Disneyland 1/2 Marathon Recap!

I had so much fun this past Sunday participating in and finishing the Disneyland ½ Marathon!  I must confess, I wasn’t sure how my body would handle the 13.1 miles since I hadn’t trained at all.  Literally, I hadn’t ran or walked more than 3 miles in months!  But I told myself I was going to have a great time, and that some silly stories about myself might come out of it (blisters, stomach issues, muscle cramps, ya know…things that happen anyways but have increased probability without any training).

To my surprise, I finished in 3:20 which was much quicker than I thought considering the circumstances.  Actually, I was very surprised with everything!  I had zero blisters (I usually always get blisters under a toenail or a few), I had no muscle cramping (my calves started to tighten near the end, but no cramps!), and I was shockingly not sore the next day (I was expecting to not being able to move on Monday!)  My best guess to my why my body held up as well as it did is because I’ve been working out, despite my complete lack of running and increasing mileage like a normal runner-in-training would do.  But I’ve still been lifting weights, practicing yoga and pilates, and taking some fun fitness classes.  Just being in shape helped me tremendously.  I will say, though, that being surrounded by runners and feeling everyone’s energy and adrenaline strongly made me realize that I do want to train for another half marathon.  I love the 13.1 distance, and I want to do it again and this time be prepared.

On to a quick recap of the race!

My friend Sara and her fiancé Dave were also running Disneyland and were kind enough me a ride with them.  After a brutal 2:30am wake up call, I got ready and Sara and Dave were at my house around 4am.  We made it to Disneyland with plenty of time to be in our assigned corrals by 5:30am.  The gun went off at 6am and my corral didn’t cross the starting line until nearly 6:30am.  While waiting, I made friends with Rapunzel and Minnie Mouse (almost everyone was dressed up or had some kind of Ode-to-Disney-character trinket).  We finally crossed the starting line and I fell into a light run.  I was feeling quite good and continued to run until we reached the mile 1 marker where I began to walk.  I knew if I kept running, my tank would exhaust before we hit the half way point.  I ended up walking nearly the whole race with some light running here and there.  The first 6 miles ticked by so quickly as we snaked our way through California Adventure and Disneyland.

We came out to Ball Road which was kind of a pain in the butt because the sun was rising in our faces as we ran up a hill.  Fun stuff.  I walked.  Good times.  We finally came around the Honda Center and into Angels Stadium!

I love the Angels and being able to run the bases is so cool!  The last few miles were pretty dull until we hit downtown Disney and the finish through which I sprinted.  (No matter what, I have to finish strong.)

After crossing the finish, I was rewarded with my giant Disneyland finisher’s medal and quickly proceeded to the Coast to Coast Challenge booth where I picked up my C2C medal for running a Disneyworld race and a Disneyland race in the same calendar year (Sean and I ran the Disneyworld ½ Marathon in Florida back in January).

The medals are HUGE!  As I walked to meet Sara and Dave, my Disneyland and C2C medal clinked together and I felt so proud of myself for getting out there and accomplishing the un-trained 13.1!  And I’m so proud of Sara and Dave who both PR’d!!!!

I had a great time and I can’t wait to pick my next 13.1 :)

Love,

Mags