The questions I was asked the most when sharing my running journey on social media were “How do you know how to train? When do you run? How much do you run? Do you do other exercise as well?”.

Let’s break down the exercise portion of marathon training. Honestly, this is just one part of the training. Beyond building the physical strength to complete 26.2 miles, it’s also essential to address nutrition coaching for women.

Here’s the link to the running training schedule I lived by. For 30 weeks, my plans and priorities revolved around that schedule.

Tuesdays and Thursdays – 3.5 mile run/walk

Sundays – long run/walk, distance determined by the Jeff Galloway marathon training schedule.

Let’s discuss for just a brief moment the man that has inspired so many: Jeff Freaking Galloway. Jeff is an Olympic runner and, in my opinion, god father of the famous walk/run/walk method. He’s obviously a big deal in the running community, but a REALLY big deal in the Disney running community. His method, training plans, and overall inspiring presence is the reason so many of us have done what we felt would be impossible. A 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon, full marathon, and more. For many, like me, we thought the running world would always be out of reach. Our bodies just weren’t built to do something like that. And then we were able to prove ourselves wrong, over and over again.

I encourage you to check out Jeff’s website and purchase his books for the different distances. I’ve found all of that to be a lot of help. For this marathon, I didn’t do the magic miles, and I deviated slightly on distances, but I did stick to his schedule. For the next marathon I will be using those suggestions more often.

My walk/run/walk training looked like this: 2 minute warm up walk, 1 minute run, 45 second walk, then repeat that 1 min/ 45 sec interval for the allotted distance. To help me track this, I purchased the app Intervals Pro Timer. I do love the paid version, as it allows you to control so much about your run and what stats you want to see/hear along the way. Running can be so hard and overwhelming, especially when you’re going over 10 miles, so I made sure to pick an interval that was comfortable. With this method, I was averaging a 12:30 min/mile, and I was really proud of that.

The major change I made to the training program was the max training distance. Jeff is going to have you do a training run of 26 miles 4 weeks before the marathon. I chose to do 23 that weekend. It was important to me that marathon weekend was a big celebration. I didn’t want to just go .2 miles further than I did during training. I wanted to really push myself those last few miles, and know that on marathon day, that was the absolute farthest I’ve ever run.

Here’s the thing about the long runs in training: it’s really important you don’t skip those. Even when you’re tired, not feeling 100%, stressed, busy, it’s cold, drizzly, etc. You will definitely have at least one of those excuses on race day. Trust me, there’s always a good reason to not run a long distance. The reason you training for 30 weeks is not just to get your body ready, but to get your state of mind ready. Got some rain on race day? No worries, you experienced that during training. Not enough sleep? Trained for it. Butt feeling a little sore? Trained for and stretched. 30 weeks of running will really prepare you for anything.

And those long long runs, they take some time. Hours. We all have things we would rather be doing Sunday morning. Like brunch. I love brunch! But it tastes just a little bit better after a 15 mile training run. I can promise you that 15 mile run won’t feel better after brunch.

Doing those long runs allows your brain to see how this feels. Running for hours at a time takes a toll on your body and your emotions. If you start feeling sick, you learn what changes you need to make (fuel? water? stretch?) to keep going. You don’t always have to quit when a distance becomes difficult, and you learn how to get through those rough patches by training every weekend. You learn how to think “oh good, it’s only 16 miles tomorrow”. Only 16 miles?! That’s so far! But by training you adapt physically, and most importantly, mentally. I just can’t emphasize this enough: your brain needs more work than your body for 26.2 miles. Don’t skip the runs. Just do them.

Many runners only run when training. However, my body really isn’t built to be a running body. Just genetically speaking, if I’m up against a predator, I was built to outsmart them. Not outrun them. So I needed a little extra help to gain the strength I needed to avoid pain and injury.

In between run days I would do one or more of the following: Peloton Bike ride, Peloton Strength For Runners, Peloton Yoga, Peloton Stretch. Yea I know, a lot of Peloton. I pay for the app, so I figured I mine as well use it. And to be honest, I really like it. Not just for the bike.  The strength classes they offer, specifically for runners, are extremely effective. I was noticeably sore for a couple days following a class. But the run after that? Felt a lot easier than the run before. That was really amazing to me.

I also made sure to include stretching and yoga in as much as possible. Running and cycling and strength are very one directional activities. You don’t really twist your body. And after awhile, I ended up feeling comfortably stiff. So including activity that promoted rotation was helpful, and just felt good.

And if I had a scheduled no-run day and I didn’t want to exercise at all, then I didn’t. You don’t have to. Rest is part of the training. Just save that for a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday.

I also heard some stories from people who never ran for more than 6 miles while training for the marathon, only to go on and finish 26.2 easily. That must be wonderful, but it can also be dangerous. 26.2 miles is going to put your whole body through a lot, not just your muscles. Your heart, lungs, kidneys, digestive system, they’re all working in an unnatural way (compared to what they’re used to). They need training as well, and you need to know warning signs. You learn all of that through proper training.

So if you’re planning your first marathon, pick a training plan and stick to it! If life gets hectic (and I promise it will) just do your best to keep at it. If you have to skip a run, don’t push yourself too hard to “make it up”. Just skip it, and move on to the next one. But don’t lose momentum with your training.Training is supposed to be hard, so that race day isn’t. It’s 30 weeks of work for 6 hours (or less for you speedy folks) of fun. If you prepare, you have the opportunity to not only accomplish the impossible, but also have a wonderful time doing it.

Missed the intro? Check it out!

On July 27th, 2021, I signed up to run my first marathon. While sitting in a pirate themed restaurant in Legoland Florida, I obsessively debated with myself about whether or not this was an awful idea. Finally, the fear that the decision could be made for me if it sold out before I had the chance to book, pushed me over the edge, and I submitted the registration for Derek and I to run the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 9th, 2022. 26.2 miles of running (and walking) through all 4 parks at Disney World. The farthest I’ve run before this? 13.1 miles. 3 half marathons of the last 5 years, 1 of them great, 2 of them very not-great.

Instead of putting all of the information in one blog post, I’m going to split it up into a series. I have a lot to say about this entire process. So many things I wish I saw people talking about beforehand. Although, once we get into the down-and-dirty, you might wish you didn’t know these things ahead of time. We’re going to talk about training, clothes, shoes, food, other exercise, mental anguish, anxiety, race day and recovery in detail. This endeavor took a huge toll on my body, had an unexpected impact on my mental health, and changed me in some wild ways. I felt strong, weak, powerful, small and dumb. I wanted to quit at least once a week. I had days I wanted to kiss my shoes and the beautiful ground I had the opportunity to run on. And I had other days, where I wanted to burn those feet torture devices and get into some other fitness activity, never to run again.

So this serves as the introduction! A brief guide of what I’ll cover and a little background about me. If you’ve read the two paragraphs above, you can probably tell this will be an emotional and brutally honest report. I think we can all handle that.

Here’s a little bit about me. I’m 36 years old, a quilter, a bag maker, and a software engineer. I also proudly wear the titles of wife and mother. I don’t cook and rarely drive. Most of my time is spent working at a machine. A laptop, a sewing machine, embroidery machine… no cooking machines. Since moving to Saint Augustine, Florida, I’ve had absolutely no time to make friends locally, so I don’t get out a whole lot. Every second of my day is quite literally packed. Breaks and any sort of down-time are scheduled. Not a bad thing. But can be stressful. This was the biggest factor in why I started running.

Like I said, I’ve participated in 3 half marathons previously. My first was the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in 2018. I did not train for that, which was a bad decision. My husband, Derek, was running his first marathon. Thankfully, he trained for months leading up to that with a local running store. Since the half and full marathons were on the same day at the same time, I thought it would be a fun activity we could do together. Side note: when it comes to natural athleticism, Derek is an athlete. I am not. At all. So I encouraged him to take off at his pace, while I figured out my own in the half. Of course, since I didn’t train, I started way too fast and winded myself quickly. By mile 10 I was in in so much pain, I was certain I was either going to pass out and fall to the ground, or poop my pants. Literally. My stomach was punishing me for taking this decision so lightly. Somehow, I finished that half without doing either. Derek finished the full, although he also pushed himself a little too hard, and ended up with some pretty rotten knee pains after that. But we did it. Hated it. Vowed to never do it again.

Then we moved to Florida. I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but the weather in Florida can be GLORIOUS. I mean, bottle it up and keep it with you always, such a treasure. It makes you want to be outside, even though you’ve always been an indoor creature. Moving across the country is hard. Work was overwhelming. Starting a YouTube Channel and small business was overly ambitious. Families are complicated and can take so much from you emotionally. All of this brought me to lacing up some poorly fit running shoes, and making time every few days to go for a jog. Just to clear my head. Find a moment of peace to either think about absolutely nothing, or process all of the thousands of to-dos and ideas. Running fast and hard when life was doing the same to me. Taking it easy at a slow piece, mostly walking, when I needed that extra time out there. What. A. Gift. From that moment to now, I still always feel grateful that I have the ability to move my body that way, and I feel like a better version of myself after.

So I figured, what the heck…. let’s do another half marathon! We signed up for the Star Wars Half Marathon at Disney World in 2019. This time, I trained. RunDisney offers a great mileage training break down using the Galloway method (more on that another day) and I printed that sucker out, taped it to the fridge, and made sure if it said run… I ran. Even when I didn’t have the energy to run 8 miles, I got them in. Recovering from a cold? I took it slow, but I still got out and got in the miles. I actually took it serious.

And I had the most amazing race EVER. That Star Wars run was beyond magical. And after I crossed that finish line, I felt like I could easily keep going. Easily.

So we quickly signed up for the 2019 Wine and Dine Half Marathon. Which didn’t go well. No fault to the training, but thanks to some questionable food choices I made the day before. I developed food poising before the race, so the majority of my scenery was inside porta potties along the race route. Not fun, do not recommend. After the race, I felt truly awful. To the point where I was actually worried about my overall well-being. But, being the type of person that doesn’t want to burden to anyone else, I sucked it up and went into Epcot, hoping the sick feeling would subside. You know those bathrooms on the left side of Epcot, right after you enter, if you’re facing Spaceship Earth? I do. I know them really well. I know the floors, the toilets, the back of the doors, the doors that squeak too loud and the stall that has better air flow than the others. I wish I didn’t know this. But life decided my Epcot Disney day would be spent entirely in that bathroom. Yay.

Obviously, I made it out of there, back to my room, hydrated, fueled with high-performing collagen supplements and slept, and recovered. I vowed to never run again, obviously. And when I think back to that race now, I realize I learned one of the most important marathon training prep lessons. You have to care just as much about the food you’re putting in your body as the number of miles you’re putting under your feet. You just have to think about that, more so than you ever had before.

Let’s speed this up a bit. I didn’t let that race deter me, decided if I was going to quit running forever, that wasn’t going to be my final bow. So we signed up for the 2021 Disney World Full Marathon. To be honest, I was not in the right headspace for that. I started my training way too late, my heart wasn’t in it. And oh… COVID made its first appearance that year. Luckily for me, that race was cancelled.

So all of this was going through my head when I swung back and forth like a pendulum, deciding on the 2022 Full Marathon. I knew I wouldn’t have any other races before that, so all long runs had to be done on my time in my neighborhood. I had to make that commitment and uphold it. From that moment, sitting at the Pirate table, I knew my “why”. Why run a marathon? What’s the point? Honestly, because I didn’t think I could. I’m very well aware there will come days when I can physically no longer do certain activities. And I just wanted to see if I had already reached that day. There is a big difference between thinking you can’t do something, and actually being unable to do it.

And that’s where we’ll stop. Up next: Training – Actually Running Every Week… And Is That Enough?!