Week 18, and the training for the Dumbo Double Dare – Disneyland Half Marathon is now complete! This week, I got in only 1 training run out of 2 training runs I had planned. On Thursday, it was entirely too hot to get out and run. So, I took Thursday off. This week also saw me go from being 39 years old to becoming a 40-year-old. I had so much fun celebrating the start to my 40’s! There was a tour of Angels Stadium, birthday dinner at Buca Di Beppo with the wife, lunch at this great BBQ place in the valley with my co-workers, mini cupcakes from two of my other bosses, and all of the fun at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. Whew! What a week!

The above picture was taken right before the Mile 12 marker at the Disneyland Half Marathon by my awesome wife. For the weekend, that would be right before marking 18.2 miles of the 19.3 that I completed as an Unofficial Dumbo Double Dare runner. I have so much to say about this awesome weekend. However, for now, let’s just say that I finished the Disneyland Half Marathon with a new Half Marathon PR! I beat my Tinker Bell Half Marathon time by a little over 11 minutes and finished in under 3 hours! I was still slower than my goal and even slower than my training runs would have placed me. However, considering the heat we had over the weekend, I’m very content to celebrate a new PR!

Of course, on Saturday, my wife and I finished the inaugural Disneyland 10K. It was my wife’s first 10K and I couldn’t be more proud of how well she did. For this Southern California couple, the humidity was off the charts for most of the race. However, we did finish and had fun doing so. More on that race later.

18 weeks ago, I started on this journey to prepare for these races. It’s kind of sad to see them come to an end. However, I’m planning on taking some time to reflect on what I’ve learned in the process. Can’t wait to share this week! However, starting Tuesday, I jump right in to training for the Walt Disney World Marathon. I can’t wait until this little medal is in my possession.