I think marathons are just not going to be my thing.... like I miss my sons soccer games when I have to do these super long runs. Half marathon training was just easier to fit around my busy schedule and did not have to miss out on my son activities.
The time lost to multiple 5 or 6 hour long weekend runs was what kept me happily nowhere near the marathon for years. But discovering that if I am committed to longer weekday runs, then I can avoid 5 or 6 hour long runs was a game changer. It was still a major time commitment and I had to give some things up, but it made the training for a marathon less terrifying. One thing that really helped boost my psychological thoughts was when I learned that my total mileage was higher than the Galloway Dopey plan so spreading out the miles over many days with longer intermediate runs and "shorter" long runs will help you finish.
I can’t wait to officially test the method out come race day. As of right now @DopeyBadger feels like my training hero haha.
I first tested a
@DopeyBadger plan out for a half marathon as a way to seeing how I performed with a brand new plan including a final 8 mile long run instead of my usual Galloway plan 14 mile run. Race day itself was miserable due to my mental state of mind. Yet in spite of the last 10 miles being brutal and me wanting to be done with because I was not in a good head space that day, I still took 3 minutes off my PR. I was sold and have now set a new PR for the half and taken 10 minutes off my PR for the marathon, with all 3 marathons at Disney World.
It stretched the plan out a few weeks but I’m not agonizing about missing some key things with the family. I’m still glad I chose this plan (Hanson’s beginner) because I feel like I’ll be well prepared not just for the marathon but the dopey experience of back to back race days, but I think I’ll go back to 5 days a week once Dopey is over.
5 days a week is better for me as well. Sometimes I have to run those days consecutively to fit the plan into life.
I've been saying this since I did my 15 miler. But everyone can tell us "I told you so" when we sign up for our next one.
I signed up for Dopey as part of marathon one because I feared that if I hated, but still finished the marathon, I would regret not having done Dopey in a one and done scenario. To my surprise, I found that the difficulties of the marathon distance is part of the appeal. In a twisted way, the marathon is my favorite distance because of what it requires to do it. So yes, marathon one has now somehow morphed into marathon 4.
The length of the long runs is exactly why I won't do a Galloway plan.
That was my hang up as well. The running 5 or 6 days per week with longer runs during the week combined with a half marathon length long run on the weekend changed how I feel about running.
Sorry if that’s all TMI for some, but I sure wish people talked about aging as an athlete more openly, because as a lifelong athlete, I had NO idea and have really struggled mentally with going from feeling fine with really high mileage to feeling awful after little 4-milers - just in the span of a few months. Woulda been good to know this could happen!
I have always appreciated and valued your insight here. Sometimes it's incredibly helpful to know the tough times as well.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying one way is in any way "better" than the other, just that it's interesting seeing the differing philosophies at work. Everybody's got to do what works for them and the mental side is just as important as the physiological.
Absolutely. My mental preparation for races was a major weakness before my first marathon. Learning how to better deal with the mental side of running has helped me come to better enjoy running.
Ultimately, I think the most important thing for people to remember is to "trust the plan". You picked the plan you're following for a reason. The plan is set up the way it is for a reason. If hitting an arbitrary distance, be it 20 miles, 26 miles, whatever, is important for you to feel mentally ready, then pick a plan that supports that.
While trusting a new plan can be very scary, committing to it really does work.
I just scratch my head at the idea of running 26 during training and not giving the body time to heal.
I feel the same way. I worry that had I run 26 miles or even 20 during training then I would not been able to properly heal given that I would have missed at least 1 or 2 runs.
His plan is what got me through MW 2018 (although I capped my long run at 18 or 20) so I have experience with them and I know that it works but I guess it just wasn't really "for me" or at least it isn't for me in the place in life I am 5 years later. I feel way better physically and mentally now doing the 5 day a week plan with way higher mileage than I did back then. Is it more of a time commitment during the week? Sure. However, it's a lot more manageable to spend 5 or 6 hours running spread over two days of the weekend than being out there for 6 hours one day.
I feel similarly. Galloway helped me see a path to finishing my first half marathon when I could not fathom how it all worked. While I no longer use his specific plans, I learned a lot from them. I never would have finished a marathon without the things I learned from Galloway.
For the experienced Dopey'ers: how do you approach the challenge during race weekend? Do you walk/go extra slow during certain races? Go "normal" and survive the marathon? I like to pre-plan things so I can get comfortable with an idea and make all of my contingency plans.
I prefer the conserve my energy for the marathon method. So the 5K is to be walked. If I even think I'm going too fast, I slow down. I usually walk the whole thing. The 10K objective is simple. Take it easy and do not get swept. The half marathon demands more of me, but once I know that I'm comfortably well ahead of the balloon ladies, then I focus on slow and steady will win tomorrow. I almost pride myself on setting a personal worst for the races leading up to the marathon. Sometimes I have to skip photos that I may have wanted, but that's reality. Because the time of the longer races increases, there is actually more cushion for slower runners in the half marathon and full for photos. You still have to know your pace, but it's possible.
Today’s question: Who is the best Disney movie villain?
Maleficent. Fire breathing dragon and such.
Both because he has the best song and because his face characters in the parks are often a ton of fun (assuming a good actor).
I was in
Disneyland one year and Gaston walked by the place where Sleeping Beauty was doing a meet and greet. He tried in vain to hilariously flirt with her about being in her dreams and after she told him that Prince Phillip was all the dream she needed, Gaston walked away singing "I know me, I walked with me once upon a dream."
Well, we are a little more than two months out, so clearly time to talk weather…. No. Not what the weather will be in January, but what is the weather that you would like for Marathon Weekend.
Given 3 years (2019, 2020, 2022) of hot weather, I expect more of the same. At this point my weather hope is that 2020 is not repeated.
Here's a pic from our DATW from a couple of years ago.
One of my favorite shots from that trip is when Goofy put his own wrist in for the PhotoPass photographer to scan his MagicBand as that's what the rest of us were doing.
