Official 2015 Disney Marathon Thread

[Nole95]

Anything you can do to get out of the last corral would be good. P was the last corral this year, and it was probably 6:30 when it went off.

I was in corral H and went off about 6:00.

 

[Radiorox]

Signed up for the Full!!!

I did my first ever Half (in Miami) this Feb. Started the Galloway program in October after meeting the man during the Expo for the 10 miler (We did the 5k) and it's been great for me! Managed to cut my 5k time down from 48 mins to 36.

SUPER excited and nervous!

Woohoo!!

 

[lovingeire]

You probably know this, but it doesn't HAVE to be a half marathon to submit for the marathon...anything 10 miles and longer will work. I know 10-milers are harder to find than half marathons but just wanted to throw that out there.

I'd definitely submit SOMETHING...as a PP said it could end up being a pretty long wait otherwise!

Yes, there are limited options here for the rest of the year since it's so hot and humid. I know it will drive DH nuts to have to weave through the crowds and I don't want him to be turned off from Disney races forever. (After all he'll be running at my pace for the 5K!) I found one in Talladeaga in September, but he doesn't want to travel and use vacation time/money for a race so I will hold out for something a little closer to home for him I guess.

 

[goofeygirl]

I use Honey Stinger gels and love them! They're super easy on my tummy, and taste WAY better (to me anyway) than the GU.

I agree. I bought a box of Gu's but got a couple of free Honey Stinger gels from a race I was in a few months ago...they were salty caramel pretzel! At first I thought...ew no way...but I packed them in my waist pack and ate one of them more than halfway and my gosh those are good!

 

[goofeygirl]

Anything you can do to get out of the last corral would be good. P was the last corral this year, and it was probably 6:30 when it went off.

I was in corral H and went off about 6:00.

I know there were a few posters on here that did not submit a proof of time on time and ended up near or at the back. Some of them were fast runners.

I was in the dead last coral in 2013...actually the last to cross the start line in both races....while it was a cool challenge to move forward thru the crowds....it was a long wait and I don't want to be back there again.

Plus, there is no one left to cheer you on! All the other corals have gone!

So submit something for now if you have it....anything....and if you run another race before Oct 10th with a better time than email that....otherwise you could and probably will end up in or near the back.

 

[FFigawi]

Just heard that the full is now full. Says 99% but not taking entries. Poor Goofy. 10th anniversary, cool new medal, and it's the last one left standing.

 

[ZellyB]

I never would have guessed Goofy would be the last one standing this year.

 

[PrincessV]

Poor Goofy. 10th anniversary, cool new medal, and it's the last one left standing.

Crazy! Truly never saw this coming.

 

[FFigawi]

Crazy! Truly never saw this coming.

Me neither. Cue the "I only want to run the half. Can my husband/wife run the full with my bib?" questions in 3...2...

 

[FloridaNative8]

Is November too late to do a half to submit for the marathon. DH is running the full and there aren't a ton of races here in the summer (FL panhandle) and that was the only half I could find prior to the marathon that is local. I think he'll go nuts if he's stuck in the back.

No advice for ya, but I'm from the Panhandle (lived there for 24 years of my life, and go back often), and wanted to say hi!

 

[PrincessV]

Me neither. Cue the "I only want to run the half. Can my husband/wife run the full with my bib?" questions in 3...2...

Yep!

 

[GBBTomorrow]

Thanks for all the hydration/nutrition tips, everybody. There are lots of good ideas there and now several months to try to find what works best before January!

 

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Registered for the Full in January--haven't run an event since 2011, or much at *all* for the past year-plus. Guess I'm a glutton for punishment? Particularly since I'm aiming for the Coast-to-Coast in 2015. I've only run a single Half (DL 2009) and two Full events before (including WDW 2010). Performed worse in my 2nd Full than in the first, and my knees hurts badly I swore I'd never do it again. Ha! But I'm not getting any younger, so...here we go, I guess. Let the self-imposed suffering begin!

 

[SunDial]

I am doing the Goofy in 2015. I did the ToT in 2013 and did the half in January. I trained but in September all went south with my dad's deteriorating health and passing. Times were terrible but I did finish. This year is going to be the redo. But I have a question for the long time runners and coaches.

Everything I have read says that to add a minute to the run for every 10 degrees over 60. Well in South Florida 60 degrees is not going to happen.

During the summer time which is just about all year long my training is done in mid 80's to mid 90's and them some with close to 100% humidity.

The question is that with training at 12 to 13 minute miles in the South Florida heat would the reverse hold true with gaining time for 10 degree drops in temps?

Was just wondering that if the temps get cooler for the marathon weekend how much time could one pick up.

 

[FFigawi]

This is where running by effort or with a heartrate monitor comes in handy. You will naturally have a slower pace for a given heartrate in the heat. When temperatures cool off, you will be running faster at the same BPM and level of effort. It's a much easier way to approach it than randomly adding or subtracting minutes.

 

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Was just wondering that if the temps get cooler for the marathon weekend how much time could one pick up.

There must come a point of diminishing returns--in 2010 there were record lows for a couple days leading into full; the temp was 30 degrees (and felt like 19, according to TWC) at the race's start, and I sure didn't pick up three minutes/mile. And then you gotta figure in the effects of brain freeze from icy Powerade...

 

[Nole95]

I made a PR in the half in Atlanta in March 2013 with temps in the upper 40s at the start. I did that with some very good training.

On Thanksgiving weekend 2013 I ran another half while training for the 2014 marathon. The temperature at the start for that one was 19. It was probably a combination of the cold and the harder marathon training, but I shaved 3 minutes off my PR during that race. I move pretty good in the cold weather, but humidity is not my friend.

 

[miker1251]

This is where running by effort or with a heartrate monitor comes in handy. You will naturally have a slower pace for a given heartrate in the heat. When temperatures cool off, you will be running faster at the same BPM and level of effort. It's a much easier way to approach it than randomly adding or subtracting minutes.

Well said. I started using a heart rate monitor this year. It has made a big difference in how I train.

 

[PrincessV]

The question is that with training at 12 to 13 minute miles in the South Florida heat would the reverse hold true with gaining time for 10 degree drops in temps?

Was just wondering that if the temps get cooler for the marathon weekend how much time could one pick up.

This is where running by effort or with a heartrate monitor comes in handy. You will naturally have a slower pace for a given heartrate in the heat. When temperatures cool off, you will be running faster at the same BPM and level of effort. It's a much easier way to approach it than randomly adding or subtracting minutes.

Couldn't agree more! After coming near heat stroke a couple times in our hot FL summers, trying to maintain a cooler weather pace, I learned to run by perceived effort, not numbers on the Garmin. Honestly, there are days that just feel more comfortable and I can turn out a faster pace, even in August, and there are days when I wind up walking a whole lot more than I'd like to keep from overheating. Overall, I find it saner and safer to focus on how I feel during these crazy-hot months.

As far as running in cooler weather after a summer of training in FL, for sure - I'm easily a couple minutes per mile faster at the same perceived effort. It's nothing I specifically set out to do; it just happens. An added benefit is that if we do have warm temps in Jan (as happened this year for the half) we Floridians are well prepared; at 70*, I was in my element, not cursing the heat!

 

[N880EP]

I know there were a few posters on here that did not submit a proof of time on time and ended up near or at the back. Some of them were fast runners.

I was in the dead last coral in 2013...actually the last to cross the start line in both races....while it was a cool challenge to move forward thru the crowds....it was a long wait and I don't want to be back there again.

Plus, there is no one left to cheer you on! All the other corals have gone!

So submit something for now if you have it....anything....and if you run another race before Oct 10th with a better time than email that....otherwise you could and probably will end up in or near the back.

I didn’t submit a proof of time for last year’s Marathon and ended up starting in Coral N at 6:25am. Although it wasn’t ideal standing around for that long the fireworks and overall vibe made it much more tolerable and enjoyable. My overall net time put me with a top 600 finish, so I passed quite a few runners. The only spots where it got really congested for me was:

- Making the turn from Epcot Center Drive to World driver (the exit ramp goes down to 1 lane). about 1.75 mile mark.

-Getting back onto World Drive after you pass through the transportation center. Starting at Mile 4

-Coming up Main Street and turning into Tomorrowland. Just after Mile 5

-Exiting Magic Kingdom and going down Floridian Lane (goes down to 1 lane). Between Miles 6 and 7

-Finally entering the race track through the tunnel. Mile 8.5

After entering the track I never had any issues with congestion or weaving through crowds. As a side note, going into the run I was convinced the entire run was going to be congested and I wouldn’t be able to open up and run the pace I wanted to run. Aside from the spots I mentioned above that wasn’t the case at all. I did a poor job of managing my energy (sped up way too much at mile 17), otherwise I would have easily PR’d (missed by just under 2 minutes).
I now have a much better proof time and will start closer to the front this year, but if you do start in the back its not terrible, you just have to be patient.