Half/Full Marathon, still undecided

[eric84]

Hey everyone. This past month, after reading all of the great reviews of the disney marathon, i have decided i want to run. I am a huge disney fan, and been going there since i was 5. The only problem is trying to decide what i want to run.

I am 21 years old, and not the best shape in the world. I used to run alot back in high school, but havent had the chance to work out lately.

I would really like to run the full, but i dont know if I can do it or not. I planto start training this weekend (i'm a little under the weather right now). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[maryliz]

GO FOR IT !!!

How about doing the 1/2 in 2006, and then the full in 2007! Then you'll have a complete "set" of WDW marathon medals (Donald and Mickey) and you'll get 2 trips to WDW out of it !

I power-walked the 1/2 this year ... it was truly an amazing experience! And the on-line training friends that we made over the past year and finally go to meet at WDW was something I will cherish forever.

Check out the FAQ thread at the top of this board, and visit the weekly training thread!

Good Luck!

MaryLiz

 

[Calcio]

Eric

Remember to run a decent marathon you need to be doing about 50 miles per week in your training. A good half can be done on 25. You've got youth and your prior track background on your side. I'm sure you could do either one very successfully, the question becomes, will you have the time this fall to run the necessary miles for the full?

I've run a bunch of halfs, but never had the time to train for a full. Maybe someday.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Eric,
Good luck with your decision. I just though I'd let you know my DS (20) will be going with me this year and is in a similar position. He is keeping pace with me (Wogging i.e., walk/jogging) so he figures he can do it since he is not racing.

As said, you have the information within you to make the decision on how and what you want to proceed.

Whatever your choice, you should be able to accomplish your goal as youth and time are on your side.

I'm thinking like Maryliz on this time. I have the first piece of jewelry and I am going for that second to complete my set. My DS will be doing it the reverse.

 

[maryliz]

WooHoo Lily ... you're going for the Mickey !!! I don't think I realized that until just now! That is so incredibly awesome! I told DH that if I win the lotto so I can quit my job, then I'd definitely train for the full ... it was hard enough to get in the training because my kids are fairly little.

I'm sooooo proud of you!

Sorry Eric, didn't mean to hijack your thread ... now back our regularly scheduled question

MaryLiz

 

[littlegreydonkey]

Hi Eric: maybe go onto one of the training sites - a lot of the people are using John Bingham, I think I'm going to use Hal Higdon and both are listed on the half/full main thread - and see what the mileages/time commitments for each race etc look like to you. If you look at the full plan and think 'no way' then you're good for the half - look at it and think that's not so bad and you're ready for the full!! I knew I was ready for the full when I thought '20 miles' on December 17th, I can do that - if you could just remind me of that on December 16th however. Anyway, glad to have you with us - and as a reminder, the half fills up faster than the full and rumour has it its getting quite close to capacity so do make your decision sooner rather than later.

 

[10nis]

I completed the full-- my first and only marathon on Jan 19, 2005 @ Disney! (I am also a Disney freak and always said if I EVER ran a marathon it would be at Disney!!) I used Hald Higdon's training guide and loved it. His is an 18 week training schedule but before you start your actual training for the marathon you should be running 3-6 miles, 3-5 times a week, averaging 15-25 miles a week. This will help you stay injury free during your training when you start adding on the mileage!! I think it might be wise to run for a month or so and see how you feel?? The half marathon's registration usually fills up rather quickly so keep that in mind. The marathon was full sometime in late Aug or early Sept-they kept the website updated as it was getting full with how many spots were still open for registration. I don't know if they did that for the half, too? The half was already full by the time I registered in August.

Now that I have run the marathon, I believe the half is a perfect distance! The training program that Hal Higdon has for the half is 12 weeks and the furthest distance is 10 miles. Much different than 18 weeks for the marathon and training runs up to 20 miles. Many of my family members have run marathons and encouraged me to do the half--I would not listen! Now that I have done it, I understand completely what they were saying. It is just kinder to your body to train and run the half.

As the others already said, training for the full marathon is extremely time consuming!! 40-50 miles a week takes so much time! By week 16 of my training I was pretty much BURNED OUT of running, but still very determined to complete the training and the marathon. I think you have to make a decision to do it. I made it a personal goal and was determined not to fail.

Good luck! I think once you start running a bit the decision will be easier for you to make?? My motto when I was training was: I can run 1 mile, 26.2 times!!! That kept me going.

 

[Disneefun]

I wish I could tell you what to do, but I can't so I'll just share my experience. I've been walking/running for years now, although I've never thought too much about time or distance -- I usually go till I get tired. But when it came time to decide, I went out and timed 2 miles at my "comfortable speed" neither blowing out my legs or lollygagging -- I ended up with a 12:30 minute mile pace just walking. Knowing that I had the speed already and "just" had to build up the endurance to do that 13 more times gave me the guts to sign up for the full. If my speed hadn't been so great and I had to build that up as well as the endurance, I porbably would have opted for the half. Pretty sure I'll be cussing like a sailor and regretting these words by the end of the marathon, but heck.

Plus, and this is soooo silly, I looked at the registration prices. Registering for the 1/2 does not cost 1/2 the price of the full. It's only 10 dollars less to do the 1/2. So I figured that if I were going to pay to torture myself, I might as well get the maximum torture for my buck.

 

[eric84]

I just want to thank everyone for there input. This weekend i am going to start my training, and i am very excited. At this point I am still leaning toward the Full Marathon. But i wont be entirely sure until i get some training in and see what i need to do in order to accomplish this.

Another thing is that i have been looking into a fundraiser to support. I looked through all of the fundraisers in the FAQ. Does anyone have an email address that i can send someone from Teams in Training. As of right now im leaning toward them, but i need to ask a few questions. Thanks again for all your support and answers.

I will go ahead and post the questions here, just in case someone out there might know. I live in a small western kentucky town, how possible will it be to do a fundraiser. With a full time job, its hard to me to go out and travel to meet up with people to train. Also how easy/hard is it to fundraise in an area. Any other suggestions and comments about fundraising will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[maryliz]

Eric, LisaLovesPooh from the training thread did the full this year with Team in Training. I'm sure if you PM'd her with your questions, she would be able to give you lots of info.

MaryLiz

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just want to thank everyone for there input. This weekend i am going to start my training, and i am very excited. At this point I am still leaning toward the Full Marathon. But i wont be entirely sure until i get some training in and see what i need to do in order to accomplish this.

Another thing is that i have been looking into a fundraiser to support. I looked through all of the fundraisers in the FAQ. Does anyone have an email address that i can send someone from Teams in Training. As of right now im leaning toward them, but i need to ask a few questions. Thanks again for all your support and answers.

I will go ahead and post the questions here, just in case someone out there might know. I live in a small western kentucky town, how possible will it be to do a fundraiser. With a full time job, its hard to me to go out and travel to meet up with people to train. Also how easy/hard is it to fundraise in an area. Any other suggestions and comments about fundraising will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Howdy Eric:

Go here and you can submit for info--just tell them you are interested in Disney.
http://www.teamintraining.org/hm_tnt
At the top--plug your zip code into the chapter finder and it will find your chapter. Submit your information request and someone from your area chapter will call you--let them know that you want to do Disney and they will send an invitation when they hold their information/sign up meetings. They totally plug the letter campaign: 100 letters minimum. My chapter even threw in the postage it was that important. I also did a garage sale--and my husband's work company matches donations--so we were able to match our garage sale proceeds. I was nervous at first--sent 2 rounds of letters that were each met with a hurricane--but I still did it. I think we only lost a couple of people due to injury and not due to fundraising problems. Starting this year they have had active.com at their disposal--you can set up your web site and people can donate directly to it--excellent if you know alot of people in cyberspace. I sent out weekly updates and included my website in each correspondance so that they knew how I was doing.

The chapter provides letterhead, brochures, signage--just about any promotional item that can be utilized in your fundraising.

I added a HUGE blurb on fundraising on the FAQ with a link to our training thread where I blurbed some more. On that post you will find a link to all sorts of fundraising ideas! The sky is the limit. If you know you are 100% definite on doing it you can do so as soon as possible. We are working now on a Golf Tournament in October and on a fundraiser evening at Texas Roadhouse.

Training wise--we have a Central Florida Team and then each county has their own coaches. They meet about 3 out of 4 Saturdays a month and provide a training schedule to you for the rest. Some have done TNT and not gone to one single group training (but did the miles on their own) while others have gone to every single one.

Good luck--I've heard the celebration was a blast--I was too sick and could only stay one hour--but I did see it on video and I wannna goooooooo agaaaaaainnnn!! Okay, sorry for the shameless whine!

Any questions please ask.

Training wise--it is recommended that your keep in shape base not exceed about 15 miles + 1 cross training day weekly which is 2/3 mile daily runs (3 x per week) and 5/6 mile long day runs. That is what the coaches advised us for the off season.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Eric, LisaLovesPooh from the training thread did the full this year with Team in Training. I'm sure if you PM'd her with your questions, she would be able to give you lots of info.

MaryLiz

You think I'd wait for a PM?


I think I have a special radar to detect a TNT question LOL!

 

[maryliz]

Lisa ... I KNEW you'd come through!

MaryLiz

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Lisa ... I KNEW you'd come through!

MaryLiz

LOL!

My radar didn't detect that I already answered Eric's question on the FAQ....he must think I'm one crazy TNT obsessed woman .

 

[NYcpa]

Eric84 - you need to take the plunge. My soon to be 19 yr old DD has signed up to do the half. She is a cross country runner with knee problems (seems to be hereditary). she did the Ottawa half as a 16 yr old without any training. She was hurting the next day but finished the race (not even in last place)

hopefully she will actually stay running after cross country season ends in this fall