Training for a RunDisney race

Training for your first race or twentieth race can be intimidating! Between google, pinterest, and the endless running sites there are countless options and with every new click is someone else telling you to run/train a certain way. I went through a lot of trial and error finding a running groove that works for me and one that I truly enjoy. I want to share that with you today along with a few of my favorite running products!

It’s important to feel comfortable during your runs. There is nothing worse than constantly adjusting your shorts, tying shoes, or fixing your hair while you are trying to log some miles. I’ve listed a few of my running must haves below!

You’ll need to track your runs! In the past I have used a Garmin watch for this and it worked just fine. A more convenient option for me now is to use my Apple Watch. I use the app Run Keeper to track all of my runs. A cheaper option is just a normal stopwatch. You’ll read about how I used a stopwatch to start my training a few paragraphs down.

My cousin recently turned me on Zyia Active. I am a Nike girl through and through but these leggings are amazing and they top Nike in my book. They stay in place the entire time no matter the length of my run plus they have amazing pockets that are big enough to hold both my phone and car key! You can check them out here.

I have thick wavy hair and it NEEDS to stay in place during my runs. Sweaty Bands keeps everything in place and out of my face. I first found them at a Run Disney expo and I haven’t used another brand since! Check them out here.

Shoes are the most important part of your run! It is essential to get a pair that is made for you and your feet. Not all feet are made the same and in the same manner not all running shoes are made the same. I highly suggest going to your local running store and being fitted. I visit my local Trak Shak where they fit me and watch me walk to suggest a shoe for me. My go to running shoes are Brooks! My newest pair is pictured below and I can not wait to run a few Run Disney races in them!

Now that you’ve got your gear it’s time to RUN! When I first started running back in 2012 I quickly learned that I can not follow a schedule. The being told what to do aspect doesn’t jive with me. For example I love to read and I’m an avid reader, but in school when I was told to read a certain book I wouldn’t do it. I would literally watch the movie or read the cliff notes so I could pass the test, ha! What sense does that even make?! When training for my first half marathon I would look at the training schedule and see I needed to do a 5 mile run on Saturday. I would think I’m not doing that, I’ll do a 4 mile run on Sunday instead. Crazy town I know! But if you are reading this and you can relate to where I am coming from then you understand the issue I was having! To remedy this I made my own running schedule and I’ve trained this way for the past 7 years.

I set out to run three times a week. Two of those runs are long runs with the last being just a mile. Starting out my longer days would be 30 minute runs. I didn’t worry about the distance of that run I just timed myself with a stopwatch ensuring I ran a full 30 minutes. For my weekly mile run I would really push myself and try to run it faster than I had previously ran a single mile, I’m also really competitive even with myself so that helps ;) As my endurance increased I would bump up the longer timed runs by 5-10 minutes. This method helps me for a couple reasons. First being I do not run the same day each week. Every Sunday I sit down and map out our weekly schedule and I see which days work best to get a run in. Having that flexibility helps me and I think my mind appreciates the variety of what day of the week and time of day I get my runs in. Second I like the fact that I never feel defeated after a run. If I say I am going to run three miles in my head I automatically make a goal of the time I want to finish (again competitiveness at it’s finest) and if I don’t hit that time mark I feel defeated. I would feel like I wasted my time and that is just absurd. I still ran three miles, and I should feel proud of that no matter the time. By just timing my runs I never experience that defeated feeling instead I end each run on that runner high!

My method is definitely not for everyone, but if you found yourself agreeing with some of my thoughts and actions above maybe it will help you train for your next race. Run Disney also offers training plans for each race created by Jeff Galloway that are a good place to start. If you have any Run Disney questions I’m happy to answer! Let’s get moving and stay active!

XOXO & Pixie Dust,

Ashton