Me? Run? No way. But maybe…
If you haven’t noticed my other big blog section on the site here, I am a big Disney fan.
All my life I have struggled with my body issues and weight. My last big vacation was a 4 day trip to Walt Disney World parks followed by a 3-day Disney Cruise. On that trip I walked a LOT. Since I work from home on a computer I have a very sedentary lifestyle. My interests outside of work usually involve video games, film, reading…again, sedentary intellectual interests.
On this trip, I was tired. The prior trip I had taken in December had been fine. I’d been able to walk the parks and even stay up late for the Christmas party after MK closed. This time? This time I walked EPCOT for 9 hours, developed a blister from chafing, and was exhausted. My first day in MK I was going to stay at the parks and then go to the hotel early, skipping fireworks. I’d stay for those on the final day of my trip. When that final day came, I didn’t make it. I left the park early, around 4 PM. Fireworks were at 9. I was just too tired.
The following day I went on my cruise. I left my sneakers in the car and opted for a pair of flats for my dinner that night and sandals.
That night I noticed something. The flats, which were foldable ones from Tory Burch that had previously fit well, barely fit at all. They dug into the top of my foot and were very uncomfortable. Was this related to my foot surgery? I’d broken my left foot in Nov 2019 and wasn’t sure if I’d worn those shoes since then. Then I looked, really looked, at my feet. They were huge. Both. Ankles too.
Oh no.
Being in the medical field I started running through a litany of possible causes in my mind, and once I got back on land I made an appointment with my doctor to get tests for those issues (which all came back negative). The cause we settled on was my veins. During the pandemic I’d had varicose vein ablation on both legs. That trip I took to Disney in December 2021 had been right after treatment for that completed. This was my first trip after that. Most likely it was related to swelling from poor venous circulation. I’ll need to wear compression socks; not as tight as after the procedure, but it will help. In fact I’d brought my compression socks with me but had left them in the car. As soon as I disembarked and checked into my hotel in Savannah, I put them on. Slept in them. In the morning I noticed my edema was gone.
While I was happy about that, I was deeply upset at the edema and how it persisted.
This was affecting me going to Disney.
Oh hell no.
If you’re reading this and thinking “I’m and adult, I don’t identify with someone who loves Disney” then 1. I didn’t either until I became that person and 2. Here comes the part you might be able to identify with.
All my life, or at least as much as I can recall right now as I’m multi-tasking while writing this, I’ve struggled with making myself complete things or achieve goals. I imagine versions of myself…tidy. Doesn’t shop excessively. Exercises regularly. When I try to make changes, it might last for a little while but it often doesn’t stick.
I have been able to make some changes. I’m less messy than I used to be. I make my bed daily. That last one happened because I noticed that it took little time to do this (especially since I don’t use a top sheet) and the result made me feel better. It was aesthetically pleasing to have a made-up bed. It made the room look nice. That combination, being easy to do and having a positive result, is part of the key for me.
In a call with my therapist, we were discussing goals, challenges I’ve given myself in the past, and why they worked or why they didn’t. I have accomplished some really challenging things in my past, mostly related to education. The final degree was one that was so challenging to me that I nearly dropped out. It came to a point where I thought to myself “I’m already XYZ dollars in debt. If I drop out, if I don’t do this, I’ll have all of this debt to pay and no career to help me pay it. I may as well keep going. What else am I going to do?” It felt as if there wasn’t another viable option. The negatives were too negative, too impactful, that I had to continue. I had to finish it. And so I did.
In that instance, it was a negative that was the driving factor. I didn’t have something positive that I was working towards, I had a negative that I was running away from. In the bed instance, it was a positive effect, having a tidy and clean room which looked good and helped my mood, that I was running towards with the repeated action of making the bed first thing in the morning.
Exercise has never played a large part in my life. Even when I did do some sort of activity, usually it was short-lived or not very active. Pee Wee Cheerleading. Karate. Tennis (one summer). Golf (one summer). Also most of those were single-person sports, not a team sport. It doesn’t come naturally to me. So what does?
Maybe part of my problem in the past was trying to change myself, my personality. Instead of that, could I work with my personality and quirks instead of against them? Could there be a way to “hack” myself, to find a positive motivator, something I absolutely love, and use that as part of my goal-setting when it comes to activity?
As it turns out, the answer is yes.
You should know, dear reader, that I do not run. I suspect that I have more slow-twitch fibers (endurance) than fast-twitch (sprinting). I’m not fast. Never have been. Sprinting was never my forte. Neither were sports. I’ve gotten so out of shape that climbing one set of stairs makes me winded. It’s been that way since probably 2007 at least. I haven’t needed to climb many stairs since I left college. I did a fair amount of using the stairs in a past job, but that was sporadic. Now I live in a two-story house and I’m confronted with that daily. If just doing that makes me tired, how the hell am I supposed to run???
The thing is…I like sparkly things. I like Disney. And I like the idea of medals. Only time I’ve ever competed and earned a medal was in Pee Wee cheerleading where we won 2nd place in a regional competition. Oh, and once I competed in a karate tournament and won first place in my division - that was a trophy, not a medal.
In case you don’t know, there are several companies that run virtual races. I’ve signed up for them in the past and have signed up recently for some. The medals I’d gotten before I think I might have actually thrown out in a decluttering session. The thing is…they don’t have completion dates. There’s no race day. The way it works is that you either submit your distances or use a pedometer to track your distance and once you reach that distance, they send you a medal. The one I have now is from The Conqueror. I’m finishing up the final “race” in the Lord of the Rings set. The medals are great. The problem is it’s easy. Too easy. As there is no set time it has to be done by or else, you can just do your normal walking and track that and when you’re done you get a medal. If it takes 6 months, you still get the medal.
See? Too easy.
Did you know that Disney has marathons?
Ah…now you’re probably starting to see where this is going. “But Lauren” you may ask, “you hate running. Are you going to do a marathon???? That’s 26.2 miles!”
No dear reader, I am not.
But did you know that runDisney has virtual races??
For years I’ve known about the marathons. The one I’m most interested in is known as the Princess Marathon. You can dress up as a princess and run through WDW’s parks. Seeing images of people in their tutus running and meeting characters and crossing the finish line looks like so much fun, but also seems so unattainable.
They offer virtual Princess Runs.
runDisney does a similar virtual model to The Conqueror. With that you do the race wherever you want…in your neighborhood, at a park, on a treadmill, and submit your time to Disney. It’s on the honor system. Even if you purchase the race and never complete it, you get the medals. In that aspect it is different than Conqueror…with them they only ship the medal once it’s completed. Disney will ship the medals whether you complete the races or not, but Disney differs in one other aspect though, and this for me is important…there is a deadline.
This year the Walt Disney Company celebrates it’s 100th anniversary and, as part of that celebration, runDisney has offered a series of virtual races related to it. For this there is no real life race, only virtual. Each race is a 5K (3.1 miles). You could purchase a race individually or, if you purchase all 3 as a set, you will get a special 4th medal too. By the time I learned this, I logged onto the website and the individual races were all sold out and y’all…you know I want that damn 4th medal. I’m also impulsive.
Am I ambitious? Possibly. Am I a magpie that loves shiny things? Absolutely. Am I crazy to sign up for three 5K races in the summer in the south-eastern US when all 3 are due to be completed by 8/31? Of course. Did that stop me? No.
I bought the virtual race package.
I want the medals. Eventually I want to wear a tutu and go across the finish line. I want to run (or walk) through Magic Kingdom.
My love of Disney is a very strong positive for me to run towards (pun intended).
I then went on Etsy and bought a special t-shirt with the virtual runDisney 100 logo to wear on race days. I hang up that shirt in my bathroom so I see it daily. I sat down and created a training program. The next therapy session I told my therapist about it. She happens to be a runner so we talked about getting fitted for shoes.
I was so excited.
It occurred to me that this could be a keystone habit. Deciding to start walking and possibly work up to running could be the one thing that everything else is centered around. I’ve noticed that on days when I walk, I sleep better and I’m more energized the next day. My body feels better, limbs looser. My mood is lifted. I can make changes to my diet to help support my energy levels and my activity. I will have a new hobby that will help me use up a lot of the time in my evenings after work when I am usually bored and get lost in a YouTube rabbit hole because what else am I going to do?
This one thing, this one decision, could spiral into a host of others that help me to become a version of myself I’ve wanted. All of this will ultimately help me to get around the Disney parks easier. If I lose weight then I might even be able to fit into some of the rides easier and, bonus, ride some of the rides at Universal that I can’t now due to how my body carries weight.
I’ve already signed up for more races. Disneyland has a virtual 5K that I bought and, of course, I signed up for the Princess virtual 5K and 10K! That’s right…I’m challenging myself for the 10K, mostly because that medal is themed around Rapunzel and I want that medal. I really like Tangled.
Other changes I’ve made to support me:
The air quality hasn’t been great due to the Canadian wildfires and I’ve noticed on days when it’s worse that my throat is dry and I cough. So now I have a treadmill to use on those days, and on days when it’s so hot and humid outside that I’d normally skip the activity.
I have fitted shoes. HOKA is the brand, lots of cushion in the soles which is good for my joints.
I have a “running bag” and I keep it by my front door. In that bag I have SPF, a sling, bug spray, spare sunglasses, my cooling neck fan, headphones, a backup phone battery. Basically any excuse I could possibly use to not go outside has a solution in that bag. This way, if I don’t go outside and I don’t get on the treadmill, it is because I am actively choosing to. If I start to do that, I’ll reflect on it in my journal to try to find out why I made that decision.
The motivation will wear off. I know it will. Hopefully by the time that happens I’ll have started to develop this habit so it will feel worse to not do the thing than how it feels to do the thing. And I’ve found people on YouTube, like Lucy Shaw, who were obese and are now runners and how they’ve done it. She just completed an Ultra Marathon, 30 miles. She’s so inspiring.
I missed the cut off for the Princess 5K this year so come next summer I’ll be signing up for the in-person Princess 5K and I’m so excited.