The official Goofy Challenge:
Complete a half marathon on Saturday and a marathon on Sunday.
The unofficial Dopey addition:
Add to it a 5K on Saturday.
First off, I'm in no shape to run the whole blinkin' 42.4 miles, so you can just forget that. Besides, I wouldn't have a lot of fun going hard the whole way.
I'm talking about it in the singular, one race, since I'm trying to look at it as one continuous 42.4-mile ultramarathon, with an extra-long rest stop after the first third of the way.
Day 1 plan: The half marathon course is basically flat and boring. The only interesting parts are miles 5-7 through the Magic Kingdom, and miles 12 - 13.1, through part of Epcot. Cutoff is 3:30 (210 minutes). 3AM - 4AM wakeup, monorail to 6AM start (ugh!).
- HM Miles 0-5: Run:walk at 5:1 intervals starting in first mile, for relaxed 14 min/mile pace (70 min). Twilight begins 6:54AM; sunrise 7:19AM.
- HM Miles 5-7, Magic Kingdom: Walk and take pictures for 20 min/mile pace (40 min).
- HM Miles 7-12: Run:walk at 5:1 intervals, 14 min/mile pace (70 min).
- HM Miles 12-13.1, Epcot: Walk and take pictures for 20 min/mile pace (22 min).
- HM Finish: 202 minutes = 3:22, or 8 minutes to spare before the cutoff.
- Collect Donald medal and Goofy wristband at finish line!
- 5K: Walk the whole thing, or perhaps slow jog in the more boring sections. Collect 5K medal!
Day 2 plan: The marathon course is equally flat, with several long boring stretches. Areas of interest: Miles 0-3 through Epcot in the dark; twilight begins 6:54AM; sunrise 7:19AM; miles 10-11 through the Magic Kingdom; miles 16-18 through the Animal Kingdom park; then Mile 22.5-23.5 through the Disney-MGM Studios area is likely to be a small respite of interest; then mile 24.5 heads through the Yacht Club and Beach Club resorts, with the final stretch from mile 25 to the finish through Epcot. Cutoff is 7 hours (420 minutes). 3AM - 4AM wakeup, monorail to 6AM start (ugh!).
Allowing 4 miles of straight walking at 20 min/mile (80 minutes), and finishing 10 minutes before the cutoff (410 minutes total), that leaves me 330 minutes to go 22.2 miles, which yields a 14:51 average pace for the rest of the course.
I'll probably slow down considerably on the marathon course from a) fatigue; b) fatigue; c) boredom; d) foot pain; and e) sightseeing in the 2nd half.
- Maintain 14:00 min/mile pace most of the way using 5:1 run:walk intervals, try to hit the halfway mark about 3:10-3:15; and then hang on from there until the marathon finish line. If I feel extra good (highly unlikely), don't run continuously until leaving Animal Kingdom at Mile 18 - then run ~7 mile leg through Downtown Disney until entering Epcot.
- Collect Mickey medal and Goofy medal!
How does that sound for a strategy?
2 comments:
Sounds like a great plan to me! I can't wait to see all THREE of your medals and the awesome pictures you are going to take!
Did you get another new camera???
Nancy, in case I forget to say it, have a great race weekend. I can't wait to read your race reportS and see your cool medals. I'll be back home by then and watching you..
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