Disneyland Half Marathon Training- How I Walk/Ran The Happiest Race On Earth

When I was in high school gym class, that day always rolled around that each kid in class hated (except for the super physically fit minority of us): running day. One day a week, we had to run the dreaded mile *cue Psycho theme song*.

We were all convinced that our crazed gym teacher had a vendetta out for all of us...anyway, moving on. After my freshman year in college, I decided that I needed a way to stay/get in shape. My dad threw me the invitation to run the Disneyland Half Marathon with him that coming September.

I figured that if i was EVER going to run a half marathon, it was going to be at Disneyland, so I accepted the invite! Now, remember...I am NOT a runner by any stretch of the imagination, so I knew that I would have to start training early...very early.

The entire race would be 13.1 miles, so I began at a pace Eeyore could be proud of, walking one mile a day on our treadmill. I figured out that if I could walk at a 4 mph pace, I could walk the entire race within the alloted amount of time. Runners have to run at at least a 16 minute per mile pace in order to finish on time.

Me and some of our other friends had nightmares of a giant people scooper coming up on us while we were running. Talk about motivation. However, I am vertically challenged, and can't keep a 4 mph pace for longer than a few strides, much to my dismay. So, I decided to run a mile, then walk a mile, and so on.

During the first part of my training, I started to look into the race a little bit more. Dad had run the race the year before, so I got a lot of information from him. Basically, racers run through Disneyland and California Adventures, and then around Anaheim and through Angels Stadium.

I was getting really excited by this point. He said that the Disney characters all come out for it and wave the racers on throughout the parks. While you run through the city, people come out to watch and wave you on too. When you get to Angels Stadium, you actually get to run the bases. Awesome right?

I was able to step up my running a little bit more each week. I basically laid out a calendar, and counted back from the day of the race. Each week, I chose one day for my long run *cue up that psycho music one more time*.

One week before the race, I ran 10 miles on my long run day. That was the most I ran before the race. The week before that one, I ran 9 on my long run day. Each week I counted back like this. During the weeks, I would run shorter distances ranging from 2 miles a day up to 7 (when I got past 5 miles for my long run).

I remember being so excited the day I ran 10 miles. I took a picture of the mile counter on our treadmill, and I sent text messages out like crazy. My friends mostly thought I was insane, but they were still super supportive.

My family and other friends we were running with all met down at Disneyland a few days before the race to put in a little park time before the race.

One of our friends and I decided that we needed a little extra momentum when we ran, so we bought some Tinker Bell wings for the race. These suckers lit up too. Go big or go home, right? We looked pretty sweet, let me tell ya.

The day of the race, we all woke up at around 4:00 am to scarf down some energy bars and peanut butter with crackers. We strapped on the wings, took loads of pictures with our group, and headed out.

Runners are grouped in corrals A-G. The sprinters and fitness masters of the universe are in Corral A...and we were in Corral G. I'm sure you get the picture. They release each corral in order, so the faster runners don't trample the walkers (ahem... Corral G).

When it came our turn to start, I could just feel the buzz in the air, we were all ready to start. I could see the people up at the front of the group begin to start moving, and pretty soon, we were taking our first steps. It was a pretty slow walk, then a faster walk, then it opened up, and we could start running.

It was amazing! If you want to feel like a celebrity for a day, sign up for this race!

The whole thing was kind of a blur. I remember running through the parks, and anaheim, and Angels Stadium.

They had to double the amount of water stations that day, because it was so hot.They told us after the race that the heat was within 2 degrees of having to cancel the race because it was so hot that day. Luckily, nothing like that happened. And I'm sure we all appreciated the extra water stations!

The finish line was at the end of Downtown Disney. That last 0.1 mile was a killer! The little song from Dumbo kept going through my head " I think I can, I think I can..." Finally, I passes the finish line! Best feeling in the world.

Now, 2 years later, I am signed up for another Disneyland Half Marathon! I began training about 2 weeks ago, and am up to about 3 mile runs a few days a week. And by run, I mean I run one mile, walk the next, and run the last. Its a good system that worked for me last time.

My mom is running with us this year, and so we all make ourselves go to the gym about every other day to run. The race is September 6. Wish us all luck! I do not think I'll be needing the light up Tinker Bell wings this time around, however, me and mom are thinking little tiaras this time.

My 2nd half marathon is looming ahead, and I'm getting more and more excited as the days pass. My mom developed a bad case of shin splints, and is giving it her all to try to still run the race. As for dad and I, we ran 10 miles yesterday morning at 7:00 am! Let me tell you, my legs are still very unhappy with me.

But, we survived the 10 miles, and were finished in 2 hours and 25 minutes. This is very good news because that time is under the minimum requirement of a 16 minute mile. So, despite my gimping around the house all day yesterday, and most likely most of today, I am excited!

I'll do one more long run before the half marathon on Sept. 6. I'm thinking 8 miles should do the trick. But, I want the day of the race to be as comfortable as possible, so I'll be running at least 5 miles three times a week till then. Disneyland here I come!