Marathon Weekend 2016

[BuckeyeBama]

Now I'm nervous....I was seriously planing on stop for each and every character.
Will I be swept because of that?

I'll chime in here, too. In the 2014 WDW marathon I stopped for every character that I saw - 23 of them in total. There were a few that I just didn't see (Buzz ). It added just about 1 hour to my time.

 

[IamTrike]

As others said depending on your corral and what race, character lines eat into your time. I personally pick & choose on longer lines. If there's no line or just a few people go for them, but at this years marathon the long lines I saw from corral G were Pirates, Jack & Sally, Princesses, Donald & Goofy golfing & villains. I waited in Donald & Goofy & villains and each took about 5-6 minutes. All my other waits were under 2-3 minutes probably. I think I stopped for 8 character stops and 2 bathroom breaks in the full and that was about 30 minutes of my total time just to give you an idea. Just watch your time/pace I guess to make sure you stay ahead of the sweepers. My brother hit all but maybe 3-5 character spots but that was from corral B with like no waits.

Those wait times are from Corral G. From what I remember the people in Corrals A-G only make up between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total runners. Those runners particularly in the earlier corrals skew towards people that won't wait for pictures. As you go farther back in the Corrals you have more people per Corral and a higher percentage of people stopping for pictures so those wait times per character will increase. This just emphasizes your point that it's about your corral, the race and the person's pace. Without that info it's hard to make any kind of decision about where they might get swept or not.

 

[roxymama]

I'm not running the marathon so I cannot give my own experience. But I've stalked some trip reports and it seems there are some out and back portions where you can stop for characters with going out or coming back. I think Pirates is one of the the ones I've seen mentioned where the lines are shorter if you don't stop the first time you see them, but stop the second? You may want to check out the past trip reports for ideas about those. Like I said...I've only just read about that.

 

[Kathymford]

You guys are all the best. Thank you.

 

[Pixie Heart]

Is this in regards to this weekend's Avengers or Disney Half in January? If Avengers. what bib # do you have? I could give you an estimate of how far ahead of the balloons you start.

Not really - unfortunately I didn't run that race. But I grew a little concerned about the timing. I'll be running the 5k, 10k and the half. My proof of time is 2:43 for the half, but I have no idea in which corral it will put me on.

There are a lot of variables there. In the higher corrals the lines for characters aren't that bad. As you get farther back in the race the Character lines get longer.

I just hope I get an intermediary corral, then!

In terms of stops ... it depends on a lot of things, including when you start, your pace, and lines (for both characters and restrooms).

If you're faster than 16:00, you're fine. If you're slower than 16:00, you may want to hustle a bit. Your pace probably won't be 100% accurate unless you run allthe tangents, but at least it gives you some idea of how you're doing and if you have time for stop.

Oh, @SarahDisney , you saved my day - I needed numbers to compare with my currently pace! Thanks!
I'm 12"21'... I guess I'll be fine!

I think I stopped for 8 character stops and 2 bathroom breaks in the full and that was about 30 minutes of my total time just to give you an idea. Just watch your time/pace I guess to make sure you stay ahead of the sweepers. My brother hit all but maybe 3-5 character spots but that was from corral B with like no waits.

That's awesome!! You helped a lot by sharing this!

You all did!

 

[DOOM1001]

Not really - unfortunately I didn't run that race. But I grew a little concerned about the timing. I'll be running the 5k, 10k and the half. My proof of time is 2:43 for the half, but I have no idea in which corral it will put me on.

Based on that proof of time and the corral assignments for the 2015 half marathon you will likely be in J or K,sounds a bit low but remember the corrals progressively get larger,the early corrals are very small with the last corrals having thousands of runners,J or K will be somewhere near or slightly below the middle of all runners.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Not really - unfortunately I didn't run that race. But I grew a little concerned about the timing. I'll be running the 5k, 10k and the half. My proof of time is 2:43 for the half, but I have no idea in which corral it will put me on.



I just hope I get an intermediary corral, then!



Oh, @SarahDisney , you saved my day - I needed numbers to compare with my currently pace! Thanks!
I'm 12"21'... I guess I'll be fine!



That's awesome!! You helped a lot by sharing this!

You all did!

You will start roughly 20 min before the balloon ladies. This gives you a max pace of 17.5 min/mile or a finish of 3:49. Your planned pace of 12:21 (2:41) gives you a max character/stop time of 1 hour 8 min. Hope this helps.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Honestly, this is the hardest part for me: the mental game. I absolutely break down and almost have a panic attack (totally happened yesterday). I have no mental toughness.

I don't know you personally but I have to disagree. You can't run a 1/2 or full marathon and have NO MENTAL TOUGHNESS! The training needed to be ready for these distances require a lot of discipline and mental toughness. Finishing a race also requires some as well. So give yourself some credit.

When I'm struggling think about when my future ex-wife called me a fat, lazy slob. And then I remember when my oldest daughter told me I was her role model. That got me through my first marathon last year. There is no way I was letting her down, I had to finish. You just need to find your motivation.

 

[IamTrike]

When I'm struggling think about when my future ex-wife called me a fat, lazy slob.

Dude, I don't know you, but it makes me hurt a little bit to hear that anyone is treated that way by the person they thought would be there for them for the rest of their life. It's great that you are able to channel something so negative into a positive. I raise a Disboard glass of the beverage of your choice as a salute.

 

[Pleglech]

Character lines definitely grow as each corral is released, with later stops tending to have shorter lines than early ones. It seems like everyone stops for Jack Sparrow.

 

[Berniemgr]

Couple questions before I could make any suggestions...

How many marathons have you completed?
How many half-marathons have you completed?
How do you plan on approaching the 3 individual half-marathons (i.e. trying to PR the first and then just finish in whatever for the other two, trying to PR them all, etc.)?
What kind of training are you currently doing (days per week, mileage, paces, etc.)?
What kind of training are you willing to do (days per week, mileage, speed, tempo, endurance building, etc.)?
In your last sub-2 PR what was the limiting factor in your ability to do it faster (leg fatigue, breathing, etc.)?

This is my first marathon.
Completed 8 HM thus far
PR the first (fastest course) and finish the other two (hilly/weather issues - ran in hail last two years in one race, *very* hilly for the final course)
Run 3 days/wk; cross train 1-2 days; weights 1 day; rest 1-2 days - right around 35 miles running; cross training adds another 3-6
I'm open to any suggestions in terms of what kind of training to do. My long runs are just that - mileage completion. The shorter runs during the week are speed or tempo right now.
Last time, I really pushed myself to hit my PR. Probably was not trained as well as I should have been in terms of trying to maintain a pace I hadn't done during training. I had put in the mileage in training, but at a slower pace.

TIA!

 

[Neoflynn]

This may sound weird, but I get anxieties and doubt and all that fun stuff to. When thoughts creep in like "how am I gonna finish this, it's only 1.5 miles" or "I feel good now but can I really keep this pace up" and all that fun stuff...what I do is I mentally "lasso" myself to someone in front of me that is running about that pace that I am...and I stay mentally tethered to them. And I give up my worry and give it to them. I basically just use strangers as pacers for myself and they never know it. And then I eventually get past the bad thought and pass those people up or let them go and run my own race. I attach myself to people probably 9-10 times per race. Sounds a little crazy when put that way. But man did "green shirt guy" help me up the hill on Roosevelt in Chicago this Sunday. You can even see my best friend "red-shirt" guy cross the finish line a foot in front of me in the online videos. So yeah, when I'm not mentally tough I just make other people be tough for me.

I do something very similar to this to keep me focused during races, Ill pick someone out ahead of me and say "ok lets catch them or lets run with them for awhile" and then if I pass them ill move on to someone else, Its just a nice way to keep your mind on something other than the distance in front of you, for training runs its a bit harder but ill pick out landmarks and use that to keep me focused

+1 on Mantra's. I also have pick me up songs that I can play that seem to motivate me. Right now I like "immortals" from the Big Hero 6 soundtrack. I can state with certainty that "Rainbow Connection" is the antithesis of a pick me up song. Its on one of my Disney running playlists and always make me want to sit down and sigh.

Mantra's are a great motivator and I'm a firm believer in using them, and music is also huge for me I know a lot of people don't like to listen to music but for me I couldn't make it through most of my runs without some good tunes, my current fave is "Send me on my way" by Rusted Root, I've always like it but its featured in the movie ice age wich my son LOVES so every time I hear it, it makes me think of him and I just break out in a giant smile

 

[Pixie Heart]

Thanks guys @DOOM1001 and @DopeyBadger !
I'll think my strategy over a little bit more!

 

[Nennie]

You will start roughly 20 min before the balloon ladies. This gives you a max pace of 17.5 min/mile or a finish of 3:49. Your planned pace of 12:21 (2:41) gives you a max character/stop time of 1 hour 8 min. Hope this helps.

Can you do the math for me with a 2:05 proof of time? My first Disney race, and I hope to take as many pics as possible!!!

 

[FFigawi]

Character lines definitely grow as each corral is released, with later stops tending to have shorter lines than early ones. It seems like everyone stops for Jack Sparrow.

During the half, you can usually hit Jack Sparrow on the way out and the way back. The lines on the way back are much shorter.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Can you do the math for me with a 2:05 proof of time? My first Disney race, and I hope to take as many pics as possible!!!

You will start approximately 36 minutes before the balloon ladies. Your max pace is a 18:44 min/mile or a finish of 4:06. Your planned pace of 9:32 min/mile (2:05) gives you a max character/stop time of 2 hours.

@Pixie Heart The key for you and @Nennie is to remember that the allotted time given to you (1:08 and 2:00) is earned over the course of the race. If Pixie Heart were to stop for a character picture within the first mile then she only has 20 minutes, not 1:08. But each mile she does at a 12:21 gives her an additional 5 minutes of characters (because max time of 17:30 min/mile). Same goes for Nennie, where she gains approximately 9 minutes of character time after each mile if she maintains a running pace near 9:32 min/mile. If Nellie were to make her first character stop at mile 5, she would have earned 36 minutes + (5 miles x 9 minutes) or a total of 81 minutes for characters by that time in the race.

Hope this helps.

 

[DopeyBadger]

This is my first marathon.
Completed 8 HM thus far
PR the first (fastest course) and finish the other two (hilly/weather issues - ran in hail last two years in one race, *very* hilly for the final course)
Run 3 days/wk; cross train 1-2 days; weights 1 day; rest 1-2 days - right around 35 miles running; cross training adds another 3-6
I'm open to any suggestions in terms of what kind of training to do. My long runs are just that - mileage completion. The shorter runs during the week are speed or tempo right now.
Last time, I really pushed myself to hit my PR. Probably was not trained as well as I should have been in terms of trying to maintain a pace I hadn't done during training. I had put in the mileage in training, but at a slower pace.

TIA!

Alright, I'll try and put something together and get back to you.

 

[cavepig]

I do something very similar to this to keep me focused during races, Ill pick someone out ahead of me and say "ok lets catch them or lets run with them for awhile" and then if I pass them ill move on to someone else, Its just a nice way to keep your mind on something other than the distance in front of you, for training runs its a bit harder but ill pick out landmarks and use that to keep me focused

Me too, and at Disney races it's extra fun with people in 'costumes', so it's go get Buzz or Minnie or Smee!

 

[SarahDisney]

Okay, random question for my Garmin users out there...
Have you ever had trouble picking up a GPS signal on your Garmin at Disney?

I just had my second run in two weeks where my Garmin didn't pick up a signal for a long time. Sometimes it takes 5-6 minutes to pick up the signal, but since I usually walk for a few minutes before I start running (its a combination of warm up and highways), it's not a problem ... but on these two runs it took closer to 15 minutes. I used MapMyRun to track both runs ... but I'd rather not do that at Disney. Especially because I don't want to kill my battery if I'm using my phone for pictures and music too.
I gotta check if there's a software update available to fix this or something...

 

[dancingtodisney]

Okay, random question for my Garmin users out there...
Have you ever had trouble picking up a GPS signal on your Garmin at Disney?

I just had my second run in two weeks where my Garmin didn't pick up a signal for a long time. Sometimes it takes 5-6 minutes to pick up the signal, but since I usually walk for a few minutes before I start running (its a combination of warm up and highways), it's not a problem ... but on these two runs it took closer to 15 minutes. I used MapMyRun to track both runs ... but I'd rather not do that at Disney. Especially because I don't want to kill my battery if I'm using my phone for pictures and music too.
I gotta check if there's a software update available to fix this or something...

Hey Sarah, do you update the software regularly? I know with my Garmin it takes longer to find the satellite if it's not been updated. So when you sync you Garmin do you always update it?