If you know me in real life, you might know that there are
three things I’m typically not a big fan of: waking up early, exercising and
birthdays. So naturally when I was invited to participate in RunDisney’s inaugural Avengers Half Marathon at Disneyland,
which was scheduled to begin at 5:30am on my birthday, I rejected the concept
in my head before I even knew what it was really about. But then I found out
about a 5K race being run the day before the half marathon and actually gave it
a second thought, and then a third thought, before accepting the
invitation/challenge. Oh, did I mention this call was 9 days before the event?
So why would I jump blindly into something like a 5K with no
notice? Because I had to. No, neither Captain America nor Mickey Mouse forced me to run, my sons did. It occurred to me over the summer when we’d take
our nightly family walks after dinner that I was having trouble keeping up with
my two boys. Kids love to run, especially after a meal that has refilled their
gas tanks, and mine love to sprint back and forth down the blocks to burn some
of that energy. After several weeks of feeling winded from running half a block
to catch them, I knew it was time for change. I just didn’t know how to actually
do it.
So Mrs. Dude and I started going for power walks in the evenings
through our hilly neighborhood. At first I thought I was going to collapse
after 10 minutes, but it got incrementally easier the more often we did it and
before long we were averaging about 2 ½ miles. The problem was consistency, as
my exercise frequency varied between zero and 2 or 3 times per week. Finding
the time, or rather making the time, to exercise can be challenging. It can
also be daunting to someone like me who’s never really had much fitness
experience or education.
So with my almost-big birthday looming and having committed
to running the Avengers 5K, I had to figure some things out quickly. And not
the least of which was how was this lifelong night owl going to run a race at 5:30am! I knew that my workout
inconsistency had to change. I figured that if nothing else I could at least
walk the 5K course, but my goal quickly became more than that. I didn’t know
how to quantify my goal, but I knew I needed to do a couple practice 5Ks to
gauge things. I figured with 9 days to go, I could fit in 3 or 4 trial runs
before the actual event.
So that night I set out alone in the dark to figure out how
to prep for a 5K. It had been almost a month since my last vigorous exercise,
but I wasn’t quite starting from scratch. I knew that 5K equals 3.1 miles and
using the “Map My Walk” iPhone app, I started walking until I reached that
distance. Up, down and around my neighborhood I watched the app’s odometer inch
upward, seemingly very slowly, until I returned home a wheezing, sweaty mess.
But I’d done it. I’d now completed a real 5K via a hybrid of mostly walking
with bursts of running interspersed throughout.
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| 5 days until the Avengers 5K |
Five more times over the next week I did the same thing and
despite varying the course on every occurrence, on each instance my overall time
improved. I was feeling good about my prospects in the race and, more importantly, also about
myself. With only a few calendar ticks remaining until I began the last year of
my 30s, I was on a mission for my family and myself. Avengers 5K and
Disneyland, here I come…
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| 1 day until my first 5K! |
To Be Continued
Disclaimer: I was invited by RunDisney to participate in their Avengers 5K race weekend. All opinions and ideas expressed in this post are mine alone, for better or worse.
Note: Before beginning any rigorous exercise/training program you should consult with your physician. My exercise/training results and race preparation were not typical. YMMV.
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