Medal around my neck and ice on my knee. A totally fair exchange.
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A couple of years ago, my husband and I ended up running runDisney’s Princess Half Marathon on a whim, without any preparation. Read about that in detail here. It was a wacky thing to attempt, but it turned out to be something completely doable for us and a hell of a lot of fun too. We were only running 5ks, but we do have a strong commitment to regular vigorous exercise of all sorts and that turned out to be enough to do the trick. I felt a little yucky after the race. I wasn’t in pain, but the only word I can come up with to describe the way my tummy/head combo felt is “yucky”. Fortunately, I woke up the next morning with zero, zilch, zip pain anywhere. Amazing! The grand experience far outweighed the temporary yucky feeling I had and we were thrilled that we took the chance instead of passing it up.
Mine.
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A few months later I ended up with severe tendonitis in my left foot, which came about for other reasons. But I ended up on crutches and in a boot for four months. I returned to short distance running in the spring, but once I started feeling stabbing pains in that foot in August of 2013, I just decided to ditch running for a while. Fast-forward to January 14th, 2014 when I found out that my amazing spokesperson/ ambassador work for Office Depot and Oakley would place me near Anaheim, California the night before the Tinkerbell half marathon. I wanted to do it, but I hadn’t run in six months. So! The only sane thing to do would be to hunt down a last-minute registration, right? Riiiiight. I really questioned myself. Am I awesome, or am I an idiot? Quite frankly, when I found out that my registration had been confirmed … I had a little “oh shit” moment.
Why do I always get myself in to these things? I can only answer that in hindsight. Maybe I knew that seeing Disneyland for the very first time in my life would be phenomenal? It was! I blew through it fairly quickly, but Sleeping
Beauty’s Castle made me tear up a bit and the other way-different-than-the-Magic-Kingdom attractions like Small World, Car’s Land, Mickey’s Ferris Wheel and more were exciting to see. Running down the streets of California in the cool crisp air wasn’t a burden either. Thousands of fans chEARed us on including local cheerleaders, marching bands and 600 Red Hat Ladies. I high-fived hundreds of them (a personal record for me) and only worried about germs and getting sick a few times. Hey, I was there to have fun and I did. Flu season be damned!!! Mostly, I’m pretty sure I knew it would be magical. I knew I’d feel a sense of pride, joy and excitement for reaching outside of my box and doing something that wasn’t even an option a week earlier. My right knee is a little sore and my calves were on fire for a few days, but I’ve enjoyed every wobbly painful step up stairs that I’ve taken since I hit that finish line.
I raced the race alone, but with 15,000 new friends. I got to see a totally inspirational team runDisney chick, whom I mostly only know via Facebook. Elizabeth Mackay, I’m so grateful I got to run a few steps with you!!! I also earned the most beautiful medal ever. Seriously, I’m going to start wearing it around town casually. Whatevs. Folks already think I’m a nerd.
runDisney race announcer Rudy Novotny. Such a big mouth he has!
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Time at both the starting line and finish line was full of laughs thanks to the hilarious runDisney race announcer, Rudy Novotny. It was also incredibly inspiring thanks to the back-of-the-packers. I also relished time spent catching up with my friends from team runDisney who do all the work to make these races the best in the world. So … I do laugh at my ridiculous, almost absurd willingness to take on 13.1 miles which I hadn’t trained for. But mostly, I’m grateful I was wacky enough to have the gumption to give it a try, and not miss out on this wonderful opportunity.
Your takeaway? Know your true limitations (I definitely would NOT have jumped in to a full marathon), but be a little willy-nilly sometimes when adventurous opportunities arise. Have you wanted to try a race? Sign up for runDisney’s Expedition Everest today. It sells out quickly. It’s a nighttime race that’s on the shorter side. It’s run in teams, includes a scavenger hunt and is followed up with a party at Animal Kingdom. Go as fast or as slow as you want! Who cares??? Just go have a great time. Surfing lessons taking place near your work trip? Dive in! Is a square dancing party happening at your church? Give it a go! Folks, life is too short. Pursue fitness, adventure and opportunities to learn and laugh with a vengeance. You may feel like a fool at first, but I bet the positives will far outweigh the negatives.
Oh! And for those of you who will want to know. I finished in 2:43. Not super zippy, but also not bad. I would have been equally thrilled if I’d finished last like this awesome lady!
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