It Started with a Fanny Pack and Quickly Escalated to Signing Up for My First Marathon
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You know those moments that start out small but somehow change everything?
It was Marathon Monday, April 2018, and the Boston Marathon was happening in freezing, sideways sleet. My mom and I were both on spring break, but nothing about the weather said “spring.” The night before, I half-joked that if we woke up to snow, we were going to Disney.
Sure enough, when I looked out the window that morning, there was snow on the ground.
By 2 p.m., we were on a plane to Disney World.
Halfway through that trip, I noticed signs in the hotel lobby about something called a RunDisney Race Weekend. I’d never heard of it, but it sounded fun. I was in decent shape- lifting, cross-training, feeling good- so I figured, “How hard could a 5K be?”
I emailed the race team to see if I could sign up last minute. When they didn’t respond right away, I let it go... for about a day. Because once an idea gets stuck in my head, it’s not leaving quietly.
A week later, I finally got a reply: registration was closed. (Which, honestly, made sense.) But they mentioned another race weekend coming up in the fall- Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend. Perfect! Except the only thing left was the Two-Course Challenge: a 10K plus a half marathon.
I remember thinking, “Yeah, no. I can’t do that.”
But also... “Wait, could I?”
You know that dangerous space between no way and maybe I could?
Yeah. That’s where bad—or maybe great—decisions are made.
From “No Way” to “Why Not?”
A few weeks later, I bought running shoes, started jogging around my neighborhood, and somehow convinced myself I was doing it. By the time I went to register—surprise—it was sold out.
So what did I do?
The most logical thing ever: I found a charity team with bibs still available and signed up.
My first official race weekend ever, and I jumped straight into 19.3 miles.
And somehow... I finished.
I was sore. I was emotional. I was hooked.
That weekend, I drank the RunDisney Kool-Aid—and apparently never stopped.
Lesson One: Readiness Is a Myth
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: you don’t have to feel ready to start.
You just have to decide to show up.
We spend so much time waiting for the “right” moment—the perfect conditions, the motivation, the clarity—but the truth is, that moment never comes.
You don’t think your way into confidence; you act your way into it.
When I signed up for that first Two-Course Challenge, I couldn’t even run a mile. It was messy and unglamorous, but with every small run and every mile, I built momentum. Each time I showed up, I gave myself proof that I could.
Over the next few years, I kept running—10Ks, half marathons—and every now and then, I’d wonder, Could I ever do Dopey? But Marathon Weekend happens right after the holidays, and as a teacher, that timing was impossible.
Fast-forward to 2024. I’d left education, and for the first time, I didn’t have an excuse.
That January, I ran the 10K during Marathon Weekend and stayed to watch the full marathon. Watching those runners—smiling, crying, unstoppable—I saw the version of myself I wanted to become.
By the time our plane took off for home, I knew.
I was signing up for the Dopey Challenge 2026: 48.6 miles in four days.
As Mel Robbins says, “You are never going to feel like it.”
Motivation didn’t get me out the door. Discipline did.
Lesson Two: Showing Up Is an Act of Self-Respect
At some point, motivation fades, life gets messy, and you start to question why you said yes to something so hard. But showing up for yourself—even when it’s inconvenient—is the ultimate act of self-respect.
Running stopped being about proving something to other people.
It became about proving something to myself.
Over the past year, I’ve dealt with my share of health struggles—fatigue, soreness, unpredictable energy. Some runs were slow, uncomfortable, or cut short. But I kept showing up. Because following through, even imperfectly, mattered more than waiting for the “perfect” run.
Consistency built confidence. Every time I kept a promise to myself, I built trust in my ability to follow through.
Psychologist Albert Bandura called this “self-efficacy”—the belief that you can do what you set out to do. Confidence doesn’t come before action; it comes because of action.
When I want to quit, I remind myself:
The confidence I’m craving lives on the other side of consistency.
As Darren Hardy wrote in The Compound Effect,
“It’s not the big things that add up in the end; it’s the hundreds, thousands, or millions of little things that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
Every training run, every early alarm, every mile you finish—it all adds up.
That’s how you build self-trust. Quietly, consistently, one step at a time.
Lesson Three: Hard Things Change How You See Yourself
When I signed up for the Two-Course Challenge, 19.3 miles felt impossible.
When I registered for Dopey, it felt borderline insane.
But that’s the thing about doing hard things—every time you push your limits, your definition of “hard” changes. What once felt impossible becomes your new baseline.
Growth doesn’t happen in comfort.
It happens in the miles, the mistakes, the mornings you didn’t want to get up.
And somewhere in all that, something shifts.
You start to trust your own resilience.
The finish line doesn’t define you—the process does.
The marathon medal isn’t the proof of your worth; it’s the celebration of all the moments you chose not to give up.
Because when you’ve done something that 99% of people will never even attempt, you realize that “hard” isn’t a wall—it’s a doorway.
The Real Reason I Signed Up for Dopey
People often ask, “Why on earth would you sign up for the Dopey Challenge if you don’t even like running?”
The truth is, I didn’t sign up because I love running.
I signed up because I love what running teaches me.
Every mile is proof that I can do hard things, even when I don’t feel like it.
Running has become my reminder that I can keep showing up—not just in training, but in life.
Readiness is a myth. Confidence comes from doing.
What used to feel impossible now feels like progress.
And that’s what I want for you, too—whatever your version of “Dopey” looks like.
Maybe it’s running. Maybe it’s starting a business. Maybe it’s just getting through a tough season.
Whatever it is, remember this:
You don’t have to feel ready to start. You just have to decide to show up.
The magic happens in the small, ordinary choices that add up to something extraordinary.
And who knows—one small, stubborn “why not?” might just change everything.
Resources Mentioned
The 5 Second Rule — Mel Robbins
The Compound Effect — Darren Hardy