13.1 Miles Later...

Today I ran my first ever half-marathon! To date, it's the longest continuous run I've ever completed. If you remember from this post, I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. Injuries to my shins kept me from training for two weeks, so I felt very under-prepared.

Needless to say, I was up this morning at 4:30 for a breakfast consisting of a toasted bagel, an Oddwalla bar (flavor: banana-nut-something), and a lot of water. Power food, baby! At 5:15, Scott and I drove up to the gateway, got on trax, and made it up to the legacy bridge at around 6:55. Mind you, the race started at 7:00.

Well, we needed to use the restroom and drop off our gear bags and the like, so we headed out to do that and before you know it we hear "three... two... one... BANG!!!" The race had started.

No biggie. We took our time and started about 10 minutes after everyone else.

To make a long race-story short, I felt really great for the first 8 miles! Oh man... it felt as if I'd run 4 miles. Really. It was so weird, but great! I decided to pick up the pace for the last 5 and still felt good till about mile 10. Armed with the knowledge that I only had three miles left, though, I blazed ahead. The low point of the entire thing was on State Street where you make a final climb up the hill to the capitol. UGGGH! Death to your legs! After that, though, you're gifted with a long, downhill coast to the finish line.

I ended up finishing it in 1 hour and 41 minutes! That amounts to 7:45 mile splits! My goal was to finish in under two hours, so I was really happy with my performance.

Enjoy these pictures from throughout the day!

My family came up to cheer for me! Nothing gives you that rush you need like loved ones cheering you on. Oh, how I love them!

Shan took this picture and many more. I felt really good here. (about mile eight)

Thumbs up and a smile! A good sign, generally speaking.


Danny got this shot of me in the final chute to the finish line. I was blazing and nearly dead. Like a zombie on fire.


Creamies! One of the finer free treats at the end of the race! I ate like five.


Scott and I proudly displaying our "Everybody Wins" medals. :) Participation prizes ROCK!

-Barry

Happiest Place on Earth

I was in Disneyland last weekend getting my ride on. Dad and I went down last Thursday for a three-day theme park sprint. We wore ourselves out, but ended up having a ton of fun.

Here's how it went down...

We arrived Thursday morning to overcast skies. The weather was a pleasant 65 degrees.

We get to the park and the first ride we decide to go on is... yeah... Splash Mountain. Notice Dad's futile attempt at keeping dry. He brought a poncho on board, but couldn't get it on, so he just flattened it out against him. This kept him dry from the inital sprinkle that came over the front of the log car, but was utterly ineffective when, soon thereafter, a tsunami-sized wave crashed over the right side. Thursday was a soggy day for us, even without rain.


The fastpass is essential to a good, fulfilling Disneyland experience. Without it, you'll spend most of your day in lines. With it, you'll spend most of your day laughing at those standing in lines.

Thunder Mountain Railroad is a classic. It's one of the more rugged rides at Disneyland and if you let it catch you off guard, you'll get a free back adjustment.


In tomorrowland this enormous ball of stone sits atop a fountain of water, allowing it to be spun with little effort. The kids love it.

As we stood in line for the monorail I snapped this shot of the Matterhorn, with the "Finding Nemo" submarines in the foreground. We went on the Matterhorn four times. It's got just enough of that "theres-no-way-in-hell-this-car-is-securely-fastened-to-the-track" feeling to make it fun AND scary.

The caption reads: "The magic of Disneyland may cause the urge to spring from your seats and dance."

Forground: Barry. Background: Matterhorn. Location: Monorail.

That monorail is two weeks old. Brand spanking new.

I wonder if adult midgets take offense at this sign.

We waited 40 minutes in the line for the Casey Jr. train ride. 40 minutes! I was mildly annoyed. Then I saw the amazing miniature landscapes and forgot about my anger. Disneyland is like that. It has the power to push your patience to the limit one moment, and soothe you with little cottages the next.

This guy was our jungle cruise tour guide. He was pretty funny, but most people on board didn't get his humor. And why the white gloves? Did he just take off his Mickey costume? Is he afraid of germs? We'll never know.
Bonus points to you if you can tell me what time this picture was taken...

Ducks. They love Disneyland. It's full of food scraps and free of predators.

One of the best rides in the "California Adventure" park. Check out the video below...

The only time I really, truly, almost dropped my camera was when I took this picture.

Hands down the best ride I've ever been on for the sheer sense of giddy euphoria you experience after the fact.

I'd have my hands up if I didn't have to hold onto my camera.

Foreground: Me and Dad. Background: Thunder Mountain.

Dad and I in the "Blue Bayou" restaurant, enjoying dinner. The restaurant is situated inside the same building as the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. So cool! We sat on the waterfront and watched people float calmly by in their boats, soon to cascade down the falls into the actual ride.

Dad surveys the map while we wait in line for something in fantasyland.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. He appears to be checking the weather, no?


It's not that I'm a bad driver. It's just that so many people keep jumping in front of the damn car.

I'm on the Matterhorn Bobsleds here. Dad sat behind me and asked me to turn around and smile in the pitch black of the initial climb. If you look carefully you can see just a little bit of the fake rock tunnel.

So beautiful at night. I wish I had faster glass.

Nothing compliments the fireworks show like a rock-hard Toll House ice cream sandwich. Worth all of the 5.00 they charge for it.

Ohh... the fireworks are great. Every night they put on this fantastic show themed on the park's most popular rides. Dad said he'd pay the entrance fee just to come see the fireworks. I think he was exaggerating, but not by much.


Throngs of weary, but content people leave the park as their Disneyland experience comes to a close. We had a great time. Thanks, Dad!

-Barry