It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Once Upon A Time....while planning a trip to Disney World, a twenty something girl who had never run a day in her life decided to sign up for a 5K.

What a great line to open a post about Disney right? Seriously though, that's pretty much how the story goes. I was planning one of many of my annual Disney Vacations, this one for ESPN The Weekend. ESPN Weekend is my favorite weekend at WDW because 1. I love Disney, 2. I love Sports, 3. I love having my picture taken with cute sports celebrities (or any celebrity for that matter).

During my 2010 ESPN Weekend trip, I was able to attend the "Green Carpet" Grand Re-Opening of the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Conference. This was a pretty big deal, so what could top that for this year? The ESPN Weekend 5K was my answer.

My friend Brittany agreed to run it with me, and the decision was made. We were signed up to race.

After the holiday season passed I was getting very excited for the weekend as the list of celebrities in attendance grew. Then I realized, crap. I need to get training for this race. I joined a gym - the 5K being my motivation to actually go.

I began with a session with a personal trainer at the gym. He told me to get on the treadmill and he said run until you can't breathe. It took all of 4 minutes. I was embarrassed. How is a dancer out of breath after 4 minutes? I wondered how I would ever manage to run 3.1 miles. This is when I thought to myself "it seemed like a good idea at the time."

But I don't quit. So I just kept at it. I checked out the runDisney website and watched some of Jeff Galloway's training videos and modified my running technique. I am super glad I began running the proper way (much easier to correct poor technique before it becomes a habit) and kept running. I soon was making it 1 mile, then 2 and finally 3 without feeling like I would pass out.

Training for this 5K was hard, especially with the tendinitis in my right foot. But in true Disney fashion, this story does have a happy ending.