disney marathon

[disney24/7]

I was wondering if anyone has run the disney marathon, or any marathon for that matter? I'm 50 lbs. over weight and I am going to give myself one year to train and run in the 08 marathon. I wonder if that's enogh time? At the gym now (when I go) I can go 5 miles below the required 16 min. mile. any thoghts or advice?

[cooknthyme]

I'm not cooknthyme - I'm his wife.

my husband ran the marathon from the first year it opened to 2 years ago. he is not a pro runner but was able to complete it in about 5 hours.

his training consisted of doing 5 and 10k's around our city.

if you do some jogging in the marathon i don't think you'll have a problem since there are walkers that finish.

I don't really know how tight they are with that 7 hour or picked up thing because the longest I had to wait for him was 5.5 hours

I know he'd like to get back into running but since our wedding and the birth of our daughter it's hard.

i do applaud you for your attempts and do think you can do it -

[KevinYee]

I'm not following your numbers. It's a required 16-minute mile, not a 7-minute mile. But I also don't know what you mean by "five miles under".

A 16-minute mile is a brisk walk (maintained for 7 hours!) or a normal walk with occasional jog. If you do 50/50 walk and jog, you'll easily be under the required time. I'm overweight (not quite 50 pounds, but still) and completed the full marathon with zero training.

[sediment]

I'm not a runner.
You should be able to train for a marathon in six months. If you're trying to win it, it will take 20 years, assuming you're five years old now. Having elite running parents helps immensely.
So let's work on completing one first.

Here are my concerns:
1. Until you lose enough weight, work on cardio exercises that do not stress too much on your knees. Biking, swimming, circuit machines, running on softer machines. Cardio is for strengthening your heart, but running with extra weight burdens the knees. I'm not sure if 50 lbs is too much stress or not. Extra weight probably affects your knees more via form and poor-fitting shoes than all by itself.
2. Make sure your shoes fit properly. Find a place that will videotape your form. (Digital analysis costs too much and the results are complicated. Actually seeing what your form looks like is much more effective at getting you to change it.)
3. Lose weight while strengthening the muscles surrounding the knees.
4. Try some length of time in which you run, say three weeks or so. Then switch to weight-training for three weeks. Alternate until you've lost the weight. Then, expand the running period. Keep taking weeks off for strength training, but run twice a week during that time. That's a good six months away, though. Dropping 50 pounds in a healthy way should take at least 25 weeks. (I'm cautious, though.)

Losing weight:
1. Cut out bad sugars from your diet. Simple ones, HFCS, and other foods with high glycemic index numbers.
2. Make your own food. That way, you know how it was made.
3. Stop eating so much at one time. Make less food for meals, and supplement with healthy snacks such as raw vegetables (green ones mainly) and almonds/cashews. Weigh the critical foods, such as meats and carbs. Take off those bird skins, but only after cooking (seals in the juices, which makes them moister and tastier). Don't add too much fat to cooking, such as lards or oils or cheeses (except for cottage cheese). Some is fine, but try less than what is asked for.

I hope this helps.

Kevin, I think the OP is saying that he(?) can run for five miles at a rate of less than seven minutes per mile. I'm guessing an inaccurate machine, assuming a machine and not a track, and I suggest that the OP run five miles on a track somewhere to get a better idea of what he's really running like.

[wdw or bust]

is the marathon actually 26. miles or is it a shorter one??

[cooknthyme]

the full one is 26 miles there is a half and a 5k walk - there is also a rollerblade 26 mile marathon in the spring.