Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Prepping for the Disney Parks

Running a race takes planning and preparation. You choose the location, time of year, budget for the registration fee, then train for it. Kind of like a trip to Disney World. 

We made a second pilgramage to The Happiest Place On Earth in February.  

 


I prepared for our recent trip to the theme park as I would for a half marathon: starting with our feet. I made sure each member of the family had on their Brooks, Asics, New Balance or Nike sneakers. Since "cotton is rotten," we paired them with a synthetic weave sock to keep our feet cool and dry. Instead of my Garmin, we took turns wearing a pedometer to track our steps each day. Nutrition was very important; at any sign of fatigue or crabbiness, I had water and granola bars ready for consumption. My sister's bunion started to give her trouble, so I handed over a blister bandage. 
 
During longer races, I tend to watch the feet of the runners around me, to see what shoes they wear or how they run. On longer waits for rides such as Space Mountain, I caught myself doing the same thing. I would point out that one person wore a particular shoe because they were stable on their feet, another because the person probably overpronated. My husband did roll his eyes from time to time, so when I noticed that one woman's shoe was too big for her, and she would probably end up with blisters, I kept the thought to myself.
 We even dealt with injury when my husband broke his toe on the ottoman in our room. But he soldiered through the pain for one last 9 hour day at the parks.
 At the end of the trip, we logged just over 100,000 steps. I decided to reward myself not with a medal, but with a pair of retro Mickey Mouse socks.

 



 And they're not even cotton.