly & I had to head to the airport.

It was a fantastic trip, but I would definitely do things differently next time. Since I’m not in a position to make my trip longer than 5 days, I probably wouldn’t do the 5K, less time at the expo, and more park time. Before I left for this trip, I had already signed up for the 2010 Half Marathon in January. This will be during the Marathon weekend where some will do the full marathon or half OR BOTH, which is appropriately called the “Goofy” I’m not that crazy. Good-bye Disney World. Until next year!