13.1 done!

Beat our best previous half marathon time by 6 minutes on Sunday at the Houston Half marathon! I've done the Houston Half in 2006 and in 2008. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, we did the Disney Half. All have always been in Jan which makes for a completely doable training season. We opted out of the Disney Half this Jan, and the associated Disney World, Fl trip that accompanies it. That's made me particularly sad because it's been fun benchmarking Anna's growth every year there. But we've decided to go in September instead to what was going to be the Wine and Dine Half but is now the Tower of Terror 10 miler. Oh well, screw you Disney for foiling our plans and shorting us 3.1 miles. But to be honest, I bonk at around mile 10 anyway!

A few things to note based on this year's Half:

-A full night's sleep without a kid's foot in my ribs and cramming our bodies into a smaller-than-Queen-size bed at Disney makes an apparent difference. It seems 1 hour of sleep = 1 minute overall trimmed off my run time the next day.

-Not tip toeing around 30 bodies in the Disney Wilderness Cabin at 2am conserves energy. Apparently by 6 minutes in the end.

-How the Hell did we walk the parks every year immediately after running 13.1 and a shower? The power of family pressure. Note to self: there's something to be said about all that post-race walking: cuts down on the stiff muscles.

-The closer you get to the finish line, the more clueless runners piss you off (translated: I'm trying to beat my time, DON'T YOU HAVE A GOAL? MOVE OUT OF MY WAY!).

- Running faster overall means you finish earlier. How about that?

-The last two miles suck the worst. Make that the last 2.1 miles.

-Houston has more of a cheer crowd than Disney

-Not sure how it's geographically possible, but Houston has more freaking hills than the Disney route

-Houston clearly handles the logistics better: better crowd control, wider running route, a post-race meal, and even better goodie bags!

-Houston has a later start time of 7am which means DUDE I GOT TO SLEEP UNTIL 4AM, unlike Disney's start an hour earlier. Eastern time. Do the math.

-Disney has more idiot walkers who just won't get out of your way (no offense to walkers, unless you're the idiot who walks 5-friends-wide across the route. TO YOUR LEFT!!!!)

-Get Anna a play date for the remainder of the day the next time we run 13.1 miles. We were sore and tired and we really didn't want to convey a negative message that RUNNING MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE CRAP the rest of the day, but she kept asking why we weren't doing anything fun that day. We told her that really it's just that sometimes it's good to just chill out, relax, and lay low. Life is not always go-go-go!

I can't even for the life of me now fathom the feat which has been for the previous 3 years of what we did regarding the travel, family, and half marathon experience of Disney. And oh yes, each year I was also there in Orlando a week early to work a major conference. Work, family, travel, a half marathon, DISNEY PARKS. One single trip to Disney alone can destroy a family's stress levels by itself!

WTF?! My GOD, people will clearly do whatever hair brained thing I dictate, won't they?!

HAHA. Those were the best trips EVER :)  Miss you Disney, see you in September, albeit 3.1 miles short.