From Couch to Half Marathon: How Disney and Star Wars Helped Get Me Across the Finish Line

Disney and Star Wars were my two biggest reasons why my wife and I finished a half marathon. This is not an exaggeration. Disney was the reason we ran the race, and Star Wars was my biggest motivator during training. I will explain. But first, let me tell you how I even got to this point.

While I was still with ESPN, I decided I wanted a big physical challenge in my life. I wanted to test myself, accomplish something that seemed incredibly out of reach. I connected with our corporate citizenship team and signed up to be part of the New York City Marathon. I was lucky enough to be selected, and I immediately started training.

It gave me an invigorated sense of purpose. But I was definitely scared.

Could I even traverse 26.2 miles, let alone run a marathon? Is this the dumbest idea I have ever had?

I am 45 years old. What makes me think my body could even handle this? I haven't been to the gym in years! My biggest physical exertion lately has been picking up my kids. I get winded running around the house!

But as I started training, I realized something. Though it was difficult at first, I enjoyed the routine, and I loved the happy chemicals I felt after completing a session, especially a tough one.

So I decided to secretly sign me and my wife up for a Disney half marathon. Jennifer had never done anything as physically demanding as a half marathon before either, but I knew she had it in her to try and finish. I thought Disney was the perfect motivation. We are definitely a Disney family. Our kids, 6 and 4, are in their princess era. We love all things Disney. The half marathon would give us glimpses of the parks we had never seen before. There were exclusive pins and merchandise. There was a lot of incentive aside from the run itself.

Soon after, I left ESPN, and it just did not feel right to keep the New York City Marathon spot. By that point in my training, I thought I could complete a half marathon, but not a full marathon just yet. I was sad the day I relinquished the spot, but it felt like the right thing to do.

I kept training. And something just gnawed at me. "I have to do this marathon," I thought — even if it was the worst day of my life. I just wanted to be able to say I completed a marathon, even if it was not in an official race.

So one day, I woke up, and I did a marathon.

I do not advise this AT ALL.

I was definitely running with a chip on my shoulder, with something to prove. Not for time. Just for me. And I did it.

And even though I can officially say I have completed a marathon, I am actually prouder of having run the half marathon with my wife, arm in arm, as we crossed the finish line together. I will always chase that feeling of elation and sense of accomplishment. Something about being at Walt Disney World, surrounded by so many other people (both running the race and cheering us on from the sidelines), Minnie waving as we finally crossed the giant arch that read WINE AND DINE (yes, please, we'd LOVE to do that right about now!)

We are both in our mid-40s, and we went from couch to finish line. Literally starting from zero. Not even going to the gym or any exercise for a long time before we signed up.

So how did we do it? Here is our exact blueprint.

1) Give yourself enough lead time

The first thing we did was give ourselves enough time. We figured six months would be good, and you certainly do not have to take that much time. Most beginner half marathon plans run about 12 weeks, and that is a fair amount of time if you have some fitness under you.

But this was our very first one, and we did not have a good fitness foundation prior to this. We wanted ample time, and I am glad we took it.

2) Get help

The next thing was to get help. We certainly could have researched it online, or had one of the running apps build a program for us. But luckily, I had a friend who is a wonderful marathon coach: Denise Brady ([email protected]). We have been friends for over 25 years, and she helped put together a system and a plan to get us marathon-ready. I highly recommend checking her out. She was invaluable to us and helps many people prepare for marathons.

We used the V.O2 app, where she loaded in weeks of training sessions. We were able to mark them complete, modify them, and leave notes on how the sessions went.

I definitely modified some along the way, especially when I was traveling. There were many days when I had to complete a 45-minute run or a one-hour run, and the edict was simple. Just do something, even if it is not an actual run.

So a lot of people must have been confused watching me speed-walk in circles around terminals at JFK and LaGuardia, just to complete some sort of session. Imagine me with a backpack and a rolling bag, Strava app open, trying to maintain a 16-minute mile. That was the minimum pace you have to keep for a runDisney half marathon. Otherwise, you get swept from the course, and you are not allowed to finish.

In hindsight, it was both ridiculous and hilarious. But it got the job done.

3) Find motivation that survives a treadmill

Disney was the motivation to sign up and complete the half marathon. Star Wars was the continued motivation to keep training, especially when it got hard.

We spent the large majority of our training on a treadmill. While we were traveling, we either used hotel treadmills or signed up for a one-month membership if we were visiting family.

I will admit, it got very boring and tedious, especially using the same treadmill in the same location. I stared at the same wall for so long. The wall is now my therapist.

The biggest motivator for me through this whole process was signing up for Conqueror Challenges. I am a massive Star Wars fan, so I signed up
for every single Star Wars-themed Conqueror Challenge available. It was a lot of fun going through the journey in the app - every milestone gave you a card with different character or location information. You could see others progressing along the "course" as well. You get a virtual "Race bib" and a "finisher certificate" when you complete the total miles of that challenge. It gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment to enter my miles as I completed sessions, as if I was running a virtual race.

There are various challenges of various lengths. Some of them could be 30 miles total; others 180. You basically chip away at it through your training, and once you reach the mile goal, they send you a medal in the mail. And they are gorgeous. They also have secret easter eggs and movements that make them interactive. Each one is different and unique.

Conqueror is not limited to Star Wars. There are plenty of other IPs and different themes. I also have a New York City-themed medal. I have 10 in total, and they give you a pin after 5 and after 10.

I found this to be extremely motivating, because it kept giving me small mountains to climb as I worked towards my personal Everest, which was the half marathon. I highly recommend signing up for this kind of program if you are able. It definitely kept me on track, because I wanted those medals.

So in the end, I actually have 11 medals from all of this training, with the biggest and best one, of course, being the half marathon.

4) Train with somebody

It was also beneficial to have somebody to train with. We encouraged each other. We pushed each other. Some days, we even argued with each other.

But we always had a common goal. We wanted to be ready for this half marathon. We committed to it. We knew it would be a physical and mental struggle, and we made sure that when we stumbled — because progress is never a straight line — we got back up and started again.

It was huge to have somebody to share challenges with, to vent to, and to share successes. I remember how happy I was when Jennifer completed her 10-miler. That was the longest run of the entire lead-up to the half marathon. We always felt a sense of anticipation, a feeling that we could actually complete this. But it really dawned on us after the 10-miler.

The race was the easy part.

Running the half marathon itself was the icing on the cake. In many ways, it was the easiest run to do. It was absolutely the most fun, and there was the most to do.

I pre-programmed a bunch of playlists and downloaded some audiobooks just in case. I did not get to any of it. I was just completely immersed in the run itself, the entertainment along the course, encouraging other people, and being encouraged by the spectators.

During the training runs, totally different story. I went through plenty of audiobooks and podcasts. I had many conversations with people over the phone. Anything I could do to take my mind off the run or pass the time, because this is just as much a mental game as it is a physical game.

If you take nothing else away from this, take this. It is doable. It is possible. You can do it.

You do not have to run for time in order to feel like a success. There were plenty of people who hit personal records, and they were very proud, as they should be. But if you are doing it just to finish, then that in itself is a major accomplishment.

That is what we did, and we could not be happier. We caught the bug. Maybe you will too.

Now you at least have one blueprint on how to get yourself fully prepared to take a big leap in your fitness and goals journey.

And as they say, just keep moving!