I did it, signed up for marathon. Even crazier, I have plans to sign up for another one. If all goes well, I’ll be a marathon runner by the end of the year. How absolutely crazy is that?
Starting line of the 2013 Disney World Marathon
I’ve been going back and forth for a few weeks, trying to decide between the Disney World Marathon in January 2014 or the Space Coast Marathon in December of this year. I looked over our schedule for the rest of the year, checked out the courses, read a lot of race reviews, and I still wasn’t any closer to making a decision. I really wanted to run both races and couldn’t find a tie breaker. So, being the logical person that I am, I decided to sign up for both.
Thanks to a wonderful social media community, I found out that a perk to being an annual passholder at Disney World is early registration to the runDisney events. As soon as registration opened, I logged in and registered before I had a chance to change my mind and before the race sold out. Disney races have become increasingly popular, so there is a significant chance the race will sell out next week shortly after registration opens. I didn’t wan to risk it and have a sell out make the decision for me.
I haven’t registered for Space Coast yet, it’s currently only 25% full so I’m going to let my bank account recover from this race (Adam also registered to run the half marathon the day before!) and then sign up for Space Coast. Look at these gorgeous medals, plus extra bling if you run 3 or 5 of their races over the next 5 years? Sign me up, for sure! I’m not even going to mention that the official snack of the race is a Moon Pie. Oh, wait..
Anyway, now to decide how to train for these races. In case you’re not aware, a marathon is 26.2 miles and that is a darn long way to run. I used Hal Higdon’s training plan for my first half marathon, so that was the first place I looked. A few of my friends have had luck with the Marathon Rookie plans as well, so I checked those out too. One thing that both plans have in common that I am not a big fan of is that they simply prescribe a set number of miles to run each day. While that will absolutely work, it worked really well for my first big race, I also get bored with it.
You probably already know that I’m a big fan of the ladies over at Another Mother Runner. I’m currently using the “5K Own It” from their latest book, Train Like a Mother, and I’m loving it. Instead of telling me how many miles to run each week and calling it a day, they incorporate speed work and tempo runs into the mix, along with fun workouts, and of course long runs. I was intimidated by the speed work and tempo runs when I first started them, but now that I’ve figured out how to program my Garmin to do them and I’ve run a few, I’ve found that I actually really enjoy them. It’s fun to do something a bit different and I really enjoy pushing myself and seeing what my body can do. It’s definitely helped my pace too – I went from running a 2:20 half to a 2:08 half in a month!
So I think I’m going to start with the “Marathon Finish It” plan and see how it goes. I went ahead and plugged all of the training runs into my google training calendar (which I love by the way, works so much better for me than the printout I used previously!) and it’s only a little bit intimidating. I have a few kinks to work out in it – I have an 8K the day I’m scheduled for a 15-mile training run, I’ll be at Disney World cheering on my husband and friends the same weekend I’m supposed to run 18-miles, there’s a 10-mile race I really want to run the same weekend as the big-20 mile training run, and the Wine & Dine half marathon falls on the same weekend that I’m scheduled to do 16 miles. I’m sure I’ll figure it out, but I’d love any suggestions on incorporating races into your training calendar!
I officially start training on July 15th, right in the middle of the hot Florida summer! I cannot help but wonder, have I totally lost my mind this time?!
I’m not 100% sure, but I think the days you have races you can just finish the difference in mileage in a separate run that same day. That way you still get the total mileage in that day. You will have run race pace during the race, so I think your body will still get close to the same benefit as running it all in one run. Good luck!
That makes sense, I think I remember reading about that in the book. Thanks so much for the help, Amie!
Meghan from LittleGirlInTheBigWorld.com did this type of training last year for her first 26.2, 2013 WDWMarathon. She often ran before or after whatever race was on her calendar to combine mileage for long run days.
Ohh really? Thanks for the heads up, I’ll go check out her workout recaps from them and see how she did it! Thanks, Jill!
EEK! So excited for you! I couldn’t bite the bullet on the WDW 26.2. At least not yet. I’ve heard amazing things about “4 Months to a 4 Hour Marathon”. I bought it for my husband (he’s training for Marine Corps Marathon) and I think I’m going to steal it from him when he’s done.
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I’m sure you’ll be there one day! Thanks for the suggestion, I’m going off to google it!
I’m so proud of you!!!! And I hope you do Space Coast as well! I’m doing the 1/2.
I’m doing the 1/2 WDW Marathon weekend, but will be cheering you on when you run the Marathon!
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Yay!! It’s turning into a total girls weekend! A few of my girlfriends and twitter running buddies are doing it too!
That’s awesome Kristin! Maybe one day when I don’t have a baby latched to me (literally) at all times, I’ll get back into a workout routine!
You’ll get there! I didn’t start until after Mackenzie turned one, it’s SO hard to do when they are so itty bitty!
Just found your blog through the Bloggy Moms blog hop. I love that you still find time to have for yourself even with two little ones! I hope I can do the same after my little one comes!
Would love for you to visit!
The Mushy Mommy recently posted…To My Awesome Readers
Disney was my first, and currently only, marathon. Great choice. Super well organized and a flat, fast, fun course!
Abby @ BackAtSquareZero recently posted…Cooper River Bridge Run 2013 – Recap
A lot of people have told me it was their first too – seems like a popular choice!
Congratulations! I am registered for both the Space Coast Half and the WDW Marathon! This will be my first full marathon and I’m so nervous about it. I live in Melbourne so it is so convenient that we have this great half and full marathon space series right in our backyard. I hope you will come and run it. The medals are oh so beautiful!
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I’m 99% sure that I’m going to run it – I’ll at least be there for the half! Looking forward to it!
You’re running the Space Coast Marathon?! I’m seriously debating doing the half (I’m not ready for a full yet) but I knew no one signing up and hadn’t really seen it advertised a lot on the blogs I read or in my area (even though I live near the KSC), so I’ve been kind of leaning against running it. The medals are awesome! I’m planning on doing the Princess Half again in February and there’s a half on the beach in Cocoa in October..so I’m thinking of signing up for that one too 😀
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I am!! I’m going down with a few of my girlfriends – they are running the half!
This will be my first marathon! The half closed so I took the challenge even thought it is far beyond my current abilities. I’ll be speed walking and goal is to just not be the last person or get picked up by the bus. I live here in Orlando so it is close and I also plan to run all 5! I belong to a FB group called run space coast and you would be welcome to join us if you’d like! Great job and good luck to you both!
How exciting!! The idea of running 26.2 is seriously intimidating to me right now too, the farthest I’ve done is just over a half. As long as I finish it, I’ll be happy! I’m a member of the facebook group already, but thanks for the invite!