OFFICIAL January 2012 5K, Half Marathon, Marathon, Goofy or Dopey Challenge Thread

[paxsarah]

I completed an 18 mile run today about 30 seconds per mile slower than when I did 15 six weeks ago. It seemed so much harder even tho I slowed my pace.
Is this common for the longer runs. Today's 18 was the farthest I've ever gone.
I'm a bit discouraged since I was able to hold my pace for the last 3 of a 15 miler, but have since done 16,17, & 18 and haven't been able to keep my pace.
I'd welcome any thoughts or advice.

When I was training for my March marathon (my first), I had a very similar experience between my 17 and 20 milers. 17 was solid, but 20 felt like so much more than three miles longer. I don't really have any advice for you (Coach Charles's list of potential factors is pretty great) but I just wanted to +1 for that common experience of what should be a small jump in mileage feeling more like a giant leap.

 

[GBBTomorrow]

I completed an 18 mile run today about 30 seconds per mile slower than when I did 15 six weeks ago. It seemed so much harder even tho I slowed my pace.
Is this common for the longer runs. Today's 18 was the farthest I've ever gone.
I'm a bit discouraged since I was able to hold my pace for the last 3 of a 15 miler, but have since done 16,17, & 18 and haven't been able to keep my pace.
I'd welcome any thoughts or advice.

Thanks,

Dave

Coach Charles is the advice master, so I wouldn't try to add to anything he said. I just want to say that I hope it goes better for you and CONGRATULATIONS for being out there and giving it your all. Enjoy the ride.

 

[Ronda93]

Great to see Coach on the thread!

I had a okay turned lousy run today. The wind picked up around mile 6 and my route was against it the rest of the way. Slowed. Way. Down. It was a little uphill and just kicked my butt. Overcast and 40s. Just blech. Should have been 14, but stopped at 13 just because.

Now warmed and clean. Everything feels okay. Glutes are a bit tight, but that's just too much sitting ; )

When I did Donald in 2010, I developed some deep, deep blisters on the balls of both feet. It took a couple of months for them to work their way to the surface. I've been paranoid about them since. Once again this past spring I got a similar feeling. I tried duct tape and it helped. Today I taped both feet for my long run. Left stayed in place, but the right ended up balled up behind my big toe. I'll keep experimenting.

Hope everyone has a good run this weekend.

Ronda

 

[pilk]

Completed my first official race today. The Road to Hope 10K in Hamilton. It feels nice to have a time to submit for proof of time.

Next step the Donald.

Jon

 

[UNCBear24]

I am thinking your body is looking for a little break but lets clear all variables.

1) Weather plays a huge role. If the temp is up just 5-8 degrees from your 15 miler that alone could account for the delta.

2) Diet - if you do not have the best fuels in the tank you will suffer either in the ability to run distance or pace or both. Review wha thou ate in the 2 days prior to each run and try to hone in on a light and balanced diet with maybe a few extra carbs.

3) Alcohol? Hate to ask but one drink in the days before can cause these feelings.

4) Hydration. Were you peeing a light yellow the night before and this morning? Hydration really becomes a 7 day a week need at this point in training.

5) Your schedule. Hate to say it and I could be dissuaded from this opinion if I saw the four weeks before the 15, I think your body is begging for a pull back week. Typically we build on a schedule where we grow miles for a three week period then pull back for one... and repeat. Running 15, 16, 17 and then 18 traditionally would have a 12-14 in the place of the 17. If you ae on one of the newer 6 week build plans then you may want to modify back to a 3 week build as described.

It may also be the difference between a 30k and and 25 k run. 30 seconds is a large decrease but if you pushed out the first 4-6 miles a little hard, then that 5k adder can make a huge difference.

Hope this helps some....

Coach,

My long runs for the last 6 weeks have been 10, 17, 10 16, 7, and 15.
Am I increasing my long runs too quickly?
Should I not worry about my pace for these long runs and just get them completed?
FYI - the weather was low 50s for 15 and low 30s for 18.

Thanks for your input.

Dave

 

[cewait]

Coach,

My long runs for the last 6 weeks have been 10, 17, 10 16, 7, and 15.
Am I increasing my long runs too quickly?
Should I not worry about my pace for these long runs and just get them completed?
FYI - the weather was low 50s for 15 and low 30s for 18.

Thanks for your input.

Dave

I was basing my comment on the 15, 16,17 & 18 in the first post...not seeing the intermediate weeks. Your build up is sound. I am thinking that you may want to take the next increased mileage run at the 30 second slower pace for the first half and see how that feels. If at the 1/2 to 2/3 point you can then ramp up pace just a bit. It may be just a little too fast.

One component of training is to see what you true pace is on longer runs. It is difficult to really know what your pace should be until you actually get out and run the longer runs.

Hang in there and see how the next longer run goes with you attempting to hold the slower average pace on the front end.

 

[runningmomof5]

Not so discouraged anymore... My heel pain isn't as bad thanks to my Croc heels that I have been wearing around the house (yes, it is actually better with heels!!!) and insoles that I have put in my shoes. I just bought a new pair of Asics 2160 and I am hoping that I will have no pain with them! I've been walking for my training just so I could keep up but I am a few miles behind Hopefully, I'll catch up !!!

I have a question regarding the monorail to get to the races... Since it only operates during the hours that the parks are open, will we be able to use it marathon weekend or will we be taking the bus to get to the race?

 

[cewait]

Not so discouraged anymore... My heel pain isn't as bad thanks to my Croc heels that I have been wearing around the house (yes, it is actually better with heels!!!) and insoles that I have put in my shoes. I just bought a new pair of Asics 2160 and I am hoping that I will have no pain with them! I've been walking for my training just so I could keep up but I am a few miles behind Hopefully, I'll catch up !!!

I have a question regarding the monorail to get to the races... Since it only operates during the hours that the parks are open, will we be able to use it marathon weekend or will we be taking the bus to get to the race?

Monorail runs starting at 0230 (or so). Feel free to sleep in just a bit. The year we stayed at BLT (in the frigid year of 2010) I left at 4 ish then 415 on Sunday. Note that the races now start just a little earlier. I had more than enough time to walk to the staging area, see a couple friends, get cold, potty and still made the start. Obviously, if everyone waits till 420, there could be a few issues.

 

[runningmomof5]

Thanks Coach!
Glad to see you are back... I am new to Disney races but I've been reading the valuable info here for a while now and have seen how you've helped many.
Just curious, would you have an idea of the total number of miles that people usually run during training in preparation for the Goofy challenge? I'Ve been following the Jeff Galloway method but because of my heel pain, I've had to adjust here and there.
Thanks again!

 

[cewait]

Thanks Coach!
Glad to see you are back... I am new to Disney races but I've been reading the valuable info here for a while now and have seen how you've helped many.
Just curious, would you have an idea of the total number of miles that people usually run during training in preparation for the Goofy challenge? I'Ve been following the Jeff Galloway method but because of my heel pain, I've had to adjust here and there.
Thanks again!

Total Miles are all over the place.

I would hesitate a guess that the average late season mileage for Goofy runners is 25-28 miles. It is less than most people would think and in the order of magnitude equaling marathon training. I would range this from 20 to 50 miles for 90% of the runners. So a 15 week program would from 300 miles total up to over 750 miles.

I am not 100% familiar with the Galloway Goofy plan but i think he has you running Saturdays and Sundays. Kill most of the Saturdays. Pushing through an injury and attempting to run both weekend days may not be the best of ideas.

You may want to consider not going full length (23 miles) for your longer runs. You will see if you look at my posts that I have not been longer than 16-18 miles over the last 6 years outside of a race. For many it may not be ideal, but if you have done a few marathons then you know how to get through the mental part of the last miles. If you opt for this make sure to pick up the effort mid week. Add some intensity to the midweek runs as well as a 2-3 cross training days.

 

[stitchfan18]

Help! We just moved and I managed to misplace my training schedule. I had changed one I found online way back in march to fit my fall races, and I don't even remember what schedule that was. I've been a bump on a long the last couple weeks trying to bounce back from the RNR St. Louis marathon, but I really need to get back at it this week. I have a half that I'm running Saturday as a training run, so hopefully that will be a good jumping off point to finish my training. What should my weekend long runs looks like from now until marathon weekend? My goal is to finish Dopey, no personal records wanted for these races.

 

[RadioFanatic]

Completed my first official race today. The Road to Hope 10K in Hamilton. It feels nice to have a time to submit for proof of time.

Next step the Donald.

Jon

Congrats! I ran my first 10K race yesterday as well and was happy with my time. I'm going to do a 15K next sunday, a 15K on 12/11 and then the donald! Yeah!

 

[RunRookie]

Completed my first official race today. The Road to Hope 10K in Hamilton. It feels nice to have a time to submit for proof of time.

Next step the Donald.

Jon

Congrats! How did it feel? Running across a real Finish Line is pretty amazing!

I can't wait for the Donald either! See ya there!

 

[pilk]

Congrats! I ran my first 10K race yesterday as well and was happy with my time. I'm going to do a 15K next sunday, a 15K on 12/11 and then the donald! Yeah!

Well done

I would like to do a couple more races before WDW. However, they are starting to thin out in our area. Well at least ones that at 10k or longer. Any of the ones that are at least 10k don't fit into my work schedule. There is a 10mile on Boxing Day that was going to be my fall back if this weekend didn't work out. The reason I would like to keep them to 10K or longer is just to be able to use them for placement times if it is better than the previous.

Congrats! How did it feel? Running across a real Finish Line is pretty amazing!

I can't wait for the Donald either! See ya there!

Felt good for the run. My time was slightly off, and I mean very slightly in the grand scale of things. The course was a 5K loop. So, on the first loop I didn't run quite as hard as I could have, but picked it up on the second loop. It is a different feeling trying to deal with crowds until things start to spread out. Just from a phychological aspect I would definately recommend running at least one race before the big weekend for those have never been in a race before.

Jon

 

[Duanerice]

Wow I miss the race already. Even though I didn't run last year I still follow along the posts. Such an exciting time. As you get closer you'll probably get pretty tired of running. Just remember what it's going to feel like when you do your last long run. Ahhhhh

A lot of people are asking about how far to make their long runs. The last couple of times I did the Dopey I used the Higdon Intermediate plan. The day before my long run it had me running half the distance of the next days LR. So at the VERY end, I was doing 10 miles Friday after work then 20 miles on Saturday morning. Took it easy as I wanted to make sure I got to the start.

Everyone is different. There are many people that don't do back to back runs. You need to do what works for you. I needed it mentally if not physically. I still think it is the mid week runs that make all the difference as they build your base. I was running 5 days a week and weights the other 2 days. They don't have to be long but you need to put in the effort.

If you notice Charles never goes over 18 miles. I went 22 on my first marathon but nothing over 20 since. Again, it was mental, probably not a physical need.

This last race I only ran 19 miles as my LR and only did that once. The other LR was only 16 miles. And yea, I was worried if it would be enough. Well I negative split the marathon portion of the race so yea, 19 was fine.

Go get em! It is a great race a a whole lot of fun.
Duane

 

[hauntedcity]

My wife and I each did 8 miles Saturday to prepare for the Half. We fell a little behind in our training due to some illnesses (as in, the ENTIRE family was sick for about a month), but we're catching up.

This is our first half-marathon, so we're pretty much amazed that we actually did EIGHT miles. Two months to go!!!

Doug

 

[CaptHomer]

Everyone keeps saying 11/1 but this I found this on the Run Disney website under FAQs...

"What if I have a better proof of time than when I first registered?
Please email your updated proof of time (include the race you registered for, your official race time, along with the year and name of the race) to disneysports@trackshack.com by November 15, 2011. After November 15, all proof of time updates must be made during the Expo at the Runner Relations booth."

I received this message when I sent in a time today from this weekend. Looks like they are still taking times.

We have received your email regarding one or more of the RunDisney Events. Due to the high volume we are experiencing at this time, please allow us extra time to respond to your request. Look for a reply within the next five business days. Thank you for your continued support of the RunDisney events!

 

[cewait]

I received this message when I sent in a time today from this weekend. Looks like they are still taking times.

We have received your email regarding one or more of the RunDisney Events. Due to the high volume we are experiencing at this time, please allow us extra time to respond to your request. Look for a reply within the next five business days. Thank you for your continued support of the RunDisney events!

Really from now till race day you are probably better off just bringing the proof to the Expo. They will be sending off bib orders quickly since it is after 11/1. Your better proof may not get noticed or acted upon. By bringing the proof to the expo, you know that you are in the correct corral.

Just my thoughts

 

[r3ngels]

Hi Guys, I am joining your party! I registered for the 1/2 awhile ago but I am really getting excited my 1st rundisney race. And went searching for your thread. I have a lot of reading to do. You guys are amazing with your knowledge to us newbies...

My first question (hope I am not repeating something that has been discussed) but is there a resort that is better to stay at than others? Are the buses and monorail really quick getting us to the staging area at all resorts? We haven't booked rooms yet.

 

[FFigawi]

Help! We just moved and I managed to misplace my training schedule. I had changed one I found online way back in march to fit my fall races, and I don't even remember what schedule that was. What should my weekend long runs looks like from now until marathon weekend? My goal is to finish Dopey, no personal records wanted for these races.

This will vary from person to person, but here's what my schedule looks like, starting with this coming Saturday. I'm coming off running Marine Corps last weekend, so I've got a pretty decent base to build from.

16,18,15,18,20,16,20,12,Goofy