Marathon Weekend 2023

[azrivest]

Do you think you just got a bad photographer or were you just looking for more runDisney specific stuff? I'm just interested in getting something that "looks" like I was in the park. I understand it won't be quite the same and obviously the real thing was better. I was just trying to see if it was worth the savings. But maybe I'll just bite the bullet and go to MK after the half...

Here's an example of some of the pics they took:





The pictures weren't bad, but I thought the backdrops were really bad. And I only saw them once I looked online, I couldn't choose during the shoot.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Training has been going well for me! I am following Galloway with minor modifications to the end. Planning on doing 22 and 24 instead of 23 and 26 for the last two long runs.

Did the Army 10 Miler yesterday and felt amazing the whole time. Took it a little slower since it was in between two long training run weekends, but it went great!

I don't have any trouble giving up one weekend day every few weeks for these last few long runs, there are only 4 left at this point. And up until now, they haven't taken up too much time.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

AND coupled with the fact that those really long runs hit late in the plan, I'd end up doing at least half of it on a treadmill and that's a big ask for a lot of people.

Yeah, I feel this. Also it’s not just one long run a week— sometimes it is also a 4-12 mile walk on Saturday before the long Sunday run/walk. That just takes up the whole weekend. If it works for people that is good, but it didn’t work for me and I see a lot of people on Instagram stop Galloway’s plan at 20 miles so idk. It has been interesting to read this thread for sure!

 

[accm]

SAFD: Training isn't going well over here. I'm having to take a break from running due to some funky stuff happening with my legs. I think I've pinpointed to a tight IT band, which lead to a bunch of other issues, including shin splints for the first time in my life. I saw a massage therapist yesterday, which seems to have helped, and I'm seeing the same doctor that helped me with my knee as well. It doesn't help that work is crazy, so I can't even rest my legs.
I'm trying to cycle whenever I'm supposed to be running to at least keep up my cardio, but I'm getting really anxious about Dopey. My only real goal is to finish with no injuries, so I'm hoping I can make that.

 

[jrsharp21]

SAFD: Training isn't going well over here. I'm having to take a break from running due to some funky stuff happening with my legs. I think I've pinpointed to a tight IT band, which lead to a bunch of other issues, including shin splints for the first time in my life. I saw a massage therapist yesterday, which seems to have helped, and I'm seeing the same doctor that helped me with my knee as well. It doesn't help that work is crazy, so I can't even rest my legs.
I'm trying to cycle whenever I'm supposed to be running to at least keep up my cardio, but I'm getting really anxious about Dopey. My only real goal is to finish with no injuries, so I'm hoping I can make that.

Last year I hurt my IT band about 1/3rd of the way into the marathon on MW. I tried to go on a short run when I got back home and had to stop about a half mile in. Started doing some research online for some rehab ideas. Loved the video that Athlean-X posted about rehabbing and stretching the IT band. I followed this religiously for two weeks and I was back to running no problem. I kept with the stretches a long time after the pain went away and never had any pain come back. Just in case, this is the video that I followed (hopefully okay to post this)

 

[softballpooh]

Just in case, this is the video that I followed (hopefully okay to post this)

Thank you!! I have hip dysplasia and am prepping for Dopey. My PT just had a discussion with me last week about strengthening my muscles around the hip flexor and taking care of a very sore IT band! This is so helpful!!

 

[jpeterson]

Last year I hurt my IT band about 1/3rd of the way into the marathon on MW. I tried to go on a short run when I got back home and had to stop about a half mile in. Started doing some research online for some rehab ideas. Loved the video that Athlean-X posted about rehabbing and stretching the IT band. I followed this religiously for two weeks and I was back to running no problem. I kept with the stretches a long time after the pain went away and never had any pain come back. Just in case, this is the video that I followed (hopefully okay to post this)

I've been working with Airrosti on similar issues and their therapy is very similar to what's in that video.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Last year I hurt my IT band about 1/3rd of the way into the marathon on MW. I tried to go on a short run when I got back home and had to stop about a half mile in. Started doing some research online for some rehab ideas. Loved the video that Athlean-X posted about rehabbing and stretching the IT band. I followed this religiously for two weeks and I was back to running no problem. I kept with the stretches a long time after the pain went away and never had any pain come back. Just in case, this is the video that I followed (hopefully okay to post this)

Thank you for posting this. I’m going to check it out!

 

[accm]

Last year I hurt my IT band about 1/3rd of the way into the marathon on MW. I tried to go on a short run when I got back home and had to stop about a half mile in. Started doing some research online for some rehab ideas. Loved the video that Athlean-X posted about rehabbing and stretching the IT band. I followed this religiously for two weeks and I was back to running no problem. I kept with the stretches a long time after the pain went away and never had any pain come back. Just in case, this is the video that I followed (hopefully okay to post this)

Thank you for posting this. I’ll watch the video tonight,

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I've been working with Airrosti on similar issues and their therapy is very similar to what's in that video.

I worked with them too for my ITB. That's what finally got things to loosen up.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: So far so good on the training. First time using a DopeyBadger training plan for the marathon so it's taking a little getting used to mentally not to see the 18-20 milers ahead on the schedule. I will say that I think I'm starting to understand the cumulative fatigue" principal that the plan is built around, so that is a bit of a new challenge for me. My focus now is keeping with a good routine for core strength and stretching/foam rolling so the injuries that have often plagued me when marathon training really ramps up in November don't get me. So I'm breaking the training down by months with goal of hitting November 1 healthy and ready to handle the 30+ mile weeks that start around then (historically it's been crossing that 30 mile week mark where my injuries start to happen).

 

[camaker]

SAFD: So far so good on the training. First time using a DopeyBadger training plan for the marathon so it's taking a little getting used to mentally not to see the 18-20 milers ahead on the schedule. I will say that I think I'm starting to understand the cumulative fatigue" principal that the plan is built around, so that is a bit of a new challenge for me. My focus now is keeping with a good routine for core strength and stretching/foam rolling so the injuries that have often plagued me when marathon training really ramps up in November don't get me. So I'm breaking the training down by months with goal of hitting November 1 healthy and ready to handle the 30+ mile weeks that start around then (historically it's been crossing that 30 mile week mark where my injuries start to happen).

What kind of running base do you maintain? I used to maintain a base of 25-30 mpw and experienced the same sort of injury onset during marathon training that you described when the plan started to exceed 40 mpw. I actually found that by keeping a consistently higher base, around 35-40 mpw, I was able to largely eliminate those injuries from creeping in when the marathon training neared its peak.

My best guess as to the reason for this is that the injuries must be related to the degree of increase from base to peak training. By reducing the overall increase from base to peak, marathon training is not as stressful and my body tolerates it better. The downside is that it requires more work between training plans to keep the higher base, but it's been nice not to have the added stress of nagging injuries creeping in along with the normal stress of the peak of training. Just some food for thought.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

What kind of running base do you maintain?

Low 20s was the goal but I will admit I wasn't great at always hitting that goal (often because of injury) so 100% agree with your thoughts. Happy to say this year has been much better in large part thanks to DopeyBadger who helped me with essentially a base training plan that I followed before we started onto the marathon plan. I did have a small recurrnce of a hip/groin issue as we got to the end of that plan (and was topping out on mileage), but I was able to handle it quickly and get back to running without real issue. Also was still running my training runs too fast which obviously didn't help at all either (and slowing down is still a work in progress for me).

If I can stay healthy, my plan would be to do exactly as you suggest and maintain a higher base consistently. Will keep with the concept of running 4-5 days with higher mileage each day so I'm not relying on longer long runs that take up so much time to get to the weekly mileage number. The variety of runs that were in DopeyBadger's plan also help me because it was something new every couple of weeks which kept me interested and focused.

 

[Jason Bryer]

SAFD: Just ran Chicago on Sunday so taking this week off before jumping on a the plan for Dopey. With the discussion of distance, I highly recommend getting at least one, if not two, 20 mile training runs in. I've done 8 marathons now and the first 20 in nearly all of them have been predictable. It also helps give me confidence to get to that point on race day. The last 6 miles however, have been completely different for each marathon. Some good, some less good, and one horrible. However, with good training I knew if I got to mile 20 the same as my training runs, I could walk (and maybe crawl) to finish. That is a big confidence boost, for me at least.

 

[camaker]

SAFD: Just ran Chicago on Sunday so taking this week off before jumping on a the plan for Dopey. With the discussion of distance, I highly recommend getting at least one, if not two, 20 mile training runs in. I've done 8 marathons now and the first 20 in nearly all of them have been predictable. It also helps give me confidence to get to that point on race day. The last 6 miles however, have been completely different for each marathon. Some good, some less good, and one horrible. However, with good training I knew if I got to mile 20 the same as my training runs, I could walk (and maybe crawl) to finish. That is a big confidence boost, for me at least.

I would say this is great IF your training plan calls for 20 mile training runs. If it doesn't, it's risky pushing to longer distances than your plan calls for.

Ultimately, I think the most important thing for people to remember is to "trust the plan". You picked the plan you're following for a reason. The plan is set up the way it is for a reason. If hitting an arbitrary distance, be it 20 miles, 26 miles, whatever, is important for you to feel mentally ready, then pick a plan that supports that.

 

[MissLiss279]

SAFD: Just ran Chicago on Sunday so taking this week off before jumping on a the plan for Dopey. With the discussion of distance, I highly recommend getting at least one, if not two, 20 mile training runs in. I've done 8 marathons now and the first 20 in nearly all of them have been predictable. It also helps give me confidence to get to that point on race day. The last 6 miles however, have been completely different for each marathon. Some good, some less good, and one horrible. However, with good training I knew if I got to mile 20 the same as my training runs, I could walk (and maybe crawl) to finish. That is a big confidence boost, for me at least.

I think 20 miles can be good for the mental aspect of marathon running if you haven’t ran one before, and some people really will do better having that 20 mile long run.

For me I have found that the cumulative weekly mileage with a long run of about 3 hours works for me (which is about 15 miles for me). I probably haven’t had a 20 mile long run since at least 2019 (maybe before) and have run 10ish marathons since then. Now - several of those marathons are stacked in the same season, so one marathon would technically be a long run for the next marathon….

I think finding a training plan that works for a person individually is what is best - whether that is 20 miles or something else.

 

[MissLiss279]

SAFD:
Training so far is going well. I don’t know that I’m specifically training for Dopey yet, though. I just ran a half marathon on Sunday (2 seconds slower than my PR!!) and I have a marathon this weekend plus another two (maybe three) before the end of November. I plan to run all of these at an ‘easy’ long run pace and hope for no injuries. So far so good.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

SAFD: Training is progressing nicely. Per my post a couple weeks ago, I got a late start in training for Goofy, so my long run on Sunday was only 5 miles. I chose to do a modified version of the Hal Higdon novice 1 program, and I am walking on Saturdays for half the distance of my Sunday long runs. I may not get up to 20 miles before I start tapering, but I am feeling more and more confident that I can get through both races in January if I stick with the plan.

I have been resting on Mondays and Fridays, but sometimes I have to move days around for work and personal stuff. It just feels good to be running consistently again; it's been years!

 

[Baloo in MI]

I agree with the sentiment around trusting your plan. I think it is not so much about the amount of miles you are running, but what you are doing within the miles you are running. Are you slowing down on easy pace days, are you picking in up on tempo days, hill work or speed work, etc. So if your plan has long miles and you, a coach, a friend or other set it up that way with purpose and thought probably best to run longer.

At a certain point longer distance may not helping much physically, but it might be helping mentally. And both are needed on race day. So all this to say, I have the most success when I follow my plan (well at least the plan my PT helped me create - who knows what heck I would do if left to my own devices…)

 

[Bree]

SAFD: Aside from my constant GI issues on long runs, training is freaking awesome. I used Hanson’s beginner marathon plan for Chicago and will recycle it for Dopey. I still have to write up my Chicago race report, but even though things didn’t end the way I wanted I FEEL FANTASTIC!!! I do not feel like I ran a marathon at all. I am not sore and don’t have one ache or pain. I am taking this week off from running. I will still be doing strength training in the form of hurricane and flood clean up though. I am going to give Tailwind another try. I don‘t really enjoy carrying a lot of liquids with me, but I’m at the end of my rope. I bought the Ultraspire hydration belt that @camaker posted about and I really like it. It is super lightweight, doesn’t bounce, no riding up, no falling down, no clips digging into my body and doesn’t end up a soggy gross mess. My belt only has one bottle, but may invest in the two bottle belt if Tailwind works out.

I am not a believer of having to run multiple 20+ miles during training if you don’t have to. Having @DopeyBadger create some plans for me was a game changer. His plans had me maxing out at 14 miles for Dopey and Goofy. My current Hanson’s plan has me maxing out at 16 miles at long run pace. That is about 2.5 hours for me which is perfect considering I usually have two other big mileage runs during the week. I am sure some people would look at my plan and think I am crazy, but I really enjoy running (most of the time!).

I kinda feel horrible for typing this out, but the marathon/goofy/dopey Galloway plans from the RunDisney website make me cringe. The hours and hours dedicated to a single run I see posted on social media is sometimes awful to read and at times heartbreaking because people can’t make that distance and end up feeling discouraged about the actual race. I have used them myself as a beginner for my first 10K and my first Half. Yeah, they got me over the finish line, but I felt like crap after every long run and after the races. I just scratch my head at the idea of running 26 during training and not giving the body time to heal. I always take time off after a marathon to give my body a much needed break. I think the run/walk method is a GREAT tool, but that method can be incorporated in better written plans. I have read that custom plans from Galloway are totally different than what is put out there for Disney, but I’ve never seen one myself.