Going to Run Disneyland!

This weekend I have another half marathon, this time the Disneyland Half Marathon up in Anaheim. It will be my second half marathon in 3 weeks (I did the America's Finest City Half Marathon mid-August) and my third one ever. And I just realized that today is exactly one month from my first triathlon! When I signed up for all these races they seemed so far away, and now I'm in the middle of them. Crazy!

I'm actually a bit anxious about this one. Yes, it seems like it will be a lot of fun. It goes through the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure, as well as through Angel Stadium. Lots of the race is along the streets of Anaheim, of course, but going through these three places should prove to be very fun. Plus I think there are supposed to be Disney characters along the way, cheering us on. And the people watching should be interesting! I anticipate people dressed up Disney-style. I myself might wear Mickey Mouse Ears if I can find some at the Expo that will nicely clip onto my visor (I refuse to run almost 3 hours with a strap under my chin; that would get annoying at around mile 2). The course is flat, which will be a nice contrast to the one I ran a few weeks ago; that one had a steady uphill during the entire last mile!

So why am I anxious about this one? There are a few reasons. First, I hurt my toe last weekend. I recently bought a triathlon wetsuit, and wanted to test it out in the open water. I had a great swim at La Jolla Cove (the wetsuit really did keep my body warm; I wish I was able to have one cover my face, hands and feet too!). However, when I was getting out of the water, a wave threw me onto a boulder, where I hurt my toe. Seven days later it still hurts. I don't think it's broken, but I'm not positive. I'm pretty sure it's just badly bruised. My plan is to get an x-ray if it still hurts badly a few days after the half marathon.

But in the meantime, I haven't been running. I don't want to put any impact on my toe, so all my workouts since last weekend have been non-impact: swimming, biking, or doing the elliptical at the gym. And the weekend before last (which was the weekend after the half marathon I did) I was very sick on the day of my scheduled long run, so I skipped it. So essentially, except for a few 3 milers here and there, I haven't run in almost 3 weeks.

Another reason I'm a bit worried is that I've been sick this week. I got a cold (thanks a lot, back-to-school germs!) and haven't been feeling like myself. Even as I type this, I don't have much of an appetite, which isn't good because I should be carb-loading and hydrating.

So between my toe injury, being sick now, and not having any long runs in almost three weeks, I've been psyching myself out that I'm not ready for this.

I'll do it though. Here's why:

• I've been working hard for this. I started training for these half marathons back in January, and have been running steadily.
• I ROCKED the AFC Half Marathon almost 3 weeks ago, even set a PR. I may not PR this time, due to all that's going on, but that's ok. As long as I finish I'll be proud of myself, especially considering the circumstances I've been under.
• In the 19 days since the AFC, I've worked out 16 days. I only missed 3 days, all due to being sick. In those 16 days, I only had a few short runs, but I've still worked out---swimming, biking, and doing the elliptical machine. I even had another long hilly bike ride of 18.6 miles. Just because I haven't had a lot of running recently doesn't mean I haven't been working out, exercising hard, getting sweaty and staying fit.
• I will finish this race regardless of the time. I have spent a lot of time training, a lot of money on the race (not to mention the hotel, food, souvenirs, etc) and I will bring home that coveted medal.

I will report back after my race....wish me luck! I'm down, but not out, and can do this thing!