All of the information, regarding RACE DAY, Spectators and such is available on the Disney website...
http://disneyworldsports.disney.go....me=FullMarathon2005PreparationEventDetailPage
It is very detailed--just click on the files and you will have all you wanted to know.
We just completed our paperwork last week for Team in Training--so though I have been training since August--Disney is just now hearing about me...
I did 3 miles this morning--it was supposed to be for building my lactic threshhold (efficiency the body processes lactic acid)--but I can never tell if I am doing that workout or the one for increased Oxygen--they sound very similar in intensity though the breaks are different.
When I have more time-- I will post the valuable information provided by our coach regarding training and such. Their whole mantra is doing more with less--I just keep repeating that over and over
Sounded like cheap words in the beginning, but I am believing them now.
Via e-mail, They also provided some cross training exercises and stretching exercises for us today--it is long, but Happy Reading:
Case for cross-training, Part 1: Five reasons every runner should cross-train
By Matt Fitzgerald
For Active.com
10/12/2004
As recently as 10 years ago, few elite runners did much in the way of cross-training, which I like to define broadly to include all forms of resistance training, stretching, and non-impact endurance training activities such as bicycling.
Non-impact alternatives to running were grudgingly taken up only when injuries made running impossible and were quickly cast aside when running was resumed.
Most of the elite runners of the previous generation did some stretching, but without much effect on injury risk because they usually failed to customize their stretching routine to fit their individual needs. Only a handful of runners did any amount of resistance training, and again, with questionable methods.
Within the past few years, a rapidly growing number of elite runners (in the United States, at least) have chosen to make cross-training central to their training programs and have begun using more sophisticated methods.
The athletes leading this trend are crediting the new approach to cross-training with reducing injuries, accelerating injury rehabilitation, facilitating recovery, and not least of all, helping them run faster by increasing their aerobic fitness, power, and efficiency.
The poster boy of the new approach to cross-training is Alan Webb, winner of the 2004 Olympic Trials 1500 meters. Under the guidance of his coach, Scott Raczko, Webb maintains an unorthodox training schedule in which less than half of his training time is spent on running.
The rest is spent on dynamic stretching and flexibility drills, medicine ball exercises, calisthenics, balance training, pool running, and functional strength training.
The rationale is simple. Webb, like any other runner, can only do so much running without getting injured. But the maximum amount of running he can handle is not the maximum amount of total exercise he can handle.
By doing other types of training that enhance his fitness in ways that complement his running, he can actually reduce his injury risk while further enhancing his running performance.
Few age-group runners are willing to follow an example like Webb's, in part because they simply prefer running to other forms of exercise, but mostly because they aren't fully convinced of the benefits of cross-training.
So I'd like to devote this first installment of my six-part series on cross-training to giving you a hard sell on the benefits of cross-training.
I want to first persuade you to give an honest try to a balanced cross-training approach to training for distance running. Then, in subsequent articles, I can move on to explain how.
For a full treatment of this topic, including complete cross-training-based training programs for all types of runners, see my book, Runner's World Guide to Cross-Training (Rodale, 2004).
Following are five proven benefits of cross-training.
1. Fewer injuries
Many overuse injuries are caused by instability in the hips, knees, and ankles resulting from inadequate strength in important stabilizing muscles. For example, weak hip abductors (the muscles on the outside of the hip) can cause the pelvis to tip toward your unsupported side when your foot lands, placing undue strain on the hip and/or knee joints. Strength training can correct such problems.
Tightness in certain muscles and tendons also contributes to some running injuries. For example, runners who develop iliotibial (IT) band friction syndrome typically have tight IT bands. Stretching can loosen tight connective tissues and thereby prevent such injuries.
Finally, by replacing one or two weekly recovery runs with easy workouts in non-impact modalities such as bicycling and pool running you can reduce the amount of repetitive impact your lower extremities are subjected to, and in this way reduce injuries (without sacrificing fitness). Impact forces are the true origin of nearly every running injury.
2. Faster rehabilitation
When you do get injured, cross-training comes to the rescue by correcting the root cause of the problem, allowing you to get you back on the road quickly and reducing the risk that this particular injury will recur. (An estimated 50% of all running injuries are in fact re-injuries.)
For example, eccentric strengthening of the calf muscles is a very effective way to correct the root cause of Achilles tendinosis, which is essentially an inability of the calf muscles to properly absorb impact forces.
Non-impact cardio workouts can be used to maintain your aerobic fitness while your running is limited due to injury. Olympic silver medallist Meb Keflezighi used this strategy with great success when injuries hampered his running in the lead-up to the 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon.
By replacing a number of runs with bike workouts he was able to build enough fitness despite his injury setbacks to finish second in that race and earn a trip to Athens.
3. Greater aerobic fitness
Due to the pounding running inflicts, even the most gifted runners can handle no more than about 15 hours of running per week, whereas athletes in non-impact endurance sports such as swimming and cycling routinely perform twice this amount of training.
By adding non-impact cardio workouts to your running schedule, you can gain a little extra aerobic fitness without increasing your injury risk.
4. More power
Another benefit of strength training -? particularly of jumping drills, or plyometrics -? is increased stride power, which translates into greater stride length and reduced ground contact time and consequently faster race times.
Among the recent studies demonstrating these benefits was a Swedish study in which trained runners replaced 32% of their running with plyometrics for a period of nine weeks.
After nine weeks, their maximum sprint speed, running economy, and 5K race times were all found to have improved, whereas runners in a control group who maintained their normal training schedule showed no improvements.
5. Greater efficiency
Dynamic flexibility is the ability to perform sports movements such as running with minimal internal resistance from your own muscles and joints.
Dynamic stretches are movements that enhance dynamic flexibility by mimicking the way your muscles and connective tissues actually stretch during running. An example is giant walking lunges (i.e. walking with the most ridiculously long steps you can take).
Performing dynamic stretches on a regular basis reduces internal resistance in your running movements and thereby enhances the efficiency of your stride.
Case for cross-training, Part 2: Strength training for joint stability and injury prevention
By Matt Fitzgerald
For Active.com
We all know running puts us at high risk for injury, but researchers are finding out there's a lot more behind running-related injuries than impact forces.
Specifically, it's the combination of impact and joint instability that puts running on par with tackle football when it comes to numbers of injuries.
Here's why: When your foot makes contact with the ground, your muscles and connective tissues must work together to resist the potential joint-destabilizing effect of impact.
Most runners, particularly those who do not cross-train, are weak in key stabilizing muscles. As a result, the body is forced to absorb impact in a way it's not built to handle.
"The biggest thing I see is that runners have very weak core musculature, and because of this they can't control their posture while they're running," says Michael Fredericson, M.D., a running injury expert at Stanford University.
"Their pelvis goes into a forward tilt and they get an arch in their low back." This, Fredericson, says, results in extra stress on both the hamstrings and knees.
The hips are also problematic in many runners.
"The hip abductors and external rotators of the hip tend to be weak, or they're just not firing appropriately -- they're not becoming active when they should," says Bryan Heiderscheit, P.T., Ph.D., who directs an injury clinic for runners at Des Moines University in Iowa.
"You'll end up assuming an internally rotated position at the knee and at the hip." This can cause injuries ranging from knee pain to tendonitis in the hips and groin.
Other muscles that tend to be dangerously weak in runners are those of the lower back and the front of the lower leg.
Luckily, strengthening these running stabilizers doesn't need to take a lot of extra time. Simply add another 15 minutes to your running routine twice a week (if you're really pressed for time, steal it from the time you already run -- you'll thank yourself later) and mix in the following strength exercises.
(For photo illustrations of these exercises and a lot more information about strength training for runners, see my book, Runner's World Guide to Cross-Training.)
Lower abdominal squeeze
Lay face up with your arms relaxed at your sides and your legs extended straight toward the ceiling with your heels together. Then contract the muscles of your lower abdomen and, by doing so, try to lift your heels ever so slightly toward the ceiling. (This is a very small movement).
Hold the contraction for one second, then relax for one second. Repeat the exercise until you feel a nice burning sensation in the targeted muscles.
Benefit: Strengths lower abdominals and prevents forward tilt of pelvis during running.
Side step-up
Stand with your side next to a 12- to 18-inch platform (such as a weight bench or tall aerobics step). Place your right food on the platform keep your left foot on the floor (your right knee is bent and your left leg is straight).
Shift your weight onto your right leg stand on that leg, lifting your entire body 12 to 18 inches.
Pause briefly with your left foot unsupported in the air next to your right foot, then bend your knee again and slowly lower your left foot back down to the floor.
Benefit: Strengthens the thighs, hips, and glutes, improving knee and hip stability.
Pillow balancing
Place a pillow on the floor and balance on it with one shoeless foot for 30 seconds, and then balance on the other foot, and repeat. At first it will be difficult to last 30 seconds, but you'll quickly improve. Keep it challenging by using a bigger or softer pillow, by stacking pillows, and/or by balancing longer.
Benefit: Strengthens the muscles that oppose the calf muscles, improving ankle stability.
Hip twist
Lie face up with your arms resting at your sides and your palms flat on the floor. Extend your legs directly toward the ceiling, keeping your feet together, and point your toes.
Keeping your big toes side-by-side, tip your legs 12 to 18 inches to the right by twisting at the hip, so that your left buttock comes off the floor. Fight the pull of gravity by maintaining stability with your abs and obliques.
Pause for a moment, then return slowly to the start position, again using your core muscles to control the movement. Repeat on the left side. Do 8-12 repetitions on each side.
Benefit: Strengthens the abdominal muscles, including the obliques, improving pelvic stability.
Single arm dumbbell clean and press
Assume a wide athletic stance with a single dumbbell placed on the floor between your feet. Begin with your left arm fully extended and bend forward from the hips and grasp the dumbbell with your left hand.
With a single, fluid, powerful movement, pull the dumbbell off the floor, stand fully upright, and continue raising your left arm until it is extended straight overhead.
Pause briefly and then reverse the movement, allowing the dumbbell to come to rest again on the floor briefly before initiating the next lift. Complete 10-12 repetitions and then switch to the right arm.
Benefit: Strengthens the thighs, hips, glutes, lower and upper back, chest, and shoulders, improving knee and hip stability and running posture.
Case for cross-training, Part 3: Stretching
By Matt Fitzgerald
For Active.com
10/26/2004
This series is adapted from Matt Fitzgerald's forthcoming book, "Runner's World Guide to Cross-Training."
The primary perceived benefit of stretching for runners is injury prevention.
But in the best recent controlled studies, stretching has not reduced the incidence of injuries to the lower extremities to a statistically significant degree. On the basis of such studies, many exercise physiologists advise runners not to stretch.
The main problem with this advice and the studies upon which it is based is that they come at stretching from the wrong side of injury. Targeted stretching of abnormally tight muscles and tendons has proven to be an extremely effective means of rehabilitating and preventing the recurrence of specific injuries in runners.
This is because abnormal tightness in specific muscles and tendons is without question a contributing cause of particular running injuries, and stretching can increase the elasticity of muscles and tendons.
Every day, physical therapists prescribe targeted stretching exercises to rehabilitate and prevent recurrence of five different injuries that are frequently associated with tightness in muscles and tendons.
Abnormally tight calves and Achilles tendons contribute to plantar fasciitis, shin splints, Achilles tendinosis, and calf muscle strains. Abnormally tight hamstrings and hip flexors often precipitate strains in these muscles. And an abnormally tight iliotibial band is commonly seen in runners suffering from IT band friction syndrome.
There is no doubt that stretching plays a positive role in the successful rehabilitation of many cases of these injuries, so it only stands to reason that it can also prevent many cases of these same injuries (or at least prevent their recurrence).
For this reason, I recommend that you stretch the above-mentioned muscles and tendons daily.
Another controversial question is the relationship between flexibility and performance. Stretching advocates claim that runners need to be very flexible in order to take long strides. Others believe that runners get all the flexibility they need through the activity of running itself.
In this case both sides are half-right. There are two muscle groups that are unusually flexible in most elite runners: the hips and the shoulders. Non-elite runners can surely benefit from stretching these muscle groups and thereby increasing the range of motion of the shoulders and hips.
But this alone will probably not improve your stride length, because regular stretching exercises increase only passive range of motion, whereas running requires dynamic flexibility, which is the ability to perform sports movements with minimal internal resistance from your own muscles and joints.
This is the distinction that stretching skeptics are trying to get at when they say running itself gives us all the flexibility we need. While the distinction is real, the best way to increase dynamic flexibility is not by running but rather by performing dynamic stretching exercises.
Dynamic stretches are movements that mimic the way your muscles and connective tissues actually stretch during running. An example is the leg swing (described below).
Performing dynamic stretches on a regular basis reduces internal resistance in your running movements and thereby enhances the efficiency of your stride. These stretches also make for excellent warm-up movements, because they increase dynamic flexibility acutely from resting to active levels by warming, loosening, and lubricating the muscles.
Dynamic stretching warm-up
The following dynamic stretching warm-up will increase your active range of motion for individual workouts and increase your dynamic flexibility generally. Do it 2-3 times per week as a part of your warm-up, following several minutes of easy jogging.
Arm swings
Swing your right arm in a giant circle. Do 6 forward rotations and 6 backward rotations and then repeat with your left arm.
Trunk twists
Raise your arms straight out to the sides. Twist your torso as far as you can to the right. Without pausing, reverse direction and twist over to the left. Repeat 10 times.
Leg swings
Stand on your left foot and swing your right leg backward and forward in an exaggerated kicking motion. Complete 10 swings and repeat with the left leg.
Side leg swings
Stand facing a wall, lean forward slightly at the waist, and brace your hands against the wall. Lift your right foot off the ground and swing your right leg from side to side (like a pendulum) between your left leg and the wall. Do 10 swings and then switch to the left leg.
Giant lunges
Take 10 giant steps forward with each foot, lunging as far forward as you can each time.
Ankle bounce
Lean forward against a wall with your feet close together and flat on the ground. Raise both heels as high as possible and then "bounce" them off the ground. Repeat 20 times.
I guess I'm lucky to have a 7 yr old "coach" to try and kick my behind into shape when I'm being lazy. Official laziness ended today ... I did a 30 minute walk at lunch, and I went to Curves tonight. I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of exercise since we moved and I know that "I'm busy" was nothing but a lame excuse. And I have to say that it felt great.
So far it hasn't killed me. 
I cant' explain how it makes your feet or ankles stronger--but was advised last night to try them and working your way up in time you can balance on one foot. Try it with your eyes closed, but be careful--your foot will wiggle as it tries to stablize itself--but it is supposed to be good injury prevention. That is--as long as you don't fall down--so keep something close by to grab should you be wobbling too much 
Happy Birthday to YOu!!!
My birthday is the 21st. 
