Marathon Weekend 2024

[RuntheMouse]

SAFD: Training is going so much better than last year! I am still battling Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot (left foot last year) but I’m managing. The weather has turned cooler and I’m making all my miles so far. Still cross training and strength training which I think is making a huge difference this year. The wheels seriously fell off the bus last year in November and I’m in a much better spot this time. I am also crushing eating everything thing in the house after my long run because I’m soooooo hungry.

On the ADR front, I got Whispering Canyon for brunch after the HM and Steakhouse 71 for lunch after the full.

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

SAFD: Training is going well! I'm prepping for Space Coast in 3 weeks (gulp), and I have just one more big week before the taper (hello 10 miles at MP ). Starting to get those pre-race nerves, lol

We’ll be there, too! DH is running the full, and his training has been great. I’m running the North Half, and training has been horrible. I limped through a local half a couple of weeks ago, while dealing with a sore knee. Before that, it was travel and a sinus infection that interrupted my training. The knee is still an issue, but it is getting better, I think. I know I don’t really have time to do much now, but hopefully I can finish and it won’t be too painful. We aren’t doing MW this year, so next up is DL.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

We’ll be there, too! DH is running the full, and his training has been great. I’m running the North Half, and training has been horrible. I limped through a local half a couple of weeks ago, while dealing with a sore knee. Before that, it was travel and a sinus infection that interrupted my training. The knee is still an issue, but it is getting better, I think. I know I don’t really have time to do much now, but hopefully I can finish and it won’t be too painful. We aren’t doing MW this year, so next up is DL.

Awesome! If you see a fairly tall woman in a blue tank with Star Wars droids (unless it's really cold), come say hi!

 

[jillinastoria]

Hello, everyone! I’m sort of re-joining the group after booking my flights, hotel (Gran Destino Tower), and ADRs this morning, and admitting that this Half is actually going to happen! Traveling with my husband and son. It’s our sixth WDW trip together but our first RunDisney event.

Training-wise, I’m at an 8 mile long run as of last weekend, with 22 miles for the week. I’m trying to run more than 13 regularly before the half based on past experience, and so far, so good!

And am very excited to have my ADRs booked as of this morning! Sanaa for the night before the half and Shiki-Sai to celebrate after!

 

[BigEeyore]

SAFD: Training is going well! I ran Berlin in September, took a week off, and then jumped back into Goofy training! This past weekend, I did 6 on Friday followed by 16 on Saturday. Weekly mileage is in the mid-30's - sticking with 4 runs a week right now, mixed in with cross training.

My ADR's are a hot mess though - I have already canceled and rebooked stuff 3 times in the past 36 hours! Currently I have:
- Thurs early dinner at Skipper Canteen (like 5pm - hoping I can get it changed to later or maybe switch to Steakhouse 71 if something opens up!)
- Friday dinner - at 50's Primetime (wanted Spice Road Table but no ADRs open after 12/31 for some reason?) - I will probably change this one but wanted something!
- Saturday dinner - Biergarten (wanted this one Sunday night but no ADRs for Sunday at Biergarten right now)
- Sunday dinner - Shiki San

I'm sure it will all change but I feel better having something booked.

 

[RunWI1265]

I am still battling Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot (left foot last year) but I’m managing.

Anything special you are doing to keep it at bay? I've been dealing with it in my right foot for almost a year. I ordered some of those Oofos sandals everyone talks about to wear around the house. Just hoping to keep it as it is and not any worse.

SAFD: Training is going well over here. At least one double digit run every week from now until race week! The weather has been up and down. I've been in shorts to winter gear in the past couple weeks. Running in the cold doesn't bother me much but I'm not a fan of the cold, dreary, wet weather. Testing out some Huma gels for nutrition. I normally do Stringer gels but they are hard to use in the winter here as the consistency starts to get solid. The only downside I've experienced with the Huma gels so far is that they only have 22g carbs/packet and my target is around 50g/hr. I'd like to keep it simple with needing to take 2 gels per hour because the last thing I need to be doing during the marathon is...math

I only grabbed Topolinos breakfast for ADR. I'll be traveling solo again so I don't usually do sit downs by myself. I'm fine with quick service but I haven't quite got comfortable enough to do a full sit down alone. I did join a group of strangers in an Artist Point res for Sunday night but I can't decide if I want to do that or be in MK.

 

[Z-Knight]

training is going poorly - worse than last year and i started full training a couple of months earlier this time because i was hoping to improve. i just did an 18 mile run where 16 were done at 11:30 pace and rest was walked ... last year i did the same 18 run in 10:00 minute pace. sooo, kind of worried for the weekend. i feel like i can finish ok, just not gonna improve at this point and feeling fatter - also looking fatter and i meant to be fitter. well, as us Cubs fan always say: There is Always Next Year

 

[Grabnar]

Anything special you are doing to keep it at bay? I've been dealing with it in my right foot for almost a year. I ordered some of those Oofos sandals everyone talks about to wear around the house. Just hoping to keep it as it is and not any worse.

SAFD: Training is going well over here. At least one double digit run every week from now until race week! The weather has been up and down. I've been in shorts to winter gear in the past couple weeks. Running in the cold doesn't bother me much but I'm not a fan of the cold, dreary, wet weather. Testing out some Huma gels for nutrition. I normally do Stringer gels but they are hard to use in the winter here as the consistency starts to get solid. The only downside I've experienced with the Huma gels so far is that they only have 22g carbs/packet and my target is around 50g/hr. I'd like to keep it simple with needing to take 2 gels per hour because the last thing I need to be doing during the marathon is...math

I only grabbed Topolinos breakfast for ADR. I'll be traveling solo again so I don't usually do sit downs by myself. I'm fine with quick service but I haven't quite got comfortable enough to do a full sit down alone. I did join a group of strangers in an Artist Point res for Sunday night but I can't decide if I want to do that or be in MK.

Strongly recommend RunLab, they’re been working up my legs to try and get things fixed. Started with my feet, then ankles/calves. Now we’re at my glutes which are probably the root of the whole thing. Wish that I’d started coming here to fix my body years ago, it’s slowly getting better (and worse as I move force up the chain to the next weak muscle)

Also get a MoBo board, helped with my PF a lot, as did a fascia stripper (you can use a massage gun to do it kinda)

training is going poorly - worse than last year and i started full training a couple of months earlier this time because i was hoping to improve. i just did an 18 mile run where 16 were done at 11:30 pace and rest was walked ... last year i did the same 18 run in 10:00 minute pace. sooo, kind of worried for the weekend. i feel like i can finish ok, just not gonna improve at this point and feeling fatter - also looking fatter and i meant to be fitter. well, as us Cubs fan always say: There is Always Next Year

My therapist showed me this once and it really stuck with me:

Have some self-compassion, as long as you keep moving you're never not heading towards your goal.

 

[GreatLakes]

SAFD: I'm just doing the half so I'm not really training, just running when I want. I'll sprinkle in some specific workouts but nothing major.

We aren't doing a lot of ADRs. We only tried for three, Sci-Fi, Rose and Crown fireworks package, and 'Ohana with some local family. We had to do Spice Road instead of Rose and Crown and while we have 'Ohana and Sci-Fi but not at times we want so we are looking to find both at better times.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: Knock wood, but so far training is going really well. No real issues and have generally hit all the runs on my DopeyBadger plan at the prescribed paces. I've had a long history with every running injury under the sun, so I'm a bit nervous with my weekly mileage being higher than it has been in years, but so far so good. Long delayed HM attempt scheduled again in two weeks (11/19) so that will give me a good gauge for the remainder of training.

Was able to get my ADRs this morning. Scaled back compared to last year, but got the 3 that I wanted for Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and Sunday's celebration dinner.

 

[Herding_Cats]

since Thursday, the pre-orders for the half and full pin bundles are now missing from the page. only 5k/10k/goofy pin bundles are remaining.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Offering it up for any other pre-planners like me. Last year I got MM for the races and split it with a few other people. I'm more than willing to do this again this year (now with real internet that won't take 6+ hours to download pics) and email you a zip file on the 10th or 11th of January. And if you want something with no watermarks for social media or whatever before then, I'm happy to grab a few and message them to you sooner. We just won't be back home until late on the 9th. $10/race splits the cost pretty evenly. DH and I will be in the parks starting on the 1st and I'm happy to add you as a friend on MDE and grab all of your in-park/ride pics as well. Send me a PM if you're interested. Assuming there's no changes from the 5 codes/race, I would have space for: 3 5k-bibs, 2 10k-bibs, 1 HM bib, and 3 Marathon bibs.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Anything special you are doing to keep it at bay? I've been dealing with it in my right foot for almost a year. I ordered some of those Oofos sandals everyone talks about to wear around the house. Just hoping to keep it as it is and not any worse.

- Hoka slides always in the house
- Stretch my ankle before my feet hit the ground in the morning
- Calf raises
- Theragun my legs every day
- Ice bottom of foot after runs

I tried sleeping in the boot but it didn’t do anything for me but make my entire ankle stiff.

 

[Dopey 2020]

SAFD Training is on target for what should be a great weekend but not so much on target to PR the marathon. It can get there maybe. Coming off a great wine and dine challenge trying new run walk pacing - went easy on the 10K with run 4/walk :30 to average 9:04/mile and went for the half PR running fast in short bursts with run 2:30/walk :30 coming in at 7:53/mile almost 4 minutes slower than my best. Last long run was 17 three weeks ago with 17 next week and a practice Dopey of 5/5/10/20 over Thanksgiving on the calendar. Some speed work would be a good idea but right now I feel good about the weekend
ADRs are partially done and was lucky enough to get what we wanted for now, any others left will most likely depend on that days plans but will be those that rarely book up.
Hopefully all goes well for everyone else, it‘s getting real!

 

[Bree]

SAFD: Uh, we are supposed to train? Just slogging along right now doing what I can. Just had a fantastic W&D race weekend which helped me get out of my slump about missing NYC. I ran pretty hard during the half yesterday so this week I’ll keep it simple with some easy recovery runs. Next week I have three double digit runs (10.5/10/16), but I’ll probably cut back on the first one. I’ll be running the Space Coast half on Thanksgiving weekend as a supported training run.

I made zero ADR.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Anything special you are doing to keep it at bay? I've been dealing with it in my right foot for almost a year. I ordered some of those Oofos sandals everyone talks about to wear around the house. Just hoping to keep it as it is and not any worse.

Personally I mostly just deal with it, but I have a few spikey ball type things such as below that I use when it flares up. It’s not a cure but seems to make it feel better. The spikier the better. I also have one that I put in the freezer (it has liquid inside that freezes). YMMV!

The feeling of changing into Oofos provides lots of motivation to finish a run, for me at least.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Have some self-compassion, as long as you keep moving you're never not heading towards your goal.

This is so important to keep in mind especially when rough patches come.

SAFD: After a disastrous October, I'm just happy to be training. Training was going wonderful in late September aside from nagging back pain. Then on the 28th, I went for a run as usual only to do something that made it so I could only take short, brief breaths and not hold anything for longer than a second or two. I could not lay down and so had to sleep on a recliner.

When this did not get better I went to see the doctor to address the back pain. As it turns out the back pain was being caused by a bacterial infection and I spent a week in the hospital. To go from normal life to almost entirely dependent on someone else to do even the most basic actions was shocking to say the least.

Once I was released from the hospital, I had to make a mental shift and remind myself that the short walks doctors wanted me to do were all the training I could do until I was better.

Starting last week, I felt strong enough to resume running. The doctor had already cleared me for the marathon while I was still in the hospital and last week's follow up said that they don't need to see me again until February.

I may well be undertrained come marathon weekend, but I'll be able to participate in marathon weekend so I'll be grateful for that. I'll certainly be ready for Coast to Coast, and finishing the marathon will be reward enough considering what early October looked like.

 

[Grabnar]

This is so important to keep in mind especially when rough patches come.

When this did not get better I went to see the doctor to address the back pain. As it turns out the back pain was being caused by a bacterial infection and I spent a week in the hospital. To go from normal life to almost entirely dependent on someone else to do even the most basic actions was shocking to say the least.

Definitely something I learned when I had rhabdo in 2019 and had to rebuild my legs to be able to walk for more than a quarter mile at a time. Going from being fairly fit to essentially immobile and in incredible pain takes a lot of hubris out of you and makes you really grateful for the good times.

I read The Stormlight Archive around this time and it has the best quote that hit hard coming out of a bad relationship, working a crap job, and going through a bad injury and piecing myself and my life back together.

A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles. The trials. The knowledge that we will fail. That we will hurt those around us. But if we stop, if we accept the person we are when we fall, the journey ends. That failure becomes our destination. To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.

The most important step a person can take is always the next one. Progress is inevitable, growth is a choice.

 

[softballpooh]

- Hoka slides always in the house
- Stretch my ankle before my feet hit the ground in the morning
- Calf raises
- Theragun my legs every day
- Ice bottom of foot after runs

I tried sleeping in the boot but it didn’t do anything for me but make my entire ankle stiff.

I second all of these but especially the calf raises. I also use a frozen water bottle and roll my feet regularly.

 

[BikeFan]

SAFD: Training is going fantastic. I was able to hit a BQ-5:00 at Atlantic City in Oct., so I can take every marathon from now until Sept. relatively easy. We just got back from Marshall University Marathon in WV, and that went very well. My wife ran the half and I did the full, and we met a bunch of fun runners. Marshall finishes on the football field in the stadium, and they even hand you a football as you enter the stadium so you channel your inner Walter Payton as you run down the center of the field towards the finish. Great fun. Next up is a Goofy simulation at the Philadelphia half/full, and then Kiawah Island in Dec. I recently realized this coming WDW Marathon will be my 50th marathon, so it'll be exciting to celebrate that milestone at the Happiest Place on Earth. Can't think of a more fun race than Disney to celebrate.