Help half or full?

[JENR]

I have been running for 13 years now. I have never done a marathon. I run about 22 miles a week just for exercise. I am going to sign up to do the Disney Marathon in January and not sure if I should do the half or full. I am going to run a half this October. Which one should I sign up for? Also we are going to stay for a week while we are there. Should we stay the week before or the week after the marathon?

 

[Reifsy]

I guess it all really depends on how much you want to train. If you are comfortable with increasing your mileage a fair bit then maybe give the marathon a shot. If you are happy with the level of mileage you are doing now and want to stay in that range I think you could comfortably do the half. As far as when to do the parks, I always do them the week after. That way you are not wearing down your legs for a week before the race. Best of luck in whatever you choose!

 

[cewait]

I would say YOUR decision should be based on your experience, comfort with stretch goals and drive. Your decision would have been a lot easier a few years back; before half marathons came into vogue. So what you need to do is look at training plans, the distances involved as well as time required to commit to those distances. I would then look internal to see if you will be satisfied with running the half instead of the full. Finally, look at the bling and decide if you want a 20th anniversary medal for the full.

From a physical standpoint, either is doable at this point in time. Frankly unlike other sports, there is not really a pecking order of progressions that one must do in the running world.

As far as planning days at disney, we tend to not arrive until Thursday or Friday then stay later into the following week. For us it is all about having the parks to ourselves and avoiding the hanger-onners from New Years.

 

[PCFriar80]

I have been running for 13 years now. I have never done a marathon. I run about 22 miles a week just for exercise. I am going to sign up to do the Disney Marathon in January and not sure if I should do the half or full. I am going to run a half this October. Which one should I sign up for? Also we are going to stay for a week while we are there. Should we stay the week before or the week after the marathon?

I was in a similar position as you a couple of years ago. I had run 5Ks and 1/2 marathon's for 15 years when I decided to check the full marathon off of my bucket list. I had run 5 Disney 1/2's beginning 2006 and decided to take the plunge in 2011 with the full. You need to be true to your training and seeing that you're from NJ may run in to some weather challenges beginning in November. The holiday's also make it tough on the schedule, but it's all doable. I ran in 2011 when it was one of the coldest races [for Disney] ever.
I finished in 4:35 and I'm glad I did it. I'm back to the 1/2's for now and have no immediate plans to run another full just yet. And to answer your most important question, stay the week after!