Guest Blogger: Disney Marathon Weekend

After the Half Marathon

Hello, coconut oil fans! My name is Brittany, I’m 22 and I just finished running in Walt Disney’s Marathon Weekend.

Every year Walt Disney World has one weekend dedicated to runners who are pushing themselves to the limit. Disney Marathon Weekend includes a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. For those people, like me, who want to do BOTH, you can participate in the Goofy Challenge. That is 39.3 miles in TWO days. Registration for this years race was in April 2012, giving me 9 months to become physically and mentally prepared for the challenge.

The trick is that you receive a time limit to be able to finish the Goofy Challenge. The time limit for the half marathon is 3 hours 30 minutes and 7 hours for the marathon. The per mile pace to reach this goal is 16 minutes per mile.

The Goofy Challenge Medals

Disney provides a 29-week training schedule for the Goofy Challenge that you can find here. I followed my own training schedule that was more adapted to my schedule and style, but if you don’t know where to start, their guide is great!

Disney races are a lot of fun for spectators and runners alike because Disney puts on a show for everyone! There are fireworks that send the runners off at 6:30 a.m. Also, the runners get to run through the Disney parks.

During the half marathon the runners start in Epcot, run through The Magic Kingdom and end back in Epcot. The full marathon takes the runners through Epcot, The Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, ESPN Wide World of Sports, and Disney Hollywood Studios.

Running Through the Parks

The Half Marathon:

The night before the race, I made sure to eat a meal filled with carbohydrates and drank lots of water throughout the day. The last thing you want is to become dehydrated during your run.

Before the race, I applied coconut oil around the edges of my sports bra to prevent chaffing. I also stretched to make sure I didn’t pull or strain any of my muscles.

During the race, I alternated between water and Gatorade at the water stations to ensure I was putting substance back into my body. The half was tricky because I had to keep reminding myself that I was going to be running another 26.2 miles tomorrow and I needed to conserve my energy as much as possible.

My final run time was 2:59:12. This is one of my slowest half times, but my goal for the half was to finish under the time limit and conserve energy for the full marathon.

After the race, I spent the rest of the day laying down, elevating and icing my feet.

The Full Marathon:

The Full Marathon Medal

The night before the race, I had a home cooked spaghetti and meatball meal with coconut oil and garlic toast. Also, I went to bed around 7:00 pm to ensure I would be ready for my 2:30 a.m. wake-up call.

I followed the same pre-race plan as the day before and was mentally focused on the finish line when I got up to the start line. In addition, I followed the same alternating water and Gatorade plan to keep hydrated. I finished the race in 6:13:18.

I am extremely proud of myself for finishing the Goofy Challenge. I encourage anyone who has been contemplating doing a full or half marathon to get out there and do one! You never know what you are capable of until you try!

-Brittany

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