i want adventure in the great wide somewhere - running journal! (comments welcome)

[AZMermaid]

That is so exciting!

 

[SheHulk]

That's so great you getting into Boston. I'm not jealous or anything...
Honestly what a great opportunity. I'm sure you have done a ton for your running club so you've earned it!

 

[jmasgat]

So great! Now you get to see the race from the other side. I may sign up to volunteer again.

 

[xjillianpaige]

That’s pretty much the coolest thing ever, at least as far as running goes

I think so!

So happy for you Try to soak it in as much as you can

Thank you! I'm so thrilled

That is so exciting!

The most!

That's so great you getting into Boston. I'm not jealous or anything...
Honestly what a great opportunity. I'm sure you have done a ton for your running club so you've earned it!

Not at all jealous

So great! Now you get to see the race from the other side. I may sign up to volunteer again.

It's a dream to run this. Please volunteer! I'll look for you!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Journal &
Boston Marathon Journal
​

Currently this is still primarily a Dumbo journal as Boston training starts at Christmas time. But I am running! Let's talk about it.

December 5: 4.00 miles • 46:07 • 11:31 avg pace
Another Tuesday night! VERY steady. 11:32, 11:35, 11:35, and 11:24. Felt good. Chatted. I love cold weather, winter running.

December 7: 4.01 miles • 43:21 • 10:49 avg pace
I was supposed to work and wasn't sure I could get this run in, but I asked to work 10-6 instead so I could still go out with the girls. This was a quick one, maybe because for these 6:30 am runs my body moves before my brain knows what's happening and I don't think about it.

December 9: 10.00 miles • 1:52:30 • 11:15 avg pace
Today was my club's annual 5k. I run our social media, so it's better for me to not run and be available to help and take photos and post to Instagram. Since it's a 10 am start, I met up with Heather at 7 am on the course and did 10 with her. It was a beautiful morning for running. Started out in long sleeves and a vest plus a headband and gloves, ended in just the long sleeves. My first 7 we were very consistent with miles at 11:03, 10:57, 11:01, 11:04, 10:57, 11:16 and 11:06. We stopped just after 7 to de-layer and have some water/maple syrup and the last 3 were definitely slower. We decided to run the course and make sure it all looked good (it did) and these were 11:32, 11:42, and 11:49. We finished about a quarter mile from the start line of the course so we walked it in.

The goal for this easy run was to go easy to warm up and then try to stay under 12 pace once I was warm and I'd say that was successful.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I'm late catching up, but CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is so freaking awesome!

 

[xjillianpaige]

I'm late catching up, but CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is so freaking awesome!

Thank you!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Journal &
Boston Marathon Journal
​

I'm watching the Taylor Swift game (aka the Patriots vs. Chiefs) so let's dive into my Boston Marathon era (the runs I ran this week). But first, I'm excited to share that my exciting news about the Boston Marathon has officially been announced and I can be open about it with my club. Also, if anyone is interested in seeing my real-time run updates on Instagram, message me and I'll share my username!

December 12: 4.40 miles • 50:15 • 11:26 avg pace
My first workout since Chicago! I did this on Tuesday night and Ellen joined me. I had 2 miles to warm up, then 8 x 1 minute at 9:55 with 1 minute jog recovery and a mile cool down. The warm up was 11:44 average

Rep 1: 10:09
Rep 2: 9:58
Rep 3: 10:08
Rep 4: 9:56
Rep 5: 9:58
Rep 6: 10:01
Rep 7: 9:39
Rep 8: 10:05

It took a little bit to find what 9:55 feels like. Was a little back and forth on the paces but overall not far off and happy with how it went. Also happy to report I jogged every recovery and did no walking at all! Cool down was at an easy 11:43 (almost identical pace to the warm up). Also I'm starting to keep private notes in my Strava so I have a better sense of my runs and I wrote that my calves felt tight here and the effort even on my warm up felt pretty hard.

December 14: 3.00 miles • 33:11 • 11:03 avg pace
Met up for early miles as I've been doing lately. Really not much to report - no notes on Strava. The tightness in the calves wasn't a problem and I just went out and got it done, then grabbed coffee.

December 16: 8.00 miles • 1:30:37 • 11:19 avg pace
Yesterday morning I met up with the girls and did 5 miles with Ellen, then another 3 with Toshie. In my brain, 8 miles in an hour and a half is where I want my fitness to be. If I can run 8 miles in an hour and a half easy, then I'm happy. No notes in strava - so yet again an unremarkable run. No pain or anything. I have noticed some slight hip pain sometimes that comes and goes so I'm just aware of it, but it doesn't seem running-related. Running doesn't exacerbate it or make it better so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

​

Grabbed breakfast after and then took this quick little photo. At breakfast I ordered the celebration jacket and some other swag off the Adidas app (15% off!) and it's already been delivered 24 hours later. Excited to show you that little haul.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Love the sweatshirt!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Love the sweatshirt!

Thank you! Swifties & running forever <3

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Journal &
Boston Marathon Journal
​

Merry Christmas Eve, ya filthy animals.

Quick Disneyland costume update before I dive into this week's festive runs. I will be dressed as my take on the Wanda/Scarlet Witch Halloween Costume for the 5k. I got a red long sleeve and red leggings from Target and will borrow my friend's red skirt (it might be a hair too big for me which is fine because I can pin it to fit) and I bought a headpiece off Amazon which is a soft leather (probably a fake leather) and very comfortable! Jenna will be Sylvie from Loki, Alex will be Captain America, and Eric will be Spiderman.

For the 10k we're going as Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather (Jenna, Alex and me) and the Maleficent Dragon that caught on fire in Disneyland (Eric). I'm using the same light green skirt as from the Lizzie/Isabella marathon costume last January and I bought a long sleeve and t-shirt in light green and will make a decision of what to wear closer to race day. We plan on mostly walking the 5k and 10k and assume it might be on the colder side since LA mornings can get chilly.

For the half I'll be Minnie (Alex will be Mickey, Jenna will be Donald, and Eric will be Goofy). My mom has a skirt from when she did Princess weekend in 2020 so I'll borrow that and then I have options for black shirts/tank tops/long sleeves depending on the weather. Alex also has a Minnie baseball cap for me to borrow.

Okay, now let's talk about running this week. Tuesday and Thursday were not assigned by my coach and then I had a long run workout on Saturday as my official Day 1 of Boston training.

December 19: 3.33 miles • 39:03 • 11:43 avg pace
Our annual Christmas Lights Night run! We all met up for dinner after, but first we put on our holiday best and run to houses with good lights. We had a walking group that did 2 miles, a 5 mile group that took almost 1.5 hours since they stopped at a few houses for photos and were invited to walk through someone's backyard, and my group that did about a 3 mile out and back to a house that does great decorations. No notes on Strava, this was just a fun, easy day.

December 21: 4.00 miles • 42:09 • 10:32 avg pace
Another early morning. No real plans so I was thinking I would run 3, but then Lisa (who I was running with) said she would do 4 with Michelle who was slightly ahead of us and alone since her group turned around for 3, so I ended up doing 4. Lisa said we were fast because she was chasing me, but I was running fast because I was chasing her! Either way, it made for a fast morning run before stopping in for Starbucks.

December 23: 8.00 miles • 1:30:24 • 11:18 avg pace
This was our annual Yule Log run where we usually have breakfast after with a Yule Log that no one eats. So this year no Yule Log, just coffee and tea and bagels on the club after the run. I couldn't stay long cause I was going into the city to pick up some custom gifts I ordered and to grab a beer at a brewery with some friends. Oh yeah, the actual run part. This was my first official training run for Boston. My workout was 2 miles warm up, 2 miles at marathon pace (11:02), 1 mile recovery, 1.5 miles at threshold (9:55), and 1.5 cool down. What's funny is that this workout is just about on pace with my easy 8 from last weekend. Just without the consistent pacing of last week. The first 3 miles were early with Carin (she was dressed as Buddy the Elf as she followed through on a fundraiser) and then the next 5 were with Carin, but we went back to see the whole group and go out with them for a little bit.

Warm up: 1146 and 11:25
Marathon Miles: 10:52 and 10:56
Recovery Mile: 11:21
Threshold Mile and a Half: 9:56 and 10:29 (this was on a hill and I really had to dig deep to not totally nosedive)
Cool down: 12:31 (your girl was GASSED)

Overall a good week, now we head into the first official week of Boston training! I'm racing on January 1 and my friend Jen is going to pace me to what will hopefully be a PR. This will be the foundation for my workouts this cycle.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

[azrivest]

Happy Holidays to you too! Hope Boston training is enjoyable in 2024

 

[xjillianpaige]

Happy Holidays to you too! Hope Boston training is enjoyable in 2024

Thank you! Here's to hills in 2024.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Journal &
Boston Marathon Journal
​

I hope you all had a great holiday week! I'm on our winter shut down so I've been TRYING to relax, but it's been a veery social week. I'm tired. Nothing scheduled for me this week until Thursday morning so I was winging it. Not sure if that was because my coach forgot to publish my workouts or not, but I didn't want to bother her on Christmas. So here goes:

December 26: 3.00 miles • 32:35 • 10:51 avg pace
I ran in the morning! I made plans weeks ago with one of the Tuesday night girls to go to the mall for post-holiday shopping not realizing it was a Tuesday night. So I had planned on meeting some of the Tuesday morning girls for 3-4 miles, but it was really foggy so I decided to wait until it was light out/some of it burned off and run in my neighborhood so I would feel safer knowing the roads and what turns can be dicey with fast cars, etc. So I went out and ran very fast because my tummy told me to run fast and get home as soon as possible.

December 29: 5.00 miles • 57:24 • 11:28 avg pace
The original plan here was 6:30 am with the Thursday morning girls. Well, it was pouring rain Thursday morning. But that wasn't stopping me... I got dressed, I packed my gym bag, I got into my car, I drove down the street. Then I turned around and went home and got back into bed. Not back to sleep, though, went for a hair appointment and ended up catching up with an old friend from high school that I haven't seen in well over a year. While I was at that hair appointment, Coach added a 5 mile run to my day (with a note that said I could do it on the treadmill or just run Friday) and a long run for Saturday. So... Friday I slept in a little bit and then went out for an easy 5 miles. The first mile was a bit tough and felt hard, maybe because I woke up with itchy/swollen feet (no idea why) but I settled into it and felt better, even speeding up at the end.

December 30: 9.53 miles • 1:49:19 • 11:28 avg pace
My first workout with hills! Bring it on, Boston. I did mini hills, but hills all the same. I'll dive into the details in a moment but first... Thee first half mile SUCKED. My hip was in really bad pain and my foot felt like it needed to crack. Luckily both of those went away early but there was a moment when I thought I should stop. I don't know what this hip pain is, but running still does not seem to make it any worse or better. It hurt while I was sleeping so... who knows. I hope it resolves itself soon and if not I'll ask the girls and Coach what they think. Okay, workout time.

2 mile warm up: 12:08 and 11:53
3x1 mile at marathon pace with 1 mile jog recovery: 10:56, 11:00, 10:53
6x30 seconds hill repeats: 9:22, 10:03, 10:33, 10:45, 11:15, 11:32
1 mile cool down: 11:36

What's funny about those hill repeats is that each 30 second recovery I did not go as far down the hill, so each time I ran up it became steeper and harder.

Happy New Year! I'm racing a 5k on Monday so wish me luck.

 

[jmasgat]

Thank you! Here's to hills in 2024.

Hills suck. I have yet to do a training plan where hills haven't caused me issues. OTOH, I have probably 30 years on you, so YMMV!

I did the (one and done) 2014 Runners World Heartbreak Half in an attempt to make peace with the Hills after my first Boston in 2011....it was only partially successful (might have been better if I didn't have what I expect was a food -related GI issue).

In 2019, I had a stress fracture in my hip--so I was walking up those hills anyway!

Oh well, can't win 'em all.

 

[NYC_MW]

Good luck for the New Year's 5k!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Hills suck. I have yet to do a training plan where hills haven't caused me issues. OTOH, I have probably 30 years on you, so YMMV!

I did the (one and done) 2014 Runners World Heartbreak Half in an attempt to make peace with the Hills after my first Boston in 2011....it was only partially successful (might have been better if I didn't have what I expect was a food -related GI issue).

In 2019, I had a stress fracture in my hip--so I was walking up those hills anyway!

Oh well, can't win 'em all.

I've only run the hills of Newton once and when I reached the turn at the fire station I took a look up and came to a complete stop. Walked up that hill. Hoping that I can find a good balance in getting the hills in and not aggravating anything.

Good luck for the New Year's 5k!

Thank you! It went great - will recap in my weekly round up in just a few minutes.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Journal &
Boston Marathon Journal
​

Happy Marathon Weekend and Snow Day! I had a good week. Let's talk about it.

January 1: 3.18 miles • 29:55 • 9:24 avg pace
This was a local 5k that started at 11 am. I ran a mile warm up in 10:31 and then my friend Jen was pacing me for the race. The first mile was in 9:31 and it felt really good, second mile was 9:36 as Jen wanted us to pull back a tiny bit so that I had gas to finish even faster at the end, and my final mile was 9:16 and it felt really hard - but 5ks are supposed to feel hard by the end. The goal was to finish this 5k in under 30:00 and then hopefully break my previous PR of 9:54.

Officially, my finish time was 9:56 - two seconds away from that PR- but as you can see from the distance, the course was a little bit long. My Garmin has me at 3.1 miles in 29:12 which is an unofficial PR by about 40 seconds and I am taking it!! After this we bowled and I am a terrible bowler but compared to my running friends I am an excellent bowler. Took second place. Then we had lunch!

Race review: I did this as a 10k two years ago (also ran it with Jen but she did the 5k so we only did the first half together) and it's still my 10k PR. It's fairly well run. It starts and ends at a bowling alley so you can use indoor bathrooms. It's mostly flat with some dumb hills in the middle that feel like mountains. They used to have pizza at the finish but this year they did not which was a bummer because I was hungry for lunch. A free drink ticket and they were giving out more. I'll likely run this again.

January 3: 5.00 miles • 58:55 • 11:46 avg pace
Easy 5 miles. I must have still been tired from Monday's race because the first mile of this was more of a shuffle than a jog or run. My right calf and hip were talking to me the first mile and a half or so and I was not sure what was going to happen, but everything ended up loosening up and I managed a beautiful progression run while still keeping it easy. Don't believe me? Peep these splits: 12:27, 12:15, 11:49, 11:38, 10:41

January 6: 10.00 miles • 1:54:02 • 11:24 avg pace
An easy 10 miles today! I did 5 solo and then circled back to the group for another 5. This was a very steady run with paces all in the 11s. Not much to report - no hip pain at all. I felt good from start to finish. Splits: 11:39, 11:46, 11:33, 11:28, 11:16, 11:03, 11:12, 11:21, 11:21, 11:17.

Congrats to all who ran any bit of the Marathon Weekend this weekend! I have FOMO of being there but NOT of running! Wish I could hold a poster on the boardwalk and cheer you all on. Maybe one day!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Race Recap Part 1​

It's kind of funny how this race just occurred in the middle of training for Boston, so I had some training runs leading up to my travel. I'll start by recapping those since my travel day was really uneventful.

Boston Training Runs​

January 9: 5.51 miles • 1:01:49 • 11:14 avg pace
I had a quality session from Carmela. It had snowed on Sunday and while roads were clear by Monday, the sidewalks were not good by Tuesday with more snow expected that night. Normally I would run with my Tuesday girls, but with the expected snow we cancelled the night run and I went out solo in the afternoon since I had taken the day off to pack and shop for Disneyland. So off I went, thinking I could run in my neighborhood. Well, like I said, the sidewalks had not been cleared well yet so I had to figure out a plan. I did what I could for my warm up (1 mile at 12:07 as I dodged snow and ice) and it landed me on a side road that was nice and clear and I figured I could just loop that over and over for my workout.

I had 4 x .05 at 9:55 with a .5 jog recovery. The first one required me to do some ice/snow dodging, but then the rest were on that clear road.

Rep 1: 10:07
Rep 2: 10:01
Rep 3: 9:58
Rep 4: 9:44

What's nice is that when I finished, I was able to run to the end of the street to my house and it was exactly the 1 mile I needed to cool down (11:56). I'm also pretty proud of this one because I think I ran all of the jog recovery - no walking (or minimal walking).

January 10: 5.00 miles • 58:54 • 11:47 avg pace
This was my flight day! But first... an easy 5 miles. Eric came by around 8:30 am or so and we went out into my neighborhood. It was a little better than the day as it was warm (50s) and melting everything, so we looped some decent side road neighborhoods in my area. We were able to run the first 3 miles straight (11:18, 11:23, 11:17), but then Eric needed a walk break so we slowed down for a rest (12:55). At one point I paused my watch while we waited to cross the street and then forgot to start it again. So the last mile was a little bit off. But it shows an 11:13 average pace for what did get recorded.

Flight​

After Eric went home, I got ready for the day. I took a shower, ran some errands, finished packing, and soon enough it was time to go pick Eric up. My mom came home early from work to drive us to the Logan Express, which for $9 brought us to the airport so no one had to drive us and then sit in rush hour traffic home. Our flight was at 6:00 so we took the 3:30 bus and were dropped off and through security by 4:15.

Quick side note about my luggage: I checked a full bag and I'm glad I did, because it was FULL on the way back. I used a cute little Kate Spade bag as my carry on for my running shoes and costumes, then a little backpack from Target to carry my kindle and other activities for the plane. Okay, back to the report.

​

Our first stop past security was the Legal Sea Food so I could get a Caesar salad with shrimp and we shared calamari. No vacation drinks yet! From there we stopped so I could get a sweet treat for the plane (Twix) and then settled into our gate as we waited to board.

I started reading my first book, then we boarded and I read until I was about ⅓ of the way through. Then I watched the third Tom Holland Spiderman movie. It was good. Feels like it's setting up another movie, which I wouldn't mind.

​

After that I read the rest of my book, finishing it about 40 minutes before arriving at LAX. We landed early, so we had time to pick up my checked bag. We had some time to kill before Jenna and Alex would be there to pick us up, so we walked to a less busy terminal so that they could pick us up there instead of fight for space in terminal 5.

Eric was hungry, so we went to In 'n Out and I got the fries animal style with extra onions and a milkshake. I've learned my lesson and my body does not accept burgers from In 'n Out which is fine because I don't really eat burgers anyway.

​

Then we drove to Jenna's house and settled in for a sleepover! Alex had an air mattress in the dining room. I was on the living room couch. And Eric was in the gaming room on that couch. Sleep was critical: we had the first of many early mornings to get our virtual queue soon.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Dumbo Double Dare Challenge Race Recap Part 2​

Welcome to day 2! This was a busy day starting bright and early at 6:30 am. We set our alarms because we had to wake up to get our virtual queue. Jenna lives within the 90 miles of Disneyland resort for the visual queue so we didn't have to drive down to Disneyland at the crack of dawn, but it turns out (according to FaceBook) that the Dallas Airport and New Jersey are also within the 90 miles of Disneyland resort.

Anyway, I was the winner this morning and I got us group 10! I have actually never done the virtual queue before, I found them too stressful and am a passenger princess being taken around on vacation by my besties, so normally I would just countdown to 7:00 am. But today, today I got the best virtual queue of the bunch, so everyone else cancelled their later ones.

Since we were such an early boarding group, instead of going back to sleep we all got dressed and packed the car for the drive down, which was uneventful.

Now, we're used to the way things are done at WDW, as many of us on these boards are, so we anticipated that groups 1-15 would be called first and so we would need to line up to get in the merch line early. This was the beginning of us realizing that no one knew what was going on.

But wait, before the chaos, here's a photo to break it all up.

​

We parked at Downtown Disney and walked over to the hotel and saw a line had already formed, so we hopped into it. Then we were told it was only for groups 1-5, so we went inside, but then they created two lines, one for groups 1-10 and then one for 11+ so we got into the 1-10 group. One CM was going person to person asking what group they were in so he could sort us by group, but then another CM just yelled for all of us to just go into whatever line based on our group. It was a little chaotic.

But wait! It gets worse. The 1-10 line was eventually moved to the white wall in front of the expo area to wait to be called. Not all of us made it, some of us were still in that first line. We were in the back of the line that was moved and witnessed a CM start letting people into our line if they had a high boarding group, completely forgetting that there was still a long line of people in similar groups who had waited longer in another line not even 2 feet away. And we had no problem telling people that they had just been allowed to cut in line.

We also noticed that if someone showed up and said their boarding group was called, they were brought to the front of the line. I get it... I guess they were technically in front of me in line by virtue of their group... but I got there first and they should have been on time. WDW the groups get called, and you show them that you were called, and they let you in. And if you were late, then you were behind other people who got there first.

Also while we were standing by that white wall (@DopeyBadger described this happening as well), another CM came and told us we could all go! That standing in that line didn't matter. Like... bro... this is how a virtual queue works. You show up a little bit early so that when you're called you're there already and can jump right into the line you signed up to wait in. No one is going to just wait until their boarding group is called to head over to the hotel. And now we've been sorted into lines by other CMs multiple times because we showed up reasonably early for our queue but you're saying they should just disperse everyone? Good luck with that.

This is becoming a black hole of talking about waiting in lines. I'm so sorry. I'm almost done.

So now we are in line #2 waiting to be called and the CMs are coming up and down our line as each boarding group is called and pulling folks from that group. Finally we get to group 10 and they bring us around the corner and put us into line #3. They bring group 9 in, so we get moved over against the wall, then they called us in and bring us to line #4 folks! That's right - four lines and it's barely 10 am.

​

Now we're in the actual line for the merchandise. We chatted time away and I got to briefly meet @DopeyBadger IRL in line as we passed each other in the queue.

It wasn't a long wait before we went in for merchandise. I didn't have any thing I really wanted but pins. I pre-ordered the spirit jersey and honestly, I might sell it because I'm not sure I love it. I liked the Magic Key one better but I'm not a Magic Key girlie.

Anyway, the merchandise area was SMALL. I just think they could have really thought the layout of the whole thing better. Not a great flow, the first floor expo/merch/shirts was tight and then the bibs upstairs was massive. I just think it was not well done overall. I grabbed the 4 pins I wanted (half and Dumbo medal replicas, weekend logo, Dumbo logo) and then I tried on the blue color blocked cropped quarter zip and I LOVED that one. I also got a Dumbo hooded zip up. I have to say, normally this stuff runs small. I thought it all ran really big. I got mediums in both and probably could have gone down another size in the sweatshirt.

I finished my shopping first and checked out, then went to the expo where I bought 3 pairs of compression socks fo $45. I had wanted to buy a pair in Chicago but they were $60 for one pair there which was NUTS. So this was reasonable. I got white, black, and gray. My favorite colors.

After that, we got our pre-ordered merchandise. And then upstairs for the bibs.

Another photo break because your girl is going to have thoughts about the bib pick up.

​

We went upstairs and needed to grab paper waivers because most of us had our registrations under Jenna's account. We asked the girl at the table with paper waivers at least 3 times if we needed one waiver for each race (one for the 5k and one for Dumbo). She said no every time. We were like are you SURE we won't have a hard time grabbing our second bib without the second waiver. She was like, nope, you only need one. So we all grab one waiver.

We go inside and go to Dumbo first. I hand over my waiver and the woman (who seemed like she would have rather been literally anywhere else in the world) gave me my bib. I said I was going to the 5k table next and asked if I needed another waiver. And she said no, I gave my waiver so we were all set. Great.

I walk over to the 5k table. They ask about my waiver. I show them the Dumbo bib and tell them I signed it and gave it to the volunteers at that table. Guess what. I NEED ANOTHER WAIVER. Luckily they had a few behind the table so I signed it and got my 5k bib. Meanwhile, Jenna and Alex are at Dumbo being told they needed to show their expo pass (not requested of me and Eric) so they come to the 5k table instead and I tell them about the waiver, then go outside to grab them waivers. Then they go to Dumbo and get that. Just another classic case of being told one thing by two people and then another by person number 3.

After our bibs, we went downstairs for our shirts, they looked good enough, and back out we went.

It was not time for us to go check in (I mean, we could have but we had other plans). The first stop was Trader Sam's to put our names in. We were told it would be about 2 hours, so Alex and Jenna tapped into the park to pick up the new Magic Key popcorn bucket so our popcorn would be $2 all weekend. Eric and I got a table at Ballast Point. We didn't expect to be seated so quickly at the pub, but Alex and Jenna weren't too far behind us since there were no lines at Disneyland or the popcorn stand.

I got a cider and Eric and I shared pretzels as an app while we waited. Then for lunch I got the Honey Miso Chicken sandwich. It was really good, but messy to eat. The slaw sort of just falls off the sandwich.

​

After that we went back to Disneyland Hotel to wait for our Trader Sams call back. We just sat in the lobby of the Adventureland and went through our spoils. Jenna and Alex also preordered the spirit jersey but decided they didn't like that teal one as much as the black Magic Key one (same) so they posted their shirts online to sell.

Before long, it had been 2 hours and we hadn't been called back yet so we went to check on our reservation. Not ready. We were cold in the lobby because it got windy every time the doors opened, so we moved to the fire pit outside of Trader Sams and I kicked my feet up and it was so lovely.

More time passes. Not called. More time. We check. Nothing. Guys.

We did not get called back until almost 5 hours after we put our names in. It took FOREVER. And then when we walked in... multiple empty tables. I just don't know why it took so long for us to get called back. We had 90 minutes and we used it.

Jenna, Alex, and I started out by sharing the Sea Monster's Embrace. After that I got the Krakatoa Punch. For my third drink I had ordered a HippopotoMai-Tai, but he brought over whatever Eric ordered. The Hala Kahiki. It was delicious. The drinks were all great, we didn't eat food but the poke sounded good. My one complaint is that the drinks (with the exception of the shared drinks like the Uh-Oa and the Sea Monster) didn't come in the special glasses unless you were going to buy it. Oh, and that there was less a little less razzle dazzle for the drinks, but our bartender was great and everything tasted incredible.

​

From there, we finally got to our car and drove to the hotel to check in and unpack the car. We went to bed way later than planned since we spent so much time waiting for Trader Sams (worth it). But you know what this means... next post is... the 5k!