Leave it to Disney to Make Me a Runner (Comments Welcome)

softball chick

Teacher of Math and Disney Magic
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
I think I've officially been lurking on here long enough...time to start my own journal.

So introductions - I'm Kelly, a 25 year old teacher from Wisconsin. Calling myself a fan of Disney would be a gross understatement, "Disney is my life" is probably more accurate. My classroom is full of Disney everything, I am a WDW annual passholder who goes down there as many times as physically possible (I had 9 trips in 2018, and I'm on track for 8 trips during 2019), and everyone who knows me knows that I'm the go to if they need to know anything about Disney. So it makes sense that RunDisney would be the thing that would turn a non-runner like me into what I would call at this point, a "kinda-runner".

My first RunDisney experience was 2017 Marathon Weekend, where I did the 5K with my mom and my sister. The funny part about that race was we did it because we had been at WDW during the 2016 Marathon Weekend for the start of my College Program, and my sister saw everyone walking around with their medals on and decided that she wanted to do a race. Somehow despite her being the reason that we actually did the race, I ended up being the one to catch the bug. While we were there, everyone was talking about how great Princess Weekend was, so naturally we had to give that one a try next. Since then, I have done two more Princess 5K's with my mom and sister - granted we walk them because of my mom, but we still finish. This past Princess Weekend, I also did the 10K for the first time - my time was absolutely awful because of the crazy heat and lack of proper training, but I did it and it solidified the running bug inside me.

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Honestly, I've never really been a runner. A few years back, when students would talk to me about running/track/etc., I would simply respond that I only run 240 feet at a time (once around the bases in softball...hence my name on here). But the races that I have done as well as the bit of training I've been doing this summer has helped me to see that I can be one if I want to be. I'm hoping that this journal will help keep me on track with both my training for specific races (which I'll detail more in my next post) and improving my health overall, as well as allow me to connect with others who are doing the same.
 
Howdy neighbor! (I'm from Illinois)

Welcome to the journal club. Is your tank top Mulan inspired or just a coincidence?...it's really cute!

Do you have any disney races or weekends that you want to try next?
 


:welcome:

Excited to follow along with another Wisconsin resident! I live in Cottage Grove. There are a few other WI runDIsney runners on here (@rteetz and @*DisneyDreamer are two off the top of my head).

Thanks! I knew that I wasn't the only WI person on here, but didn't realize how many of us there actually were!

Howdy neighbor! (I'm from Illinois)

Welcome to the journal club. Is your tank top Mulan inspired or just a coincidence?...it's really cute!

Do you have any disney races or weekends that you want to try next?

Thanks! My tank top was actually part of the Mulan costume I wore for the 10K that morning that I created with two tank tops (and some interesting tucking/layering/wearing one upside down :laughing:) and some red tulle. After the race, I just changed out of my skirt into jeans and was ready for the parks!

mulan.jpg
 
Thanks! I knew that I wasn't the only WI person on here, but didn't realize how many of us there actually were!



Thanks! My tank top was actually part of the Mulan costume I wore for the 10K that morning that I created with two tank tops (and some interesting tucking/layering/wearing one upside down :laughing:) and some red tulle. After the race, I just changed out of my skirt into jeans and was ready for the parks!

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Excellent DIY costume making! I've yet to go beyond buying a shirt and a skirt that is on "theme."
 


Excellent DIY costume making! I've yet to go beyond buying a shirt and a skirt that is on "theme."

The costumes are one of my favorite part of the races! I've already got my next three roughly planned out (Woody, Bo Peep ala TS4, then Blue Dress Belle)
 
Upcoming Races
I have got three confirmed races coming up in the next 6 months and at least one more than I am highly considering:

Wine and Dine 10K (Nov 2) - I am super excited about this one since it will be my first time for Wine and Dine weekend! Food and Wine is hands down my favorite time of year at Epcot, so I'm always up for an excuse for another visit during that festival. Looking ahead to future years, I also think that this weekend will be my best shot at a Challenge because of my school schedule and how many days I would need off for each weekend. So the hope is that I fall in love with this weekend so I can set myself up for the Two-Course Challenge sometime in the next couple of years.

Princess Half Weekend 5K (Feb 21) - This is my Girls Weekend race with my mom and sister and it will be our third straight Princess (and 4th straight year of Disney 5Ks). I'm BEYOND excited about Moana being the theme for the race and am impatiently waiting to see how amazing the medal and merch is going to be - there goes my plan for saving merch money for my other race :laughing:. Since this is the race that I walk the entire time because of my mom not being able to run, it is also the one that I am planning the most elaborate costume for. This Toy Story loving girl is VERY excited for what all three of us are (at least hoping) to do.

Princess Half Marathon (Feb 23) - MY FIRST HALF MARATHON! Go back in time and find the me who did the 5K in 2017 and tell her that she would be doing a half marathon in less than 5 years time, and she would have laughed right in your face! Originally my plan had been to do another year of the 5K and 10K, with my eye on completing the half in 2021. But somehow I talked myself into it a year earlier, so 2020 is going to be my year! I just keep imagining what it is going to feel like running down Main Street and through the castle - I just can't wait.

The other race that I am considering right now is the Brewers Mini Marathon 10K at the end of September. The Brewers are my favorite professional sports team, so getting to run around/through Miller Park as well as earn a Brewers medal and shirt (and the beer at the tailgate after party…I am a Wisco girl after all) is cool in itself. I'm also eyeing up this race to use as a potential Proof of Time for the Princess Half. Where I'm at now, I'm right on the cusp of a fast enough pace to get myself into Corral E, so I'm going to see how training goes over the next month and decide if I want to go for it or not.

Speaking of training, my general plan has been to follow the Galloway plan for the 10K leading up to Wine and Dine. I've done a little altering to it so I can get a little more distance in and have a better gauge at my pace before the Brewers Mini Marathon sign up deadline, but I've been trying to stick pretty close to it. I did have a slow start thanks to some ankle and knee pain after my last trip to WDW (I blame the Regatta Run I did...very fun but I paid for it after I got home), but I'm back on track for my 3 runs (with my run/walk intervals that I'm working on developing) per week and then going on walks for as many of the other days as the weather allows me.
 
Training Update: July 21-27

Sunday 7/21 - 2 mile run
Monday 7/22 - 2 mile walk
Tuesday 7/23 - 30 min run (about 2 miles ran)
Wednesday 7/24 - 2.25mile walk
Thursday 7/25 - 30 min run (about 2 miles ran)
Friday 7/26 - Off Day
Saturday 7/27 - 3 mile run, with an additional 0.5 miles walking warm up and 0.4 miles walking cool down

Highlights of the Week:
-I was really happy that I was able to get myself up and out there 6 out of 7 days this week. Usually either weather, soreness, or sleepiness has stopped me from doing some of the walking days between runs so it felt good to not let that happen this week.

-It was a good week in terms of how I felt after the runs in regards to my knees. Genetically, I was gifted with bad knees so that is usually the first thing to get sore after a run. This week was a pleasant change to that, especially after how much they had been bothering me since my 4th of July trip to WDW.

-SATURDAY! Everything about my long run today was a total highlight! It was my first try at running further than 2 miles and overall it went pretty well. I was definitely getting a little tired at the end (every time my timer went off to signal the start of my next run interval, it took a deep breath and "here we go" to get back into it) but overall I actually felt really good about it. By the time I had done a cool down walk and got back home, I was feeling better than I had for any of the other runs I have done so far!

-In terms of keeping track of my pacing to decide whether or not the Brewers Mini Marathon 10K would be worth it, I'm in a pretty good place. Most of my splits have been sub-12 minute miles, and for my long run today I was able to have an average pace of 11:15. If I can keep up those kinds of paces without really killing myself to do so, I think I'll be signing up for the race before I go back to school next month.

-I crossed the 200K mark on my total distance for 2019 which considering last year I probably didn't even reach anything near that over the entire year is a CRAZY accomplishment that I only hope to add a lot more to throughout the rest of the year.

Lowlights of the Week (not my focus, but recognizing what didn't go well is the most important for improving myself):
-For my Tuesday/Thursday runs, I try to go for around 30 minutes. Usually that has included about 5 minutes for a warm up walk at the beginning of the time, but this week I have tried to make it closer to 30 minutes of actual running. This week though, the heat of Tuesday and a time crunch of squeezing in the run before a tutoring session cut me a bit short. That's something I definitely want to work on moving forward.

-Alarm clock struggles. Teachers are just not meant to have an alarm every day of summer :laughing:

Goals for the Next Week:
1. Making my 30 minute runs on Tuesday and Thursday actually 30 minutes of running and then have the warm up/cool down be extra time
2. Get out there as many days as possible during the week. I know the next week I won't be getting much running in because I'll be at WDW for the Dreams Unlimited Travel 20th Party with The DIS so it's really important that I stick to schedule this week.
3. Actually wake up to my alarm clock and not 30 minutes after it (the little things)
 
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How awesome to have so many Disney races to look forward to! You will love running down Main Street and through the castle! :love: And I say definitely go for the Brewers 10K! I’m also a Brewers fan (how about the 2 wins over the Cubs these last 2 nights?!) and have done the 10K 4 years in a row now, likely to be 5 this year. Running through Miller Park is so fun!
 
How awesome to have so many Disney races to look forward to! You will love running down Main Street and through the castle! :love: And I say definitely go for the Brewers 10K! I’m also a Brewers fan (how about the 2 wins over the Cubs these last 2 nights?!) and have done the 10K 4 years in a row now, likely to be 5 this year. Running through Miller Park is so fun!

RIGHT?! I was a little worried going into this series and I have been so excited watching the end of these last two games! Hopefully we can keep it up tomorrow for the sweep! And I think I am leaning towards doing it - running through Miller Park does just sound so fun!
 
Nothing to do with the actual run training side of things, but a small victory on the health side from today. There is a grab and go store about 0.5 miles from my house with a salad bar that I'm a big fan of. I've always said that I would do so this summer, but today I finally walked myself there to get my salad and walked back home. It felt nice to enjoy the cooler weather that came in today and to get some exercise on top of a healthy lunch. Partnered with a run this morning, I'd say it's been a pretty good day.
 
Training Update: July 28 - August 2

Sunday 7/28 - 1.87 mile walk
Monday 7/29 - 3 mile walk
Tuesday 7/30 - 30 min run (about 2.5 miles ran)
Wednesday 7/31 - Off Day
Thursday 8/1 - Off Day
Friday 8/2 - 2 mile walk (and then a 10 hour day walking around the WI State Fair)
Saturday 8/3 - Off Day (100% blaming yesterday's fair day) / Swimming

Highlights of the Week:
-On Monday I slept in (had a HORRIBLE night trying to sleep/stay asleep due to shoulder pain) so I figured that it was just going to be an off day. But then later that evening I decided to go for a casual walk and it ended up being the longest of the week. I was definitely proud of myself for getting out there on a day that I thought I was going to be skipping.

-Tuesday's 30 min run was truly a 30 minute run - I did 5 minutes of warm up, 30 minutes of running, and then cooled down on the way home. It felt really good to get the entire workout in.

-I posted about it already this week, but Tuesday was my ultimate health day. Besides my 30 minute training run, I walked over to the local to go mart during lunch time so I could make myself a salad and then walked back home to eat it. It was the first really nice day (not too hot) we have had in a while so it was just a perfect day.

-My yearly distance ended for the week at 222K...as a math teacher, fun numbers entertain me. (It's the little things guys)

Lowlights of the Week (not my focus, but recognizing what didn't go well is the most important for improving myself):
-Clearly I did not do as well as I would have hoped for the "getting out as much as possible" goal from last week. I was dealing with some crazy soreness in my knees as well as shoulder and I just did not want to push myself too hard, especially knowing how much walking I was going to be doing because of the Fair this weekend and looking ahead to my WDW trip next week.. I hate how lazy it made me feel, but I just kept telling myself that listening to and taking care of my body was the most important.

-Seeing the dead squirrel sprawled out in the middle of the path I was walking on. That was not pleasant :scared:

Goals for the Next Week:
1. I'm going to move the long run that was supposed to be done today to tomorrow.
2. Get out for at least a walk for the next three days before I leave for FL on Wednesday morning.
3. Reach at least 20,000 steps every day while I am at WDW (since I know I won't be getting as much training is as I would like)
4. (Stretch Goal) Find time for a workout while at WDW - I am staying at Pop Century so I may be able to walk/run around Hourglass Lake if I wake up early enough/it doesn't feel like the surface of the sun outside
 
Training Update: August 4 - August 17

Sunday 8/4 - Off Day
Monday 8/5 - 3.5 mile run with a 1.5 mile cooldown walk immediately after
Tuesday 8/6 - 1 mile walk (just walking home from the mall)
Wednesday 8/7 to Friday 8/16 - WDW Vacation (no workouts but did do a lot of walking around the parks)
Friday 8/2 - 2.5 mile walk
Saturday 8/3 - 40 min run (3.57 miles ran)

This was a really weird two weeks because of my WDW trip being in the middle of it. I went into the week with all these goals about what I was going to do around my trip and while I was down there, but it was kind of hard to keep track of it all. There was a bunch of time that I didn't have my Fitbit on (blame the water parks and pool time) as well as a lot of time of sitting around (blame the Dreams Unlimited Travel Anniversary...lots of meet ups) so the 20,000 steps goal was hard to reach. It was hotter than hot, even at 6am, so for my own health and sanity I couldn't workout down there. Because of a canceled flight, I missed out on a Thursday run this week. I don't mean for those to be a list of excuses, but I know that it is what led to this week being so weird. I'm hoping I can get back on track in this coming week, especially since this is the last week before I have to go back to school and figure out how I'm going to fit in my training around my teaching schedule.

There were a few highlights of the last two weeks though:
-3.5 miles was the furthest I had ever run, so I was incredibly proud of myself that I was able to do so before my trip. Then I was even more proud of myself this morning when I surpassed that! I had just set out with the goal of running 40 minutes and didn't really have a distance in mind, so I was absolutely shocked to see that I had gone further than ever before without even trying to AND after not having run for over a week!

-I went to WDW and had a CRAZY trip...so crazy that I'm doing a trip report (shameless plug for those interested in following along...check it out here)

Goals for the Next Week:
1. Either walk or run 6 out of 7 days this week (I'm giving myself one day in case I feel sick or weather stinks)
2. Only drink one soda per day (after those darn refillable mugs at WDW, I need to get back to my healthier soda habits)
3. Make it 4.25 miles on my long Saturday run this week
4. Sign up for the Brewers Mini Marathon 10K Race
 
I have a really hard time with soda too. I will do really well for a little bit and then, like you, a vacation or access to soft drinks totally messes me up. Best of luck this school year!
 
I have a really hard time with soda too. I will do really well for a little bit and then, like you, a vacation or access to soft drinks totally messes me up. Best of luck this school year!

Yup! It's especially hard for me since I dont drink coffee or tea, so soda is how I get my caffeine. That's why I've been trying so hard this year to limit myself to the one soda a day so I can still get my caffeine but have a resemblance of healthy habits as well.
 

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