January 2013: Disney World (Half?) Marathon

For a long time I had a LiveJournal blog mostly for when I traveled. I haven't posted since I got back from Guatemala the summer before last, and now I started this one on Blogspot as a way to keep myself accountable to things. Really, just 1 thing: run a marathon.

Yes, for those of you who know me, the words "Kristy" and "marathon" don't really go together without a substantial amount of laughter. That's fair. In the past, I scoffed at runners and figured I'd just sorta start running if I was being chased. The truth is that I've been a little envious of runners: their mode of release, their dedication, their motivation, their bodies. None of those really seemed to apply to me ... until I realized that actually, yeah, they do. I've been able to do some pretty kickass things in my 27 years so far. I spent a semester in Italy, explored Japan by myself, taught indigenous Guatemalan kids (all in Spanish) during a rainy season in Central America, and earned two Master's degrees. If all of those don't require dedication, motivation and self-care, what does?

To me, a marathon has always seemed unattainable. That was a goal reserved for "those people" - you know, the ones who exercise for hours every day and look at chocolate like it's the devil. (Devil's food ... mmmmmmm ...) 26.2 miles is a hell of a lot of running, especially for someone who has broken her fair share of bones and tends to bake when feeling any sort of emotion. If something good happens, I bake. If I'm stressed or sad, I bake. Yes, I could bake things with whole grains, and sometimes I do, but usually whatever I bake has copious amounts of chocolate. Whatever. Then I thought, "People who run marathons can't all be the same; otherwise there would be a lot of really in-shape robots. At least some of them have to like to bake and eat chocolate." I think my point is that I can be who I am and still run a marathon.

So, this is how it has gone so far. This little idea of running a marathon has been becoming more prominent in my brain for awhile. In true Kristy fashion, I went into research mode and bought a new pair of shoes. I looked into different marathons, when they were, and training programs for the beginner. I found that there's a Walt Disney World marathon weekend in January. They have both a half marathon and a full marathon, and I think that's the one for me to do for a few reasons: (1) The minimum time requirement is a 15-minute mile, which seems doable. (2) It's 10 months from now. I'm not sure when registration for the 2013 one starts, but if I'm thinking that no way in hell could I do the full one by January 2013, I can do the half and do the full in January 2014. (3) It has enough to keep me entertained through the whole race. Besides the run through the parks, there are photo ops with characters who are dancing around on the sidelines, flipping around on trampolines, etc. Runners are also encouraged to wear costumes, which means I could run a (half?) marathon in an effing tutu. Amazing. (4) I haven't been to Disney World since I was 8, which would mean I'd be returning 20 years later to run their marathon, and that's kind of badass. (5) It gives me something to plan for and look forward to, and I tend to function better in life in general when I have a trip coming up. I could hang out at the park a couple days and go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as well! Wingardium leviosa, bitches.

The other part of my research is really how to run and train without injury. I don't run properly, and youtube and books have been helping me remedy that. The new pair of shoes is running shoes that are in ridiculous colors that make me happy. I ordered them on Zappos the other day so they should be here soon. I also started a marathon ipod playlist to keep me motivated. It has both ridiculously upbeat "You can do it!" songs and Disney songs. So when I don't want to keep running, I can picture Gaston flipping around on a trampoline ... and falling off, because Gaston's a male chauvinist asshole and that would make me snicker. Take that, you prick! Heh heh.

I haven't actually started running yet since I don't have health insurance and I don't want to tempt fate. I started my new job on January 3 and my benefits start after 60 days, so that's coming up in the next week or so. As soon as I get my insurance card, off I go!