In 2016, I ran my first 10k which was also my introduction to runDisney. I began seeing Disney fan accounts that I follow on Instagram posting about runs they would do through Disney World and I just had to know what this amazingness was. Looking into it, I realized there was a whole world of runDisney I had never known about! After talking with my mom, aunt, and cousin about potentially wanting to take a Disney trip to run a race, they were all down for it as well! Some would run/walk, some would spectate, and we’d all celebrate in Disney afterwards! We decided on the 10k during what is known as their ‘marathon weekend.’ At the time, it was the longest running race I had ever done or trained for. (I had done the Tough Mudder a few years prior which was about a 12 mile course, but there are so many obstacles throughout that you don’t run nearly that much.) The race had you run around the boardwalk area and through EPCOT and it was the most fun 6.2 miles I had ever ran!
Flash forward to 2019- it hit me that I was turning 30 in December and I was (still am) feeling weird about it- like HOW IN THE WORLD could I be almost 30?! So to make turning 30 seem more fun for myself, I wanted to do something for it. I thought to myself ‘you know what, you should accomplish something that you haven’t yet that takes work’ and that’s when I thought about running a half marathon. Then I thought well maybe I should go away somewhere with my husband and friends to celebrate my birthday- everyone gets a vacation and then I get to celebrate with everyone that I love….well that all quickly jumbled into my head and I realized, why not go to Disney World to run my first half marathon and then ‘drink around the world’ and celebrate in Disney World! It seemed like the perfect combo! So I decided between marathon weekend (always in January) and their princess half marathon weekend (always in February). Since I had already done a marathon weekend race once before, I decided princess half weekend was perfect.
I turned 30 in December 2019, and the run would be February 2020- a great way to keep on celebrating your birthday! My husband and our parents threw me a birthday party the weekend of my actual birthday in our newly renovated home with our closest family and friends which meant the world to me. My husband and I were the only ones going to Disney World which would be a perfect break from the real world for just to the two of us.
I run regularly and was increasing my mileage over the summer just because, but I began an actual training schedule in October. In September my hip flexor started feeling weird and was giving me pain even when I was laying in bed. I went to physical therapy for a couple months and it helped but I do unfortunately still feel it- sitting all day at work doesn’t help! I followed the ‘experienced runner’ training schedule on runDisney and mixed in workouts I would regularly do along with my physical therapy. It was A LOT and extremely time consuming- I don’t know how full marathoners have the time to train! I get up at 5/5:30am Monday-Friday and work out with my Tone It Up on demand workouts every morning at home before work, then on Tuesdays/Thursdays I’d also go to the gym after work for my maintenance runs and physical therapy/runner strengthening exercises. When I was attending physical therapy, it was morning workouts before work daily, then Monday/Wednesday evening gym maintenance runs, and Tuesday/Thursday physical therapy after work. Saturdays were always my long runs and Sunday mornings I attend my favorite core class at the gym followed by lifting/runner leg strength exercises.
Fast forward to February 2020 and the race weekend was finally in sight! I was feeling very nervous in the weeks leading up to the run and just hoped that my now 30 year old joints (hip, knee, back, etc.) would hold up and I would be able to finish the race in my sub-2 hour goal.
We arrived on Friday afternoon to be sure I got to the expo to grab my race bib in time. I browsed the merch that they had but all the items that I would have wanted were already sold out in my sizes since the expo had opened the day before (everything runDisney sells out superrrrr fast and winds up on ebay). Saturday was a chill day for us and we got to spend the day with my cousin and her fiance who live in Orlando (yay!) and Sunday morning was the race.
You may or may not know this, but runDisney races start at, wait for it….5:30am!!! The roads have to be closed and they try to get as many runners through before parks even open. We stayed on property (which I highlyyy suggest for anyone running a future race) at Port Orleans French Quarter and they provide busing to and from the start/finish at the EPCOT parking lot. runDisney tells runners to be there no later than 4:30am and that you should get a bus from resorts no later than 3:30am. Since roads are closed, it can cause issues but luckily our bus got there from Port Orleans super fast. My alarm was set for 2:50am so I could get ready and be on a bus by 3:30am. That meant that Saturday I wanted to be in bed by 7/7:30pm. I got in bed 7:30 but definitely did not sleep well with just so much on my mind and worrying that my alarm wouldn’t go off or I wouldn’t hear it to be up in time. Luckily I got up right away and somehow felt rested. Put my hair in two low mini Princess Leia buns, got dressed and headed out. Did I mention my husband also got up at this time and road the bus with me to the start line just to be a spectator?! Angel of a human.
