Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

[SyracuseOrange]

If you are doing the Jeff Galloway training programs, this week marks your first week of training! (On his schedule, your first run would be tomorrow.) I'm planning on using Jeff's training program, and I am very excited to start training for the WDW Marathon tomorrow morning! Anyone else using Jeff's program? Good luck!

 

[Texas84]

If you are doing the Jeff Galloway training programs, this week marks your first week of training! (On his schedule, your first run would be tomorrow.) I'm planning on using Jeff's training program, and I am very excited to start training for the WDW Marathon tomorrow morning! Anyone else using Jeff's program? Good luck!

I did for the last two but I'm not sure if it really prepared me for 26.2. Worked great for 13.1 though. A lot of posters here have convinced me to use Higdon for the 2015 Dopey. I'm doing a Higdon plan now for the Dumbo.

But to be fair, last year the heat got to me at 22 and the year before I cramped up at 23. So it may not have been due to the plan. Stuff happens.

Good luck to you!

 

[tink65]

Just go for it! This marathon was my first race back in 2011 and there is no better place than Disney to run a race! Run it for your dad and yourself!

I say go for it! Don't overthink it and just take the plunge! I was reckless and signed up for the marathon before doing any other races. You still have a lot of time to train and I also agree with everyone here...Disney is a great place for your first marathon. There are so many distractions on the course, it makes it easier to forget about all the miles since you are busy taking everything in. It is by no means easy, but it is attainable! I had never run more than a mile when I started training, so if I can do it anyone can do it!

It's a great first marathon. Runners are great, volunteers are great, and the runDisney infrastructure is great. I feel totally safe and supported at these events.

I agree with @Katherine. Disney is a really supportive environment for first timers. I think you should just go for it! You have 7 months to get all trained.

Thanks for all the encouraging words! I still haven't decided for sure but can't put it off much longer. I checked last night and saw that the marathon was 89% full! When I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011 we stayed at POR and loved it. Has anyone stayed at the Values as host resorts and what was your experience like? It would save a considerable amount of money for us to stay at a Value instead of Moderate. We've stayed in Value resorts several time during vacation but not for an event. Just wondering about the transportation ease? Thanks!

 

[tink65]

If you are doing the Jeff Galloway training programs, this week marks your first week of training! (On his schedule, your first run would be tomorrow.) I'm planning on using Jeff's training program, and I am very excited to start training for the WDW Marathon tomorrow morning! Anyone else using Jeff's program? Good luck!

I used the Jeff Galloway plan for the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011. It worked well for me. I haven't registered yet for the marathon.....still thinking about it. I did print out his schedule and will be running this evening as my first training run! Just know I'm in "training" motivates me!

 

[dreamfinder]

Full - 92%
Goofy - 84%

 

[Katherine]

Thanks for all the encouraging words! I still haven't decided for sure but can't put it off much longer. I checked last night and saw that the marathon was 89% full! When I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011 we stayed at POR and loved it. Has anyone stayed at the Values as host resorts and what was your experience like? It would save a considerable amount of money for us to stay at a Value instead of Moderate. We've stayed in Value resorts several time during vacation but not for an event. Just wondering about the transportation ease? Thanks!

I stayed at Pop Century for the 2011 Marathon and it worked out great! When I was ready to go home after the marathon, there was a bus there waiting and was able to sit on board until it pulled out. I also stayed at All Star Movies for the ToT race last year and no problems there either. I've heard stories about the buses but I've never had a problem. Always buses available.

I stayed off site for the 2012 and 2013 Marathon weekends and driving always makes me a little anxious so I always feel like I need to leave even earlier than if I was taking resort transportation.

 

[LindsayLoves]

Thanks for all the encouraging words! I still haven't decided for sure but can't put it off much longer. I checked last night and saw that the marathon was 89% full! When I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011 we stayed at POR and loved it. Has anyone stayed at the Values as host resorts and what was your experience like? It would save a considerable amount of money for us to stay at a Value instead of Moderate. We've stayed in Value resorts several time during vacation but not for an event. Just wondering about the transportation ease? Thanks!

Last year we stayed at POP for the marathon and the buses were pretty great. I think we actually had better service than some of the deluxe resorts who had to share buses with other resorts - I think Boardwalk, shared with the Yacht club, Beach club, and the Swan and Dolphin. So buses would get filled up early at one hotel so those later down the line had to wait longer for buses with seats on them to make it to them. Plus who wants to make multiple stops after the race when you just want to get back and into the ice bath? I would definitely stay at POP for a race weekend again and use the buses.

 

[Mad Stitch]

POP now shares busses with Art of Animation. I stayed at POP for this year’s marathon and didn't notice any decline in the bus service there, but then again Art of Animation wasn't fully open yet.

 

[Ariel484]

I didn't have trouble with buses from BCV in 2012 for the marathon, but I heard that it was pretty dicey for the half the day before. I did promise myself that after the race I'd get off at the first resort no matter which one it was and just walk back so I didn't tighten up, and that's what I did (walked from Boardwalk to Beach Club). So I think it can be okay for some people but I've definitely heard some horror stories!

 

[dreamfinder]

Thanks for all the encouraging words! I still haven't decided for sure but can't put it off much longer. I checked last night and saw that the marathon was 89% full! When I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 in 2011 we stayed at POR and loved it. Has anyone stayed at the Values as host resorts and what was your experience like? It would save a considerable amount of money for us to stay at a Value instead of Moderate. We've stayed in Value resorts several time during vacation but not for an event. Just wondering about the transportation ease? Thanks!

Transportation from all the resorts is fairly similar. The Epcot/MK deluxe loops may/may not share buses, depends on their anticipated demand. But going back post resort they just keep rolling up buses, once the bus is full or like 10 minutes passes, that bus leaves and another pulls up. I've used the race transportation at all classes of resorts and haven't noticed any real differences between them.

 

[Ariel484]

Well looky here...it's a Hal Higdon Dopey Challenge Training plan.
(Summary...an 18-week program that alternates 4-day and 5-day weeks. Starts with a 13-mile long run and works up to one 20-mile long run.)

I'm planning on the Dopey Challenge for 2015 and am definitely using a Higdon plan over Galloway's, which somehow seems like not enough and too much at the same time. Not enough in that 3 days of running per week with 2 of them being 30-45 minutes seems like too little and I think his stepback weeks are pretty drastic...but then long runs of 20, 23 and 26 miles seems like way too much to me. The 5-day weeks in Higdon's Dopey plan scare me - 4 days per week of running + 2 days of strength training seems to be my sweet spot, and I don't think I've ever run 5 days in a week so I'm just not sure how my body would handle it. I do like that it's 5 days of running every other week and not every week.

When I did the 5K+Goofy this year I used Higdon's Novice 1 marathon training plan and (except for low sodium issues during the marathon) felt pretty good the entire weekend. I was thinking I'd use the same plan to train for Dopey (because I think about this stuff ridiculously in advance ) but Higdon actually putting out a Dopey plan gives me pause. I think if I can handle the 5-day weeks it looks pretty doable.

Discuss!

 

[AUPr8Hd]

Well looky here...it's a Hal Higdon Dopey Challenge Training plan.
(Summary...an 18-week program that alternates 4-day and 5-day weeks. Starts with a 13-mile long run and works up to one 20-mile long run.)

I'm planning on the Dopey Challenge for 2015 and am definitely using a Higdon plan over Galloway's, which somehow seems like not enough and too much at the same time. Not enough in that 3 days of running per week with 2 of them being 30-45 minutes seems like too little and I think his stepback weeks are pretty drastic...but then long runs of 20, 23 and 26 miles seems like way too much to me. The 5-day weeks in Higdon's Dopey plan scare me - 4 days per week of running + 2 days of strength training seems to be my sweet spot, and I don't think I've ever run 5 days in a week so I'm just not sure how my body would handle it. I do like that it's 5 days of running every other week and not every week.

When I did the 5K+Goofy this year I used Higdon's Novice 1 marathon training plan and (except for low sodium issues during the marathon) felt pretty good the entire weekend. I was thinking I'd use the same plan to train for Dopey (because I think about this stuff ridiculously in advance ) but Higdon actually putting out a Dopey plan gives me pause. I think if I can handle the 5-day weeks it looks pretty doable.

Discuss!

I've used Higdon in the past and enjoyed the training plans. Although, I haven't been as diligent with sticking to training as possible. With the addition of Crossfit into my training, I am going to have to balance it with my running. I've put together a training plan utilizing some of Higdon's ideas and one put together by Lee Hoedl. Lee's programs for Goofy and Dopey are based on Higdon plans. So, there are a lot of similarities.

Early training shouldn't be too big of an issue. However, the last month leading up to Dopey may be a challenge as my wife's due date is 12/24. As of now, she has given me permission to still go and run Dopey. But, that may or may not change

If you're interested in a Publisher calendar file with both Hoedl and Higdon on it, then let me know and I can email it to you. I print the monthly calendars out and put them on our fridge so everyone knows what's happening.

 

[Sumrdog]

I agree about your thoughts on the Galloway being too much and not enough at the same time @Ariel484. I was looking at the Galloway marathon plan and the last high mileage week for the non beginner plan is 29 miles. And he suggests you do it 1-2 minutes slower than race pace. That means a long run of about 7 hours for me and it falls, in December when we only have about 8 hours of daylight to start with! I have concocted my own plan taking parts and pieces of several and so far it seems to be working for me.

5 days a week would be an impossible goal for me. I just have too much going on, a full time job, a part time job, single mom on weekdays etc...I have read over and over that the long run is the most important run of training. So my plan is Mondays 7-10 miles, Wedsnesdays 3-5 miles and Friday long runs increasing to a maximum of 24 miles 3 weeks before the marathon. I also have a 3-4 mile run every other Sunday on the weekends I don't work.

So my maximum weekly mileage will be 38 Currently I am running between 14 and 17 miles a week, I figured out a plan where my mileage will increase about 2% every week with a drop back of 5% every third week.

I printed out a bunch of blank calendar pages along with several different training plans; Galloway intermediate, Higdon intermediate 1, and runners world intermediate, them i got out the calculator to see what they all had in common for weekly mileage increases...then I mapped it out for my hectic life. I am a little bit of a type A planner myself, I have to be or chaos will reign.

Anyway I started this a month ago and since then I haven't had any pains from doing too much too fast. I have until January so I am feeling good since my long runs are up to 10 miles already, Galloway week one was last week and the first long run is 5.5. But I am going to step it up slowly, when I reach 20 mikes I am going to plateau there for a few weeks.

The first marathon I did, my training plan worked up to 20 in three weeks after 14 and then began to taper. I didn't really feel too strong during that last 6 miles since I had never run that far and I definitely hit a wall and had to walk for a bit.

I could go on for hours about this subject because training plans fascinate me

 

[Texas84]

Well looky here...it's a Hal Higdon Dopey Challenge Training plan.
(Summary...an 18-week program that alternates 4-day and 5-day weeks. Starts with a 13-mile long run and works up to one 20-mile long run.)

I'm planning on the Dopey Challenge for 2015 and am definitely using a Higdon plan over Galloway's, which somehow seems like not enough and too much at the same time. Not enough in that 3 days of running per week with 2 of them being 30-45 minutes seems like too little and I think his stepback weeks are pretty drastic...but then long runs of 20, 23 and 26 miles seems like way too much to me. The 5-day weeks in Higdon's Dopey plan scare me - 4 days per week of running + 2 days of strength training seems to be my sweet spot, and I don't think I've ever run 5 days in a week so I'm just not sure how my body would handle it. I do like that it's 5 days of running every other week and not every week.

When I did the 5K+Goofy this year I used Higdon's Novice 1 marathon training plan and (except for low sodium issues during the marathon) felt pretty good the entire weekend. I was thinking I'd use the same plan to train for Dopey (because I think about this stuff ridiculously in advance ) but Higdon actually putting out a Dopey plan gives me pause. I think if I can handle the 5-day weeks it looks pretty doable.

Discuss!

Yet another great find from Ariel. That is one serious plan but it looks like a good one. You could always do Nick's training plan instead: 20 miles per day.

 

[Ariel484]

@AUPr8Hd - I used a Galloway plan for my first half and switched to Higdon plans from then on. And yes, with a new baby on the way PLUS the holidays it sounds like training in December will be tough for you (congrats!)! That's a great idea to print out monthly calendars...my husband would probably appreciate that. I'll send you a PM!

@Sumrdog - I hate to rag on Galloway because I know a lot of people swear by his methods and he's helped a lot of people become runners...and of course he's a running legend, but I just cannot get behind some of his training plans. That 29-miler is my favorite example...I mean really?! I wonder if anyone's ever actually done that to train for Disney. I'm not sure if 5 days per week is realistic for me either, I mean, I could make the time to do it but mentally and physically I'm not sure how I'd handle it. Your training plan sounds similar to one that I think @Kristia is using. I'm with you on the scheduling (obviously since I'm thinking about a training plan I won't be starting for over a year...) - you have to figure out how to fit it all in! I think training plans are really interesting too...it's interesting to see whether people prefer doing a bulk of the mileage on the weekends (Galloway) or a more even split (Higdon).

@Texas84 - Oh sure, 20 miles a day, no problem..................... HAHAHAHAHA! I don't even know how that is physically possible!! Dopey would be a cakewalk in comparison!

 

[Banzai]

This whole discussion is both terrifying and awesome. Just looking at those mileage numbers gives me a nervous tic. LOL. Still, challenges like Goofy and Dopey are intriguing and, I, too, have pored over a bunch of training plans looking for a flash of insight. I'll lean back and watch the discussion for now while I ponder my own complicatins. I definitely want to run a marathon in the next year but I'll have to prolong any training plan to accomodate transitioning to and from elevation. Goofy for 2015 has my attention. Cool target

 

[Ariel484]

Well looky here again...I do believe that USA T&F has posted the Minnie 10K (and I assume Enchanted 10K) course:

http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=FL13004TY

Thoughts: Love that it goes through World Showcase AND Future World AND around the Epcot resorts. I foresee lots of bottlenecking, but let's be honest...it's a race at Disney. It's gonna be crowded.

Two thumbs up overall!

 

[TK24602]

Well looky here...it's a Hal Higdon Dopey Challenge Training plan.
(Summary...an 18-week program that alternates 4-day and 5-day weeks. Starts with a 13-mile long run and works up to one 20-mile long run.)

I'm planning on the Dopey Challenge for 2015 and am definitely using a Higdon plan over Galloway's, which somehow seems like not enough and too much at the same time. Not enough in that 3 days of running per week with 2 of them being 30-45 minutes seems like too little and I think his stepback weeks are pretty drastic...but then long runs of 20, 23 and 26 miles seems like way too much to me. The 5-day weeks in Higdon's Dopey plan scare me - 4 days per week of running + 2 days of strength training seems to be my sweet spot, and I don't think I've ever run 5 days in a week so I'm just not sure how my body would handle it. I do like that it's 5 days of running every other week and not every week.

When I did the 5K+Goofy this year I used Higdon's Novice 1 marathon training plan and (except for low sodium issues during the marathon) felt pretty good the entire weekend. I was thinking I'd use the same plan to train for Dopey (because I think about this stuff ridiculously in advance ) but Higdon actually putting out a Dopey plan gives me pause. I think if I can handle the 5-day weeks it looks pretty doable.

Discuss!

Thanks for posting this one....been waiting a while for his to come out. Did his Dopey Program last year and have used him for all my training! Greatly appreciated.

 

[imagination30]

177 days cant get here soon enough!

 

[ChristaH]

Another distance-running newbie! I've been running 5K two or three times a week pretty consistently for about a year, and I'm registered for the half-marathon. I have my resort reservations and theme park passes through one of the tour operators on the runDisney site (WAY cheaper than Disney Sports). I made a training plan based on Hal Higdon's Half-Marathon Novice 1 plan, but stretching it out so it is 20 weeks instead of 12, so I officially start training August 26. I have a little bit of a wonky knee so I know I have to be careful about stretching and strengthening. I usually do Zumba for my cross-training, but I know my knee won't tolerate that once I start increasing my weekly distance, so I'm trying out some water and pilates classes at my fitness center to do instead. The area I run is very flat, so I know I'll need do some inclines on a treadmill when time gets closer to be ready for the overpasses. Anything else I need to worry about this far out? Have fun! Oh yea! Can't forget that!