Ok, maybe we aren’t flying, but we ARE running! Well, I’m running. I assume you’re a runner too, since you’re reading this, but if not, well, hello anyway!

I’m a full-time working homeschool parent in southeastern Texas, and even better, I’m a Disnerd. I grew up watching all the Disney Classics on VHS, and of course, once I had kids of my own, I shared the magic. Now I have 2 elementary-aged boys, and we plan to use running as part of our family PE. Even my non-runner husband will get involved!

If you’ve never homeschooled, that’s okay. This blog isn’t completely about homeschool, although I will likely reference it a few times. It’s also okay if you don’t have kids. Just don’t be surprised to see stories about them show up on here sometimes. But running will absolutely be the star of the show on here, so maybe you’ll want to be familiar with that aspect of life. It might also be helpful if you like the Wonderful World of Disney!

RunDisney® Fun

So, you might be wondering, what’s the plan? How does Disney relate to running? That’s simple: I am a past runner in several virtual RunDisney® events and one in-person event. It was, as you would expect, a magical experience! I had the pleasure of dressing in costume as R2D2 and running the 2018 RunDisney® Dark Side Half Marathon. It wasn’t my fastest, but it was definitely the most fun event I have ever run! The course was great, the other runners were phenomenal, and the on-course characters were out of this world! After the race, my family and I spent the rest of the week enjoying the Disney Parks, and we had one of the most amazing adventures of our lives.

Then Covid Happened…

And the whole world turned upside down. Our older son, who was in first grade, suddenly transitioned to life with virtual school, and I began working from home. My hubby, who had been a stay-at-home dad, went back to work to guard against my company potentially going bankrupt, and our younger son began life in an ABA therapy setting that suddenly had stringent anti-Covid policies that felt more like a hospital than a fun, happy therapy center.

Once we saw that Covid wasn’t going to be a short-term blip but a multi-year disruption, we took our son out of public school and began homeschooling. His school had done the best they could, but we recognized the challenges of virtual school and trying to get an 8-year-old to sit still for a full day of online classes. Heck, I was doing full days of virtual meetings, and I knew first-hand how exhausting that was! No way was I going to do that to him! So, thus we decided: Homeschool was the way to go!

We have been homeschooling quite happily for 3 years now. It’s a family affair. My older son is now in 5^th grade, and the little one is in 2^nd grade. My mom, who lives with us, teaches math (very appropriate considering she has experience as a math teacher!); my mother-in-law teaches science and art; and I teach language arts and history/social studies. My husband is part of this as well and helps out when his work schedule permits.

But…

What do we do about PE? It isn’t required in Texas, but if we want these kids to enjoy physical activity and to be healthy long-term, we need to do something. We come from families where diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other health conditions stemming from a lack of activity are rampant. If we want our kids to enjoy a long, healthy life, we don’t have a choice but to keep them active.

The same goes for us, even though it has been a struggle for both of us. My hubby has a lot of weight he needs to lose, and he has already been diagnosed with high blood pressure. I gained about 20 pounds during the Covid years, so I need to get that off, and I am starting to see some negative changes to my health as well.

What does all of this mean?

It Is Time.

It is time for us to get healthy as a family! So this year, we are introducing a new plan. The hubby and I already know we enjoy running, and the kids had fun when they ran in the Before Covid times. So, we’re taking a leap and signing the whole crew up for a RunDisney® event in 2024! The plan right now is to run during the Springtime Surprise Weekend in 2024. Our little kid is old enough to run the 5K, the big kid can do the 10K, and my hubby can do both. I plan to do those as well, plus the Half Marathon. (See, I’m only HALF crazy!) We will train as a family, and then we will run as a family in the Happiest Place On Earth!

Logistics

Starting to run with kids is not the easiest though. We need a good plan to keep the kids safe and still have fun. The goal of running exciting races together is the easy part. The harder part is figuring out the appropriate distance and durations for their ages, how to motivate them to keep going, and how to help them with cross-training. I have found that running is much easier when I am cross-training, so we will implement other activities like yoga and swimming to help them with that.

But I do not have experience running as a kid really—I didn’t pick it up as a hobby until I was 31 years old! So I will be scouring all the running resources out there to find the best training plans for the kids, and I will be training as well. Once I find some good websites, books, podcasts, etc., I will share them here, I promise!

Registration for the Springtime Surprise is August 22. I will have to be online as soon as registration opens, because RunDisney® events always sell out quickly! When I have been the only one running an event, it hasn’t been that big of a deal, but now that there are 4 of us doing the events, we will have to sign up quickly if we want to actually do this!

Stay Tuned!

This promises to be a fun journey with the family! Look for future posts on our runs, gear, and what shenanigans we get into with this! Like all good stories, I expect plenty of twists and turns! See you along the way!

All gifs courtesy of GIF Keyboard