Marathon Weekend 2019

[roxymama]

Catching way up. Here's my thanksgiving thoughts:
I'm thankful that I feel relatively normal and the same after my first ever marathon experience because I honestly wasn't sure if I'd be unable to walk for a month.
Thankful that my family is supporting me going on this crazy long weekend adventure with my dad in January and at this point the running thing seems secondary to our chance for some bonding after a very tough year.
Thankful that treadmills exists (CRAZY, I KNOW) because it's already feeling too cold outside to go for even weekend runs outside.

 

[KSellers88]

SAFD:

• I am thankful for family and friends who support my crazy running adventures, especially my husband. He bikes on long runs with me, wakes up at crazy hours to walk me to start lines, and drove a group of sweaty runners across the state in May for Run Across Georgia.
• I am thankful that my body has allowed me to run 11 half marathons this year and hopefully one more half marathon and a full marathon.
• I am thankful for a job that has flexible hours so I can run in the afternoon since I am NOT a morning person.
• I am thankful for this board and Instagram and the friendships I have made along the way. I would drive my family and friends crazy if I didn't have y'all to talk to about running.
• I am thankful for Sprite and Reese's cups, which have always been there for me at the end of every long run.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

I am thankful for Sprite and Reese's cups, which have always been there for me at the end of every long run.

Ha! I love this!

 

[jennamfeo]

I am thankful that we have less than 50 days until Marathon Week(end) Shenanigans can begin!

 

[rteetz]

I am thankful that we have less than 50 days until Marathon Week(end) Shenanigans can begin!

Ugh, I mean I want it to come quickly but I need more time for training lol.

 

[jennamfeo]

Ugh, I mean I want it to come quickly but I need more time for training lol.

Sometimes I forget that races are happening.

 

[FFigawi]

Sometimes I forget that races* are happening.

*Fun runs. You spelled races wrong.

 

[jennamfeo]

*Fun runs. You spelled races wrong.

 

[roxymama]

*Fun runs. You spelled races wrong.

Well I do consider the time between character/photostops/margaritas as mini races. I will race everyone ahead of me to get to the next line before them.
But I also will slow down purposely at the finish line to allow people to bypass me so I can get a better end photo. So yeah...I guess we can't call the thing as a whole a race for me

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Even if you pay for race retreat for the half and/or full it’s a very very very long walk to the corrals and you’ll want those layers.

Very good to know.

I am thankful that we have less than 50 days until Marathon Week(end) Shenanigans can begin!

Almost terrifyingly close. Seemed like it would take place sometime around forever when I registered in July.

 

[ErinBoBerin]

Question for everyone who does park days before the races - do you still do taper runs? I'm worried that a couple of morning 5ks plus full days in the park will be too much, but also worried that just walking around won't be enough.

 

[roxymama]

Question for everyone who does park days before the races - do you still do taper runs? I'm worried that a couple of morning 5ks plus full days in the park will be too much, but also worried that just walking around won't be enough.

This is only my personality but when doing a short shakeout run around so many people that could also be runners and in such a neat environment I'd have to be super careful to make sure I am running SLOW ENOUGH on my short easy runs. To really take it easy.
Also for me, if I am staying up late in parks and waking up early for rope drops, etc...it's the sleep more than anything that my body needs those days leading up to my races. So my priority would be to get the right amount of sleep first and then fit in SLOW EASY short little runs if they do not sacrifice your sleeping.

But that's just me.

 

[IamTrike]

Question for everyone who does park days before the races - do you still do taper runs? I'm worried that a couple of morning 5ks plus full days in the park will be too much, but also worried that just walking around won't be enough.

I've done it both ways. In general if I am doing taper runs in addition to touring I usually keep them a little on the shorter side. In years where I am doing Dopey I usually run Tuesday at home, take Weds as a rest day and then count the 5K and 10k as taper runs.

 

[FFigawi]

I've done it both ways. In general if I am doing taper runs in addition to touring I usually keep them a little on the shorter side. In years where I am doing Dopey I usually run Tuesday at home, take Weds as a rest day and then count the 5K and 10k as taper runs.

I follow this approach too. Last long run the Sunday before the full, an easy run on Tuesday, rest day on Wed, and use the 5k and 10k as easy runs before the weekend.

 

[ErinBoBerin]

This is only my personality but when doing a short shakeout run around so many people that could also be runners and in such a neat environment I'd have to be super careful to make sure I am running SLOW ENOUGH on my short easy runs. To really take it easy.
Also for me, if I am staying up late in parks and waking up early for rope drops, etc...it's the sleep more than anything that my body needs those days leading up to my races. So my priority would be to get the right amount of sleep first and then fit in SLOW EASY short little runs if they do not sacrifice your sleeping.

But that's just me.

Great thank you. Definitely keep that in mind.

 

[cavepig]

Question for everyone who does park days before the races - do you still do taper runs? I'm worried that a couple of morning 5ks plus full days in the park will be too much, but also worried that just walking around won't be enough.

Not really. This year with 'just' the marathon we did run a couple miles after landing on the Thursday, then didn't run again until the marathon on Sunday. Partly because it had been -20 when we left here so running was sucky & I wanted to just run without freezing for like 20ish minutes, but didn't really need it. When I did Dopey, I flew in on Tuesday and didn't run until the 5k and was fine as it was the shakeout run. We fly in Wednesday this year and I doubt I'll run anything until the half, it will be my 'shakeout' for the full. I find the park walking to be just fine for me and didn't need extra runs. I would rather get a bit of extra sleep than run a couple miles for miles sake.

I am thankful that we have less than 50 days until Marathon Week(end) Shenanigans can begin!

Woah, less than 50, really. It's just creepin' up fast!

 

[lahobbs4]

I have spent the past 4 days in the parks either pushing my 5 year old in a stroller or carrying her on my hip. My body hurts SO much worse than after running! I’ve convinced myself that if I can finish this week at the World strong, then I can definitely conquer Dopey

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Question for everyone who does park days before the races - do you still do taper runs? I'm worried that a couple of morning 5ks plus full days in the park will be too much, but also worried that just walking around won't be enough.

I've found that for me, walking around the parks is sufficient to maintain fitness, but as @DopeyBadger points out below, that walking has essentially replaced 1 or 2 training days at most.

So my priority would be to get the right amount of sleep first and then fit in SLOW EASY short little runs if they do not sacrifice your sleeping.

I agree with this. I feel better if I've slept "decently" the night before a half.

I have spent the past 4 days in the parks either pushing my 5 year old in a stroller or carrying her on my hip. My body hurts SO much worse than after running! I’ve convinced myself that if I can finish this week at the World strong, then I can definitely conquer Dopey

I caught a nasty cold about 2 weeks before the 2012 Wine & Dine Half. Between the timing of that cold and time in Disney World before the half, I only did one of my last 5 taper runs. I still felt less than great on the flight to Orlando and worried that it might cost me my dreams of finishing the Coast to Coast that year. My first full day in Disney World was slightly better, but I turned a corner the next day. I wound up finishing that races just 5 minutes slower than my Disneyland Half roughly 10 weeks earlier with an extra photo stop thrown in. Finishing that race mere days after recovering from a cold and then doing my normal Disney World park touring heading into that race convinced me that the idea of doing my first multi race challenge was very possible.

So yes, some park touring can be a type of training for Dopey.

 

[AFwifelife]

I've done it both ways. In general if I am doing taper runs in addition to touring I usually keep them a little on the shorter side. In years where I am doing Dopey I usually run Tuesday at home, take Weds as a rest day and then count the 5K and 10k as taper runs.

This is exactly what my DopeyBadger plan states for the week of Dopey.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Question for everyone who does park days before the races - do you still do taper runs? I'm worried that a couple of morning 5ks plus full days in the park will be too much, but also worried that just walking around won't be enough.

I guess the question would be - how many runs would you be converting from taper runs to park days? If it's 1-2, you're probably fine. If it's 7-8, then that's probably going to leave you a bit stale come race day.

My wife requires 99% participation from me on our runDisney trips with the family. So I've got to do full parks like everyone else in the family and race too. In my experience, this is what I've done. In theory, I write my plans to emulate the # of days per week in training during the taper as much as possible. Run 6 days per week in training, then taper is 6 days per week as well (although, the volume is dropped and the last intense exercise is about 10 days out from race day). But arguably two of my most successful Dopey attempts have come when I had to adlib the training and cut out a day. So in theory, I would do Mon and Tues as easy days, and then Wed as an OFF day. Then PR attempts at 5k, 10k, HM and Full. But I've found having Tuesday off as well has not precluded me from a successful race day(s) experience.

The other consideration to whether a taper run in FL might be a good idea is a little heat acclimation training. Research shows it takes about 10 days to really start to acclimate, but some HAT helps more than nothing. Since I come from WI (where most of my last training runs are done in wind chills as low as -30F, not much sweating, blood is thicker, etc.), I spend the last couple of weeks of training doing Heat Acclimation training (WAY overdress in training to force significant sweating and trying to cause my body to adapt and thin out my blood, produce more sweat). Haven't really needed the HAT the last two years since it's been cold. But if it were warm, I use this as a substitute for "having" to do any FL runs prior to the races to help acclimation. So it's an additional consideration as to whether a run in FL for taper is a good idea.

Training in the cold, but racing in the heat: The need for heat acclimation

Something I'll add to this that I didn't back then though. Make sure you consider cutting the cool down short so that you don't start to get the chills from removing your personal heat source.