Marathon Weekend 2024

[Blue Caterpillar]

safd: I'm planning on being back, either goofy again or the full only. Those early mornings are too much for me for dopey! Plus the extra expo day, with the virtual queue seems too much. I kinda want to do the Disneyland half to get coast to coast, I'm hoping they will bring back some of the other weekends as well.

 

[RunWI1265]

It can be done. After an hour in the room and some colorful language aimed at multiple devices for this past dopey, 2 phones, 2 iPads, and a laptop made their way to poolside at Beach Club for the fun time that was MW registration. Phones on cellular, iPad and computer on phone hotspot and other iPad on Disney WiFi. Ultimately it was an iPad and hotspot that secured the coveted dopey registration. I’m not planning on DL and don’t think I’d wish that stress level on anyone, but I will wish you best of luck you can do it!

This is impressive! Especially considering the chaos that was registration day last year.

It can definitely be done. I got into Dopey this year from a pullout in Grand Teton National Park using my laptop and DH's phone tethered to my meager signal. You got this!

Also impressive! The Tetons are on my list of places to visit.

 

[shellott-hill]

SAFD: I am ready to do another Dopey in 2024. I am terrified of the registration process we will encounter this year based on the debacle of last year. If I get lucky, then I will be in for another round.

This year turned out to be a great weekend. Not sure how it can be topped in 2024, but let's give it a shot.

Dopey = Life
Life = Dopey

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

SAFD: Right now, our plan is to try to get in the DL half, and then decide on the rest of our plan after we know if we’re in at DL. We’ve never been to DL, and the idea of C2C appeals.

 

[Disney at Heart]

MW for sure, but who knows what races! DH will probably want to keep his Perfect Goofy status, but I don't think I have another marathon in me!

To add to the "things to do outside the parks," Fort Wilderness has much to do. Someone mentioned the stables, carriage/hay rides, and Hoop De Doo Revue, but there're also Segue tours, horseback riding, bicycle rentals, boat rentals, fishing, Chip and Dale's Sing along with S'mores, and puttering around in a golf cart, especially around holidays when campsites are amazingly decorated!
Also, at Port Orleans (although this is evening and not conducive to nights before races), Yeeha Bob entertains several evenings each week and is a rollicking good time and Scat Cat's club has live jazz.
Cirque du Soleil always has an amazing show; although I haven't seen the new one, I plan to see it in May.
Pool activities, marshmallow roasts, and evening movies are offered at every resort, I believe.
As I read all the suggestions, I realized that I could stay for a week without going to a single park and still not do it all!

 

[Cabius]

Also, at Port Orleans (although this is evening and not conducive to nights before races), Yeeha Bob entertains several evenings each week and is a rollicking good time and Scat Cat's club has live jazz.

Cirque du Soleil always has an amazing show; although I haven't seen the new one, I plan to see it in May.

My wife and I did a no-parks anniversary trip in October, and these two things were both on our list. Yeehaw Bob was even more fun than I expected, and Port Orleans in general was very fun. We Ubered to French Quarter, then walked up the river to Riverside, which was really very lovely.

And the Cirque show was super fun! We splurged for seats on the center aisle in row two or three, which was amazing. We even had a few interactions with the cast as they ran up/off stage from the theater (once stuck her tongue out at me; another patted my bald head, then acted amusingly like his fingers were all greasy).

 

[GreatLakes]

Real talk from those of you that were just there (or do lots of race weekends.)
How do you fill up your time when you do a race-cation and don't go to the parks?

DH is a go-go-go kind of guy. And even though he's "not a runner" and did 0 training for the 5 and 10k this year, he's already made a comment about running those AND the half next year. But going to Disney and not going to the parks seems really weird, and I honestly don't know what he would do all day to keep himself busy! There's only so much wandering around Disney Springs that you can do in a week, and he did a lot of it on this last trip. Hanging out at the pool will only last so long.

We've done less and less park days over the years but as my son gets older I suspect we will reverse that a little bit.

We almost always pair our Disney trips with either a visit to family on the east coast (Cocoa area) or friends on the west coast (Tampa area) so that by default adds a few non-park days to the trip. We love Celebration and try to spend at least a half day there each trip.

We have passes to a local science center that has reciprocity with the Orlando Science center so that is another thing we may do. If you have passes to any local museums or zoos check your membership info because you may have some FL destinations you can get into for free or discounted.

We always spend a lot of time of time at Disney Springs and between there and AKL we can easily kill an entire day. We also do some resort hopping, especially around the monorail resorts, and then head to WL and walk over to FtW. I'm not sure if all the stuff is back there post pandemic, like the stables being open and the pony rides, but that is something else you can do.

Our preferred hotel is the Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve so we will do Fantasia golf, take advantage of the boats that included in your resort fee, do some of the beach yoga, and we can kill half a day at the boardwalk just walking around, doing the surrey bikes, and visiting some of those resorts.

 

[LEN375]

Best free app for run/walk intervals?

 

[mmm_texas]

Best free app for run/walk intervals?

I would imagine this isn't the absolute best just considering the run/walk functionality, but I've been using Runkeeper for over 10 years now, and it does allow me to set the intervals I want. So I have 30/30, 60/30, and 90/30 workouts defined, and it will prompt me at those intervals to go "fast" or "slow". It also shows my actual pace for each interval afterwards (which is a lot of intervals for a 30/30 long run!).

Runkeeper does have a free version which I believe does include these capabilities. I use the paid upgrade mainly because it lets my wife track my runs live, but it also adds more charts, plus comparisons to previous runs.

 

[azrivest]

Best free app for run/walk intervals?

Hasn't Galloway published an Apple app with free run/walk features?

I've never tried it though since there's no android version

 

[Herding_Cats]

I don’t know about “best” but I use “IntervalTimer” which the icon for my iPhone looks like this:

It usually has 1 or 2 very quick pic-only ads at the beginning, and I have it set to text-to-speech for my intervals and it’ll play over my Spotify. It’s worth noting that it’s only a timer, and not distance intervals.

These are just some of the ones I have saved:




And I can also use the “complex” option for progression runs that are time based (x number of intervals at set a, a recovery period, y number of intervals at another ratio, and so on)

 

[Naomeri]

Best free app for run/walk intervals?

RunIntervals on iPhone, IMO

This is the icon:


This is the interface—the most simple, basic thing ever

 

[Baloo in MI]

RunIntervals on iPhone, IMO

This is the icon:
View attachment 733844

This is the interface—the most simple, basic thing ever
View attachment 733845

I have used this one for a few years, very simple and effective. But recently (after getting an Apple Watch) have gone to using a Gymboss. For some reason when trying to use Spotify or Apple Music and Strava if I added an interval app it would not sound through my AirPods. Found no solution, so now I use the vibration mode on the gymboss and everything else in my AirPods.

 

[Stitch&Co.]

I’ve used IntervalsPro. Pretty sure it’s free but there are upgrade options available. I’ve set up many different interval times depending on what my goal for the day is so I just pick the one I need. You can sync it to your apple fitness account as well. It gives you distance and your split times as well. It took a little bit of fiddling with to get all the settings the way I wanted but it worked out well.

 

[LEN375]

Thank you

 

[Baloo in MI]

SAFD:

Good Morning runDisney All-Stars!! For any new folks reading, SAFD stands for Sunday’s Are For Disney. This is a weekly question we add to the thread to help us all get to know each other better as we work towards Marthon Weekend 2024. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to respond.

For today’s question - If you are reading this, then at minimum you are at least interested in runDisney, or maybe more like me, you are completely addicted; maybe something in the middle…. So, what brought you to runDisney/what makes you stay?

My answer: I have been a Disney fan all my life and a runner for most of my life. Somehow until 2014 I had never heard of runDisney. I learned about it through an article in Disney Tourist Blog. I attended Marathon Weekend, 2015; running Goofy. I just loved the energy and positivity. I was blown away by the medals, the merch, even the race shirts (I miss the Champion shirts…). I was really amazed by how much support there was in the corrals. I knew no one but felt very welcome. And I have been fully addicted ever since. I just really enjoy being able to run in the parks, I really enjoy this community and I love how both have given me this avenue outside of work and regular life to set goals, make friends and have fun. I hope that I can continue to do this for a long time

 

[HangWithMerida]

SAFD:
So, what brought you to runDisney/what makes you stay?

My husband found Rundisney while looking for a race for his first HM, which ended up being the Dark Side weekend 2018. He is a HUGE Star Wars fan. I was just getting into running and my kid and I ran the 5k. It was a blast! When it came time for me to pick a first HM, I chose Wine & Dine 2019. Since then we, especially me, have been hooked. I have done several different races at different weekends, and loved them all. These days I am more into running than my husband so I have started traveling alone.
I like participating in several races throughout the year as rewards for completing a training cycle or as a way to get out and experience something new. I always use rundisney as fun races and enjoy the atmosphere and camaraderie so much. Even when you are alone, you feel so welcome. I also love the challenges, which are not super prevalent outside of Rundisney but seem to be growing in availability.

 

[surfde22]

SAFD:

So, what brought you to runDisney/what makes you stay?

I first learned of runDisney in 2014 as well when my brother signed up for the first Dopey. When he completed it I vowed I’d do it and that I’d be able to beat all of his time. Things didn’t quite work out for me to beat all his times in my first attempt in 2017, but I ran Dopey that year and loved the atmosphere. I love runDisney and Disney in general, but it’s not something I plan on doing every year. There are a ton of other races I want to do and places in the world I want to visit. After running Dopey again this year and exacting my revenge on it, I do plan on running it every 5 and 10 anniversary year for as long as I can. I just love the overall challenge of Dopey and don’t think I’ll run anything else at Disney.

 

[RuntheMouse]

SAFD: I am a complete Disney nerd. I am always reading Disney blogs/boards and taking in all information I can. When they announced the return of runDisney I was in the midst of having a heart issue diagnosed. I am one of those don’t tell me I can’t kinda people.

So I convinced my DH to do the 2021 W&D 10k. Then I signed for MW 5k & 10k. Then why not sign up for a half? Princess here I come. Well MW half was still open so I signed up for that as a “practice” for Princess. I was hooked! I felt like I could take this on because of the Galloway method. It was perfect for my limitations!

I thoroughly enjoy running now and my Cardiologist is even a runner so I have her support to keep going. We run races outside of Disney but still love runDisney. The environment is like no other. Just finished Dopey, something I’d never do outside of runDisney. It truly was magical!

 

[The Expert]

SAFD
(A bit long -- skip to the end for tl;dr.)

I was one of those kids who avoided running and hated that time of year in PE when we had to do track. I was active, played softball, swam, did dance and cheerleading, but never had any interest in running. I vaguely knew about the rD races as we visited WDW over the years, but I wasn't a runner so I never bothered to find out any details. Fast forward to spring of 2015, wandering around MK and seeing all these women (mostly) with race shirts and medals getting photos all over the place. Cool!

We decided we liked visiting that time of year, so when our 11 month DVC window opened we booked that same week. A few months later, I discovered that the last full day of our trip was going to coincide with the 2016 Princess 5K. I popped in here and discovered you could WALK the 3 miles -- that was just a park day! So, I figured why not do one of the few Disney things I had never done before? Plus COSTUMES?! Okay, I'm in. I managed to sign up, found a cheap tutu on Amazon and a Tink-themed tank top. I didn't train at all and pretty much didn't think about the race again until it was time to pack.

We hit the expo the afternoon before the race, and when I found out how early I was going to have to get up, I nearly bailed. In fact, I almost turned the alarm off the night before, but something told me to just go for it. So I got up, ate half a bowl of leftover mac and cheese (carb loading, I thought LOL) and went to the bus. I was by myself, but everybody was so happy and excited, and the atmosphere was so much fun! I got so caught up in the whole thing that I ran probably half the race, and I know my etiquette was horrible. The only disappointment was that dumb plastic medal we got at the end. Knowing what the other bling looked like, I decided then and there that I needed to get a "real" medal. On the trip home, I discovered the Kessel Run and that was it. I HAD to have that Millennium Falcon medal!

I had never even tried to run, so how did I know I couldn't do it? I started C25K two weeks later and morphed that into the Galloway training plan. I did a couple of local races in 2016 and ended up doing all three Princess runs in 2017 (including my first HM), the Tink challenge at DL ( C2C) and the challenge at DLP ( Castle to Chateau).

If you're still invested at this point, I did eventually get my Kessel Run! I got caught up in the cancelation of the Light Side at DL, but thankfully rD created the virtual half to make up for it and I got the Kessel when I finished the Dark Side at WDW in the spring of 2018.

tl;dr We unintentionally booked a trip that overlapped a Princess 5K. Thanks to this board, I discovered I could walk it and signed up. Disappointed in the bling, I was motivated by the Kessel Run medal to try and actually learn to run for the purpose of more rD races.