Marathon Weekend 2024

[sandam1]

But if you have a great rain jacket (or spend an obscene amount of money at this last minute to buy one and get it shipped to you before you leave), the weather will be beautiful.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Any suggestions for a lightweight rain jacket? It may be time to start planning for running in the rain.

The idea of wearing a raincoat while running in temps over 50 is making me wilt. Embrace the suck.

 

[becauseimnew]

Any suggestions for a lightweight rain jacket? It may be time to start planning for running in the rain.

As long as the temps are above 50 I don't think you'll need a rain jacket, just wear moisture wicking clothes. I ran my last race in the rain, the worst part is the wet shoes.

 

[superchime]

I bought a pack of clear rain ponchos before Wine and Dine. I figured I could wear one in the corrals to stay dry, then toss it when I started running.

 

[GollyGadget]

As long as the temps are above 50 I don't think you'll need a rain jacket, just wear moisture wicking clothes. I ran my last race in the rain, the worst part is the wet shoes.

And as my dear friend once told me, you only get wet once

I’d still recommend a throwaway poncho for before the race.

 

[Stitch&Co.]

But if you have a great rain jacket (or spend an obscene amount of money at this last minute to buy one and get it shipped to you before you leave), the weather will be beautiful.

Your welcome everyone

 

[camaker]

Any suggestions for a lightweight rain jacket? It may be time to start planning for running in the rain.

I'd suggest just having something to keep you relatively dry in the corrals and then run in the rain in your normal race gear. The only thing I've found a jacket to accomplish in mid-range or warmer temperatures is to keep the cooling, refreshing rain off of you while you swelter in your own sweat inside the jacket. Barring a significant wind that needs to be knocked down, I don't use a jacket in the rain any more.

 

[jmasgat]

@garneska Healing thoughts and hugs to you and your mom.

 

[cburnett11]

cooling, refreshing rain

Rain runs are usually glorious!

 

[PrincessV]

I HATE being cold, and I get cold easily… I’ve only ever worn a rain jacket to run once, and regretted it within 1/2 a mile. I’d probably consider it again with a temp below 50°, but I run in the rain a lot and just regular running clothes are fine. I do like a couple light layers on top if the temp is below 60 though: that seems to sandwich some warmth into the wet. My key rain elements are a hat or visor with a brim, and newspaper to stuff into my shoes after - speeds up drying time. Disposable poncho pre-race, and an old umbrella if it’s really coming down. Binder clip: helps keep a poncho neck closed and/or its hood attached to a hat brim. I have no faith in my phone’s water resistance, so I’ll toss it into a ziploc in my pocket in heavy rain.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Trash bags over shoes once you leave your room until you start the race if it’s raining. Keeps the shoes/socks dry for as long as possible. Just be careful because the trash bags make it slippery to walk.

 

[kps7795]

This is for anyone and everyone worrying about the MW weather forecast...R.E.L.A.X. You cannot trust ANY weather prediction for Central Florida this far out. Truth be told, the weather changes so much that it's hard to trust the weather beyond the day before, but DEFINITELY not this far out.

 

[Tall Todd]

Trash bags over shoes once you leave your room until you start the race if it’s raining. Keeps the shoes/socks dry for as long as possible. Just be careful because the trash bags make it slippery to walk.

Cut the bottom off so they act as gators.

 

[kps7795]

Cut the bottom off so they act as gators.

Appropriate for Florida.

 

[garneska]

Thought I would drop the news from the dr. i need to have an MRI, but the tests for meniscus tear is positive. No good course of action till MRI, which is scheduled for Jan 9. Yes after MW. He said I can do what I can tolerate and since walking is not super tolerable (though I did a small amount with Whisky), I probably should not run on it. I did like the dr though, he was like I can give you a cortisone shot and you can probably gut through it, he said he would not recommend it. I have not canceled my room yet but am planning too.

the reason to cancel more has to do with mom. With her in ICU, it was looking more and more like I am not going to be able to attend. Especially because of the good news for her today. they were able to take her off the ventilator. She feels completely miserable but she can talk and is not sedated. She suffered a perforated gastric ulcer and had emergency surgery on Sunday. She was in septic shock. While the dr said the surgery was successful in closing the hole, we had to wait and see if she could fight the sepsis. She has all kinds of problems at the moment but i really was not expecting her to make it. She still probably has limited time, but today when I left the hospita, I could tell her I love her and she was awake and could say it back.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@garneska - sorry to hear about your knee, but am very happy to hear about your mom's improvement!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Another observation, the character stops do give you a breather if it isn't too long of a wait.

Somewhere after mile 20 in 2019, I was feeling the impact of everything, including the not quite 2020 hot, but still warm weather. It was a challenge to keep going and I felt a little bit lightheaded. Perhaps one of the smartest decisions I made that race was to stop for a photo with the Incredibles somewhere around DHS. That brief pause allowed me to catch my breath as it were and simply recalibrate. Mr. Incredible did a great confused pose as to why I was running with an ice bag on my head, but the explanation was pretty simple.

First off, I feared that I would not be physically capable of bending over and picking up the ice bag off the ground if I discarded it for the picture and it was doing a masterful job helping me keep cool. Secondly, I decided that the photo would be a far more accurate retelling of my experience right then and there. The photo is perhaps more epic precisely because I'm wearing an ice bag on my head.

So yes, character stops can be outstanding mini breaks.

The short version is that I DID finish it! I took extra walk breaks from the beginning, pulled over to stretch as needed, and from around AK to the finish really just pushed through a huge amount of pain. I found that not having a lot of mileage in training was no issue at all with respect to endurance: I could have kept going for many more hours if I needed to. I actually had more energy than in any of my previous 6 marathons!

I’ve since dialed way, way back on my mileage and went into the 3 W&D races “undertrained”, too… and again, had no issues with endurance at all. What I’m realizing is that after years of training for long distances, my body’s got the endurance thing down: piling on a bunch of mileage isn’t necessary to get to the finish. If I was chasing times, things would be different, but I think if you’ve been doing long distances for a while and aren’t injured - or your injury is manageable and isn’t going to be made worse by pushing through - you’re likely to find that being undertrained isn’t as much of a problem as it seems on paper.

Thank for your sharing this. After missing an entire month of running in October due to an unexpected hospital stay, I go back and forth about just how much impact being undertrained will have on me. Reading others experiences combined with knowing how I feel right now helps alleviate some of my fear. I'm sure the fear will return shortly since sometimes it's a roller coaster ride, but reminding myself that my body knows how endurance races work helps.

Is there a list anywhere of what characters will be on the courses? I would love to plan a little.
Looking forward to my first MW meetup! This is only my second Dopey but looking forward to hearing more war stories from the MW veterans!

One year, I did see the list posted at the Expo, but that was one year.

In prior years, we had a text thread set up where the faster runners from the DIS would send out text messages to team not so fast, but I haven't seen that come back since the pandemic. For 2023, somebody posted the character stops on these boards a day or so before the race. It came in handy. But yes, sometimes you're flying blind.

Everyone here is discussing bus vs. car, but you all are ignoring the best way to travel to and from the marathon.

View attachment 819469

Monorail! Monorail! Monrail! Mono-DOH!

They definitely have general rundisney merch now at the expo. It's usually black/white/blue (possibly some green ala galloway)

They've also had some non race specific character merchandise. I've seen the 7 Dwarfs with Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's off to run I go or I bought a shirt last year with Chip and Dale that says "running again tomorrow." And many others that I can't remember right now.

I know right! They are taunting us with a potential picture with Olaf and Snoap…one of my favorite picks in the past

Heading into 2022 Marathon Weekend, I was not in a good headspace. All the exhaustion of the pandemic leading into my first real vacation in 13 months was weighing down on me. The day before I left for Marathon Weekend, I had Disney music playing in my office, and the algorithm started to play "This Will All Make Sense When I am Older" from Frozen 2 and I started to laugh hysterically because the song released all my frustration.

So Olaf became my running spirit animal that weekend and I was quite happy to see him on the course during the marathon. I am still waiting for this to all make sense when I am older though.

 

[pluto377]

@garneska I'm so sorry about the knee. What a bummer. Hope your mom continues to improve!

 

[2girlsR2good]

I bought a pack of clear rain ponchos before Wine and Dine. I figured I could wear one in the corrals to stay dry, then toss it when I started running.

Great idea...heads off to Amazon...

Your welcome everyone

I also have an overpriced rain jacket I love. I will bring it with me to ensure that there is no rain. I wear it when it's in the 40's and raining (over 50 and I don't wear a rainjacket, under 40 and I just won't run--I'm a klutz and don't need that degree of difficulty. I did a 20 mile training run in the rain in mid-50's this season and it was so much more exhausting than any other run. Keeping the body temperature up in those conditions is work.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Last call for the big dis'ers list! I'm going to work on finalizing all of the details tomorrow.

I'm going to add it to the doc, but here is the list of pacers for the weekend (half and full only, as usual)