I Am Not A Runner.

I feel like I need to make that clear from the start: I am not a runner.

 As a teenager I jokingly told people I swam because I wasn't coordinated enough for land sports. But really, I was only half-joking. I'm not what you'd call graceful and I wasn't even when I was young and thin. I'm not especially injury prone either, thank goodness, but I am prone to embarrassing spills, tripping over my own feet, and generally collecting a rather impressive array of scrapes and bruises.

 I was, however, one heck of a swimmer. But that is neither here nor there.

For too long, I've let my general aversion to the types of exercise most practically available to a 30something stay-at-home-mother on a budget be my excuse for a total lack of physical activity. Oh, I walk and bike, but only as transportation. That isn't enough to stay in shape and over the years a few pounds here and there have added up to a major problem.

Last summer, for reasons I can't entirely pin down, I finally reached a point where I was uncomfortable enough with being so heavy that I decided to make some real changes. Since May of 2012 I've lost 29 pounds, but I haven't seen any loss so far in 2013. Watching what I eat can only take me so far, mostly because I'm unwilling to be as vigilant and restrictive as it takes to lose serious amounts of weight without developing good exercise habits, but my efforts on the exercise side of the weight-loss equation have been half-hearted at best.

Spring is almost here and I'm ready to face it head on with a plan to get myself moving.

But why running?

Honestly, the biggest thing is that it is simple. I live in a small town with nice trails, bike paths, and scenery, and I don't have the money for a gym membership or the space for a treadmill. I do walk quite a lot and have even done a couple of un-timed 5Ks in the past, but meandering around town is never going to be enough to help me reach my goals. Running is the logical next step.

There is something else too, something that has floated around at the back of my mind for years just waiting for the right moment to shift from a vague notion to a plan of action.

Run Disney.

I am a Disney fanatic. I love all things Disney, but Walt Disney World most of all. If I'm not planning a trip for my own family, I'm probably helping someone else plan one. And when there's no trip in the works I still hang out on Disney forums, keeping up with the latest news and visiting vicariously through the trip reports of fellow fanatics. Even the URL of this blog is Disney inspired, taken from the cutesy euphemism for "fat" that is popular on forums like the DisBoards.

And what is the ultimate in motivation for a Disney-obsessed woman looking to get healthy?

Running a Disney race, of course!

My goal race is still uncomfortably vague. I'd originally set my sights on the Princess Half-Marathon and I plan to train as though that is still the objective, but the minimum age excludes my 11yo daughter and now training buddy. Ideally, we'll make the trip down in October for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler. Not only is it a good distance, it is also a night race with an all-night after party which suits this night owl perfectly. However, two children in private school and a summer packed full of travel plans might not leave room in the budget to make another trip down so soon. If that turns out to be the case, I do have a backup plan... The 10K that was recently added to the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend in January.

Only time will tell which race we're able to run, but the training is on. Some time in the next year I will earn a finisher medal from a Walt Disney World race!