Today marks exactly one month until the Walt Disney World Full Marathon. So, am I ready?
MARATHON COUNTDOWN!
In all honestly, I’m not exactly sure. (But I sure am excited!)
When I started training for this marathon I was using the training plan provided on the runDisney website specifically for if you had just completed the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon (see all of their training plans here). For the first month or so I did a pretty good job of sticking to the actual plan and doing the runs when I was supposed to…and then work sort of got in the way and threw my training all off.
I am now currently using the “make it up as you go” training plan (which I do not believe is endorsed or recommended by any running professionals).
Because of my hectic work schedule in the fall & winter I often have weeks where I work 70+ hours, so not only am I exhausted all the time, but I’ve also had some weeks where I didn’t have a day off at all, so getting in my long weekend runs has been a challenge sometimes. I’ve sort of adapted by adjusting my plan as I go and while I’ve missed some of my shorter weekday “maintenance” runs, I’ve been pretty good about getting in the long runs one way or another (even if they’re not exactly on time).
The result of the “make it up as you go plan” has been that I’ve ended up a bit short on time and I’m going to end up getting in one less long run than I would have ideally liked. It’s suggested that you taper your training with about 3 weeks to go until the race to let your body fully recover, so that meansI have time to get in one last long run next weekend.
A lot of marathon training plans recommend that you train up to 20 miles (and I guess leave the other 6 to adrenaline on race day!), Jeff Galloway suggests that you train up to the full 26 miles so that your body has done it at least once before the race. My thoughts (and please keep in mind this is just the random musings of a beginner runner who has not actually run a full marathon yet, NOT professional advice!) are that only doing 20 miles when I need to do 26.2 on race day scares the heck out of me (especially since my last 20 miles didn’t end so well). At the same time, at this point I don’t have time to train up to a full 26. So, I have decided to split the difference and make my next (and last) training run 23 miles.
Ideal? Probably not, but it is what it is and while I may not have trained properly I am determined to finish this race. I am most likely going to put in more walk breaks than I had initially planned, but right now my goal is just to finish and have fun (it is Disney after all!). One thing I’ve told myself throughout this whole experience is that I only wanted to do this as long as I was enjoying it – I don’t want running to be a chore, or something I dread. Let’s face it, I’m not going out there to WIN the race (or any race for that matter) so I may as well just go out there and enjoy it!
Speaking of looking forward to the race, I went to dinner last night with Lisa of HealthyDisney who I met down in Florida at W&D. Getting together with one of my running/ Disney friends really made me that much more excited about January! Plus, she brought me my “I RUN FOR DOLE WHIPS” shirt – seriously can not wait to get a Dole Whip after the race!
Live, Run, Grow 