Official 2015 Disneyland Half Marathon Thread.

[croach]

I th

Hmmm ... that's something to think about. I wasn't really planning on doing a true taper since I have W&D four weeks later and I'll be on week 10ish of full (or Goofy) training for January - by that time, in my training plans, I'll be trying to maintain a 25-30 mile/week base, along with back-to-backs if I decide to run Goofy. Guh!

I think it depends if you are going to try to PR one of these races. If not then you can just use DL as a training run for W&D/marathon.

 

[Keels]

I think it depends if you are going to try to PR one of these races. If not then you can just use DL as a training run for W&D/marathon.

PR? Please. I plan on winning the whole thing!!


Just kidding!

 

[mbwhitti]

Ermagerd. The husband and his buddies all unlocked multiple levels of the "Slow Down" badge this weekend. It was supposed to be my birthday party but it somehow turned into a big bottle share for him and his buddies! Jerk!

That really stinks about your calf. I'm sure a little rest will do the trick. I'm trying to decide if I really want to do another half before DL. There's one here in August (ugh, gross, so hot), but it's the same course as the one I ran in March that I HATED.

We were eating lunch at a Brewery, and he was doing a tasting.. all I kept hearing was "I got this badge...I got this badge" bless him.

Yea, I'm taking the week of from running. I need it, physically and mentally at this point.

 

[Keels]

We were eating lunch at a Brewery, and he was doing a tasting.. all I kept hearing was "I got this badge...I got this badge" bless him.

Yea, I'm taking the week of from running. I need it, physically and mentally at this point.

They're so adorable when they're obsessive, aren't they?

I'm taking a little break this week too. Mentally, I'm on the struggle bus.

 

[Ariel484]

Struggling over here too. I finally, FINALLY felt some real motivation to get back to it this week (the post-Dopey depression was REAL), and then I tweaked my knee during strength training class on Friday. It feels fine most of the time but started bugging me right at the end of my run yesterday. And I was having shin pain, which NEVER happens to me, so my shoes went in the trash and I'm shutting it (running) down for the rest of the week.

I have a 10-miler 1 week from Saturday and I am not expecting greatness there...just going to treat it as a training run where I get a cool medal at the end.

 

[Slogger]

Wow....looks like a lot of us are riding the "pain" bus right now. My calf tweak turned into something much worse and I had family give me an ultimatum to lay off for a while after limping home from aborted 8 miler two weekends ago.

Today marks the 9th day of no running for me. Boo! Don't know what it is, Achilles tendon strain, PF, or probably a combo of the two.

I've got events planned for the next two weekends, should be interesting.

 

[mbwhitti]

Struggling over here too. I finally, FINALLY felt some real motivation to get back to it this week (the post-Dopey depression was REAL),

Funny you mention Dopey Depression, just looked through all of my marathonfoto photos from the event. Now I'm sad...take me back to Disney!!

 

[Keels]

@Ariel484 @mbwhitti ...

Tell me your best and worst parts of Dopey - even training and all that.

And then talk me out of it for 2016!

I was barely considering Goofy ...

 

[Kathymford]

The part I didn't like when I was first planning on going with friends doing Dopey, is the minimized park time so that they could rest their legs. NO THANKS. This is still my vacation. haha

 

[Keels]

The part I didn't like when I was first planning on going with friends doing Dopey, is the minimized park time so that they could rest their legs. NO THANKS. This is still my vacation. haha

I definitely considered that. But I'm lucky enough that my parents live 10 minutes from MK and I'll be in Orlando probably from Marathon weekend through Princess.

Ugh. I feel like should really do this. I hate this feeling.

 

[zanzibar138]

@Ariel484 @mbwhitti ...

Tell me your best and worst parts of Dopey - even training and all that.

And then talk me out of it for 2016!

I was barely considering Goofy ...

I haven't done Dopey, and I won't. I just couldn't cope (mentally) with the training for anything more than a half. Plus, no way I could cope with 4 of those super dooper early mornings in a row lol! I struggled big time with just 2 super early mornings last year for the 5k and the 10k at Disneyland... it was one of the reasons I decided against doing the Dumbo challenge this year. It's probably worse for me though because my body is still fighting jetlag and the fatigue of a 15 hour flight.

 

[Ariel484]

Funny you mention Dopey Depression, just looked through all of my marathonfoto photos from the event. Now I'm sad...take me back to Disney!!

Seriously, I was on such a high after that weekend. And then the day I realized 1 month had passed and it was TRULY over, I was suddenly pretty sad about it. The weather didn't help. I feel like I'm just getting out of that funk.

@Ariel484 @mbwhitti ...

Tell me your best and worst parts of Dopey - even training and all that.

And then talk me out of it for 2016!

I was barely considering Goofy ...

The training, early wake-ups and very limited park time were the worst things. But I had an almost perfect weekend so those are my only complaints.

I will say though...I would not have done it as my first marathon. Works for plenty of other people but I would have been freaking out the entire time. I needed to know I could do Goofy first.

 

[croach]

The getting up early isn't fun but for me the bad part is getting up early and then waiting forever for the race to start. I learned for this past Goofy that I didn't need to get there so early and never felt any panic about getting in my corral. Honestly the thing that held me back from doing Dopey this year was the cost of the extra nights since you have to get there on Wednesday.

 

[Keels]

Seriously, I was on such a high after that weekend. And then the day I realized 1 month had passed and it was TRULY over, I was suddenly pretty sad about it. The weather didn't help. I feel like I'm just getting out of that funk.

The training, early wake-ups and very limited park time were the worst things. But I had an almost perfect weekend so those are my only complaints.

I will say though...I would not have done it as my first marathon. Works for plenty of other people but I would have been freaking out the entire time. I needed to know I could do Goofy first.

You know I value your opinion VERY much -- would you vote I do the full only, Goofy or Dopey?

I think I had already gotten my mind right about Goofy (I've already started back-to-back runs twice a week and I ditched the gym every day this week). I have no qualms about going for the full. I just would love to eventually do Dopey and would be disappointed if it really is getting discontinued after this year (I blame @Slogger for starting this fear!!)

The getting up early isn't fun but for me the bad part is getting up early and then waiting forever for the race to start. I learned for this past Goofy that I didn't need to get there so early and never felt any panic about getting in my corral. Honestly the thing that held me back from doing Dopey this year was the cost of the extra nights since you have to get there on Wednesday.

Not going to lie. The getting up early is going to be HARD. Like ... WAY hard. But, since I'll be at my parents for a long time (four weeks or so) and won't be necessarily giving up park time, I think I can find a way to make it work. I mean, seriously. Look at the bulk of my posts on here. They're from midnight through 3 a.m.!

Honestly? The only thing holding me back is the cost of the event and the mental issue of "Can I Do This??". Maybe this will be the ultimate challenge that gets me off the Mental Struggle Bus I'm riding ever since my first half.

 

[Slogger]

Since you asked......I signed up for Dopey last year knowing that it would give me a long term goal to focus on.....almost 7 months right? The more people told me I was crazy to do it, the more confident I felt about it.
My "training" peaked in October to coincide with running Baltimore marathon and the plan was to "maintain" until WDW and then have fun running all 4 days.
It was helpful knowing I could do it and still have enough time to enjoy the characters, photo ops, and parks each day and night. Running the first 3 days with a family member was helpful too.....I had somebody to get up early with, ride the buses, dance to the DJs, wait in corrals, watch the fireworks, and run every step with my son, daughter, and then wife . Also made buying the marathon photo Dopey package easier because all my pics had me and a family member in it.

If it had been my first marathon, I probably would not have been as calm and laid back as I was. I think Ariel and others put it best, being Dopey was a euphoric feeling that built all weekend, like I was part of something special. I'm glad I did it, and probably will do it again (2018!).

Only you can decide if the costs are worth it, but the mental part is easy....Of course You Can Do It!

 

[Ariel484]

@Keels you are very sweet. I can't tell you what is right for you. For me I have always done runs very sequentially...I had to know I could do a 5K before I did a 10K. I had to know I could do a 10K before I did a 10-miler...etc. the mental aspect is huge for me.

I did the marathon alone in 2012...Goofy+5K in 2013. So with Dopey this year I was eerily calm all weekend - I knew I would finish because I knew I'd put the training in and that I'd survived Goofy+5K.

The hardest part, like I said above, was the training. Again, the prior experience of having done it twice was incredibly helpful (I used the same training plan for the marathon, Goofy and Dopey), because as daunting as it was to know I was committing myself to 4 months of training, I knew I'd done it twice and that it would pay off. Dopey was the reward for sticking to the training, and it was fantastic. One of he best experiences of my life.

ANYWAY...there are people on this board that think the same way I do and people that successfully do Dopey as their first marathon. My novella above is why I made that choice for ME...only you can decide for yourself!!

 

[croach]

@Keels You seem like you are motivated to do new challenges with running so you definitely can do it. But like Ariel said - only you can know what feels right for you. And you do always have the option to defer if you feel things aren't going to plan with training. It is a great feeling to finish any race but especially one of the challenges. And I think Slogger has a good point about having someone to do the races with. Nice to have someone to talk to and share the experience with throughout the weekend but especially during marathon day. Good luck deciding.

And I hope everyone who is hurt or struggling with getting training going has better days ahead. We all go through rough patches with training so just hang in there.

 

[FFigawi]

Honestly? The only thing holding me back is the cost of the event and the mental issue of "Can I Do This??". Maybe this will be the ultimate challenge that gets me off the Mental Struggle Bus I'm riding ever since my first half.

Of course you can do it! Anyone who puts in the training time can finish a marathon or Goofy or Dopey. The hardest part really is the multiple early mornings. If you're trained for a marathon, the running itself isn't any more difficult than a marathon. Not that a marathon is easy because it's not, but having a few shorter runs in the days before it is not overly taxing if a) you're trained properly, and b) you approach all of the races as fun runs and not as chances to set blazing fast PRs. Take them all gentle and easy, and you'll be just fine.

 

[Ariel484]

To add to what I said above, I agree with @FFigawi that anyone who puts in the training can do it, and if you're well-trained for a marathon you can do Goofy or Dopey (similar for any other runDisney challenges - if you're trained for a half you can do Dumbo, GSC, etc.).

So I absolutely think you CAN do it if you train. Whether you SHOULD do it is up to you!

 

[mbwhitti]

@Ariel484 @mbwhitti ...

Tell me your best and worst parts of Dopey - even training and all that.

And then talk me out of it for 2016!

I was barely considering Goofy ...

Training was definitely the hardest part for me. Not only was I training for my first marathon, but also the back to back runs (this would be our first challenge of any type). DH and I did it together, and I felt like we never really got a solid, successful long run in before our first marathon (in December, exactly 4 weeks before Dopey). That marathon was absolutely brutal on both me and DH. I had major cramping in my feet and almost didn't finish. At mile 24, I looked at DH and said, "I'm not doing Dopey, maybe we can defer." 2 days later, I was recovered and ready to prove to myself that I could in fact do Dopey. For me, it was super mental. I do think having that marathon under my belt scared me in the beginning but it also helped me mentally knowing that I had completed it.

I'm not going to lie, the 4 early mornings (plus the super cold the first 2 mornings) was brutal. We definitely missed out on some park time, but got to do everything that we wanted with the light crowds. Will I do it again? Maybe in 2018 for the anniversary year of Dopey and the Marathon. But it was a super pricey trip for us. I'm SUPER happy that we did it. I think it's a matter of the training for me and having the time to put in.