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
So bummed I didn't get to meet you!! I was there the whole weekend working the expo. Great job on the 1/2 though!!
ReplyDeleteNice job finishing strong with so little training, girl. I know you've had so much going on.
ReplyDeleteYou look adorable in your pigtails!