Mickeyd’s 2014 WDW Marathon training and PTR

[zanzibar138]

I hope your knee continues to improve. For me too, my training is all about avoiding injuries! Good work with another PB though

 

[mickeyd78]

WDW Marathon Weekend Training – Week 8
When I left off last week, I was suffering from sore knees. A result of over doing it and possibly running in the wrong shoes.

Last Sunday I took myself off to a specialist sports shoe store to get myself properly fitted. All the staff there are podiatrists, so they should know what they are doing. They put me on a treadmill and videoed me running barefoot and then in a number of different shoes. Turns out I pronate, something I had long suspected, and the shoes I had been running in were not good for me. They tried me in several different running shoes, increasing the level of support until we found the shoe that corrects the problem. Let me introduce you to me new shoes…..

My new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13

I must admit I could instantly feel the difference in the support they give to the rear of my foot. I’m sure it will take a while to get used to running in them, but they feel good. Not as springy as my old shoes, but definitely more support.

My knees have been improving, but I decided to take this week very easy to give them a chance to recover. On Tuesday I did a very light 5km jog, at a pretty respectable 35mins. On Thursday I did a 5km walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground at lunchtime.

Thursday afternoon I gave in to my family and made an appointment with the physio for next Tuesday to get things checked out and hopefully get some advice. Now, whenever I make an appointment to see a health professional about a problem, that problem usually disappears completely before I get to the appointment. I always end up sitting in their office with no symptoms feeling like an idiot. Well, wouldn’t you know it, since I booked in with the physio my knees have pretty much been back to normal? Urggh! So frustrating!!.

So today, Saturday, I was able to go for a gentle 5km run with no pain. Hopefully I still feel good tomorrow. I was so happy to be able to go out and run without problems.

I’ll see what the physio says on Tuesday, but I hope to be able to get back to slowly increasing my distances again.

So, all in all a positive week!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Absolutely! A positive week indeed.

Love the new shoes.

 

[zanzibar138]

Glad to hear your knees are improving. I find that as well with medical problems and it's so frustrating But if all it takes for the problem to improve is to book in with a physio, it's a pretty good outcome

Good luck with the new shoes. Don't forget places like that usually have a 30 day return policy if they turn out to be uncomfortable after a few runs

 

[Minniemum]

Loving your Disney training t-shirt and new shoes. You certainly look the part. Hoping your knees haven't been causing you too many troubles this week.

 

[mickeyd78]

WDW Marathon Weekend Training – Weeks 9,10 & 11
Can’t believe it has been 3 weeks since the last update. I’ve been super busy and so much has happened.

So three weeks ago I went to see the Physio about my sore knees. The Physio was super nice and has been really helpful. My problems seem to be related to tight IT bands and weak glutes. A pretty common problem for new runners. The Physio ordered a week off running, and prescribed some strengthening exercises together with... the dreaded foam roller. She also went to town with some deep massaging to loosen up my ITBs.

During my no running week I went to the local pool to do some swimming, which I really enjoyed. I’m hoping as my training continues that I can keep going to the pool for cross training (time permitting).

After a week and a half I was able to do some short (20 min) runs using 1:1 run walk intervals, and built up to a 30 min continuous run the following week. All good and no knee pain, so the stretches, strength exercises and foam roller seem to be doing the trick.

While I was unable to run I picked up a copy of one of Jeff Galloway’s running books, which was really interesting and had lots of good info for beginner / novice runners like me. According to his philosophy, I have been running my long training runs way too fast. (Maybe this contributed to my injury?). I’m now building up my distances again and trying to slow things down, although it’s harder than you’d think to slow down your running. I’ve dropped down from a 2:1 run/walk to a 1:1 run/walk. I managed 8km on Sat and felt strong at the end. Although I must admit I probably still ran this a bit fast – 6:40min/km.

It has been frustrating having to reduce my mileage and work back up again, but things seem to be heading in the right direction. Originally I was hoping to do the Run Melbourne ½ Marathon at the end of July, but I might not be up to that distance by then. If not, I’ll enter for the 10km. We’ll see how it goes – my main priority is to build up my core strength and endurance without injury, so I don’t want to push things.

Trip Planning
On the planning front, we have now booked our race weekend accommodation at Port Orleans Riverside. I stayed there for the first time in 2012 and loved it. A really relaxing resort, so I’m looking forward to having it as base camp for Marathon weekend!

That’s it for this week!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sorry about the beginner runner issues. Building up the endurance and core strength seems like a good idea at this stage.

Glad you're booked into POR.

 

[zanzibar138]

Glad your injury seems to be getting better. Take it easy though and follow doctor's instructions - you don't want to make it worse! You've got plenty of time to build fitness.

POR is definitely where I'd stay if I was going to WDW

 

[bumbershoot]

Just read your PTR so far, very cool! I'm working towards the TOT 10-miler in October and then the 5K with my son and the Half Marathon in January. I, too, am using Galloway as my guide though I change it up a little bit. Glad you read some of his stuff to find out you're moving too fast!

I ended up totally messing up nutrition, hydration and caffeination on the same day I decided to go crazy with my distance, and that resulted in me fainting. And hitting the back of my head AND the backs of my shoulders, which hurts a surprising amount! I had to make umpteen promises to my family that I would eat enough, drink enough, not accidentally have twice the coffee that day, AND that I would only increase runs by 10% each week. 10% feels dreadfully slow, but it's getting my cardio system into better shape, and that's good.

And I have been experimenting with energy chews just like you! They really do make you feel better, don't they? Amazing.


Anyway, just wanted to say hi and that we're following a similar path to run at Disney World. But your flight and run will be a lot longer.

 

[mickeyd78]

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and that we're following a similar path to run at Disney World. But your flight and run will be a lot longer.

Hi bumbershoot,

I have come to realize trough this training that the most important thing is your health and avoiding injury. Injuries will stop you from running at all!

It has been great to connect with so many other Disney runners here, and I have enjoyed reading other people's reports.

The flight to the USA will be a killer - so hopefully I can sleep on the way.

Best of luck with your training and stay hydrated!!

 

[Minniemum]

Despite a minor setback with your knees it seems you made great use of your downtime. Swimming is a wonderful fallback position, it's even better when you enjoy it. Good to hear the Jeff Galloway book is helping.

 

[stephielela]

Just coming over to check out your training! It sounds like you have an awesome start! You are lightyears ahead of me! I really need to get my act together! I am following the Galloway plan for beginners too, but only registered for the full, so I don't need quite as much training as you. I'm glad the flights worked out etc. We are stayng at Port Orleans French Quarter that weekend! Can't wait to follow your progress, I am hoping reading about others training will keep me motivated to stay on track!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just coming over to check out your training! It sounds like you have an awesome start! You are lightyears ahead of me! I really need to get my act together! I am following the Galloway plan for beginners too, but only registered for the full, so I don't need quite as much training as you. I'm glad the flights worked out etc. We are stayng at Port Orleans French Quarter that weekend! Can't wait to follow your progress, I am hoping reading about others training will keep me motivated to stay on track!

Hello! How are you and Jack???

 

[mickeyd78]

Training - Weeks 12- 18
Goodness, I can’t believe it has been 7 weeks since my last update. Things have been pretty busy both personally, with a pregnant wife, and at work.

So when I left off (7 weeks ago!!) I was recovering from sore legs. The physio did great work and I was able to start building my distances again. That was until I got a man cold- which sidelined me for about two weeks! No fun to run when you can breathe! Anyway, once over the man cold, I was able to continue with my two weekday 5km runs and my weekend long runs.

The long runs have been building up:

• 11km
• 13.5km
• 16km
• 8km
• 19km
• 10km

I was particularly excited by my 19km (~12miles) run which I completed in 2:03:51. I never imagined that I could run this far (well, run/walk), and I now feel that I can now conquer the half marathon distance. Which is just as well because I have signed up to do the Run Melbourne Half Marathon on 21 July. This will be my first ever race and I’m hoping it will give me some good race condition experience before heading to Disney. It will also give me an official race time that I can submit to runDisney, and hopefully get me into an earlier corral (every little bit will help avoid the sweepers on Marathon Weekend.)

Unfortunately I have had a little bit of knee discomfort in the last week, so I have taken a week off my running to try and let it heal. Not ideal preparation for the half marathon in a few weeks, but better than aggravating it. So fingers crossed it comes good in the next few days so I can have a few runs before Run Melbourne.

I am enjoying the running, and have surprised myself by the distances I have been able to go – but the interruptions to the training plan (illnesses and injury) have been frustrating. Hopefully as my base fitness improves there will be fewer problems.

In another milestone, the Galloway Dopey Training plan started this week – which is exciting. For the time being I’m following Galloway’s half marathon training plan to get me to Run Melbourne on 21 July. After that I’ll switch over to the Dopey plan and my Dopey training will officially begin!.

Trip Planning
We have room only reservations for POR for the first 5 nights. Just waiting for the 2014 packages to be released by Disney to book the second part of our trip – which will be 9 more nights at POR. Packages are supposed to be released 10 July – so not long to wait. Out 180 days for ADRs is 11 July, so I am currently trying to decide where to book. The dinners after the race weekend are kind of a reward for us. 
The plan so far is

• Ohana
• Liberty Tree
• Via Napoli
• Sanaa
• California Grill
• Yak and Yeti (Lunch)
• Rose & Crown
• Ohana

Happy to receive any suggestions 

The only other thing to organise is our flight from LAX – MCO. I have been holding out for Virgin America to release their non-refundable fares for Jan – they still haven’t for the dates we want to travel. The fully refundable one way fares are $811!! I can’t imagine they will fill a plane with those fares. Frustratingly, while we have been waiting, the fares on AA (our second choice airline) have gone up $60. Oh well. I’ll give Virgin America until we get the Disney package booked in mid July, and if there are no non-refundable fares by then I’ll bite the bullet and book with another airline. Knowing my luck Virgin will release their cheaper fares the next day

Sorry it has been so long between updates! I promise to update more frequently! And thank you to all who have commented or sent me messages of encouragement.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good luck for the Melbourne run.

Your ADRs looks great. Did you book Ohana twice?

 

[mickeyd78]

Good luck for the Melbourne run.

Your ADRs looks great. Did you book Ohana twice?

Thanks PIO. Yes - we intend to visit 'Ohana twice. It's one of out favs.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks PIO. Yes - we intend to visit 'Ohana twice. It's one of out favs.

What about an ADR in DTD? If you're staying at POR, it will be easy to get to by boat or by Disney bus.

 

[mickeyd78]

Oops - yes DTD dining is on my radar too. I only posted my ADR ideas for the second part of the trip. The first 5 nights we have no park tickets - the idea being that it will remove the temptation to spend time on our feet in the parks - gotta rest up for the races! So for the first 5 nights we are planning Wolfgang Puck Express, Raglan Road and maybe Rainforest / T-Rex or House of Blues. I'm sure there will be more than one visit to Earl of Sandwich too. Just love that place.

 

[mickeyd78]

Training – Weeks 19 – 20
Week 19 of my training was a slow one. I took a week off running to rest my sore right knee. I skipped my two midweek runs, and did a 6 km walk with my Dad on the Saturday. The rest did me good, and my knee felt back to normal this week. I did two weekday runs of 5km each. They were a bit of a hard slog after a week off, but I took it easy and got through them without any discomfort or injury. Yesterday I did a 10km long run, which is my last long run before the Run Melbourne half marathon next week.

I’m glad I rested my knee and I’m feeling good physically for the half marathon, but I am also bit worried about how I will go – it has been far from the perfect preparation. But I’m looking on the bright side. I could have been worse. My knee could have kept me from even attempting the half next week.

So wish me luck for my first ever official race and first half marathon run next Sunday!

Trip Planning
Lots of exciting trip planning stuff this week. First we finally booked our flights from LAX to Orlando. I was hoping to go with Virgin America, but we bit the bullet and booked with American Airlines for $183 pp (Virgin was still showing $811!!). It’s a non stop flight that will get us into MCO around 4pm.
Second the 2014 Disney rates were released this week, so we were able to book the package for the second part of our stay – 9 nights at Port Orleans Riverside!! We paid it all upfront to guard against the pesky dropping Australian dollar.

Third, we made (most of) our ADRs!! Managed to get pretty early dinner reservations for the race days, as we will be having early nights to get up at 3am! Also I imagine I’ll be zonked after the marathon. Our list looks like this.

• Raglan Road
• House of Blues
• POR Foodcourt (for the nights before the half and full marathons)
• Ohana (post marathon dinner)
• Liberty Tree Tavern
• Via Napoli
• Sanaa
• Citricos (will probably replace with California Grill when it opens up for bookings again)
• Yak and Yeti (Lunch)
• Rose and Crown
• Ohana (yes, again)
• Chefs de France

Lots going on this week!

Hopefully when I post next week I will have finished my first half marathon!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congrats! Well done on locking in your accommodation and prepaying up front. And that's a great rate with AA for your internal flights.

Love you ADR list.


Hope your knee holds up for the half-mar.