Disney Half Marathon

I finished the Disney Half Marathon successfully, jogging the 13.1 mile course in 2:27. My PR for a Half Marathon is 2:03, so it was a very gentle and easy pace for me. It was fairly cool in Los Angeles and Anaheim, up until the last 3 miles, when the temperature spiked up a bit. So that was good. Usually, it's hot there, no need for warmups or coverups at all. The air quality wasn't great, with all the fires happening in Southern California, but air quality in Los Angeles isn't great anyway. It wasn't much of an issue.

As for the course itself, it was fun! Not the type of course you'd try to "race" per se, it's the type of course you really want to enjoy. My wife and sister-in-law were taking pictures throughout, so it was really more of a fun-run, than a race. We ran through California Adventure and Disneyland in the first part of the race (very cool!) and then through Angel's Stadium (yes, actually through the baseball stadium with thousands of fans in there!) and finally finishing in Downtown Disney. In the middle parts of the race, we went through the streets of Anaheim, with lots of bands, cheerleaders, and people cheering us on.

I ate a lot more than usual during the week, just to try and calorie-up, but I probably didn't eat enough. Not to mention I'm in the middle of my Half Marathon training for San Jose Rock N Roll in October, I hadn't gone past 8 miles for my long runs in this cycle. So, even though I had a good even pace throughout, I struggled a little bit after 10 miles. My feet, quads, and achilles felt a little tweaky near the end, and I did feel a little light headed afterwards. Between the heat at the end, my lack of calories throughout the week, and my injuries, it wasn't ideal. But, at the same time, my goal was an easy 2:30, and for the most part, I feel good about that and the results.

We arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, so eating out was a challenge. Luckily, we found several vegan markets and restaurants (Mother's Market in Irvine and Huntington Beach, That's Amore in Cerritos, etc.) so we had plenty of supplies to choose from. I missed my green smoothies for a few days, and I definitely missed them. I had one this morning, and I'm feeling better already.

For this week, I'm back on the Eat-To-Live plan, so I'll post another checkpoint next Sunday. In the meantime, I'm in the peak time of my Half Marathon Training, so the workouts are toughest this week. I had to skip this morning's tough workout, because my quads were still a little sore.

Have a great week!