3:36:49

I did it!

I ran my first race, my first half marathon!  We started out really slow - I wanted to walk through the first 5 miles, since that was the part within Disneyland, and I was afraid of burning out before the finish line.  It didn't work out great.  Walking hurt my shins a lot more than I was expecting, so we switched to a kind of jog, and that helped.  We also stopped for almost every bathroom break in the park ('cause I'm terrified of using port-a potties), and a few photo ops.
I didn't finish sub-3:00 like I'd hoped, and actually went over the allotted 3:30, but since I wasn't in the last corral, I wasn't picked up.
I think I could've done better.  I walked a lot, and had enough energy to run the 5k at the end.  I also felt fully recovered by supper time, after napping in the afternoon.  I was expecting to be completely wiped, but I walked around Downtown Disney with Riki and Joe (the friend who's original FB post inspired me to sign up in the first place), then had supper with the family, and did a little shopping afterwards.  Next time, I'm going to push myself a little harder.  Oh yes, there will be a next time.

In 201 days, I'm running the Star Wars - Dark Side Half Marathon in Walt Disney World!  It was pretty easy to get Riki on board - Star Wars an running, what's not to love?  He's doing the Dark Side Challenge, which is comprised of the half on Sunday, and also the 10k the day before.  We went all out this time - opting in for some commemorative pins.  I was afraid of pre-buying anything for the Disneyland half in case I didn't finish, but now I know I can!  I'm giving myself a little break from training until after Canadian thanksgiving. After that, I'll be following the same couch-to-half  20-week training plan from Woman's Running magazine, but dialling it up a bit.

As for the Disney portions of these RunDisney races...
I had a blast in Disneyland with the fam, but there were a lot of things we could've planned out better from the get go.  For example, Riki and I could've been riding the shuttle between the hotel and park for free the whole weekend!  We also had to wait around on Wednesday morning, since we couldn't pick up our theme park tickets until noon (the brochure I was looking at said 8am, but it was out of date).  Being in the park was great Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday was pretty insane.  It was the labour day long weekend, and lots of people had come out.  Weekdays definitely seem like the time to go. There aren't as many characters or parades, but the shorter lines and thinner to non-existent crowds are so worth it!
For WDW, some more planning will definitely be involved.  Neither Riki nor I have been there in almost two decades, so there's no way we're just going to wing it.  We've got a travel agent friend who's been a couple times who can hopefully give us some tips closer to April.  In the mean time...



201 days.