Today we have a very special post by my friend, Kristin! What a great name, right?! We met over Instagram and have become close friends through our love of RunDisney, healthy food, working out, and being moms! She is so warm and real, I am so happy and so lucky I met her! Here she’s going to talk about her running journey for the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend:

“I am so excited to share my Disney Marathon Weekend experience with you on my dear friend Kristin’s blog! Honestly, run Disney is one of my FAVORITE things, so talking about it is easy!

When I decided I was going to run the half marathon at Disney Marathon weekend, it was my second half ever. My first half was Disney Princess (see a theme here) and I loved it so much that I knew I had to do another, so why not change it up? Our whole family ran together that weekend, which made it extra magical. Our kids both did the mile kid’s race, I did the half marathon and my husband the full marathon – what a rock star! It’s been so much fun to learn to run and love it so much that we as a family can do it together! I hope by sharing some of my race knowledge you’ll decide you want to run Disney too!

The training I did for the race was a plan given to me by a friend who had been in quite a few races. It was a plan that had me starting my training a few months before race day and running 3 times a week. Each week, I would have 2 shorter runs and one longer run. The miles built gradually and I was so glad because I began my training in fall in Florida, when it’s still HOT.

I did the training on my own, so I set my own pace. I’ll be honest, when training alone it can be healing and enjoyable to listen to music you love, podcasts, spend time praying or even just observing nature if you’re outside. I used to just love having some free time for just me. I created a playlist of songs I loved that pumped me up and I could envision myself running over that finish line to. It was great to train this way for a few years, but then being the social AND competitive person I am, I have since decided to train with someone so I could push myself. I still get mama time, now it’s just mama friend time that makes me a better runner.

During training, I learned so much about nutrition, hydration and fueling my body. The first time around, I never focused on electrolytes or proper hydration, and I think it really took a toll. Now after understanding it a bit more, I use 2 different types of electrolyte hydration to add to my water. I love Nuun tablets and Beachbody’s Hydrate. Especially being a Florida runner, I step outside and pretty much sweat in my first minute of running. This is the same running at Disney. The humidity is CRAZY pretty much year round so I would suggest using some form of electrolytes to add to your water at least the week before your race and while you’re there.

Nutrition is really key when training for a race and you’ll start to learn what does and doesn’t agree with your body. My favorite things to eat while training are clean foods and a good balance of clean carbs, proteins, fruits and veggies. When I first started running, I would have horrible stomach pains and have to go to the bathroom often, but by tweaking my diet I was able to learn what to eat so that I didn’t have those problems anymore. Foods that always work well before a run for me are peanut butter with banana, a small serving of granola with almond milk or a healthy protein bar. I try not to eat much if I do eat at all most days before I run, unless my run is later in the day. Other foods that are great while I’m training are sweet potatoes, oatmeal, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats and natural yogurt with gluten free granola, and I also love making my own healthy bars with nuts and dried fruits.

Now to the fun part…the race weekend! We’ve stayed at multiple resorts when we run Disney races, but our choices for races weekends are mid to deluxe level resorts if doable. We’ve found that staying on one of these properties the lines are not as long, it’s more quiet when you need to go to sleep early for your 2:00am wake up call, you typically don’t have to walk as far to your room after you’ve run your legs off and there is often a hot tub to enjoy after your race and relax those muscles. Our go to is the Wilderness Lodge. It’s our Disney home and it is perfect on race weekend. The atmosphere is peaceful & there’s a coffee maker in the room, which in my opinion makes a better race weekend!

So, I briefly mentioned a 2:00 wake up time before, but I’m being serious. I tend to wake up about 2:15 so I can have a sip of coffee, hydrate some more and get my “costume” on. Yes, I do my makeup before a race…that’s me. I want cute race photos. And my costume is typically a sparkle skirt and shirt I have make off of Etsy. I want to have fun and be in the spirit of Disney magic, but I also want to RUN. If I train for a race, I am most definitely going to go out there and give it my best. I love heading out of the room in the EARLY morning, seeing all of the other races walking to the buses in their outfits and feeling the Run Disney excitement.

As you might have heard, you do a LOT of waiting around before the race (an extra 1-2 miles to be exact) …but Disney makes it fun. There is always great entertainment and character photos before the race. I like to get there early so I can relax, get to my corral quickly, go to the bathroom, and enjoy the pre race excitement. While waiting in the corral, that’s when I like to eat a banana or something small like a gluten free bar. I have never been in the first corral, so as the first corrals get started, you get to watch fireworks every time a new corral begins. I love this part!!! It’s so exciting and it gets my blood pumping ready to run!

This race is one of my favorites because you get to run right through Cinderella’s castle and down Main Street! The crowds through the whole race are amazing, but there’s just something about everyone cheering you on while you’re heading down Main Street! There are characters up on the castle as you approach; waving and they were dropping bubbles like snow on us. Just be careful of people stopping in front of you to take photos and there most likely will be congestion running through the castle. I didn’t get a castle race pic except for this horrible selfie, but next time I will! I think that’s just the thing, you learn something new every race and I know fore me, I get caught up in the run and have to remind myself to have fun too! I guess that’s the athlete in me!

During the race, I felt great until about mile 6. I was making sure to drink PowerAde and water at every stop to stay hydrated, but I was losing energy. Each race is different, because mile 6 is early for me to hit a wall, but it could have just been being up so early and not enough sleep. So for me, I always carry Honey Stinger chews with me to give me more energy when I run low. My suggestion is to test different types of energy products in training and then carry what works for you on race day. They usually have one stop with some kind of energy product, this race it was Sport Beans, but if you’ve never had them before they could upset your stomach during the race. After I had my chews, I started to feel much better and was able to finish the course without walking! My hope is to finish a race without walking as a challenge to myself, expect during water stations…I drink and walk through those. My time improved over my first half and that is always my goal…to beat myself and to enjoy the race!

Of course, the best part of racing is coming across that finish line and knowing you succeeded! It’s the finish line feeling, well and Disney atmosphere that’s kept me coming back for more races! Seeing my family there and being able to share Disney and this accomplishment with my kids is one of my greatest joys!

After the race, we headed back to the room, I showered and then we headed on to the parks! I enjoyed my treats on race day. I know I had a Mickey bar that day! Nothing is better than a run and then day at Disney…I get to be at my favorite place to experience life and magic with my family! I hope you race Disney someday if you haven’t yet! It’s worth every second of training, learning, growing, challenging yourself and coming across that finish line!”

Thank you so much for your contribution, Kristin! I just love other runner’s points of view with what they pack, what they eat, where they stay, etc. This was so fun doing this together!

Running the Disney World half marathon - by fit mom Kristin Railton