Week 8 is officially in the books and what a week it was! This weekend marked the first weekend with 2 runs required on my training plan for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. As I will be completing the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge distances without the bling, I’ve made sure to train for it. So, this weekend, I ran 1 mile on Saturday (on the treadmill as part of a gym workout) and 8 miles yesterday at the beach! I’ve only run 8 miles once before in my life. When it came to the end of that mile, I saw this…

So, I was a little intimidated and excited at the same time for an 8 mile training run. In preparing for this training run, I knew that I’d need a fuel belt. So, last weekend, I headed off to the Run with Us store in Pasadena and sought advice as to which belt to buy. I got this one, by Nathan. The person at the store said that it was their most popular. So, that was the choice for me. This run also gave me the opportunity to try Gu. How am I going to know what works for me if I don’t get to try it out? Unfortunately, when you’re running less than an hour, it’s just not worth it. However, with an 8 mile run, I finally had the opportunity to try this stuff out. Also, since I knew I’d be on my feet for a while, I thought it would be funner to complete this distance at the beach. When I signed up for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, I envisioned myself doing longer runs at the beach. That never materialized. So, I was really excited about getting to finally complete a training run at the beach.

I chose to start at Seal Beach and just go for 4 miles. Then, I’d turn around and head back. I thought that this paved path that ran along Seal Beach didn’t end. I was wrong. The paved path only lasted about a half mile. Then, I was making my way up to Pacific Coast Highway. I will say that I loved running along the beach and seeing the wonderful Pacific Ocean to my side. When I got up to PCH, I also had a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean. The thing I didn’t plan for were the two ascents on PCH. That made things a little more difficult. However, it wasn’t until I came back where those ascents caused me problems. On the first leg of the journey, I was fine going over them.

By the time I got to the bottom of the second ascent and decent, I found a place where I could go off PCH that was a path meant for running/walking along Sunset Beach. There were lots of people out who were either walking, running, or riding a bicycle. The path I was on lead me to Bolsa Chica Beach. I was glad to come to a place where I could see the beach and ocean again. Plus, there were several groups of people assembling along the path for group runs/bike rides. Ah the feeling of being among runners!

Before I knew it, I was at the end of mile 4 and time to turn back. I know I lost a little time as that was when I decided to take my only Gu for the run. I figured the half way point was probably as good of a place as any. Plus, along the beach were trash cans where I could put the empty pouch when I was done. I walked as I consumed the Gu and water afterwards. Once I found a trash can, I was off running again. By the way, running with a fuel belt is a little different.

As I mentioned, the ascents on PCH coming back were more difficult for me. They came in mile 7. I found myself taking more walk breaks to not only get up the ascents, but to refocus on running. I really didn’t want to walk the last 2 miles in their entirety. So, I reduced my run/walk interval to 30/60 seconds. That got me to the end of the mile. In mile 8, I regained the 1/1 minute intervals. I finished a little slower than I had hoped. However, it was still a good finishing time. So, I’m not bummed at all. I finished 8 miles without any injury and I still had enough energy to continue a little longer.  So, it was a total victory! I felt great afterwards! I walked along the pier for a little bit…taking in the beauty of the beach, the cool breeze, the fresh air, and the wonderful sounds of the waves. It was a truly great morning!

To top things off, I lost another 3.2 pounds this week. So far, 8 weeks of training and 16.6 pounds lost! Here’s how my week went…

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – Ran 3.10 miles

Wednesday – Elliptical machine (30 minutes), abs, leg press, chin ups, dips

Thursday – Ran 3.10 miles

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – Ran 1 mile on treadmill, 30 minutes on elliptical machine, abs, leg press, chin ups, dips

Sunday – Ran 8 miles!

How did your week go? For those training for the Dumbo Double Dare, there’s only 10 weeks left!