My First Marathon

Running a marathon is one of the biggest accomplishments you will ever achieve. It’s not easy, and it will hurt when you finish, but you will feel amazing. If you are thinking about signing up for a marathon here is my advise: do it. It won’t be easy, and there will be days when you feel like giving up, but keep going and never give up.

Running through all four of the Disney Parks is pretty amazing. Everything is all lit up, the rides are going, and all the cast members are cheering you one. One minute you're running through a wooded area and the next thing you know, your entering The Magic Kingdom through a rear entrance and the Little Mermaid ride is on your right. Then you are running under Cinderella's Castle and through Frontier Land. The pure energy from running through the parks is amazing. Everyone is all pumped and that adrenaline in flowing. People are running in all kinds of crazy and creative costumes and I cant help but admire them. I could never run in a costume like that, to restrictive and way to warm for the Florida heat.

Once you cross that finish line and have completed something you never thought possible, you get your medal. The big piece of bling you earned. It wasn't easy and sure there were a few times along the course where you thought you wouldn't finish but you did. Get that medal and admire it. You then hobble your way down the finisher chute, where you get fluids and food to aid in recovery. Take it all. You just put your body through the ringer and it needs your help recovering. After you get all the fluids and nutrition, you get Mickey Finisher Ears! For me this was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. Wear those babies with pride because your earned them. After you exit the chute you have the opportunity to take a picture with the runDisney back drop with your medal, and then after that a few more beloved characters.

The Disney World Marathon is an excellent choice for a first marathon. You run through all four parks, it’s flat and you can take pictures with some if you’re favorite Disney characters along the course, however there are negatives to running The Disney World Marathon.

One down side, you never know how the weather will be. On the day of the marathon it was in the eighties with one hundred percent humidity. Which made the course much more difficult. The weather on race day is such a huge factor in how you will perform, don’t ever let it discourage you. The most important thing is you never give up and keep going, you can and will cross that finish line.

Another downside, twenty six point two is a long way and that is a lot of ground to cover. While you do run through all four parks, it is only a few miles total. You run through the golf course which is pretty, but not something you want to see on a long run. The most unappealing thing you will run by is their water treatment plant. Sure they have a lot of fun facts about how Disney is self sustainable, but it’s smelly right at mile fifteen and not something you want to see or smell when you’re talking to yourself about pushing forward. You also do a lot of running on their highways. You pass gas stations, hotels and other buildings.

One of the most important parts of running a marathon is HYDRATION!! I can not stress this enough. There are water stops along the way that pass out both water and electrolytes. Take one of each or even two. Your body is sweating and losing a lot of fluids, and you need to stay hydrated. It was so hot at the Disney Marathon I always took two cups of water, one to drink and one to pour over my head to keep my core temp cool. People were literally dropping like flies because of the heat. Stay as hydrated as you possibly can.

Signing up is the easy part, lacing up those shoes and getting out the door everyday during your training is the hardest part. I highly recommend setting a training schedule and sticking to it. It’s hard sometimes, it’s early, you’re tired and you just want to stay in bed, but you have to get those miles in. Your body needs to get used to the mileage. You have to train so your body can tolerate the what you are about to do it.

I recommend starting small and gradually increasing your mileage. Don’t try and do twenty miles on day one, you will regret that. The more and more you get out there and the more miles you add on, you’ll be able to do that twenty miles easier than it would have been. You will have good runs and bad runs. Don't ever let the bad runs win, they happen to everybody. Ignore them and always remember: Finish lines not Finish times. You can do this. Tell yourself that as you do your training runs.

As I said before, it won’t be easy. There will be days when you want to give up, don’t. You can do this, I know you can. You just have to keep showing up and lacing up every morning. Always remember you are training for something that will test you, and make question your sanity, but it is possible and you can do it. If it were easy everyone would do it. You are training for something amazing and it will define you for the rest of your life. Never give up on your dreams. You can do anything you put your mind to. You just have to never give up and keep pushing. Even when you think you can’t, you can.