Marathon Weekend 2023

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD1:
Our mud room is pretty disney’ed up. I also have a bigger Disney Christmas tree thing that goes in our Christmas village (that gets set up on top of those cubby-shelves in the mud room) and a Jim Shore Santa Mickey to replace the Halloween one starting whenever we put up the village. And you can’t see it, but my weekly planner whiteboard that is under the key rack has red/white polka dot divider lines and some time soon I’m going to get yellow Disney-font day of the week stickers made for it.

SAFD 2: I haven’t dnf’ed but I have intended to register for a race morning-of and then changed my mind when I got up because it was supposed to rain/thunderstorm during and then be 85 out. I ended up just doing it on my own after the rain went through and as predicted, the heat and humidity was terrible.

 

[Herding_Cats]

double post

 

[Sleepless Knight]

SAFD: No pictures to post, but it's obvious the moment you step in. Paintings from Star Wars and Sleeping Beauty adorn the walls along with statues from both as well on the shelves. I probably have a problem. My office also has a photo of me and Jedi Mickey, a baby Yoda nesting doll from Russia, an R2-D2 figure, and a Walt Disney Studios Burbank mug. The office also has up on the wall a framed medal display of all my 2019 Dopey medals (first marathon). They're proven in different ways to be good conversation starters. Besides that I spend enough time in my office when most people are not in the office during the year that I want to be reminded that I do have things I do outside of my office.

I have never DNFed a race. Came close a couple of times. I started my first Half Marathon off way too fast and about a half mile in, I felt an intense shin splint type pain in my shins. I wanted to call it a race right there and never do this again. Instead, I decided to slow down and move at a pain free pace until I was either swept or crossed the finish line, whichever happened first.

I was also very tempted to turn a half marathon that was not going my way into a 10K just to be done with the misery sooner. Fortunately, I refused to do so and that disastrous race became a learning experience that exposed a lot of mistakes I had been making in running that were not disastrous for half marathons, but could have resulted in an absolutely miserable marathon experience. I should note here that in both of these instances, I was plenty healthy and well trained so it was more about continuing to persevere. Stubbornness can help you finish a race, but if that leads to getting injured or making an injury much, much worse, then you need to reevaluate.

I did decide to turn the 2021 virtual Walt Disney World Marathon into 26.2 miles over 6 consecutive days because I was undertrained for a marathon, but had been running regularly. I ultimately concluded that it was better to keep running regularly over the rest of the month instead of stubbornly pushing myself to 26.2 miles in one setting and then doing nothing for the rest of the month in order to recover.

 

[MissLiss279]

SAFD:
Part 1) I don’t have a lot in my house readily visible that shows my Disney fandom, but I do display all my race pins on my walls (I guess they are bulletin board type things) in my office at work.

Part 2) My only DNF is technically my first Pikes Peak Ascent. I got pretty bad altitude sickness. I’m not sure I could even hold down much water, and I still felt terrible when I got off the mountain. I did make it to the finish, but I finished about 30 minutes after their cutoff time, so I am listed as DNF.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Greetings again WDW Marathon peeps! I took a long break from these forums, partly because of life stuff and partly because I lost a ton of motivation after not getting into Dopey. I am still signed up to do Goofy, but I wanted some advice from seasoned marathoners on this site. I am basically just starting my training now. I did 3 miles yesterday with no problem, but there is no way I can fully complete an actual marathon plan as prescribed and would have to just try to increase mileage from where I am. Is it a lost cause at this point? I am not worried about time at all, I just want to finish both races and need some encouragement or a reality check.

If it matters, I have run one full marathon and about 5 half marathons in my life.

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Greetings again WDW Marathon peeps! I took a long break from these forums, partly because of life stuff and partly because I lost a ton of motivation after not getting into Dopey. I am still signed up to do Goofy, but I wanted some advice from seasoned marathoners on this site. I am basically just starting my training now. I did 3 miles yesterday with no problem, but there is no way I can fully complete an actual marathon plan as prescribed and would have to just try to increase mileage from where I am. Is it a lost cause at this point? I am not worried about time at all, I just want to finish both races and need some encouragement or a reality check.

If it matters, I have run one full marathon and about 5 half marathons in my life.

Hope everyone is doing well!

My advice is to find a training plan that fits your schedule and recent (like within the last 4-6 months) running history. Start the plan at Week 1 and advance as scheduled in the plan. When you're three weeks out from MW that should be your peak week, and then you should taper from there as normal. So essentially instead of jumping ahead in your chosen training plan, instead cut off the plan's peak weeks and advance to the taper when the time comes. This is your safer option in that you won't be super aggressive in the beginning phases. You may end up slightly undertrained compared to doing the full training plan, but you'll give yourself the best chance at remaining healthy and lining up on race day to give yourself a shot. With all that in mind, you have 14.5 weeks until race day which is still plenty of time to adequately train. Whether you can finish or not comes down to your fitness level and if you're a 6:45 marathoner or a 4:30 marathoner. The faster you are at baseline, the more wiggle room you have in terms of an undertrained finish.

 

[1lilspark]

The January 9th magic kingdom after hours is just gonna be a marathon weekend after party isn’t it lol

 

[lookingforsunshine]

SAFD: office edition

Here are some Disney things in my office!


Eeyore and Zero (and a Hogwarts cup, which was a gift from a student)


Alice in Wonderland collection— roses (which last up to 2 years!), art, the book, a mug, and bunnies. I teach children’s literature so this collection makes sense!

 

[Barca33Runner]

Here I am, an admitted overdoing it at the parks addict. Telling everyone I’m cutting back on park time before/during MW 2022.

And then I see announcement for an After Hours Event on January 4 and my first thought is “I don’t need sleep before a 5k, we can go to the party and just stay awake until the race.” And my second thought is, “it’s probably the best thing to do, it will help getting on a better sleep schedule for the other races.”

 

[Barca33Runner]

The January 9th magic kingdom after hours is just gonna be a marathon weekend after party isn’t it lol

I tend to think so…but if people have successful DATW will there still be runners awake?

 

[Naomeri]

Here I am, an admitted overdoing it at the parks addict. Telling everyone I’m cutting back on park time before/during MW 2022.

And then I see announcement for an After Hours Event on January 4 and my first thought is “I don’t need sleep before a 5k, we can go to the party and just stay awake until the race.” And my second thought is, “it’s probably the best thing to do, it will help getting on a better sleep schedule for the other races.”

I just laid that plan out for someone on the running thread

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

My advice is to find a training plan that fits your schedule and recent (like within the last 4-6 months) running history. Start the plan at Week 1 and advance as scheduled in the plan. When you're three weeks out from MW that should be your peak week, and then you should taper from there as normal. So essentially instead of jumping ahead in your chosen training plan, instead cut off the plan's peak weeks and advance to the taper when the time comes. This is your safer option in that you won't be super aggressive in the beginning phases. You may end up slightly undertrained compared to doing the full training plan, but you'll give yourself the best chance at remaining healthy and lining up on race day to give yourself a shot. With all that in mind, you have 14.5 weeks until race day which is still plenty of time to adequately train. Whether you can finish or not comes down to your fitness level and if you're a 6:45 marathoner or a 4:30 marathoner. The faster you are at baseline, the more wiggle room you have in terms of an undertrained finish.

Thank you so much for your advice! My initial thought was to try to "catch up" to the plan I was going to use, but your way sounds a lot safer to prevent injury and still give myself a shot at finishing both races. My one and only marathon was a 3:58 finish, but I was in really great shape and weighed about 40 pounds less than I do now. I would be really happy just to finish the half marathon under 3 hours and the full marathon under 6. We shall see!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Here I am, an admitted overdoing it at the parks addict. Telling everyone I’m cutting back on park time before/during MW 2022.

And then I see announcement for an After Hours Event on January 4 and my first thought is “I don’t need sleep before a 5k, we can go to the party and just stay awake until the race.” And my second thought is, “it’s probably the best thing to do, it will help getting on a better sleep schedule for the other races.”

I started Dopey this year on about 4 hours of sleep after deciding to experience Rise of the Resistance 3 consecutive times the night before.

It was worth it.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

And then I see announcement for an After Hours Event on January 4 and my first thought is “I don’t need sleep before a 5k, we can go to the party and just stay awake until the race.” And my second thought is, “it’s probably the best thing to do, it will help getting on a better sleep schedule for the other races.”

woohoo let's party!

 

[Jennx36]

This will by my first marathon ever as well as my first Disney race ever. How many water stations are there throughout the course? Do they only offer water? Is it recommended to run with nutritional supplements to consume during the race?

 

[Sleepless Knight]

This will by my first marathon ever as well as my first Disney race ever. How many water stations are there throughout the course? Do they only offer water? Is it recommended to run with nutritional supplements to consume during the race?

While there are plenty of water and powerade stations along the course, I always carry my own just in case. I prefer to deal the hassle of carrying my own and not needing it to the disaster of not having it and needing it. In 2017, the Star Wars the Dark Side Half Marathon at Disney World was warm. The first aid station was completely out of water and powerade when the back of the pack, including me got there. While all the other stations were fine, I was glad to have my own.

I can sometimes get a super dry throat when running in the early morning no matter how hydrated I am so it's nice to know that I have it if I need it.

I don't remember how many water/powerade stations there are along the course, but there are always plenty. Many runners will tell you that at Disney races, you will be fine to run without water/powerade. While I agree that there are ample stations along the course, I just prefer knowing that I'm covered if I do need just enough to wet my throat.

 

[jmasgat]

This will by my first marathon ever as well as my first Disney race ever. How many water stations are there throughout the course? Do they only offer water? Is it recommended to run with nutritional supplements to consume during the race?

Disney will have water and Powerade available at each water stop. These stops will generally be every 1 to1-1/2 miles or so (more towards the latter half of the race). There are also a couple of stops that will have some kind of fuel (used to be gels, then sport beans, now ??), and also bananas. The course map in the digital event guide--when it becomes available a month or so in advance--will show the stops.

That said....you should ALWAYS have a nutrition plan for your race and practice it in training. You need to find what carb source works for you (sport drink/gel/chews/food/whatever) and plan on using that. If you want to rely on course carbs, you need to train with them.

ETA: Here is last year's course maps with stops shown.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=28.38744636101127,-81.56616950000002&z=13

Also, I saw this in the 2022 thread (from the event guide)..

"There will be 5 food stops on the Marathon Course. Between Mile 9-10 Honey Stinger Chews, Between Mile 14-15 Bananas, Just after Mile 17 Bananas, Just before Mile 21 Honey Stingers chews, and Chocolates just before Mile 23."

 

[pluto377]

SAFD
#1- I don't have too much Disney stuff in my house. My medals are mixed in with other races. We do have a lot of mugs and I have some backpacks. We also have one family photo in a disney frame. And I got the 50th soap dispenser on my last trip.

#2- My only DNF was the 2022 Marathon. I've told the story before but in case you missed it. I was attempting a Dopey. I finished Dopey in 2019 with no problems and wanted to try again to hopefully be a little faster and enjoy the experience more. But the pandemic and an extra 20 pounds have severely wrecked my running pace and it hasn't bounced back. So training for Dopey was kind of long shot to begin with. I did my best though and I think I was ready for the races. I wasn't ready for the heat.

By AK, I could tell things were not going well. I felt like I was burning from the inside, my fingers were completely swollen and I was not having any fun. But I pushed for a little longer. As I came out of AK and started back on whatever road that is where they tortured us with Hakuna Matata (which I think was the last straw for me) I heard them saying the balloon ladies were close. I made it to mile 20, found a patch of shade and just stopped. I was completely sobbing. I was so spent and so upset about not finishing with so little left to go. But there was no point in pushing myself further. I was traveling solo and really did not want to end up in a hospital in a different state all alone. And the big thing was it wasn't fun anymore. Races are supposed to be fun, not torture.

Anyway, someone came by on a bike and tried to console me and told me to just hang tight and the bus would be there soon. I got on the bus still sobbing. There were a bunch of other people on it already and some were upset but many others were having a good time, which kind of stung a little. It's hard to describe why exactly. I was disappointed that they didn't have any water or anything for us, especially since by then heat was the main reason people were dropping.

At the med tent I got my medal (since sold, along with the shirt) and some refreshments. I wasn't recovering well so they took me to main medical where there was a/c and more personal attention. They gave me a ton of fluid and said that I really needed more salt. I was taking gels every 3 miles and water at every stop, but it wasn't enough. I've since started training with salt chews every mile in hot weather and I've noticed great improvement in my stamina and how I feel the rest of the day after longer runs. Anyway, I was thankful that I wasn't in really bad shape. There were some runners in there in really scary condition, shivering, unable to walk, unconscious in one case. I was able to walk out about an hour later. Since I had been transported to the main medical tent which is right after the finish I did collect my challenge medals and subsequently sold them to recoup some of my costs. That took a little of the sting out.

It was a difficult thing emotionally and took a while to recover from, but physically I know I absolutely made the right decision. So while I'm still a little sad about it, I don't regret it. I'm hoping to try again in 2024!

 

[GollyGadget]

This will by my first marathon ever as well as my first Disney race ever. How many water stations are there throughout the course? Do they only offer water? Is it recommended to run with nutritional supplements to consume during the race?

I've only ever consumed water from the aid stations but I find there are enough of these that I do not carry my own. I will carry my own nutrition though and suggest you do the same. In addition to the fact that you'll want to practice and ensure that it's compatible with you, Disney's nutrition stops are at least 3 miles after I would want my first dose of carbs.

 

[matt and beth]

Greetings again WDW Marathon peeps! I took a long break from these forums, partly because of life stuff and partly because I lost a ton of motivation after not getting into Dopey. I am still signed up to do Goofy, but I wanted some advice from seasoned marathoners on this site. I am basically just starting my training now. I did 3 miles yesterday with no problem, but there is no way I can fully complete an actual marathon plan as prescribed and would have to just try to increase mileage from where I am. Is it a lost cause at this point? I am not worried about time at all, I just want to finish both races and need some encouragement or a reality check.

If it matters, I have run one full marathon and about 5 half marathons in my life.

Hope everyone is doing well!

I started last year running 1 mile in mid Sept. Did just fine building mileage and running Dopey. Granted I’ve done a lot of marathons and ultra when younger. You can do it! Ate very clean and lots of protein. Did something like Hal Higdon but on an escalated program with no recovery weeks.