Marathon Weekend 2023

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Got a little time before I need to hit the road, so here’s my race weekend story and some random extra thoughts…

For background, my marathon #7 training was the same as with every other marathon - wasn’t doing anything differently - but felt SO much more difficult. Endurance felt fine, but I was having intense pain in spots where tendons connect to muscle that I’d never had before. My longest training run was 16 and it was so bad, I decided I’d just try to get to mile 13. A couple weeks before the race, a lab test indicated they have a rheumatoid autoimmune disease, which explains what was happening with my body, but I can’t get to a specialist to further define high disease/s or start treatment until next week. So I went into this race weekend undertrained, with my body actively trying to kill itself, and with no idea what to expect.

Thursday was rainy and my body was very, very achy: my feet were so sore just from lunch at Springs, expo, and grocery shopping. The 10K left me in a lot of pain, despite taking my slow, sweet time - my left knee started in with IT Band pain for the first time in years, both quad tendons were swollen and painful, and my hands and feet were not happy. I slow strolled through EP after the 10K with frequent stops to sit, and heat of the sun helped enormously - that was good information to learn. Slept 12 hours that night!

Spent Sat in my resort room, doing laundry and watching Endgame with a heating pad and felt decent before bed. Bundled up Sun with throwaway sweatpants and a fleece jacket over my thin capris, tee and light running jacket, plus gloves with heat packs tucked inside and kept my muscles and tendons nice and toasty until the marathon start. I would have liked to start running with the sweatpants still on, but they were too big and wouldn’t stay up when I ran, so had to ditch them. I put an ITB strap on the left to ward off more ITB knee pain.

I set a series of self-check points for my race:
1. Get through EP: still felt fine at that point, so decided to keep going. My legs were numb with cold, and I couldn’t feel my toes, but my hands were toasty!
2. get to MK: yes! Still could not feel my legs at all, so I honestly had no idea if I was in pain or not, which I wasn’t sure was a good or bad thing lol!
3. Get to the GF or Poly: this was the big reckoning - great places to exit and monorail back to my car, but if I opted to go on, it would be a long stretch to my next check in at AK… I was only just starting to have feeling in my legs and seemed okay, had plenty of energy, so I rolled the dice and kept going.
4. Get to AK: another major check point because I knew the next starch to BB would be tough under any circumstances. I almost stopped, just out of fear, but one of my friends texting me through the race said no, keep going, so I did.
5. Get to BB: mile 20, the pain hit. My feet were worse than the usual amount of marathon pain, my ankle tendons, especially. But much worse, my RIGHT knee started with stabbing IT Band pain! Texted my friend that I thought that was it for me and he told me to come up with a new strategy - my race brain needed that seed thought: I pulled over, swapped my ITB strap from left to right, changed my intervals from :30/:30 to :30/1:00 and that bought me about 4 miles of reduced knee pain. Coming out of BB, I also stopped at the med tent, where a med volunteer deeply rubbed Biofreeze into my knee and that helped a bunch.
6. FINISH IT: at 24, with about 15 minutes on the sweep, I knew I could slow down a bunch and still make it. My knee hurst a lot, my feet were angry, and my lower back joined the pain party, but once I hit DHS I was all smiles! My friend had an ice cold beer waiting for me when I entered EP and that went down a treat lol! WDW Marathon #7 DONE.

It seemed so unlikely to happen, I’ve really spent the last two days in disbelief. Like, did I really do that?! Yep, I did. It’s interesting to me that I didn’t suffer at all from undertaining endurance-wise: in that respect I felt great. Plenty of energy. And most of the rheumatoid pain stayed at bay… I did the unthinkable and took an Aleve pre-race, which I know helped (I also hydrated very, very well to offset the kidney hit.) I stopped for more pics than I usually do, made 2 more restroom stops than my usual 1, and enjoyed it all more than I ever have. It was a really, really good one to go out on, if it’s my last.

General thoughts:

Did my usual start from the very back of my corral for both races and never encountered any truly awful congestion. Only had a few seconds here and there that I needed to wait to resume my own pace.

Never felt the lack of volunteers - water stations worked beautifully!

AK CMs spectating get the prize for most enthusiastic, excited, motivational spectators on the course.

That finish line med tent has never been better run: I hope they can get the military medics to run it every race, because they turned what normally a confusing fiasco into a triage center of efficiency and precision.

Where I really felt the undertaining was the ITBand stuff. I’d normally have had more mileage on my own steeply cambered roads to better handle WDW’s insanely cambered roads.

The 10K and marathon medals feel so much lighter this time! I wore the 10K for hours and realized I didn’t have the neck pain I usually get from doing that. I love that!

Animal crackers in the snack box was a big plus.

I still hate the 90s theme, but you bet the marathon medal is being hung with pride.

Very sorry to hear about the medical issues, but also very glad that you were able to finish. Thanks for sharing and congrats on persevering. Amen that that medal will be hung with pride!

 

[garneska]

@camaker that cookie was the bomb! Thanks again for the cookie and the support.

It’s Tuesday and I am lucky enough to be heading to AK today instead of home. Yesterday we opened and closed Epcot so I am beat today. My quads are much better today but my hamstrings are still sore, but better than yesterday. My concern Sunday was that knee but it was ok by Monday. I think I saved goal 1 to not have to take two months off. Not sure why I am super sore but it is getting better.

Safe travels for all those traveling today.

 

[NYC_MW]

Will post more detailed recaps in training journal later on, but here's the tl;dr (that's still a little long) version:

Everything combined to truly create a magical wknd. Wrangled enough friends to go that resort costs were lower (and got to stay at AKL Kidani for 2 nights), but we all did our own things so I had the flexibility of soloing all the parks (early entried AK [thanks in part to @lookingforsunshine], HS, and MK on Wed, Thurs, and Fri then hit up DS on Sat and Epcot on Sun). Also, since I'm coming back for Princess, had flexibility of skipping attractions if needed.

Thanks to the large date range of allowable POT races, was able to score corral B for Sat/Sun (and getting to sit down at the very back of the corral for ~30min pre start was definitely a boon) but wasn't planning to race anything so really got to soak up and enjoy all 4 races (maybe more so in the half and full than 5 and 10k). Got so many one-of-a-kind pictures and memories to cherish. Thanks to training and tips from the board, finished the weekend feeling surprisingly normal (feet were pretty sore Sun night, but that was probably due more to standing in line than running).

Goals from previous SAFD were:

-finish all four races with a smile
-figure out some good, recognizable costumes
-either jump on a ride or finish with a drink at the marathon (i always hear about this and it sounds so cool)
-get to meet some of you all at the meetups

3 out of 4 ain't bad! Didn't want to risk legs seizing up so didn't get on a ride and stupidly forgot credit card in resort room so couldn't grab a drink, but I'll take it!

This thread got me to create an account instead of being a DisBoard lurker, and I've definitely learned so so much from all you all's. So much knowledge and encouragement! It was really great getting to put faces to names (or rather, handles ) at the meetups. Looking forward to seeing some of you again at Princess and meeting new friends.

 

[dbb727]

.

 

[surfde22]

You can count me in the crew of those heading home today. Though I was able to get my third boarding pass for Guardians and standing in line for that now with DS6. Lucky kid will get to go on it for his sixth time today thanks to rider swap. Rope dropped Ratatouille today too so been a productive morning.

 

[dbb727]

FYI there is a small selection of Expo merch in the Terminal A Orlando Airport Disney store in case anyone has last minute FOMO

 

[camaker]

@camaker that cookie was the bomb! Thanks again for the cookie and the support.

It’s Tuesday and I am lucky enough to be heading to AK today instead of home. Yesterday we opened and closed Epcot so I am beat today. My quads are much better today but my hamstrings are still sore, but better than yesterday. My concern Sunday was that knee but it was ok by Monday. I think I saved goal 1 to not have to take two months off. Not sure why I am super sore but it is getting better.

Safe travels for all those traveling today.

You’re very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! I think I had 3 of them during the trip.

You certainly are lucky to be headed to the AK today. I’m sitting at the gate waiting for my flight to board right now. It seems like it takes forever for MW to get here and then it’s over in a flash! The post-race blues have definitely set in.

 

[jrsharp21]

Was looking at my times this morning and it looks like I actually finished quicker than I thought. I was looking at clock time and not net time. So I actually finished three minutes quicker, at 3:55. I will take it!

I grew up in NorCal and was a long time DL AP. I never did a RD event at Disneyland. So definitely going to try to do both Dopey and all DL events next year if I get through registration on both events.. Hopefully my boss/company will understand that I will be gone for two weeks.

 

[fatmanatee]

Yep agree!! I wish rundisney did surveys so we could let them know this is some we liked that they changed. Also having a list of characters was great too soo I could prioritize what I wanted.

I’d email them, Im sure they get a lot of complaints so they’d definitely appreciate positive feedback for a smart change they’ve made.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Finally found a few minutes to post here after an incredibly busy (but super fun) MW. Sorry it ended up being a super long post. I am thrilled that I completed Goofy even though I felt very undertrained for it going into the week. I also spent probably way too much time in the parks in the days leading up to the half and full, but I have zero regrets at this point.

The half felt great. I stuck to my plan of running it slowly and even managed to do a few character stops. I was completely not ready for how special running down Main Street towards the castle was going to be. I cried both days. I also loved how many TNT coaches were on the course. They would hop in and run with me for a minute or two and it always gave me a little boost.

The marathon went better than I expected it to honestly. My legs felt surprisingly fresh on Sunday morning and I intentionally started out extra slow and gradually sped up as the race progressed. I only stopped for a castle pic and to pee twice (which meant I was hydrating well) as I was mainly just focused on finishing. I felt terrific until like mile 18 when the IT band on my left knee started hurting, which was weird because I’ve never had an issue with it. By mile 21, it was on fire. I walked more after that point, but I wanted to quit around mile 23. I ran into a TNT coach coming out of HS and she saved me. I got very emotional and she hugged me while I cried and showed me some IT band stretches which got me through the rest of the race. I wish I would have asked her for her name. I want to thank her. My last mile was easily my fastest by well over a minute, and my body felt pretty good at the finish line (despite my knee). I made sure to clear out some space for a finisher photo, since I too got Mike Wazowski-ed for the half.

I have to say, despite accomplishing something pretty incredible, I can’t help but feel a bit “lesser than” because I didn’t do Dopey. I realize it’s only 9 more miles in total, but it feels deep down like I did half of Dopey in a way and it’s unsettling. It didn’t help that my friend that I roomed with this week ran Dopey and he seemed to delight in rubbing it in my face that he got in when I didn’t. But, if I hadn’t gotten locked out of Dopey, I would have probably never linked up with TNT and running with the charity actually ended up making the week more special.

I guess I’ll have to try for Dopey again next year because the FOMO is too real. Thanks for everyone’s support leading up MW! You all have been fantastic.

 

[lukemorenus]

What an amazing weekend... RunDisney never disappoints!

 

[bryana]

On my way to the airport and I can’t believe how fast this weekend flew by. There were definitely some frustrating moments throughout the first three races with crowding and all of the things people have already mentioned but overall the marathon made up for a lot of that stuff and I’m leaving town with an overall positivity about this weekend. It’s been 5 years since my last MW and I remember why I’ve always loved it. I gotta finally get to a W&D weekend and DL so I’ll be back for MW after I get those done.

On another note: You know what’s even more Dopey than doing Dopey? Doing all 4 parks the day after to get all of the medal pictures. I underestimated how much zigzagging around the parks I’d decide to do in the moment because I felt fine yesterday (plus After Hours at MK). I am paying for it today. I had to buy a pair of crocs because my oofos don’t fit.

 

[ZM73]

I hope to see you all at the Hurricane Hanna's meetup! Please come and enjoy spending a few minutes meeting your fellow diser's even if you have never come before. It is not a closed cliquey group.

I'm probably the only one who was confused on the date, but it's Friday at 2:00. Thanks to @The Expert for setting me straight.

It was so great getting to see you, @GuinnessRunner and the rest of the gang on Friday at Hurricane Hanna's. Both my Goofy races went well and my whole weekend was a stress-free experience. Even when my flight home was canceled on Monday, I was able to take a slightly earlier one without any issues. Looking forward to hanging out again in real life - maybe later this year? - Tom

 

[jpeterson]

On my way to the airport and I can’t believe how fast this weekend flew by. There were definitely some frustrating moments throughout the first three races with crowding and all of the things people have already mentioned but overall the marathon made up for a lot of that stuff and I’m leaving town with an overall positivity about this weekend. It’s been 5 years since my last MW and I remember why I’ve always loved it. I gotta finally get to a W&D weekend and DL so I’ll be back for MW after I get those done.

On another note: You know what’s even more Dopey than doing Dopey? Doing all 4 parks the day after to get all of the medal pictures. I underestimated how much zigzagging around the parks I’d decide to do in the moment because I felt fine yesterday (plus After Hours at MK). I am paying for it today. I had to buy a pair of crocs because my oofos don’t fit.

Is that Marathon weekend merch at the airport?

 

[Ariel484]

Happy to check in and say that I finished the 10K and marathon. The 10K was a lot of fun (ran with my brother)…the marathon less so. It felt crowded to me almost the entire time, and the sun during the second half was brutal. I now understand the yellow flag warning.

I had an old hip issue creep back up in the fall thanks to a nerve problem that’s been bugging me since 2016/2017, so I didn’t get to train for this the way I wanted to. My last long run of 15 miles was in late September/early October, and I had to walk the last 8 miles of it. Every other “long run” afterward was a combination of bike + walking on the treadmill, and I had to take an entire month+ off of running. I figured I’d be ready cardio-wise, but my legs would suffer after not being used to the repetitive pounding on concrete - that turned out to be correct and I really felt it after the 10K. My goal was to run as much as possible before walking it in, and I surprised myself by managing to do that until almost the halfway point. The rest of the race was a combination of mostly walking with short run bursts, and I’m happy and relieved I was able to finish without injuring myself. Shoutout to my PT for quickly and correctly diagnosing my issue and giving me the exercises and encouragement needed to get me to the finish, and to my husband for his endless support and wrangling of our kiddo and puppy so that I could do what I could to train for this weekend.

Congratulations to everyone who participated this weekend…and to anyone who couldn’t finish or participate in the way that they wanted to, please know that you are not “less than” or a failure. These events are really challenging - from registering for them to actually completing them - and sometimes life throws curveballs our way. It doesn’t mean that you’re not enough…sometimes we just get a sh*t deal.

At this point, I’m content with my marathon “journey” and am planning on retiring from the distance. Good luck to everyone participating in 2024!

 

[The Expert]

I'm on my flight home and feeling pretty sentimental about the whole weekend. It goes SO FAST! I think my favorite part this time was the meetups. Still bummed to miss DATW even though it was the right call. I felt awful yesterday, but much better today, thankfully. I'm working up to writing a more detailed trip/race report on my training journal.

This time last year I was ready to do Dopey again, but so far this year, that spark isn't coming. The marathon distance is rough for me, and though I felt better during this year's race than the last two, the time and stress of training is a LOT. I'm seriously thinking of dropping back to the 5K or 10K and Half next year and spectating the rest of MW. I want to be able to enjoy more of the weekend and two Dopeys feels like enough to me for now. I'm not ruling out another marathon yet, but I will take it one year at a time.

 

[bryana]

Is that Marathon weekend merch at the airport?

I didn’t see any of it at the one I walked by (I can’t remember if there are two different stores or just the one).

 

[Disneyhanna]

The Disney store at terminal B by Delta had some stuff just now. A few pins as well but not many, I think some marathon pins and a few half marathon medal pins, and some of the magnets (maybe 5k 10k half? Can’t remember). Some small and medium pink ladies jackets and quite a few marathon jackets I didn’t check sizing. Lots of I did it shirts I don’t think I saw anything Dopey.

 

[leaf44]

Congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend!

I have run the Dopey challenge twice, well technically once officially because of the cancelled half which I did at my hotel. Then last year I did the marathon. Due to a series of unfortunate events, the cancelled half, having the flu during my second Dopey, I've never really gotten a chance to see what I could really do for Dopey so I have decided to give it another shot in 2024.

As you all reflect on your experience this year and other years, is there a training plan that you particularly liked? Especially one that is not for someone trying to break any speed records, just hoping to be able to run or consistently interval through the entire challenge? Thanks

 

[iheartglaciers]

That seems so much safer! Otherwise, people run past the line, see that it’s a character they really want, and then have to backtrack against the flow of traffic. Or get in line and wait until they find out it’s a character they don’t really care about, which is just annoying.

Totally agree! My sister and I were saying exactly this. It would be helpful to have a sign a little before the character stop so you could decide and start getting off to the side.

The list was definitely helpful! Although I was really hoping to see Powerline (seemed to be Max/Goofy) and I never saw Mickey/Minnie at the end.