Marathon Weekend 2022

[FFigawi]

SAFD: I am not running much at all these days. The hot weather is here, and it's only a matter of a few weeks before the sea swims end and we're back in pools, and it's too miserable to run or cycle outdoors unless you start at 4am. Even then, doing anything at 4am is not much fun. I'm not training for anything since our race season does not begin until October, which means I'll do enough to maintain a semi-decent base through Zwift and 3 days per week in the pool.

SAFD: I've got two marathons in the fall, so I'll be preparing for them sometime soon. London in Oct. may or may not just be a training run (need to decide on that soon), but Richmond in Nov. will likely be a PR/BQ effort. After that, I'll just be recovering and maintaining fitness until (hopefully) Marathon Weekend in January! In the meantime, I'm just running almost entirely easy miles, but at a higher volume level of ~50 mpw. I much prefer running more slow miles vs. less fast miles, so that's pretty much my schedule until I decide to start chasing fast times again.

Richmond was my very first marathon. An absolutely beautiful course. The weather is usually great for racing at that time of year, too.

 

[Z-Knight]

SAFD: I am not running much at all these days. The hot weather is here, and it's only a matter of a few weeks before the sea swims end and we're back in pools, and it's too miserable to run or cycle outdoors unless you start at 4am. Even then, doing anything at 4am is not much fun. I'm not training for anything since our race season does not begin until October, which means I'll do enough to maintain a semi-decent base through Zwift and 3 days per week in the pool.



Richmond was my very first marathon. An absolutely beautiful course. The weather is usually great for racing at that time of year, too.

ahh...so you were lucky not to pick up the Covid-15, as in 15lbs, like some of us are dealing with. Otherwise you'd have to be training every day...I'm in soooo much trouble for the next few months. LOL

 

[Rogue224]

SAFD: I have been trying to maintain and improve to get ready for Dopey. But honestly I have not been as consistent as I should be. I recently did a half marathon and got POT. However then life got in the way and missed a few weeks. Saturday morning I woke up and did 15. Yesterday I woke up and my body said, “you’ve made better choices” haha. But it’s a restart. My current strategy is to get 35-40 miles per week with increases every couple of weeks. If MW2022 happens, it’d be my first full marathon and Dopey. So I want to make sure I’m prepared. I’m keeping my eyes open for local races too as that’s a good motivator too.

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: Mostly just in maintenance mode with my running right now, as I have been focusing more on building up my cycling to get ready for some upcoming triathlons. I generally try to get in at least 20 miles per week, which usually looks like a couple of 6 milers with an 8-10 miler on the weekend. I would love to add another day of running but work has been so busy lately (like most places, we are short staffed and overworked!) so it's pretty hard right now.
I have been running faster than I have in several years though - my typical pace on a LR would normally be 9:15-9:30/mile, and yesterday I did 9 miles at 8:45. I expect that this won't continue once it starts to really heat up though!

 

[Jason Bryer]

SAFD: I already hit 500 miles this year so far and am running a marathon in two weeks. I can't wait for runDisney to make an announcement soon (assuming it is the one I want them to make). Been following the Disney blogs and am encourage by the increase in capacity and relaxing of rules, especially outside.

 

[NewYKRunner]

SAFD: I'm continuing my pursuit of getting ready for a full marathon. I did 18 miles yesterday on the treadmill, my goal is 23 in the next few weeks. I've gone 21 miles before but yesterday was a struggle. Between a 10 year old that has forgotten how to fall asleep recently (I think our two week school lockdown has been weighing on her) and a bad update on the treadmill that causes it to not load consistently, last week's prep did not go as planned. I'm signed up for the Calgary Marathon in September and keeping an eye on the Honolulu Marathon in December, but we'll see what the next couple months bring. No run this Sunday for me, work has been crazy and have been doing a fair amount of extra time. So we're taking a May extra extra long weekend and going camping.

 

[PrincessV]

MW hasn't made an official return yet, but are you training for anything else? Just running to maintain? Are things going super well and you want to brag? Are you struggling and need a pick-me-up? Here's the place to lay it all out there.

SAFD: I am literally typing next to a legal pad, on which is outlined a Dopey 2022 training plan. I guess I already knew this, but the past pandemic year+ has confirmed it: I do not like racing and have NO desire to race anything other than Disney races. I trained for and ran the virtual SW Rival Run Half last month, but that's been my only "race" since MW 2020. And it's been... nice. Like, really nice.

It's been extra nice the past few weeks, though. I had what my doctor and I now believe was COVID waaaay back in early 2020. I was down for a week, and have dealt with bouts of intense fatigue, joint pain, and a lingering cough since then. But I'm 4 weeks out from vaccine dose 2 and am FINALLY feeling energetic again!* Most of the joint pain is gone! The cough still lingers, but my lungs were bad before COVID, so this may be as good as it gets. It's not hurting my performance or my health; it's just annoying. Anyway, in the past, I've always kept my base training at a point from which I could quickly get to 13.1, with long runs going up to 10 miles. But since we don't yet know when rD is coming back, I've cut back to "only" doing 45 mins for short runs, and 6 miles on long runs... and holy cow, I feel so good! I think my aging body needs these breaks from heavy training.

(* my doctor said she'd read a study showing a lot of people with COVID long-haul issues found relief after being vaccinated, so I was hopeful, but not optimistic. I'm a believer now!)

 

[meye1099]

m

 

[steph0808]

I just did an in-person half at the beginning of May, and I requested a new Dopey Badger plan for the Wineglass Marathon in October, which is my next big goal race. I'll throw in some local races here and there with my running club.

My training since the beginning of COVID has been made up on the spot by me, but I've been sticking to 4 days/week and usually 15-20 miles weekly. With the half, I got my mileage up some and am going to increase to 5 days/week for the first time ever this training cycle. We'll see how that goes.

 

[shellott-hill]

SAFD:

I have been in maintenance mode since running a virtual Dopey in January. It has been a struggle with winter not letting go in my area until recently. I have been trying to maintain 5 days a week and somewhere between the mid 20's to high 30's miles per week. It varies from week to week.

I have switched my Dopey plan running style recently to start preparing for trail runs in the rocky mountains. My hope is to spend as much time as possible running up mountains this summer. Every morning I look to the West and still see white capped mountains....I can't wait for the snow to be gone! Most of my runs now include a sustained uphill section and some off-road portions to start training those stability muscles.

There are no live runs in my area right now. I have signed up for a half in September in Canmore. Hopefully that does not get cancelled or changed to a virtual. It was my planned PoT for MW2022.

 

[Neon Cactus]

It’s been a bit of a struggle the past couple of months with no live races to train for and my back has been acting up. But I’ve been getting in 3 miles a couple of times per week and I’m going to start ramping it up soon.

I’m signed up to do the virtual Boston in October, LA in November and the Dallas 10k/Half challenge in December, and hopefully Dopey in January. I may sign up for a 10k in Texas during July to keep me motivated earlier rather than later.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

SAFD: Things have been just kind of blah for me. I don’t have anything official to train for, and am really waiting for word from RunDisney to decide whether to sign up for anything (if MW doesn’t happen, I may do a local marathon. There’s also a fall half that was supposed to be in spring, but I haven’t signed up yet since the actual date hasn’t been decided - just fall). So I’ve still been trying to run but it’s felt hard lately so it’s been more walking and just trying to keep moving more than anything. But the weather has been getting warmer and with later sunsets at least that’s made getting out easier. Hoping to pick things up over the next few weeks.

 

[jmasgat]

SAFD: (written while sitting on my butt prior to going for a run)
I have been following a half marathon plan that was originally intended as a run-up to doing a full plan for NYC 2021. But I deferred til 2022 (family wedding that same weekend) and now am without purpose. I have slacked off the last week, when I went to visit daughter. Hoping to re-find some motivation, but honestly I never really planned to race a half--the idea of racing a half in June does not appeal on any level. I expect I'll figure something out.....at some point.

 

[cburnett11]

SAFD:

Basically in maintenance mode for the moment. Trying to work on speed a little bit and then Chicago Marathon training plan starts on June 10. Just in time to really "embrace" the summer humidity... lol. I also have Indy Monumental Marathon 3 weeks after that date... so unsure which one I will really push on. May depend on the weather at Chicago. I guess we will see.

I started by not caring about pacing at all (no scheduled speed or tempo runs) and just focus on how to best get miles in without overdoing it. Therefore, I started running almost everyday and, in fact, twice a day on most days. I found that it's much easier and sustainable to run 5 miles x 2 times per day versus one 10-mile run each day. I basically just run whenever I have space in the day to fit in a run. And since I am always looking to get out for a run, I found a side benefit is that I run a lot more with my wife and daughter as well whenever they want to get out there.

Last August we had a local challenge within our running group where we broke into teams and did some mileage contests, weekly Strava segment races, etc. During the first 9 days, I was able to log 130 miles. I found it do-able by: 1) keeping it easy and 2) running twice per day. After running 8-10 in the morning, going out later in the day to do 4-5 (mentally) felt like no big deal. I figured #2 out by accident. I had no intention of running that many miles, but early in the week I saw an opportunity to go run in the summer rain after working at the computer all day. The short run felt great and then I realized the secret (for me) to accumulate high miles was to double up.

I really need to have a race or something on the schedule to keep motivated.

I'm TOTALLY in this camp. In fact, years ago when I did a couch to 5k app I wasn't sure what to do when the 8 weeks or whatever was over. I immediately had to download a 5k to 10k app and before that ran out I signed up for my first race.

I did 18 miles yesterday on the treadmill, my goal is 23 in the next few weeks.

Amazing to be able to run that far on the treadmill!

 

[Jason Bryer]

NYC Marathon just announced they will be running in person this November. 33,000 which is down but still larger than DM. Your turn runDisney!

 

[NewYKRunner]

Amazing to be able to run that far on the treadmill!

Thanks, I actually don't mind it too much. Next week the weather will probably be nice enough to start running outside in the mornings for shorter runs. As for longer runs, there's been a bear sighted in the area where I could get some long distance done... so I'll hold off on long outside runs.

 

[michigandergirl]

SAFD:

I am in maintenance mode right now, just trying to retain a solid base. Upcoming races:

Aug 28 - North Country Trail 13.1 (2020 deferral)
Sept 19 - Bridge Run 10 Miler (2020 deferral)
Oct 10 - Chicago Marathon
Oct 17 - Grand Rapids 13.1 (2020 deferral)
Oct 23 - River Bank Run 25K (2020 deferral and postponed from May)

That two week period in October will be interesting. My hubby asked me if it was wise to be running all of those races in two weeks time and I had to remind him I once ran 48.6 miles in 4 days, so yeah, I'm not worried 54.8 over two weeks. My plan is to go for a new marathon PR for Chicago and then just run the rest for fun.

 

[jmasgat]

My plan is to go for a new marathon PR for Chicago and then just run the rest for fun.

I would venture to guess that 80% of the population cannot relate to the idea of running those distances "for fun". Aren't you glad 100% of the people here get it!

 

[michigandergirl]

I would venture to guess that 80% of the population cannot relate to the idea of running those distances "for fun". Aren't you glad 100% of the people here get it!

And that's why I love you guys! I know you totally get it!!

 

[BigEeyore]

MCM just announced that they are going to having their race in person at the end of October! Come on run Disney!!!