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  • Playlist Mondays: runDisney Marathon Weekend – 90s Edition
    Disney | runDisney | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: runDisney Marathon Weekend – 90s Edition

    ByLisa January 2, 2023January 2, 2023

    It’s runDisney’s Marathon Weekend and this year we’re celebrating 30 years with a major 90s throwback theme. Needless to say, this called for a playlist. So here it is – 4 hours of upbeat 90s music to keep you moving all weekend!! Will I see you there??  * * * * * * * *…

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  • Playlist Mondays: Disney Parks Edition
    runDisney | Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: Disney Parks Edition

    ByLisa September 5, 2022September 5, 2022

    Here’s something a little special as we kick off D23 Expo week – an all Disney Parks running playlist!! (I hear it’s fun to listen to around the house, too. 😉  We’ll stop into each of the four Walt Disney World Parks for a bit during this one – first Magic Kingdom, then EPCOT, then…

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  • Playlist Mondays: Fed Up Edition
    Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: Fed Up Edition

    ByLisa August 15, 2022August 15, 2022

    I love this playlist. It’s full of really powerful songs that just happen to be by really cool women. Had a few less polite working names for it, but here’s where we landed. Hope you love it as much as I do. * * * * * * * * * * AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY HERE:…

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  • The Complete Running Playlist Guide: More than 20 Running Playlists Organized by Moods, Genres, and Running Goals
    runDisney | Running | Running Playlists

    The Complete Running Playlist Guide: More than 20 Running Playlists Organized by Moods, Genres, and Running Goals

    ByLisa July 25, 2022July 25, 2022

    Music can be a big part of all of our runs – it can set a mood, help us process our thoughts, and turn our pace up or down. It can be the reason you come home with a clearer head or a new PR.  Over the years I’ve put together countless playlists for countless…

    Read More The Complete Running Playlist Guide: More than 20 Running Playlists Organized by Moods, Genres, and Running GoalsContinue

  • runDisney Picture with Three Caballeros
    Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: Latin Energy Edition

    ByLisa July 25, 2022July 25, 2022

    It’s 120 degrees in the shade and real feel somewhere north of the surface of the sun and this is the music that I’m cherry picking out of my other playlists on EVERY run because nothing else is high enough energy. Figured I probably wasn’t the only one — so here’s what’s getting me through…

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  • Playlist Mondays: Confidence Edition
    Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: Confidence Edition

    ByLisa July 18, 2022July 18, 2022

    Thought some good old fashioned girl power would be nice for this early in the running season. It’s hard not to give it your all while P!nk and Sia are singing. * * * * * * * * * * AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY HERE: Try Everything, Shakira The Edge Of Glory, Lady Gaga Fight Song,…

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  • Playlist Mondays: Feel Good 4th of July Edition
    runDisney | Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: Feel Good 4th of July Edition

    ByLisa July 4, 2022July 4, 2022

    On this 4th of July, I give you a playlist that has no particular theme except that it makes me feel like an American Girl (to quote Tom Petty…who’s featured pretty heavily here) and transitions seamlessly from the track to your backyard barbecue. Not too over the top “holiday”-ish so it’s a good one to…

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  • runDisney Wanda Leap - Cover
    Disney | runDisney | Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist Mondays: Cosmic Rewind Edition

    ByLisa June 27, 2022June 27, 2022

    I was riding Cosmic Rewind the other day and it dawned on me that the soundtrack would make a fine running playlist. So here it is!! Souped up with a ton of stuff from Awesome Mix Volumes 1&2. Word on the street is it’s not a bad listen off the course, either…   Now go save…

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  • Playlist (Tuesdays): Classical Edition – Part 1
    Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist (Tuesdays): Classical Edition – Part 1

    ByLisa June 14, 2022June 14, 2022

    I’ve been meaning to put a classical running playlist together for you for so, so long but was so overwhelmed by even beginning to choose – so I went ahead and called this Part 1. If you’ve never run a step in your life, these familiar songs are your toe in the door. If you’re…

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  • Playlist (Wednesdays): Break the Sound Barrier Edition – The Ultimate No-Genres-Barred PR Playlist
    Running | Running Playlists

    Playlist (Wednesdays): Break the Sound Barrier Edition – The Ultimate No-Genres-Barred PR Playlist

    ByLisa May 5, 2022May 6, 2022

    I put this playlist together before my recent PR at the Lake Minneola Half Marathon. The aim was to include only those songs that make me pick up my pace for some reason or another – so there’s everything from heavy metal to showtunes to hair band ballads for their own reasons. The first song…

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thecastlerunner

Follow along day-to-day and race-to-race on Instagram.

Sunday morning run + after. Sunday morning run + after.
My watch lied to me this morning. The first mile My watch lied to me this morning.

The first mile buzzed early. So did the next two. My Garmin had decided that I’d run farther than I had. And if you know Garmin, you know it doesn’t just throw around kindnesses.

For half a second, if I’m being totally honest, I almost took it.

But then I took a beat and thought—why? I’m not doing this run for anybody but myself. Why cut it short for a tech error?

So I ran the full five miles anyway. Tacked the “extra” on at the end, in the heat, to make up the gifted distance I hadn’t actually covered.

I know I’m probably overthinking this, but this little act stayed with me. I’m coming back to a strict running schedule after many months of downtime with my head buried in writing and publishing my book. And it’s amazing how fast I’ve switched back to this version of myself that would finish the actual mileage without a second thought.

No one was auditing my tracking data. The only person who would ever know whether those miles were real was me—and I ran them anyway. My legs decided before my brain had the chance to weigh in. My inner negotiator didn’t even get to start talking.

I should be clear that this wasn’t willpower. Willpower is exhausting and sometimes I don’t have that much of it. It’s something quieter that training builds in you over time: the habit of keeping a promise that you made only to yourself.

You practice it in small, almost silly ways—four-tenths of a mile in the Florida heat. Doing laps in front of your house because it has to end at an even 3.1 or 6.2 or 10 or 20. And then one day you notice it’s followed you home. You stand up a little taller because you’re somebody worth keeping promises to. And you start doing the other, non-running things. The work you kept saying you’d do. The version of your life you kept promising yourself you’d build. It’s sort of my original story, I guess—harnessing running like this—but it’s very much still happening now and it’s hardly unique to me.

If any of this sounds familiar, or appealing, it’s the thread running through Chapter 17 of The runDisney Companion. That chapter was always the seed of something big
Scrapbook from the first day of Food & Wine: 1. Scrapbook from the first day of Food & Wine: 

1. Entrance

#TasteEpcot

2. Seoul, South Korea Bo Ssam Pork Poutine (La Poutinerie)

3. Cinnamon Pretzel Cold Brew (Sommerfest 🇩🇪)

4. Cute new train set details 🇩🇪

5. Spicy Temaki Hand Roll - This and the Wagyu were both excellent. 🇯🇵

6. Wasabi-Soy Sauce-flavored Potato Chips 🇯🇵

7. Before it rained.

8. Katsura

9. Dumplings Trio 🇨🇳

10. Exit

11. Almost home
Update: This contest is closed. 🐊 GIVEAWAY: I’m Update: This contest is closed. 

🐊 GIVEAWAY: I’m teaming up with Wild Florida to give one of you 4 passes, valued at a total of $980, to their Ultimate Wild Florida Experience—a full day exploring a completely different side of Central Florida.

TO ENTER:

✨ Follow @thecastlerunner and @wildfloridairboats
✨ Tag a friend you’d bring
✨ Tell me: which animals are you most excited to meet—the sloths, porcupines, lemurs or capybaras?

Enter up to 3 times with separate comments.

You’ll arrive at 8:30 a.m. and spend the morning getting up close with sloths, porcupines, lemurs AND capybaras with their trainers. Then you’ll break for lunch, followed by a one-hour airboat tour through the headwaters of the Everglades.

After that, you’ll have the rest of the day to explore Wild Florida’s Drive-thru Safari Park and Gator Park, including exhibits, shows, an aviary, and more.

The boys and I did it a few weeks ago and had the best day. My favorites were the airboat tour and hand-feeding a lemur. The boys were huge fans of feeding the birds in the aviary.

Giveaway closes Monday, August 24 at 6pm ET. One winner will be selected at random and contacted first by DM from @thecastlerunner. Once confirmed, the winner will be announced in a pinned comment here. Watch for impersonator accounts. I will never ask you for payment or CC info.

Details: Prize includes 4 Ultimate Wild Florida Experience passes ($980 value). Participants in the Ultimate Experience must be at least 12. All 4 guests must redeem their passes together. Reservations required. Transportation not included. Experiences subject to weather & animal availability. Passes are valid for 12 months.

Open to residents of the 50 United States and D.C., age 18+. Entrants must be following both @thecastlerunner and @wildfloridairboats when the winner is selected. Void where prohibited.

By entering, entrants release Instagram from responsibility relating to this promotion. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Instagram.
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