Marathon Weekend 2018

[PrincessV]

For all the RunDisney vets out there, when do you aim to go to sleep? I'm afraid I'm going to have a hard time sleeping early...

In bed by 6pm, asleep by 7. That's pretty easy for me, as I'm always sleepy around that time and normally fight through it to stay up until my normal bedtime of 9pm lol!

I'm gonna second the suggestion of arriving later in the afternoon.

And I'll third it. This year, I arrived around noon with a plan of eating at ESPN, then hitting the expo. But traffic was backed up past the intersection of Victory Way and Osceola, so I turned around and got lunch at AOA. Tried again about an hour or so later, and was able to park easily, but long long lines for everything. It was organized and sane, just BUSY!

On the topic of food.... I am needing recommendations for a good nutrition plan for marathon training.

Caveat: I am not a medical or nutritional expert, just a slow female marathoner! First, I'd discuss the anemia with your doc, as that can be a real concern. I very rarely eat red meat but have to add more of it during marathon training because my iron does tend to get low.

I find nutrition is a really individual thing, and you'll have to experiment to see what works best for you. Some folks perform really well on low-carb diets, and others need a lot more carbs. Some keep to vegetarian/vegan diets, and others are all about meat. And lots of folks fall in the middle of all that!

For me, I need a good balance of lean proteins, plenty of complex carbs, tons of colorful veggies, and some healthy fats to feel my best. My body tells me what it needs through cravings and I try to meet those in healthy ways. Try different things in training and you'll quickly find what makes you feel good vs. what makes you feel lousy!

A training check in! Have you started training yet? Are you training for a different race first? What is your plan for training?

It's hot and miserable and I'm wondering yet again why I keep signing up for Jan. marathons, lol! I'm basically just adding back-to-backs andvditance to my summer base of 8-10 mile long runs. Did the first of 2/8 and have 3/9 planned for this weekend. I'll work up to a 3/6/12/20-22 weekend 3 weeks out from Dopey. W&D Half is in the mix, but will just be part of Dopey training.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Hi all! I've been following the Hanson's plan since completing the Pixie Dust challenge at DL in May. This is my first time doing speedwork and I'm really enjoying it. If all goes well I'll run my first marathon at the end of September to get me ready for the Dopey 2018! Any other runners use Hanson's to prepare for Dopey?

I used a personally modified Hansons plan for both Dopey #3 and Dopey #4. During Dopey #3, I set a 5k PR, 10k PR, 2nd best HM, and 2nd best M (all at the time) During Dopey #4, I set a 5k PR, 10k PR, no HM occurred, and M PR (all at the time). Technically, I set a new 13.1 mile PR during the M as well, but not officially.

Almost every person that recently stated they're using a "DopeyBadger" training plan is at its core a Hansons plan. I use their fundamental principles (and various other influences) and people's available time to make a custom plan fitting their needs.

Best of luck with the training! I can certainly attest to it being a potential game changer.

I'll add one other thing. If you'd like to see my previous Dopey plan (for #4) check it out here (link). If you'd like to see my current training plan that describes a lot of my methodology on creating plans, check it out here (link).

 

[evenstar]

I'll add one other thing. If you'd like to see my previous Dopey plan (for #4) check it out here (link). If you'd like to see my current training plan that describes a lot of my methodology on creating plans, check it out here (link).

Thanks @DopeyBadger for the links, checking them out now. Happy to see the Hanson's principals have been very successful for you, so far so good for me and hoping for a great Dopey weekend!

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

YAY! Just booked my crews dining for Jan 5th and 6th.

 

[Dis5150]

Wow, I was so far behind! I haven't even glanced at the Running Board yet but I know I am PAGES behind! I have been out of commission with the plague for about a week, and before that I was opening up the fiscal year so zero time to get on here.

I made 2 ADR's, Beaches & Cream after the marathon and Whispering Canyon Café for breakfast after the 5k. We are staying at Saratoga Springs and plan on a lot of Disney Springs quick service meals. I don't even know yet if we are doing parks (although probably will do at least a couple of days), so it's hard to make ADR's in the parks. My sister and brother in law are meeting us at WDW. They are both running the marathon and while I have them added to the studio with us they are now considering bringing my niece and nephew and booking a condo at their timeshare. So I don't even have a head count for the ADR's I did make! I made them both for 6 people, thinking it would be easier to drop than add people.

I started the JG Dopey plan on the website but haven't run this week at all. I am barely out of my sickbed, only at work because I am the only person who knows how to order food for our residents (I work at a center for developmentally disabled adults). I know I am skipping today. I may walk the miles on Saturday if I am feeling better. I plan on just putting in the time/mileage on the plan until the weather is cooler, then adding some speed work in in the fall. The only race I am planning on is a marathon that I will use as a training run as it falls the day of the 26 mile run on the calendar in December. They have an early start option so I can just treat it as a leisurely training run will full support! DH is happy to not ride his bike 26 miles with me in December, too!

 

[MuttMama]

Congrats on your success so far! Like you I started running in part to lose weight (and because runDisney looked really fun) and while I was never confident I would finish a half, I've now finished three and am signed up for Dopey!

What I'm trying to say is, there's no way of knowing where your running journey will take you. The half marathon will be amazing. The boards will definitely provide great support so welcome!

Ditto as well. I never liked running in my early years (liked almost everything else, but not running), but my sister has had so much fun running as an adult that I decided to try it and loose weight. The runDisney race (my first) makes it look so much fun and super excited to go for the 1/2 (and not get swept)!

 

[Keels]

My training is...not great at the moment. About 2.5 weeks ago my hip starting hurting. First I cut way back on effort and mileage, but that didn't seem to help. I'm now on day 8 of no running and I still don't feel like I've improved at all. After about 5 minutes of running, it stops hurting, but then it hurts afterwards, so I'm trying to be smart and not run through it. Getting so frustrated! I hadn't needed a sports medicine doctor in about 5 years, but I'm thinking I'm going to need to find one. I was just wrapping up 2 months of lower mileage "off season" running so no idea what set it off. I am just about to start my training plan for a September half marathon that I am/was hoping to PR before moving on to Dopey training, so this timing stinks.

Ugh - I feel your pain ... literally! I had a serious hip injury last year that I tried to train through and ended up resulting in a Grade II hip sprain. Downtime wasn't TOO terrible ... I had a stress fracture in my opposite ankle that I was also dealing with at the same time, so I was off my feet and then on non/low-impact activity for almost six weeks before I was cleared to run and other things again.

I was able to keep up aerobic endurance by using the recumbent bike at the gym until I was fully cleared, and even to this day I still do my PT-prescribed stretches with my resistance band before and after any kind of training.

How does the pain feel? Like in the joint or could it be outside like Bursitis? Anyway, if your gut is telling you to take a visit to the sports medicine doctor, it's probably best to listen.

 

[lhermiston]

Very much so. I wasn't familiar with the course at all when I first ran it 7 years ago but everyone had warned me about Brady so I was prepared for that. It was the other hills that took me by surprise since no one talks about them.
Here's an elevation image for those unfamiliar:

It's my favorite race these days and the only race I continually block my calendar. I've run it every year since I first moved to Iowa. This is the first year in a while I'm actually going into it well trained. Usually my running slacks quite a bit during this time due to the heat.

See you there!

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Wow, I was so far behind! I haven't even glanced at the Running Board yet but I know I am PAGES behind! I have been out of commission with the plague for about a week, and before that I was opening up the fiscal year so zero time to get on here.

I made 2 ADR's, Beaches & Cream after the marathon and Whispering Canyon Café for breakfast after the 5k. We are staying at Saratoga Springs and plan on a lot of Disney Springs quick service meals. I don't even know yet if we are doing parks (although probably will do at least a couple of days), so it's hard to make ADR's in the parks. My sister and brother in law are meeting us at WDW. They are both running the marathon and while I have them added to the studio with us they are now considering bringing my niece and nephew and booking a condo at their timeshare. So I don't even have a head count for the ADR's I did make! I made them both for 6 people, thinking it would be easier to drop than add people.

Hope you feel better soon Our crew is staying at Saratoga too so I'm sure between there and Disney Springs that's where we'll eat a lot. 5 of us are doing the 10K (me with Team up with Autism Speaks) then 2 of us (including me) and 2 new ppl are doing the half and then 1 of the 5 and a new person will do the full so figured dinner two nights would be safe enough. I'm not officially doing a challenge but this will be my first 10K and half at Disney. Really wish they would consider those two a challenge at this race as well but I have goals to do every Disney race so it's all good.

 

[DOOM1001]

So the time of the year has come where I'm going to start signing up for the bulk of my 2017/2018 races,I'm only signed up for the Disney full and the Space Coast half so far and plan to add 5 or possibly 6 more races to my schedule.Knowing that I'm as out of shape as I can get I decided to just go and test myself with a 7-8 mile run tonight.It's the middle of the summer but not as oppressively hot as it can get on a Central Florida night,probably mid to upper 70s with tolerable humidity.It still basically kicked my butt,I huffed and I puffed through most of the 7.4 miles and finished averaging 12 minute miles taking a couple of walk breaks,that's easily close to 2 minutes more per mile than it would take me if I would be in any kind of shape.I've probably only gone for a handful of runs in the last 3-4 months.The good news is that after finishing I feel great,I have that post run mental and physical relaxation that you feel after many runs like my body telling me even though it was tough you needed it to get back to being race ready.Obviously I need to keep it up but today was a good first run to get ready for race season in a couple if months.I usually feel like I can knock out a half marathon any time,if I would have had to do one tonight that would have been an issue,I would have finished but it wouldn't have been pretty.

 

[cavepig]

My training is...not great at the moment. About 2.5 weeks ago my hip starting hurting. First I cut way back on effort and mileage, but that didn't seem to help. I'm now on day 8 of no running and I still don't feel like I've improved at all. After about 5 minutes of running, it stops hurting, but then it hurts afterwards, so I'm trying to be smart and not run through it. Getting so frustrated! I hadn't needed a sports medicine doctor in about 5 years, but I'm thinking I'm going to need to find one. I was just wrapping up 2 months of lower mileage "off season" running so no idea what set it off. I am just about to start my training plan for a September half marathon that I am/was hoping to PR before moving on to Dopey training, so this timing stinks.

Oh no, I feel you on hip pain. What area hurts? Mine is on the outside (bursitis), it's tender to the touch (no burning like when my sciatica acts up) & hurt off & on running/walking/getting up from sitting, but luckily after avoiding hills, doing run/walk & not sleeping on that side ever, mine improves (I'm just dumb and overdo hills or sleep bad after it's better and it flares up, oops). I hope you get your pain figured out and what can help it, even if it means a trip to a doctor.

 

[Dis5150]

Hope you feel better soon Our crew is staying at Saratoga too so I'm sure between there and Disney Springs that's where we'll eat a lot. 5 of us are doing the 10K (me with Team up with Autism Speaks) then 2 of us (including me) and 2 new ppl are doing the half and then 1 of the 5 and a new person will do the full so figured dinner two nights would be safe enough. I'm not officially doing a challenge but this will be my first 10K and half at Disney. Really wish they would consider those two a challenge at this race as well but I have goals to do every Disney race so it's all good.

Thank you! I do feel better! This will be our first stay at Saratoga. We have been strictly value (Sports) when we stay on property, otherwise we usually stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. But for races we prefer on property. We (DD26 and I) are super excited to try out SS! I rented points and we have a studio. We took busses there a couple times in February (Princess) and walked to Disney Springs and really enjoyed the vibe of the resort and love the short walk to DS from there. Plus she and I love Disney Springs and want to try some of the new quick service places.

Isn't it hard to make plans for so many people? When we do our family vacations, I just tell everyone what we are doing and make the plans I want! There are usually 6 of us, DH and I and our 4 grown kids and if I tried to cater to everyone it would be a nightmare! So we usually just go with a couple of ADRs and wing the rest.

Good luck in your races! I have only done the half at W&D and Princess and the full marathon once (last year) so have never tried a 5k or 10k at Disney yet. But I hear they are great fun!

 

[marn913]

Happy you are feeling better, Dis5150. I am having issues with plantar fasciitis and it has really been difficult the past few weeks. Not worried about Dopey, but I am registered for the Disnayland half this September to get my coast to coast and I am concerned that it may not be pretty. This is my first experience with PF, and it is really discouraging. I was running close to PR times and felt so strong earlier this year after Dopey/Grumpy 2017 (my marathon was 2 min off from my PR and I was not even going for speed or a PR that day, just enjoyed every aspect of the course). Just needed to vent. Making an appointment to get my foot checked out by a podiatrist soon.

 

[ZellyB]

Happy you are feeling better, Dis5150. I am having issues with plantar fasciitis and it has really been difficult the past few weeks. Not worried about Dopey, but I am registered for the Disnayland half this September to get my coast to coast and I am concerned that it may not be pretty. This is my first experience with PF, and it is really discouraging. I was running close to PR times and felt so strong earlier this year after Dopey/Grumpy 2017 (my marathon was 2 min off from my PR and I was not even going for speed or a PR that day, just enjoyed every aspect of the course). Just needed to vent. Making an appointment to get my foot checked out by a podiatrist soon.

I had a major PF problem earlier this year. It was not fun. I was able to keep running through it fortunately, but I invested in inserts on my flat shoes and gave up my beloved cheap Old Navy flip flops. I also wore a Strassburg sock at night (or as I liked to call my night torture sock) and did morning stretches of my foot before getting out of bed. Lastly, I had a few massages done and had her really work on my foot and used one of those foot massagers at night when watching TV. Not sure if one of those was the magic bullet or a combination of all of it, but it did finally get better.

 

[dburg30]

Happy you are feeling better, Dis5150. I am having issues with plantar fasciitis and it has really been difficult the past few weeks. Not worried about Dopey, but I am registered for the Disnayland half this September to get my coast to coast and I am concerned that it may not be pretty. This is my first experience with PF, and it is really discouraging. I was running close to PR times and felt so strong earlier this year after Dopey/Grumpy 2017 (my marathon was 2 min off from my PR and I was not even going for speed or a PR that day, just enjoyed every aspect of the course). Just needed to vent. Making an appointment to get my foot checked out by a podiatrist soon.

I had a major PF problem earlier this year. It was not fun. I was able to keep running through it fortunately, but I invested in inserts on my flat shoes and gave up my beloved cheap Old Navy flip flops. I also wore a Strassburg sock at night (or as I liked to call my night torture sock) and did morning stretches of my foot before getting out of bed. Lastly, I had a few massages done and had her really work on my foot and used one of those foot massagers at night when watching TV. Not sure if one of those was the magic bullet or a combination of all of it, but it did finally get better.

I went too long last year without getting my PF taken care of. I've never been in that much pain before foot wise. Pretty much what ZellyB said, all of that stuff and it got better. But wow, PF does suck.

 

[cavepig]

Happy you are feeling better, Dis5150. I am having issues with plantar fasciitis and it has really been difficult the past few weeks. Not worried about Dopey, but I am registered for the Disnayland half this September to get my coast to coast and I am concerned that it may not be pretty. This is my first experience with PF, and it is really discouraging. I was running close to PR times and felt so strong earlier this year after Dopey/Grumpy 2017 (my marathon was 2 min off from my PR and I was not even going for speed or a PR that day, just enjoyed every aspect of the course). Just needed to vent. Making an appointment to get my foot checked out by a podiatrist soon.

I dealt with PF too (It's crazy how many people end up with it) and like @ZellyB did, used a massager, that really is what seemed to help mine, like deep massaging. Mine flares up if I run in the rain or I vacuumed our pool so stood on the heard floor for 45min, dumb as I didn't think, so vacuuming now will be in crocs. Good Luck, hope you can get it under control too!

 

[Eeyores#1Fan]

Thank you! I do feel better! This will be our first stay at Saratoga. We have been strictly value (Sports) when we stay on property, otherwise we usually stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. But for races we prefer on property. We (DD26 and I) are super excited to try out SS! I rented points and we have a studio. We took busses there a couple times in February (Princess) and walked to Disney Springs and really enjoyed the vibe of the resort and love the short walk to DS from there. Plus she and I love Disney Springs and want to try some of the new quick service places.

Isn't it hard to make plans for so many people? When we do our family vacations, I just tell everyone what we are doing and make the plans I want! There are usually 6 of us, DH and I and our 4 grown kids and if I tried to cater to everyone it would be a nightmare! So we usually just go with a couple of ADRs and wing the rest.

Good luck in your races! I have only done the half at W&D and Princess and the full marathon once (last year) so have never tried a 5k or 10k at Disney yet. But I hear they are great fun!

YAY! So glad you are feeling better. You will love SS. We stayed there last Nov and Jan and love being able to walk over to Disney Springs. This years F&W will be my first half since Jan was suppose to be my first but it was canceled due to the rain Felt I had to get a half in before I attempt my own little challenge

 

[Keels]

Aaaaaaaand ... my other BFF just booked a surprise trip for her family to all come during Marathon Weekend! She ran her first Marathon with me, @mbwhitti and @FFigawi this year - so now she's back for at least Goofy, unless she can track down a Dopey registration.

So exciting!

 

[mrsg00fy]

Happy you are feeling better, Dis5150. I am having issues with plantar fasciitis and it has really been difficult the past few weeks. Not worried about Dopey, but I am registered for the Disnayland half this September to get my coast to coast and I am concerned that it may not be pretty. This is my first experience with PF, and it is really discouraging. I was running close to PR times and felt so strong earlier this year after Dopey/Grumpy 2017 (my marathon was 2 min off from my PR and I was not even going for speed or a PR that day, just enjoyed every aspect of the course). Just needed to vent. Making an appointment to get my foot checked out by a podiatrist soon.

Plantar fasciitis is no fun. I can echo what @ZellyB has already said above. A combo of all those things will help. The two things that I do now to keep it at bay are to massage the feet a bit before I get out of bed in the morning. The other is to have inserts in every pair of running shoes. I wear running shoes all of the time except for when I go to the office and even then I wear the sneakers to get there and change into work shoes at my desk. Even just walking around the house I wear the supportive running shoes.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

After dragging my feet for months, I've finally made it official and registered for the marathon (yay for Dark Side discount!). It'll be my second; my first was part of Dopey last year and I wanted to experience a marathon on its own. And we snagged ADR for 'Ohana Sunday night, so it looks like quite the DIS crowd will be there at various points.