Marathon Weekend 2023

[XoxoAmy]

SAFD: Pace - I don't worry about pace or goal time during Disney races. Too much to see and enjoy along the way. For other races I try to keep the same pace through the race as best as possible, with a goal time in mind.

WS - France. Always France. Champagne (Dom!) by the glass. Yes please. Walking around with a glass of Veuve or Dom is my idea of heaven. And it's my favorite decor/ambiance. Just the best.

 

[bryana]

SAFD:

Pacing - If I’m trying for a PR, I usually have a splits card that I print out before hand. I’m a runner who negatively splits comes pretty easy to so I’ll use a negative split calculator to figure out the splits for my goal and then go from there. I don’t live or die by it though. If it’s not my day, it’s not my day. None of that applies to Disney though because I don’t try to PR there. I just go do what feels good that day, lol.

WS: Japan, hands down. A trip isn’t complete without wandering through the shop and then getting a glass of sake when I’m done.

SAFD

Favorite country: France, mostly because of that ice cream place (apple cinnamon crunch ice cream… ). I also think it holds a special place for me because on my first Disney trip as an adult, we stayed at the Boardwalk and the first place we went was to Epcot, through the International Gateway and into France. I didn’t know that back entrance existed, so my mind was pretty blown at how awesome it was that we could just walk there. Also cannot wait to see the expansion and the Ratatouille ride.

Before the days of Park Reservations, I always stayed at one of the boardwalk resorts for race weekends. My favorite thing was walking back to the resort through Epcot instead of taking the bus and stopping into the French bakery for some pastries before heading back to the hotel.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Before the days of Park Reservations, I always stayed at one of the boardwalk resorts for race weekends. My favorite thing was walking back to the resort through Epcot instead of taking the bus and stopping into the French bakery for some pastries before heading back to the hotel.

Who needs fun, convenient, customer friendly interactions like this when Disney can have park passes so they can be sure they are scheduling the bare minimum CMs every day in every park?

 

[Bree]

Who needs fun, convenient, customer friendly interactions like this when Disney can have park passes so they can be sure they are scheduling the bare minimum CMs every day in every park?

This 1000%. I miss walking back to Epcot to my hotel after a race. It was nice to grab a Starbucks and see other runners with their medals. Now I just drive myself to and from the race if I am at one of those resorts.

 

[Jason Bryer]

Pacing: I don't understand how anyone does negative splits. After 7 marathons I know maintaining pace after mile 20 is going to be hard, sometimes not impossible. I try not to over do it in the early miles, but mentally those are seconds I can use later. My marathon timing goals (other than finishing) has just stay under 4 hours. That's about 9:10 per mile but I set it at 9:00 since sometimes my watch is not completely accurate and/or I might not run the tangents well. I don't go crazy, but if I complete a mile at 8:45 I think "I can run a later mile at 9:15 and still be good." In 2020 this really worked to my advantage because I ran the first two-thirds faster than I normally would because I wanted to get as far as I could before the sun came up given the forecast. That was my PR year until 2022.

 

[superchime]

SAFD - Pace... I'm training for my first RD race now. I am learning a lot from everyone's posts and hope to have a better answer in the future. For now, though, I'll take anything fast enough to not get swept, any way I can do it. I'm hoping to stick to my intervals and keep my pace consistent, but who knows what will happen when I get out there.

World Showcase - It's hard to narrow it down! I love the shops in Mexico, Japan, and China. France is great for the food. Germany is always fun. It's like asking me to pick a favorite kid!

 

[camaker]

Pacing: I don't understand how anyone does negative splits. After 7 marathons I know maintaining pace after mile 20 is going to be hard, sometimes not impossible. I try not to over do it in the early miles, but mentally those are seconds I can use later. My marathon timing goals (other than finishing) has just stay under 4 hours. That's about 9:10 per mile but I set it at 9:00 since sometimes my watch is not completely accurate and/or I might not run the tangents well. I don't go crazy, but if I complete a mile at 8:45 I think "I can run a later mile at 9:15 and still be good." In 2020 this really worked to my advantage because I ran the first two-thirds faster than I normally would because I wanted to get as far as I could before the sun came up given the forecast. That was my PR year until 2022.

Here’s an example from my PR marathon of how negative splits can work out. I view pacing the early miles as evenly and in control as possible as “keeping gas in the tank” for those later miles when it gets tougher. In this race, 9 of my top 10 mile paces came after the halfway mark, as I could tell I had the reserves to start pushing at that point. Some of my fastest miles were actually from 20-24.



This isn’t to discount your strategy of trying to get faster miles in to beat the heat. I can see that working if managed carefully. I do think it’s a potentially risky approach, as you risk compounding the effects of the heat with the inevitable fade that comes from banking time. Obviously it worked for you in that race, though!

 

[BigEeyore]

Wow @camaker that is some impressive consistency!!

Pace - So the two marathons that I was trying to PR (MCM and NYC), I maintained my goal pace and felt good until suddenly I didn't. Both times I just imploded around mile 20, and it was all aboard the struggle bus to the finish. My other marathons have been at WDW, and I just take it easy, stop for characters, and soak it up and don't usually implode at mile 20. Maybe there's some insight there...

SAFD: Japan! Love Mitsukoshi, the drummers, and the candy art lady (although she has been gone since Covid). I'm an IPA girl though, so I usually grab a beer in America before I soak up Japan!

 

[striker1064]

SAFD World Showcase: It's hard to pick just one! I love the level of detail in Morocco and Japan. Those probably also have my favorite restaurants, although if we start talking food I am very partial to the Mala offerings at Nine Dragons too.

 

[Jason Bryer]

Here’s an example from my PR marathon of how negative splits can work out. I view pacing the early miles as evenly and in control as possible as “keeping gas in the tank” for those later miles when it gets tougher. In this race, 9 of my top 10 mile paces came after the halfway mark, as I could tell I had the reserves to start pushing at that point. Some of my fastest miles were actually from 20-24.

View attachment 699816

This isn’t to discount your strategy of trying to get faster miles in to beat the heat. I can see that working if managed carefully. I do think it’s a potentially risky approach, as you risk compounding the effects of the heat with the inevitable fade that comes from banking time. Obviously it worked for you in that race, though!

Agreed, my approach is not for everyone. It's not even for me for every race. I have run a lot of half marathons around the 8:00min/mile pace and generally feel pretty good when done, so running a 8:50 pace for full marathons seems to work well.

 

[GreatLakes]

Pace: For years I'd go out as fast as I could and basically run positive splits. For most 5Ks I would have my fastest mile first, slowest second, then middle third and for halves I'd gradually slow over the course of the race by about 20-30 seconds per mile. It wasn't until my second full marathon that I did my best to run even splits.

Now I generally try to run even splits for most races and even for my 1 mile PR ran it as 400m splits. The PacePro feature of the newer Garmin watches is great. It lets you determine how you want to run your splits (positive, negative, or even) and also how hard you want to push on hills and then adjusts for you. I used that feature to run my BQ at Disney so I knew where I was without having to do any mid-race math and I've recently started using it to try and get my 5K back under 19:00 for the first time since 2013.

World Showcase: I'm going to start this with the caveat that WS is my favorite land in all of WDW. When I lived down there I would often just head over and spend half a day in WS and go home. I'm going to break mine into a few parts like others have.

Favorite Atmosphere: Mexico. I just love the outside while you are inside feeling and think they did a great job with the entire atmosphere.

Favorite Food: Germany. I deliberatly went favorite instead of best because I don't think it is but there is something about Biergarten that just screams Disney to me and it very likely has to do with being the very first sit down we ever did back in 1991 when you could call to make a reservation on video phones behind Spaceship Earth.

Favorite Attraction/Movie: France. This was even before Remy opened because it isn't a day in Epcot if I don't see Impressions de France. I also think the best food is here.

Shopping: Japan. Every time we get sushi I eat it with my Epcot chopsticks and plan to get some matching sushi plates at W&D weekend.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Loving this vintage style, I'm ready to lean into an early '90s inspired race outfit!

I was reading back in the MW2021 thread, and @butterscotchcollins said something that, looking now, was rather prophetic.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I was reading back in the MW2021 thread, and @butterscotchcollins said something that, looking now, was rather prophetic.

Next ask me for lotto numbers

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD:

Pace - I only "race" for fun, so I don't have any real strategies attached to pace, but in general I prefer to start easy and build up. Mostly because I'm old(er) and my body needs a good, long warm-up, and I am not about to tack on extra mileage to get it before the race even starts. With no plan in place, though, I do find that my marathon pace naturally quickens around the 10K mark and stays there until around mile 15. I used to slow a lot around the 17-19 mark, but the drag of Western Way seems to get me moving to get it over with and that was my fastest section last year lol! Even though my actual pace slows a lot in the last 5ish miles thanks to stops for pics, beer, etc., my moving pace (and overall energy) really picks up near the end.

WS country: Japan is the stand-out. I love grabbing a drink or treat and sitting at one of the outdoor tables in the gardens for a while. It's so quiet and peaceful back there!

 

[marty3d]

SAFD:
Pace: For 10k distance, I find that running a negative split for the back 5k works best for me if I'm looking to PR. Anything greater than 10k I like to maintain an even pace. I'm not trying to set any records in Disney races especially for MW 2023 which will likely be my second and final Dopey (want to start exploring the other race weekends in the future). I'm still training for a 5h Marathon but that is really just so I have enough buffer to stop for every picture I want, ride Everest or ToT, stop for beer(s) and just soak it all in. As long as I finish ahead of the balloon ladies I'll be happy with my time!

WS: Mexico - I don't think I need to repeat the reasons - I agree with everyone who chose it!
Runners up: Italy (Pizza) and Canada (Cheddar Cheese Beer soup and pretzel bread! )

 

[Goofy2015]

Mid-Training for the Dopey. I have done a ton of Half Marathons and Marathons to indicate a little experience in distance running.

I am dealing with some minor hip abductor pain that is not going away. I have decreased my mid-week runs. I have been run-walking my increased mileage runs on the weekends. I am on the cusp of being in the 8-10 mile range of my long distance runs. Any advice on alleviating the hip abductor pain? Should I give a 1 or maybe 2 week rest before jumping into the next stage of distances?

The hip abductor pain is fairly minimal and actually doesn’t hurt on the run with maybe an occasional 1/10 pain. However, it is later in the day or more the next day that I feel the pain, which is like a 3/10. I feel like I can run through the pain but I am worried the long term impact of doing that especially when I have double digit distances every weekend through November and December.

Anyway a long message but looking for advice from other fellow runners of the same mindset.

UPDATE: Last week was an intense recovery week. I saw both a chiropractor and a physical therapist that specialize with athletes. I also saw a recommended massage therapist that is great at finding the source of muscle pain.

I saw the chiropractor first. By the time I saw the chiropractor I was under 4 days of rest from my previous run. I passed everyone of his tests without any pain. He was very confident that there was nothing structurally wrong and the source of the pain was either nerve or lower back related. He cracked my back in multiple positions. I felt amazing both in my hip adductors and physically in general the evening and morning after the visit. After his visit, I still rested my legs. Whatever little amount of dull pain / dull aches / discomfort was virtually gone for the next few days.

I saw the physical therapist after 6 days of rest. Again, passed all of his test without any pain. He went through a variety of exercises / stretches to rehab any potential reoccurring pain. He said there was no need to have a doctor check anything out in either a visit or imaging. He gave me the green light to continue running. He ruled out anything structurally wrong. I will maintain doing his prescribed stretches and exercises until a second visit to continue on the next phases. The ultimate goal is to run or after a run not experience any pain.

That same day, I saw the massage therapist. This was a very deep massage all over the hips, thighs, and lower back to find the muscles that would likely be the source of the pain. He determined that it was definently a hip flexor issue. My left hip flexor was very tight along with my psoas muscles. He also agreed that I would be able to run.

Since those appointments, I ran 4 miles on Sunday and 2 miles today. I did not feel any pain on the 4 mile run, but some tightness after the run. I felt some tightness during the 2 mile run and some very minor dull aches or tightness through the day. I have been doing yoga and the recommended rehab exercises. So far, so good. Starting back at 6 miles this weekend and will continue back on the Dopey training following that.

I think in the long run this will impact my stretching practices more before and after runs. This will increase my flexibility and muscle strength too. This may be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Goofy2015]

Good Morning runDisney All-Stars!

Looks like there is already a great question being discussed about race pace, so please respond to that if you like along with today’s questions:

Do you have a favorite county in the world showcase? If so, which and why?

My answers:
Pace - If I am running a race with a set goal time I will try to become as familiar with the course ahead of time as I can. I try to stick to a preplanned pace, but will pick it up or back it off depending on what the course is doing, the weather and how I am feeling. I do tons of self talk, and unfortunately race math, as I am going. This does help me to stay on pace and be strategic about effort and conditions.

World Showcase - I like them all but if I had to pick one it would be Mexico. I am a huge fan of a good margarita; there is always time for a margarita! My favorite quick service restaurant La Cantina De San Angel is an absolute must do for my family when we are in Epcot. For me I love nothing more than Tacos de Barbacoa with lots of hot sauce while sitting outside overlooking the water. I really enjoy wandering around the town square inside the pyramid. They did such an incredible job in setting the atmosphere. Lastly, and I may be in the minority here, but I love Grand Fiesta Tour.

SAFD:

Race Pace: When I first got into running I would always try to have a better time. This led to all sorts of different paces throughout a race or training run. However, now that I have been doing this for 5+ years. My goal is to have a consistent pace on a training run to not get hurt. For races, I would usually aim for higher pace at the beginning. Slow it down in the middle and speed it up towards the end. This of course all different dependent on the distance that I am running.

World Showcase Country: I constantly rank my countries in Epcot. I base them off food, shops, entertainment, attractions, immersiveness, detail, etc. At the end, everything always leads to Mexico.

Mexico in the World Showcase has it all. Multiple table service restaurants. The table service restaurants are not my favorite, but San Angel Inn is pretty cool that it shares space with an attraction. La Cava del Tequila is one of the best bar / lounges in the World Showcase. The shopping is amazing and well themed within the temple. The temple itself it iconic. Mexico has the mariachi band for entertainment. Donald Duck as a meet and greet. Maybe not the best ride in Gran Fiesta Tour but it is still chill. Mexico has some of the best strengths and is the most versatile country in the World Showcase, IMO.

 

[kps7795]

UPDATE: Last week was an intense recovery week. I saw both a chiropractor and a physical therapist that specialize with athletes. I also saw a recommended massage therapist that is great at finding the source of muscle pain.

I saw the chiropractor first. By the time I saw the chiropractor I was under 4 days of rest from my previous run. I passed everyone of his tests without any pain. He was very confident that there was nothing structurally wrong and the source of the pain was either nerve or lower back related. He cracked my back in multiple positions. I felt amazing both in my hip adductors and physically in general the evening and morning after the visit. After his visit, I still rested my legs. Whatever little amount of dull pain / dull aches / discomfort was virtually gone for the next few days.

I saw the physical therapist after 6 days of rest. Again, passed all of his test without any pain. He went through a variety of exercises / stretches to rehab any potential reoccurring pain. He said there was no need to have a doctor check anything out in either a visit or imaging. He gave me the green light to continue running. He ruled out anything structurally wrong. I will maintain doing his prescribed stretches and exercises until a second visit to continue on the next phases. The ultimate goal is to run or after a run not experience any pain.

That same day, I saw the massage therapist. This was a very deep massage all over the hips, thighs, and lower back to find the muscles that would likely be the source of the pain. He determined that it was definently a hip flexor issue. My left hip flexor was very tight along with my psoas muscles. He also agreed that I would be able to run.

Since those appointments, I ran 4 miles on Sunday and 2 miles today. I did not feel any pain on the 4 mile run, but some tightness after the run. I felt some tightness during the 2 mile run and some very minor dull aches or tightness through the day. I have been doing yoga and the recommended rehab exercises. So far, so good. Starting back at 6 miles this weekend and will continue back on the Dopey training following that.

I think in the long run this will impact my stretching practices more before and after runs. This will increase my flexibility and muscle strength too. This may be a blessing in disguise.

How are you feeling now? I hope that things are looking and feeling better.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Good Morning runDisney All-Stars! It is story time. Share when you started runnng and what got you into it.

My answer: I started running in age group track as a kid and then went on to run Cross Country and Track in Jr HIgh and High School. I was a naturally gifted runner and got pretty good. I ran track in college and then for a few years after continued to run. I always loved running but without the structure of a team and coach I let it fall off. Every now and then I would start running again but it never stuck. Some how 15 years passed with that pattern. My 40’s brought some new realities of weight gain and blood pressure issues not to mention two young daughters with lots of energy! It was very importanot to me that I was (am) a very engaged and active dad for my daughters. It was a bit of a mid-life crisis but instead of wanting to buy a sports car I wanted to improve myself.

So, I just started running again. Except this time I started slower, stopped trying to be the runner I was in college and just be teh runner I was now. I also got involved in a running group and then found a race to work towards. That was almost 10 years ago now. Since then I have found new purpose in running, discovering trail races and then runDisney races have kept me lacing up the shoes regularly. My goal now is to one day be the oldest person showing up to races and driving my wife crazy with the horde of medals I have accumulated!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

SAFD: I started running in spring of 2017 because of Disney! I wanted an excuse to go to Disney more often and RunDisney was the perfect reason to plan more trips. What sealed the deal was the opportunity to meet rare characters on the race course. At the time, I thought running for fun and paying for races was kind of bonkers. But I quickly came to love it and now can't imagine my life without it!

My goal now is to one day be the oldest person showing up to races

Love this goal!!!