It’s been a hot minute since I last wrote. Part of the reason for this hiatus has been I’ve been having trouble getting new images to upload and post here. Part of the reason is that life has been changing for me. I’m pleased to announce that I have started a new job as a Copyright Paralegal with Warner Bros. Discovery last week! I’m super excited about this new position and have been loving it since I started. Unfortunately, I can seem to upload photos anymore. So, this one above is old.
Also, I have been training for the Disneyland Half Marathon. It hasn’t been the best yet. But, now that I’m getting settled in at Warner Bros. Discovery, I expect that to change. I don’t have a lot of time to post today. But, I will get something up, hopefully, by next Monday. Can’t wait to catch you all up!
It’s been a hot minute since runDisney ran their last race at the Disneyland Resort…2017 to be precise. It was the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon Weekend (one I didn’t participate in because it was 1 week after the NYC Marathon). Much like every other West Coast runDisney runner, I was over the moon at announcement from D23 that there would be a race weekend at the Disneyland Resort again in 2024.
So, when runDisney announced the return of the Disneyland Half Marathon for January 2024, you know I had to find a way to make it back. Valentine’s Day is way to early to have registration for a race that’s in January of the next year. But, I have no control over that. All I could do was make sure the money was there for another runDisney race registration and to be at my computer before 7am.
If you registered, you know that registration started LATE! Can you believe it?
All of us runners were already stressed enough. I mean, the return of runDisney to Disneyland for the first time since 2017 was bound to sell out quickly.
So, we all showed up early to beat the rush for registrations and then…
Nothing…
It took around 20 minutes before the links came up.
And then, we had to wait for a wait time while that spinning thing around the runDisney Logo kept spinning.
Finally, I saw that I had just over an hour for wait time. I tried not to panic. From what I saw in the #Teamrundisney Facebook Group, others had the same thing happening.
Then….MAGICALLY….
My wait time was down to 13 minutes! (and, it wasn’t a full 13 minute wait at all)
I had everything prepared. So, when it was my time, I typed as fast as I could, made my payment and saw…
I Got In!
Then, I had to go back and see if I could get Colton, my son, in for the kid races…
Success!
So, we’re in! I’m racing the Disneyland Half Marathon and Colton will be racing the kid race (I think the 1 mile race).
Now, it’s time to get back to training. I’m still trying to figure out how to train, work, get my son to his baseball practices and soccer in the fall, and balance with family life.
It’s been forever since I’ve written a blog post and so much has happened that I wish I could get you all caught up. It’s been a rough roller coaster ride of life since my last post. My training for the Rock n Roll San Diego Half Marathon has suffered greatly. However, after all the missed runs, I’m on fumes, but still in the game!
One of the really hard things about coming back to long distance running has been getting myself off the couch and out the door again. Especially with the long, long runs. I had a terrible streak of stress about running beyond 3 miles. After all, since my 2017 NYC Marathon, I haven’t run more than 3 miles. So, once I got to the part of my training plan that required a 4 mile run, 5, mile run, and 6.5 mile run, I conveniently found excuses to miss. However, around the middle of March, I received my Virtual WDW 10K shirt and medal. Even though I didn’t run this distance, they sent it.
So, on March 20th, I finally dragged myself out of bed and headed off to the Rose Bowl to complete the run I had intended in January. It was the weekend before this, that I had intended to go. But, that morning, decided waking up early was too hard. On March 20th, I made sure I got out of bed and completed the 6.50 mile run I needed. I even decided to wear the 2022 Virtual WDW 10K shirt as motivation. I didn’t get out the door when I wanted to. But, I did get out.
As I drove to the Rose Bowl, I kept reminding myself that, since my failed attempt at 6.1 miles in January, I had run a few 3 mile runs. So, I should be able to make it. I told myself not to worry about my finish time because this run was all about showing myself that I could still run 6.50 miles. The first mile was brutal as usual. On the Rose Bowl loop, the first mile is the most brutal. Keep in mind that I’ve run more difficult miles in my life. But, this first mile is a gradual increase in altitude. Of the three, it’s the only one that offers this. The upward grind continues into mile 2. By around 2.5 miles, it levels out and starts to descend. So, I went out knowing that the first mile would be hard, mile 2 would start off hard. Then, the run would get easier until the end of mile 3. Then, I would have to repeat this.
On this day, it wasn’t until the end of mile 2 that I believed that I would actually make it all the way to mile 6. My run was slow, but it was so much better than January that I knew by the end of mile 2 I would be back on a second lap. While I did end up completing that second lap, mile 4 was mostly walking because, mentally, I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t quit. If it was okay to walk, then it was okay to keep moving. In miles 5 and 6, I did get back into my regular flow of run/walk/run. My unstated goal was to finish the 10K portion of this run in around 1:30:00. I’m proud to say that I finished in just under this time!. Then, I promptly walked the rest of the distance. Considering the lack of training, I am pretty proud of that time. It felt AMAZING to get back to the 6 mile distance!
So, I thought that meant I’d get serious about training. Right? I mean, I showed myself that I could get past that 3 mile barrier. WRONG! I didn’t get in another training run until this past weekend. Y’all, I’m in a scary position. I HAD to run this past weekend or quit the race. Counting this past weekend, there are 4 weekends before the Rock N Roll San Diego Half Marathon Weekend….JUST 5! That gives me time to run 8 miles, this past weekend, 9.5 miles next weekend, 11 miles the weekend after that, 12.5 miles, and then have a weekend with 3 miles. I’m not sure how this is going to work out. But, I have to try.
So, I’m pleased to let you know that I did run 8 miles this past weekend! After several attempts that never got off the ground, I finally did it! As I’ve been getting ready for this 8 mile run, I realized how much I’ve forgotten about long distance training. I would have finished this 8 mile run one week earlier, but I realized that I didn’t have things like body glide, Cliff Bloks, Gatorade, and a new training belt (because the one had been using since 2013 was far too stretched out since the 2017 NYC Marathon. I would have done this 8 mile run two weeks ago, but I didn’t remember to charge my phone and headphones. Logistics can really kill your training.
I headed out to Santa Monica Beach for this 8 mile run. I’ve had many 8 mile runs here and love it. I haven’t ran at the beach in forever and was looking for ward to that. I was also looking forward to running through Venice Beach as well. When I woke up, I wasn’t so sure that this would work. I was tired and scared of the effects this has on your body. I left around 30 minutes late. On the way, I kept talking myself into it. But, when I parked, I wasn’t feeling right. So, I almost quit right there. A quick trip to the restroom at the beach and I was better.
The 8 miles at Santa Monica/Venice Beach is an out and back route. One thing that blew me away about this run is the mental change from the out part to the back part. Somehow, once I realized I would make it 4 miles without turning around, everything looked better.
I had a really nice view at the end of mile 4. Right? I finished 4 miles in around an hour and 1 minute. As I realized that I had less than 4 miles to go, I found a new motivation to continue with my run/walk intervals. I kept telling myself that I could beat the 2 hours , 15 minutes I thought I would take. This was hard. But, that’s why I’m doing this. I thought about how hard the Dopey Challenge will be…how hard running a half-marathon is. I’m not doing this because it’s easy. So, I kept going.
Running through Venice is so much fun! What got me through miles 6 and 7 was all the fun sights and sounds of Venice waking up for the morning. Mile 7 was hard. But, not only was I inspired by Venice, but my time wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be. I got to the end of mile 7 in 1 hour, 47 and change. At this point, I realized that I could walk the rest of the way and finish faster than I thought I would at the start of the day. On that first walk break of mile 8, I saw my pace and realized I would even beat 2 hours and 10 minutes. And I did! I finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 40 seconds. All of that with walking all of mile 8. Amazing!
Here’s the downside to running Santa Monica. At the end of the run, I get walk up this bridge to get back to my car. After 8 miles, this is no fun. But, it’s just what I’ve got to do.
Rock n Roll San Diego will be here before I know it. I don’t know if cramming all these long runs will work for me. But, it’s what I’ve got. I can get training runs up to 12.5 miles before the race. Now, I’ve to go out and do it….there is no try.
Okay, I’m super excited because runDisney announced the registration dates for the 2022 – 2023 races! I finally know when I need to spend an insane amount of money to runDisney again to accomplish my Dopey 2023 dream!
Here they are! I will be ready on April 19th to register for the 2023 Dopey Challenge! Even though I do not expect the Dopey Challenge to sell out on day 1, other races will. If you want to run the 2023 WDW 5K, you’d better be ready 15 min. prior to the opening of registration to give yourself the best chance of getting in as this will be the race likely to sell out first. The WDW 10K and Kids Races will also likely sell out within an hour or two. The half marathon will be next and could sell out on day 1. If you’re wanting to run the WDW Marathon, the Goofy Challenge, or Dopey Challenge, you will probably be fine waiting a day or two (or even a month or two).
Obviously, there’s more than the WDW Marathon Weekend happening. The first race up in this line-up is the 2022 Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend. Registration opens up on March 22nd! The Wine & Dine used to be a bucket list kind of race for me. Then, they made it a daytime race like the others. I would have loved to run through the Osborn Christmas Lights!
The next race series is the Virtual 5K series for the summer time. No word yet on what the theme will be this summer. Back in 2018, I did these races when the theme was the Incredibles. It was fun to do and it got me out running that summer. Registration opens on April 5th. What is kind of cool is that you can register for 1, 2, or all 3 virtual 5K’s. If you register for all 3, there is usually an extra medal.
On June 21st, the Princess Half Marathon Weekend races will open for registration. Speaking of the Princess weekend, that’s what’s going down this weekend at Walt Disney World. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…as a guy, this race just doesn’t appeal to me. It’s not because the courses are easier. It’s because the whole theming is rather girly…thus, Princess. So, the medals and characters usually out on the courses are designed to celebrate the inner Princess in the runners. I totally get why so many women love this event. Additionally, I know that there are guys out there running with their wives, fiancee’s, girfriends, etc. Also, there are some guys that just don’t want to miss a Disney race. So, if you are a guy, while you may be in the minority, you will see other guys there as well. Just because this race isn’t for me, doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be for you.
The last race in the calendar is the new Springtime Surprise, which will have its inaugural year this year. The races for next year will open for registration on August 23rd. This new concept to runDisney is interesting. For this year, they’ve brought back a very popular race…the Tower of Terror 10 miler. So, there is no half marathon that weekend. But, it will be interesting to see how people react to running the 10 miler in non-Halloween times. After all, the Tower of Terror Race Weekend used to be in October. If they make one of the 2023 races a Star Wars Half Marathon or an Avengers themed race, it would be tempting to find the money to go back to WDW.
What races are you looking forward to signing up for in the 2022-2023 race year?
For the first time since 2017, I’m on a training plan for a long distance race! It’s exciting…it’s scary… but it’s real. All of those goals I have for 2023 start right now with week 1 of training for the Rock n Roll San Diego Half Marathon. Here’s how the week went…
My first training run was supposed to happen last Monday. However, when things don’t go the way they are supposed to go, you decide to switch things up. After all, I only have 3 training runs to complete each week. 2 of them should be on the week nights and 1 weekend long run. So, by Wednesday, I was itching to get out there and run. I am training for a half marathon after all….and I haven’t run that far since the end of 2017. When I started this run, I expected the worst. After all, a cold had sidelined all my pre-RnR San Diego Half Marathon training plans. So, went out just to see how it would go. I must admit that I was happy to see a finish time in under 30 minutes! The route I’ve been running since moving to Arcadia isn’t super easy (or maybe that’s how undertrained I am), but it isn’t super hard either. Most of the first mile is going slightly downhill. So, the last mile is largely going uphill. As expected, my first mile was faster than the last. I was able to keep a run 30 seconds, walk 90 seconds run/walk interval going for almost a mile and a half! The last half mile, I ran for 20 seconds and walked 100 seconds (with one missed run interval). For a first run, I’ll take it!
My second run was on Thursday. Can’t remember the last time I ran on back to back days. However, given my schedule of this week, it was needed. Just like the previous night, this run turned out to be better than expected. I was just over a minute faster! I could tell right from the first run interval that I was going to be okay. Everything felt fine as I went along. By the end of the first mile, I knew I was going a little quicker. That was both cool and scary. If you can’t tell, I’m still so unsure of myself right now. Since the last half of the out and back is tougher than the first half, I’m always scared of completely flaming out in the back half of the run. This run proved to be something where I didn’t need to worry. By the time I got into the last half mile, I really wanted to beat my time from the day before and wondered where I’d land. As it turns out, I was just over a minute faster! I’ve got to admit that it felt fantastic to be under a 14 minute per mile average pace again!
For my third 2 miles on the schedule, I decided to take it to the track. I had been toying with the idea of running a Magic Mile for my first mile on the track. I had really wanted to run one of these on the weekend before starting my formal training plan to see where I’m at. As I drove to the track, I decided to just make it two miles on the track. The reason for this is (1) I haven’t run in the morning in forever and felt extremely unsure about how that was going to go and (2) it wasn’t part of the plan I’m following. So, it’s really unnecessary. My training runs will give me an indication of any progress/regression I may be experiencing. By the time I get to that first Magic Mile, I will put out what I think will happen beforehand to see if I’m tracking accurately. Running on the track again was super challenging. After all, the track is flat. So, there are no declines to help you recover and/or go faster. Likewise, there is no incline to worry about. After walking a lap to warm up, the Garmin GPS finally kicked in and found me (had tried to get Garmin to track me on the first two runs with no success). Then, as I went to the Nike app to track me again, it gave me issues. So, Garmin was the winner this time. As I got into my first lap of tracking, I could feel some of the nerves falling off. I was actually pretty happy with my first mile on the track. By the end of mile 1, I realized that Garmin was not on point. The end of my 4th lap had my Garmin watch reading 1.10 miles. The second mile is where the mental games began with me. By the seventh lap, I started having problems running the full 30 seconds. So, I took a run interval off in that lap. However, I wasn’t liking my time. So, I only ended up taking one full run interval off. The rest were in the 20 to 25 second range. I would have loved to have finished in the time that I was at when my Garmin put me at 2 miles. However, I knew I hadn’t finished that last lap. So, to keep everything honest, I did finish all 8 laps. Garmin records this as 2.25 miles.
On top of the runs, I’m also tracking weight loss. I haven’t got my focus where I want it to be quite yet. So, I was thrilled to learn that I’ve lost 2 lbs since January 16th! I guess I haven’t weighed myself in the following weeks. So, I did get on the scale to see where I’m at currently. Still working on the plan for this. However, I do want to track this. I’m losely hoping to lose 50lbs by the time I get to run Dopey. We shall see if it all works out. For now, I’m happy to see a couple pounds lost!
Final thoughts and observations in week 1…
First off, please don’t be confused by the graphics that talk about the Road to Dopey 2023. My road to Dopey 2023 starts with the road to the 2022 Rock n Roll San Diego Half Marathon. After this race, you’ll see me mention a week 1 again (end of June/beginning of July). That will be the OFFICIAL Dopey Training as this second training cycle will take me all the way to Dopey. I’ve got everything calendared and planned. I’ve got to admit it’s kind of scary to see those weeks in October, November, and December. But, I do remind myself that I’m just starting up again. The goal in this first training cycle is to get myself back into a fitness level of someone running half marathons. Once I get there, it will be all about the marathon!
One thing I realized this week is that I may not get the kind of result I’d like to get at the Rock n Roll San Diego Half Marathon. So, I do have plan to add the Long Beach Half Marathon to my schedule in October. As any runDisney runner knows, placement is everything! Right now, it’s way too early to predict my finish time at Rock n Roll San Diego. I don’t want that finish time to stress me out too much and make the focus simply getting back in half marathon shape. By realizing that I can add the Long Beach Half Marathon to my schedule, I hope it will take the pressure off Rock n Roll San Diego to get a certain time. I really want to run that race with the mindset of seeing where I’m at on race day. If I get a good enough result (like between 3 hours and 3:15:00) there will be no need to an extra half. However, if my training for Dopey is going really well and I think I can finish in under 3 hours, I might add that race anyways.
Another observation is how much different it is to be re-starting my running life from when I initially began. I’m probably in worse shape than I was back then. However, I have enough experience to not stress out about things I would have stressed out in the first go around. On the downside, I still have certain expectations in my head from pre 2017 NYC Marathon that I’m fighting with. It creates so much uncertainty with each run. This week, I had back to back training runs and my first morning run in forever. I seriously hated the uncertainty and what low expectations I’m giving myself. I look forward to when I get a month or two into this training to see if that uncertainty persists. I do expect it persist in the increase of distance. But, I’m hoping that I will mellow out a little bit more on the mid week training runs as I do more of them.
Last observation is this… running in the sun is so much different than night runs. Yikes! My Sunday run, the temp increased nearly 10 degrees from start to finish. Boy was I feeling it!
One more thing to share to close this post out…I’m planning on putting our a weekly update on Monday or Tuesday every week because I plan on having training runs to report. Beyond that, at this point, I’m thinking that I’d love to put out other content as well. So, I am hoping to do some quick posts to the Facebook group. If I can do more blog posts in the week, I will. But, my schedule right now is too busy to commit to that. It feels amazing to be on the journey towards a half marathon again! I have truly missed this over the past few years. I can’t wait to see what happens along the way! See you next week!
Why I runDisney 