Why you should do a RunDisney half marathon...

I am not a runner, never have been, had no desire to. But when you see the golden sparkle of a shiny medal hanging from a beautiful ribbon, you all of a sudden feel like Ralph. Ralph, from Wreck It Ralph! All he wanted was a medal. A shiny medal to call his own. I think he though it would make him no longer a bad guy, which I'm not, but I think in each of us we have something inside us to do a good job at something. Getting a medal validates that. I want the medal to show that I trained, sweat (which I really hate to do), lost toenails and earned it with good old fashioned hard work.

I have 5 reasons you should do a RunDisney Half Marathon or another big running goal - maybe that's a 10k to start off with!

1. Setting a goal and working towards it gives you a purpose.
   If I hadn't signed up when the window of registration was open I probably wouldn't have gotten in, and then I probably wouldn't have trained and I would probably still be wearing those post maternity, yet non pre-pregnancy pants...See where I'm going with this? (Reminds me of the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) I wanted to loose my baby weight and wanted to feel better about myself, but the draw to do that was weak. I think it's so easy to just keep the weight on and hope it falls off! Ha! It does for some, but not for all. Signing up when I did made me say "I'm doing this!"

2. Motivates others.
   I told a few of my girlfriends that I was half crazy and asked them if they wanted to join me in this adventure. Surprisingly I had some takers! I have one friend that did the Tinkerbell Half Marathon with me and two friends doing the Princess Half Marathon. I am so excited to train with them and help each other complete such a large goal! I also have two cousins in Florida you signed up for the 5k and 10k too!


3. Setting an example.
   My girls all three ran in the kids RunDisney races. I want them to see that running is fun. I wanted them to enjoy themselves and be proud too. They were very excited about their medals and my oldest kept saying "I didn't win mom, but I finished", I want them to know that finishing what you start is super important.

4. Being active and training makes you feel happy - Getting those endorphins and for me that time to myself to just think or listen to music that I want for once, although my running playlist is typically Disney! Ha! Being a mom, I don't do much by myself let alone pee, so getting to go run at night or dropping them off at the gym to do the trails is my time to focus and think about me and what my fitness goal is - to complete a half marathon. It's not a race, it's a run for me. If it was a race, I'd lose big time!


5. It makes you a feel good about yourself!
   Doing something that you set your mind to and worked hard for is rewarding in itself. I decided that my medals are for each of my daughters, so I won't always have them with me. But crossing the finish line is emotional. You feel relief in finishing, but also satisfaction that the training that you completed was enough to finish and not crawling across the finish line. I don't know if I'll cry, but I can imagine that I just might! LOL!