I couldn’t have been more depressed this year when I waited too long and was denied entry into the 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon. Having participated in four of the last five races (missing the inaugural race in 2006), this weekend became an annual family vacation that we all looked forward too. We had already booked our room so we simply moved our reservation to Halloween weekend to make sure our kids (and my wife) got their “Disney fix” for the year.

We usually go to Disneyland at least two times a year and we’re hard core. We’re at the gate when it opens and don’t leave until the last firework has been shot. That’s a long day anywhere but when it’s Disney, there’s a lot of walking involved. One a normal race weekend, we run the 5K the day before and then I run the half marathon the following day. Both days we hit the parks immediately afterwards. No rest for the weary they say!!!

I’ve always wondered how far we really walk on a typical day at Disneyland so I wore my Garmin one day on our vacation and the result surprised me. During the course of a 13 hour day, we walked exactly 12 miles. 12 miles!!! On any other given day if I had to convince my kids that we were going to walk 12 miles, it would never EVER happen. I specifically did not tell them I was tracking our distance because I knew the mere mention of how far we had gone would have landed us in the hotel before you’d know it.

Even though I didn’t get to race in the Disney Half Marathon this year, I did nearly get all my miles in with my family in one fail swoop. If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s register for your favorite races early or you’re going to miss out.

RMFR

Well it’s been two weeks now since my boyz and I started training for the Disneyland 5K on September 5th. Right now we’re concentrating on at least two times a week and it’s the most fun I’ve had running in my life. As adults, we tend to focus on our pace, hydration and form – these two have reminded me that you can indeed laugh an entire mile and forget you’re running entirely.

Every run starts out with a distance goal. We started out doing .5 miles and have worked up to 1.5 miles on our last run. Our first couple of runs came in around a 14-15 minute pace while on our last run we were in the low 12′s. When they tire – we slow down and being boyz, there’s always the sprint to our house to finish our run.

Once we finish our training, I will publish our training schedule if you’re interested in trying it with your kids.

We have given ourselves running nicknames and I’ll let them (Flash and Speed Ball) give you their outlook on training so far. My nickname? White Lightning [shaking my head].

Speed Ball (9 years old)
So far I’ve ran a mile and a half. I think I’m  doing great with my running. I feel good while running around the block or running through a new path. So I like running so far.

Flash (6 years old)
Running is excellent. I have super fun running and don’t forget to stretch before you run or jog.

Now that I’ve taken up running as a lifestyle, I feel it’s my duty to encourage as many people as I can to do the same. I’ve encouraged a couple of people into full time runners but I now my biggest fans are joining my team. My boyz and I started training for the Disneyland 5K (the day before the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon) this week and we couldn’t be having more fun!!!

I’ve read different sites that frown on excessive training for kids so we’re taking it easy. We’re starting out training a couple of times a week with slight increases in time and distance. This week we plan on doing a little over a mile and we’ll build gradually for six weeks. I’ll see how our training goes and I’ll post our training regime if it proves successful.

I’ve already promised both of them that they can post on how they’re doing in their training and I will let them do the review of the 5K after we run. Why should adults get to be the only ones promoting running? Keep an eye out in a couple of weeks to check out how they’re doing.

After cheering me on for 3+ years, 1 marathon and 5 half marathons…they’re joining in. My wife and two boyz will be running with me in the Disneyland 5K on September 5th – the day before the Disneyland Half Marathon.

The two previous years, the boyz participated in the kids races – 200 & 400 meter dashes. The wife however isn’t much of a runner. I’ll give her credit, she tried it a couple of times with me but it just didn’t quite fit. My boyz are young (6 & 8 yrs.) so this won’t be a competitive race but a time to share the joy of running with my family in the “Happiest Place on Earth”.