It's my first marathon, so I'm a bit nervous about tiring myself out for the race. Therefore, I'm thinking of extending my stay after the race to tour around WDW.

For those who've done it before, did you do any playing before the race? Did you feel okay enough to tour WDW the week after?

We have always stayed to visit the parks after. Walking around for the next few days helps to work out the soreness in the legs, plus you get to wear your marathon shirt and show off your medal.:D

I agree that you should extend after rather than before the marathon. It sounds like you are following a reasonable training schedule with lots of good advice and coaching from the TNT team, so IMO (of course it's my first marathon too, so I'm no expert) you'll probably be sore, but still highly functional after the race. Plus after the race you won't have to be too concerned with what you eat and drink, getting enough sleep etc.

Unfortunately I have to go back to the "real world" Monday morning after the race. We're going down on Friday, so I'm sure I'll be ready to get home to my girls by then anyway...and my husband will surely be ready for me to be back as well!

We took the Goofy Challenge last year, and visited the parks after each race. I wore a pedometer and discovered that we walked 8 or 9 miles each afternoon/evening, on top of the race miles. The day after the marathon we walked 13 miles in the parks. It was very good for working out the muscle soreness. We logged a lot of miles prior to WDW, including the Las Vegas Marathon a month earlier. We weren't fast, but we were in excellent shape.

I'm arriving Friday and staying through Wednesday. Hopefully that will work out well. :)

I'm going the week before to play. I think its different for each person. Personally, I'll be fine with all the walking before. A first timer may not be. You WILL, on the other hand be walking like you need a walker the day after. Don't worry, so does half of everyone else there. Its a good pain. Make sure to wear your medal on the plane ride back home.