Marathon Weekend 2021

[hotblooded]

I think I'm in for my first full marathon. Debating doing the marathon as a stand alone or doing the 10k and the full. I've done 3 half marathons and & the Fairytale Challenge this past weekend. Come May I'll be up to 5 half marathons and think I'm ready to tackle a full. I'm too chicken to attempt Dopey just yet though!

I usually do one event per weekend, and when it comes time to play afterward, I’m grateful. It also helps me stay off my feet before my main event. It can still be a running-focused trip if you run one race!

 

[Tinker-belle23]

I usually do one event per weekend, and when it comes time to play afterward, I’m grateful. It also helps me stay off my feet before my main event. It can still be a running-focused trip if you run one race!

Yes I think for my first full I'll want to have well rested legs and more than 2 hours of sleep a night leading up to it! I would definitely do a challenge again in the future I just don't think Dopey is in the cards anytime soon.

 

[Tinker-belle23]

I understand that line of reasoning. It took me 8 half marathons, including one on just 3 weeks training, 6 Star Wars Challenge weekends including 1 all 3 distances of race weekend before I felt like I actually wanted to attempt the marathon. I don't know that I would have even attempted Dopey as part of my first marathon had I not already done the challenge weekends and then spent the week afterward in Disney World.

While it worked for me, it may not work for everyone. I believe that each individual is the best judge of when they're ready for the marathon if they ever decide they want to run one.

I just realized the half marathon distance was getting comfortable for me and I started my running journey to get out of comfort zone! The distance of the full is definitely still very intimidating.

 

[lhermiston]

I just realized the half marathon distance was getting comfortable for me and I started my running journey to get out of comfort zone! The distance of the full is definitely still very intimidating.

My marathon training tops out at 17 miles, so if you’re comfortable with a half, then you’re well on your way to conquering a full. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I think the mental hurdle before your first full is a bigger obstacle than the physical hurdle. Especially at Disney, a full is only as intimidating as you make it.

 

[Tinker-belle23]

My marathon training tops out at 17 miles, so if you’re comfortable with a half, then you’re well on your way to conquering a full. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I think the mental hurdle before your first full is a bigger obstacle than the physical hurdle. Especially at Disney, a full is only as intimidating as you make it.

Thanks that really helps with perspective! I remember the "*** did I just do?" feeling after I registered for my first half and am definitely feeling that again now but I think that's what keeps me coming back as well.

 

[Dopey 2020]

@Tinker-belle23 You will do great. I did my first full at Disney in 2019 after only 3 challenge weekends and definitely had that ’what have I done’ feeling when I registered. I just followed the training plan and although it was hard, I don't doubt that I could have done the Dopey. I finished with a smile and immediately knew I was doing Dopey the following year. I would go so far as to say you could do the 10K and take it as a nice easy pre race warm up, you’d still get a full day of rest before the full.

 

[shellott-hill]

2021 will be my first Marathon and my first Dopey...All to try and get it in before I become 50 years young.

 

[FFigawi]

My marathon training tops out at 17 miles, so if you’re comfortable with a half, then you’re well on your way to conquering a full. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I think the mental hurdle before your first full is a bigger obstacle than the physical hurdle. Especially at Disney, a full is only as intimidating as you make it.

A Disney full is also as much fun as you make it

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Yes I think for my first full I'll want to have well rested legs and more than 2 hours of sleep a night leading up to it! I would definitely do a challenge again in the future I just don't think Dopey is in the cards anytime soon.

It sounds so cliche, but I think that you will come to know and understand when you are ready to attempt the full and/or Dopey. In my case, over the course of a few months I noticed many of my physical and mental barriers to attempting the marathon fell. Once those fell, I knew the time had come to decide whether or not I would attempt the marathon. And honestly, two years ago I would have told you it's never going to happen. Now I've done two Dopeys.

I just realized the half marathon distance was getting comfortable for me and I started my running journey to get out of comfort zone! The distance of the full is definitely still very intimidating.

The full distance still intimidates me and I've done it twice now. So it's normal to feel that way.

My marathon training tops out at 17 miles, so if you’re comfortable with a half, then you’re well on your way to conquering a full. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I think the mental hurdle before your first full is a bigger obstacle than the physical hurdle. Especially at Disney, a full is only as intimidating as you make it.

The mental block was my biggest hurdle to the marathon. I had to realize that I wanted the experience of the marathon more than I wanted to live in my comfort zone of half marathons only. That came after reading many marathon race reports and working through how much I wanted to take on the next challenge.

Thanks that really helps with perspective! I remember the "*** did I just do?" feeling after I registered for my first half and am definitely feeling that again now but I think that's what keeps me coming back as well.

After sharing with my little sister that I wanted to run a half marathon, she told me she wanted to do it too. And then I got cold feet and kept putting off registration until she finally pressured me into actually registering. Every time I questioned that life decision, it was too easy to chalk it up to feeling pressured into doing it. Consequently, my mental preparation for my first half was much worse than my physical preparation. I had a very difficult, but ultimately successful first half marathon. Now in the lead up to registering for the marathon, I went from I'm going to actually do this to what am I thinking and I had better back out now before I spend the money that's non refundable. This time around I knew that I had to register on my terms exclusively because I wanted to with no external pressure at all.

And then I hit a roadblock in training where I went to a "dark running place" where I doubted my ability to succeed and even considered abandoning the entire trip and eating the cost of the registration. This community helped me out immensely during that period. So many helped me get outside of my own head and/or reminded me that this feeling is quite common to runners and that I could work through it. And roughly 60 days or so after that time, I found myself crossing the finish line of the marathon, exhausted, tired, sore all over the place, and smiling from ear to ear. For the next few days, I barely wanted to take off my marathon medal. I often thought of the original National Lampoon's Vacation where Chevy Chase's character talked about having so much fun that I would need plastic surgery to remove the smile from my face.

And then I registered for Dopey 2020. And again found myself questioning why in the world I signed up to do it since I had already proven to myself that I could do it. So that feeling is very normal. And while my second marathon was a different experience from my first one, I had another great time.

 

[Tinker-belle23]

It sounds so cliche, but I think that you will come to know and understand when you are ready to attempt the full and/or Dopey. In my case, over the course of a few months I noticed many of my physical and mental barriers to attempting the marathon fell. Once those fell, I knew the time had come to decide whether or not I would attempt the marathon. And honestly, two years ago I would have told you it's never going to happen. Now I've done two Dopeys.
The full distance still intimidates me and I've done it twice now. So it's normal to feel that way.
The mental block was my biggest hurdle to the marathon. I had to realize that I wanted the experience of the marathon more than I wanted to live in my comfort zone of half marathons only. That came after reading many marathon race reports and working through how much I wanted to take on the next challenge.
After sharing with my little sister that I wanted to run a half marathon, she told me she wanted to do it too. And then I got cold feet and kept putting off registration until she finally pressured me into actually registering. Every time I questioned that life decision, it was too easy to chalk it up to feeling pressured into doing it. Consequently, my mental preparation for my first half was much worse than my physical preparation. I had a very difficult, but ultimately successful first half marathon. Now in the lead up to registering for the marathon, I went from I'm going to actually do this to what am I thinking and I had better back out now before I spend the money that's non refundable. This time around I knew that I had to register on my terms exclusively because I wanted to with no external pressure at all.

And then I hit a roadblock in training where I went to a "dark running place" where I doubted my ability to succeed and even considered abandoning the entire trip and eating the cost of the registration. This community helped me out immensely during that period. So many helped me get outside of my own head and/or reminded me that this feeling is quite common to runners and that I could work through it. And roughly 60 days or so after that time, I found myself crossing the finish line of the marathon, exhausted, tired, sore all over the place, and smiling from ear to ear. For the next few days, I barely wanted to take off my marathon medal. I often thought of the original National Lampoon's Vacation where Chevy Chase's character talked about having so much fun that I would need plastic surgery to remove the smile from my face.

And then I registered for Dopey 2020. And again found myself questioning why in the world I signed up to do it since I had already proven to myself that I could do it. So that feeling is very normal. And while my second marathon was a different experience from my first one, I had another great time.

1000% what you said about wanting to try the marathon more than stay in the comfort of half marathons. Once I realized I rather try my hardest and fail than never try at all is when I decided I have to go for it!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

1000% what you said about wanting to try the marathon more than stay in the comfort of half marathons. Once I realized I rather try my hardest and fail than never try at all is when I decided I have to go for it!

One thing that really helped me realize that I wanted to attempt the marathon and risk failure was when a runner here told me the story of her first marathon. Due to knee pain, she ended up getting swept but related to me how glad she was that she put forth the effort to attempt the marathon. Her willingness to share her story that did not end in success the first time helped me make peace with what would happen if I did not finish the marathon. What I'm very happy to say next is that a few months after she shared that with me, she would also finish the Walt Disney World Marathon.

Yes, it's hard. There will be plenty of times when you question the decision to sign up for the marathon, certainly when you do it, during training, and quite possibly during the race as well. But know that you're not alone and that there are so many very experienced and some very accomplished runners here who are more than happy to share their experiences with you. I have often said that while I ran my first marathon by myself, I did not run that race alone. Many times I could visualize the advice I received from my coach @DopeyBadger and @OldSlowGoofyGuy that helped me figure out how to do this thing and my strategy for dealing with the mental hurdle.

 

[happ]

I think I'm in for my first full marathon. Debating doing the marathon as a stand alone or doing the 10k and the full. I've done 3 half marathons and & the Fairytale Challenge this past weekend. Come May I'll be up to 5 half marathons and think I'm ready to tackle a full. I'm too chicken to attempt Dopey just yet though!

I'm thinking about doing my first full also, but haven't convinced myself yet. I've only been running two years and currently training for another half. This will be my 2nd one; my 1st was Star Wars last year. Being a slower runner, long runs are really long. Training for a full seems intimidating.

 

[happ]

2021 will be my first Marathon and my first Dopey...All to try and get it in before I become 50 years young.

That's kind of what I was thinking too, but without the Dopey. Part of me thinks do it now before I hit 50 and the other part says wait another year.

 

[UNCBear24]

That's kind of what I was thinking too, but without the Dopey. Part of me thinks do it now before you hit 50 and the other part says wait another year.

I didn't do my first Dopey until I was 55. You can do it! Don't sell yourself short. Go for it!

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

A Disney full is also as much fun as you make it

THIS!

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Thanks that really helps with perspective! I remember the "*** did I just do?" feeling after I registered for my first half and am definitely feeling that again now but I think that's what keeps me coming back as well.

DH here.
2020 was my first marathon, done as part of Goofy. Peak run was 15 miles, in my 21-week plan. I remember looking at it in August and starting to break it down. Each week, just asking a little more. I couldn't have done peak week miles or Goofy miles when I started, but by the time I got to race weekend, I was ready.
In the end, I broke the plan into 3 phases covering the 20 weeks. My overall goal was 20 weeks of training and 1 week of celebration at WDW with DIS friends.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm thinking about doing my first full also, but haven't convinced myself yet. I've only been running two years and currently training for another half. This will be my 2nd one; my 1st was Star Wars last year. Being a slower runner, long runs are really long. Training for a full seems intimidating.

I understand this so well. Long before I wanted to run a marathon, I came to believe that I could finish the marathon if I trained for it, but I did not want to endure the 5-6 hour training runs every other weekend that most plans called for given my slower pace.

But then @DopeyBadger helped me understand that if I was willing to make small to moderate increases to my weekday runs both in miles and frequency and commit to them fully then I could still be fully trained for Dopey even with long runs capping at 11 miles. Yes I had to trust the training plan and rely on the experiences of so many others who had followed similar plans. But since I was running Dopey, I knew at the end of the half marathon that I was in great shape for the marathon. In every single half marathon I had ever run before, I began to feel it around mile 10 or 11. I was tired and exhausted, but I could hold on to the end. But near the end of my first half marathon which included Dopey, I did not feel tired at all in my legs or body. At that point I felt a quiet hope that my training would be sufficient turn into real confidence that I was going to finish the marathon the next day.

And while the marathon the next day tested me in ways I had never been tested before as a runner, I had put in the training to fight through the challenges and finish it.

For 2020, we had to adjust my plan due to some travel issues and I missed more runs due to illness/holidays than the year before. But even with those issues and the intense heat during the marathon this year, I still finished the marathon strong. Had I not been one of the runners impacted by the shortened course, I might have broken my previous year's PR.

DH here.
2020 was my first marathon, done as part of Goofy. Peak run was 15 miles, in my 21-week plan. I remember looking at it in August and starting to break it down. Each week, just asking a little more. I couldn't have done peak week miles or Goofy miles when I started, but by the time I got to race weekend, I was ready.
In the end, I broke the plan into 3 phases covering the 20 weeks. My overall goal was 20 weeks of training and 1 week of celebration at WDW with DIS friends.

I love this. I often remind myself at the beginning of any training plan when I'm struggling that I do not have to run the race distance miles today. Instead as I continue to keep at this, then I will be ready for the distance come race day. I believe that more than anything else, consistency leads to crossing the finish line. When I do not feel like going for a run, I try to pretend that it's race day and I'm actually at mile 22 if the plan calls for a 4 mile run and that helps me find the motivation to get out there.

Now when the real mile 22 came at my first marathon, I felt exhausted, tired, sore, hot, and ready to be done. But I looked back on all those 4 mile runs in the months leading up to the marathon and said I've got this. It's just one more training run to reach my goal and I've done this very distance many, many times. Sure enough, 4.2 miles later and I was crossing that finish line with a huge smile on my face that may not have left my face for another 7-8 days.

 

[LdyStormy76]

I'm thinking about doing my first full also, but haven't convinced myself yet. I've only been running two years and currently training for another half. This will be my 2nd one; my 1st was Star Wars last year. Being a slower runner, long runs are really long. Training for a full seems intimidating.

Yes, being slower means a lot more time spent training. Do not let either that or the time you have been running be your hold backs.

I started walking in January 2017, completed my first half marathon in January 2018 and my first full marathon in January 2019. Yes, I am slow, and there are times I think of myself as a tortoise. In fact I still, despite evidence to the contrary and the support of those here, think of myself as a walker and not a runner. There are two keys things that helped me be ready for the marathon: a reasonable training plan and doing my best to believe in myself during training. Yes, there were hiccups during training, both physical and mental, yes, there were times I felt I was living on the treadmill, but I made it.

If completing a marathon is something you want to do, then know it is possible if you respect the distance and train for it.

 

[camaker]

I'm thinking about doing my first full also, but haven't convinced myself yet. I've only been running two years and currently training for another half. This will be my 2nd one; my 1st was Star Wars last year. Being a slower runner, long runs are really long. Training for a full seems intimidating.

You might want to consider a plan that is time based rather than distance based. They can be a lifesaver for slower runners, ensuring that you gain the cardio benefits needed from each run without the additional time on feet that can put you over the edge into an overuse injury. @DopeyBadger does a lot with time-based training plans around here. The nice thing there, too, is that if you adhere to your pacing guidelines, you can still use mileage to track the runs.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

You might want to consider a plan that is time based rather than distance based. They can be a lifesaver for slower runners, ensuring that you gain the cardio benefits needed from each run without the additional time on feet that can put you over the edge into an overuse injury. @DopeyBadger does a lot with time-based training plans around here. The nice thing there, too, is that if you adhere to your pacing guidelines, you can still use mileage to track the runs.

I think that my @DopeyBadger volume and time based plan made all the difference. In my case, he had me doing more weekly miles than the Galloway Dopey plan called for. The difference is that instead of pouring most of those miles into one massively long run every other weekend, I spread the miles out over 5 days every week. My longest run capped at 11 miles, but I had a few of them. Honestly, that worked out much better for me because it allowed me to recover much quicker and thus resume normal training with minimal adjustments just 2 days after each long run.

This year in spite of the brutal heat on the day of the marathon, I felt strong for the entire race and was on pace to better my time from the previous year had I not had the course shortened due to the heat. Following a well crafted plan, even as a slower runner, works.