Run, Karla, Run!

Running San Diego (Photo: Ashley Mateo)

I have good news and bad news.

The good news: I successfully met my half marathon training program goal of two strength training sessions per week! I also hit the trail! Yay!

The bad news: There’s trouble in paradise. After 10 years as a runner, it looks like I might finally have my first running injury. Oh sure, I’ve been sideline before, but by non-running related maladies—like that time I fell off a horse and hurt my hip or that time I found out I have arthritis, which I’ve actually managed through running. (And yes, my ortho told me it’s probably genetic and encouraged me to keep running. She was so right. It rarely bothers me any more.)

After five solid weeks of training, I noticed a niggle in my left foot. Not pain, but a slight discomfort under the ball of my foot while I run. I followed the old adage: if it hurts for two days, take two days off. When I resumed running, the discomfort returned. Booooo. It’s especially frustrating since I’ve been strength training to avoid precisely this type of thing. What does this mean for my race calendar? I don’t know!!!

Goal Half Marathon Time—1:59:59
Current Half Marathon PR—2:00:30
Goal Race: Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon, May 31
Tune-Up Race: The North Face Endurance Challenge NY 10K, May 3
Half Marathon Training Plan Weeks 1 + 2
Half Marathon Training Plan Weeks 3 + 4

WEEK 5

Easy: 3 miles outside

Progression: 5.15 miles on the treadmill

Strength: 1 hour strength-interval session at Westin Wellness Escapes in San Diego. This was the first time I felt the mysterious foot niggle.

Easy: 3.2 miles outside along the water in San Diego with my Shape.com editor, Ashley. Could still run totally fine, but my foot felt funky. But who cares when your run looks like this?

California Dreaming! (Photo: RunKarlaRun.com)

Strength: 1 hour strength-interval session at Westin Wellness Escapes in San Diego.

Long: None. After feeling the foot ache two days in a row, I decided to skip the long run in my half marathon training program and take two days off. I was pretty bummed about it because I had two more days in California and had another gorgeous run planned. Read the rest of this entry →

What to wear for the Disney Princess Enchanted 10K? You all know I’m obsessed with Cinderella. She’s my boo. I’ve run three runDisney races as Cinderella:

At Disney’s Princess Half Marathon (Photo: brightroom)

Cinderella at the ball with Prince Charming

Cinderella in Rags and Jacque the Mouse. (Photo: Marathon Foto)

Cinderella in Rags with Jacques the mouse

With Lady Daisy and Knight Donald at the 2014 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. (Photo: RunKarlaRun.com)

And Cinderella in the pink dress the mice make for her.

Today, I ran the Disney Princess Frozen 5K as Drizella to my sister’s Anastasia, Cinderella’s curmudgeonly stepsisters. Read the rest of this entry →

My Belle costume (RunKarlaRun.com)

Do you want adventure in the great wide somewhere? Do you want it more than you can tell? You might be a Belle!

One year ago today, I put together this Belle running costume for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna. Over the last two years, I’ve run every race at that event—the marathon in 2013 and the 5K, 10K and half-marathon in 2014—and in costume too.

I’ve already showed you how I made my Cinderella in Rags and Jacques the Mouse costumes from the 2013 marathon and my pink Cinderella dress from the 2014 half-marathon.

Now, heeeeeeeere’s Beauty and the Beast‘s Belle!

I wore Belle’s blue “provincial” dress at the inaugural Walt Disney World 10K. Apart from Aladdin‘s Jasmine, this might be the most basic of all the costumes I’ve made. It also might be the most sewing I’ve ever done. That said, it was all hand-stitched in one evening and I have zero sewing skills. I mean, I never even took home economic. If I can do it, anyone can.

Bookworm Belle

Last year, I waxed poetic about why I chose to run as “provincial” Belle. To me, her blue dress represents the bookworm Belle who dreams of adventure. And that’s the aspect of Belle I’ve always identified with.

But I also chose this costume because it’s really easy to run in. If you have brown or auburn hair like me, no wig is necessary. In this look, Belle’s hair is pulled back, which I prefer when I run. And if you forgo a basket and book, this costume doesn’t need any props. It was made for running.

How To Make A “Beauty & The Beast” Blue Belle Running Costume

Gather all the pieces for the costume. The sewing tools I used were:

After the Walt Disney World 10K (Photo: MarathonFoto.com)

1. Needle and thread

2. Safety pins

The costume items I used are:

1. Sparkle skirt

2. Blue shorts

3. Old pillowcase for apron

4. Ribbon for apron

5. Sparkle fabric for shirt

6. Old T-shirt for blouse

7. Sparkle Sleeves (It was SO hot and humid on race day, I ended up not wearing them)

8. Sparkle Wrist Bands

9. Fabric remnants for bow

10. Running shoes with bows Read the rest of this entry →

At Walt Disney World Half Marathon (RunKarlaRun.com)

The Cinderella pink dress might be my favorite running costume I’ve put together.

After crafting a Cinderella ball gown for the 2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon and Cinderella in rags running costume for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon, I was excited to dig into the deep cuts for a new take on a Cinderella running costume for the 2014 Walt Disney World Half Marathon.

The pretty in pink “dress for Cinderelly,” as the mice sing, sounded perfect to me. I’ve always loved the dress the mice made with love, crafted from Cinderella’s mother’s gown. It’s a dress fit for a princess.

Pretty in Pink!

How To Make The Cinderella Pink Dress

Registration opens Tuesday, July 15 at noon EST for the 2015 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. If you want to put together your own Cinderella pink dress for the race, here’s my step-by-step “How To” turn this basic skirt and tank…

Basic tank and skirt (RunKarlaRun.com)

into this Cinderella pink dress!

Gather all the pieces for the costume. I have zero background in sewing, so the sewing tools I used were:

1. Needle and thread

2. Hand-sewing machine

3. Safety pins

The costume items I used are:

1. Skirt

2. Tank

3. Petticoat

4. Ribbon (pink and white)

5. Old T-shirt

6. Headband

7. Hair rats

8. Blue beads

9. Shorts

10. Running shoes Read the rest of this entry →

Finished! (Photo: Marathon-Photos.com)

Oh, 2013. Without setting out to do it, I ran 13 races in 2013. And I wrote a whole lot about them. Welcome to my year in review.

I started the year with a bang at the Walt Disney World Marathon. And I’m ending with a bang with the Runner’s World Holiday Running Streak.

In between, the year was filled with a roller coaster of highs and lows.

There was the thrill of a new 3-mile PR after the low of a hip injury. I’m the klutz that fell off a horse. It knocked me out of the game for a few weeks and sent me into physical therapy.

There was the high of running in Hawai’i and the low of getting sick for my fall marathon. And there was the redemption of a 5K PR after marathon season was over.

If 2013 taught me anything, it’s that you can’t win them all. But you can still have fun trying.

This photo of me with my finisher’s medal at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is proof of that. I was sick, failed to run a marathon personal best like I wanted, but still managed to enjoy the race. My smile says it all.

And you know what? When you give a goal your best and fail, it makes the successes even sweeter. I ran 6 of the 13 races either as fun runs or training runs and I ran 7 of the 13 races as races, pushing with everything I had. I managed to PR at three of them, and scored a few PRs in workouts without even trying, too. I’ll save those for my Goals of 2014 post.

So here are my 13 races of 2013. Read the rest of this entry →

Running as Prince Charming and Cinderella. (Photo: brightroom)

As a veteran of three Disney races—the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, Tinker Bell Half Marathon, and Disney’s Princess Half Marathon—I know the slide into the Disney running costumes rabbit hole all too well.

After running my first runDisney race sans costume and my second Disney race in a store bought Tinker Bell costume, I decided to go all out for my third Disney race.

I learned from Team Sparkle running costumer extraordinaire Kelly Lewis that when it comes to pulling off successful Disney running costumes that are comfortable and easy to run in, the devil is in the details.

Armed with a few pieces of basic running gear and a creative outlook, my fiancé and I transformed into Cinderella and Prince Charming’s athletic alter egos for Disney’s Princess Half Marathon in February.

Here’s how to make your own Cinderella and Prince Charming Disney running costumes. Best of all, the only tools you need are a needle, thread, safety pins and tape. Read the rest of this entry →

Kelly Lews (left) and Carrie Lundell (right) pose with Minnie Mouse in their do-it-yourself Team Sparkle costumes. (Photo: runDisney)

If you’re running Disney’s Princess Half Marathon or Bay to Breakers in San Francisco, or any other themed race, wearing a running costume is awfully tempting. Wearing a super hero cape for a Spartan race or fairy wings for a Disney run can be a fun way to get into the spirit. But for the women behind Team Sparkle, it’s more than fun. It’s a way of life.

Kelly Lewis, Carrie Lundell and Elise Wallace are spreading the power of sparkle with their line of sparkle skirts, sleeves and racing legs for runners. They encourage runners to put together do-it-yourself running costumes made of running-friendly fabrics so they can spread the sparkle spirit at races nationwide.

“You can wear something fun, you can wear something technical and still run fast,” Lewis says of the Team Sparkle spirit. Read the rest of this entry →