Marathon Weekend 2025

Damp cold is no joke @PrincessV -- great job getting out there!

By comparison, my weather station this morning here in northern Vermont:

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And here's my road (and Jack & Zero hanging in there):

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So my 3-hour LR today will definitely be on the treadmill in my relatively toasty basement! Let's call it early heat acclimation training.

EDIT TO UPDATE: My insane ultra-runner neighbor just ran by on the road in his yellow safety vest with hardly any extra layers on. He's such a show off! :crazy:
I'd run in that weather (assuming I could find the road), and wouldn't have many layers. Fleece-lined leggings and my thermal top with a t-shirt under it. I'd probably actually wear my gloves, but I don't know how long the mitten part would stay over my fingers 😁
 
It was in the 40s when I started my 3 hour run so I asked for one of my Christmas presents early - a pair of Janji running tights. 🤣 (I had sent my husband the link when I saw them on sale.) I LOVED them. I might have to pony up the $100 for the black pair (not that I wear leggings very much while running, haha). I wore one of my runDisney long sleeve shirts and fingerless gloves. Took off my gloves and rolled up my sleeves about 2 hours in. It was getting too hot for the pants around the 3 hour mark, but thankfully that was when I was done. So now you all can hate me. 🤣
 
Add me to the list of people planning on treadmilling a long run today. My plan is to shoot for 2 hours, but I honestly have no idea how it'll go since I haven't done a dedicated run since (checks garmin) the 2nd. I'm at about 30 hours of refereeing this month, but I'm going to need to find the balance between reminding my body what structured intervals feel like for a longer run and not wanting to over-do it. I'm completely OK with doing a *lot* of walking for the full if that's what my body needs, so getting there healthy is on the top of my list.
Those 30 hours still count as time on your feet and you can always adjust your intervals as needed. Plus you have multiple marathons under your belt already so that helps too.
 
Did my 20 miler today and it was definitely my worst training run to-date. It was really cold but I started feeling tired around mi 11. Perhaps I wasn't fully recovered from my half marathon last Sunday. Anyway, I was able to make new running friends who kept me going from mi 14 to 17, but once they stopped I totally struggled. Walked the last 2.5 mi, and now been so tired, forcing myself to eat/drink, etc. I'm scared as this is how I felt during my first marathon training cycle back in 2019, and I completely hated running the full marathon. I had been doing well so hopefully this is just a 1-off, but it also shows how helpful it is to run with others. Definitely open to running with someone if they're in the 10:30 mi pace (or a little slower, to be honest).

You've got this. If you aren't planning on running for a PR, consider giving yourself permission to go into the race with a slower goal of maybe 11:00 per mile by either stopping for a few pictures, enjoying the sights/sounds, etc. It can make a huge difference as you have a bit more confidence by "easily" hitting the pace each mile and feeling good while doing so and saves some energy for the end. These races are also easy to make new running friends at. If you don't find someone from the boards before the race, you can just say out loud on the course "I need a run friend right now" and I can almost guarantee you'll get several volunteers to chat. It's part of what makes these races so great.
 

You've got this. If you aren't planning on running for a PR, consider giving yourself permission to go into the race with a slower goal of maybe 11:00 per mile by either stopping for a few pictures, enjoying the sights/sounds, etc. It can make a huge difference as you have a bit more confidence by "easily" hitting the pace each mile and feeling good while doing so and saves some energy for the end. These races are also easy to make new running friends at. If you don't find someone from the boards before the race, you can just say out loud on the course "I need a run friend right now" and I can almost guarantee you'll get several volunteers to chat. It's part of what makes these races so great.
Thanks so much (and to others as well) for the encouragement! We ended up having to cut my husband's birthday dinner short last night and I definitely got sick this morning before I finally felt better. Whatever went wrong went wrong. I like the idea of slowing down my pacing. I will talk to my coach about that and get her perspective, too. The entire goal for this marathon is to enjoy it, so I don't mind going slower. Plus, I will definitely remember to reach out for company!
 
Got my 20 mile run in this morning and glad to be done with longer runs. The weather was pretty good. Started off in the high 30’s and then warmed to low 50’s by the time I finished up. I did take my new race day shoes for this run because “nothing new on race day”. I am torn. My pace was definitely faster and I had no hamstring cramping at all. But my calves got really tight around mile 14 and I could some IT band irritation coming on. I am guessing this was coming from the plate, since I am not used to that. So I will have to make some decisions in the next two weeks on what I am going to wear for the run.

For whoever introduced the board to the maple syrup packs, thank you! I brought two on my run today to use between GU packs. They are a little moment of heaven on the course. Each time I grabbed one I felt like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation when he is drinking the egg nog during his meltdown “that’s good, that’s good”.
 
Hi!
I'm new to the board, and so happy to find all of you great people!
I also did my 20 miler today, as I bet many here did as well!
It was a huge accomplishment for me, as I'm about to turn 58, had heart surgery for atrial fibrillation 16 months ago, and could not walk around the block. I have about 800 miles in the rear view mirror now!

Looking forward to making some new friends in 3 weeks!
 
@Z-Knight can you re-post the pic of the banner you made for us so I can add it into the doc?

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It's 3 feet tall - so hopefully visible on OUR light pole


Every mile is Tiring...is literally my motto now. lol

FYI - Those 6 little medals on the side of the banner (and the castle design, etc) are an Easter Egg. Hopefully you'll understand it at our first meetup. ;)
 
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For whoever introduced the board to the maple syrup packs, thank you! I brought two on my run today to use between GU packs. They are a little moment of heaven on the course. Each time I grabbed one I felt like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation when he is drinking the egg nog during his meltdown “that’s good, that’s good”.

If it wasn't me, I was definitely among those pushing Untapped (and the like). It totally feels like cheating every time I get to have one!
 
OK I'm gonna jump in with a SAFD!
We're almost here! We are just over 2 weeks away! So this is a two-fer!

First: What is your ONE (I mean it!) tip, trick, or wisdom that you can share about having a successful race or race weekend?

Second: What is an attraction you've *never* done in WDW parks? (If you've done everything, what's your "never again" attraction?)
 
SAFD:

The thing that helps me the most on race weekends is to be super organized with all of my race costume pieces the night before the race. I'll put on my shirt and pre-pin my bib, have allllll of the pieces in one place, charger cords ready to get me back up to 100% while I'm making coffee and eating my first breakfast, spi belt pre-packed with fuel and any other miscellaneous things, etc. I have all of the lists.


I've never been on Splash Mountain/Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Or Kali River Rapids. Maybe this coming trip I'll get on Tiana's.....
 
SAFD:

The last thing I do before shutting things down and going to bed is to post the "flat me" of the next morning's race costume to my social channels. When I'm bored in the corrals, or in a slow spot on the course, I'll pull up the responses and encouraging comments to keep me going.

I'm pretty sure I've done every attraction over the years. I'll do any ride once, though I'd be hard pressed to get on Tower again -- I really hate falling.
 













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