Disney Runners

[Tygerlilly]

Originally Posted by jeanigor

I'm 13.1 miles less spectacular than Chris I did the 5K, the half and the second portion of the full relay.

I'll be in DL for the Tinkerbell Half at the end of this month. RunDisney and race medals are my drug.

Would love to talk shop with y'all.

Are you kidding? That's spectacular! Good job!

Any tips for us newbies?

[jeanigor]

Originally Posted by Tygerlilly

Any tips for us newbies?

Don't get discouraged. You'll have totally awesome days. You'll have totally sucky days. You'll have plenty of days where you look out the window and say "F that".

You know what your goal is. It will be far easier to achieve your goal if you train more. I can give you a first hand example of this. I spent the end of November and first portion of December in the ICU. Not only did it land at a horrid time in my training schedule, but it depleted most of my endurance, lung capacity and muscle tone. On my pre-Christmas cruise, I went on the Disney Dream and did the 5K on Castaway Cay and saw just how bad I was. Worse than before I started training for my first event. I had a decision to make. And what my goal truly was.
Choice #1: Throw in the towel and skip the three event I signed up for over Marathon weekend (thereby losing the registration fees) and cheer on other racers--all the while be longing to be on the course.
Choice #2: Still participate mostly as a walker and probably have some pretty horrid finish times.

I went with choice #2. And although my times were significantly and embarrassingly bad, I used the opportunity to smell the proverbial roses. I cheered on my fellow participants more. I took more photos. I listened to what my body was telling me and when I needed to slow it down and when it allowed me to pick up the pace. I am glad I went with choice #2. My goal was to have a good time and bring home the bling. My goal will probably never be to get a personal record time at a runDisney event, there are too many distractions.

I expect my Tinkerbell time to be improved, but I'm not sure by how much, as I only have two weeks and don't want to injure myself.

[jeanigor]

Oh. And invest in good running shoes. Not from Walmart. Not from Sport's Authority. Not from the store that's name gets filtered out and rhymes with Kicks.

Go to your local running store. Talk to the folks there. They will measure your foot. They may even ask you to run on a treadmill to see your style for running. They will then suggest a type of shoe.

Yes. There will be sticker shock. Will those shoes be magical and make you go faster, probably not noticeably. However, what they will do is a few things, not the least of which is lessen the chance for serious foot/ankle injuries. Chances are they will be more comfortable too.

[Tygerlilly]

I've actually been running in the vibram five finger shoes (toe shoes). I love them!

I'm very excited to run in September. I'm also planning to additional races this year: Warrior Dash and the Susan Komen Race for the Cure.

I'm probably going to end up stopping all the time during the ToT. I want it to all sink in and see and do everything, so time isn't too much of a factor. But as it stands now, I can run about 3 miles without stopping. So with several months to go, I think I can improve greatly!

[jeanigor]

Originally Posted by Tygerlilly

I've actually been running in the vibram five finger shoes (toe shoes). I love them!

I'm very excited to run in September. I'm also planning to additional races this year: Warrior Dash and the Susan Komen Race for the Cure.

I'm probably going to end up stopping all the time during the ToT. I want it to all sink in and see and do everything, so time isn't too much of a factor. But as it stands now, I can run about 3 miles without stopping. So with several months to go, I think I can improve greatly!

I love my Vibrams! DP and my mother (and almost everyone else) think they look like an abomination, but I think they are great.

And with all things Disney, its a hurry up and wait marketing game. The race registration will open up next month, but details won't be available (like the course map) until later.

[christopher77]

Originally Posted by jeanigor

I love my Vibrams! DP and my mother (and almost everyone else) think they look like an abomination, but I think they are great.

And with all things Disney, its a hurry up and wait marketing game. The race registration will open up next month, but details won't be available (like the course map) until later.

I wanted to ask someone who used those shoes if they liked them... such as, is there enough support? Do your toes rub against the material causing blisters, etc? I've been an asics user since 2006, and I'm not 100% looking to change, but the size of the blister under the ball of my left foot was ginormous.

[christopher77]

Originally Posted by jeanigor

Don't get discouraged. You'll have totally awesome days. You'll have totally sucky days. You'll have plenty of days where you look out the window and say "F that".

You know what your goal is. It will be far easier to achieve your goal if you train more. I can give you a first hand example of this. I spent the end of November and first portion of December in the ICU. Not only did it land at a horrid time in my training schedule, but it depleted most of my endurance, lung capacity and muscle tone. On my pre-Christmas cruise, I went on the Disney Dream and did the 5K on Castaway Cay and saw just how bad I was. Worse than before I started training for my first event. I had a decision to make. And what my goal truly was.
Choice #1: Throw in the towel and skip the three event I signed up for over Marathon weekend (thereby losing the registration fees) and cheer on other racers--all the while be longing to be on the course.
Choice #2: Still participate mostly as a walker and probably have some pretty horrid finish times.

I went with choice #2. And although my times were significantly and embarrassingly bad, I used the opportunity to smell the proverbial roses. I cheered on my fellow participants more. I took more photos. I listened to what my body was telling me and when I needed to slow it down and when it allowed me to pick up the pace. I am glad I went with choice #2. My goal was to have a good time and bring home the bling. My goal will probably never be to get a personal record time at a runDisney event, there are too many distractions.

I expect my Tinkerbell time to be improved, but I'm not sure by how much, as I only have two weeks and don't want to injure myself.

I totally agree with you; pick a goal and go with it, even when you don't think you can go on. Many a 5 am would come for my morning run, and I'd think of the pride I'd feel when I got my medals, and that would get me going.

However, I too, had something that disrupted my training when I pulled 2 ligaments in my left knee in August. The lesson here kids: BUY NEW SHOES REGULARLY... I was pushing through old shoes, and it had lost it's support, and I was damaging myself so much, that I couldn't train at all since then. But, I did the races anyway... not as great as I'd like to have performed, but I still finished, and it was totally worth the pain.

Disney does the best job that I've ever seen in preparing race courses, arranging food and water stops, getting the best volunteers that I've ever seen, characters and music, etc. Plus, how magical was it to enter the 4 theme parks?

I cannot wait for registrations to open up... I want to do Disneyland's half Labor Day weekend, the wine and dine 1/2 again in November and then maybe the Goofy once more next year for the 20th anniversary of the marathon. It's an expensive hobby, but it's better then laying around the house drinking all the time. :D

[OKW Lover]

Originally Posted by jeanigor

I love my Vibrams! DP and my mother (and almost everyone else) think they look like an abomination, but I think they are great.

Maybe its the toenail polish you put on them?

[Captain Hookup]

Originally Posted by chrisbris

Am using the app called "Get Running" and finding it great. Best I have been training for ages as it gives you a clear target to reach.

thanks! im checking it out!
damn its $2.99 and im really cheap!

Originally Posted by christopher77

Hey everyone,

I just got home from Marathon weekend where I finished the 5k, my 10th half, and my first full which combined made my first Goofy. Christopher

Wow, all three in one weekend? how great that must havebeen.
cant wait to hear all!

Originally Posted by jeanigor

Oh. And invest in good running shoes.

Yes. There will be sticker shock.

I used to never pay more than 30 bucks and it was hard to spend over 100 for my first pair but what a difference in the support!

Originally Posted by Tygerlilly

I've actually been running in the vibram five finger shoes (toe shoes). I love them!

I'm very excited to run in September. I can run about 3 miles without stopping. So with several months to go, I think I can improve greatly!

I just saw a report on those shoes where a foot doctor was praising it.
I dont see how they can fit everyone with different toe sizes and widths

Best of luck with september!

[Nick_A]

Can anyone recommend some good iphone running apps that you can use to keep track of your progress while you're training?

[Tinkerboy00]

DH and I began running almost two years ago. We did our first half in Sept 2010 and a handful of 5ks and 10Ks.

We were supposed to to do two halfs and our first full in 2011 and then run goofy last week - half and full.

However leading up to our first full he threw his back out and I got a wicked bad cold that lasted over a month, so it shot a lot of our long runs and we didnt feel well prepared to run our first full which would have been the Marine Corp Marathon in October, and definitely didnt feel prepared to run the Goofy.

Of course we could have scrapped the half for the Goofy and just did the full but we decided to defer and not spend the travel money.

Now Im starting teacher training for Yoga and just focusing on my Yoga so not runing as much as I liked. When I did long runs it made it really difficult the next day to go to Yoga. Id be so sore and tight. Although Yoga helps running, running does not help Yoga!

I finish teacher training in June and look forward to getting back to running and still hope to do a full.

We plan on maybe moving back to Orlando in like June/July so Ill definitely sign up for whatever Fall races at WDW I can - like the Wine and Dine Half

[Tinkerboy00]

Originally Posted by Nick_A

Can anyone recommend some good iphone running apps that you can use to keep track of your progress while you're training?

I love Daily Mile and Map My Run.

I can even track nutrition and sync my Garmin to Map My Run and check it/update it on the fly through the free app

[geaux_half]

Runner here as well. I ran my first ever marathon at Disney in 2000. Was a very cool experience....I had only run local 5 or 10k's prior so was amazed at the size of the event. (Also amazed at runners peeing everywhere before and even during the race. )

I came back in January 2001 to complete my first half marathon. The half course back then was the course used for the first half of the relay this past Marathon Weekend. Having run the full marathon the year before, I had the biggest smile on my face after leaving MK knowing that the 1/2 finish wasn't far away.

Sticker shock was followed the popularity of runDisney events so I haven't run as many Disney events as I'd like. Also running 1/2 marathons in the 50 states has taken much of my racing time.

I may consider the TOT 10 miler in September. I ran the inaugural TOT 13k back in 2007. RIP

[chiamarie]

Originally Posted by Tygerlilly

That's my goal this year too. I'm surprised there arent more runners on our board.

Check out the W.I.S.H.(We're Inspired to Stay Healthy) forum here on the Dis; there are lots of runners and info on Disney Runs there!

[jeanigor]

Originally Posted by chiamarie

Check out the W.I.S.H.(We're Inspired to Stay Healthy) forum here on the Dis; there are lots of runners and info on Disney Runs there!

The WISH folks come in all shapes, sizes and speeds. They were a blessing on the second half of the marathon relay. Handing out sponges and wash cloths. And more importantly cheering on us other WISHers, who were draggin' quite a bit.