Marathon Weekend 2016

So, here's the one non-running thing that is stressing me out, so I'll be open to ANY help y'all can give.

For the Full Marathon, I need help figuring out where my friends/family can cheer me and @mbwhitti while we're running.

I'm sure I can fill in some of the locations just based on general knowledge, but any tips or tricks will be so helpful.

Here's the best information I can gather (like, seriously, this is herding cats and it's MAKING ME CRAZY) ... also, between my husband/I & my parents, we will have four cars coming from the opposite side of the marathon.

1. My Parents and Husband
-- Staying offsite and driving (~5 miles from Disney Springs on Apopka-Vineland/535 for those super familiar)
-- Platinum ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street, Finish Line)

2. Best Friend S and Husband
-- Staying onsite at POP
-- Relying on Disney Transportation
-- Gold ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street)

3. Out-of-town friends/neighbors L & A
-- Staying at Marriott World Center
-- Counting on Uber
-- No ChEAR Package

4. 6 friends from growing up
-- Live in Orlando
-- Will drive to locations

I have told my husband that he needs to be somewhere along the stretch from Mile 23-24, and I would prefer it would be just him because I'm probably going to lose it at that point.

Any suggestions on where I should start planning for people to be?
 
@Barca33Runner and @Keels , you seem to be on the same training plan, which plan are you following?!

I'm on the making it up as I go plan. Probably not best for optimizing my time, but it's what works for me to stay motivated. From looking at other plans I know, in general, what mileage I should be accomplishing but actually following a plan gives me anxiety. I'm sure that's weird, but it's worked for the last couple years so I'm just going with it.
 
I would say start rotating now.

If you plan to wear the same shoes in the parks, then I definitely say start rotating them in now. That way, you can use the older pair for the 5k and then phase them into their new life as parks/walking shoes, and then you've broken in your new pair for 10K and continued running shoes.

I agree with Keels. (I think it was Keels anyway). I would start to rotate and bring both pairs on the trip. Use the older ones to walk the parks (unless you have another preferred pair of shoes you are going to do that in) and the new pair for the races.

I'd agree with the other people that responded. If I am doing a multi-race weekend I like to have more than one pair of shoes. If it rains or water get's dumped on one pair you have a dry pair as a backup. It would be much better to have 2 pairs and not need one of them than to have only one pair and find yourself really wishing you have the other pair.

Thanks for the advice! You guys definitely confirmed what I was thinking. I think I'll start trying to rotate them in next week, and that still gives me 4 weeks before the races to break them in.
And I'm definitely bringing other park shoes - the plan is to bring my Chuck Taylors and my old Asics as park shoes, but if I run out of space in my suitcase, I'll skip the Asics and use the current Guides as Magic Kingdom shoes (I should be okay in the Chucks for the other parks ... I hope).
 
@Barca33Runner and @Keels , you seem to be on the same training plan, which plan are you following?!

I took the Higdon plan and then modified it back to what I thought I'd be ready to do, in the context of my travels and other things.

My plan I made up didn't call for my simulation/dress rehearsal until the week of the 14th. I'll be driving that week to Florida, and I'd rather get a sim out while I'm here so I can do a couple other long runs with maintenance runs tacked to them while I'm in Florida to acclimate to the weather.

I've attached my original Dopey plan, that I've been following ...
 

Attachments


I took the Higdon plan and then modified it back to what I thought I'd be ready to do, in the context of my travels and other things.

My plan I made up didn't call for my simulation/dress rehearsal until the week of the 14th. I'll be driving that week to Florida, and I'd rather get a sim out while I'm here so I can do a couple other long runs with maintenance runs tacked to them while I'm in Florida to acclimate to the weather.

I've attached my original Dopey plan, that I've been following ...

Wow! Thanks so much! I need it for 2018! ;)

I was trying to look back, I thought somewhere around page 134, people were talking about places for family/friends to cheer from. I'll keep looking.
 
Any recommendations on good runners? I need to get a new pair before the Goofy Challenge, likely this weekend or next. My latest have been Brooks Adrenaline 14. I think I might just replace with 16 but interested to know if there are models you recommend looking at?

If you like Brooks, and are a neutral runner, you might want to try the Launch 2. They are a very comfortable and simple shoe. I started running in the adrenaline, moved quickly to the ghost, and have now settled on the Launch.
 
So, here's the one non-running thing that is stressing me out, so I'll be open to ANY help y'all can give.

Any suggestions on where I should start planning for people to be?

The first place they can see you is at the TTC on your way up to Magic Kingdom. It's not as exciting as Main Street, but it's a little less crowded which makes it easier for them to spot you and you to spot them. From there, they can walk over to Poly and GF to see you again as you leave MK and get ready to turn to Animal Kingdom. After that, they can head to BW/BC/YC to see you at mile 24 before they walk through Epcot to see you after the finish. If they want to stick with the packages, they'll be able to see you cross the finish line, but there won't be much opportunity to kiss and run at that point.
 
been looking at the extended weather forecast every few days for Orlando. Looks to be quite a bit warmer than what I'm dealing with now in central TX, so that's a plus. Also, looks like rain doesn't come into the picture until the marathon itself.
 
The first place they can see you is at the TTC on your way up to Magic Kingdom. It's not as exciting as Main Street, but it's a little less crowded which makes it easier for them to spot you and you to spot them. From there, they can walk over to Poly and GF to see you again as you leave MK and get ready to turn to Animal Kingdom. After that, they can head to BW/BC/YC to see you at mile 24 before they walk through Epcot to see you after the finish. If they want to stick with the packages, they'll be able to see you cross the finish line, but there won't be much opportunity to kiss and run at that point.

My parents bought my husband the ChEAR package. He's done the past two rD races with me and his response was essentially ...

"So, I can sit in a grandstand where you can't see me, listen to them butcher your name when you cross the finish line and then wait 45 minutes for you to get through that whole thing? Nah. That doesn't work for me."

I think his plan is to ultimately be at mile 24 and then he'll find me after the mayhem. That probably works the best.

OMG. I can't believe this is about to happen.

I can't believe I'm about to attempt this.

I'm going to freak out now.
 
been looking at the extended weather forecast every few days for Orlando. Looks to be quite a bit warmer than what I'm dealing with now in central TX, so that's a plus. Also, looks like rain doesn't come into the picture until the marathon itself.

There's zero way it's worse than up here in North Texas.

Also - don't say rain. It FINALLY stopped raining here on Tuesday - after the near 14 inches I got at my house from Thanksgiving until then!

Also also ... STOP LOOKING AT THE WEATHER! Have we not learned anything from the Wine & Dine thread people????
 
My parents bought my husband the ChEAR package. He's done the past two rD races with me and his response was essentially ...

"So, I can sit in a grandstand where you can't see me, listen to them butcher your name when you cross the finish line and then wait 45 minutes for you to get through that whole thing? Nah. That doesn't work for me."

I think his plan is to ultimately be at mile 24 and then he'll find me after the mayhem. That probably works the best.

OMG. I can't believe this is about to happen.

I can't believe I'm about to attempt this.

I'm going to freak out now.

Breathe. Pause. Breathe. Pause. Breathe. You'll be just fine. :hug:
 
So, here's the one non-running thing that is stressing me out, so I'll be open to ANY help y'all can give.

For the Full Marathon, I need help figuring out where my friends/family can cheer me and @mbwhitti while we're running.

I'm sure I can fill in some of the locations just based on general knowledge, but any tips or tricks will be so helpful.

Here's the best information I can gather (like, seriously, this is herding cats and it's MAKING ME CRAZY) ... also, between my husband/I & my parents, we will have four cars coming from the opposite side of the marathon.

1. My Parents and Husband
-- Staying offsite and driving (~5 miles from Disney Springs on Apopka-Vineland/535 for those super familiar)
-- Platinum ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street, Finish Line)

2. Best Friend S and Husband
-- Staying onsite at POP
-- Relying on Disney Transportation
-- Gold ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street)

3. Out-of-town friends/neighbors L & A
-- Staying at Marriott World Center
-- Counting on Uber
-- No ChEAR Package

4. 6 friends from growing up
-- Live in Orlando
-- Will drive to locations

I have told my husband that he needs to be somewhere along the stretch from Mile 23-24, and I would prefer it would be just him because I'm probably going to lose it at that point.

Any suggestions on where I should start planning for people to be?
I'm going to have my family wait on the Boardwalk. It might be tough to get there if your not staying on disney property, but if you are and you want your hubby near the end, this is nice. While waiting, he could even pop in for a cold one at ESPN or one of the hotel bars.
 
Bit late to this but my mileage for November was at a pretty low 90ish miles - but I had to take two weeks off to try and save my ITB! The good news is that I managed a nice steady 8k on the treadmill yesterday with only mild discomfort - which wasn't in the IT band area and I put down to not running for a week (first time this has happened since like March!) I'm going to attempt to run Fri-Sun this weekend, but I'm just gonna run on feel and see how I get on! Would love to try and attempt my Dopey practise in 2 weeks time (just to help me mentally prepare) but all depends on the damn leg! I'm not feeling any pain when I walk so do you think it would be worth walk/run my practise in two weeks time or not? I don't usually take walking breaks but if it will help with my fitness (instead of not being able to complete it altogether) then I'm all for it!

RawThreads just tweeted me saying expo pick up is now live - means I can finish planning my outfits this week!

Anyone running with their names on their backs (as in Disboard names)? I've taken a LOT of advice from you guys and would love to give you a pat on the back if I saw you!
 
Since we're talking shoes, I've got an opinion question:

I have about 225 miles on my current pair of Saucony Guide 8s. If I continue to use them for every run from now until marathon weekend, they'll be somewhere between 275 and 300 miles.
I bought another pair of the Guide 8s on sale last week, and they arrived today.
Do you guys think I should start rotating in the new shoes so that I have two pairs of shoes for marathon weekend (and can wear different shoes for my two races)? Or should I stick with the pair I'm currently wearing and not think about the new shoes until after January?
Neither pair of shoes matches my costumes, so color is not a factor.
Opinions?

(In case you guys forgot, I'm doing the 5K & 10K, and that's the end of my marathon weekend running)
As others said I would get the other pair in the rotation. If it rains you don't want wet shoes for the 2nd race. It's always nice to have a 'fresh' pair to use the next day.
 
Bit late to this but my mileage for November was at a pretty low 90ish miles - but I had to take two weeks off to try and save my ITB! The good news is that I managed a nice steady 8k on the treadmill yesterday with only mild discomfort - which wasn't in the IT band area and I put down to not running for a week (first time this has happened since like March!) I'm going to attempt to run Fri-Sun this weekend, but I'm just gonna run on feel and see how I get on! Would love to try and attempt my Dopey practise in 2 weeks time (just to help me mentally prepare) but all depends on the damn leg! I'm not feeling any pain when I walk so do you think it would be worth walk/run my practise in two weeks time or not? I don't usually take walking breaks but if it will help with my fitness (instead of not being able to complete it altogether) then I'm all for it!

RawThreads just tweeted me saying expo pick up is now live - means I can finish planning my outfits this week!

Anyone running with their names on their backs (as in Disboard names)? I've taken a LOT of advice from you guys and would love to give you a pat on the back if I saw you!

I've been using more run/walk over the last few weeks because of my glute injury and I find it worth it. I know I might have to walk more at marathon weekend due to it so I'm training that way now to be used to it as it's different than just running straight. The transitioning speeds isn't as easy as one would think so you don't hurt yourself, just be careful gradually slowing and speeding up between your intervals. I doubt I'll get any Dopey simulations in, just trying to maintain some fitness and run/walk is the only way I think I'll be able to train.

No names on my back, I need to take 'costume' pics and share.
 
I've been using more run/walk over the last few weeks because of my glute injury and I find it worth it. I know I might have to walk more at marathon weekend due to it so I'm training that way now to be used to it as it's different than just running straight. The transitioning speeds isn't as easy as one would think so you don't hurt yourself, just be careful gradually slowing and speeding up between your intervals. I doubt I'll get any Dopey simulations in, just trying to maintain some fitness and run/walk is the only way I think I'll be able to train.

No names on my back, I need to take 'costume' pics and share.

Thanks for the heads up, I would have completely to slowed to a walk in like one step! I think I'm going to be in the same boat as you regarding simulation/maintaining fitness, doubt that makes either of us feel any better but at least we're not alone!

On a more cheery note - 5 weeks today :) :) :)
 
LOL - We have APs and go often, so I can do WDW in a restful way. (we were just there last week) Besides, we are going on a cruise after WDW - I can rest on the boat!
Our AP's expire Early next week. I just talked DW into taking the kids down this weekend to see osborne before it goes away. We're leaving in a couple of hours. AP's do make it a lot easier to take relaxed trips.

So, here's the one non-running thing that is stressing me out, so I'll be open to ANY help y'all can give.

For the Full Marathon, I need help figuring out where my friends/family can cheer me and @mbwhitti while we're running.

I'm sure I can fill in some of the locations just based on general knowledge, but any tips or tricks will be so helpful.

Here's the best information I can gather (like, seriously, this is herding cats and it's MAKING ME CRAZY) ... also, between my husband/I & my parents, we will have four cars coming from the opposite side of the marathon.

1. My Parents and Husband
-- Staying offsite and driving (~5 miles from Disney Springs on Apopka-Vineland/535 for those super familiar)
-- Platinum ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street, Finish Line)

2. Best Friend S and Husband
-- Relying on Disney Transportation
-- Gold ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street)

3. Counting on Uber
-- No ChEAR Package

4. Will drive to locations

I have told my husband that he needs to be somewhere along the stretch from Mile 23-24, and I would prefer it would be just him because I'm probably going to lose it at that point.

Any suggestions on where I should start planning for people to be?

For the people with Chear Packages I'd have them try and get to Magic kingdom and Chear on Main Street. Have them text you when they get in place so you know where to look fro them. From there have them take the monorail to epcot. I might have groups 1 and two split up there. Have your hubby take the bus to boardwalk and see you there. Others could go into epcot and see you in front of Norway.

For the friends with Uber. Have them try and take uber to the ttc. They can see you at the the TTC, walk to the poly and out to Floridana way to see you there. From the poly, I'd look at taking resort transportation to either Studios or Epcot so they can see you there.

For the people that are driving. I'm trying to think of easy places for them to park to see you. The one that stands out is the McDonalds by animal kingdom. If the route hasn't changed much they could park there and then walk up and see you on the road between Animal Kingdom and ESPN.



RawThreads just tweeted me saying expo pick up is now live - means I can finish planning my outfits this week!

Anyone running with their names on their backs (as in Disboard names)? I've taken a LOT of advice from you guys and would love to give you a pat on the back if I saw you!
I won't have my name on the back of my shirt, but I'll be in the parks Saturday-Mon. I'll be the guy wearing a medal, feel free to say "Hi". I'm only sort of joking... there will be a ton of people with medals, but we are all really friendly. Everyone will have a story, that's one of the best part of the weekend.. getting to talk to people in lines, share stories and congratulate each other.
 
So, here's the one non-running thing that is stressing me out, so I'll be open to ANY help y'all can give.

For the Full Marathon, I need help figuring out where my friends/family can cheer me and @mbwhitti while we're running.

I'm sure I can fill in some of the locations just based on general knowledge, but any tips or tricks will be so helpful.

Here's the best information I can gather (like, seriously, this is herding cats and it's MAKING ME CRAZY) ... also, between my husband/I & my parents, we will have four cars coming from the opposite side of the marathon.

1. My Parents and Husband
-- Staying offsite and driving (~5 miles from Disney Springs on Apopka-Vineland/535 for those super familiar)
-- Platinum ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street, Finish Line)

2. Best Friend S and Husband
-- Staying onsite at POP
-- Relying on Disney Transportation
-- Gold ChEAR Package (can get to Main Street)

3. Out-of-town friends/neighbors L & A
-- Staying at Marriott World Center
-- Counting on Uber
-- No ChEAR Package

4. 6 friends from growing up
-- Live in Orlando
-- Will drive to locations

I have told my husband that he needs to be somewhere along the stretch from Mile 23-24, and I would prefer it would be just him because I'm probably going to lose it at that point.

Any suggestions on where I should start planning for people to be?

Honestly, save yourself the trouble (and hair pulling) and do this:

1) Print out a few sheets of the spots/places people can view runners during the races from runDisney.com
2) Hand (or email) said sheets to people
3) Let them decide!

You've already picked out where your husband is going to be, so let everyone else decide where they want to see you.
 
Thanks for the heads up, I would have completely to slowed to a walk in like one step! I think I'm going to be in the same boat as you regarding simulation/maintaining fitness, doubt that makes either of us feel any better but at least we're not alone!

On a more cheery note - 5 weeks today :) :) :)
So true on not being alone, that's why I love Run Disney races, all sorts of people out there! My mom run/walks so has the Galloway beeper and all, so I run with her sometimes which is nice cause it keeps me in check to not over do it, which is so. hard. right. now when I see everyone including my brothers getting there long runs in (but glad they are injury free)! The plane ride is what I'm dreading the most as sitting for long hurts. 5 weeks eek!! that's exciting & terrifying!
 
Thanks for the heads up, I would have completely to slowed to a walk in like one step! I think I'm going to be in the same boat as you regarding simulation/maintaining fitness, doubt that makes either of us feel any better but at least we're not alone!

Slightly hijacking this discussion, please don't come to a crashing walk in just one step. That's a good way to get into a collision with a runner behind you. A better way is to put your hand up to indicate you're going to be walking, look around you to make sure it's clear to do so and there's no one right behind you, and then gradually slow to a walk while making your way to the side of the road. Most runners will be attuned to the hand up walking signal, but looking around before slowing down is good practice to ensure no one gets hurt.
 




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