Another recommendation is to keep in mind the options that are available. Although I generally agree with the advice of "don't try anything new on race day," things went off the rails during my first marathon. I could not stand anything solid, including my gels (that worked great for all of my long training runs). Somewhere in the looooong stretch between GF and AK I remembered someone from this board's recommendation of walking each station, taking some Poweraid followed by water.
Something similar happened to me. I realized before I was about to take in my normal race morning applesauce the day of the marathon that my body did not even want applesauce and just might rebel. I had read that a plain bagel with peanut butter worked for many people, and it actually sounded quite good at that time. So as much as I still try to adhere to nothing new until race day, I am flexible if I need to be.
For this week's Sundays are for Disney, I want to know ... why do you run? What motivates you? And why did you choose the particular race(s) you plan to run next month?
I started this insanity because I really wanted the Sleeping Beauty Castle medal that you got for finishing the
Disneyland Half. I had a difficult first race, but finished. I didn't enjoy the experience, but I wanted the Coast to Coast medal, so I decided I could tolerate it for two more times in order to earn that medal. Except the second and third times I actually had fun.
Busy life forced me to take about 18 months off from running after 2012 Wine & Dine, but the Star Wars races proved to be sufficiently motivating to get me back into this.
I still look forward to the medals, but the perspective has changed too.
Ultimately I decided on Dopey 2020 because I enjoyed my first Dopey (and marathon) in 2019. The anniversary year of Goofy meant I would at least do that and even the possibility though now not realized of a Chip and Dale medal for the 5K or 10K was sufficient to get me into another round of Dopey.
I finally signed up for the marathon when I realized that it was something I wanted to experience for myself. It took me years to reach that point, but I just sort of knew the time had come to challenge myself in that direction.
When I first heard about Dopey, I thought those people were totally and completely insane. Now it seems like a good next goal!
I thought the same thing when I saw Goofy runners after my first half at Disneyland in 2011. I could barely even move that day and could not fathom doing a 5K that day, let alone a half.
I'm only doing the half, but will be walking all day at the park the day before.
I've finished many half marathons and even Dopey after spending the previous day in the parks. I'm not at all fast, but it is very doable.
I wanted to go out and excel. I have decided that excel just means something different now. To excel is to challenge myself, to push through the tough times and to be present in the moment.
I really like this. Whenever I attempt to run faster, I almost always get intensely sore during and/or after that run. Sometimes to the point of excessive pain. Maybe I will never be fast. But given my family history of foot problems, I am extremely grateful that I can handle these races without debilitating pain for days or weeks afterwards.
To the point of being in the moment, I resolved to make sure that my first marathon would not be a repeat of my first half marathon. I allowed myself to stop for photos and knowing how sweeps work helped me to not miss out on the runDisneyness of it all by fearing the sweep.