306. How to Train for Disney Marathon Weekend: 5 Mistakes Runners Make with Coach Whitney LaCombe
Release Date: 08/20/2026
313. Marathon Travel & Recovery: How to Arrive Fresh and Recover Faster
Healthy Runner Podcast
Traveling for a marathon? ✈️ Don't let long flights, heavy legs, poor sleep, or travel fatigue sabotage the months of training you've put in! Whether you're heading to NYC, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, or Disney for Marathon Weekend, how you travel before your race and recover afterward can make a big difference in how you feel. In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti, physical therapist, running coach, and 9-time marathoner, shares practical, science-backed marathon travel and recovery tips to help you arrive feeling fresh, race strong, and recover smarter. You'll...
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312. Travel Nutrition for Runners: What to Eat When Traveling for a Race with Claire Shorenstein, RD, CSSD
Healthy Runner Podcast
✈️ Traveling for a marathon or half marathon? Don't let poor nutrition derail months of hard work before you even reach the starting line! You've spent months training, dialing in your fueling strategy, and preparing for race day. But what happens when airports, long flights, unfamiliar restaurants, and changes to your normal routine throw your nutrition plan off track? In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti is joined by Claire Shorenstein, MS, RD, CSSD, a distance runner, board-certified Sports Dietitian, and founder of Eat for Endurance, to share practical travel...
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311. Do THIS After Every Race (Most Runners Skip It!) - Post Race Reflection
Healthy Runner Podcast
🎁 FREE Post Race Reflection Worksheet → Your finish time tells you how fast you ran. Your reflection tells you how you can GROW! After finishing my 9th marathon at Wineglass, just 2 minutes shy of my PR, I discovered something powerful. Even though I missed my traditional marathon PR, I actually ran an AGE-GRADED PR at 46! And it reminded me why EVERY runner should take the time to reflect after a race. In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I'm walking you through 5 post race reflection questions to help you celebrate your wins, learn from your challenges, and become a stronger,...
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310. How to Race Your Best Marathon with Peter Bromka
Healthy Runner Podcast
FREE Marathon Training Guide: Train Smarter & Race Strong → You can be in the best shape of your life and still miss your marathon goal if you don’t execute properly on race day. So how do you take months of training and turn that fitness into your best possible marathon? In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I sit down with 2:19 marathoner, running coach, and writer Peter Bromka to break down how to race your marathon for peak performance. Peter shares lessons from years of racing, coaching, studying, and writing about the marathon. He also includes why this distance is so...
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309. Tapering 101: How to Taper Before a Half Marathon or Marathon
Healthy Runner Podcast
FREE Marathon Training Guide: Train Smarter & Race Strong → Are you a few weeks away from your half marathon or marathon and suddenly wondering if you’re running too little? Welcome to the taper crazies! After months of long runs, speed workouts, and strength training, reducing your training before race day can feel completely backwards. You may start wondering if you’re losing fitness, whether you should squeeze in one more long run, or why your legs suddenly feel heavy. But here’s the key: You don’t get faster during your taper by squeezing in more fitness. You get faster by...
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308. Carb Loading Before a Marathon: What Most Runners Get Wrong with Brooke Czarnecki, RDN, LD
Healthy Runner Podcast
Are you carb loading correctly before your marathon, or could your nutrition strategy be setting you up to hit the dreaded wall at mile 20? If you think carb loading means eating a giant bowl of pasta the night before your race, you're not alone! But proper marathon carb loading involves much more than one big meal. In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti sits down with registered dietitian and endurance sports nutrition expert from our team to break down exactly how to carb load before a marathon or half marathon. You'll learn when to start carb loading, what foods...
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307. 3 Common Marathon Injuries: How to Treat Them Without Giving Up Running with Carolyn Coffin
Healthy Runner Podcast
What happens when your hamstring, IT band, or Achilles starts hurting in the middle of marathon training? Do you really need to stop running completely? Not necessarily! In Episode 307 of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I’m sharing an insightful conversation I had with Carolyn Coffin from the Inspired Soles Podcast about 3 of the most common injuries that can derail marathon training and what you can actually do about them without automatically giving up running. We take a deep dive into: 🏃🏻♀️ Proximal hamstring tendinopathy: Why stretching that nagging pain near your sit bone may...
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306. How to Train for Disney Marathon Weekend: 5 Mistakes Runners Make with Coach Whitney LaCombe
Healthy Runner Podcast
Training for RunDisney? and learn how to train for the entire Disney experience…not just the miles 🏰🔋 Are you training for Disney Marathon Weekend like you would for any other marathon? That could be one of the biggest mistakes you make. Disney Marathon Weekend isn't just about covering 26.2 miles. Between the early wake-ups, standing in corrals, walking through the parks, Florida weather, and for Goofy and Dopey runners… racing on back-to-back days, your body has to handle much more than the mileage on your training plan! In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I’m...
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305. What Jon Levitt Learned from 850,000 Runners About Running After 40
Healthy Runner Podcast
Have you ever wondered if you can keep running (not just through this season) but for the rest of your life? If you're over 40 and you've started questioning whether your body can keep up, this episode is for you. Joining me today is Jon Levitt, host of the popular For The Long Run podcast, where he's spent years interviewing some of the world's best runners, coaches, sports scientists, and researchers to answer one big question: What does it actually take to achieve sustainable excellence? Through conversations reaching more than 850,000 runners every month, Jon has uncovered the common...
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304. Disney Marathon Training: The Strength Work Most Runners Skip
Healthy Runner Podcast
Training for RunDisney? and learn how to train for the entire Disney experience…not just the miles 🏰🔋 Disney Marathon Weekend isn't just a marathon… it's one of the most unique endurance events you'll ever train for. Between miles on unforgiving concrete, long days walking through the parks, early morning wake-ups, and for many runners, back-to-back races like Goofy and Dopey, your body needs more than just a running plan. It needs a strength plan. In this episode, Dr. Duane Scotti, running physical therapist, running coach, and two-time Dopey finisher, shares the exact 20-week...
info_outlineTraining for RunDisney? Download my FREE Ultimate RunDisney Training Playbook and learn how to train for the entire Disney experience…not just the miles 🏰🔋
Are you training for Disney Marathon Weekend like you would for any other marathon?
That could be one of the biggest mistakes you make.
Disney Marathon Weekend isn't just about covering 26.2 miles. Between the early wake-ups, standing in corrals, walking through the parks, Florida weather, and for Goofy and Dopey runners… racing on back-to-back days, your body has to handle much more than the mileage on your training plan!
In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I’m joined by Coach Whitney LaCombe from the Spark Healthy Runner team to break down 5 of the biggest Disney Marathon Weekend training mistakes and show you how to prepare for the entire experience, not just the marathon.
We cover:
🔋 Why Disney is really an energy-management event and how to protect your “Disney Battery”
🏃🏻 Why time on your feet may matter more than chasing a specific long-run mileage
🔁 How to use back-to-back long runs to prepare for Goofy and Dopey
🚦 How to tell the difference between normal cumulative fatigue and an injury warning sign
⏰ Why you should practice early wake-ups, fueling, costumes, crowds, and your race-day routine
💪🏻 Why strength training is essential for building the durability you need for Disney
😴 How to recover between races so you can keep your body feeling strong
🏰 How to finish healthy enough to actually enjoy the parks and celebrate afterward
We also share the story of Jess, who came to us with knee pain during Dopey training. After working on a personalized running and strength plan, she went on to complete all four races of the Dopey Challenge (including her first marathon) and felt great during her recovery.
Whether you're training for the Disney Marathon, Goofy Challenge, or all 48.6 miles of the Dopey Challenge, this episode will help you train smarter so you can enjoy every magical mile.
Because Disney isn't about surviving race weekend.
Train for the experience, not just the marathon. 🏰✨
Grab your FREE RunDisney Marathon Training Guide Here!
If you’re ready for structured strength plans, recovery routines, nutrition, and coaching support so you’re not guessing week to week during your rundisney training, join the Healthy Runner Academy!
Episodes and Resources mentioned in this episode:
Listen to my previous episode on the 20-week strength plan to finish Disney Strong
Listen to my previous episode on 6 Steps to Mastering runDisney Training
Listen to my previous episode on How to Prepare for RunDisney Marathon Weekend: 7 Race Week Essentials for Dopey Challenge Runners
Listen to my previous episode on How I Conquered the 2026 Dopey Challenge Feeling Strong, Durable, and Healthy
Watch how Sonya overcame her fears to finish her first marathon in Disney by getting stronger not only physically but mentally here!
Watch how Dipti went from chronic shin splints for over a year to running the Disney Dopey Challenge in 6 months here!
Watch how Stephanie went from IT band pain with every long run to conquering the 48.6 mile Dopey Challenge here!
Want to work individually with our team using a structured strength, nutrition, and a run plan with full support and accountability to crush your Disney Marathon Weekend experience? Book a call and learn more about Healthy Runner coaching here
A big thanks to Kila for your support for this episode!
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Connect with coach Whitney:
- Instagram: @runwhitspark
- Email: [email protected]
- Healthy Runner Facebook Community
Connect with Dr. Duane:
- Instagram - @sparkhealthyrunner
- Sign up for the Healthy Runner Newsletter
- Join our Healthy Runner Facebook Community