Marathon Weekend 2023

[surfde22]

Great thing about training in upstate NY is I've had training runs where my water bottle started to freeze.

That was me on Sunday. 6 miles into my 16 miler and it was frozen. Last 10 weren't a ton of fun without water, but I made it.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Another CO resident, and I'm with family just north of Colorado Springs. My parents used to live in the mountains and their heat came up through the floor and made everything super cozy. I miss that. Thankfully I have a treadmill at home and my parents also have a treadmill. I used to live in Wisconsin as a kid too, and it got really cold there at times. Thankfully it's two days, but i have a feeling my cat will be plastered against me for warmth. I won't complain because she's a little heat machine.

 

[luv2cheer92]

1-3 inches of snow/ice here tomorrow. That isn't much snow at all, but the ice worries me a little. We had a quarter inch of ice last week as well. I will be at my parents' house this weekend and the low Sat morning is 1, with a projected wind chill of -22. That will likely be my coldest run ever, thankfully only 6 miles. I do just fine in the teens-20s, 30s is really my preference of temp. I get super warm very fast, but that first .25-.5 mile will be cold I'm sure!

 

[jmasgat]

We are looking at a low of 15 here in Austin. I'm right there with you!

As long as we don't have a repeat of snowmeggedon of 2020 it will be ok.

Good thing my Christmas care package to my son--also an Austinite--included homemade hot chocolate mix!

 

[The Expert]

What is crazy my parents live at a ski area, Keystone and they will be warmer than us even though they live at way higher elevation...

That happens here in Utah too when we get inversions. They are nasty as they trap polluted air in the valley and it gets stuck until we get enough wind to flush it out. The air above it is crisp and clean and sunny, so everyone just escapes up to the mountains when we get more than a few days of it at a time. It happens a lot in January and February, sometimes for a week or two at a time -- ICK!

 

[Bree]

I just joked with my husband about turning my thermostat up to 74 a couple hours ago. When we lived in Massachusetts that would never have happened due to the cost of oil.

I texted this earlier to my husband. We live in the east side of Orlando. I’m wondering if I’m gonna walk out to ice in the horse water buckets!!!

 

[Naomeri]

I just joked with my husband about turning my thermostat up to 74 a couple hours ago. When we lived in Massachusetts that would never have happened due to the cost of oil.

I texted this earlier to my husband. We live in the east side of Orlando. I’m wondering if I’m gonna walk out to ice in the horse water buckets!!!

View attachment 726646

I’ll trade you!

 

[WxKristin]

As a meteorologist, I'm loving this discussion. Hope everyone is able to stay somewhat warm through this arctic blast.

Also -- and I know you all know this -- Don't trust a forecast more than 5-7 days out. Even then for knowing specific conditions for the race we are much better at 2-3 days out. Climatology is more useful at this point for January than anything Accuweather can produce.

I'm going full into the 90s theme and layering for various weather. Too hot and I'll drop the windbreaker and leg warmers.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I use something like this to get a general view of what Orlando weather is like during the time and dates of Marathon Weekend.



And it agrees with the local FL residents. The weather tends to be very unpredictable in FL at this time of year. You have a nearly even chance of ideal, good, ok, not great, and bad weather. You can also see examples of weather turning from "ideal" to "bad" within a two-day span in a single year. So the 5k could have "ideal" weather and the half marathon "bad" weather and it wouldn't be all that surprising. The one trend I do see in the eleven years of data is that as it goes from Jan 6th to Jan 12th we see more "ideal" days shift to more "bad" days. Jan 6th has 7/11 ideal or good, Jan 8th has 5/10, Jan 10th has 4/11, and Jan 12th has 2/11. With the races occurring Jan 5th-8th, the chances are higher that there will be "ideal" conditions versus "bad". But that's only the chance and certainly not definitive.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

If anybody is looking for activities to do in the house, I just remembered what I did when I lived in Dallas and we hosted the Super Bowl. The Monday before we had an ice storm roll through, and since their inclement weather policy is wait for the sun to melt things, everyone was stuck inside for 4 days. It was cloudy that whole time, the sun wasn't shining much and it didn't get above freezing.

I had stairs inside my apartment and I turned it into a stairmaster since I couldn't even walk to my complex's fitness room, it was so icy. Just the top step, so I wasn't climbing the staircase. Just step up and down, up and down. I did that for a good 30 minutes and boy were my legs sore the next day. Since I was inside I got a good sweat going as well.

 

[PrincessV]

I had stairs inside my apartment and I turned it into a stairmaster since I couldn't even walk to my complex's fitness room, it was so icy. Just the top step, so I wasn't climbing the staircase. Just step up and down, up and down. I did that for a good 30 minutes and boy were my legs sore the next day. Since I was inside I got a good sweat going as well.

This is how I train for “downhills” in a place with no hills, only I also have no stairs, so I use a step-stool.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I’ll trade you!
View attachment 726648

Wanna trade with southeastern Wyoming? (I don't actually live here, this came through Twitter)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1605242738076553221

 

[Naomeri]

Wanna trade with southeastern Wyoming? (I don't actually live here, this came through Twitter)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1605242738076553221

But are the roads clear enough to run on?? Just kidding, I don’t need to freeze my face off

 

[Novatrix]

You know, every once in a while, I think it would be nice to trade my NJ property taxes for a LCOL area of the country.

Then I read about weather in said other areas of the country, then realize "Nah, I'm good."

 

[Baloo in MI]

I am in Mid-Michigan, so we never know what we will get. Weather is saying 5-7 inches of snow, but the weather often goes north or south of us (or slams right into us...). So this means we will get between 2 inches and 10 inches. What worries me is that we are expecting single digit temps and winds of 40mph, so I suppose the windchill is going to be awful! Decided to move my long run from Saturday to tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can get it out of the way before the I am asking myself again why I left California for Michigan!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Will the Dopey character stop be in MK or does he move around the course?

I think I only saw Dopey on the course during the 2022 Marathon where all characters were socially distanced. I think all other years (2019, 2020) he was in the family reunion area afterwards and usually with a very long line. For 2019, I had dinner at the Snow White character meal that Dopey appeared at.

SAFD: No costume for me, but as for ornaments… let’s just say my wife has said I am cut off for the next decade.

It took me a few years, but I think I can start to retire some ornaments I purchased as "filler" ornaments.

This might be an unpopular opinion but I don't really like the shoe ornaments so last time I ran the marathon I had one customized instead (Dale even got a cute little Mickey medal). Chip & Dale are two of my favs plus this was the first marathon that finishers got ear hats .

I did that 2018 ornament for the Dark Side races. I am giving thought to having some of the ornaments customized with medals from past years since I didn't know you can do that.

Where is the last place on the course for the full that a person might purchase an adult beverage? What about those enormous donuts? I feel like I need to cross the finish line with something in my hand.

I planned to cross the finish line of the 2019 Marathon with my non alcoholic fruit smoothie in hand. It tasted so amazing that I finished it off shortly after leaving World Showcase.

SAFD: rD wants an early-90s theme? I’m bringing my real-life early-90s game for the 10K: Red Hot Chili Peppers tee, vintage flannel shirt I’ve actually owned since ‘92 when I snagged it from my grunge band boyfriend, and Nirvana Mickey ears. Smells Like Teen Spirit, baybee.

I think this means I should only use 90s Weird Al songs for my Weird Al playlist for at least one of the races.

@DopeyBadger

Race- 5K
DISer name- Sleepless Knight
Real name- Keith
Costume/clothing- maybe, not sure yet. Depends on weather and how I feel. May bring back shoulder plushie baby Yoda again.
Estimated POT: 1 hour I take the 5K very easy for Dopey.
Club runDisney- No
Pre race meet up- if I can find it. I usually can't.
Front, Middle, or Back of Group- middle in all likelihood.
Early bird or late arriver- usually early, but not crazy early
Expected race pace: walking only. If I break a sweat for the 5K, I'm doing it wrong.

Race- 10K
DISer name- Sleepless Knight
Costume- maybe, see above.
Estimated race pace: 1:40. My only goal for the 10K is to not get swept.

Race- Half Marathon
DISer name- Sleepless Knight
Real name- Keith
Costume- may go with my Darth Vader tech shirt depending on the weather.
Front, Middle, or Back- aiming as close to front as I can pull off without getting up too early.
Estimated race pace: 3:15, but whatever happens, happens. I only aim to not get swept and have some photo fun if I can swing it.

Race- Marathon
DISer name- Sleepless Knight
Real name- Keith
Costume- not likely. I will keep my BYU shirt in the biggest race tradition alive.
Front, Middle, or Back: front
Estimated Race pace: Unsure. I've only run Disney marathons. I believe that with no stops, a 6:30 is possible, but I have too much fun stopping. So my goal is to simply enjoy the race, not get swept, and hopefully never hear any worrisome news about the balloon ladies and their position to me.

MK is now scheduled to be open until 1am the night before the 5k. I'm insanely considering it. How bad of an idea could it be? We have no parks scheduled for Thursday (other than some photos at Epcot). I guess I'll ask my family what they think.

I went on Rise of the Resistance 3 consecutive times after 5:00pm the night before Dopey this year. I left DHS after the park had closed and had a late dinner at my resort. I finally went to bed at 11:00pm instead of my usual 8:30 or 9 before races. I avoided long lines the rest of the trip to preserve my back. It was off heading into Dopey that year, but this little adventure had minimal impact. Maybe more sore, but nothing I couldn't deal with.

In other words, it's doable before the 5K, but you may have to adjust bedtimes or park strategies after doing this to make sure you're not excessively tired.

 

[Bree]

I’ll trade you!
View attachment 726648

Hahahaha!!! I moved away from New England for a reason. My adult nephew moved in with us in September and flew home to Maine this morning to spend Christmas with his parents. He was NOT happy to go home to that weather

 

[DopeyRunner486]

Bracing for the brutal winter weather here as well! Shoveling will be my exercise the next couple days.

 

[garneska]

@DopeyBadger what are your thoughts on training for the next few days as everyone hits the deep freeze? Ok at this point I am just looking for if things don’t go quite as planned am I good since I have done my plan so far? I did peak week last week. I also got my tempo run in today. According to my plan, I would be off tomorrow, then 6 EB on Friday and 10 LR on Saturday. I prefer no treadmill but if I stick to plan it would be both days. My thought to avoid two days if TM is to run EA tomorrow and then try as best I can to get 10 miles at LR on the TM om Saturday. I know it is not ideal but I figure at this point having tired legs on saturday is not so big of an issue.

thoughts?

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Look who I ran into on the running trails here in the Dallas area this afternoon. Hey @Cabius!

I had been keeping an eye out for a blue runDisney shirt and took a chance it was him. Lol