What could
be better than feeling the wind blow through your hair as your feet hit
pavement during a good run? Well, doing
it in the happiest place on earth, of course!
This past
weekend, I packed up my bags and headed to Disneyland for the Tinkerbell Half
Marathon weekend. I have been looking
forward to seeing how west coast Disney races compare to the stimulation you
get at an east coast Disney race. Is the
energy the same? How much do you get to
run through the parks? Do you see characters
at every turn?
Bottomline
up front – I truly enjoyed the experience and will do it again. I finished the 10k in 20th place
in my division (top 3% of the whole race field) and the half marathon in 49th
place in my division (top 4% overall).
I’ve always been happy to recommend Disney races to anybody looking for
a running experience (as opposed to hitting a new PR).
So, back
to the weekend. I showed up last Friday
afternoon to check in for the half marathon.
I was surprised to find that registration was actually still open for
all races (the east coast races sell out in about a day) and thought to myself,
“What the heck?” and upgraded to the
Pixie Dust Challenge. This means running
a 10k on Saturday and then the half marathon on Sunday.
I wasn’t concerned
about the mileage. I’m trained, and I
ran a similar challenge at Walt Disney World just last year. But, since I showed up equipped to run one
race, I needed to find a second set of running clothes at the expo (against the
golden rule which is don’t wear anything new on race day).
 |
I'm cheap, so race photos
are watermarked.
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So I
moseyed up to the 10K start line at 4:30am on Saturday (longer Disney races all
start at 5:30am….gotta get that park open on time after all). I didn’t plan on pushing too hard because of
the half marathon on Sunday. When the
race started (with no fireworks like the east coast cousins), I settled into a
nice comfortable pace.
I was
pleasantly surprised that the much of the race wound through the parks, giving
this Disneyland rookie a good orientation to the Mouse’s first house. If you’ve never been to California Adventure,
be prepared for breathtaking backdrops.
Sadly, characters were few and far between along the race course to keep
the mind entertained.
Closing in
on the finish, I realized my legs felt good, my mind was alert, and the weather
was perfect. I turned it up just a bit
for a stronger finish than I originally set out for. Then I went back to the hotel, showered and
got ready for a day in the park with the family.
On Sunday,
I arose to a similar timeline of events.
This time, I met up with a friend who was also racing and walked over to
Downtown Disney so she could drop her gear.
Now here’s where I made the worst decision of the whole weekend. On the way to the starting corrals, I
realized I hadn’t eaten and was starved.
So, I quickly grabbed a warm buttered croissant at Starbucks (one of the
advantages to the west coast races is that everything is closer and some of the
restaurants open super early for racers).
That croissant worked a number on my stomach the whole first half of the
race.
At the
start (again no fireworks), I headed out at a comfortable pace. My legs were a little more rough than
Saturday thanks to a Saturday race followed by a day of walking in the park,
but nothing unmanageable. The first half
of the race followed the same course as the 10k, and then took a turn out into
Anaheim for the next half. I really
enjoyed getting to see a bit of the town…and the famous Anaheim parrots atop
the power lines.
Now, since
that croissant had destroyed my stomach in the first half of the race, I had a
lot of time to make up in order to still hit my minimum acceptable finish of
sub 2 hours. I really had to crank up
the speed by a good 30-40 seconds per mile.
Thank goodness my legs are trained for better than that, so I was able
to make the push without really killing myself.
Actually, I probably could have given it a little more, but I was
content with where I’d finish.
Around
mile 11, we turned back onto Disney property and wound around backlots. As my mind wandered to the playlist blaring
through my ear buds, I had an epiphany.
Have you ever listened to Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without
You”? Well let me tell you, it’s not
about a guy….It has to be about her relationship with running. Listen to it closely next time and tell me if I'm wrong.
Finally,
the finish. I came in right behind two
Smees (the costumes were, of course, cute….Disney races are all about the
costumes. Don’t ask me about mine,
though, I don’t do costumes). I always
enjoy that final sprint the last couple hundred meters of a race. The challenge and thrill of passing people in
that final push is exhilarating.
Since I
was a Pixie Dust Challenge finisher, I walked through the chute to collect my
two medals (to add to my medal from Saturday.
Disney does AMAZING medals!).
Another Disney race in the history books….and overall I loved it!
A quick
word about nutrition…consistency in nutrition is important for your overall
performance. Changing it up before a big
event, or eating something you know your body doesn’t react well to are huge no
nos. Twice now in the past year I’ve made a bad decision based on what sounded
like a good idea at the time – last November I ate some rice pudding the night
before the Richmond Half when I know my body doesn’t do dairy, and now the
buttered croissant. Much like your
running gear, stick to tried and true nutritional choices before an event or
your performance will pay the price. If
you want to try a new diet or menu plan, do it during a valley in your training
and log how the change impacts your physical and mental game. Same goes for your fuel during a run. If you’re looking to make a change, try it
out during training instead of race day, or race day won’t be much fun. Have you ever suffered the results of a poor
nutrition choice?
Next time
I’m looking forward to giving you all a rundown of my recent workout types and locations
(I’ve been having fun) and talking a little about the importance of hydration
with summer on the horizon. Happy
trails!!!
Observations: I've got some muscle aches still related to overtraining that could do with a nice rest day or two. My left hamstring is singing again and I'm not looking for a repeat of last year. Same with the foot tendons and I've got to tell you, I refuse to put a couple weeks in a boot like last fall because of those darn things. Need to dial back for a bit to fully recover before moving on and up.
