I know this feeling well. Most recently for about all of August 2012. There were many, many times when I questioned why I signed up for not one, but 2 1/2 marathons in 2012. I also thought that the Wine & Dine 1/2 would be my final 1/2 ever. But then the
Disneyland 1/2 came.
First, let me share some backstory. My first 1/2, the Disneyland 2011 was a very challenging experience. Nerves, adrenaline, and internal pressure got the best of me and I did too much too, too soon and wound up with severe shin splints less than 0.5 miles into the race. I literally knew I could not continue another 1/4 mile in this kind of pain, let alone 13. My options were drop out now or walk the whole thing. No running whatsoever. So I started walking, hoping that I had trained truly fast enough to do this.
Shortly after exiting Disneyland, we hit an overpass. And my legs hurt all over from this tiny overpass, but I thought of my Mormon pioneer ancestors who fled religious persecution to cross the American plains and kept going. I just kept walking, fueled on by dreams of walking around Disneyland later that day with my medal for finishing. Which eventually, I did coming in at 3:05 something. I was exhausted, but it felt amazing walking around Disneyland, tired and everything with my medal.
Now for this year. I was more confident, but nervous as this would make or break my planned visit to WDW in November. For whatever reason, I enjoyed the race so much more this time. Maybe it was taking time to see some characters, maybe it was knowing to not go too fast too early, but I really enjoyed this one a lot more. My time for 2012 was 3:07:51, but that includes the 10+ minutes for character photos and a bathroom break. And I felt so much better physically.
At least for me, on the long runs I like to think about where I'll be at Disney on race day at the corresponding mile. And I keep thinking of walking around the parks with 3 medals this time.