Marathon Weekend 2023

[Jason Bryer]

I think this is the fifth time I had a 5k bib in my cart only to be rejected at click to pay.

 

[The Expert]

I'm 99% sure I caught a glimpse of the Goof Troop RRP this past MW leaving the castle picture area just as I was getting in line, and then never saw them again. Per the plan @The Expert and I can come up with, I don't think we had made any stops until that point other than a bathroom stop or 2. We started in S5.

I think we may have seen them after MK on the road near GF getting a pic in the Mickey golf cart. But you're right about it being tricky for a group of any size to stick together! I think as long as everyone goes in with the right expectations, that's okay. After the Half, @Herding_Cats and I pretty much committed to doing the entire full together, but other folks we met along the way were more drive-by visits, left up to them if they wanted to stick with us or not. I would never want to hold anyone up who is looking for a certain time, especially when I know I'm going to stop for the bathroom every couple of miles out of paranoia.

I'm the person who *has* to eat pretty much immediately post long run/race or I can't eat for the rest of the day. I demolished a PBJ I brought in the shade of a gear check truck after the full last year, and then had a birthday donut and part of a cheeseburger at the pool bar when I got back to the resort. (Part of a cheeseburger because my body didn't want to eat by the time DH got the food and brought it back to me.) And I had to FORCE myself to eat dinner. Absolutely nothing sounded good, and I only ate about half the meal we ended up getting at the resort (and then had a 3am wakeup on Monday to go to the airport. UUUUUGH.) So I'm hesitant to plan an expensive dinner for Sunday.

I prefer to have my big meal for breakfast or lunch, and one of my favs was doing Olivia's (at OKW) after the half as close to the end of the race as we could get it. If I do a big celebratory meal it's usually Monday night on MW, to give myself a good full day to recover and rest and set myself up to enjoy it.

 

[PointerPower]

The Goof Troop is alive and well. Rest assured, the Goof Troop Roving Road Party (TM) will be happening again in January.

I'm so excited - that was so much fun in 2020! For those that haven't attended any Goof Troop meetups - don't sweat it - it's not intimidating at all. It's a very chill group with the focus on fun. I can't wait to meet up up HH and in the mornings. I'll be with my 20 yo daughter (I'll be running Dopey and she's running the 5k and 10k) and she's looking forward to meeting up! She'll be leaving on Saturday, so won't partake in any of the DATW shenanigans, but I can't wait. It was so much fun in '20, and am sooo looking forward to seeing the group and making 2023 a memorable first Dopey!

Good luck with the training everyone! I enjoyed a mid-week 5 mile run this morning in the rain, but at least it was 58 degrees. Weather's going to get worse soon in NE Ohio, and not looking forward to that part of the training, but it'll be worth it in January .

I'll miss Lee and DopeyBadger for sure this upcoming year - they were definitely the celebrities of the 2020 meetup. I wish them the best and hope to see them again in a future MW!

 

[PointerPower]

I'm trying to finalize my ADR list (9 days until my first day to make them) and I'm looking for some input and suggestions for post-marathon. I looked back through the SAFDs and I think we did the "where will you never eat again" and a little bit of "what ADRs do you still do." Apologies if I'm false-starting an up-coming SAFD question.

I'm the person who *has* to eat pretty much immediately post long run/race or I can't eat for the rest of the day. I demolished a PBJ I brought in the shade of a gear check truck after the full last year, and then had a birthday donut and part of a cheeseburger at the pool bar when I got back to the resort. (Part of a cheeseburger because my body didn't want to eat by the time DH got the food and brought it back to me.) And I had to FORCE myself to eat dinner. Absolutely nothing sounded good, and I only ate about half the meal we ended up getting at the resort (and then had a 3am wakeup on Monday to go to the airport. UUUUUGH.) So I'm hesitant to plan an expensive dinner for Sunday.

We pushed our flight home to late afternoon, so I could theoretically just eat leftovers on Sunday night and have my celebration (or consolation, if things go badly) meal outside of the parks for lunch on Monday, and then drive to the airport. I'm NOT a foodie, so I just need it to taste good and not be super duper fancy. I've already planned for Sanaa, Homecomin, and Morimoto. Any suggestions?

It'll be 60+4 for us, so I think I have a pretty good shot at the harder-to-snag places.

For the marathons, I scheduled an ADR at the Rose & Crown for a big hamburger and a Guinness. It hasn't disappointed yet! I scheduled them around 2 or 3 in the afternoon though, since after the marathon I like to go in the pool and chill for a bit and try to take a nap. And then I limp around the park for a while and go to sleep early for the DATW festivities the next day, lol

 

[Desdemona924]

Good luck with the training everyone! I enjoyed a mid-week 5 mile run this morning in the rain, but at least it was 58 degrees. Weather's going to get worse soon in NE Ohio, and not looking forward to that part of the training, but it'll be worth it in January .

I think I need to keep telling myself this. I ran Akron in September and have had zero desire to do any running since and last week's cold weather did not help. At. All. I've always dislike the cold weather training, but coupled with running apathy = not good for Dopey training.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Dopey registration shows availability.

Ironically, I was on my morning run.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Yes, I think that very likely may be the case. In both cases you had to dramatically change your initial pacing strategy during the 6 miler and 7 miler. It's an indication that your effort level is too high regardless of what you were able to do at some other point in the past. Better to train where you are then to reach for old fitness levels when it may be inappropriate. The good news is that it is easier to regain fitness than it is to build new fitness levels. So being patient will help you get back to where you were. But one of the top rules of endurance run training is that if you see a fade (or a non intended run/walk training run becomes run/walk), then it's time to end the run and reassess the strategy that got you there. It's almost never recommended to power through because you are more likely to do more damage than good. Especially if your form starts to suffer.

If you ran a 9:00 flat in a mile time trial, then easy/LR is around 12-13 min/mile for a continuous runner and if you use run/walk then aim for 13 min/mile at something like 60/30 intervals based on a 15:30 min/mile walk.

If you ran a 9:59 in a mile time trial, then easy/LR is around 13.5-14.5 min/mile for a continuous runner and if you use run/walk then aim for 14 min/mile at something like 40/30 intervals based on a 15:30 min/mile walk.

My recommendation is to do a 20-30 min very very easy warm-up, and then give a one mile time trial a try to narrow down current fitness. Be sure to try and run even 0.25 mile splits during the mile time trial (therefore, don't bust out the gate and fade horribly during the time trial).

Thank you SO MUCH for this advice. I will give the one-mile time trial a shot probably tomorrow since it was supposed to be a tempo run anyway. Today's 3-mile run went so much better than Sunday's long run; I even managed to get it under 30 minutes by pushing the last .25 miles and I felt great the entire run.

I'm going to try to keep my pace around 12-13 min/mile for Sunday this week.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

@Let's Get Kronk


Looks like Dopey is already gone, but the marathon shows available?

Thank you for thinking of me! As I posted above, I was out for my morning run when my watch alerted me that Dopey was open. So. Frustrating. The window always closes within a couple minutes.

 

[bryana]

Just checking in because I don’t know who needs to hear this BUT MAKE SURE YOU GUYS ARE EATING ENOUGH FOOD. I’ve been struggling to eat enough (get busy at work, not meal planning for lunches, etc) and at the tail end of my peak month of training, it’s finally catching up with me. Your body can’t perform if it isn’t fueled, and that doesn’t just apply to in-run fueling.


Also, might be into one of the meet ups! Gotta check my spreadsheet when I get home and see if HH will fit into my plans. I think Friday is my only pre-race park day, of course. DATW will definitely fit into my Monday - just gotta make sure my family is cool with me skipping out on them for a bit.

 

[jpeterson]

Just checking in because I don’t know who needs to hear this BUT MAKE SURE YOU GUYS ARE EATING ENOUGH FOOD. I’ve been struggling to eat enough (get busy at work, not meal planning for lunches, etc) and at the tail end of my peak month of training, it’s finally catching up with me. Your body can’t perform if it isn’t fueled, and that doesn’t just apply to in-run fueling.


Also, might be into one of the meet ups! Gotta check my spreadsheet when I get home and see if HH will fit into my plans. I think Friday is my only pre-race park day, of course. DATW will definitely fit into my Monday - just gotta make sure my family is cool with me skipping out on them for a bit.

Eating enough is never my problem. Eating the correct things is usually my issue. Too easy to snack on things rather than eating a more balanced meal.

 

[pluto377]

Eating enough is never my problem. Eating the correct things is usually my issue. Too easy to snack on things rather than eating a more balanced meal.

Same here!

I'm definitely in for the HH meet up. I had such a great time last year! Leaving on Sunday, so I won't make DATW.

 

[Princess KP]

DATW is the same every year. Monday at 11am in Mexico!!!!

Except for that one year @FFigawi had us starting in Canada!

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Except for that one year @FFigawi had us starting in Canada!

Oh goodness no. I cannot imagine ending DATW with tequila. I'd be so sick! Lol

 

[camaker]

Except for that one year @FFigawi had us starting in Canada!

Tried, at least. Didn't he ultimately get overruled?

 

[Princess KP]

Tried, at least. Didn't he ultimately get overruled?

No, in 2018 we started in Canada. It was my first DATW so I didn’t know any better. Lol

 

[camaker]

No, in 2018 we started in Canada. It was my first DATW so I didn’t know any better. Lol

Gotcha! 2018 was the year I ran Dopey with bronchitis, so I wasn't in any kind of health for DATW and missed it! I think he tried having us start in Canada in 2017 or 2019 and got overruled by Keels.

 

[PointerPower]

I think I need to keep telling myself this. I ran Akron in September and have had zero desire to do any running since and last week's cold weather did not help. At. All. I've always dislike the cold weather training, but coupled with running apathy = not good for Dopey training.

Akron's my favorite (next to Disney of course )! I skipped Akron this year to run the River Run half in Rocky River to test my walk/run plan for MW. River Run HM is a great race if you need a qualifying HM time - it's a very fast course. I'm with you on the Dopey training -- I'm just now starting to ramp things up and we're only 2 months out .

 

[Desdemona924]

Akron's my favorite (next to Disney of course )! I skipped Akron this year to run the River Run half in Rocky River to test my walk/run plan for MW. River Run HM is a great race if you need a qualifying HM time - it's a very fast course. I'm with you on the Dopey training -- I'm just now starting to ramp things up and we're only 2 months out .

I hated it. But probably because I was having a rough time of it. I couldn't even tell you why, but that was just a hard day. I'll keep Rocky River in mind though, it's much closer to my house.

 

[Bree]

Except for that one year @FFigawi had us starting in Canada!

Poor John. He’s never gonna live that down

 

[surfde22]

Poor John. He’s never gonna live that down

No should he. Starting in Canada is completely unacceptable!!