Disneyland Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Since my tri season ended with the collapse of the Tempe Town Lake Dam, I stopped biking and swimming and concentrated solely on the run. My training had only been run focused for about 4 or 5 weeks, but I set out with 3 goals in mind - - 1) finish, 2) set a new PR, and 3) go sub 1:40.

It's a crowded race, but I got some good lanes and tried to keep an even pace so I wouldn't overextend myself too early. I'm switching my mentality from a go-all-out to more focused on pacing. I knew what I had to run, but it didn't help that the 1:40 pace runner dropped me about 4 1/2 miles into the race. Said he was right on pace, but seemed a little ahead to me. He also wasn't too concerned with keeping anyone with him - just seemed like he was talking with his buddy. Other pacers I've seen try to rally and encourage their group, I think this guy was trying to lose them. But I digress.... I was still on my pace and running my race.

Around mile 9 or 10, I realized I was behind. I was thinking it was going to be like my first marathon - -where i missed my goal by 7 seconds. I tried to speed up a little, but still trying to hold something back for the last 2 miles. I didn't have much left in the tank, but I was still feeling pretty good.

Very excited about my finish, the overall place, and that I set a new PR. I did miss the sub 1:40 and several guys passed me between 13 and the finish (I thought 'WTF?' as they ran by - -where did they get this finishing speed and where is mine????). Again, I digress....

Nice to set a new PR and Disney always puts on a great race. This event has been running for 5 years and I've run in 4 of them. This is probably a race that will always find a place on my schedule.

One odd thing that occurred -- I listened to like 3 songs on my iPod the entire run. The first few miles through the park, Disney had music going. Once I left the parks, i tried 2 or 3 times to listen, but it seemed like it was distracting me from listening to my body. The music seemed really annoying....very weird, because I love running to music.

Start my run-focused training earlier? I had some goals and came pretty damn close. Time for some new goals....

Got my medal and headed through the refreshment lines. Got my finish photo taken and headed to the massage tent for a quick rub-down. One nice thing about finishing ahead of 97% of the field is that the line is short at the massage area! Ran into Dean outside the tent who had also set a new PR, but I didn't hang oaround the finish line long as I had to get ack to my hotel, shower, and get my girls back here for when Disneyland opened at 9am.


Not much - -this was my best half marathon run! I'll add some speedwork to the mix and see if I can top this one.


I love this race and hope to continue running it. Great event and great way to mix in a vacation with the kids and a race.