Week 8 of 19 in preparation of the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon is in the books. What a week it was! This wasn’t the best week for training in a numbers sort of way as I only had 3 runs and no gym workouts. However, with the Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon this past weekend, I wanted to be fresh and ready to set a new Half Marathon PR. As I’ve been reading blogs, I’ve realized that the best way out of the last corral at a runDisney race is to finish fast in the non-Disney races. So, from what I’ve read, those die-hard runDisney folks participate in local races and other larger non-Disney races with the goal of setting a fast time to get an early corral placement at the runDisney races. Then, when they are at those runDisney races, they can have fun, take lots of pictures, and not have to worry about being swept off the course for being too slow. Also, the earlier you start, the less crowding there appears to be on the race course and the lines to take pictures with the Disney characters that are on the course tend to be shorter. So, I had been targeting this past weekend’s half marathon as one for corral placement at the WDW Marathon since I put it on the calendar.

With that said, this week, I did get in two fantastic 4 mile runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Both times, I felt great for the entire run. Also, both times, I saw my average pace increase due to this one dumb traffic light in the last mile. Oh well. I’ve decided that, if the traffic lights aren’t in my favor, there isn’t much I can do about that. I felt great while running and did well with what I had control over. That’s what matters…right? Anyways, I decided this week that Wednesdays at the gym is something that isn’t working out for me. With a long run on Saturday, gym time/races on Sunday, Choir practice on Monday, and running on Tuesday and Thursday, if I work out on Wednesday, I only get Friday off from extra activities. Since I keep finding excuses to take Wednesdays off, I’ve decided that, until the Candlelight Processional happens (December 7th), Wednesday will just have to be a rest day. As the Candlelight season comes to a close, I will make some alterations to keep my 3 training runs going strong. However, I’m finding that, mentally, I need 2 nights off.

Of course, the focus of Week 8 was the Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon. By the end of the race, I did feel like WE ARE ALL KINGS (like the sign says). When all was said and done, I had the absolute best Half Marathon ever! I finished nearly 17 minutes faster than I did at the Disneyland Half Marathon Labor Day weekend! Yes! That’s correct…nearly 17 minutes faster! At the Disneyland Half Marathon, I finished in 3 hours even (besting my first half marathon time at the Tinker Bell Half Marathon by 11 minutes, 22 seconds). Yesterday, I finished the 13.1 miles at the Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon in 2 hours, 43 minutes, 24 seconds! That’s a new half marathon PR by 16 minutes, 36 seconds!

Yes, sir! Mission accomplished and then some. I set out to finish in 2 hours, 50 minutes and beat that goal by nearly 7 minutes. Captain America must have been helping me out! By the way, I loved running in a costume of sorts! Hearing the shout outs to Captain America along the race was totally fun! I can’t wait to share a full recap of the weekend’s festivities with you all this week. I will most definitely be doing the Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon again next year. So much fun!

Here’s how my week went…

Monday – Rest Day

Tuesday – Ran 4 miles

Wednesday – Rest Day

Thursday – Ran 4 miles

Friday – Rest Day

Saturday – Rest day to go to the Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon Expo

Sunday – Ran 13.1 miles at the Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon

I hope you all had a wonderful week! Onward to week 9 of marathon training!