Disneyland Half Marathon 5th year edition

I look forward to this race each year. But I have no idea how well I would do this year. I've been dealing with injuries and niggles since October of last year. Things were getting better by June until I hurt myself on a training run. I've been resting and taking it easy. But since I've committed to running my paid races, I still run here and there to have some sort of fitness to complete these races.

I left work early on Friday to attend the expo. It was pretty painless. I bought a red tech shirt and 2 Disney pins to commemorate 5 years of running. I'm such a sucker for Disney products.

Race Day
I got to the parking lot at about 3:40am. There were huge lines. Instructions said that the lot would be open at 3:30 so I think they were having some sort of technical difficulty. This year parking was $15! I think back in 2006, it was $8 or $9. I relaxed in my car until 4:15 listening to my boy band music on my iPod. I walked over to the pre-race staging area. I bumped into a former coworker who will be running a marathon with Team in Training later in the year. Later I spot another Team in Training friend. I hung out with him for a little bit. Then I headed over to corral A. While waiting in the corral, I bumped into a couple of my maniac friends.

Goal A: sub 1:50:00
Goal B: sub 1:55:00
Goal C: sub 2:00:00

I started near the back of corral A. So for most of the first mile, I was trapped behind slower runners. For me, it was a good thing since my right ankle has been gimpy. But I got antsy and started following the flag runner. He's a pretty big guy and runs his half marathons in the 1:40s. So I let him clear the way. I stuck to my usual plan of walking 1 minute for every 30 minutes running. By the 10k mark, I started to feel discomfort in the right ankle. I knew my sub 1:50 wasn't going to happen today. The 1:50 pace group ran past me shortly. I gradually slowed down because the right foot started to hurt. I took a salt cap and a gel at about the 1 hr mark. I tried to concentrate on my form and sped up a little to see if I could improve on my personal best for a half marathon. It was fun running on the warning track at Angels stadium. The right ankle/foot was no bueno during miles 11 - 12. I started doing calculations when I reached mile 12. I knew I had a new personal best in the bag. It was a soft PB, but at least I'm headed in the right direction again.
1: 8:13
2-3: 15:11 (7:35)
4: 8:41
5-6: 16:48 (8:24)
7: 8:49
8: 9:04
9: 8:43
10: 8:36
11-12: 18:48 (9:24)
13: 8:50
13.1: 0:45
Finish: 1:52:28

Previous years:
2009: 1:54:40
2008: 1:55:07
2007: 2:06:38
2006: 2:02:37

Post Race Thoughts
Except for the extremely hot year in 2007, I've run faster each year. I think you have to be a pretty die-hard Disney fan to be a legacy runner.

5th year medal with the legacy lanyard

The first 6 miles felt great with a couple of sub 8 miles, but the right ankle was just not 100%. Seeing how I practically jogged the last 7 miles in this race and still set a personal best... I'll most likely go faster at the next half marathon, the Los Angeles RnR Half Marathon in late October. After the race, I ate at the Original Pancake House with a couple of friends. That place was packed. I had the Irish Omelette which included 3 pancakes. The omelette was pretty good with corned beef.