Tag Archives: #RunDisney

slowly sinking in.

12 Thursday Mar 2015

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In my living room all of my running shoes are in a pile. Each pair has its own story. Some have seen lots of asphalt. Others are barely broken in. The purple Pure Flow 2’s in the pile are the shoes of a marathoner. It’s been two months. Two months ago today I completed my first full marathon. A year ago I had no desire to attempt such a daunting task. I thought that marathons were for real runners.

Why can’t I feel good about my accomplishment? Maybe it’s because I didn’t run the entire race? Maybe it’s because I don’t run fast? Maybe it’s because I didn’t exactly train very hard for my marathon…..

Or maybe I’m just too hard on myself?

Whatever it is, I’m waiting for the accomplishment to truly hit me. I’m waiting for that feeling of elation. When will it come???

celebrating

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upping my game.

29 Monday Dec 2014

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Sometimes people are put in your life to make you stronger.  Sometimes people are put in your life to challenge you.  Or piss you off.  Or stress you out.  All of these people make you focus on what kinds of people you want to keep in your life, how you want to treat people and how you allow yourself to be treated.  I am fortunate enough to have two very good running friends in my life right now.  Both have had their share of challenges, physical and mental, yet they still keep running, striving to make themselves better.  And they want their friends to be better too.  I am lucky enough to be one of those friends.

Two years ago I had no desire to run a half marathon, simply because I didn’t think that I could.  I had no desire to run a Ragnar race, because I was too scared.  And a full marathon?  No way.  You see, I am afraid to leave my comfort zone.  I am completely happy to just stay in my little box and keep things organized there.  My thought is, if I become an expert at all things in my little box (comfort zone) then I don’t have to worry about making a mistake.  I have won.  And if I make a mistake?  I have lost. 

It makes all the difference when you have friends who believe in you.  And they help you believe in yourself.

My friend Annie is one of those friends.  Because of Annie I run half marathons.  Because of Annie I participated in a Ragnar Trail Relay.  And because of Annie I am now signed up to run a Ragnar Relay.  Annie has helped me become a better version of myself.  Annie is a lover of life and she wants to share great experiences with everyone.  If it wasn’t for Annie, I wouldn’t have the running resume that I have now.

My other running friend is Allison.  Because of Allison I am going to tackle my first full marathon.  Allison is dedicated to her training plan(s), in all kinds of weather.  She gets the job done.  She runs half marathons like they’re second nature.  For her I am grateful because she helps me believe in myself.  She is selfless in every way and she pushes herself to achieve new goals.  I am so grateful to have gotten lost with her on that bus to the runDisney expo last February.

Thank you, best running friends, for helping me to reach the next level.  I am upping my game.

the running racket.

05 Thursday Jun 2014

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Ahhh runDisney, you never cease to amaze us and stress us out.

For those who are fans of runDisney AND Star Wars, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Most of us have been waiting on this day for over a year (or more):

EARLY AP/DVC REGISTRATION DAY!!!!

I am fortunate enough to be a Disneyland Annual Passholder. This allows me to register for run Disney races one week prior to general registration. But the stress still mounts!!!

Why you ask? Well over the past couple of years, runDisney races have become extremely popular. Which means that more people are interested, more people will sign up, bigger hype, higher prices… And now with a race like Star Wars into the mix, I predict that a few things will happen:

–  Serious runners will sign up, or not sign up because they think that dressing up for a race is silly.

–  People who love to run and love Star Wars will sign up, dress up, and have fun!

–  People who love Star Wars will sign up, they are legitimately interested in starting running, and will continue to run and possibly sign up for more races in the future.

–  People who LOVE Star Wars, and do not run, will not take it seriously, will not train, but will sign up, and have a hard time.

The thing about runDisney is, once they catch you, they got you. They keep on adding to the hype, the social media buzz, the merchandise and the bragging rights (c’mon, admit it…. People don’t like to, but they do “but I’m LEGACY!” or “well I’m a Perfect Princess!!). And people will pay the price. Over and over again. The experience is awesome. It’s fun, and it can be a family event. They definitely know what they’re doing. I was able to get myself into the Rebel Challenge but I was not able to get Father of One in.  I read somewhere that the Rebel Challenge (running the Star Wars 10k and the Star Wars Half on back to back days) sold out in 8 minutes this morning.  That’s got to be a record.

Now with the Star Wars race newly announced and ready for general registration next week, what will runDisney think of next??!?

May the Force be with you. And don’t forget…… #LetTheWookieWin, you don’t want your arms pulled out of their sockets when they loose…..

best birthday ever.

18 Tuesday Feb 2014

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A few weeks ago I turned 40.  And ran a half marathon on my birthday.  Through Disneyland.  With my twin sister.  It was her first one.  What could be better?!?!

It was honestly my best birthday ever.

#1 I have never run a half marathon on my birthday.

#2 I haven’t spent my birthday with my twin since our 30th.

#3 My dad surprised me and came out to to visit from Ohio!

#4 I got to spend my birthday at my favorite place, Disneyland!!!!

As soon as I got my sis to agree to a half marathon with me I KNEW it would be special. Especially since it would be her first runDisney race too!  AND our 40th birthday?  C’mon, how often does THAT happen?!?

I started off my race weekend as Princess Leia, running the Tinker Bell 10k with my husband, who was Han Solo.  We got a lot of compliments from the Cast Members.  We got some awesome pics in front of the Castle and with some characters.  My favorite was the girls from The Haunted Mansion.  They looked EXACTLY like the images from the Stretching Room and sounded and acted like them too!  Then, after the race, we checked into our hotel (only a few miles away from our house, lol) and my DAD showed up, surprising me with a visit from OHIO!!!!  My husband and dad has been texting all week long about him coming to visit.  What a great surprise!!

Sunday morning greeted me with a 3am wake up call.  Time for me to transform into Mickey and my twin as Donald (I made her costume for her).  I wanted her to be her favorite Disney character for her first runDisney race, just as I was for mine last year (Goofy).  We got to our corral and we were off.  We ran right past my hotel too, so my husband, son and dad were able to cheer us on!

We made friends with our Clif Bar pace runner, Mike, and were able to meet up with him at mile 13.  He was so cool to get to know and talk to throughout the race.  I’m glad that I was able to find him on Facebook.

At the end of the race, my sister said “So that’s it?!?” (haha).  I was so proud of her.  After making it through the finish line crowd, I heard someone calling my name.  Throughout the race, I was giving my co-workers updates as to when we would finish.  Little did I know, they had a birthday surprise waiting for us.  A donut cake, birthday sash, pin and a bunch of strangers singing “happy birthday” to us.  What a wonderful surprise.  A special thanks to the girls of Sparkle Athletic for making my 40th extra special.

The next day I got to visit more with my sister and dad and we had some yummy breakfast birthday cake.  After that, the clock struck midnight and my sister had to leave.  The next day my dad left.  I want to be 40 all over again.

The consolation?  I’m running with my sister for her second half marathon in 2 weeks and I even got my husband to sign up for one.

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eyes on the prize.

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

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Ever since I caught a glimpse of it, I knew that I had to try for it.

The pink Coast to Coast Medal.

I thought, “I would love to have a C2C some day”, why not try for the pink one?  These thoughts started swirling through my head as soon as I signed up for Tinker Bell 2014.  “What if” I thought.  Soon after that, I forgot (or tried to forget) all about the pretty, shiny thing because I thought it wouldn’t be possible.

Now here I am, newly signed up with Noah’s Light Foundation, ready to give it a try.

It’s an awesome organization.  They raise money to help fight pediatric brain cancer, a devastating condition that we too often think about as something that doesn’t happen to kids.  But it does.  Of the approximately 4,200 children diagnosed with these lethal tumors (of which approximately 2,000 are brain cancers) each year, fewer than 20 percent will survive (this statistic is taken directly from NLF website: http://www.noahslightfoundation.org/).

While I am excited to be a part of this great organization, I am anxious.  I most likely will be making the trip by myself, as we cannot afford the trip for our whole family.  I need to raise a lot of money in order to make this happen. The last time I raised such an amount was ten years ago when I participated in the Breast Cancer 3 Day.  I have not been to Walt Disney World/Epcot in 20 years, so I have no idea what to expect, where to go, or how to get around.

But here I am, facing all of these unknowns, for a simple mental and physical (and financial) goal.  All of which are nothing compared to what the children and their families have to endure.

Here is the link to my personal donation page:

https://www.noahslightfoundation.org/donate/index.php/component/civicrm/?task=civicrm/pcp/info&reset=1&id=180

recreating the magic.

05 Thursday Sep 2013

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The Disneyland Half Marathon weekend is over.  I did it.  I completed two more runDisney races and earned three more medals.  And it was rough.  The heat was excruciating.  I ran out of water.  Twice.  My friend who signed up to do the race with me was able to keep a faster pace so I let her go on without me.  So somewhere around mile 7, I ran alone.  All the way to the end.  Something else I didn’t expect to do.  It was hard.

My first half marathon was a runDisney race.  It was the day after my birthday and the weather was considerably cooler.  Comfortable.  The entire race was magical.  It’s the first time that I ran entire race while smiling.  The expo was relaxing.  Everything about the experience was so wonderful, that I was hoping to recreate that experience for the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend.

After this weekend, I realized that for some experiences, you just can’t recreate that magic.  Some experiences live in the history of your life just as magical moments.  All of the stars and the planets and the angels align and make that one thing so special.  Like my favorite Dave Matthews Band concert where they played all of my favorite songs.  Now every time I go to another one of their concerts, I expect to have that same experience.  It has not happened since.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe I should look at my experiences differently.  Maybe I should stop trying to recreate the magic and work more on creating new experiences. There are things to be learned.  Like after running in the humidity and the heat this weekend, maybe I can endure a race at Walt Disney World to get that coveted Coast to Coast medal.  Maybe I can even push myself even more.  Sometimes I don’t know what I am capable of and I’m afraid to find out.

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(self induced) stress.

29 Thursday Aug 2013

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I am no veteran to runDisney races.  I only have two under my belt.  After this weekend I will have added two more.  I love Disneyland and I love to run.  For my first experience, I didn’t know what to expect.  And since I had no preconceived notions or expectations, it was awesome.  Now that I have (limited) experience, I feel so much pressure and stress! (All brought on by myself of course).  First, there’s the “putting together of the costume”.  I mean, you don’t have to run in costume, but what the heck, right?  You choose your favorite Disney character or your favorite super hero or whatever and you can get away with it for these races.  (Themed races seem to be all the rage these days, but that’s another post for another day.)

So I’ve been planning my costume ideas for months only to find that my original idea is not working out so well.  So I’m trying to come up with another solution, but I really only have 2 working days left.  Anyway…..

Then there’s the “GET TO THE EXPO VERY EARLY SO THAT YOU CAN GET THE MERCHANDISE THAT YOU WANT!!!!” threats.  I had early access to the expo for my last experience and it was really nice.  This time I’m not so lucky, so now I’m stressing about that.  And the lines and the crowds.  You might say “well why in the h*ll did you sign up for the races in the first place then?!?!?”.  Well it’s because….

I love Disneyland and I love to run.

I realized that the less I know about something, the less I stress about it.  When you lop on all sorts of information?  That’s when I start to get information overload and start to stress out.  Take my virgin experience.  I wasn’t worried about lines or sweeper vans or the dreaded balloon ladies that keep the 16 min/mile pace after the last corral starts (gulp!).  But now, all of this social networking has me in a tizzy with peoples’ posts about this and that and where meetups are and who’s wearing what and what they’re buying.

The other thing that I realized about myself…. Is that I love the thought of Disney.  I know it sounds stupid.  That’s okay.  But I honestly tear up every time I see that famed castle at the beginning of every Disney movie.  I get a lump in my throat whenever I hear When You Wish Upon a Star.  I have a mouse ear necklace that I try to wear every day (except when I’m running so that I don’t ruin it) so that I can keep that magic with me wherever I go.

So my new plan is (at least for the next 4 days) is to just keep on believing in that magic.  To not stress about what I can’t control and just have fun!  Because that’s really what it’s all about right?  And life should be fun.

I’m gonna kick a$$ at this Dumbo Double Dare and it’s gonna be fun and awesome.

Everyone’s new at something sometime in their lives

30 Thursday May 2013

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People run half marathons every day. My first half marathon made me love running, and got me hooked on RunDisney races. My first half marathon was also the first time that I ran two races back to back. Now I look forward to running every day, and I have 3 friends to thank for that, Annie, Sasha, and Sara. Thank you girls for challenging me and giving me something new to love. ❤