Hope you all have had a fabulous week so far, it's Friday!!!
Today I'm going to go into how I became a runner. As I'm sure you've picked up from previous posts, I have no Athletic background. In fact, I'd classify myself as a band geek and theater nerd LOL but that's another story.
If there's one thing you figure out about me, it's that I LOVE Disney! Yup, I'm that girl. I will do anything if it has some tie in to Disney... including running.
I'm going to back up a bit and tell u a little of my running background before all this.
But wait! You just said you weren't athletic!
You're right, I'm not. Haha but I did for one year in high school decide that I was going to join Track and Field.
I actually "trained" for Track and Field by joining a club cross country team that my friend's dad coached. I definitely got in shape but I gave out minimal effort and was always the last to finish. Everything. When T&F season hit, I was pretty much over it after a coach (specifically my high jump coach at the school) showed little effort in helping me or anyone else actually succeed in the event. He had more interest in being on the phone with his business during practice than dealing with us. After the school year ended I said good bye to sports and advanced in my music, theater, and art classes.
Fast forward to January 2012. My cousin who's an avid runner had asked me numerous times before if I wanted to ever go running with her. Usually my answer was a laugh and a polite no. By this time I had lost the weight and was feeling pretty good, but I had also noticed that I didn't have any muscle definition. The diet had melted away a lot of my muscle mass with the fat. This is a normal reaction when your body drops weight, which is why it's important to combine BOTH diet and exercise.
One day i got a text from her saying that she needed a driving buddy down to Orange County. She had signed up for the inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon! Promising me that it wasn't a trick to get me to run she asked if I would go down with her and check out the expo at the hotel before her other running buddy arrived. All the while full well knowing I'd have a hard time passing up a chance to experience something new at Disneyland. She hooked me.
If you want to see photos from the Tinkerbell Half, I have a similar post on my Disney blog here
Long story short, I was completely sucked in to the whole RunDisney movement that weekend. Even though I wasn't running, everything, including the expo, was extremely exciting and all the merchandise... all the merchandise! Did I mention the medals?!
The morning of the race my cousin had to be at the start line suuuuuuuper early in the morning. With Disney races, the entire race route in the parks has to be cleared and cleaned before the parks open to the public. Disneyland opens at 8am. Disneyland park is not the start line. This means crazy early call times!
We had set up a system where she would text me when she got within a couple miles of the finish. Standing there watching all the runners come through the finish line before her was so inspiring! I saw a lot of people that looked like my level of fitness finishing the race! Not only were they finishing at a great time, they were finishing with huge smiles on their faces!
It was at that point I said to myself.... "If they can do it.... why couldn't I?"
That was all it took.
The next month the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon registration opened up and I was among the 17,000 runners who signed up. A few weeks later, I joined a local running club, got my feet fitted for the right shoes, and worked my booty off training for my upcoming Half Marathon which was months away in September.
It was one of the most fulfilling days of my life when I crossed that finish line. It changed me. It changed the way I feel about myself, the way I fuel my body with food for training, and the way my body works and feels now. I honestly can say that Disney - RunDisney specifically - changed my life.
I wrote up a post on that day. You can check it out here: Disneyland Half Marathon 2012
I hope that this post inspired some of you on getting into shape or finding something that you're passionate about. Fitness doesn't have to be going to the gym and facing miles on a treadmill in the same 4 x 4 square all year long. Find something that you enjoy doing and work your fitness into that!
I think I'm stuck on RunDisney races for the rest of my life LOL My same cousin and I are planning a year's worth of Disney races for 2013! It includes the Coast to Coast challenge (Disneyland and WDW) and hopefully the Dumbo Double Dare challenge at Disneyland. Can't wait!!
Hope you all have a great week and let's work to stay inspired!
What got you started getting in shape?
