Sunday, January 15, 2017

The Rebel Challenge

I've done a few Disney Run events. I think 3- 5K events. One 10K and one half marathon. When I saw the yearly Star Wars run was coming up, I wanted to test myself. I had never done a 10K on Saturday, followed by a Half Marathon on Sunday. The Star Wars Rebel Challenge is that event. I do most of my walking  at Racers. So I had to train if I wanted to complete these back to back races. With my double knee replacement, I'm not suppose to run. So I walk the events. I did one workout per week, leading up to the Challenge. I worked up to 12 miles, 2 weeks out and a 5 mile and 6 mile walk, the week before.

I arrived for the Star Wars 10K at 4am. I went into the Racer corral at 4:30am. My friends Catalina and Deane S., joined up with me a few minutes later. We were in the front of Corral G, the last corral. Corral A started at 5:30am. We started at 6:10am. We did the first 5K in 47 minutes and a average of 15:21 per mile. We then slowed it way down. Doing the 10K in 1:40:38. Average of 16:12 per mile. The big race was the 1/2 marathon. So tried to save some energy for the next day. Always running in the 10K were my friends Heather and Jon. Also my cousin Natalie from Utah. They all had fun in their runs.

On Sunday, I got to the corral at 4:10am. Catalina and Deane met me there at 4:25am. We were in corral J, the last corral. But we were in the front again. Our corral did not start the race until 6:30am. We took off strong. We did the first 5K in 44 minutes, an average of 14:12 per mile. We took about a 4 minute bathroom break right after mile 4. The clock did not stop. We got to the 10K mark at 1:33:45, for an average of 15:59 per mile. At the 15K mark we had a 15:46 mile pace. 
We were tired, but found a way to spend it up a little bit towards the finish. We crossed the finish line in 3:23:25, an average of 15:31 per mile.

The Tinkerbell Half Marathon took me 3 hours and 33 minutes. So I beat my old time by 10 minutes. Tinkerbell had some hills and a bunch of bottlenecks inside the parks.

Along the way I got a text message from my friend Angela S., from Seattle. Right when we finished, I got texts from my friends Tara C. and Carlene B. They all asked how things went. I always love the support from friends. Also got words of encouragement from cast members inside the park and at the finish line. It was great to see Jamie, Lisa, Aubree and Mark. Of course I had to get pictures with them.

It was a great 2 day event. It was fun walking with Catalina and Deane. It makes the distance go by quicker when you are with your friends.

We'll see what the future holds in these events. They are getting a little expensive and you have to sign up over 6 months in advance. I may do a couple 10Ks before ever trying a challenge again. 
I'm at 8479 at Racers. Back racing on Monday.

Deane and Catalina after the half marathon 
At the 10K finish
 
Natalie, Heather, Jon, Catalina and Deane after 10K
Half Marathon finish
 
Catalina and Deane after 1/2 Marathon
 
Jamie
 
Aubree
 
Lisa
 
Mark, Jamie and Catalina photobombing
 
In the Star Wars trash compactor
 



Monday, January 2, 2017

New Year's Eve 2016, Racers and Tower. And friends who have moved on

Once again I need a number of  rides on Racers to hit a goal. It could be too crowded to get 45 laps to hit 8400. But if I can get on Racers 8 more times, I'll have a new 1 year record. Last year I was on Racers 2795 times. I'm currently at 2788 for the year.

Before the activities of New's Year Eve, I want to talk about 3 cast members who moved on to other adventures. 
This year, Destiny S., Allison M., and Tracie L., had to leave Disney for various reasons. 
Destiny was one of the first Bellhops that friended me at Tower of Terror. She was always welcoming and gladly took pictures with me. I even got to ride a few times with her and the other Bellhops. 
Allison worked Racers and Luigi's. We always had talks about the latest movies and she made sure we got the ride sign photos. 
I call Tracie my "goofy little sister". She also worked Racers and Luigi's. She always had a way of making sure the attention I'm getting did not go to my head. She would tease me about stuff all the time. Once was when I had to buy a poncho the day it rained hard and I had no rain gear. 
I will miss these 3 fine ladies. They are part of the reason I keep coming back to achieve the ride goals I've set. 

Now for New Year's Eve:
I was able to come in with the Extra Magic Morning guests. I got to Radiator Springs Racers at 7:15am. By 10:22 am I got the 12 rides I needed to hit the 2800 ride total for one year. I took pictures along the way with my cast member friends. No rain in sight. So now every lap I get is gravy. Took my first break at 10:27am. 
I got on 5 more times before the ride went down from 11:55am until 12:33pm. I was in a car at race start when the attraction went down. 
I was able to ride 25 times before the rain came at 2:45pm. Luckily, I had my Disney poncho. Still not fun to race in the rain. Heather and her boyfriend, Jon, got to ride with me for my 27th time today. 
I took a break from 4pm to 5pm and went on Tower of Terror twice. That brought my total to 275 times. 
I came back to Racers. By 7:27pm, I had 35 rides for the day. And that will do it for Racers. I reached 8390 all time and and 2823 for the year.
I went back to Tower to finish off the night. I saw Lisa B.  and Jessica M. on my way to the elevator. Great to see my Bellhop friends. I took 7 trips to the 13th floor today. I'm now at 280 times on Tower. 
I left DCA about 9:30pm. It was a cold and raining day. Back on Monday to spend the whole day at Tower. It will be the last day fir the attraction. Also going to bring cookies to my Bellhop friends. 


 
Destiny
 
Allison
 
Tracie
Catalina
 
Jess
 
John G.
 
Carina 
 
Carolyn and Teara
 
Stephanie 
 
Bethanie and Kristen
 
Lainie and Chris
 
Alicia 
 
Carlos and Yesenia
 
Elizabeth
 
Jamie 
Tony and Jessica
 
 Brisa
 
Minerva
 
Jess
 
In the back row, Jon, Heather and myself
 
Lisa
 
Cidney

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Looking ahead to 2017 and recapping Stats for 2016

2016 was a great year at Disney California Adventure. I got to 6000, 7000 and 8000 at Radiator Springs Racers. I also took 251 trips to the 13th floor at Tower of Terror. Only went on Tower 39 times from 2004 through 2015. Ended at 290 for my all time total.
2017 could be the best year yet. I'm going to Disney World for the first time ever. Also going to the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando before taking on the 4 parks in Florida. The opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout.  The D23 convention will be in July. And of course this little thing about reaching 10,000 rides on Racers. Probably by the end of July or first part of August. 

And now for the stats for 2016: Racers and the other attractions I went on in 2016:
I went in Racers 2823 times. 
Ramon's side for the race 1410 times and a record of 
815 wins and 595 losses
Luigi's side for race: 1413 times and a record of 
703 wins and 710 losses
1520 wins and 1303 losses. 217 more wins than losses
By color of car:
Silver: 443 and record of 256-187
Teal: 378 and record of 200-178
Red: 377 and record of 199-178
Yellow: 345 and record of 185-160
Green: 344 and record of 187-157
Blue: 318 and record of 163-155
Cranberry: 310 and record of 160-150
Purple: 308 and record of 167-141
I had a winning record in every car. That is a first.
Rides by months:
January: 250
February: 177
March: 173
April: 216
May: 228
June: 264
July: 302
August: 285
September: 262
October: 194
November: 180
December: 292
An average of 235.25 times per month
I came to Racers 158 times for an average of  17.86 per visit.

I also went on other rides besides Racers and Tower:
Luigi's Rollinkin Roadsters: 14
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree: 8
Soarin over the World: 5
Big Thunder Railroad: 4
Haunted Mansion: 4
Indiana Jones: 3
Star Tours: 3
Space Mountain: 2
Monster's Inc. 2
Pirates of the Caribbean: 2
Heimlich's Chew Chew Train: 1
Toy Story Mania: 1
Jungle Cruise: 1
Small World: 1
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride: 1

Racers: 2823
Tower: 251
All other rides: 52
For total of 3126

Catalina, Jamie, Ruth, Jess and Carlene
Meli, Catalina, and Carlene
 
Heather, Mary, Tara, Carlene and Catalina