Home is Where the Mouse is Travel

Not quite my usual blog post but in honor of Walt Disney World’s upcoming Marathon Week on January 4th-8th, let me tell you a quick story about my Disney running experience.

*Full disclosure: I. Do. Not. Like. Running.

Back story. COVID 2019-2022. I had two options during this time when it came to being healthy. 1. I could use this time to stay active; long walks, lift weights, eat right,etc. Or, 2. Eat my weight in junk food and never get off the couch again. I mostly chose option 2 with some sprinkling of option 1. So, enter my come to Jesus meeting about getting healthier and signing up for the 2022 runDisney Virtual Series celebrating Frozen!

The 5k kicked off June 1st with a completion date by July 31st. Basically, I had all summer to train and then complete the 5k on one of my run days. I told myself I was doing this for all the right reasons. Maybe I’ll actually start to enjoy running. Maybe I will get out of my own head while pounding the pavement. Maybe I’ll get healthier. Those were all great motivators but the true reason? I really missed Disney!

So I sucked it up and began training. Walk, run. Rinse, repeat. Did I mention I hate running? I mustered through that for a few weeks while strength training too. And I was getting good too! I was “Zero to Hero”, “How Far I’ll Go” and “Into the Unknown” (runDisney provided a bumping training playlist) my way further and further while still being able to breathe. Win! But, this is where my story takes a turn. Now, before I started this journey, I was not the most athletic and had an unhealthy ability to bruise like a peach. So, my body was not having any of my tomfoolery and decided “Nope.”

I tabled my marathon running dreams for a bit regrouped and made a new plan. If I can’t run 3.2 virtual miles how about I walk 3.2 miles at Disney instead? Genius right?! So I did the most natural thing, I booked my husband and I an anniversary trip to Walt Disney World where the workout was guaranteed. Let’s be honest, 3.2 miles is literally a loop around Magic Kingdom with some queues thrown in for good measure anyways.

Our anniversary barely fit into the timeframe, as in the very last day! But I made it work. My running time may not have been a record breaker and I’m mostly definitely not going to the Olympics but I still achieved what I signed up to do on that faithful spring day, completion of my first 5K. While I’m wasn’t able to complete it in the way I intended ,the Castle views were a lot nicer than running around my neighborhood and I still got my metal!

Ultimately, I would still like to do an official 5K at Disney but it’s most definitely not going to be a Princess Half Marathon or the Dopey Challenge. I’ll leave those to the professionals.

Have you had the opportunity to run a 5K at Disney? No, here are all your upcoming opportunities.