Marathon Weekend 2017!

[BuckeyeBama]

Yeah, I need to probably do some heat training too and the easiest way for that is probably on the treadmill. Blech. Not sure I can actually make myself do that.

I agree - treadmill training is a great alternative, except for the treadmill part of the training.

 

[Princess KP]

RACE - Half
NAME - Karen
DIS'er name - Princess KP
Costume/Clothing - Keeping it simple - Running clothes but may wear my Ears as well
Corral - I
Early Bird or Late Arriver - Early
Front, Middle, or Back of corral - Middle
Expected Pace - 12:30

Thanks!

 

[jeremy1002]

Is everybody tapering now? One day in and I'm all
Spectating question: It looks like there is no bus to the WWoS during the marathon this year? It's DH's spot to meet me in the past so he rented a car. My question is: Is trying to drive around the day of the race merely a bad idea, or a really really terrible idea ? If he is leaving from the Beach Club do you think there is any way that will be an easy drive to see me at WWoS or should we just plan on him meeting me elsewhere? I know the boardwalk area has been discussed but I'm concerned he will never get back to the finish line on time if he and DS see me there on foot.

I'm wondering about this too. The guide says WWoS is available via personal transportation, so does that mean it can be done....

 

[hauntedcity]

The guy that's really active on the Dopey groups on FB hit two rides (Test Track, Mission: Space) during the half this year and eight rides during the full (EE, Primeval Whirl, Triceratops Spin,Dinosaur, RnRC, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Test Track. He had FP+ for both races and did not need to scan in to the parks for the FP+s to work.
.

That's so cool! Unfortunately, we don't have park tickets for this trip, so we can't create FP. NEXT year, however, I hope to have Annual Passes...

 

[UNCBear24]

Thanks, I'll talk to DH about it. In the past he has taken the bus to WWoS and back, and somehow has found a way to squeeze in a spot, climbing a post or whatever and seen me cross the finish to get a picture. But we have discussed that the picture MarathonFoto (or whoever it is now) takes of you crossing the finish line is so much better and at a great angle that it isn't necessary. Especially if you get those photos from MemoryMaker, we have APs so that may be the best way to go. Definitely less stressful for him. My selfish concern is that I am going to need moral support way before mile 24 or so, WWoS is the perfect spot for me, when I start to feel down, to see smiling faces I know and love.

My son drove to WWoS this year & met me just before mile 20 and was able to drive back to Epcot in time to meet me at the finish. Getting to WWoS took him much longer than normal due to the traffic though.

 

[pixarmom]

Thanks, I'll talk to DH about it. In the past he has taken the bus to WWoS and back, and somehow has found a way to squeeze in a spot, climbing a post or whatever and seen me cross the finish to get a picture. But we have discussed that the picture MarathonFoto (or whoever it is now) takes of you crossing the finish line is so much better and at a great angle that it isn't necessary. Especially if you get those photos from MemoryMaker, we have APs so that may be the best way to go. Definitely less stressful for him. My selfish concern is that I am going to need moral support way before mile 24 or so, WWoS is the perfect spot for me, when I start to feel down, to see smiling faces I know and love.

Same here! I would have never known it in advance, but I so appreciate that WWOS bus that showed up at Poly! It really was the perfect spot to see my family cheering, but given reports here I won't get too excited about the possibility of that happening again. And I've said meeting me at the finish line is just fine, so I'll go in with that expectation and it will be a treat if they make it to any other spot along the course.

 

[Wendy98]

Well as most of us start entering (or have entered) our taper for our Marathon Weekend races, I'll offer a suggestion for the next few runs. Heat acclimation training. If you've been training outdoors, then you're likely acclimated to whatever your current temp is (and it's not just us northerners dealing with cold, yikes @Keels 1 degrees in Dallas?!?!). So I suggest doing some heat acclimation training during this recovery/maintenance (the taper) time period of your training.

According to the research I've read, it takes about 14 days or 10 workouts to acclimate to a new temperature. So around today marks a good time to consider starting. For me personally, I typically dress in whatever I would normally wear for the weather conditions, and then act as if it's the next level of cold. So when I would wear shorts and tank normally in such weather, now I'll wear tights and a thermal. Or if I were to dress in a thermal and tights, now maybe a thermal+jacket and two tights. The point is to dress warmer than you need to be to create a micro-climate close to your skin. You want to be sweating and "feel" hot. This sweating and feeling of being "hot" will induce an adaptation in your body to acclimate to a warmer climate (primarily higher blood plasma and volume level, increased sweat rate, decreased salt amount in sweat, decreased fatigue rate of sweat glands, and quicker onset of sweating).

A few things to keep in mind if you choose to heat acclimate and have never done it before:
-Make sure to increase your fluid intake. Because you'll be sweating more, you'll need more fluids than a normal winter run. So make sure to stay hydrated. There is conflicting research as to whether dehydrated training is the key to heat acclimation, but I personally will not intentionally withhold water from myself.
-Be prepared to sacrifice some of the quality of your workout. You're going to be hot and you may find your pace will slow a bit naturally. In my opinion, that's ok. Don't push it. I would prefer to sacrifice a touch on pacing so that I can better prepare my body for the possible heat in Florida. The minimal gains made in pacing at this point in training would be far-outweighed by the potential gains made through heat acclimation training.
-When the run is finished, make sure to get inside quickly. Because of the excessive sweat rate for a winter run, you're more susceptible to getting cold quickly with all that moisture hanging around your body. So as soon as you finish the run, get inside your home, gym or car. Stretch indoors if possible.
-I will use this method on all types of paced runs from easy to long run to tempo so that my body acclimates at all types of paces, but more-so to get in the necessary workouts (or days) I'm looking for.

I used this strategy last year pre-Dopey 2016. When I left Wisconsin it was a wind chill of -50F (yea no joke that was crazy, but thankfully didn't have to train in anything that crazy last year, this year not so lucky). The Dopey marathon was one of the hottest and most humid yet. And yet coming from Wisconsin I was able to be within 10 minute of my goal marathon Dopey pace. I credit a good portion of this to my heat acclimation training I did before I left last year.

Any other suggestions for heat acclimation?

Sources:

http://www.irunfar.com/2009/02/heat-acclimation.html
https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/science-of-hot-weather-running/
https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/summer-training-for-a-marathon/
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/preparing-for-a-hot-race-while-training-in-the-cold

I have access to several different treadmills, including one at home. My favorite is the one in our community gym. I live in a mixed community of single family homes and different types of condo living. Also, it is mixed ages with the condo owners being a much older group of empty nesters. They seem to control the thermostat at the building where the community gym is. No lie: it is set somewhere in the 78-80 degree range when they plan on having a gathering (which is multiple times/week). I will sweat buckets on that treadmill. It is definitely a benefit to my training to run in that heat.

 

[Dis5150]

Those of you with experience at the marathon weekend expo - do you think there will still be marathon only products left on Friday or Saturday?

 

[ZellyB]

Those of you with experience at the marathon weekend expo - do you think there will still be marathon only products left on Friday or Saturday?

Our first year we went for our marathon run we got to the expo on Friday and there was still plenty of marathon products left. Not probably everything, but still plenty to choose from.

 

[mbwhitti]

RACE - Goofy
NAME - Beth
DIS'er name - mbwhitti
Costume/Clothing - Half-Minnie/Full-VIP Plaid
Corral - G (moving back to H for the Full)
Early Bird or Late Arriver - Late
Front, Middle, or Back of corral - Middle
Expected Pace - Half- 10min/mile; Full-Finsh

 

[PrincessV]

So--I'm in that category. Except I'm in a slightly better corral than I should be, which means I will not be swept. I feel really weird about it, though. I registered the day registrations opened (like at that minute) and that was in the spring, so I put my expected finish at 6 hours since that was the group I was training with. No POT--I ended up with a sprained ankle and never did the half I was going to do. It seems like something weird happened.

It happens - in fact it seems to happen a lot for me. I don't ask questions: I have enough bad luck in other areas of my life - I happily take the random good rD corral luck! My advice is to start in the back of your corral. You won't feel compelled to race off the start there and if you take it easy, you practically have the entire road to yourself for a bit until the faster runners form the corral/s behind you catch up!

My selfish concern is that I am going to need moral support way before mile 24 or so, WWoS is the perfect spot for me, when I start to feel down, to see smiling faces I know and love.

How about the AK parking lot instead?

Well as most of us start entering (or have entered) our taper for our Marathon Weekend races, I'll offer a suggestion for the next few runs. Heat acclimation training. If you've been training outdoors, then you're likely acclimated to whatever your current temp is (and it's not just us northerners dealing with cold, yikes @Keels 1 degrees in Dallas?!?!). So I suggest doing some heat acclimation training during this recovery/maintenance (the taper) time period of your training.

Um, my final 22-miler had a high temp of almost 90 and it's basically been "summer" since April... I'm DONE with heat acclimating, lol!

Joking (sadly, not about the heat - that's been all too real) aside, ITA with doing what you can to get ready for our FL heat and humidity. Things can change, but as of now I'm not seeing any real cooling trend in the long-range forecast: no weather experts seem to be expecting a cold front any time soon.

I have no good advice to give on heat acclimatization, but I can offer some suggestions on what to do/not do when it comes to racing in the heat/humidity...

SLOW. DOWN. Seriously. It's the #1 thing I do to survive long, hot runs here in FL. And don't wait to slow down until you feel overheated: the goal is to avoid overheating.

Don't make the mistake of over-hydrating: guzzling gallons of water in high heat/high humidity just depletes your body of electrolytes and that's BAD. Google hyponatremia. Hopefully by now you know of an electrolyte drink/capsule/gel/whatever that your body can handle - use it!

Lightweight, open-weave clothing. Tech fabrics are designed to dry quickly so that sweat can evaporate and cool us down... but sweat doesn't evaporate well or at all when humidity is high. Tech fabric is still the best bet, though, because even soaked through, it doesn't get heavy and tends not to chafe. If the heat is on, think twice about trying to do a heavy, hot costume - and be sure to pack a hot weather alternative.

Take it easy between races if it's hot, and spend time in the AC. It takes time for your body to recover from heat stress.

A couple other random suggestions from a Floridian:
~ Sunscreen. Yep, even in January. I applied it before my 22-miler Sunday, and reapplied halfway through: I still burned a bit.
~ Insect repellent. The recent uptick in heat has brought out swarms of mosquitoes - it's been really bad this week. I'm allergic to their bites, so it's an issue for that reason alone. But there are also lots of mosquito-borne diseases flowing around here in the sub-tropics, so it's not a bad idea to use something to ward them off, especially for the time we're standing around in the dark, waiting to start.

 

[IamTrike]

Any other suggestions for heat acclimation?

Sources:

http://www.irunfar.com/2009/02/heat-acclimation.html
https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/science-of-hot-weather-running/
https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/summer-training-for-a-marathon/
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/preparing-for-a-hot-race-while-training-in-the-cold

Like others have suggested, I find treadmill running to be an easier way to acclimate. I don't like wearing a lot of extra layers because it feels like it adds bulk.

Those of you with experience at the marathon weekend expo - do you think there will still be marathon only products left on Friday or Saturday?

We've been to the expo on Friday and there was stuff available for all the races. I was half jokingly going to say that they will only run out of the good stuff.

 

[Dis5150]

Our first year we went for our marathon run we got to the expo on Friday and there was still plenty of marathon products left. Not probably everything, but still plenty to choose from.

Thanks! I really just want a magnet and maybe an I did it shirt. But mostly the magnet.

 

[Z-Knight]

Thanks! I really just want a magnet and maybe an I did it shirt. But mostly the magnet.

Magnets will likely be gone. Those things, and wine glasses, go fast.

 

[rteetz]

Magnets will likely be gone. Those things, and wine glasses, go fast.

They might still have marathon magnets. I think it's the dopey, 5K, and 10k ones that go the fastest.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Thanks! I really just want a magnet and maybe an I did it shirt. But mostly the magnet.

I can pick you up a magnet on Wednesday if you'd like. Just let me know. We can figure out a way to get it to you.

 

[croach]

Those of you with experience at the marathon weekend expo - do you think there will still be marathon only products left on Friday or Saturday?

I'll just throw it out for anyone coming in later in the week - if there is something specific you want and you're afraid it won't be there, just let me know. I'd be happy to pick up stuff for anyone. I'll be at the expo on Wednesday hoping around 4:00.

 

[Dis5150]

I can pick you up a magnet on Wednesday if you'd like. Just let me know. We can figure out a way to get it to you.

That would be fantastic! I can paypal you the money if you PM me your paypal email. I have one from each race I have done so far.

 

[Z-Knight]

I'll just throw it out for anyone coming in later in the week - if there is something specific you want and you're afraid it won't be there, just let me know. I'd be happy to pick up stuff for anyone. I'll be at the expo on Wednesday hoping around 4:00.

Maybe DopeyBadger will make a shopping request spreadsheet for you so you can track it better.

 

[cavepig]

Thanks! I really just want a magnet and maybe an I did it shirt. But mostly the magnet.

You've already been helped out which is awesome but in case anyone else wanders --- Some magnets were left over and at outlet stores a month later this year, that's how I got my Dopey magnet. It's not the Mickey head shape one, it is more of an abstract shape. All "I did it shirts" were also at Outlets, how I got my "I did it shirt" (brother lives down there). I would think "I did it" shirts will still be there Friday but depending on which magnet you want it's a crap shoot. I also ended up with a marathon weekend cup from the outlet. They had a variety of things left over so I'm sure lots will still be there Friday, seems Dopey jackets are the hot commodity.