It’s Disneyland Half Marathon Week! We are just a few days from all the excitement starting. Before I run at Disneyland, I’ve still got training to do in order to get ready for my ultimate goal…the NYC Marathon. So, let’s look at how my week before this Disneyland Half Marathon Week turned out.

First, on Monday, it was Solar Eclipse day. I had my eclipse glasses all set to watch from Legends Plaza at the Walt Disney Studios with my fellow Disney Employees.

This is my best photo of the eclipse from the Studio. We didn’t get a total Solar Eclipse in Southern California. It looked like a crescent moon…only it was the sun. Still, it was fun to go out and watch.

I tried to get up on Tuesday and on Wednesday to run. However, I couldn’t get out the door. On Thursday, I forced myself to make it. After all, I had 15 miles on the calendar for the weekend. Since I missed all my runs the previous week, I knew it would be bad if I didn’t get any mid-week runs in before taking on 15. So, out the door I went. I stayed with the run 30, walk 90 seconds for miles 1 and 4. For miles 2 and 3, it was run 30, walk 60 seconds.

Here are the splits for the run. The first mile went well. I probably got off a little too fast, though. Mile 2 was around the same as my previous 4 miles. It’s always good when I get below that 12 minute per mile average by the end of mile 2. Unlike my previous 4 mile run, though, I slowed down in mile 3. I could feel myself slowing during the mile. While it was slightly discouraging, I kept moving forward and focused on limiting my losses. It worked pretty well as I finished the first 3 miles in a time under 36 minutes. I knew this mile was slower. So, bettering my time of the previous 4 miles was out of the question. By the time I got to 3.5 miles, I was over a 12 minute per mile pace. So, I just kept the run/walk intervals going as best as I could. I even ran out the last 41 seconds to keep me under 49 minutes. While my time was a little slower, I was happy to have made it out again!

Saturday was the big day. I had 15 miles on the calendar yet again. This time, I really needed to finish all 15 miles. Unlike all the other times, I had to do it. This 15 mile run was supposed to happen 1 week prior, but it didn’t. In every training cycle since I became a dad, I’ve had 15 miles on the calendar. Every single time I did, I managed to find a reason to not go. After 3 weeks of skipping 15 mile runs, I was out of the LA Marathon. This run wasn’t pretty, but, I’m happy to say that I got it done!

Here are the splits. This run was a total battle from the very first seconds. When I woke up, I didn’t want to go. When I made it out the door, I wanted to turn back. However, I tried telling myself that I just needed to start and it would be okay. That didn’t end up being the case. For the first mile and a half, at the start of each walk break, I felt like I could vomit. It was a total mental thing. The thought of how much more I had to go kept freaking me out. I haven’t finished 15 miles since running the 2015 Chicago Marathon. There were starts and stops along the way for that first mile and a half. I simply wasn’t getting over this fear of 15 miles.

So, at 1.5 miles, I decided to walk. I wasn’t sure how far I’d walk it out when I started. I contemplated walking the entire rest of the way if it would hep me get over this fear of 15 miles. So, I walked and walked. As I got closer to the Rose Bowl, after cresting over the end of the nearly 3 mile climb, I started wondering if I could run. So, as the inclined turned into a decline, I started my run/walk intervals. The first few went okay….no desire to vomit! Maybe, I could get back to the run/walk intervals and find a way to make it all the way to 15 miles! So, at the end of mile 5, I was back into my run/walk intervals. By the end of mile 6, I was grooving. My fastest mile was mile 7!

I wrapped around the Rose Bowl loop twice and a little more than that. By the time I got to climbing back up to Orange Grove Blvd., I was feeling tired. I was in mile 13 and was not going to beat my 13 mile time from a few weeks before. So, I decided to walk the half mile uphill to Orange Grove Blvd. The incline continued for another quarter-mile. So, I walked all of that as well. By the time I got a quarter-mile into mile 14, I got back into the run/walk intervals. That carried me all the way to 14.75 miles. I felt a slight twinge in my lower calf again at the start of a run interval. But, I was able to keep running through the interval. By this point, with no amazing time to chase down, I decided that finishing 15 miles mattered more than running in the last quarter-mile. So, I walked it out.

This was such an up and down kind of training run/walk. It will be one I hope to keep with me all the way to the finish line of the NYC Marathon.

This quote totally encapsulates my 15 miles. I tried to overcome my doubts in the first mile and a half. When that didn’t work, I walked until I could run. Then, I ran as far as I could. I conserved energy on the last hard climb and ran again until I almost finished. I needed to walk to get to the finish, but I got there! I proved that I still can run these crazy long distances! This weekend’s half marathon won’t be as bad. It’s only 13.1 miles after all.

This weekend, runDisney revealed the medals for the upcoming 2017 Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon Weekend. How awesome are these medals?

The Spider-Man 5K medal might be my favorite of the whole bunch!

The Thor 10K medal is a spinner. Here’s the back side…

You’ll see the front in the top left corner. It’s nice to see that they’ve switched up the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon medal.

 

Well, that’s all for now. Happy Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend everyone!