Magic In Every Footstep

Uuggghhh, what a year. I don’t have to tell anyone that the last 6 month have been a slow burning dumpster fire. Never have we needed exercise more than now in our anxiety ridden, and potentially isolated lives. Some of us have just realized it’s not feasible to go home for the holidays, some are out of work, and some of us are wondering if the light at the end of the tunnel somehow got stuck in traffic. I, personally, am all of those things.

I need a little something extra to pull me out of bed in the morning and into my rapidly deteriorating running shoes. I need a little injection of optimism, a little...magic you could say (Did you see what I did there?). And thus, the “Disney Running Playlist” was born!

There’s something about those dang Disney characters. Despite their fantastical adversity they carry a song on their lips and their hearts on their sleeve. They just cracks right through my shell of apathy.

Enough talking though! Let’s run!

I’ve split our 30 minute run into four parts. As with all runs, we’ll start off with a stretch. There is nothing like cracking your back and torturing your calves to those first lazy strains of “Bare Necessities”. The song has an easy sort of pep to get you going and remind you that during these tough times, sometimes you just have to focus on the basics.

Then, when you’re ready, let's warm up with a, “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride.” Ease into a jog now. No need to rush it, it’s not a race. Just one foot in front of the other at whatever pace is comfortable. Let the thrum of the guitar chase away the blur of sleep and hours indoors with an aural suggestion of an ocean on the horizon.

Good, hopefully now you’re somewhat awake, let's get motivated! You’ve already started moving your feet. You’ve achieved more than "X" amount of people today. You made it out of bed! Remember you’re achieving your goals with each determined syllable Donny Osmond yells at you. Let that fill you with confidence as your feet push off the earth. Let it fill you with the sense that you really can face the “unknown” before you with confidence. Maybe even take a different route today, or let your body push a bit faster with your acceleration.

You’ve now run for a full 10 minutes! That’s no small feat. It would feel sort of strange to stop running now. You can feel that your body wants to be in motion. It was built for this. Now, you just have to keep going. Let yourself fall into a pattern. To help here are 5 songs that give me a sense of progress and drive: “Zero to Hero,” “When Will My Life Begin,” “We Know the Way,” “Un Poco Loco,” and, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.”

Congratulations! You’ve now been running for roughly 20 minutes!

It’s time to take a victory lap. As you pound out the last 3-4 minutes of your run you should feel like an absolute champion. It doesn’t matter how fast you ran or how sucky it felt. You did something today. Who knows how far you’ll go, because YOU, are a star. Let that gospel quartet sing you home, or right to the end of the time limit on your treadmill. If you want to do a Rocky air punch I won’t judge you. You deserve it.

Lastly, let's cool down with one of my all time favorite pieces of Disney music, “When Will My Life Begin (Reprise 2)."

Wait, you don’t know that one? Well, I’m a sucker for a good reprise and this one is no joke. Stretch out to those first relaxing seconds of score, feel that runners high settling on your brain. Then feel inspired as you hear Rapunzel break out of what was essentially a lifelong quarantine. Your whole life is ahead of you, and it starts: now.