Here I am with Michael at the race that started it all: the 2006 Disneyland Half Marathon.
While my username may be MrsMowry, I am not the wife of Henry, but his daughter-in-law, Brianna. Many years ago I met Henry’s son, Michael, and have made his family my own (that is a story for a later time). Henry asked me if I would like to guest-write on his blog and I accepted! So now…on to running.
When I was a girl, running was always a fun thing to do…as part of playing street hockey, chasing my brothers on bicycles, playing princess and pirates…you know…normal kid stuff. In phys ed I wasn’t at the top of my class, but I enjoyed Red Laps (running day). What I had in leaps and bounds, however, was endurance. I could run as slow as a turtle for many, many miles. This would later come in very handy when Henry got an email for the newest, happiest half marathon on Earth: The Disneyland Half Marathon.
I am a Disney freak, to put it lightly. Michael and I have had Annual Passes for many years. We have celebrated many rainy Tuesdays gallivanting around Main Street and screaming on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Our first wedding anniversary will be spent at Club 33 (dreams coming true, right there). So, once Henry forwarded the email around, nearly the whole family was in. This began my love of running for life.
Like Henry mentioned in I Could Not Run, the training process was slow. Luckily, Henry had the experience to push Michael, Lauren, Velda, and myself to be smart runners. We listened to our bodies, being careful to avoid injury. We ran 5 to 7 miles, 4 days a week. We were in excellent physical shape and we rocked our first half marathon.
Since that day, Michael and I have become Legacy Runners of the Disneyland Half; we haven’t missed a single race. In 7 years, each race has posed a different challenge. The funny thing about running a half marathon is the fact that nothing matters until the morning you wake up for that race. Swollen ankles, blistered feet, upset stomach, shin splints, etc. Any small ailment can ruin a run. After finding out about a heart condition earlier this week, I had to force myself to walk today’s half. There is nothing more torturous than having the energy, strength, and drive to run a race and be completely held back by poor health. But, good news. There will ALWAYS be another race. I may have finished 13.1 miles today in well over 3 1/2 hours, but my PR is 2 hours and 16 minutes. I know that today’s problems will not be next year’s problems. So after a few days of rest, it’s back to pounding pavement. The trick to being good at running marathons is not necessarily in your body, but in your mind. You can’t let one small mishap during one race ruin your entire career. Get back to it! There is always time for running, only you can tell yourself there isn’t.
Brianna at the 2nd Annual Disneyland Half Marathon.
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