Marathon Weekend 2024

[jmasgat]

What's a good timeline to start training for Dopey? Would 16 weeks be enough? (Trying to figure out my plan for the summer)

Just me, but I like to build in a buffer of a couple of weeks--to deal with unexpected disruptions, i.e. injuries, life, extra rest, etc.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

What's a good timeline to start training for Dopey? Would 16 weeks be enough? (Trying to figure out my plan for the summer)

I transitioned basically right from a HM plan to a 15-week plan for the marathon, so I think you'd be okay if you're training for something else before that.

 

[azrivest]

All good advice thanks

I can absolutely start earlier and the point about the buffer in case of an injury is excellent. I'll aim for 18-20 weeks

 

[fatmanatee]

I transitioned basically right from a HM plan to a 15-week plan for the marathon, so I think you'd be okay if you're training for something else before that.

That’s a big if though! In a way you ended up creating a longer marathon plan.

Here’s what I used, was actually starting with six miles so you’ll definitely want to have somewhat of a base to start with.

 

[PrincessV]

All good advice thanks

I can absolutely start earlier and the point about the buffer in case of an injury is excellent. I'll aim for 18-20 weeks

I’m not sure how many weeks my Dopey schedules were: I’ve always just started from race weekend and worked backward to whatever my current long run was, usually 10. But +1 for adding a buffer for life, injury, weather - I always planned 3 longest runs of 18, 20, 20 with cut-backs in between and a 3-week taper after the last long run: that baked in some extra space in case I had to miss a long run or two anywhere in the plan, knowing that if 18 wound up being my longest, that was fine. Worked a treat years when some long runs in early fall got canceled by hurricanes. And years when nothing interfered with the plan, I was able to just reconfigure things to wind up with 18 and 20 as my longest runs and had an extra cutback or two in there.

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

I’m so excited to have an impromptu trip to WDW! We rented points from someone who needed to get rid of some before they expire, and we are headed down for a couple of nights this week!! We’re staying at Copper Creek (have never stayed there), and plan to just relax, eat, and drink . DH will have to work some while there, so we probably won’t go to a park. We managed to snag an ADR for Artist Point (haven’t been there before) for Monday night.
I just wanted to share my excitement here because I knew DisFriends would understand how wonderful an unexpected trip to Disney is!

 

[Baloo in MI]

I’m so excited to have an impromptu trip to WDW! We rented points from someone who needed to get rid of some before they expire, and we are headed down for a couple of nights this week!! We’re staying at Copper Creek (have never stayed there), and plan to just relax, eat, and drink . DH will have to work some while there, so we probably won’t go to a park. We managed to snag an ADR for Artist Point (haven’t been there before) for Monday night.
I just wanted to share my excitement here because I knew DisFriends would understand how wonderful an unexpected trip to Disney is!

Artist Point was a lot of fun. The Evil Queen made our night when we went! Have a great trip!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I needed all 18 weeks of my 18 week marathon training plan. While I had a solid base (could run 10 miles no issue) I underestimated the impact of long runs on my legs. I had a few weeks where my long runs really did a number on me, and my gait especially. I was glad for the step back weeks as mentally I really needed them, and physically. I plan to add 2-3 buffer weeks for Dopey training with all the holidays.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Good Morning runDisney All-Stars! It’s time for Sunday’s Are For Disney. Today’s question: Tell us your running origin story.

My Answer: I grew up in a family of runners, all of them ran in high school and some in college, and I have lots of memories of going to races to watch family run. I never felt pressured to run, but by the time I was eight I was competing in club track. I then went on to run in junior high, high school and then in college. I was more of a long sprinter - 400 & 800 meters. After my competitive career I struggled without structure to really stick with running. I did run some 5ks and followed the typical “what is next” movement from 5k to marathons before I let life and other goals get in the way. Though I would run on and off, I stopped consistent running for far too long. I picked it up about 10 years ago. I remember I saw an article about runDIsney, annd immediately thought I want to do that! I ran my first runDisney race in 2015 (Goofy Challenge) and have never looked back. I have grown to love long distance running. I hope to keep the past 10 years of running going far into the future!

 

[DisneyParrothead]

SAFD: I’m the classic athlete who hates running. I blame the timed mile in middle school. I played soccer and lacrosse in high school and lacrosse for three years in college, then slowly gravitated towards running after graduation. My dad did his first Disney half in 2004 and my mom did her first in 2005. I never thought I’d follow in their footsteps, and then I did Princess as my first half in 2012.

I love 10k’s and dropped down to that distance because of my ITB. I did my first ten miler during Springtime this year and loved it. I don’t know if I want to do half marathons again, but I keep busy.

 

[flav]

SAFD: I usually start my answer to this type of questions with describing when I formally started running but reading previous comments about school brings me to much deeper reflections this morning.

As a kid, I was not very good in any given sport, not a natural. I hated being marked on my performance at school because physical education was always bringing my average down. However, the one constant in my life was answering Yes! to any request to participate (call me extrovert). Most often it would be because a team was missing a player or a friend needed company. That brought me to biking around town, skiing on the slopes, trekking and camping, hockey playing (I did not know how to skate, borrowed equipment from my cousins and showed up at the game), taking squash lessons, singing in a choir, playing soccer and flag-football and eventually running. I stayed in decent shape pretty much all my life and always had excellent cardio and lung capacity (probably genetics). I remember going on a few runs around my neighbourhood in my early 20s because my choir director had said it was a good idea, doing a charity 5k in my late 20s and occasionally accompanying my colleagues for their lunch runs in my 30s.

My formal running journey started in 2016 when a colleague asked if I could do a C25k program with them. In 2017, I found myself alone (the other was injured doing Winter sports) and asked for a plan to race a 10k. By then I had learnt about runDisney so my second race was at the Wine and Dine Challenge. To this day, I love both running outside (going now!) and celebrating through racing (look at my new race official merchandise shoes for next weekend!).

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: I'm an adult onset runner. Played sports growing up and even ran track during middle school but never really enjoyed running. Fast forward many years and one of my older brothers had gotten into running. Since I lived in Atlanta I told him if he came down to run the Peachtree on July 4th I would run it with him. He did and we did. For the first couple of years my running would start in late April and end July 5th. So I started adding additional races to my calendar to keep me motivated to keep running. Over time I found things like a HM or even a full marathon that once seemed insane suddenly calling to me. Did my first marathon at Disney thinking it would be my only one. Needless to say, the Mouse has taken a lot more of my $ since and given me lots of smiles and memories in return. After 15 consecutive years of the Peachtree that streak came to end but happy to say the running journey it started has not and I can't imagine not running anymore.

 

[jpeterson]

SAFD: I always said I'm not a runner, I will never run. I had lots of "reasons". I was too heavy, it was bad for my knees, I would hurt myself, etc. During COVID after gaining a lot of weight initially, I decided to use the isolation to work on my health. Lost a lot of weight. With it, I lost a lot of excuses. So I started walking on my wife's treadmill using iFit. I really enjoyed the guided hikes through the grand canyon and the like. Saw a "first 5k" series with John Peel that was 60 workouts long in total. Decided to go for it, and i would reward myself with a 5k at Disney World.

I finished that series and kept going. By the time the races returned I did the 5K & the 10K. A year later (this year) I did Dopey. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with the process. I ended up with an injury post-Dopey and could not run for months.

Today was my first run since February and I had so much worry and apprehension. I was convinced it wouldn't be the same, it would be awful. But as soon as I hit start on my watch, it all clicked into place. I felt slow, I felt heavy, for sure but I also just felt right. So glad I got out there today. Looking forward to another runDisney season!

 

[fatmanatee]

Started in college, albeit very casually, ran one 5k, otherwise it was usually just routes around campus in training shoes that were probably not entirely appropriate for running. Kept it up after graduation and did one NYRR race, a 5 miler in Central Park. Still have that medal, they look MUCH different than what you get for races now, I don’t think they even give out medals for this specific race anymore. After that it took ten years for me to sign up for anything else. Saw a IG post in 2015 from a friend who was really into it, think it was celebrating “International Runners Day” or something and I figured what the heck, i’ll sign up for a half marathon. Was starting to get into Spartan-type races at the time too. Searched around and settled on Atlantic City of all places and went ahead and booked a trip out there. The last few miles were absolute agony bc I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t train enough and I probably thought that was the last of this until I found out they had Star Wars themed races at Disneyland with a cool medal. Here I am now.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I’m going to steal @GuinnessRunner ’s phrase, “adult onset runner” because it’s hilariously accurate. I hated running as a kid, because I can’t properly breathe when I run (which is still true, but run/walk solves the issue). During the pandemic, I decided I needed to get in better physical shape because I saw what aging in bad shape was doing to my mother. So I started home workouts, and then started walking.

I found virtual cumulative mileage challenges and realized that I’m bling-motivated. Then I found the runDisney virtual Lion King summer series, and read the Galloway method stuff and was like “maybe I can do that without dying?” and lo, and behold, I didn’t die running a 5K!

So maybe I won’t die running a 10K? Nope, still alive!

Do I dare a half? Still not dead!

Now, I’m contemplating Dopey in 2025…we’ll see if I die

 

[camaker]

SAFD: I'm sure most here have read my running origin story and are tired of it, but I'll share it again anyway. I was always a team sports person who thought running without chasing a ball or frisbee was pointless and boring. Ultimate Frisbee was my adult sport of choice. I'd been on the heavy side since college and the combination of that plus the Ultimate led to knee surgery in 2009. The surgeon told me to stop playing sports and to even avoid walking up and down stairs whenever possible or I was going to need a knee replacement before I turned 50. That along with my father's passing away earlier in the year threw me for a loop and I ballooned up to 335#.

In 2013 I decided enough was enough and started watching my calories and walking to get active again. I could walk ~1/2 a mile before having to rest. I increased my distance as I could and the weight came off. By late that year I was able to start playing Ultimate again and I ultimately lost ~155#.

In January, 2015, my PT asked me to run the W&D half with him. I thought that was a crazy idea, but agreed to try it. I quickly ran a 10k for PoT in April and found I enjoyed it. My first half was in June. We weren't able to get registered for W&D, but I was invested in the idea at that point and registered for the 10k, half and full at MW 2016. I had an absolute blast that weekend and have burn running Disney ever since.

 

[azrivest]

SAFD:

I started running in 2016 after DD was born. I spent a lot of time with her in baby swim and stroller workout groups. At the end of my maternity leave, I was actually in pretty good shape (and I hadn't been so slim in years, thanks to breastfeeding) I wanted something more than pushing a stroller and waving my arms. I started off with a few 5ks, then challenged myself to my first 10k in June 2019. I heard that Disney had races where you could actually run through the castle, but only half marathons and + did that. I thought running a Half for "fun" was insane, but I really really wanted to run through the castle. I remember running 8k for the first time and crying because it felt so hard. Never imagined I could go all the way to the half distance. But I worked hard and finished my first HM in COVID 2020, hoping to sign up as soon as runDisney restarted.

Last October, I ran my first full and am now signed up for Dopey 2024 Great way to celebrate my 40th year of living!

 

[Grabnar]

SAFD: I'm very much a pandemic runner, I started running in 2020 to lose weight so I could qualify for the vaccine trials and like Forrest just kept running. My first "race" was the virtual 10k for W&D in 2020, aiming for a very slow Dopey and Double Dare this coming season!

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD: Gained 50 pounds with my wife when we had our first child. Looked at myself in a the mirror and thought what the hell. Tried going back to swimming at first but they weren’t always open for laps and it was very inconvenient. Started running to fill in the gaps. It was painful and I hated it. After a while became addicted and then obsessed running a first marathon that was followed by many trail ultras. Then took a long hiatus when the 3rd was born but back after it 10 years later running a couple of Dopeys with my daughter to keep her a promise

 

[WillRunForPizza]

SAFD: I played softball growing up, and when I got to high school, they had slowpitch in the fall and fastpitch in the spring. After my first season of slowpitch freshman year, I said, "Never again," but I needed a "reason" to drop it and still play fastpitch, so I signed up for cross-country. I ran cross-country for the next three years, but never trained outside the season and didn't take it very seriously.

Then for the next 5 years or so, I ran very occasionally when I felt like it. I did other forms of exercise, so I was pretty much always capable of running at least a few miles but never really trained. When I lived in S Korea for a couple of years teaching English, I started running a bit more frequently and found it to be really good stress relief. Before then the farthest I had run was about 6 miles, but during that time I found myself doing 7+ mile runs and feeling good.

When I came back my running sort of dropped off again, but I still had in the back of my head that I actually could run more than 6 miles (this was previously in some doubt), and in 2017 I decided to sign up for a half marathon. I wouldn't say I followed a plan, exactly, but I did train more consistently than I had since high school and felt pretty good about it. But then I was finishing grad school while starting a full-time job and didn't have time for running, so it went away again.

Then in 2022 I somehow latched on to the crazy idea that I should run a marathon, and I wanted to run it at Disney. (I had actually signed up for the 2020 Wine and Dine HM to get back into running, but obviously that didn't happen.) Despite the fiasco that was registration day, I did manage to get a bib and immediately panicked and started looking for more info on the race than rD posts on their website. That led me to the DISboards, where I learned about not just Disney races but also training in general and have now been training consistently for just over a year!