Treadmill vs. Road - advice desperately needed

What is the longest run that you have done in the last 3 weeks?  You can go from there with the schedule for the rest of the month.  You can realistically increase your long run about 5 miles without much risk of injury in that time.  I would add a mile to a mile and a half a week for the next three weeks on the long run day and that will get you close enough to finish.

As far as the sweeper bus goes, they are doing a wave start this year for the half and the full and releasing a new wave every 6 minutes.  I believe that there are 8 waves and I am just guessing at about 20,000 people.  The first wave will go off at 5:40 and the last at almost 6:30.  I don't know what your values say about this but you could  sneak into a corral close to the front.  That would take the stress of time away.  Maybe your corral will be close to the front anyway.  We don't find out till we get out packets this year.  It's not really hard to sneak in.  Just wait till people start to hop the corral fence to go pee and hop back in with them.  If it doesn't work just go back to your corral. 

I don't think the treadmill is any different than road running except that the road does pound you a bit more but the treadmill is more boring so I will call it a tie.  The cardio benefit is the same and I actually find it easier to keep a higher tempo on the treadmill.  I like a combo of both the TM and the road.  I have found myself out of breath on the TM for no good reason in the past.  Keep with it and it will most likely get easier.

35 DAYS!!!

Scott, this is interesting and confusing information. Are the people that start at 6:30 expected to finish by the same deadline as the people starting 50 minutes earlier? Wouldn't that mean they should put the fastest people at the back? Do serious runners get priority in the front? Now I'm more panicked than ever!

Are you doing the half or the full?

They seperate people by what they put down for an approximate finishing time when they register.  I put 1:55 which will probably put me in one of the first three corrals.  For times under 2:15 (I think), you needed to provide proof from a race that would justify that time.  Faster people go in the front so that they can get out in the clear.  In theory, If everyone started exactly where they should and ran a strady pace, nobody would pass anyone.

The 3:30 clock starts when the last person passes the start line.  One year I was the last person in my corral to start and it took about 6 minutes to cross the start line.  Even if you are in the last corral, you could give yourself about 30 more seconds a mile by starting in the front of that corral.  You are right that the first person to start will get about 4.5 hours to finish.  If you think that you can hold a pace near 16 minutes a mile, you will be fine.  Every corral you are from the back gets you about 30 more seconds per mile to work with.  I don't think that you have anything to worry about. 

Thank you Scott. Look for me!

The treadmill is mentally draining for me.  I have to constantly talk myself into continuing.  The whole time I keep looking at the watch, am I done yet......... am I done yet.

How it is for me though. 
I tend to run faster out of the street.  I'm positive this is due to my stride.  On the treadmill I have to have a faster turnover to keep the speed up, which means I don't get to take what I consider a comfortable stride.  I also find that I run at whatever speed my body wants to run, what it is comfortable with.  Some times I going faster, some tmes slower, but it generally averages out to a 10 minute mile.  When I set that speed on the treadmill, it feels like a lot more effort. 

The treadmill should actually be easier on  your body due to the reduced impact you will take.

Have you dond the math to figure out how fast you need to go?
You only need to go 3.75 mph cover that distance.  You could walk that.  Throw in some running and you have it made easy as pie. 
So even if you have a hard time with the run, just keep moving and you won't be doing a walk of shame.

Scott

Boredom is a huge factor for me on the treadmill. I have music, I have a TV and DVDs, but I cannot prevent my eyes from flashing over to the readout to see that I've only gone five seconds when I think five minutes have passed. I've tried to cover it up. Then I end up covering and uncovering. At least on the road I know I have to go from HERE to THERE and that's that. On the TM I feel like a lobotomized hamster on a wheel.

I have tiny lilliputian legs and a stride to match. I'm struggling to keep going at a 3.5 or .6. The two 5ks I've run I've not done much better than a 17 minute mile.

I'm starting to think I was crazy to get myself into this. I wish I'd been more realistic. Maybe my height, age, former weight, and activity history should have hinted that five or six months of training wouldn't be enough.

Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.

Actually I find the treadmill much harsher on the joints than the open road.  I'm probably in the minority on that one, but that's how it impacts my body.  It is also a mental drain but that is easier to deal with.  Nothing ever changes on the treadmill.  The most excitement I ever get is counting the number of people that get on and off the treadmills on both sides of me.  I broke my streak this year of avoiding the treadmill all this year when I ran five miles on Tuesday.  I ended up having to see my chiropractor for some quick knee work.  So unless it's 30 below I'll be back out on the road with all my furry friends. 

Disney is a real flat course except for the overpasses.  Stay on the road, and avoid the grass (it's sharp and hard).  Also try to keep two paces between you and the runner in front of you.  Run-walkers have a habit of sudden stops, forcing you to constantly adjust your pace.  Enjoy it.

Don't worry about the time.  If you get picked up, you just get to try again another time.  Training is key to being out on the road for over two hours.   
Rob

I agree with you, Rob. My body takes the impact on the TM in a much more painful way than it does the asphalt. I wish I wasn't such a freak about the cold. I'm like the Scarecrow was about fire...I guess I need to toughen up or suck up the TM.

Thanks for the advice. I'm doing it through Team IN Training and alot of people have contributed to my campaign. I feel I owe it to them all to give everything I've got and finish this if it kills me. And it very well might.

 I have actually run in the "wild outdoors" twice.  Once after losing 80 lbs, then my 5K...other than that I have done all my running indoors on dreadmill, mainly because I hate the cold and I wanted to be able to keep better track of pace, speed, calorie burned, hills, etc.  I can tell you my 5K was tougher than the treadmill...maybe because I was excited and tried to keep up the first mile with others when I should have focused on my own pace.  Maybe because I didn't have my music keeping pace.  But I like what someone elses idea was, go on the one long run outdoors once a week.  I may do that.  I have heard from a avid than ran track in hs and college that he can't run on the treadmill because it's tougher.  So...could be that too if your used to running outside.

I don't know if you meant to say "DREADMILL" on purpose or it was a typo, but I am SO stealing that!!!

I have to be careful about pacing too. I am so slow, and I burn out fast if I push too hard. Its easy to get swept up in the tide when starting with others, but after about a block I am way behind the pack.

Every train needs a caboose. That's me!