Dumbo Again!

I had to defend my title. Had to see how far I had come since my first half. Wanted spend time with my friends. Wanted to see my friends at the race. Needed a break in Disneyland. All those things had me going back to the Dumbo Double Dare. Things didn't really go to plan.

After finally getting back to Tsunami after spraining my fingers, I happily discovered that I had become the poster child for cross training during an injury; I was able to pick up my training where I should be instead of where I was. Then the nerve damage/muscle spasm in my shoulder decided to show up about 2.5 weeks before leaving. I did everything I could to work through it... ice, heat, stretching, tape, and finally entirely resting the whole week before we left. Some personal stresses didn't really help either. I kind of felt like hell.

It was good to be with friends though.. and to see the ones I mostly only see at Disney. And it was really cool to stay at the Disneyland Hotel (for the very first time!), albeit getting spoiled by the quick walk to the start line in the process. And as an added bonus, Stitch was the theme for the 10K... aaaaaand I had gotten the best jersey EVER for my birthday!!!

Uh.. spoiler alert; I managed to finish the 10K.... but check out my jersey!

They very much improved the expo from the chaos that was last year... of course, we made our own when I decided to go up the elevator while my friends went up the ramp, thus splitting the group up. Aaaand guess what, my phone had died during the drive down. After searching with a Cast Member that had seen them, she let me use her phone (fortunately I have the number for my Rabbit friend on an emergency bracelet) and I eventually was able to tell them where I was.

Turns out they made other improvements as well. The morning of the 10K, we ended up with an escort after voicing our concerns about getting to the ADA tent without getting stuck in the crowd like we did last year. Our escort's job was done about 20 feet later when we saw that it was a straight shot to the gate by the tent. This time, I was able to talk to everyone, and meet a woman doing her first 10K, before needing to switch chairs. A couple friends also came over for pictures! Aaaand then we caused our usual shenanigans at the start line... the take us up so early, we have to keep ourselves entertained somehow!

I started the 10K by spending the first mile trying to straighten my front wheel.. apparently Tsunami thought we really needed to go to the right. After that, I was able to push better, but my shoulder didn't want to play. I believe I told it to shut up. Fortunately I don't think I said it out loud. At the end, it turns out I took 3 minutes off my 10K time from last year. It was fun to go through the finish because I sat up enough to show off Stitch and they were sure to announce it... I got many compliments on my jersey while I waited for my friends to come in.

And we even all survived....!!

We were able to wander the parks a bit, have an early dinner with friends, and check out the Pasta Party in the Park (or something like that) for a few minutes before we gave up and headed back to the hotels to go to bed. There had been an announcement for a pre-half photo-op at the ADA tent at 445am. We kind of slid in sideways for the pictures, but we were able to take a few group pictures and I got to talk to everyone (I was also instructed that I HAD to defend my title... I had competition this time) before our Start Line escort announced we had to head over. Once again, shenanigans ensued...

They left us unsupervised again... (photo credit to the selfie taker up front)

I had fixed my front wheel and had my shoulder taped the night before, so this takeoff was much better. I didn't fall behind nearly as much this time, but when I looked up I couldn't figure out if everyone had passed me or not. The parks went by smoothly, then I headed towards the overpass... it was nice to remember my parents standing on that first corner last year. A man ran up next to me and asked how I was doing and I told him I wasn't looking forward to the incline. He announced that I would do great and that I "eat hills for lunch!", then ran backwards in front of me for a bit cheering me on. I had several of those moments for the next few miles; a friend was out on the course taking pictures, I smiled when I got to the point where my Rabbit caught up to me last year and got me going again, the mile of car show had some great cheering (one lady told me I was 4th or 5th... which was when I realized I must be in front of the other female push rim), a man helped me when I thought I was going to flip on the hill during the trail part, I made it through the stadium unscathed this time (and even up that ramp I had been worried about), a man that was spectating rushed over to help me when Tsunami's rim started coming off then cheered loudly as I headed off again. At that point, I saw that my goal of taking my time under 1:40 was just barely in reach.

3 miles left and I took off on a sprint. I believe those last three miles were all about 7 minutes or under. A friend cheered loudly as I passed him a little after mile 12 and gave me the boost I needed to get to the finish. I finished with a wave of cheers... and was one minute over my goal. Something to shoot for next time. I was glad I had even made it that close with recently recovering from a hand injury, then fighting with my shoulder. It still showed me how much I have improved from a year ago, and with my own chair. I ended up taking 3 minutes off of my half time from last year as well! And didn't crash this time!!

So yes, I wasn't entirely prepared for this race or this trip, and things didn't go as planned... but they did. Kind of. It was a bit harder than to find my fun and inspirations and such, but I made it. I defended my title, spent time with friends, got to see how far my training has come (going faster even with injuries is pretty telling), and I got a bit of a break at least.

And hell, I got my picture with Mickey.. can't complain about that!

And a bonus for my Disney with disabilities friends.. and anyone else curious:
Blue Bayou and allergies: when the reservation was made, my allergies had been indicated (thank you for that!) and that was the first thing our server asked about. She said she was going to have the chef come out and help with my order. He was at another table, so she took everyone else's order while we waited. The chef was great in offering my allergy conflicts to what I wanted to order, then giving me the alternatives, and taking charge of my plate to avoid as much cross contamination as possible... he even brought my plate out himself!

Rain Forest Cafe and allergies: While ordering, I had told the server that one thing I didn't want was because of an allergy and the other I just didn't like. The chef came out to discuss it with me, then also took charge of my plate. He brought it out with much flair and jokingly proclaimed he put extra of the things I didn't want.

Wheelchair and DAS: City Hall seems to be in a flux on policies. When we got there, they didn't have a Cast Member at the door at the top of the ramp... instead, my friend was told to stand in line for me. However, another Cast Member had mercy on me and called me up a couple minutes later because she figured I simply needed to update my DAS (as an annual pass holder, my card is good for 6 months. I just need to update it rather than going through the process of entering my information again.. they just scan it and reprint with the new dates). A phone conversation with Guest Services today reassured me that they're working on the policies in City Hall as to how guests that need the ramp fall in line.
An update that happened was they added more DAS kiosks since I was there in March. There are now 4 in Disneyland and 3 in California Adventure, rather than the 2 each before. They were also placed better than the previous ones, easier to get to.