Where to start? What is a reasonable ambition?

[DianaMB333]

Hi!
I would like to participate in the runDisney events next Spring in 2023…

I don’t run.. LOL.. but I do indoor cycling, pilates, walking and stay reasonably fit for being 46 yrs old

I guess the Dopey challenge is out of question.. right? But running the marathon is too ambitious?

I have seen many threads here.. would you pls point me in the right direction to start preparing for it..

Thanks!

 

[FFigawi]

I wouldn't say Dopey is automatically out of the question, You've got 9 months to train for it, which is plenty of time to train and get ready. If you start now with a plan for something like Couch to 5k and then keep up the mileage, you'll have enough base fitness to slide into a training plan for Dopey in the summer. You might even want to reach out to @DopeyBadger, one of the regulars here who helps many people by customizing training plans for them.

 

[jpeterson]

What is feasible depends on your ambition. If you really want to do Dopey and will do the training, you could absolutely do it. But agree with the previous poster. Start with a 5k program or a 10k program first. See how you feel. The Galloway program for Dopey starts around the last week of June.

If around then you feel that's too much then a half marathon or marathon is still feasible. Especially if you have a base level of fitness.

You mention next spring though. The Dopey challenge is in January. Is there a specific event you are targeting? The only marathon is in January.

 

[jmasgat]

I am in the camp of "one step at a time" and won't tell you to do Dopey right away. Personally, I think that could be a recipe for injury and disillusionment. If you are currently a non-runner, or non run/walker, I would suggest training for a half marathon. It's a long enough race to be a substantial challenge (not that 5k or 10k aren't challenging--they sure were to me when I started out!), and also to make a (very expensive) trip to Disney worth the effort. It is also enough so that you aren't totally freaked out by what you are undertaking.

The key to all of this--regardless of what you decide-- is to honestly commit to what you are willing/able to take on. Find a good plan, build your base slowly and stick with it.

 

[GollyGadget]

The key to all of this--regardless of what you decide-- is to honestly commit to what you are willing/able to take on. Find a good plan, build your base slowly and stick with it.

thisYou need to figure out how much training is feasible for your life.

I also wouldn't personally recommend jumping right into the marathon or Dopey but lots of people have done it. My advice is to train for a local 5 or 10k and see how you like it. Registration for princess is in June and springtime surprise isn't until August. Either of those allow you to try out running for a bit before making the runDisney financial commitment.

 

[DianaMB333]

Thank you!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Hi!
I would like to participate in the runDisney events next Spring in 2023…

I don’t run.. LOL.. but I do indoor cycling, pilates, walking and stay reasonably fit for being 46 yrs old

I guess the Dopey challenge is out of question.. right? But running the marathon is too ambitious?

I have seen many threads here.. would you pls point me in the right direction to start preparing for it..

Thanks!

Here are some general considerations for a marathon or Dopey:

First off, can you honestly commit to six hours per week of running minimally? Keep in mind, this peak training would occur in November/December for the Disney Marathon or Dopey. That means life commitments with Thanksgiving and Christmas have to be juggled with committing to running at least six hours per week towards the tail end of training. In addition, where you live will impact the feasibility of the training. Because November/December in WI (up north) can be vastly different than say Texas. If you deal with a lot of winter weather in Nov/Dec, how are you going to continue training? Tough it out through the snow, or do you have access to a treadmill? But honestly start there. If you can't realistically and honestly commit to six hours per week of running minimally during that time period, then I'd strongly consider not doing it. Is it possible to complete a marathon or Dopey on less than six hours per week at peak training? Yes. But the vast majority of runners need to hit that minimum, and those rare people who do less typically have more experience in their history.

The next consideration for you personally is whether you'll actually like running. You don't have any history with it based on your post. So if you jump into a marathon/Dopey commitment too soon, you may find you don't actually like running all that much. Then you're going to possibly put a bunch of pressure on yourself to continue something you don't like so you don't lose out on the monetary investment in registration (runDisney is non-refundable in almost all cases). Or, you're not going to like the training, skip out on runs, come into the race undertrained and set yourself up for a potentially serious injury.

Another consideration. I've worked with a lot of runners that come from other modes of exercise (like your indoor cycling, pilates, and walking) and that fitness doesn't always translate to running fitness. So where this becomes relevant is that you have a relatively tight timeframe going from zero running to Dopey in 9 months. If you start out running and we find you're a 2:15 half marathon fitness level, then that leaves us a ton of room on the back end of pacing to potentially comfortably complete Dopey off 9 months of experience. But if you start out running and we find your half marathon fitness to be of a 3:10 half marathon fitness level, then you've got a lot less room for slowing down on race day. So in one case, you could take Dopey at a leisurely pace and finish fine, in the other case if you try and run a similar effort level of leisurely you'll end up getting swept, which means you've got to run at closer to a max effort level which makes things feel difficult. So at this point this is a bit of an unknown for you because like I said other fitness modes don't always translate so easily to running.

Lastly, consider whether a marathon/Dopey has to happen in Jan 2023. Is there a personal rush that you feel you need to do 2023 specifically, or could you wait until 2024/2025? The longer you plan it out, the better prepared you'll be. Endurance running can not be rushed. The necessary gains are on the order of months/years. And sometimes rushing it can only set you back physically or mentally towards the sport. So on two separate paths you could A) rush it, run Dopey, but find you don't like running because of all the pressure you put on yourself and give it up completely, or B) progress slowly in race distances, find a love for it, and proceed to continue endurance racing for years to come. Certainly there are other possible routes, but again something to consider for you personally. Ultimately, it's your life, your choose your own adventure and you'll want to take the path you're most interested in.

Here's some old posts of mine with nuggets for new runners. Some if it is just rehashing some of the things above. Keep asking questions though. This group of people are wonderfully welcoming and full of good advice. Back when I started running I wished I had a community like this to bounce ideas off of. Probably would have kept me from being a dummy and going from zero running to a marathon in 12 weeks. "But it's only $10 more for twice the distance than a marathon. What a deal!" *Head SLAP*

Advice for Newbies #1
Advice for Newbies #2
Advice for Newbies #3
Advice for Newbies #4
Advice for Newbies #5

 

[fatmanatee]

A half sounds like a totally reasonable goal for your first year running, a full prob too ambitious. Gotta find out if you enjoy doing this first, training for a full marathon is a huge undertaking and you have to set aside plenty of time for longer training runs. Since you mention spring it sounds like either Springtime Surprise or Princess Weekend (if you can pull off a trip in Feb) would be your best bets.

 

[DianaMB333]

Here are some general considerations for a marathon or Dopey:

First off, can you honestly commit to six hours per week of running minimally? Keep in mind, this peak training would occur in November/December for the Disney Marathon or Dopey. That means life commitments with Thanksgiving and Christmas have to be juggled with committing to running at least six hours per week towards the tail end of training. In addition, where you live will impact the feasibility of the training. Because November/December in WI (up north) can be vastly different than say Texas. If you deal with a lot of winter weather in Nov/Dec, how are you going to continue training? Tough it out through the snow, or do you have access to a treadmill? But honestly start there. If you can't realistically and honestly commit to six hours per week of running minimally during that time period, then I'd strongly consider not doing it. Is it possible to complete a marathon or Dopey on less than six hours per week at peak training? Yes. But the vast majority of runners need to hit that minimum, and those rare people who do less typically have more experience in their history.

The next consideration for you personally is whether you'll actually like running. You don't have any history with it based on your post. So if you jump into a marathon/Dopey commitment too soon, you may find you don't actually like running all that much. Then you're going to possibly put a bunch of pressure on yourself to continue something you don't like so you don't lose out on the monetary investment in registration (runDisney is non-refundable in almost all cases). Or, you're not going to like the training, skip out on runs, come into the race undertrained and set yourself up for a potentially serious injury.

Another consideration. I've worked with a lot of runners that come from other modes of exercise (like your indoor cycling, pilates, and walking) and that fitness doesn't always translate to running fitness. So where this becomes relevant is that you have a relatively tight timeframe going from zero running to Dopey in 9 months. If you start out running and we find you're a 2:15 half marathon fitness level, then that leaves us a ton of room on the back end of pacing to potentially comfortably complete Dopey off 9 months of experience. But if you start out running and we find your half marathon fitness to be of a 3:10 half marathon fitness level, then you've got a lot less room for slowing down on race day. So in one case, you could take Dopey at a leisurely pace and finish fine, in the other case if you try and run a similar effort level of leisurely you'll end up getting swept, which means you've got to run at closer to a max effort level which makes things feel difficult. So at this point this is a bit of an unknown for you because like I said other fitness modes don't always translate so easily to running.

Lastly, consider whether a marathon/Dopey has to happen in Jan 2023. Is there a personal rush that you feel you need to do 2023 specifically, or could you wait until 2024/2025? The longer you plan it out, the better prepared you'll be. Endurance running can not be rushed. The necessary gains are on the order of months/years. And sometimes rushing it can only set you back physically or mentally towards the sport. So on two separate paths you could A) rush it, run Dopey, but find you don't like running because of all the pressure you put on yourself and give it up completely, or B) progress slowly in race distances, find a love for it, and proceed to continue endurance racing for years to come. Certainly there are other possible routes, but again something to consider for you personally. Ultimately, it's your life, your choose your own adventure and you'll want to take the path you're most interested in.

Here's some old posts of mine with nuggets for new runners. Some if it is just rehashing some of the things above. Keep asking questions though. This group of people are wonderfully welcoming and full of good advice. Back when I started running I wished I had a community like this to bounce ideas off of. Probably would have kept me from being a dummy and going from zero running to a marathon in 12 weeks. "But it's only $10 more for twice the distance than a marathon. What a deal!" *Head SLAP*

Advice for Newbies #1
Advice for Newbies #2
Advice for Newbies #3
Advice for Newbies #4
Advice for Newbies #5

Thank you! Very thoughtful

 

[Disneyhanna]

If you’ve never run before, I think you should definitely try a 5k first! Couch to 5k is about 9 weeks and is super beginner friendly. If you’re in decent shape you might be able to get through it a little faster. 9 weeks from today is early June, and Princess weekend registration is June 21. If you can find a local 5k to race by mid-June, I think that would be an awesome goal. If you have a good experience, then I think signing up for the Princess half next February would be a totally achievable goal. Indoor cycling and walking are great cross training activities and will help you out compared to if you hadn’t been doing that at all!

I started running in 2018 and did a 5k first, followed by a 10 mile a year later. I’ve since done a few more 5ks and 10ks and another 10 mile and am just now feeling comfortable with the idea of training for a marathon. I haven’t run any half marathons so many would still say I am being ambitious by considering a marathon!

 

[SheHulk]

My thoughts are similar to @DopeyBadger and others.

Yeah, the question of Where to start is to start a couch-to-5k program. If you have decent fitness, you don't have to start that plan all the way at the start. But get on a running schedule and see how you feel about it at the very least before registration. If it is a drag to you, to have to cover a certain number of runs every week, then a marathon-plus may be out, to start.

I'm going to guess that the fact that you do fitness stuff, but have never been a runner, is not because it never occurred to you that running is A Thing and more because you don't like it? I would *never* suggest starting off with a marathon commitment if you just don't like running that much. You may come to love it, I guess, but more likely you won't. A shorter distance can be covered with less of a commitment to training.

I've run the marathon undertrained, and yes, it's fun to run at Disney, but that last half of the marathon course is definitely NOT fun if you are not well-trained. I would have had a much better time running the half marathon, and feeling good/not terrible the whole way through, rather than running the full marathon and spending the first half excited/happy and second half miserable and in pain.

All that said, 9 months is a long way away, and if you are already active and the marathon is your dream for 2023 it can most likely be done! But you would need to start training now, IMO. I can't say anything about Dopey because I've never done it.

 

[DianaMB333]

Thank you! I want the Disney events just for the fun of it.. enjoying Disney in another way... amd justify the tag price of clubdisney membership (which seems to be the way to secure spots for the yoga at the castle, right?)

not intending (for now) to include running as my go to-exercise... but don't want to get hurt in the process lol

Appreciate your thoughts!

 

[jpeterson]

Thank you! I want the Disney events just for the fun of it.. enjoying Disney in another way... amd justify the tag price of clubdisney membership (which seems to be the way to secure spots for the yoga at the castle, right?)

not intending (for now) to include running as my go to-exercise... but don't want to get hurt in the process lol

Appreciate your thoughts!

I don't think you need club runDisney for yoga. I don't recall them selling out all that quickly. But maybe I'm misremembering

 

[jpeterson]

not intending (for now) to include running as my go to-exercise... but don't want to get hurt in the process lol

If you don't intend to run a lot, not sure a challenge or marathon would be a great way to jump into it. a 5k would be a great way to try the runDisney environment and see how it goes. You can walk that and would help you stay injury-free (which is important!)

 

[ColoradoLime]

Hi!
I would like to participate in the runDisney events next Spring in 2023…

I don’t run.. LOL.. but I do indoor cycling, pilates, walking and stay reasonably fit for being 46 yrs old

I guess the Dopey challenge is out of question.. right? But running the marathon is too ambitious?

I have seen many threads here.. would you pls point me in the right direction to start preparing for it..

Thanks!

I would imagine I'm at about the fitness level as you. I'm 47, have NEVER run, but I do a lot of 5ks, 10ks, etc as a walker. Once you've built up your stamina and injury resistance you'll be surprised at the distances you can cover. But the question I always ask myself is how much am I willing to put myself through in one weekend. I've done a 5k and an obstacle course in one weekend, but that was a lot and my body told me so. Doing several long distance races right out of the gate is certainly possible with training but be realistic of how much stress your body can handle at one time. Being exhausted and pushing yourself is a straight ticket to injury and heartbreak. lol

 

[RamblingMad]

Your biggest risk is injury by doing too much too soon.

 

[QueenFernando]

Agreeing with the other posters here, it's really hard to say if 0 to Dopey is realistic or not until you actually start running. You have a fitness base, but really just don't know what kind of runner you are yet. What I mean by that is how your body will react to running.
My DH and I are a good example of how two runners react very differently to the same training. We're close enough pace-wise that we train together all the time. He can kick my butt in a 5k, but wasn't able to keep the mileage up day after day last fall as I prepared for Dopey. He's had issues with his IT band in the past and even had a stress reaction that put him in a boot when I tried to get him out for a recovery run a couple of days after W&D weekend. He just needs more recovery time.
Long story short, until you start running you just won't know if your body can ramp up to that mileage in 9 months or if it will take longer.

 

[sandam1]

Your biggest risk is injury by doing too much too soon.

THIS!!!!

not intending (for now) to include running as my go to-exercise... but don't want to get hurt in the process lol

One thing that I've learned the hard way and will continue to preach to everyone who comes on the board to ask this question - the second best way to prevent injuries is to make sure that you are doing strength training on a regular basis, preferably something designed specifically for runners. When you run, you are slamming your body into the ground on average 180 times per minute. Imbalances and weaknesses that you can get away with when you are walking, biking, etc., can become problems. If you build up the muscles to tolerate that force, you can prevent a bunch of bad things before they get started.

 

[kps7795]

Hi!
I would like to participate in the runDisney events next Spring in 2023…

I don’t run.. LOL.. but I do indoor cycling, pilates, walking and stay reasonably fit for being 46 yrs old

I guess the Dopey challenge is out of question.. right? But running the marathon is too ambitious?

I have seen many threads here.. would you pls point me in the right direction to start preparing for it..

Thanks!

First and foremost, the Dopey Challenge is definitely NOT out of the question. Other posters are correct that you don't want to do too much too soon and if you do that will likely lead to an injury. However, Marathon Weekend is not next month. This is reminiscent of the exact conversation that I had with my 15 y/o daughter after I ran the marathon when she asked to do a runDisney race with me in January. When she asked if I thought that she could do it, I explained to her that it was physically impossible for her to do it at that point. However, after proper training she will be be able to easily run any race. FWIW, we just ran the Tower of Terror Ten Miler and she was smiling during the entire race! Likewise, it is physically impossible for you to participate in the Dopey Challenge NOW. However, you will be able to crush any race with proper training.

Start NOW with base training. I am a HUGE proponent of the MAF training method, especially for people just starting out because you don't know what an "easy" run should feel like. THIS was me last July when I decided that it was time to check the Disney World marathon off of my bucket list. I wanted to get a Proof of Time (POT) to try to get a "good" corral, so I trained for a half marathon in August starting in July. I did everything wrong that you could do mostly because I didn't know what pace I should be running for an "easy" run. This is why I like MAF so much because it requires you to set your pace strictly and your aerobic capacity will increase. https://philmaffetone.com/method/

There are a great number of online training plans to choose from when the time comes to start your actual Dopey Challenge training...or whichever race you decide to participate. Don't limit yourself with doubts though! The official running coach for runDisney is Jeff Galloway who utilizes the Run-Walk-Run method of long distance running. There's also Hal Higdon (https://www.halhigdon.com/training/marathon-training/) and numerous others. Most marathon training plans are 18-24 weeks long. The runDisney marathon training plan is 29 weeks long. That means that your training on the far end begins on June 25 which is more than two months from now. You can do this if you want to.

 

[HangWithMerida]

This group is so supportive and I love them for that! While I want to support your desire to participate in disney race weekends, I disagree with those saying Dopey is possible and would strongly caution against a challenge or marathon for your first foray into running. You want to enjoy the experience, not just survive it!
I think the above recommendations to pick up a couch to 5k program are spot on. We all start somewhere with running and a lot of us started with the C25k programs. They are designed to transition you into running at a pace that avoids the too much too soon thing so many people are susceptible to and helps to avoid injury. I won't say it is an easy program because I remember C25k being quite a challenge when I did it! Several years later it looks easy but I remember how hard it was at the time. Giving yourself a little grace and setting realistic goals is important. The rec above to use the C25k training to set a goal for Princess weekend registration is great. Try running. See how you like it, then decide how much you want to bite off. Thinking back to how my first year of running went, a HM is not unreasonable at all, especially if you get bit by the running bug and are eager to advance your training. If you get into it and realize you don't want the time commitment or just don't love running as much as your other activities, a 10k may be your sweet spot.