How bad is the goofy for your body

[Pennyguy23]

I'm a running but have never done a marathon or anything. How hard is the goofy race? I want to register but I am just a little nervous about it. Any advise would be great. Thanks

 

[lenshanem]

I'm curious about this as well. If you want to do the full and it is your first full, should you hold off on the Goofy or might as well go for it? I'm thinking for your first full you'd want to rest the day before??? Or if you do a run/walk instead of just running is it easier to pull off? Not worry about time, just an easy pace?

 

[BamaEd1]

After just running my first full at WDW, I would say to do a 1/2 and a full before deciding to do the Goofy. A full is HARD but I can't wait to do another.

 

[Pennyguy23]

Well I was going to do a half in april or something so I know what its like. Do you think that would help?

Do you get a metal for the half and Full, Plus a goofy metal for doing both. So all three together. Just something I was wondering?

 

[SAHDad]

If you do the Goofy, you get three medals - a Donald for the half, a Mickey for the full, and a Goofy for being Goofy.

If you haven't done a full marathon yet, I'd advise doing one before trying the Goofy, even if you aren't worried about your time.

 

[dsnyfan21]

Take a look at the "Show me the Bling" thread to see the medals from this year. Jeff just posted all of his - he did the unofficial DOPEY - that is the 5K, Half and Full.
We have nicknamed the 5K, Half and volunteer for the Full "Happy".

Tracy

 

[skfulkers]

Yep, 3 medals for Goofy. I, too, would recommend at least I one full marathon prior to Goofy. A full marathon is a whole new experience, physically and mentally. You will feel much better prepared to tackle the half/full combo after getting through your first 26.2.

Good luck with your decision and your training!

Steve

 

[jam217]

I think it's a good idea to run a full before tackling the Goofy. You need to experience that before taking on a two day race. I did my first full in October and it took me a month to recover. I'm not sure what happened but my entire left side was affected (arm, hip, leg and shoulder).

Going into the Goofy I was a little apprehensive, but I more than survived. Although my quads were sore last Sunday and Monday, it was nothing like after my first full when I had a hard time walking and had the hold onto things the morning after when trying to get from one end of the kitchen to another!

 

[hockeygirl]

I would agree that you should try to get in a full before the Goofy if you can. Last year, I did my first Full at WDW and I was sore for several days after the race. This year I did the Goofy, and I was amazed how great I felt the next day! For the half, I did a run/walk interval of 3 min run/2 min walk, and then took an ice bath after the race, walked around the parks for the rest of the day, and I felt great for the race on Sunday and managed to get a PR for the marathon. If definitely is a HARD race to do, but for me a lot of it was mental. And it is exhausting getting up two days in a row at 2:30am...for me that may have been the hardest part!!

I have to say though that if you train properly and add some back to back LR's into your training plan, it is possible to do it.

Good Luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Pennyguy23]

Thanks everyone for the support. Should I do a Half and a full before next year to see what I'm getting into. I am looking at the Chicago Half and Traverse city Full marathon, that way I get to run by the water for most of it. Which seems pretty fun. That is in september though, is that a bad idea?

 

[SAHDad]

Thanks everyone for the support. Should I do a Half and a full before next year to see what I'm getting into. I am looking at the Chicago Half and Traverse city Full marathon, that way I get to run by the water for most of it. Which seems pretty fun. That is in september though, is that a bad idea?

The Chicago half is in September, and it shouldn't be too bad. Warmer weather for a September (or even early October) race is not as much of a problem as running (for example) Disney after training in the midwest. After all, you had all summer to get used to warmer temperatures, and September probably won't be too awful. It won't be cold, however.

I think Traverse City is in May. The current issue of Marathon & Beyond has a review of it, and they gave it 890 out of a possible 1000. (For the record, Disney came in at a 906.) I've thought about running it, but not this year.

 

[TnTsParty]

I also would suggest doing a full before jumping into the Goofy. I just did my first full and was glad I had a kind of lazy day before. I did my first 1/2 in Nov and while 13.1 is alot of miles it is a whole new thing going another 13.1 on top of that - mentally and physically it was something I have never experienced before. I feel now that I know what to expect I could probably train to do the Goofy but as of right now I don't have the desire to do that much in 2 days - I applaud anyone who does!!

In any case OP good luck with your running this year and your decision on going Goofy!!

 

[Duanerice]

I would agree that you should try to get in a full before the Goofy if you can. Last year, I did my first Full at WDW and I was sore for several days after the race. This year I did the Goofy, and I was amazed how great I felt the next day! For the half, I did a run/walk interval of 3 min run/2 min walk, and then took an ice bath after the race, walked around the parks for the rest of the day, and I felt great for the race on Sunday and managed to get a PR for the marathon. If definitely is a HARD race to do, but for me a lot of it was mental. And it is exhausting getting up two days in a row at 2:30am...for me that may have been the hardest part!!

I have to say though that if you train properly and add some back to back LR's into your training plan, it is possible to do it.

Good Luck with whatever you decide!

I have to agree. My first half last year was way harder than the Goofy this year. I died last year, not too bad after the Goofy (other than a knee injury).

And yea, getting up so early 3 days in a row (I also added the 5K) was tough!

So, my advice is to get a marathon under your belt first.
enjoy,
Duane

 

[Pennyguy23]

I have to agree. My first half last year was way harder than the Goofy this year. I died last year, not too bad after the Goofy (other than a knee injury).

And yea, getting up so early 3 days in a row (I also added the 5K) was tough!

So, my advice is to get a marathon under your belt first.
enjoy,
Duane

Signed up for May traverse city. So I can see what I am getting into. But I know if I put my mind to it. I should get through it.

 

[JimB.]

You will find that your body will probably be pretty slow recovering from it's 1st 1/2 or full. Each time I run a race, I recover better. If I ever run another Goofy, I'll be better still. But I probably won't.

Make sure you do not have lower body joint issues. They will be seriously magnified. Be sure to wear wraps or braces where needed. I ran the full (after the 1/2) this year with both of my ankles wrapped pretty snugly. If I did not have those, finishing in a decent time would have been a big issue.

IMHO, being a total NON-expert, I would recommend you advance in steps. Start your training & work into shorter races & extending your distances & training over time. If I had started out doing a marathon I probably would have pulled a pin on a hand grenade and set it off in my face.

Aside from the distance and the abuse it reaps upon your body, the mental issues are tougher than you realize. You have to be mentally, as well as physically fit. FIT being the key word. If you do the Full @ WDW, there is about 8 miles of asphalt purgatory that is boooooooooooooooooooooooooooring as crap. You have to be ready for that. THAT"S when the aches, pains & doubts creep in.

Start training gently, work up intelligently & you should be fine. But don't expect to start today & run a 1/2 or full tomorrow.

P.S. - Look up the books by Bingham, Galloway or Higdon. They are all terrific assets.

 

[SAHDad]

Signed up for May traverse city. So I can see what I am getting into. But I know if I put my mind to it. I should get through it.

Good luck, and keep everyone posted. Just so you know - the 2010 Goofy will probably fill long before May - my money is on it filling before Valentine's Day. But if you do not have a solid base, I really would recommend spending the next year and a half building that - running a marathon or two, several half-marathons, and some 10k or 5k races, then sign up for the 2011 Goofy.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

I want to add my best WISHes to you as you wrestle with your decision. I am contrary to all advice here as I did my first full when I did the Inaugural Goofy. FYI, you must register as the Goofy participant to receive that third medal. Unfortunately the Goofy fills quickly, unless this year they open up more spots, which would be nice for those who need more time to decide.

 

[Pennyguy23]

Thanks everyone for the Great words of advise. I think being 25, I feel I can do anything. But I know I have my limits. I will see how things do and just take it one step at at time and see how it goes. If I'm not ready, I'm not ready but I feel that I can train up for it. I hope.

 

[Steffwalks]

I'm with Lily on the Goofy. It will be my first marathon and perhaps, my ONLY marathon. The way I see it, you only ever get one first. I want the Goofy to be my first!

How hard is it on your body??? I don't know, but I figure it has to be way easier for my body than it was for my great grandmother who traveled by wagon to the Oklahoma Territory (walking most of the way) cooking meals on the trail and doing whatever it took to insure that her family of 6 arrived safely. NOW, that's a challenge!

 

[StitchAttack]

I've run several marathons and a bunch of halfs and I found that the goofy was actually easier on my body than running a full marathon all out. I ran the half pretty slow and the full at an easy pace also and felt fine the next day.

This was probably only possible because of the large running base (50 miles per week or so for the last 6 months, and training hard for the last 2+ years) I had going into the goofy. If you can run a marathon in 4 hours, say, running the marathon as part of the goofy in 4 hours 30 minutes is a tough task, but not impossible.

For your first marathon, though, there is no way I would do it as part of the goofy. You might survive and finish both races, but you are going to be in a world of pain and you probably won't be filled with the wonderful magical disney feeling during lots of the race.