Wife Mother Runner Disneyland Half Marathon Archives

NYC Marathon 10 Mile Training Run

August 29, 2017

I did it, I got a ten mile training run under my belt for the NYC marathon. I also needed to get those miles in for the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. I hadn’t run more than ten miles since the Middletown Half Marathon back in April.

The struggle

The struggle to get to 10 miles has been quite real. I have been going through a LOT of life stresses and was listening to the Another Mother Runner podcast, episode 273 and they mentioned how stress from life can have a major impact on your training. As training is just as much mental as it is physical, when you are facing personal issues that affect your mental state of mind, it causes mental fatigue which also causes physical fatigue.

I have been trying very hard to be consistent with my workouts. When it isn’t a short run day during the week, I get in my cross training with Beach Body Chalean Extreme videos. However, my nutrition has not been very good this summer. Meal planning and prep has gone out the window for me. I was very consistent with it last year and lost 10 pounds. Sadly, 5 of those pounds have crept back onto my body. So I am starting a refresh to get back on track. Doing this while the kids are back at school seemed logical since we are all trying to get back into a routine again.

Upcoming Races

I have the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend coming up this weekend. I will be running the 5K, 10K and half marathon. It isn’t ideal to get in a long run just a week before the races, but I needed that reassurance in my mind to get those miles under my feet. The day after the run I felt fine so I am glad I got that training run done. I don’t plan on running until the race weekend so I can give my legs a rest. After the Disneyland Races I am not sure if I will register for any other races to use as training runs towards the NYC marathon.

The NYC Marathon

The NYC Marathon is just ten weeks away. I learned this thanks to Facebook and quite frankly, that scares me. I intended to get in a 20 mile run prior to that marathon. I now have to pull out my calendar and see how I can realistically fit in long runs between now and then. To be brutally honest, I did research yesterday to see the penalty for pulling out of the race. The NYRR site states that you can cancel the 2017 race and if you want to run it in 2018 you have to register again and pay the fee again as well. So to be honest, it is now or never in my mind.

Run Stats

I went slow on this training run. I took some more walk breaks and it did get warmer out since I went out later in the morning. But I am still happy that the miles are under my feet. The last mile I had to circle my driveway for half a mile so that dramatically affected my pace. But I also have to remind myself that Jeff Galloway wants our training runs to be significantly slower so we can get the miles done and under our feet because they are “training miles”.

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Hotel Recommendations

September 20, 2016

I’m starting a new section of my blog which will provide you with hotel recommendations, especially to use for race weekends. Cost is a factor when I travel for race weekends because I am traveling alone and want to do it as cheap as I possibly can because I really just need a bed, shower and coffee maker.

When I went to Disneyland for the past two Dumbo Double Dare Races in 2016 and 2015 I stayed at the Best Western Plus Pavilions. I was very happy with this hotel last year and booked again at the same hotel this year. It is close to the Disneyland Resort area and Downtown Disney and is just about a 15-20 minute walk to the starting area for the races. It is also a more direct route to the races which does not require you to go though security and bag checks like you do in the area between Disneyland Magic Kingdom and California Adventure.

I also booked this hotel for the price. I was able to book it for $135 per night and I use hotels.com so that I can earn free nights. When you book again to the same hotel you also get special pricing. They also offered something great this year that I took advantage of. With their location right next to Denny’s, you are given a voucher for each night you stay there to use for breakfast the following day between 7:00 – 10:00 a.m. And your choices are not just a muffin and coffee. You can choose from eggs, pancakes, toast, tea, coffee, or juice and a side of bacon, sausage or turkey bacon. I made sure to take advantage of this the morning of the 10K since I finished early enough to take a fast shower and head over to the restaurant before 10:00 a.m. I thought this was an excellent addition to their accommodations there.

They are also located on a road that makes my return trip to the airport very easy because there isn’t usually theme park traffic when I depart on Sunday late morning.

I am very happy with the cleanliness, the amenities, the bed and how quiet it is at this hotel. I suits my needs perfectly for a race weekend. Check out my video of the hotel.

Disneyland Half Marathon Day 1 – The Expo

September 19, 2016

My flight out to Disneyland was uneventful and easy. I took a new flight which Southwest never had available before. It left Hartford, CT at noon, stopped in Las Vegas and then I landed in Santa Ana at 5:30 p.m. I had never been to Las Vegas before and this was the closest to the strip that I was going to get.

After I arrived at the airport I got the rental car and drove over to the Disneyland Hotel for the Health and Wellness Expo. I had trouble getting there this year. There was traffic and the parking to Downtown Disney had changed from what I was used to. So I ended up driving through a parking garage and then doing a few u turns before I finally coughed up $18 and just parked at the hotel. Because by this time it was 7:00 and there was only an hour left at the Expo.

I collected my bib and race shirts and the then went straight to the official merchandise area. I was traveling on a tight budget this year so I wasn’t going to get much stuff; but I wanted to get my traditional magnet, sweaty band and Coast to Coast shirt.

I was very impressed with the amount of merchandise at the expo. It appeared that they had everything in stock and everything I wanted was there. They also had a lot of new things there this year. Many different runDisney shirts (not specific to that actual race). As well as accessories.

After I purchased my merchandise, I quickly scanned the expo floor to find Merle with her new company Treadbands, and I also wanted to have Jeff Galloway sign my bib and get my traditional photo with him.

By this point it was 8:00 and I was starving; so I went over to Tangaroa Terrace to get a pulled pork flat bread and then walked over to Downtown Disney to purchase gifts for the kids from World of Disney. I made it to my hotel room by around 9:30 and prepared my gear for the 10K race the next morning. I wanted to be in bed by 10:00 and wasn’t too far off from my goal.

So day one was a success and I was looking forward to the 10K and seeing Dale, Susana, Bill and Jen, and Jennifer. I was also looking forward to my day with Karen to see the sights of Irvine, a vineyard and then dinner at the ocean with a sunset! Stay tuned for a recap of my Day 2 in Disneyland and my California adventure!

Dumbo Double Dare Donald Duck New Balance Sneakers!

August 30, 2015

source New Balance

I’m excited that Donald Duck is the character for the newest release of the NB runDisney special sneakers being released during Dumbo Double Dare Disneyland Half marathon weekend. Donald is my son’s favorite character and I know that they carry children sizes for these sneakers.

This model is the New Balance Boracay Fresh Foam, similar to the Tinkerbell model that was just released in may. The sneakers will be sold for $140 at the runDisney Health and Fitness Expo.

Source New Balance Love the hat tail like Donald’s hat coming off the back of the sneaker!

Source New Balance

How do you get your hands on a pair of these?

You can wait in line at the New Balance booth at the expo, or to help minimize the wait you can sign up for the virtual queue at NBvirtualqueue.com using your bib number starting Thursday, September 3rd, at 6:00 AM PST. The queue is also available on Friday and Saturday beginning at 6:00 AM PST.

The NBvirtualqueue.com will also provide you up to date information on inventory availability and updates throughout the weekend.

Check out all the latest releases of the special runDisney New Balance sneakers while you are at the expo as well!