Walking for Disney

So you're convinced you should walk in preparation for your trip to Disney but don't know where to start?  We follow a plan, but if that's not your personality, think about doing one longer walk and one or two shorter walks each week. Simply start where you're comfortable and increase the distance of your longest walk 1/2 mile each week.  Shopping, trips to the zoo, and similar activities count.

Our trip to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville (above) is the perfect example. We often motivate ourselves to walk with a "Walking for Disney" mantra, but there was plenty of walking for Disney this day simply doing what we wanted to do. So here's our typical plan...

• We start with good walking shoes. I prefer two pair to allow alternating days at the parks, but my husband is happy with just one. These should be well broken in before arriving at Disney, so get them early in the process if you don't already have comfortable shoes.
• Our target is a 6 mile walk or hike two weeks before our first day at the parks. We've never actually hit that target, but we do get close. That allows us to do a short walk one week prior to our trip and arrive fresh at the parks.  
• Starting with about 2 miles works for us as we're active but don't walk or run other than our prep for Disney. One trip we started with a 2.5 mile walk and my ankle plagued me for weeks so be careful if you're starting from scratch.
• We increase our long walk by 1/2 mile each week continuing to do short walks as we can in between. This means that starting at 2 miles week 1, our long walk would be 2.5 miles week 2, 3 miles week 3, then week 4 we'd drop back to 1.5-2 miles. This allows our bodies to recover and come back stronger. So week 5 we'd pick up at 3.5 miles, 4 miles week 6, 4.5 miles week 7, then drop back again for week 8 to about 2 miles for our "long" walk. And so on...
• Obviously, it takes us awhile to work up to a 6 mile walk. This is where my geek side kicks in. I actually work backward on the calendar putting our last long walk 2 weeks before Disney, placing each distance on Saturday for convenience. If you're planning 6-12 months ahead for Disney, this is the final stage and, for us, increases the anticipation. 

Our general plan may be tweaked to fit your lifestyle and fitness. If we start walking and can't get comfortable, our feet hurt more than usual or we're just too tired, we shorten the planned walk and try again another day. Give yourself permission to listen to your body and do the same. Just be sure to try again another day.

Remember, this is supposed to be fun.