Finding the strength to run the Disney marathon

Let’s say that, hypothetically, a group of women of varying athletic ability get together to have dinner, alongside their kids and spouses. And, again hypothetically, those women “accidentally” order too much wine. And strictly hypothetically, those women pinky swear to run a half marathon — at Disney World of all places, while their spouses look on with hypothetical judgey faces. Are they, hypothetically, committed to it?

This is the not-so-hypothetical conundrum I awoke to (mascara smeared, one contact lens in, thirsty, a little peckish) on a cold February day in Ottawa in 2014. I confirmed with Kate Williamson and Shannon McKarney (both of whom joined me that night in Operation Middle-aged Hot Mess), that the gauntlet had indeed been thrown.

To Kate, the most fervent of Disney fans, the Princess Half Marathon was no biggie; she was a seasoned runner, having run her first 5K over a decade ago and had four half marathons under her (small) belt. And between Shannon and I, she had found her people — both of us being Disney fans, albeit newbie runners.

For Shannon, a relatively cynical social media maven, Disney truly is the “happiest place on Earth” where you can suspend your tough persona and get lost in the magic of it all.

For me, Disney was not only the favourite place of my daughter Olivia, who died in 2012 from a blood infection at the age of 5, but it also symbolized her beautiful spirit; full of hope, magic, where anything is possible and wishes come true.

Our fourth co-conspirator, Lorilee Jarosinski, was a slightly tougher sell. Although she was also a highly experienced runner, the thought of Disney Princesses left her decidedly cold. Luckily, her FOMO (fear of missing out) must have kicked into high gear, because all it took was a simple explanation of the radical amount of drinking in Epcot we were going to do after the race to finally tip her scales.

Then life happened. I found out I was pregnant with my youngest, Griffin, and the slurred pinky pact was forgotten.

It wasn’t until May 2015, a full 16 months later, that I awoke from post-baby bliss and that night came flooding back. I was giddy from the success of my Couch to 5K learn-to-run program, and was feeling ready for my next big challenge. So I rallied the girls.

“You remember that thing? When we promised to do the thing?” They did. And just like that, we were back on. Next stop: Princessville.

We now had a huge task to complete. The next race was less than a year away — on Feb. 21, 2016. How were we going to train a race we would run together, with radically different abilities, huge geographic distances between us (Kate is in Ottawa, I am in Pickering, Lorilee is in Aurora, and Shannon is in Etobicoke), and very different philosophical approaches to training?

Apparently, nothing actually exists in this world until you make a Facebook group about it, so that’s immediately what we did. There, on a page (appropriately entitled “Drinking Around The World And Also Running As Well”) we shared interval training war stories, commiserated when it rained, celebrated our distance and time successes, and cajoled one another to “put on the stupid shoes and for the love of all things stop whining and run” as the weeks until the race ticked down, bridging all of the distance and difference between us.

Lorilee focused exclusively on the official RunDisney half marathon plan for experienced runners; two 30 minute runs a week, with a slow long run on the weekend. Kate had an aggressive 17-week plan, featuring a short (5 km) run involving speed work or hill training, a longer (6-13 km) fast run, and a long slow run on the weekend, working up to 21 km before the marathon weekend.

Meanwhile, I upgraded to a 5K-to-10K learn-to-run program, before being sidelined by an injury in September, and then joined Shannon in her training plan consisting of full-out procrastination during the week, and an unhealthy amount of denial (and wine) over the weekend. Yet we still found common ground.

Injuries flared and were soothed. Peace was found in the meditation of a great run. And everyone had at least one tantrum over the cold or the pain or the chafing. Lorilee and I were trying yoga. Kate and Lorilee were in physio. Shannon, Kate and I gushed over the Disney character running costumes (while Lorilee side-eyed us).

And when I was set back again and again with my knee injury, Shannon sombrely reminded me that it was, at the end of the day, a race where you stop to have your picture taken with mute, oversized rodents every kilometre. “No-one is aiming for a personal best,” she scolded, “and so help me you are going to have fun. Or else.”

But as the month of the race loomed, our thoughts turned beyond training. Beyond costumes and run times and stretching. We grew quiet. My mind kept returning to Olivia, grief being the reason I started running, and to the emotional turmoil of returning to Disney World, the place she loved more than anywhere else.

My running mates and I shared videos of the previous year’s half marathon, pausing on the moment when the runners sprint through Cinderella’s castle, bright eyed and laughing. “I watched the video,” I wrote in the Facebook group, “You are literally going to have to hold me up while I sob like a baby.”

But when I thought back to that delightfully fuzzy night in 2014, when it was just girlfriends gabbing their mouths off over too much Pinot, I remembered that there was no one else I’d rather have supporting me through this crazy mental and physical challenge. After all, what are (hypothetical) friends for?

Four women, four plans

Jennifer White is a 38-year-old marketing professional and newbie runner from Pickering, Ont., working towards completing a half-marathon in February.

Jennifer White

Occupation: Marketing wonk

Running level: Novice

Training plan: Appealing to lesser known deities

Complementary exercise: Yoga

Injury: Runner’s Knee

Speed: 6 minutes, 15 seconds per kilometre (uninjured)

Lorilee Jarosinski

Occupation: Software development guru

Running level: Experienced

Training plan: 18-week RunDisney plan: two 30-minute runs, plus one long run of increasing distance

Complementary exercise: Hot yoga

Injury: Plantar Fasciitis

Speed: 7 minutes, 30 seconds per kilometre (uninjured)

Kate Williamson

Occupation: Data queen

Running level: Experienced

Training plan: 17-week plan: one run with speed or hill work, one longer fast run, one long slow run of increasing distance

Complementary exercise: Strength work

Injury: Hip pain

Speed: 5 minutes, 55 seconds per kilometre (uninjured)

Shannon McKarney

Occupation: Social media princess

Running level: Novice

Training plan: Drinking until oblivious

Complementary exercise: Nope

Injury: Thyroid and low iron

Speed: 7 minutes, 45 seconds per kilometre (uninjured)

SOURCE