Disneyland Part 5: #RebelTweetup

Do you love the Twitter? Do you have people you feel more connected to online than in your real life?

Do you wish you could meet them in real life?

Yes to all three for me...

... and that is how the #RebelTweetup was born!

Whenever I head to an out of town racecation I try to set up a meetup or tweetup or run-ins with folks I have been chatting with online. It is awesome to chat with folks in 140 characters or through Facebook.

But sometimes I would like to hear what their voice really sounds like. Ya know? Or see a picture bigger than a teeny tiny avatar!

So when the wife and I decided to head to Disneyland for the inaugural Star Wars race weekend, I enlisted my good buddy Linzie of Sharp Endurance to co-host a tweetup with me!

That's my Boo! :)

And if getting your Twitter friends from all over the country - AND CANADA - isn't enough... we handed out prizes! Oh yeah, that's right!

Big thanks to ShowerPill, SparklySoul Headbands, Zensah, Orange Mud, and Pro Compression for offering up some sweet sweet prizes to our participants.

We <3 ShowerPills!

For those that don't know here is how a tweetup works (at least in my world):

Step One: Pick a sweet location

Thanks Trader Sam's (located at Disneyland Hotel)!

Step Two: Invite everyone you know and love on the Twitterverse

My heart was so happy!

Step Three: Periodically throughout the established tweetup event time, tweet out how folks can win the prizes. We had folks find Linzie or I to show off the tweet or answer the tweeted question to win the prize.

Step Four: Take ALL the selfies!!!!

^^Feel free to click on the person's name below to follow them on Twitter!

Erika = @SuperErizzle

Julie = @AngryJulie

Amber = @EpicBeerGirl

Carlee = @CarleeMcDot

Alicia = @Alicia_Orozco

 

Kathy = @kathy03csi

Gillian = @FindingMyWeigh (Yay Canada in the house!)

Victoria = @Vfreile

Step Five: Sit back and feel your heart fill with love and your smile grow from overwhelming happiness!

***

This was two hours of awesome conversation, hugs, smiles, laughs, beer and Run Disney chatter!

Thank you to all that took time out of their vacation or Saturday to come hang with Linzie and I. We appreciate it more than you know!

***

Have you ever attended a tweetup?

Disneyland Part 4: Star Wars Half Marathon

It was finally time for the third and final installment of the Run Disney Star Wars race weekend - the Star Wars Half Marathon. If you are looking to catch up, here are the first three recaps: LA Sun & Expo Fun, 5k and 10k.

All caught up?

Yes?

Are you sure?

I can wait.

Nevermind. I can't! :P

Once again the race was set to start at 5:30am so the alarm trilled off at 4am for a third-straight morning. Thank goodness that 4am felt like 7am to these East Coasters. :P

I went through the normal routine: scroll through social media, drink some water, eat part of my KIND bar, put costume on and take pre-race photo.

The black eye worked the best with the Vader costume in my opinion. So I was freaking out about this costume because guess who left their black tank top at home? Oh yes this girl. So the black tank top I have on in this photo was bought for $10 at the ABC mart around the corner from our hotel the previous afternoon. It is actually inside out as the other side said "California" in block letters.

I know I know. No new gear on race day, but this was life or death. Well not really life or death, but a necessity. I was just hoping it would work. *Fingers Crossed*

We left the hotel at 4:45am, I dropped the nervous wife off at Corral E and made my way up to Corral A. I actually ran into a friend who was ALSO dressed as Vader. Why hello photo op! ;)

She went off to Corral B and I continued the trek to Corral A. So much space in between each corral. :P

I shimmied my way up to the Start Announcer area again and hung out waiting for the fun to start.

Carissa and Rudy apparently had enough of the costumes by the time the Half rolled around. ;)

It took some energy to drown out the people around me trying to one up each other with their finishing times. I'm not a fan of braggy people. Can't we all just celebrate being healthy enough to be participating?

I was trying to stay in a fully positive, I am lucky to be here frame of mind. I know everyone races for different reasons so I wanted to wish them well, but they were being a little pushy with trying to get up to the very front of the Start Line. So I focused on taking pictures. :)

And before I knew it... it was time to tackle the final adventure!

Here's the course for the Star Wars Half.

The plan for the race? Stop for all the character pics. I figured they would mostly be inside the parks (and that is what others alluded to) then I would be able to just kind of run once out in the streets.

The race opened the same way as the other two: with a nice incline up a ramp.

Mile 1: 8:45

It was dark out, but I was still super impressed by some of the costumes folks put together for the race. I also realized a lot of folks in the first corral were looking to really race the Half and possibly PR. Now I hoped that would lead to shorter character pic lines.

I would be proven very very wrong. :P

Since running in the road in the dark isn't all that exciting I am lacking pics from the first couple of miles.

Mile 2: 8:53

I try to take pics of every mile marker to remind me which characters/parks I was at when.

Here was my first instance of running past a photo op and having to back track to it. I didn't notice you could take a Castle pic so I snapped my Mile 2 photo than ran back to the Castle.

Good thing I don't mind extra running. ;)

Not sure where the official photo is (didn't see it online), but here is the iPhone version. I was starting to test out ways to hold the Cape to show off it's awesomeness.

As we came up to the first character stop - Luke and Leia - the line looked short. Until I went to turn into it and realized it was already twisting and turning - like a ride. Ooohhh k. This is how the morning would go. I'm ready for it.

Yes this was worth the wait. Also do you like my "I'm trying to look serious" face?

As we passed my the carousel in Fantasyland, I spotted a few Storm Troopers. You weren't supposed to stop and take photos, but I couldn't pass up a selfie moment with my guys.

Then I spotted a guy running in a FULL Chewie costume. I tried to take a mid-run selfie with him, but then I liked the blurriness of this action photo too much to shoot another.

And just after taking this photo, the next character op - Chewie! :)

While heading from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland, we had another opportunity to take a Castle pic. Which do you like better?

Yeah I'm going with #1 as well. :P Haha.

Just after we entered Tomorrowland, there he was and there the line was. Vader and his crew was set up in front of Star Tours and I entered the longest character line I have ever seen during a Run Disney race. This would be awhile. I started chatting with the folks near me, cheering on my fellow runners and texting with friends while we waited. I would wait as long as I needed.

It was worth it! Vader met Vader. :)

As we headed out of Disneyland, I stopped to take one last iconic photo. I do wish Marathon Foto was there since my phone didn't offer enough light to capture the awesomeness.

We said adios to Disneyland and made our way to California Adventure.

Mile 3: 36:22 (oh yeah baby - you are reading that correctly)

5k Split: 1:00:43

Made sure to say hi to the Jedis before snapping a selfie with my two favorite Storm Trooper Tinks!

While waiting in line for the Gamorean Guard photo, I was chatting with one of the cast members who actually remembered me from the previous day. He had taken my photo at another stop during the 10k. I'm guessing the black eye made me memorable.

The sun was starting to come up now and I was able to snap a pic while waiting in line for a pic with the Storm Troopers. Doesn't this look like it could be a backdrop on a set? Like Disneyland painted it?

I also thought it was time to grab a selfie with the folks kicking some booty!

Mess with me... mess with my troopers.

Thankfully all the stopping and standing around hadn't gotten to my legs yet. I made sure to continue to move and stretch while in all of the photo lines. Especially since I had a lot of miles left.

I mean how can I get angry at getting up at 4am to run when this view is part of the course?

Hello from Paradise Pier!

I mean hello.

It was at this moment that I ran into Ivie, AJ and Kara. This was a great chance to finally meet Kara in real life! We have been twitter friends, but missed connecting earlier in the weekend. She is a fellow AOII (Alpha Omicron Pi) and an all-around amazing person.

Photo swiped from Kara who may have swiped from Ivie.

My name is Dani and I am unable to look normal in a photo!

After chatting with them, we remembered we were in the middle of a race and should probably keep moving. Love seeing friends. I get sidetracked. So off we went. :)

Another stop for Jedis before...

Mile 4: 23:29

Now I knew our park time would be coming to a close soon so I tried to soak up as much Disneyland magic before heading to the streets of Anaheim.

Thankfully we had Cars Land up next.

Just before we exited the park, I saw one of the best signs so far.

It made me think of my wife and wonder how she was doing. Her legs were tired pre-race, but I hoped she would be able to dig deep and finish the Rebel Challenge.

It was finally time to hit the streets of Anaheim. I had no idea what to expect from this point on. I knew the course would be flat the rest of the way so I was appreciative of that.

While running down Harbor Boulevard, you could see the leaders making their way back towards Disneyland and the Finish. I love out and back courses like that. I was cheering loudly for them as they effortlessly (at least it looked that way) ran towards their medals. :)

Mile 5: 10:26

The first band looked awesome.

They were lively, energetic and playing some great tunes.

They also happened to have a bathroom. So I took the opportunity to stop, drop and port-o-potty!

<<Patting self on back>> perfect decision

Mile 6: 11:58

With a little spring in my step, I soldiered on.

10k Split: 1:46:02

The road was nice and wide so I spent some time bobbing and weaving through the crowd to find a nice hole where I could get into a nice running rhythm. I had spent so much time in line I was now way back in the crowds, which was fun to see everyone costumes. :)

The energy along the street was contagious.

I just wanted to jump in and attempt my own flag flying... but opted not to since these girls were rocking it!

Mile 7: 9:01

Ahhh how could the race be over halfway over. But I was having too much fun out there for it to end.

Apparently I was having so much fun that I forgot to take a pic of the Mile 8 marker. Whhaa?? How do you all know I saw it and passed it if I didn't take a pic. <>

The Mile 8 area also doubled as a water stop/Clif Gu stop. Don't worry I have pics of that.

Remember to hydrate folks!

Mile 8: 8:38

Now I had heard a rumor from past Avengers half participants that there may be some Cosplayers would be out during Mile 9. I was ready and freakin' impressed. Their costumes were ah-may-zing. They were happily taking photos with everyone.

It was a great photo opp especially for those folks that didn't have the luxury or didn't want to wait for pics inside the parks.

Additionally during Mile 9, I got to meet Elvis,

Trying to make an Uh Huh face

take candy from strangers,

and take a selfie with my friend Chris!

Also! How awesome are these signs?

Mile 9: 11:49

15k Split: 2:22:46

How could there only be 4 miles left in the fun?

We made our way through the residential neighborhoods and had some great spectators out on Chapman Avenue.

Mile 10: 14:23

**Note since I had gone back and forth in previous miles, my Garmin was ahead of the mile markers. Hi tangents! Therefore my Garmin had the character stops also on my Mile 10. Does that make sense? It will make more sense when I show my actual mileage at the end. :)

It was inspiring seeing how many folks out on the course were completing their Coast 2 Coast already! There were a number of folks that had their Dopey Challenge bibs from the previous week on their backs. Absolutely amazing and motivating.

I had to kick it up a notch.

My legs were feeling great. I was pleased I wore my Zensah compression sleeves for the race. They really kept my legs feeling fresh.

The high school and college cheerleaders and bands were doing an amazing job. Big ups to them for staying so positive and energetic for as long as they were out there!

Sometimes I think spectating can be harder than running.

Mile 11: 8:32

Oh a third Chewie to take a picture with during the same race? Yes please.

Mile 12: 9:04

And here we were. The final mile of the weekend.

I wasn't ready for the fun to be over.

Just before turning from Katelaa to Disneyland Drive and the Finish Area, I spotted a few folks and donuts I needed to take pics with.

I regret not eating a donut at the time. Thanks Sparkle Athletic for fueling the participants!!

Mile 13: 8:04

With being that close to the Finish, I was focusing on making a cool Finish Line photo and not snapping the Mile 13 marker. I had my cape flowing behind me ready to get that awesome photo when...

... I spotted Darth Goofy and lost my shit! :P I had to scramble to get my phone out and the photog caught this lovely pic. Oof!

... I had to snap a selfie with him right before the Finish Line.

And his hand is on my shoulder since that is apparently not allowed and he was guiding me towards the Finish. ;) It was worth it.

Even if this is the Finish photo I ended up with.

Finish Time: 2:55:11 Clock Time: 2:55:17

So again I started 6 seconds after the clock started. Cool!

Now you can see why my Garmin numbers were off of official Mile Markers as I added in about 0.6 miles of fun! :)

Yay the bling!

Oh and the Rebel Challenge medal. Just gorgeous.

I grabbed my water, snack box, banana and headed to the Party Area. But it wasn't my final destination.

Our plan was I would finish the race, head to Disneyland, grab us Fantasmic Fast Passes for later that night and then come back to see Tori finish her race.

Well I got to Disneyland 10 minutes before it opened so I spent the time explaining to folks coming up to me why I was dressed as Darth Vader, why I was wearing a bib and why I had medals. :)

Then found out the Fast Passes we wanted weren't available yet.

Sooo I grabbed a Castle selfie, got coffee and made my way back to the Finish Line.

Tori was texting me that she was hurting and getting close to the Finish Line. So I hustled myself back just in time to see her cross! Ahhh I was so proud. I was crying for her.

We went right to First Aid to get her some ice before heading back to our hotel to clean up before Park time.

***

Overall the race for me was amazing. It was worth the wait in lines even though it was pretty much the same characters all three days. I DO wish they had Disney characters dressed up as Star Wars characters along the course.

The Cosplayers during Mile 9 more than made up for a lack of characters at the beginning of the race. This was also a great opportunity for people to snap photos that didn't have the luxury of waiting earlier in the race due to time restraints for Finishing.

The water stops were plentiful and full of energy. The streets of Anaheim were alive and not boring as I had anticipated.

The bling was out of this world.

Do I wish there was more time spent in the parks? Of course. But Disneyland doesn't have as much park space to work with as Disney World.

I loved that you could easily walk to the corrals without having to take shuttles.

I was disappointed with lack of useable action shots from the Marathon Foto folks. Hence most of my pics in the recap were selfies outside of character stops.

I wish the Finishers' snack box had more edible treats. Of everything in there I only found the tortilla chips appealing.

The course was mainly flat outside of some inclines at the beginning.

***

Next up? #RebelTweetup.

Just 11 spots left in 2nd Annual Stop Stroke Shuffle 5k (Virtual & In-Person)

The 2nd Annual Stop Stroke Shuffle In Person and Virtual has just 11 spots remaining!!! Have you grabbed yours yet???

For those that don't know, I am running the 2015 Boston Marathon with Tedy's Team to raise awareness and fight Stroke! This will be my third-consecutive Boston Marathon with Tedy's Team and I run in honor of my grandparents, my father-in-law and all those affected by Stroke.

If you are in the Boston area, please think about coming down to run/walk/bike the 5k with me in person on February 15 at Noon.

We will be hosting the event out of Slumbrew's American Fresh Brewhouse at Assembly Row (in Somerville). American Fresh is a heated tent with ample free parking and access to the Assembly Stop on the Orange line.

We will have bibs, medals and water on hand. There will be beer available for purchase!

^^ Strollers welcome, but unfortunately pups need to stay home this time.

**PLEASE NOTE: this will not be a chip-timed race**

Register HERE for in person OR virtual option!

If you are NOT in the Boston or unable to join us on February 15, please consider running/walking/biking the charity 5k virtually.

A virtual run-walk means you do the 5k (3.1 mile) “race” at your leisure anytime in the month of February! Map out your own route, get your own friends together or jump on the old trusty treadmill. Your call.

This “race” is one to anyone all over the world.

I will provide a race bib that you can print out and fix to your shirt (if you want)!!

Register HERE for in person OR virtual option!

***

The Finisher's Medal is going to GLOW IN THE DARK this year!! Yay! Well okay the outer ring of the medal plus the 2015 portion will glow. But still awesome. I love it.

The $26.20 registration fee is a donation to Tedy's Team!

Register HERE for in person OR virtual option!

Face It Friday: No Weigh In, Blizzard 2015 & An Honest Tracker 1/30/15

Today I took a No-Weigh In. The wife started feeling woozy and sick yesterday so take a wild guess who started feeling those symptoms next. So last night I took some Nyquil PM and turned my alarm off. Taking care of us is more important than the scale. So I am okay with the choice.

Now this past week was not one of my finest weeks food wise. Not the reason I took the NWI. The number on the scale is just that a number.

I made the conscious choice to bring tempting snacks into the house when I knew I would be stuck in the house due to Blizzard 2015. Now I did do about 3+ hours of shoveling on Tuesday (day of the storm) AND went outside for a 4.5 mile run.

Bravo to me for getting out and getting active despite multiple excuses I could've used.

Next Blizzard I will keep the tempting chippy type snacks out of the house and move the healthy stuff (that I did have in the house) to the FRONT of the fridge and cabinets!

I had a horrendous week keeping my emotional eating and poor snack choices in check BUT I weighed/measured it all and honestly tracked. Why lie to my tracker? It only hurts me.

Since my tracker is never failure and only FEEDBACK, I have a new plan for this week. My week restarts on Friday!

I did a lot of good stuff this week that I will celebrate:

^ 10 straight days of tracking, 100% on activelink (10 APs) and at least 10k steps on my Fitbit ^ 16 consecutive days of drinking at least 100oz of water ^ Extended my running streak to 97-straight days ^ Successfully practiced self-forgiveness

I also had a sweet Non-Scale Victory (NSV) at an Athleta event on Newbury Street. Oh hey size Medium pants! Yes I had to buy both pairs because well they were Medium AND I was getting 30% off. ;)

***

Are you tracking honestly?

Disneyland Part 3: Star Wars 10k

After an amazing time at the Star Wars 5k, I couldn't wait to tackle the 10k course! On Saturday, January 17, I woke up again at 4am to prep for the 5:30am start. I chugged some water (so glad I got the 24 case of water from CVS), enjoyed the first half of my Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt KIND Bar (6PPV for whole thing) and prep my costume!

Oh and of course the pre-run photo. Didn't my wife do an AMAZING job with my Chewbacca costume? It is absolutely amazing!!

Like the 5k, we headed out to the Start Area at 4:45am. This time the wife would be running as well. She was bracing herself for Race 1 of the Rebel Challenge. While I made my way to Corral A, I dropped the wife in Corral E (last corral).

The Star Wars 10k offered a similar set-up to the 5k.

Rudy and Carissa did another great job entertaining the crowd.

I couldn't get over how close to the front I was. Oh hi Start Line. I get giddy every time I find out I am lucky enough to be in Corral A.

Oh no! Vader came and took Rudy to the Dark Side...

But after a quick sneak peek at the new Star Wars movie hitting theatres in December 2015, Rudy escaped the Dark Side!

What was funny was Rudy got a little excited to come back on stage and almost went up before he was officially "returned" to the Light Side! Ha. A funny thing to catch where I was watching from. :)

After another entertaining pre-race set, it was time to get the 10k party started!

Since we started from the same place as the 5k I knew we had some on ramps/inclines off the bat.

As you can see by the course map, we started out on the streets outside of the park and with it being 5:30am there wasn't much to look at. I will thank the few spectators out there for making some NOISE for us! :)

Mile 1: 7:57

I actually spotted a fellow Team Chocolate Milk member Jesus while out on the streets so I had fun catching up with him before we made our way to Disneyland.

I had to stop and get a picture with some Rebels on Main Street.

Mile 2: 8:06

They actually had a Marathon Foto rep at the Mile 2 marker sign, which is rare.

As I ran away from the Mile Marker, I snapped a quick picture of the Castle as I headed towards Frontierland before realizing there was a photo opp.

Frontierland was dark while we ran through so I once again used my trusty flashlight app on my phone to help my course. I did see a few people also rocking headlamps because of the early morning start.

I was surprised there weren't more park lights on through this section of the course.

From Frontierland we made our way to Fantasyland

Ummm maybe I was getting ready to raise the roof??

There he was... my Chewie!

Now at the few Disney World races I have done while in Corral A, I never waited in character lines (very lucky). Disneyland at this themed run - lines everywhere. I was happy to wait since I was lucky enough to have the time, but it was just an interesting thing to note.

After a quick photo opp in front of the Castle, it was time to make out way through the other side of Fantasyland before exiting the park.

Fantasyland was pretty well lit compared to Frontierland.

Mine Mine Mine

Oh hey It's A Small World... selfie time!

And then we were out of Disneyland and on to some backlot running. It isn't the best views, but the cast members sure bring their A-game when it comes to cheering you on in these parts.

Mile 3: 13:28 (yes you read that correctly - Chewie was worth it)

The backlot had some light displays on the building which you weren't supposed to photograph.

Umm... my finger slipped! ;)

There aren't too many exciting shots on the backlot portion of the run so my phone had nada until the Mile 4 marker.

Mile 4: 8:25

Now it was California Adventures time! Woo!

The lighting was awesome in the park as we came down Buena Vista Street.

There were some Rebels waiting for us at the end of the Street before turning towards the mighty Tower of Terror.

Oh don't worry Cars Land we will see you shortly, but Hi for now!

As we made our way towards Pacific Pier, I took a moment to check in with my body. Everything was feeling okay - the breaks for photos actually gave my legs mini recoveries throughout the run. Since it was early, I didn't feel too much intensity from the weather. I was actually happy and lucky that it was cooler so early in the morning. ;)

Just when I had a inner convo with my body, it was time for another photo opp - Boba Fett.

My Phone

Official Photo

I had a great time passing time in the line while chatting with the other runners and the cast members. Also I like that I look tanner in the official photo. :P

I made sure to get Boba Fett's photo since that is one of the wife's favorite characters. I thought if nothing else we could photo shop her into the photo. ;)

After that photo stop, it was finally time to get the shot of the iconic ferris wheel.

I mean how beautiful is it? I hear the ride itself is scary, but I like looking at it just fine.

Our tour of Paradise Pier continued...

It had to have a stop at Toy Story Mania. I love Mr. Potato Head.

And of course I stopped for an impromptu photo with some Jedis.

After finishing up in Paradise Pier, we officially headed into Cars Land ... right after passing the Mile 5 marker.

Mile 5: 12:54

And now a close run through Cars Land.

I definitely had better Cars Land pics during the 5k.

Yeah no idea what I was doing in this pic. Making sure they could see my bib number maybe? #Awkward

Once through Cars Land we were out of the park and doing backlot running until we hit the parking lot for Downtown Disney and straight down the street along Disneyland Hotel to the Finish.

Mile 6: 8:05

While the final mile wasn't all that exciting Disney-wise, there was amazing crowd support!! Lots of amazing CHEARleeders out there. :)

Official Time: 1:01:34 (my Garmin was only off by 5 seconds since I didn't stop it immediately)

Now 9.3 miles down and 13.1 to go. But first, medal time!

Then the Marathon Foto guy got artsy: Do a jump in celebration.

I kinda love it despite my shorts really showing.

And how awesome is the medal??

Seriously great bling!

I took myself, my medal and my snack box back to the Finish Area to try and catch some friends crossing.

I saw Justin (fellow WW member) who was also tackling the Rebel Challenge.

My Selfie

His "Normal" Photo

Aaannnnd I got to see the wife Finish. I may have started crying. Okay I was already crying. I love watching Finish Lines and seeing all of the emotion!

Once the wife visited the med tent for some ice for her knee, we headed to Earl of Sandwich for some breakfast before heading back to the hotel to get ready for a day of park seeing and tweeting up! ;)

***

Overall the Star Wars 10k was another great Disney race. I wish there was more light in the Frontierland section as it was the darkest part of the course.

Water stops and spectators were well staffed and full of energy.

I also picked up on the fact that there would ONLY be Star Wars characters for the races. I was hoping maybe a Disney character dressed up as a Star Wars character, but alas no go. Apparently they were at the Wookie Party, which we didn't want to pay for. Boo! But something I didn't know in advance for the theme races. Now I know!

I was happy with how I ran and used the water stops to walk and the character stops to stretch!

***

Next up: Star Wars Half Marathon!

Disneyland Part 2: Star Wars 5k

Oh I don't have to wake up at 2:30am. Oh I don't have to take a shuttle from my hotel to the Race Area.

Oh I don't have to walk a mile from the Pre-Race Party Area to the Start Area.

Folks - I am NOT in Disney World anymore! :)

Now I love all of the things I listed above as they are part of the Run Disney experience. BUT I can say it was sort of sweet to sleep in until 4am for the 5:30am 5k Start.

Once I was up, had some water, made sure I had everything for my costume and of course took a pre-race pic!

Ewok

We headed out at 4:45am to walk to the Start area... which was less than 1/2 a mile from our hotel (Alpine Inn).

I was lucky enough to be in Corral A so I headed to the front. I cannot tell you how exciting and an honor it is to be up in that Corral. I know I work hard at other races to be able to thoroughly enjoy the Run Disney experience.

Marathon Foto was out in full effect and since I buy the photos I make sure to pause for every photog. ;)

Since I was in my corral by 5am I was able to work my way up to the Start platform where Carissa and Rudy would be announcing from.

While Carissa and Rudy entertained the crowd and honored the sponsors, they were joined by two adorable droids.

Selfie Time!

Hi Guys!!

To entertain the corral before we went off, the race played on the scrolling text that happens at the beginning of the Star Wars movie.

It may be hard to read from my pics.

Now the Star Wars 5k is an untimed race that weaves through the parks.

I brought my Garmin with me just because I was interested in how long it would take including any character stops I did.

Oh and I forgot my goal for the weekend - like Dopey Challenge - was to stop at every character stop I saw. Time or pace mean nothing to me at Disney since I do have the pleasure of starting in the first corral. I have more time to work with.

I was so swept up in the pre-race entertainment that all of a sudden Rudy was counting us down... and we were off.

Ahhh yay! I love the start of any race, but especially Run Disney with the confetti. I want to start every training run with confetti. :P

Again this was my first time at Disneyland so the course and parks would all be new to me.

I saw the Rebels and had to stop - of course. They didn't have an official MarathonFoto photog, but there was a Disney cast member to take photos. I appreciate that Disney does have cast members at each official stop to take photos for participants with their personal phone or camera.

Since it is so early and dark my photos aren't always the greatest, but I like having something to post instead of waiting for official photos to upload.

Mile 1: 7:59

Even though the Castle is smaller than in Disney World, it is still an amazing sight.

With fewer people running the 5k, which means fewer people in each corral - I felt as if I was running through the parks alone. I mean it was truly magical.

Then I saw him... Chewie!

My Phone

Official Photo

Yeah worth the $$.

Vader and the Storm Troopers

My Phone

Official Photo

As we ran down Main Street in Disneyland, I couldn't help but smile.

We headed down Main Street and out of the Disneyland.

One last photo in front of Disneyland.

Once out of the park, we made our way to California Adventures via a backlot street.

Mile 2: 9:20

After Mile 2, we made our way into California Adventures via "A Bug's Land" then on to Cars Land.

Even in the dark, Cars Land is an amazing sight.

Since we were running out of miles, we made our way through the entrance of California Adventures towards Downtown Disney.

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But first - more rebels.

Even though the race was wicked early, there was great crowd support through Downtown Disney.

237142_182662445_XLarge

I actually had to ask a couple of folks to scooch over so I could take a pic of the Mile 3 marker. ;)

Mile 3: 8:45

I get wicked sad at the end of any race because the fun is over, but especially Disney races. I reminded myself I did have 19.3 more miles of fun ahead of me. ;)

Since I was still pretty much alone, I pretended as if I won the 5k when I was coming down the Finish chute. Carissa even announced my name. :)

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A girl can pretend right?

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And just like that the Star Wars 5k was over!

I know my distances are always longer than the race advertises since I go back and forth getting character photos, etc.

Time to collect my first piece of hardware of the weekend. Now the 5k is pegged as a Family Run by Disney so you are given a plastic medallion over a real medal. I am cool with that, but some others aren't.

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After collecting my medallion, water, banana and snack box, I scooted through what would be the Finish party Area!

Not so bumpin' after the 5k. :P

I headed to the Downtown Disney area (less than 1/4 a mile from the Finish) to meet Tori and grab some much-needed coffee.

Unfortunately no Dunkin Donuts in Anaheim, so I had to celebrate with Starbucks.

I know I know <<tiny violin>>

With coffee in hand, we headed back to the hotel - all the while cheering on everyone else finishing up the 5k - to prepare for the day ahead... the Parks!

***

Overall the 5k was a great race. A little dark in some places so I did use the flashlight app on my phone a couple of times, but it was a ton of fun as always!

Pretty flat besides some inclines due to on ramps at the beginning.

I would definitely do it again!

***

Next up: Star Wars 10k!

Disneyland Part 1: LA Sun & Star Wars Expo Fun

Who can complain when they are fleeing 20 degree weather in Boston for 70 degree weather in Los Angeles? Don't worry - it's not this girl!

The wife and I were psyched to be heading to Disneyland for the first time for the inaugural Star Wars race weekend (January 15-19).

Thankfully my mom was able to drop us off at Logan Airport to save time and money right off the top of the trip. Woo!

We took a direct American Airlines flight to LA. While a direct flight is nice, it is tough to be trapped on a plane for six hours. I tried to get up and walk as much as possible, but I still felt pain in my back.

Once landed at LAX, we took the Super Shuttle to our hotel (Alpine Inn) down in Anaheim. Now I can definitely tell you the Super Shuttle is NOTHING compared to the Magical Express. Haha. If you didn't guess that already. :P

The Super Shuttle roundtrip for both the wife & I came to $76 - the most cost-effective way we found to take the hour trek from LA to Anaheim.

We were the final couple to be dropped off and I was ITCHING to get out and walk!!

Hello palm trees!

We made a quick pit stop in the room to drop our stuff and make sure we had our Run Disney race waivers... and then we were off!!

I was on East Coast time and ready to eat my arm off. Yes I didn't bring enough snacks. #RookieMistake

As we took the first right around our block, BAM! There were the Disneyland hotels. I knew we were close, but didn't know it was THAT close. Score!

This would definitely come in handy on race days!

As we continued past the hotels making our way to Downtown Disney I spotted my first race sign.

Oohhh I was getting sooo excited.

After geeking out it was time to grab a quick sandwich and beer at La Brea Bakery. I highly recommend the BLT - delish. It was humorous I went all that way for a local beer and ended up drinking a Sam Adams (out of Boston) Rebel IPA. I thought the Rebel in the name at least went with the weekend's theme.

Now it was at the airport on this day that the black eye from a previous fall started showing its true colors - if you will. Dammit! The black and white filter on Instagram hid it nicely though. :)

Once we were properly fed and hydrated, it was time to make our way to the Expo.

But first we were stopped by AJ and Ivie and got to chat with them. We had only met online previously so it was nice to finally put a "bigger than your IG pic" face to a name.

I loooove a good Expo and was excited to hopefully spot some more familiar faces.

The Expo was held at the Disneyland Hotel. If we head back to Disneyland, I would love to spend a night there. It looked amazing.

We made our way straight to bib pick-up before doing to the merch/expo area. I had heard there was plenty of official merch there so I didn't feel we had to rush.

During bib pick-up I was able to meet a blog reader Liz and her husband. Liz's husband was in my corral and bought tickets from the same travel group so it was like I was following them around the bib pick-up area. Ummm hi! ;)

Once bibs were secured for both the wife and I, we headed to merch!

BUT first we got to walk through a very cool red black carpet welcome.

So cool and different.

The Star Wars weekend would be the first race in our quest for our first Coast To Coast medal.

We will collect the C2C medal during Run Disney's Princess weekend in Disney World in February. Woo!

Once inside we made our way to pick up our shirts. I would be walking away with 4 thanks to the 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Rebel Challenge. :) The Men's Medium however were too big so I went to exchange. They didn't have any Men's Small so I had to go to the scary side of trying on the more fitting women's shirt. Somehow I fit into the Women's Medium! Ahhh hello Non-Scale Victory! :)

Then it was time for the official merch area and found out that the Inaugural 19.3 Star Wars jacket I spotted someone wearing at Downtown Disney sold out first. Gahhhh of course. Oh well that's okay. I got myself an "I Did It!" shirt and a magnet. The wife got herself a Star Wars weekend sweatshirt. I'm glad they didn't have more I was interested in since I had spent too much money on Dopey Challenge gear last year. ;)

There are a few booths I will stop by at every Expo. First one? Sparkly Soul headbands of course.

I was eager to check out the Star Wars specific "May The Sparkle Be With You" headband, but they hadn't arrived yet. Oof! That was okay. I was happy to pick one up the following day when they arrived. The Expo was smaller than the one at Disney World so it would be easy to pop back over.

I also stopped by the Sparkle Athletic booth, but didn't spot Kelly to say hi. So I was off to KT Tape to pick up the Minnie Mouse tape that you can only get at a Run Disney expo. Priorities, right? :)

After stopping by some other booths, it was time to hit up the Run Disney Instagram booth to get our photo on!

I had to pick the dark side since the wife would pick the light side!

Yes the black eye also led to me picking the dark side.

As we were heading out of the Expo, I heard a familiar voice over the Expo speakers and saw the amazing Carissa in front of me. Carissa is an awesome blogger and Run Disney announcer. It is always a pleasure to see her and her little baby bump.

She even let me pretend to be a Run Disney announcer. Of course the volume was off. :P

I was channeling my past career as a journalist. Do I look like I am listening?

It was finally time to head back to the hotel and come up with our game plan for the following day's 5k race.

Oh but first a photo!

Thankfully there was a CVS on the way back to the hotel so we could get a 24-pack of bottled water for the hotel room. Hydration being my #1 concern with the adjustment from Boston winter to LA winter.

But the warmth was also going to play a part in my running so I wanted to get out and do a quick run before we headed to dinner.

It was amazing to run in a tank top. While the pace looked normal for me, I was dripping in sweat. Hello heat.

After freshening up and laying out my costume for the following morning, it was time to make our way back to Downtown Disney where we had a reservation at Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria.

I had the individual pizza with Red Wine while the wife opted for ravioli with Sangria. She loved her dish, while I was okay with mine. It just didn't hit the spot for me. The meal seemed a bit overpriced for what I had.

It was super easy to land a reservation at the Disneyland establishments on the Disney Experience app within a week of the race. We were a little behind schedule. Oops!

Don't worry everyone all of our Disney World dinners were booked awhile back. ;)

Since we didn't have a park pass for that night, we opted to head back to the hotel and crash early. I was totally on East Coast time.

Plus, I needed to make sure we knew exactly where to go for the next morning's 5k. The wife wasn't running in the 5k, but was going to come watch since the race started at 5:30am - which would be 8:30am East Coast time. :)

***

Next up: Star Wars 5k!

Dani Dishes: Life Update Plus Disneyland Fun

On this episode of #DaniDishes, it is time to catch up on the last two weeks of life including a black eye, weight management milestone and running at Disneyland! Also looking to sign up for the virtual OR in person 5k to benefit Tedy's Team and the American Stroke Association? Do so here!!

The 2nd Annual Stop Stroke Shuffle 5k Finisher's Medal Reveal!

The 2nd Annual Stop Stroke Shuffle In Person and Virtual 5k registration is OPEN!!!

For those that don't know, I am running the 2015 Boston Marathon with Tedy's Team to raise awareness and fight Stroke! This will be my third-consecutive Boston Marathon with Tedy's Team and I run in honor of my grandparents, my father-in-law and all those affected by Stroke.

If you are in the Boston area, please think about coming down to run/walk/bike the 5k with me in person on February 15 at Noon.

We will be hosting the event out of Slumbrew's American Fresh Brewhouse at Assembly Row (in Somerville). American Fresh is a heated tent with ample free parking and access to the Assembly Stop on the Orange line.

We will have bibs, medals and water on hand. There will be beer available for purchase!

^^ Strollers welcome, but unfortunately pups need to stay home this time.

**PLEASE NOTE: this will not be a chip-timed race**

Register HERE for in person OR virtual option!

If you are NOT in the Boston or unable to join us on February 15, please consider running/walking/biking the charity 5k virtually.

A virtual run-walk means you do the 5k (3.1 mile) “race” at your leisure anytime in the month of February! Map out your own route, get your own friends together or jump on the old trusty treadmill. Your call.

This “race” is one to anyone all over the world.

I will provide a race bib that you can print out and fix to your shirt (if you want)!!

Register HERE for in person OR virtual option!

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The Finisher's Medal is going to GLOW IN THE DARK this year!! Yay! Well okay the outer ring of the medal plus the 2015 portion will glow. But still awesome. I love it.

The $26.20 registration fee is a donation to Tedy's Team!

Register HERE for in person OR virtual option!

Tedy's Team Group Run: 1st Riverside Run (1/10/15)

This run would be mine! That's right. Despite seeing a real feel of -4 for this morning's group run with Tedy's Team I was excited for it.

Today (January 10) is my three-year anniversary of hitting goal with Weight Watchers (60+ lbs shed through WW and 80 overall). So there was a little extra pep in my step.

My usual running mates weren't going to make it due to injury and sickness so I know this would be more a of a solo run. I opted to leave the music at home since I'm now so used to running without it (thanks triathlon training).

The wife dropped me off at 7:50am and thankfully I had enough time to get some foam rolling in before we departed.

Today would be our first Riverside run of the season. A Riverside run means we take the green line of the MBTA (train) from Kenmore Square to the end of the D Line (Riverside stop). Once at Riverside, we run the 10.6 or so miles back to Kenmore. Why do this? Because we get to run on the actual Boston Marathon course and get some much-needed practice on Heartbreak Hill.

For those that don't know Heartbreak Hill is about three miles of rolling hills that hit you at Mile 17 of the marathon. So the hills themselves aren't horrendous, but when your legs already have 17 miles on them - they seem enormous! ;)

When we departed the train at Riverside (after a 30 or so minute ride - worst part of the experience), I bee-lined it for the bathroom (shocker I know) and had to take a picture of this awesome sign. :O)

After retying my shoes and locating satellites, it was time to get this run in motion.

Thankfully I've now done this run enough times that I actually know where I'm going. Tiny win! It takes just two rights and one left until you are officially on the marathon course. Oh the memories. Every time I step on that course I am transported back to race day for both 2013 and 2014.

Mile 1: 8:27 Mile 2: 8:42

Then THE right happens... on to Comm Ave and the start of Heartbreak Hill. I was all ready to snap a pic of the iconic Newton Firehouse, which is kind of the welcome committee to Heartbreak, but my phone decided to say this.

Apparently the iPhone is too lazy to have a "too hot" and "too cold" message so it gives the same one either way. Because as I mentioned earlier Real Feel was -4, which doesn't scream warm to me. How about you?

Mile 3: 8:35

Just before hitting Mile 4, I saw the familiar faces of our Tedy's Team water stop! YAY!

I look forward to these social stops WAAAYY too much! haha

Teammate Patricia and I

And I know you were all waiting for the obligatory: Margaret and Dani pic! :)

So apparently I was out there to run not gab! Huh. Who knew? So I hit Start on the Garmin and continued on OWNING Heartbreak. ;)

I was feeling really good. I don't know why, but I felt strong and in the zone.

I didn't look at my watch at all for pace, but instead focused on how I was feeling.

Mile 4: 8:07

Just before Mile 5, my phone decided it was "cool enough" to work again. Bring on the selfies!

And now I could show the slushy snow covering the ground adding a little cross training to today's run.

Mile 5: 8:38

Now as I mentioned Heartbreak is actually 3 miles worth of rolling hills with the biggest and baddest at the end... of course!

Here is where I mentally have to prep myself. There could be some swearing going on, there could be some internal high fives and there could be some promises of beer to myself if I make it up and over.

Hey! Whatever it takes right?

While running up this final leg of Heartbreak, I saw the kids of Dreamfar out there putting in some serious work.

Dreamfar High School Marathon (DHSM) is New England’s first high school marathon training program.  We are a Greater Boston-based program that teaches high school students that anything is possible, even completing a marathon.  With hard work, perseverance and guidance from dedicated mentors, our runners realize their potential as they train for the Cox Providence Marathon.

This lit another fire under my booty and I gave the hill everything I had.

This is why when taking mid-run selfies you take mulitple. They aren't all winners. :P

The final push was tough, but felt better than I expected. Not sure what was different about today's run than runs past, but I went with it.

Mile 6: 8:46

The amazing sight when coming off of the final Heartbreak Hill push is BC.

During the marathon there is a huge blow up arch that says:

From Boston 2014

A magical sight during the race.

With the major hills being over, the run continued to familiar ground: Beacon St through Brookline and back to Kenmore Square.

Mile 7: 8:17

The great thing about all the charity runners out on the course together is the sense of community. Folks stop at each other's water stops. There are tons of smiles, high fives and of course runner nods. :)

Our final water stop of the day was 7.6 miles in.

John was ready for us with water and gatorade. I enjoyed my mini luna bar before heading out to finish this thang. Am I cool enough to pull off thang? I don't think so. Doing it anyway.

I bobbed and weaved my way through the downtown Brookline as folks were out for brunch, etc. I tried to stay in the bike lane to avoid as much congestion as possible.

Mile 8: 8:28 Mile 9: 8:06

The only downfalls to running downtown are the people and the stoplights. Nothing like getting in a running groove and hitting every single red light. I was on that path this morning.

As I made my way down Beacon, I could see the final incline between me and coffee.

I've mentioned before this incline is just before the Mile 25 marker for the marathon so on it's own not that bad - at the point of the race it is? Killer.

As I looked ahead all I could see of the Citgo sign was GO... and GO I did.

I was going for 10.9 miles to make my 2015 year to date total a nice round 53.

Mile 10: 8:11

So I took an extra long route to Dunkin, which left me at 10.9 miles exactly.

I felt great at the end of the run. Could I have run 15.3 more? Not at that same pace, but I could've kept going.

I know I need to slow my long runs down as they should be slower than projected marathon pace, but today I let my body guide the pace and it felt okay the entire run.

I can tell being back at my goal weight is helping my pace and my overall feeling while running. Keeping excess weight off my back keeps that and my knees feeling better.

I opted to grab a coffee and wait for my wife at Dunkin. Of course I did some stretching while I waited.

Now I will miss the team's 12-14 mile run next weekend as I will be taking on 22.4 miles (5k-10k-Half) at Disneyland. I will miss the group, but I will be happy with the weather, costumes and character stops! :)

***

Week 5 Workouts:

Sunday, January 4: 5k run Monday, January 5: 4-mile run Tuesday, January 6: Hill Repeats (2.8 miles) & 45-min Spin class (Turnstyle) Wednesday, January 7: 4-mile run & 2.5-mile walk Thursday, January 8: 5k run Friday, January 9: 5-mile run Saturday, January 10: 10.9-mile run

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Looking to Donate?

Are you interested in helping to fight Stroke? Please feel free to click on the link HERE to share a donation.

My Stroke Heroes