Marathon Weekend 2022

[kshu2014]

As others have said, the racing and training impact is minimal. But Dopey has the potential to "consume" your vacation and even if it does not consume your vacation, it absolutely will alter it.

Plan on bib and packet pickup taking at least 2 hours, possibly more depending on how you feel about race merchandise and such. Plus you never know what lines will actually look like. For Dopey, you need to pick those items up on Wednesday along with all other Dopey runners. If you want/need to go to bed earlier for a race, then running Dopey means the early bedtimes start on Wednesday. Now, after the 5K/10K you can still get a lot of quality park time in since those races do not wipe out entire mornings and at least part of the early afternoon depending on how fast you are. I've never taken a nap after a race unless you count attraction naps including, but not limited to It's a Small Nap After All, The Frozen Nap Along, and my personal favorite Impressions de Nap complete with beautiful classical music and a relaxing vibe.

@kshu2014 I agree with @camaker If you wait too long, you run the very real risk of missing out entirely. Because of the 50th anniversary medals, I think that Dopey will sell out sooner than it usually does especially if they do decide to break up some Dopey bibs to sell more individual bibs. I've noticed that some of the virtual races sold out a lot faster this year than last year even though medals were revealed before some of the virtual races last year and in some cases have yet to be revealed for next year.

Appreciate this feedback! Yeah, I think my main focus would be completing the challenge rather than much time at the parks. With this being my first marathon, just don’t want to get wrecked by the 16:00 limit and/or mental fortitude, but I’m guessing there’s quite a bit of adrenaline rush!

 

[Baloo in MI]

Great thoughts on Dopey! I am excited to be going back this year for my 5th Dopey. I will fully admit to FOMO at my first WDW Marathon Weekend. I ran Goofy that year. It is so true that there is a lot of focus on Dopey runners. Honestly, whether running one of the individual races or one of the challenges it is all a cool accomplishment! But for me I want to be a part of the whole thing and to take on the biggest challenge offered. This is what draws me to Dopey.

You do have to sacrifice sleep and park time at some point though, at least I do. I am usually there with my family and we treat the 5K and 10K days as pretty normal. Getting into the parks as quickly as possible after the races/shower/meal. We tend to stay until closing or close to it. But after the Half I take the afternoon off. Get in a nap, take a walk and have a nice meal. No parks on Saturday, even if my family goes. After the marathon I try to pull it together quickly enough to get an afternoon and evening in the parks with the family. But it is almost always an early end to the day for me.

We do stay until Tuesday so Monday becomes a regular park day and final celebration of the trip. So I do get to run Dopey and have park time. But it is in no way as restful vacation!

Last thought, don’t let the 4 days, 4 races intimidate you. If you have trained for a marathon, you can do Dopey!

 

[ZellyB]

SAFD: Haunted Mansion but a close second to Peter Pan

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: Haunted Mansion - even after all these years of riding it, I still have a deep appreciation for the creativity and genius that brought the HM to life - and probably the best attraction song ever!

 

[Bree]

SAFD: I really love IASW so that’s my answer!!!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Appreciate this feedback! Yeah, I think my main focus would be completing the challenge rather than much time at the parks. With this being my first marathon, just don’t want to get wrecked by the 16:00 limit and/or mental fortitude, but I’m guessing there’s quite a bit of adrenaline rush!

Adrenaline and mental preparation is something that you will need to manage and/or learn to manage. Adrenaline can have you too amped up and you might start the race at a much faster pace than you actually trained for and that can be disastrous both physically and mentally.

And mental preparation is quite possibly even more important than physical preparation for the marathon because the marathon will test your mind. @OldSlowGoofyGuy taught me to approach each mile with a Jedi mind trick and not to count them. Just see it, move on, and avoid at all costs thinking I only have x miles to go. @DopeyBadger taught me to try and treat each mile as a "blind mile" and not worry about pace. I'm not fast enough to actually do that, but I adapt that idea to myself and say that "since I ran that mile at under race requirement, then I should just keep going at this pace because I'm sustaining it comfortably." So I worry about time to the extent of am I on pace most miles or did I resume sufficient pace if one mile featured longer photo stops. This usually means that I have to pass on some photo ops because I valued another one earlier or have a future one that I value more,

I will fully admit to FOMO at my first WDW Marathon Weekend. I ran Goofy that year. It is so true that there is a lot of focus on Dopey runners. Honestly, whether running one of the individual races or one of the challenges it is all a cool accomplishment! But for me I want to be a part of the whole thing and to take on the biggest challenge offered. This is what draws me to Dopey.

Great point about what a cool accomplishment one race is. It's too easy to get caught up in peer pressure, real or presumed that can push us to a race distance and/or challenge that isn't right for me. While I wanted to run a half marathon, I kept dragging my feet to actually register for the first time. I did sign up, but only after my little sister kept pressuring me to keep my promise to register and run it with her.

My mistake came in not registering on my terms. I slacked off during training because it was easy to. I allowed fear and excitement to control my thoughts on race day and I started way too fast nearly injuring myself in less than half a mile of mile 1. When the time to register for the marathon came, I knew that I had to want it on my terms and my terms alone. Determining what you want can be a very difficult process in running, but I think when you know why you want it then you're better able to handle the difficult times in training and/or the race(s) because you have already know what you're working towards.

 

[FFigawi]

And mental preparation is quite possibly even more important than physical preparation for the marathon because the marathon will test your mind. @OldSlowGoofyGuy taught me to approach each mile with a Jedi mind trick and not to count them. Just see it, move on, and avoid at all costs thinking I only have x miles to go. @DopeyBadger taught me to try and treat each mile as a "blind mile" and not worry about pace. I'm not fast enough to actually do that, but I adapt that idea to myself and say that "since I ran that mile at under race requirement, then I should just keep going at this pace because I'm sustaining it comfortably." So I worry about time to the extent of am I on pace most miles or did I resume sufficient pace if one mile featured longer photo stops. This usually means that I have to pass on some photo ops because I valued another one earlier or have a future one that I value more,

Great advice. It’s very similar to what my coach told me as I was heading into my Ironman: win the mile you’re in. Looking ahead to how many miles you have to get through can be depressing and demotivating. Focusing on what you’re doing at that moment and making sure it’s the best you can do helps keep your outlook positive and productive.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Great advice. It’s very similar to what my coach told me as I was heading into my Ironman: win the mile you’re in. Looking ahead to how many miles you have to get through can be depressing and demotivating. Focusing on what you’re doing at that moment and making sure it’s the best you can do helps keep your outlook positive and productive.

“Win the mile you are in”. I love that! So true.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Great advice. It’s very similar to what my coach told me as I was heading into my Ironman: win the mile you’re in. Looking ahead to how many miles you have to get through can be depressing and demotivating. Focusing on what you’re doing at that moment and making sure it’s the best you can do helps keep your outlook positive and productive.

That is exactly how I was trained to run long. Now that I have added walk intervals my focus in on the run interval that I am running. I run 3:30/walk 30. So, I don't think past the 3:30 run interval that I am running right now. Rinse/repeat. Before I know it I have run 15-20 miles. It really flies by if you ignore the total run time and distance and focus on the now.

 

[Herding_Cats]

dh just told me, “if the 10k opens up sign me up.”
So if you see it’s open, please tag me.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Great advice. It’s very similar to what my coach told me as I was heading into my Ironman: win the mile you’re in. Looking ahead to how many miles you have to get through can be depressing and demotivating. Focusing on what you’re doing at that moment and making sure it’s the best you can do helps keep your outlook positive and productive.

I remember listening to an interview with 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathoner Jared Ward the night before my first marathon. He shared something that really stuck with me. Namely, that in many cases your mind is the one in control. Meaning that your body will periodically send signals to your brain telling it that it wants to stop doing this. As you train your mind to ignore these signals, your body will fall in line and keep going. However, once your mind decides that it is finished, then your body will immediately follow suit and shut down. He shared some examples of elite marathoners in brutal conditions finishing races or going far beyond what their depleted bodies indicated they should have done simply because they willed themselves to do so.

Your mind has a lot more power over your body. This does not mean that you should ignore the signals your body is sending, especially when those signals might be telling you to modify what you're doing to avoid injury and/or stop doing something because the injury has already happened. But this also means that you can learn the difference between "I don't want to do this" and "this needs to be stopped or modified to prevent injury."

Former BYU Hall of Fame football coach LaVell Edwards said

"Potential does not always ensure success. The greatest players have not always been the most endowed. In athletics, we often hear the phrase, "He has the will to win". I think this is wrong. We can have the greatest will to do well. But unless we have prepared, it is of little use. Really, it should be the "will to prepare". Those who succeed have this will, whether it be in athletics, whether it be in school, whether it be in their chosen vocation, . . .or in almost any other phase of their life."

I think this is especially true with the marathon and the mental preparation is so crucial.

That is exactly how I was trained to run long. Now that I have added walk intervals my focus in on the run interval that I am running. I run 3:30/walk 30. So, I don't think past the 3:30 run interval that I am running right now. Rinse/repeat. Before I know it I have run 15-20 miles. It really flies by if you ignore the total run time and distance and focus on the now.

I found in my earlier years of running that if I was dreading a long run and wanted to be lazy, the first 15-30 minutes of it might be really difficult and my body would invent all sorts of reasons why I should quit, usually involving inconsequential things. Yet as I continued to simply power through those thoughts, I would suddenly realize an hour or two later that my long run was nearly finished.

 

[lhermiston]

Good evening, runDisney all-stars! We are 87 days from the start of Marathon Weekend 2022!

I’m coming at you a little early this week since me and a few fellow all-stars have a 26.2-mile date in Chicago first thing Sunday morning. We were going to rally the Goof Troop, but frankly Chicago couldn’t handle it.

For this week’s Sundays are for Disney, please share some of the best running advice you’ve received.

Maybe not the most helpful, but my favorite advice is to treat the race like your victory lap. I know that by showing up on race day healthy and trained, I’ve already “won.” So much can go right or wrong on race day that I don’t want to base my feelings of success on what happens over the course of four hours compared to three to four months of training. (That said, setting an official PR is pretty nice.)

Have a great week, everyone!

 

[FFigawi]

SAFD: Coach Charles (@cewait), a former regular around here, used to put out a post every year the week before marathon weekend titled The Hay is in the Barn. By that he meant it’s too late to change or do anything about the upcoming race. Your training is done, and now all that’s left is to execute on race day. It’s a more in depth way of saying “trust your training,” and don’t stress over things you can’t control. I’ve always thought that was excellent advice, especially for new or newer runners.

Good to the mini Goof Troop today! Hope you guys have fun and run well.

 

[opusone]

I’m coming at you a little early this week since me and a few fellow all-stars have a 26.2-mile date in Chicago first thing Sunday morning.

So, who all is running Chicago from the DISboards? I am currently only tracking @lhermiston and @Bree. Good luck to everyone!

 

[FFigawi]

So, who all is running Chicago from the DISboards? I am currently only tracking @lhermiston and @Bree. Good luck to everyone!

@TCB in FLA and @croach are both running too

 

[Carol_]

SAFD: The only running advice I’ve ever found useful was where to hold my arms. Loosely and low. Shake em out every now and then. Hold em over your head if you get a stitch in your side.
Hope that helps someone

 

[jmasgat]

SAFD: Not sure where I picked it up, but if I'm training for a race and have a less than stellar run, or start to question whether or not I will ever nail a workout, or ever be ready by race day, I tell myself "this is why we train". In other words, training is a process, it is not one bad (or good) run, and it takes time. Sometimes things go well, and other times they don't. So just be patient and keep at it and you'll learn and be ready by race day.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I didn’t actually see the advice until after I started doing it on my own, but “race the mile you’re in” has been really helpful. On my training runs and races (virtual and in person) I’ve been doing much better since I stopped looking at my time and pacing after each mile. I check my watch after it taps me, just to see what mile I just finished, but I don’t even look at how much time has elapsed, so I have no idea if the pace that’s feeling good is “too fast” or “too slow.”

And since I started doing that, I’ve actually been getting faster! I keep setting new personal per mile records, or per distance records. And it’s really fun to finish a run and look back and find out “holy cow, I just did that?!”

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:

Best advice I got advice (and one I have to remind myself): Stop comparing yourself to others. Focus on yourself and improving yourself. There will always be runners who are faster and slower than you and that does not matter. What matters is are you happy with the effort you gave.

Good race to all the folks down in Chicago! Have a great race.

 

[Cabius]

SAFD: Honestly, just to commit to doing it. I never ran a mile in my life until early 2019, when listening to Lou Mongello's race recaps. on the WDW Radio podcast inspired me to sign up for my first half-marathon. I knew I needed to be more active and invest in my health. Signing up for that first race gave me the motivation to actually start, and then to keep at it. Just keep thinking about running up Main Street USA and get out there.

(It did not disappoint, btw. I literally ugly-cried the entire way from Town Square to Tomorrowland. Forget the medals; THAT was my real finish line.)