SAFD: I didn’t really know there were races at Disney until 2012, when DH came home from work and told me that a couple of his coworkers were going to Princess 2013. We loved going to Disney any chance we got, but a half marathon seemed way out of my league. I didn’t run until well into adulthood, and mostly I did it as a solo thing at the local park, where I could go my own (slow) speed.
He asked me if I was interested in signing up for the Princess 2013 half. I was, but didn’t think I could do it, so I said no. A couple of weeks later, he brought it up again (this was way before the days of instant sellouts), and I decided to register. I had eight months to train, and when I learned about run/walk/run, I felt better. I even emailed with Jeff Galloway a few times, and he was very helpful and encouraging. I ran my first 10k to get a PoT, and trained diligently.
I did the race, and got the beautiful medal, and was amazed that I had completed it. As part of talking me into it and encouraging me, DH did a similar training cycle, even though he wasn't going to run the race. Well, there was no reason to let all that training go to waste, right? A few months later, we both did a local half, then another half in Atlanta, then I registered for the first challenge (the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge at Princess 2014). That’s the medal in my avatar.
For the next few years, we set different goals for ourselves. One year, we did at least a half a month. There was one eight day stretch where we did three halfs. We started collecting states, with the rule being that it had to be at least a ten-miler to count. I got to 17. By 2016, we had registered for our first full, at MW, of course. In 2019, we did a local race series, where I had some success that I never expected.
In all, I’ve done 50 half marathons, six fulls (Disney in 2016, 2019, and 2020; Atlanta in 2017; Chicago in 2017; and Marine Corps in 2018). I’ve also done two ultras (24 hours races, where I went at least 50k). I can’t begin to count the 5ks and 10ks. No one could be more surprised about all this than me.
These days, it’s much more of a struggle. MW2020 (the one that was super hot), it turns out that I was running with the flu, then got covid. That did something weird to my heart rate. Then, there was 2022, which was a nightmare year for me, medically speaking. I won’t go into the details here, but it was very, very, very bad.
I’m definitely retired from the marathon distance, but I’m currently registered for the half for MW and the half for PW. I’ve completed a few halfs since 2022 (because I really wanted to get to the 50 number), but this time, I’m trying to see if I can finish stronger and better. It’s frustrating, as I know I’ll never be where I was before, but it’s pretty amazing that running is even something I can still do after what I went through, so I’m going to appreciate it while I can.
I know this is incredibly long, but TL;DR—let’s go have fun at Disney!!!
Also, how do we feel about multiple half marathons being halfs vs. halves? I think technically it’s halves, but it just looks so wrong in this context. Is anyone else bothered by this, or is it just me?
