Marathon Weekend 2017!

[DerTobi75]

Being

This conversation is making me nervous! My ILs decided that our days at Disney would be Thursday and Friday, so I assume I will be walking all day both days. I'm planning to rest Saturday... will that be enough? Any tips for making the Disney days less strenuous?

Are yo doing the Dopey Challenge or "just" the Marathon?

 

[2girlsR2good]

Not sure my thoughts are worth much since this will be my first marathon. Just had a talk with my mentor b/c I'm panicking about being swept. My long runs are at "you'll get swept" paces, but they are long. Done 18, 20, 23, and am doing 25 this Monday. My mentor says that I have to stop trying to run them at 15mm, which leads to 18, 19mm for the miles after mile 15, and just do them all at 17 (my magic mile is 11:40). She's an experienced marathoner and keeps telling me time on feet matters more than pace. I"m believing her!

 

[mollybloom]

Being

Are yo doing the Dopey Challenge or "just" the Marathon?

Just the marathon!

 

[mollybloom]

Not sure my thoughts are worth much since this will be my first marathon. Just had a talk with my mentor b/c I'm panicking about being swept. My long runs are at "you'll get swept" paces, but they are long. Done 18, 20, 23, and am doing 25 this Monday. My mentor says that I have to stop trying to run them at 15mm, which leads to 18, 19mm for the miles after mile 15, and just do them all at 17 (my magic mile is 11:40). She's an experienced marathoner and keeps telling me time on feet matters more than pace. I"m believing her!

This is my first marathon too, but in past halfs I have always found it easier to go a bit quicker during the race because of all the adrenaline and whatnot. Plus--are you in Florida? Florida is so flat, it should be an easier run than training runs nearly anywhere else.

 

[DerTobi75]

Just the marathon!

I would not stress too much!

Before the Halfmarthon in Paris we had almost the whole week before in the parks. I also did a easy trainingsrun and the 5K before the half. That worked well.

 

[IamTrike]

This conversation is making me nervous! My ILs decided that our days at Disney would be Thursday and Friday, so I assume I will be walking all day both days. I'm planning to rest Saturday... will that be enough? Any tips for making the Disney days less strenuous?

Will this be enough? Probably. I've done marathon weekend with a group of couples for the past 5 years. We have a pretty wide variety of paces in the group and we usually do the parks everyday we are there. We take it easy and try and not walk too much, and everyone has been fine on marathon day.

The things I would think about:
Try and keep your time at Disney close to what your pre long run days are at home. IF you are used to walking 4 or 5 miles a day in your normal life it's probably not going to impact you too much to walk around Disney if it's a leisurely 6 mile day. A 13 mile day could be problematic.
Figure out your sleeping plan. The hardest part can be the early rising. How are you going to rest before the marathon. Some people do great at getting themselves to fall asleep by 8pm. I know that I struggle with that so I usually take naps.

To make the days less strenuous we:
1.Plan TS meals. They provide a scheduled break during the day.
2. Avoid long lines. That 90 minute frozen wait might be suboptimal.
3. Take a short nap in the afternoon. We schedule time for our whole group to go back to their rooms every afternoon.
4. Take advantage of shows. Hall of presidents, carousel of progress, the american adventure, the movie in France etc are all your friends.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

This conversation is making me nervous! My ILs decided that our days at Disney would be Thursday and Friday, so I assume I will be walking all day both days. I'm planning to rest Saturday... will that be enough? Any tips for making the Disney days less strenuous?

Lots of WEDWay

 

[mollybloom]

Will this be enough? Probably. I've done marathon weekend with a group of couples for the past 5 years. We have a pretty wide variety of paces in the group and we usually do the parks everyday we are there. We take it easy and try and not walk too much, and everyone has been fine on marathon day.

The things I would think about:
Try and keep your time at Disney close to what your pre long run days are at home. IF you are used to walking 4 or 5 miles a day in your normal life it's probably not going to impact you too much to walk around Disney if it's a leisurely 6 mile day. A 13 mile day could be problematic.
Figure out your sleeping plan. The hardest part can be the early rising. How are you going to rest before the marathon. Some people do great at getting themselves to fall asleep by 8pm. I know that I struggle with that so I usually take naps.

To make the days less strenuous we:
1.Plan TS meals. They provide a scheduled break during the day.
2. Avoid long lines. That 90 minute frozen wait might be suboptimal.
3. Take a short nap in the afternoon. We schedule time for our whole group to go back to their rooms every afternoon.
4. Take advantage of shows. Hall of presidents, carousel of progress, the american adventure, the movie in France etc are all your friends.

This is super, super helpful!! I do walk a lot pushing my daughter in her stroller--and I can also use the baby as an excuse to skip long lines!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm a sucker for #math. So I wanted to see how @StarGirl11 accomplished an 8 hour marathon starting from J (which I confirmed). It's like the classic two trains leave the station at two different times and two different speeds when will they meet (one train is our runner and the other is the balloon ladies). Although the twist is you (or your train) did not travel at a constant speed, but was variable throughout the marathon. My goal was to see when the balloon ladies would have passed you in theory if running an even pace for a 8 hr marathon (18:11 min/mile) versus what you actually did with variable pacing. Once the trains meet each other (or are at the same place and time a person is "swept"). So for those not interested in math, please ignore the following...

Spoiler: #Train Math

I found your time based on your bib and description of your times. I used the splits provided by RunDisney from during the race to calculate your pace between mile markers. I assumed (which is a jump) that between mile markers with splits that your pace was even. Thus, you hit mile 5 at 1:07:37 and mile 10 at 2:16:24, thus the time between was 1:08:47 with a pace of 13:45 min/mile.



In theory, if you ran an even 18:11 min/mile (8 hour marathon) you would have been passed by the balloon ladies at mile 15.1 and thus swept. This can be seen in the above graphic with the box in black around 15.1 where the "even pace" and "balloon ladies" intersect at 10:36am.

But instead, because your are an experienced runner at faster paces you were actually at mile 15.1 at 9:40am roughly 54 minutes ahead of the balloon ladies. This is because up to this point in the race you were running a 14:27 min/mile.

You actually didn't get passed by the balloon ladies (in theory) with your pacing strategy until mile 24 when your time at mile 24 was 12:59pm as was the balloon ladies. You finished ~24 minutes slower than the balloon ladies after being even with them at mile 24. So you must have JUST made it past the last sweep point and then was able to be allowed to finish. Very lucky indeed!

The strategy worked for you because you weren't running an even 8 hour marathon. It worked because you were experienced and could run a 14:27 min/mile through 15.1 miles and this wasn't pushing you to your current physical limits. Although for someone who is projected at a 16:00 min/mile pace running the first 15.1 in 14:27 isn't feasible and would likely end up in a major slow down in the end ensuring a near inevitability of being swept. So your 8 hour marathon was lucky and only accomplishable because you were capable of actually going faster than an 8 hour marathon in the beginning of the race without causing you to succumb to a massive slow-down to the level of being swept. So yes, an 8 hour marathon at Disney is possible, but very unlikely for someone who has an actual physical limitation of running a faster marathon than the cutoff of 7 hours.

An interesting case-study.

My advice to those near the cutoff for finishing in a 7 hour marathon (16:00 min/mile). Do your best. If you do your best and fall short of your goals, then that's the best you could do. Don't try to "bank" time in the beginning of the race by going out faster than a 16:00 min/mile because this likely won't end well because of the physiological aspects of running the marathon (massive slow down at end if too fast in beginning because of fatigue build-up). I'm wishing you all the best of luck!

 

[daisyamy]

Lots of WEDWay

By far, that is my favorite ride post-race. Actually, probably my favorite ride in WDW!

 

[DopeyBadger]

So as I said previously, I'll setup a Dis'ers sheet with everyone's information on it for each race once the corrals come out (today... maybe... maybe....). As well as I plan to have a meeting place pre and post many of the races. However, there were a few (@FFigawi, @camaker , and @Keels ) who had mentioned a desire to have a Dis meet up at a time not during the race mornings. Do you all have a place, time, and date in mind that would work best for such a meet-up? I can include that in the packet I'm making and the earlier we plan for it the easier I can make it work into my Disney schedule. I'm getting so excited!!!

 

[mollybloom]

I'm a sucker for #math. So I wanted to see how @StarGirl11 accomplished an 8 hour marathon starting from J (which I confirmed). It's like the classic two trains leave the station at two different times and two different speeds when will they meet (one train is our runner and the other is the balloon ladies). Although the twist is you (or your train) did not travel at a constant speed, but was variable throughout the marathon. My goal was to see when the balloon ladies would have passed you in theory if running an even pace for a 8 hr marathon (18:11 min/mile) versus what you actually did with variable pacing. Once the trains meet each other (or are at the same place and time a person is "swept"). So for those not interested in math, please ignore the following...

Spoiler: #Train Math

I found your time based on your bib and description of your times. I used the splits provided by RunDisney from during the race to calculate your pace between mile markers. I assumed (which is a jump) that between mile markers with splits that your pace was even. Thus, you hit mile 5 at 1:07:37 and mile 10 at 2:16:24, thus the time between was 1:08:47 with a pace of 13:45 min/mile.

View attachment 210169

In theory, if you ran an even 18:11 min/mile (8 hour marathon) you would have been passed by the balloon ladies at mile 15.1 and thus swept. This can be seen in the above graphic with the box in black around 15.1 where the "even pace" and "balloon ladies" intersect at 10:36am.

But instead, because your are an experienced runner at faster paces you were actually at mile 15.1 at 9:40am roughly 54 minutes ahead of the balloon ladies. This is because up to this point in the race you were running a 14:27 min/mile.

You actually didn't get passed by the balloon ladies (in theory) with your pacing strategy until mile 24 when your time at mile 24 was 12:59pm as was the balloon ladies. You finished ~24 minutes slower than the balloon ladies after being even with them at mile 24. So you must have JUST made it past the last sweep point and then was able to be allowed to finish. Very lucky indeed!

The strategy worked for you because you weren't running an even 8 hour marathon. It worked because you were experienced and could run a 14:27 min/mile through 15.1 miles and this wasn't pushing you to your current physical limits. Although for someone who is projected at a 16:00 min/mile pace running the first 15.1 in 14:27 isn't feasible and would likely end up in a major slow down in the end ensuring a near inevitability of being swept. So your 8 hour marathon was lucky and only accomplishable because you were capable of actually going faster than an 8 hour marathon in the beginning of the race without causing you to succumb to a massive slow-down to the level of being swept. So yes, an 8 hour marathon at Disney is possible, but very unlikely for someone who has an actual physical limitation of running a faster marathon than the cutoff of 7 hours.

An interesting case-study.

My advice to those near the cutoff for finishing in a 7 hour marathon (16:00 min/mile). Do your best. If you do your best and fall short of your goals, then that's the best you could do. Don't try to "bank" time in the beginning of the race by going out faster than a 16:00 min/mile because this likely won't end well because of the physiological aspects of running the marathon (massive slow down at end if too fast in beginning because of fatigue build-up). I'm wishing you all the best of luck!

That was immensely interesting.

 

[surfde22]

That was immensely interesting.

Well stick around or go check out his training journal. It's littered with interesting math like that.

 

[FFigawi]

So as I said previously, I'll setup a Dis'ers sheet with everyone's information on it for each race once the corrals come out (today... maybe... maybe....). As well as I plan to have a meeting place pre and post many of the races. However, there were a few (@FFigawi, @camaker , and @Keels ) who had mentioned a desire to have a Dis meet up at a time not during the race mornings. Do you all have a place, time, and date in mind that would work best for such a meet-up? I can include that in the packet I'm making and the earlier we plan for it the easier I can make it work into my Disney schedule. I'm getting so excited!!!

Let me chat with @Keels and let you know

 

[Z-Knight]

I'm a sucker for #math. So I wanted to see how @StarGirl11 accomplished an 8 hour marathon starting from J (which I confirmed). It's like the classic two trains leave the station at two different times and two different speeds when will they meet (one train is our runner and the other is the balloon ladies). Although the twist is you (or your train) did not travel at a constant speed, but was variable throughout the marathon. My goal was to see when the balloon ladies would have passed you in theory if running an even pace for a 8 hr marathon (18:11 min/mile) versus what you actually did with variable pacing. Once the trains meet each other (or are at the same place and time a person is "swept"). So for those not interested in math, please ignore the following...

Spoiler: #Train Math

I found your time based on your bib and description of your times. I used the splits provided by RunDisney from during the race to calculate your pace between mile markers. I assumed (which is a jump) that between mile markers with splits that your pace was even. Thus, you hit mile 5 at 1:07:37 and mile 10 at 2:16:24, thus the time between was 1:08:47 with a pace of 13:45 min/mile.

View attachment 210169

In theory, if you ran an even 18:11 min/mile (8 hour marathon) you would have been passed by the balloon ladies at mile 15.1 and thus swept. This can be seen in the above graphic with the box in black around 15.1 where the "even pace" and "balloon ladies" intersect at 10:36am.

But instead, because your are an experienced runner at faster paces you were actually at mile 15.1 at 9:40am roughly 54 minutes ahead of the balloon ladies. This is because up to this point in the race you were running a 14:27 min/mile.

You actually didn't get passed by the balloon ladies (in theory) with your pacing strategy until mile 24 when your time at mile 24 was 12:59pm as was the balloon ladies. You finished ~24 minutes slower than the balloon ladies after being even with them at mile 24. So you must have JUST made it past the last sweep point and then was able to be allowed to finish. Very lucky indeed!

The strategy worked for you because you weren't running an even 8 hour marathon. It worked because you were experienced and could run a 14:27 min/mile through 15.1 miles and this wasn't pushing you to your current physical limits. Although for someone who is projected at a 16:00 min/mile pace running the first 15.1 in 14:27 isn't feasible and would likely end up in a major slow down in the end ensuring a near inevitability of being swept. So your 8 hour marathon was lucky and only accomplishable because you were capable of actually going faster than an 8 hour marathon in the beginning of the race without causing you to succumb to a massive slow-down to the level of being swept. So yes, an 8 hour marathon at Disney is possible, but very unlikely for someone who has an actual physical limitation of running a faster marathon than the cutoff of 7 hours.

An interesting case-study.

My advice to those near the cutoff for finishing in a 7 hour marathon (16:00 min/mile). Do your best. If you do your best and fall short of your goals, then that's the best you could do. Don't try to "bank" time in the beginning of the race by going out faster than a 16:00 min/mile because this likely won't end well because of the physiological aspects of running the marathon (massive slow down at end if too fast in beginning because of fatigue build-up). I'm wishing you all the best of luck!

But, did you account for the ground speed velocity of the unladen balloon ladies?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Well stick around or go check out his training journal. It's littered with interesting math like that.

 

[Ariel484]

This may be a dumb question, but are the Dooney & Bourke items pre-purchase? They are listed to be picked up like the commemorative pre-purchased items.

What site do you go to to pre purchase them?

You can either pre-order them or wait and purchase at the expo. Either way, they need to be purchased at the expo (unless there's a production delay like there was for the 2016 weekend...see below). If you pre-order, you do so under your Active.com account - log in and go to My Events, then Purchase Additional Merchandise. The bags will be there (whenever they are posted...I just looked and don't see them yet).

The advantage of pre-ordering is that you will FOR SURE get the bag you pay for. However, when you pre-order through Active, you need to pay additional Active.com fees, similar to what you pay when you register for races. So you'll be paying the retail price of the bag + tax + an additional 6.5-7%. In the past they have let annual passholders/DVC members return and re-purchase the bags at the expo to apply whatever discount the person is eligible for (I did this in 2015 to apply my AP discount), but I think they are doing away with that...and if you return and re-purchase, you don't get the Active.com fees back.

On the flip side - if you don't pre-order and choose to wait and buy at the expo, you don't need to pay the fees. But you could show up and the bags could be sold out (this is often the case with Princess - sometimes certain styles of those bags will sell out on day 1 thanks to personal shoppers, eBay-ers, and occasionally runners who arrive early...ahem). If you 100% MUST have a bag - if you would be devastated to miss out - I would recommend pre-ordering so that you know you have one. Either way, you get to pick your pattern placement. The CM/volunteers selling the bags should give you 5-6 to choose from. If they don't, ask nicely or try again later with a different CM/volunteer.

Normally the bags for the January weekend are not the most popular (I have my theories as to why but I've already rambled on enough about purses...) and actually end up at the outlets later at a discount price. But for the 2016 race bag there were delays in production and the bags were mailed out in March, so everyone who wanted one had to order. So we'll see what happens this year.

Not sure my thoughts are worth much since this will be my first marathon. Just had a talk with my mentor b/c I'm panicking about being swept. My long runs are at "you'll get swept" paces, but they are long. Done 18, 20, 23, and am doing 25 this Monday. My mentor says that I have to stop trying to run them at 15mm, which leads to 18, 19mm for the miles after mile 15, and just do them all at 17 (my magic mile is 11:40). She's an experienced marathoner and keeps telling me time on feet matters more than pace. I"m believing her!

I think you will be fine! I agree with your mentor that time on your feet is super important in training.

2 things to consider that will help you out on race day:
1. Adrenaline - the event you have been preparing for is finally here, you're surrounded by thousands of other runners, Mickey is there, etc. This will give you a boost!
2. Your corral. Unless you are the very last person to cross the starting mat, you will get some kind of time buffer. The "sweep clock" does not start until the very last person *starts* the race. So if you start, say, 30 minutes before that last person, you get an extra 30-minute buffer (see above for an extreme example).

 

[DopeyBadger]

But, did you account for the ground speed velocity of the unladen balloon ladies?

Darnit.... Alright, give me a sec....

 

[lhermiston]

So as I said previously, I'll setup a Dis'ers sheet with everyone's information on it for each race once the corrals come out (today... maybe... maybe....). As well as I plan to have a meeting place pre and post many of the races. However, there were a few (@FFigawi, @camaker , and @Keels ) who had mentioned a desire to have a Dis meet up at a time not during the race mornings. Do you all have a place, time, and date in mind that would work best for such a meet-up? I can include that in the packet I'm making and the earlier we plan for it the easier I can make it work into my Disney schedule. I'm getting so excited!!!

I would be hip to a meet and greet the morning of the marathon. I'm running solo, so it'd be nice to socialize a little and get my mind off the race for a few minutes.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

So as I said previously, I'll setup a Dis'ers sheet with everyone's information on it for each race once the corrals come out (today... maybe... maybe....). As well as I plan to have a meeting place pre and post many of the races. However, there were a few (@FFigawi, @camaker , and @Keels ) who had mentioned a desire to have a Dis meet up at a time not during the race mornings. Do you all have a place, time, and date in mind that would work best for such a meet-up? I can include that in the packet I'm making and the earlier we plan for it the easier I can make it work into my Disney schedule. I'm getting so excited!!!

As a non-marathon morning alternative...perhaps a Wednesday afternoon WWOS post-packet pickup meet? No reason we can't still do something marathon day, but would be nice to meet some of y'all at the start of the week as we will be spending a lot of time racing and in the parks and would be nice to put faces to (screen) names right away