Training for the Disney Tower of Terror 10 Miler

The Disney Tower of Terror 10-miler race is the first night race of the Fall season.  It begins at 10:00 p.m. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and runs toward the Animal Kingdom, back around to the ESPN Wide World of Sports and ends back through Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  I ran this race for the first time last year and loved it.  However, I did not understand with confidence, how to prepare for a night race.  Now that I have done it, I know what to do to prepare.

The mileage wasn’t an issue for me because I was preparing for the WDW marathon weekend.  But if this is your first time doing a night race, I recommend that you put in the miles prior to the race so that you don’t have to worry about running a night race PLUS running that distance for your first time.  Prior to the race weekend I had listened to the Mickey Miles Podcast Episodes 102 and 103.  Jeff Galloway had discussed with Mike and Michelle some tips on preparing for running a night race.  He did mention scheduling a long training run for the time of day similar to your race.  Where I live, it is a very rural area, and I just wasn’t comfortable doing a 10 mile run on my dark country roads in the open fields.  I also didn’t want to do a 10 mile run at 10:00 at night on my treadmill.  However, I don’t think it is a bad idea.

Another important element for preparing for the night race is your nutrition.  I feel that this is equally as important as the actual running mileage you put in for the race.  In my experience the third most important thing is resting prior to the race.  Last year, I made it a point to eat a turkey sandwich late in the afternoon and rested in my hotel room for several hours.  I could not fall asleep, but I was off of my feet and resting (not walking around the parks).

Hydration is also a critical component to having a successful race.  Even though the race takes place at night, it is usually still quite hot and humid in Florida.  We were pretty sweaty early on in the race.  So it is important to have a lot of fluids throughout the day and also during the race.

When it was time to head out to the race, we hung out in the corral area for a while prior to lining up in the corrals.  I had some apple sauce prior to the race.  Mentally, my challenge was realizing that it was 9:30 p.m. and I am usually getting my family and I ready for bed, and here I was preparing to begin a 10 mile race.  That was a little bit of a head trip.  Once the race got going, the adrenaline gets pumping and you don’t realize what time it is.  I really enjoyed the race and the location of it.  Running at night was really fun.  For some reason, I feel like I run faster in the dark.  I can’t explain it, but it is the way I feel.

I was hungry after the race.  That was weird, because by the time I got back to my hotel it was after 2:00 p.m. and I didn’t necessarily have “food” to eat.  Not to mention that I had to shower and get some sleep before waking up early for my flight home.

The points to take out of this when preparing for the Tower of Terror 10 miler is to be aware of what you eat the day of the race.  I had a hearty breakfast of pancakes the morning of the race.  During the day I made sure I wasn’t eating anything that would cause me any upset late in the day, and in the late afternoon I had a turkey sub with chips.  I felt successful with my food intake the day of the race.  In regards to resting, I also feel that I made smart choices by making it a point to be in my room, off my feet and resting.  If you make a priority to do these things you will be successful in this race.

Read my Tower of Terror Race Recap from 2013.