SAFD in random order:
1. Gumbo and pommes frites at Cafe Orleans
Disneyland.
2. The beef and potatoes I had at Tiffins. I don't remember what they're called, but oh were they incredible.
3. Cheddar Cheese Soup Le Cellier
4. Desserts at Akershus
5. Desserts at the Happily Ever After dessert party in the Magic Kingdom.
My worry with the lower mileage cap is not feeling prepared mentally for a full. I've run a ton of halves, but normally when I finish I can't imagine running more so I guess I'm wondering how you mentally prepare when you top out your runs at a lower distance? (I believe it works though as I've seen plenty of people with success with it...plus, science and math and things I don't understand! LOL!)
I felt the exact same way. I had a difficult time wrapping my head around it and
@DopeyBadger patiently answered my questions, including many variations of the same same question every time. Ultimately, I realized that I had to take the leap of faith, rely on the experience of others, consistently put in the training, and then trust that training.
For me the key moment came when Billy told me that I was running more miles in a week than the Galloway Dopey plan runner was. Because I already knew that the Galloway plan worked, this told me that I was putting in the miles I needed. I just needed to figure out how to prepare myself mentally for the marathon. 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathoner Jared Ward discusses how the mind can last much longer than the body. I came up with 4 pages of marathon mantras. Some were serious, others were funny, and yet others came from favorite movies. The entire purpose was to have something ready to meet my need at that moment, be it a "serious" pep talk, or laughing (mostly at the antics of Rhino the Hamster in Disney's Bolt), or just remembering something inspiring.
Every runner needs to determine their "why." Why do you want this? What are trying to prove? I mean this only in a positive and helpful way, mostly about finding your motivation and how you hope this will help you and/or your family, friends, and loved ones.
You can do it!! My dopeybadger plan topped out at 10.5 miles. It’s crazy to think with only 10.5 miles you can do a marathon let alone dopey but it worked. You just have to believe in yourself and trust the training.
I always had to remind myself that the entirety of the plan, if followed well (note that I did not say perfectly) would prepare me for race day. In this case, while the long run is still the most important part of the plan, it is but one part of the plan. All the "shorter" runs followed consistently help simulate the cumulative fatigue that comes on race day. Billy often reminded me that running 5 days a week taught me to run on tired legs and that is what the end of the marathon would feel like. So I spent lots of time practicing my running on tired legs. Honestly, when I hit mile 22, I was exhausted and could have quit. But I reminded myself that I had spent months running 4 miles at least twice a week and since I already knew how to run 4 miles, I could certainly run 4 more miles now.
