We got down to Anaheim on Thursday night. Picking the girls up from the airport was just craziness!!! But got them safely and headed back to our hotel, Doubletree by Hilton (of course! LOL) for a nice quiet evening on our pillows. We all knew that Friday was going to be the start of the chaos.
We never in a million, gazillion years expected the expo to be as bad as it was. It was just a mess when we headed down there at 10 AM when it opened. It took us the entire day to make it through; until 2 PM just to get our race bag...yeah, no joke! It was very obvious that race organizers had not planned for the rush of Dumbo entrants needing to come and get their bibs on Friday, and it was so disorganized. But we had a really good time making our way through all the lines and taking lots of pictures. And while us girls dealt with expo shenanigans, Matt and the kids enjoyed a day at the beach. We all met back up in the evening and had a great dinner together at CPK. :-)
So although Friday was a little crazy...okay, A LOT crazy...Saturday was AWESOME!!! The kids and Matt ran the 5K and Kristin and I ran the 10K:
My awesome family of runners!
Really REALLY proud of my kids on their first Disney race
Kristin and I after a great run
Completely unplanned, I PR'ed on Saturday (1:01:47). It was a pretty good morning. This smile at mile 6 says it all:
Then it was off to the park:
We had a really really good time. I knew that my time wouldn't be the greatest on Sunday, but I was out to have a good time, and a good time we had!
So Sunday the three amigos - Kristin, Danielle and me - headed out the door at 4 AM ready to take on another great half:
Before
After
I couldn't have asked for a better couple of days at my favorite place on earth with my wonderful family and two ladies that love running as much as I do. <3
Me and all my weekend bling - 4 medals!
A few people have asked about our outfits, so here is the rundown:
Saturday's 10K outfit - We wanted to pay tribute to Boston, so Kristin and I chose to wear our Run for Boston shirts made by Moms Run This Town and our matching bondibands. The shorts we totally lucked out on and found them at Target for $3. they matched perfect!!
Sunday's Half outfit - This was much more planned. The New Balance tech shirts were designed and made for us by Kristin's friend from Anymile Clothing, Lululemon Pace Setter skirt, and matching Sweaty Band and Fellow Flowers "Friends" bloom. I loved our outfits...can't take much credit for it. Kristin was the "brains" behind this!! :-)
Sunday after the race Matt took the family back down to Huntington beach and while I napped, the kids rode the waves. It was just an amazing Labor Day weekend!!!
So other updates...hmmmm.
My virtual races are going really well. I do not have one medal hanging on my wall that I haven't earned (posted to race web site or FB page), and all race directors have been good on their word and I have received everything I have paid for. Thus far, Jost Running medals are my favorite. They are really nicely made and HUGE!!! Check them out:
Do you see how large the circular one is in my hand?! What I really like most, though, is the fact that you really get what you pay for. There have been a few races that the medals changed in design after you paid, and sometimes it wasn't as good once you receive. There is nothing worse than paying for something you don't want to hang up, right? You don't have to worry about that with Jost. And - the best part - they really have a results page and you ARE competing against those that ran the race. I LOVE that!
Okay, I think I will leave everyone with my new friends:
My new running shoes - Asics Nimbus 15! I am IN LOVE!! I put almost 6 miles on them tonight and they did their job. These will help me get to my ultimate goal - WDW Marathon on January 12th. Training is going really good. The weather was nice enough to allow me to run outside this evening. It was 82 and gorgeous!!
Feeling blessed...life is good.
