Sleepless Knight
Jedi Knight Seeking His Jedi Princess
- Joined
- May 15, 2008
With both the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend coming this weekend and the Star Wars 1/2 Marathon Weekend coming next weekend, I feel like offering my experience from my first 1/2 marathon in the hopes that my own experiences will help someone else feeling nervous about their first race. Maybe my experience won't help someone else, but in the event it does, here goes. It is lengthy, but I feel like what I learned from my first race makes more sense if you know how I went from my couch to finishing a 1/2 marathon.
First off, I was never a tremendous athlete. While the idea of a runDisney medal appealed to me when I read about the Inaugural Disneyland 1/2 back in 2006, the reality of 13.1 miles had me convinced that I would never earn such a medal. And I was okay with that. I exercised off and on for a few years, but never could sustain it. After 2 consecutive years of visiting Disneyland during the 1/2 marathon weekend, I finally decided to talk with a nice couple proudly wearing their medals. They were more than happy to tell me that the required pace was such that I could actually walk the entire course. This nice couple assured me that I would need to train for it, but that I could walk it.
So a couple of years later, I was talking with my little sister and she informed me of her secret desire to run a 1/2 marathon. One thing led to another and we both signed up for the 2011 Disneyland 1/2. Now, I never really even considered the notion of building up to running a 1/2. It never occurred to me to run a 5K and then a 10K or something along those lines. I just jumped in with both feet and began training. I followed the Galloway plan from runDisney mostly because it was free and because I trusted that it would work for a complete running newbie like myself.
My training started off and on for a few weeks and eventually I was so far behind that I had to cut out all the low mileage weekend runs just to get all the long runs in. Early on in my training, I was pretty exhausted after just 2 miles. I had to constantly remind myself that I didn't need to run 13.1 miles today, but rather needed to build up to it in August. Slowly the endurance built up. A few weeks before the race, I spooked myself into thinking that my current training wasn't fast enough, so I started to increase my speed too quickly.
This led to my discovery that whenever I try to run, I quickly wind up with sharp pains that force me to stop. In the end, I had to slow down to my usual 15 minute per mile training pace and hope for the best. Race weekend came and I was filled with both excitement and fear. A lot of fear. While I had put in all the long training runs under the plan, I still wondered if I could actually do it. While other runners were very encouraging in the parks, I still silently wondered if they were just being polite. After all, I was only walking the course. In the end, I concluded that I was either going to succeed or fail spectacularly.
Packet pickup and the Expo speakers, especially Jeff Galloway helped me feel more confident, but also increased my nerves. Eventually I did fall asleep that night, but didn't sleep very well on account of my nerves. Race morning, for better or for worse, had finally arrived. I couldn't believe how cheerful so many runners were. Did they not realize it was 4:00am? My sister and I made our way to the very last corral and settled in to begin the waiting game. Soon enough our turn and the race began. My sister took off like a shot and I wouldn't see her again until after the race. Which is fine. We both wanted to finish and wouldn't allow the other one to slow us down.
The race now underway, I thought to myself that I was actually doing this. I really was running a 1/2 marathon. I could really do this. But my fears about finishing, combined with nerves, adrenaline, and excitement got the best of me and I began to pick up my pace. This was too much, too soon. After just a minute or two of this increased speed, I felt a sharp shooting pain in my legs similar to shin splints. Soon my elation turned to despair. My hope became discouragement. Less than half a mile into the race, I realized there was no way I could finish the race in this kind of pain. But I wanted that medal.
If you had told me at that very moment that I could pull over to the side of the course, say I was too injured to go on, and given me that medal, I fear that I would have taken you up on that offer. I would a medal and learned that 1/2 marathons aren't for me. But thankfully, I believed that the only way to earn the medal was to finish the race. I came to the quick conclusion that I was going to have to slow down and walk the course. That is after all, what I had trained to do. I decided that I would continue the race until I either finished it or was dragged from the course kicking and screaming. Well, not literally, but you get my drift.
And so the walking began. At mile 1 I learned that I was roughly one minute ahead of minimum race pace. Well I hadn't been swept yet. I just kept going. I had already decided to skip all character photos as I had concerns that any stops could destroy my goal of finishing the race. For me, all the character photos I wanted would wait until I had earned that medal. Through DCA and Disneyland, I was distracted from the soreness still lingering in my muscles from having started too quickly. My spirits were buoyed up by a sweet elderly lady in a wheelchair holding a sign that read "Hello Total Stranger, I'm Proud of You Too."
I timed my splits in my head by looking at the clock on each mile marker and calculating if I was taking roughly 15 minutes to complete each mile. My goal was to finish. My time didn't matter. And so far, so good. But then we left Disneyland. I knew that the course wound through Anaheim before heading to Angels Stadium. I had no idea that there would be bands, cheerleaders, and different groups along the way providing entertainment. In my mind, I thought that I had a lot of lonely miles in front of me. But they hadn't swept me yet.
But as I went over the freeway overpass just outside of Disneyland, this stretch became difficult. My legs protested the increased effort to just get over a freeway overpass. But as I struggled with this, I thought of my Mormon Pioneer ancestors who fled persecution in Illinois and walked to Utah under very trying and challenging circumstances. They never quit and neither would I.
So I put one foot in front of the other. I just kept going, persevering, enduring, and never giving up. Slowly, but surely the miles passed. The mile marker number kept getting higher. Soon I came to Angels Stadium. What a rush! The cheering fans in the stadium gave me a real energy boost. And though it seemed like a very long time, it wasn't long at all before I came back to Disney property. I was actually going to finish the race. As fate would have it, I saw a friendly couple who I met in Disneyland the day before who had offered me encouragement. And then the finish line was upon me. I high gave a high five to Mickey and one of the chipmunks as I crossed the finish line. I had actually finished the race. In time. Without getting swept.
In 2012 I did the Coast to Coast Challenge. I'll be in the Star Wars Rebel Challenge next week. And to think all that has come since then never would have happened if I had given up so early on in my first race. I still walk these races. I'm still slow. It still takes me over 3 hours to finish a runDisney 1/2 marathon. But I'm still a finisher!
What did I learn from that first race?
1. Trust your training. You're not competing against me. You're not competing against the elite athletes in corral A. You're not even competing against any family members or friends you're running with. You're really only competing against that voice in your head that says you cannot do hard things. In the very beginning of the race, I tried to do too much, too fast. I ran faster than I actually had the strength to. But as I returned to the basics of what I had spent the previous four months preparing to do, things returned to normal. I was able to keep going. I may never be very fast, but I can finish a race. I can learn what I am supposed to learn from this experience. And I certainly enjoy the physical benefits from the repeated exercise it takes to train for these races.
While you will cross the finish line on race day itself, you prepared to win your race every day you trained. Every day you got up and exercised instead of doing something else. You have invested a lot of time and energy into training. So trust that training and call upon it when you feel discouraged. Whatever moments of discouragement you feel during the race or during your training will be long forgotten by the joy you experience when you finish your race.
2. Never give up. There will be times when the next portion of the course feels like a fire breathing Maleficent trying to take you down. But just keep fighting. Or swimming as Dory says in Finding Nemo. Just don't give up. Give it your very best that day, whatever your very best is. Remember that you have trained for this. You have prepared for this. Your training probably was far from perfect. You probably had bad training days and good training days. But all those days, especially the bad ones, helped prepare you for this race.
3. Don't worry about your time too much. This is not to say that you ignore the pace requirements, but more that you keep your focus on finishing the race you trained for. Enjoy the Disney experience of the race. This may only involve shouting pirate phrases to the pirates who are riding the carousel. But enjoy it. Appreciate seeing parade floats close up. If you have time, get a character photo.
4. After you have finished, don't be afraid to wear your medal(s) around the park. I would never have run a Disney race if runners hadn't worn their medals around the park. You may inspire someone else to take this up. And having earned one Coast to Coast medal, I suspect that I gave some experienced WDW runners the idea to try a race at Disneyland.
I hope this has been helpful. Whatever your upcoming race is, good luck! And since my next race is Star Wars, may the Force be with you!
First off, I was never a tremendous athlete. While the idea of a runDisney medal appealed to me when I read about the Inaugural Disneyland 1/2 back in 2006, the reality of 13.1 miles had me convinced that I would never earn such a medal. And I was okay with that. I exercised off and on for a few years, but never could sustain it. After 2 consecutive years of visiting Disneyland during the 1/2 marathon weekend, I finally decided to talk with a nice couple proudly wearing their medals. They were more than happy to tell me that the required pace was such that I could actually walk the entire course. This nice couple assured me that I would need to train for it, but that I could walk it.
So a couple of years later, I was talking with my little sister and she informed me of her secret desire to run a 1/2 marathon. One thing led to another and we both signed up for the 2011 Disneyland 1/2. Now, I never really even considered the notion of building up to running a 1/2. It never occurred to me to run a 5K and then a 10K or something along those lines. I just jumped in with both feet and began training. I followed the Galloway plan from runDisney mostly because it was free and because I trusted that it would work for a complete running newbie like myself.
My training started off and on for a few weeks and eventually I was so far behind that I had to cut out all the low mileage weekend runs just to get all the long runs in. Early on in my training, I was pretty exhausted after just 2 miles. I had to constantly remind myself that I didn't need to run 13.1 miles today, but rather needed to build up to it in August. Slowly the endurance built up. A few weeks before the race, I spooked myself into thinking that my current training wasn't fast enough, so I started to increase my speed too quickly.
This led to my discovery that whenever I try to run, I quickly wind up with sharp pains that force me to stop. In the end, I had to slow down to my usual 15 minute per mile training pace and hope for the best. Race weekend came and I was filled with both excitement and fear. A lot of fear. While I had put in all the long training runs under the plan, I still wondered if I could actually do it. While other runners were very encouraging in the parks, I still silently wondered if they were just being polite. After all, I was only walking the course. In the end, I concluded that I was either going to succeed or fail spectacularly.
Packet pickup and the Expo speakers, especially Jeff Galloway helped me feel more confident, but also increased my nerves. Eventually I did fall asleep that night, but didn't sleep very well on account of my nerves. Race morning, for better or for worse, had finally arrived. I couldn't believe how cheerful so many runners were. Did they not realize it was 4:00am? My sister and I made our way to the very last corral and settled in to begin the waiting game. Soon enough our turn and the race began. My sister took off like a shot and I wouldn't see her again until after the race. Which is fine. We both wanted to finish and wouldn't allow the other one to slow us down.
The race now underway, I thought to myself that I was actually doing this. I really was running a 1/2 marathon. I could really do this. But my fears about finishing, combined with nerves, adrenaline, and excitement got the best of me and I began to pick up my pace. This was too much, too soon. After just a minute or two of this increased speed, I felt a sharp shooting pain in my legs similar to shin splints. Soon my elation turned to despair. My hope became discouragement. Less than half a mile into the race, I realized there was no way I could finish the race in this kind of pain. But I wanted that medal.
If you had told me at that very moment that I could pull over to the side of the course, say I was too injured to go on, and given me that medal, I fear that I would have taken you up on that offer. I would a medal and learned that 1/2 marathons aren't for me. But thankfully, I believed that the only way to earn the medal was to finish the race. I came to the quick conclusion that I was going to have to slow down and walk the course. That is after all, what I had trained to do. I decided that I would continue the race until I either finished it or was dragged from the course kicking and screaming. Well, not literally, but you get my drift.
And so the walking began. At mile 1 I learned that I was roughly one minute ahead of minimum race pace. Well I hadn't been swept yet. I just kept going. I had already decided to skip all character photos as I had concerns that any stops could destroy my goal of finishing the race. For me, all the character photos I wanted would wait until I had earned that medal. Through DCA and Disneyland, I was distracted from the soreness still lingering in my muscles from having started too quickly. My spirits were buoyed up by a sweet elderly lady in a wheelchair holding a sign that read "Hello Total Stranger, I'm Proud of You Too."
I timed my splits in my head by looking at the clock on each mile marker and calculating if I was taking roughly 15 minutes to complete each mile. My goal was to finish. My time didn't matter. And so far, so good. But then we left Disneyland. I knew that the course wound through Anaheim before heading to Angels Stadium. I had no idea that there would be bands, cheerleaders, and different groups along the way providing entertainment. In my mind, I thought that I had a lot of lonely miles in front of me. But they hadn't swept me yet.
But as I went over the freeway overpass just outside of Disneyland, this stretch became difficult. My legs protested the increased effort to just get over a freeway overpass. But as I struggled with this, I thought of my Mormon Pioneer ancestors who fled persecution in Illinois and walked to Utah under very trying and challenging circumstances. They never quit and neither would I.
So I put one foot in front of the other. I just kept going, persevering, enduring, and never giving up. Slowly, but surely the miles passed. The mile marker number kept getting higher. Soon I came to Angels Stadium. What a rush! The cheering fans in the stadium gave me a real energy boost. And though it seemed like a very long time, it wasn't long at all before I came back to Disney property. I was actually going to finish the race. As fate would have it, I saw a friendly couple who I met in Disneyland the day before who had offered me encouragement. And then the finish line was upon me. I high gave a high five to Mickey and one of the chipmunks as I crossed the finish line. I had actually finished the race. In time. Without getting swept.
In 2012 I did the Coast to Coast Challenge. I'll be in the Star Wars Rebel Challenge next week. And to think all that has come since then never would have happened if I had given up so early on in my first race. I still walk these races. I'm still slow. It still takes me over 3 hours to finish a runDisney 1/2 marathon. But I'm still a finisher!
What did I learn from that first race?
1. Trust your training. You're not competing against me. You're not competing against the elite athletes in corral A. You're not even competing against any family members or friends you're running with. You're really only competing against that voice in your head that says you cannot do hard things. In the very beginning of the race, I tried to do too much, too fast. I ran faster than I actually had the strength to. But as I returned to the basics of what I had spent the previous four months preparing to do, things returned to normal. I was able to keep going. I may never be very fast, but I can finish a race. I can learn what I am supposed to learn from this experience. And I certainly enjoy the physical benefits from the repeated exercise it takes to train for these races.
While you will cross the finish line on race day itself, you prepared to win your race every day you trained. Every day you got up and exercised instead of doing something else. You have invested a lot of time and energy into training. So trust that training and call upon it when you feel discouraged. Whatever moments of discouragement you feel during the race or during your training will be long forgotten by the joy you experience when you finish your race.
2. Never give up. There will be times when the next portion of the course feels like a fire breathing Maleficent trying to take you down. But just keep fighting. Or swimming as Dory says in Finding Nemo. Just don't give up. Give it your very best that day, whatever your very best is. Remember that you have trained for this. You have prepared for this. Your training probably was far from perfect. You probably had bad training days and good training days. But all those days, especially the bad ones, helped prepare you for this race.
3. Don't worry about your time too much. This is not to say that you ignore the pace requirements, but more that you keep your focus on finishing the race you trained for. Enjoy the Disney experience of the race. This may only involve shouting pirate phrases to the pirates who are riding the carousel. But enjoy it. Appreciate seeing parade floats close up. If you have time, get a character photo.
4. After you have finished, don't be afraid to wear your medal(s) around the park. I would never have run a Disney race if runners hadn't worn their medals around the park. You may inspire someone else to take this up. And having earned one Coast to Coast medal, I suspect that I gave some experienced WDW runners the idea to try a race at Disneyland.
I hope this has been helpful. Whatever your upcoming race is, good luck! And since my next race is Star Wars, may the Force be with you!
