Dizzy Dancing Dope Runs Disney (comments welcome)

Is the course a certified course, as in, has it been measured using guidelines similar to those of USATF? If so, that is part of the reason the course is a little longer than 13.1. They usually go a little over because if someone was to verify the course and come up less than 13.1, they would have a lot of issues. As you said weaving would add a little distance also. How well did you run the tangents? Courses are measured using the shortest path possible, so if you run in the middle of the road for the entire length of the race, you would also be adding distance. The last thing to contribute to extra distance is simply, GPS systems are not 100% accurate. So over the course of 13.1 miles you ended up a little over .1 over which given all the variables isn't all that bad. Easy on the race officials, most of them are volunteers and are their for a good cause. Again congrats on the race and PR!
 
Hey! Thanks again for following along with me!

No I didn't get a shot as it healed and I felt no more pain, I was planning on getting one anyway if there was any further pain or redness but it seemed fine so I didn't. It's fully healed now. OUCH that sounds painful and what bad timing with the beer too!



Thank you!! Ye it's MASSIVE really and honestly I think a max of 10mins of that is explained by the first one being in Disney as we only stopped a handful of times and we just weren't properly trained for that run. I think the 6months of training this year earned the other 30mins and it's fantastic to see solid results for the time and effort we've put in.

Ye so our first marathon is only 12 days away! Any final words of wisdom for the next week and a half are more than welcome. I'm starting to get nervous but I'm also starting to think about crossing that finish line and like I said in my report I'm relieved to have no time pressure, I really want to enjoy this race.

Sorry for multiple post. Just seeing this after I posted my other comment. As far as advice goes for the marathon in 12 days... Well at this point you have put in the miles and training to achieve the distance. Make sure to get some miles in to recover from the half as well as to keep you legs fresh for the full. Don't try anything that you haven't done already before the marathon, other than of course, running the marathon. Its going to be a awesome and maybe unpleasant experience, but its a great feeling once you completed the distance.
 
Is the course a certified course, as in, has it been measured using guidelines similar to those of USATF? If so, that is part of the reason the course is a little longer than 13.1. They usually go a little over because if someone was to verify the course and come up less than 13.1, they would have a lot of issues. As you said weaving would add a little distance also. How well did you run the tangents? Courses are measured using the shortest path possible, so if you run in the middle of the road for the entire length of the race, you would also be adding distance. The last thing to contribute to extra distance is simply, GPS systems are not 100% accurate. So over the course of 13.1 miles you ended up a little over .1 over which given all the variables isn't all that bad. Easy on the race officials, most of them are volunteers and are their for a good cause. Again congrats on the race and PR!

Yes it is! Ah ok that makes sense. I think I would have been running mainly in the center so ye as you've said that could have added more too. It's not really an issue like you said it was only slightly out so it didn't affect us on course or anything.

As for the volunteers they were fantastic overall and we had great support the whole course it was literally the only complaint of the weekend and really not a big one just more of a word of advice that spectators need to know the map of the course (which my other half didn't) and not rely on those there volunteering to know.

Sorry for multiple post. Just seeing this after I posted my other comment. As far as advice goes for the marathon in 12 days... Well at this point you have put in the miles and training to achieve the distance. Make sure to get some miles in to recover from the half as well as to keep you legs fresh for the full. Don't try anything that you haven't done already before the marathon, other than of course, running the marathon. Its going to be a awesome and maybe unpleasant experience, but its a great feeling once you completed the distance.

I'm running slightly behind on my updates which I'll hopefully get to tomorrow but I ended up getting a bad cold right after my half and then I was away in Greece but I still managed to get the majority of my runs in although in Greece they were on the threadmil (I tried running outside and was chased by stray dogs about 2mins in so that was the end of that) and I've just completed my 12mile run this weekend and now it's winding down for Saturday week in Dublin.

Ye I think I'm like 60% excited and 40% nervous although that may change as it gets closer!!
 
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Congrats on your PR! It's definitely nice to have the pressure off - now you can just focus on finishing the marathon and then having an amazing time at Dopey!
 


Congrats on your PR! It's definitely nice to have the pressure off - now you can just focus on finishing the marathon and then having an amazing time at Dopey!

Thanks!! Ye I mean the thoughts of running a full marathon is really pressure enough so I'm glad there won't be a time pressure on top of that.

I am so excited about Dopey, my training up to now has been really up and down and now that I'm close to the marathon I need to be winding down a bit but when the marathon is done I'm actually looking forward to getting really into the training and starting on some strength training too.
 
28/09/2015 - REST
29/09/2015 - REST
30/09/2015 - 5m Run - Completed
01/10/2015 - REST
02/10/2015 - 20m Run - ICKY FLU - 2/20miles completed - Deferred
03/10/2015 - REST
04/10/2015 - REST

TOTAL MILEAGE:
5 Miles :guilty:


General

Wow... another bad week. I'm just going to do one overall recap this time. It really just didn't go my way AT ALL this week. The half marathon took A LOT out of me and just before that weekend Prince Charming came down with a really bad flu. We were going away for a week together on Saturday so I had adjusted my schedule quite significantly this week to allow recovery time from my half and more importantly to get my 20mile run in before I flew to Greece.

I started feeling ill around Wednesday, I still felt determined to get my run in and even though Thursday night I was smothering I still set my alarm for 5am Friday morning. I got to bed at 9pm the night before, took some flu medicine and tried to sleep it off. My alarm went off and I got up. My head was so heavy and was spinning too :crazy2: I re-set my alarm for 7am and figured I could still get up then and just start work late as I was working from home. I got up at 7am and forced myself out the door. I knew there was no way I was getting 2miles in. I was stuffed up and felt so ill. I decided I would try for a shorter run so at least I got some mileage in as I was going to have to do my 20miles mid-week now and that would mean missing some of my mid-week mileage.

I managed 2miles before I called it quits. I felt horrible but I just didn't have a choice, I had to listen to my body and it was screaming at me to go back to bed!


 
05/10/2015 - 6m Run - Completed
06/10/2015 - REST
07/10/2015 - 20m Run - Completed
08/10/2015 - REST – Completed
09/10/2015 - REST – Completed
10/10/2015 - 3m Run - Completed
11/10/2015 - REST – Completed

TOTAL MILEAGE: 29 Miles

General

I arrived in Greece the previous Saturday, we were staying in an all inclusive 5* resort and it was absolute luxury. Having enjoyed the first two days and caught up on some sleep after a really early start on Saturday (we had to get up at 2am to make our flight!) I was feeling a lot better.

There was a gym in the hotel so I knew I had a treadmill to use but was hoping to do my 20mile run outdoors. The week itself was quite indulgent as the hotel had 4 restaurants with amazing food and we had cocktails, a mini bar in the room and basically everything we wanted right at our fingertips. The day before my 20mile I had to seriously restrain myself and stuck to water and non-alcoholic cocktails for the day.

Week in Review

05/10/2015 - 6m Run - Completed
I wasn't so good and behaving myself the night before this run but I got up all same and managed the full 6miles on the treadmill. The gym was quite warm I found so I was planning to check out some routes for the 20mile.

07/10/2015 - 20m Run - Completed
So... As I'd said previously I wanted to run this outside. I was out running before 7am and left the hotel complex on the route I'd planned towards the main road. I got about 400m away from the main entrance when I spotted two BIG dogs. One was a German Shepard but I'm not sure about the other. I ran past in the hope that they would ignore me but that was not the case. They came charging towards me so I stopped dead and they just kinda hung around me. These were stray dogs which you will find a lot of in Greece so I'm told. I was too afraid to run with them around so I walked back to the hotel and into the complex. Our hotel complex had about a 1mile path that weaved around the it so I just rand around that for the next hour until the gym opened.

I completed my run on the treadmill taking a short break to walk around and cool down a bit about an hour in.

10/10/2015 - 3m Run - Completed

I took it so handy for this run. I got up, went to breakfast, ate a
croissant and then watched some TV while running on the treadmill and doing my intervals.

I'm back home now and the marathon is a week and a half away. I'm getting more nervous as the days go by, I have moments when I freak out a bit and think that I'm not prepared enough and then I have other times when I think about crossing the finish line...


 


I'm back home now and the marathon is a week and a half away. I'm getting more nervous as the days go by, I have moments when I freak out a bit and think that I'm not prepared enough and then I have other times when I think about crossing the finish line...

I wish I had something to say that would make you feel better, but you know I'm dealing with the same thing (for a shorter distance). Just try not to freak out to much, and go out there and have fun. Hopefully you'll be back here in a week and a half telling us all about how awesome your first marathon was!
 
05/10/2015 - 6m Run - Completed
06/10/2015 - REST
07/10/2015 - 20m Run - Completed
08/10/2015 - REST – Completed
09/10/2015 - REST – Completed
10/10/2015 - 3m Run - Completed
11/10/2015 - REST – Completed

TOTAL MILEAGE: 29 Miles

General

I arrived in Greece the previous Saturday, we were staying in an all inclusive 5* resort and it was absolute luxury. Having enjoyed the first two days and caught up on some sleep after a really early start on Saturday (we had to get up at 2am to make our flight!) I was feeling a lot better.

There was a gym in the hotel so I knew I had a treadmill to use but was hoping to do my 20mile run outdoors. The week itself was quite indulgent as the hotel had 4 restaurants with amazing food and we had cocktails, a mini bar in the room and basically everything we wanted right at our fingertips. The day before my 20mile I had to seriously restrain myself and stuck to water and non-alcoholic cocktails for the day.

Week in Review

05/10/2015 - 6m Run - Completed
I wasn't so good and behaving myself the night before this run but I got up all same and managed the full 6miles on the treadmill. The gym was quite warm I found so I was planning to check out some routes for the 20mile.

07/10/2015 - 20m Run - Completed
So... As I'd said previously I wanted to run this outside. I was out running before 7am and left the hotel complex on the route I'd planned towards the main road. I got about 400m away from the main entrance when I spotted two BIG dogs. One was a German Shepard but I'm not sure about the other. I ran past in the hope that they would ignore me but that was not the case. They came charging towards me so I stopped dead and they just kinda hung around me. These were stray dogs which you will find a lot of in Greece so I'm told. I was too afraid to run with them around so I walked back to the hotel and into the complex. Our hotel complex had about a 1mile path that weaved around the it so I just rand around that for the next hour until the gym opened.

I completed my run on the treadmill taking a short break to walk around and cool down a bit about an hour in.

10/10/2015 - 3m Run - Completed

I took it so handy for this run. I got up, went to breakfast, ate a
croissant and then watched some TV while running on the treadmill and doing my intervals.

I'm back home now and the marathon is a week and a half away. I'm getting more nervous as the days go by, I have moments when I freak out a bit and think that I'm not prepared enough and then I have other times when I think about crossing the finish line...


You will do fine, you got a 20 miler in and recently PR'd at the half distance. Its the taper that is bringing up doubts. That's why so many people dislike it. You are running less even though you are about to run very far and you have a lot more free time to worry about things. Just keep following your plan and trust in it. The whole marathon will be a rollercoaster of emotions. No matter how much doubt or how low you get, you got to keep telling yourself you will finish.
 
I wish I had something to say that would make you feel better, but you know I'm dealing with the same thing (for a shorter distance). Just try not to freak out to much, and go out there and have fun. Hopefully you'll be back here in a week and a half telling us all about how awesome your first marathon was!

Thanks! Really appreciate the support on here it definitely helps...

You will do fine, you got a 20 miler in and recently PR'd at the half distance. Its the taper that is bringing up doubts. That's why so many people dislike it. You are running less even though you are about to run very far and you have a lot more free time to worry about things. Just keep following your plan and trust in it. The whole marathon will be a rollercoaster of emotions. No matter how much doubt or how low you get, you got to keep telling yourself you will finish.

Exactly the taper messes with my mental game I think, I've just been feeling like I'm not doing enough the last while. Thanks again for more great advice.
 
12/10/2015 - 6m Run - Completed
13/10/2015 - REST
14/10/2015 - 4m Run - Completed
15/10/2015 - 3m– Completed
16/10/2015 - REST – Completed
17/10/2015 - 8m Run - Completed
18/10/2015 - REST – Completed

TOTAL MILEAGE: 21 Miles

12/10/2015 - REST
13/10/2015 - 3m Run - Completed
14/10/2015 - 4m Run - Completed
15/10/2015 - REST
16/10/2015 - 2m Run - Completed

17/10/2015 - REST
18/10/2015 - REST

TOTAL MILEAGE: 9 Miles


Week(s) in Review

The last two weeks have just flown by, it feels like only the other day I was sunning myself in Greece thinking I still had lots of time before the big day. I'm now sitting in my family living room back in Dublin, KT tape on my knee, carbs in my belly and a very tight nervous feeling in my chest.

My head is so full right now I can barely recall these runs but I did them, I felt some nerves and excitement as I ran thinking about out the Dublin Marathon looming ever closer. I also started running with my Garmin chest strap so I can monitor my heart rate. I've been enjoying some podcasts including the Mickey Miles Podcast, The Marathon Show & DisUnplugged.

I think now I'm about 60% nervous and 40% excited.

Tomorrow I'm running a marathon.

Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the biggest challenge I've ever set for myself.

And it all started with a mouse

mickmarathon2.png


 
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RACE RECAP: Dublin City Marathon

Date: October 26th 2015
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Entry Fee: €70
Distance: 26.2miles

I never thought I would consider running a marathon, even now writing about it I can’t quite get my head around it. Last year I ran my first ever half marathon in the happiest place on earth and this year I decided that I would take on the Dopey Challenge in 2016 for charity. I was a bag of nerves in the weeks leading up to the marathon. My training had major highs like completing a 16mile run during our family holiday in Spain and major lows including injury and LOTS of stressy ‘will I be able to do this’ feelings.

The night before the race I lay my running clothes out so there would be minimal thinking needed when I woke up. When my alarm went off in the morning the panicky freaked out feeling I expected to have didn’t hit me and I just got myself up and dressed before breakfast. I made a peanut butter and banana bagel and a cup of tea of took my time eating it while thinking about what lay ahead. I had a very eerie calm feeling, like a sort of numbness as if it wasn’t actually me going to run this marathon today at all!

I took some morning mirror shots that I feel accurately sum up my state of mind

Oh hey there... this is my pre-marathon selfie
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I'm so sleepy.... Zzzzzzzzzzzz
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WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???! I HAVE TO RUN A MARATHON! :scared1:
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Shut up!! You can do this.... right.... right..... right?!
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For those that don’t know I am currently living in London having moved from home in July of this year. I’m from Dublin originally and was staying back with my parents for the race weekend. My Dad was driving us in this morning so when we were all ready we hopped in the car and made our way into Dublin City Centre. Traffic was fine getting in and Dad had pre-booked a parking space in a car park in Temple Bar. We met up with my Dad’s cousin at the car park and walked towards the start line. We decided to head into Burger King and use some *real* bathrooms instead of the portable toilets that would be available at the start.

I was starting to get some nerves as we made our way from Grafton Street to Merrion Square, we were surrounded by other runners and it felt that bit more real.

That's my Dad ahead in the blue
23308199880_17c6a69866_b.jpg


We dropped our bags off according to our race numbers and then followed the directions for our wave which was the last of three based on our estimated finish time.

Dad in black, the lady in the purple top is my Dad's cousin who was running with us and Rachel of course in the minnie skirt
22975725334_008fdae990_b.jpg


The nerves were starting to kick in now, I had put together a playlist on my phone that included some upbeat music, some Disney tunes (of course) and some podcasts (mainly the mickeymiles podcast) so I got that ready to go and my phone secured in my belt.
23577790586_43e4a82fff_b.jpg


I think this is Dad getting himself physiced up but he could just be sneezing or something :confused3
The girl to his right is an old friend from his Karate days who was also going to run with us today. My Dad and sister had run with the two others before but I hadn't, we weren't sure if we would all stick together as we would be running intervals but we decided to start together at least.
23603855985_c89ea8a4ac_b.jpg


All of a sudden it was time to go and I realised I hadn't got my watch ready... DOH!!
23578134676_6741a49ee3_b.jpg


I quickly set it up while doing that 'my Garmin isn't ready yet' joggy dance towards the line so I didn't cross it until it was good to go.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off!
23308505460_52d7613b70_b.jpg
 
Wow, that looks like a lot of fun! Everyone is so colorful! I really want to try to do some international races, the scenery looks so nice.
 
RACE RECAP Part 2: Dublin City Marathon

We had decided to go with a run walk ratio of 5:1 so that’s 5minutes running and 4minutes walking. We also decided to skip the first walk break so we would be running the first 11mins straight and allowing the crowd to thin a bit. I don’t know if this was my downfall but I doubt it as I’ve done this many times before but right from the start I did not feel good. My breathing didn’t seem to want to settle and I felt really light headed. I had a headache that was like the kind you would get with dehydration (although I was definitely hydrated) and I was feeling panicky that I was struggling so early. The only thing that comes to mind is the cliff blocks I took at the start of the race, I think I had three where I normally have 2 and they have a big hit of caffeine.

We took our first walk break and I wanted to cry, in my head there was no way I was going to make the distance feeling like this and I was already playing out the scenario of not finishing. I knew I wouldn’t quit but I felt like I could pass out if I continued. I pushed through and we continued our 5:1 splits and on each walk break I fell behind and was getting really annoying as I needed to take the walk break slow and everyone else was power walking ahead. I called my Dad back a few times and told him I was struggling. The girl in the black from the start decided not to take the walk breaks and continued on ahead of us.

Here is the course map:
route-Map-Final-2015.jpg


We stopped for the first toilets which were right at the first water stop about 2miles in and then continued on. Our pace was pretty standard, very consistent with our training at around 11mins per mile.

Next on our route was Pheonix Park and we entered the park around mile 4. I was still not feeling great but my muscles were warming up and I was getting one foot in front of the other so that was enough for now. I knew my Mam would be cheering us on in Pheonix Park so that was an extra motivator. We saw mam around mile 6 and it was about now that my weird light-headedness and headache finally lifted completely. I was so relieved to feel normal again!!

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Mam gave us some small mini chocolate bars (mars bars I think!) and we took a short walk break to get them down. Dad was a little over-excited and when he went to take off again patted Rachel on the back and said ‘let’s go’ and she almost choked on her bar!!!! I stuck back with Rachel for a bit as we continued to stick with our intervals but Dad was power walking the walk breaks with his cousin and we were not having that…

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I was feeling good now and our pace so far was pretty consistent, here is our 10 splits
23027608743_8f45d04473_b.jpg


We continued along and ended up catching our final running buddy that had left us at the beginning. It turned out she had a similar experience to me at the start with the lightheaded feeling and she struggled a lot as well but was doing better now.

Staying hydrated
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As we were approaching the half way point things started to go downhill. My sister hit what people refer to as ‘the wall’ and she wasn’t the only one. Our running buddy we had just caught up hit it too. I think it was the realisation that we were only half way… that we still had a half marathon to run…

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Here I went on ahead with purple lady (Dad’s cousin) and Dad took a detour into a chemist for some freeze spray as Rachel was suffering with pain around her knee. I was just walking quickly with no running splits but it was ages before we saw them coming up behind us…
They caught us right before the halfway point which had a balloon archway to run under… As we ran under myself and Rachel belted out

WHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAA we're half way there…… WhOOOAAAAAAA, livin' on a prayer… which was very much appreciated by those around us and we had a bit of a laugh!






 
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Yay!! Can't wait to hear more about your race!

And you and Rachel are looking fabulous in those skirts! :)

Thank you!! I love them and we got so many compliments and shout outs wearing them!

Wow, that looks like a lot of fun! Everyone is so colorful! I really want to try to do some international races, the scenery looks so nice.

I think FUN could be a strong word to describe this experience for us but it was our first so it was always going to be a tough run. The scenery is nice and the support was fantastic, the weather on the other hand (more on this later) was not so lovely!

I think this is my favorite picture ever!

I can't wait to read the rest of the recap of your awesome race!

Haha... I think it captured my emotions at the time pretty well!

Thanks for reading!
 

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