I am 5 days away from my first ultra marathon and I’m feeling pretty good about it. Four weeks ago I ran my fastest full marathon ever PRing on a trail marathon that had me climbing over trees and crossing deep chasms where the dirt had been washed away by water using two six inch wide boards as a makeshift bridge. Good times. Last week I ran a half marathon at my alma mater, Purdue University, and while I didn’t earn a PR I did run my fastest half for 2012 which was within 00:02:30 minutes of my Half PR time so a good effort on a hilly course!
I put quotes around the “50K” in the title because a true 50K is a race just over 31 miles (31.068 to be exact). So a 50K means a runner would go just under an extra 5 miles. Having ran 5 marathons to date I know an extra five miles would be a challenge. But this course isn’t laid out on city streets hence the quotes around the “50K”. This course is made up of two loops through the owen Putnam State Forest. The first loop is 5.25 miles and the second loop is 14.1 miles so by the time I’m finished with my “50K” I will have run about 33.45 miles for an extra 2.5 miles as compared to a standard 50K race.
Regardless of the distance I am concerned with two things. Finishing and having fun!
In January I ran the Goofy Challenge to become eligible for the runDisney Coast-2-Coast medal should I decide to venture out to Disneyland for a half marathon in the same year. Over Labor Day weekend I took the pilgrimage to Walt’s original playground to bring home double bling.
Kate and I arrived on Saturday, grabbed a rental car at LAX and drove straight to Disneyland for the Expo and to get my bib. The Disneyland Half Marathon being a smaller race than its East coast big brother has the bib numbers spread across the available corrals A – G with seeded runners in each corral.
Before the race I met up with some of my fellow WDW Radio Running Team members! I’m in the back with the blue headband.
I started in corral A and since I hadn’t done any speed work for a couple weeks decided to hang with the 1:40 pacer until I got to the first photo opp. Know that I am not that speedy so it was an intense first couple miles!
Over the next 13.1 miles I took a lot of pictures, chatted with other runners and even ran a few miles with Jeff Galloway and his wife Barbara who were just coming off a race out in Alaska so they were taking it easy.
Now most people know to not go out too fast for a race…..but since I really just wanted to run 13.1 miles, take a bunch of pictures, have a lot of fun, and grab double bling…and not take TOO long to start my vacation…I took off like Scrooge McDuck chasing a penny rolling down the street! After all, the ESPN zone awaited with beer and food.
So after a 2+ mile sprint I started taking my time to meet some of the Disneyland ladies! Don’t worry, my wife doesn’t mind as long as I get good pictures!
First I met Ariel and we had a blast! I didn’t check for flippers.
Next I met this chic. She had to lean on me a bit since she only had one shoe!
Not too far down the road was this lovely lady. She kept talking about her seven roommates…weird.
Then I ran into this beauty, but she kept falling asleep on me! My fellow runners will tell you that I’m not THAT boring so I assume mild narcolepsy. I think the camera guy even nodded off hence the fuzzy pic.
Finally I found these two hanging around outside the Acorn Club.
Past the pleasant company of royalty and club dancers I ran into some rough looking characters. I was afraid they’d send me to Detention Block AA-23 so I moved along quickly.
Once outside the Disneyland parks I was left to my own thoughts for several miles as I ran through Anaheim making my way to Angels stadium. Before I reached the stadium I ran into Jeff Galloway and his wife Barbara.
The team was not at home so we were able to run on clay dirt around the edge of the field. It was a great experience to be in the major league stadium. The seats were filled with screaming fans which made it all the more memorable!
After Angel’s stadium (I have a great video on my timeline if we are Facebook friends!) I was in the home stretch and ready for some treats at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney!
Before I knew it I was thinking of the Finish Line and my double bling!
And then it was all over and I was headed to find my wife! But before I found my Kate I had a couple things to pick up.
Then a short walk to the right and I could see what I’d been hoping to earn for months, The Coast-to-Coast Challenge Medal!!
Next I met a few WDW Radio Running Team members at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney, had lunch and started having fun in DCA shortly after! That night we had another meet-up at the Wine and Country Trattoria with special seating to see the World of Color show that night! Overall, this was a fantastic experience!
My next challenge is November 3rd when I’ll be running my first 50 mile ultra marathon! Wish me luck!
Happy Training!
Brian
For this installment of Running Down a Dream 23 I’d like to call out a friend of mine, Dennis Wright, who is running the Chicago Marathon on October 7th which also happens to be my birthday, but that’s beside the point for this post…I like gifts having to do with running & Disney by the way. Dennis is running as a member of Team Salute.
A team formed by SALUTE, INC. SALUTE, INC., passionately pursues meeting the financial, physical and emotional needs of the military service members, veterans and their families. They strive to raise awareness of their sacrifices and provide a safety net to ensure every military family is treated with honor and dignity.
Dennis is a runner and duathlete in the Greater Indianapolis Area who is crazy enough to follow me on long trail runs occasionally and who continually motivates those around him to be better…he does it nicely…most of the time. 🙂
So yes, I’m asking you to support Dennis with whatever you can spare! Just click on his name anywhere in this blog post to go to his donation page. If we all gave $5 then wow, what a difference we would make for those people who protect us every day with their own lives.
Thank you in advance for your donations! I appreciate it, I know Dennis appreciates it as well, and most certainly the veterans and their families appreciate it most of all. Again, thank you!
Happy Training,
Brian
It was a tad humid Saturday when my friend picked me up to head over to the Eagle Creek Trail Half Marathon. Wait…no…it wasn’t a tad humid. It was as another friend described, “Swampy”. Yes, there was a swamp in the air. While the temperature was in the low 70s the Dew Point was right behind rising to 74 degrees which basically meant we were running through dew filled air. To say that I was saturated before I ever made it to the halfway point would be an understatement. I looked like I had been doused with a fire hose from head to toe. By the time I made it to the second aid station there was no relief and we drank water and sports drink to try to stay hydrated.
This was a tough and amazing course. I run the Eagle Creek Trails weekly, but I have not previously traveled over to the far side of the reservoir and the first few miles including the start and finish were there. The course had killer inclines that led into equaling daunting declines. Large segments of technical single track running meant that it was one way and single file which became interesting when the course leaders started back along the out and back course. My friend and I did the right thing and stepped aside for the folks going for a specific time or a PR. We were out for a fun run/hike and weren’t worried about our time or pace.
As usual I wore my blue WDW Radio Running shirt for this race. I had mentioned to a couple virtual friends that I would be the bald guy wearing that blue shirt. As luck would have it the course was an out and back so every runner crossed paths at least once or twice throughout the morning. I ran into local runners Christina R. & Kelly S. from the Daily Mile. Christina writes a blog so once you finish up here if you’d like to read more about the Eagle Creek Race put on by Plant Adventure then head over there to see another perspective. I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a humid on Saturday!
I have one other shout out to the young lady who crossed paths with me briefly (we didn’t stop to chat on the single track nor did I get her name). As we ran by each other she looked at my face and then looked at my shirt and then looked at my face again to which she said, “Hey, you’re that Goofy guy! I go to your website.” I said something like, “Nice to meet you. or Thank you.” I was in the last half of the half so I was a bit tired. She was obviously going out for the second part of her FULL trail marathon and looking strong for the conditions of the day. So hopefully she reads this post and makes a comment. -It was nice to meet you (briefly) and I hope you had a fantastic race!
The weekend before the EC Half I did a 25+ mile run in and around Eagle Creek. This week (including the EC Half) was a recovery week so I only put in a total of 28 miles for the whole week. Right now I am alternating larger volume weeks and shorter mileage weeks for recovery. As I told my friend during the race, this course was a reality check for me. The hills and descents of the first few miles are perfect for what I need for my ultra training. I’ll be back to this section of the course often and anytime I can’t run a large volume of miles on a Saturday morning I’ll go for running this section so I get specific and quality miles. This track mimics well the hillier trails of Southern Indiana where my ultra marathon will take place.
Next Saturday I have a long run planned that will take all morning. If all goes well I’ll be on my feet for over 06:00:00 hours and cover more than 26.2 miles. I’m really hoping to cover 27 to 28 miles but a lot of that will depend on the weather which right now looks to be cooler and less humid than Saturday’s race. So I’m really training for two things here including “time on feet” and distance. My wife has already volunteered to meet me at the 3-hour mark to refuel me with a fresh sports drink, water to refill my Camelbak and maybe even some real food!
So my ultra marathon training carries on. I have 13 weeks of training left and I’m excited to finally be pushing past the marathon distance training runs. My next race is the Disneyland Half Marathon on September 2nd followed by the Heritage Trail Full Marathon on September 30th. I’m looking forward to both!
Happy Training!
Brian
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