- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Does anyone know if they announced which hotels will be host hotels or if all of them will be?
All of them
Does anyone know if they announced which hotels will be host hotels or if all of them will be?
My DBF and I just signed up for the half. We did the Wine and Dine Half and Half last night and had so much fun that we wanted to come back!
Glad to have you both on board! And I'm really glad you both enjoyed the Wine & Dine race. I was hearing a lot of unfortunate comments due to the lightning changing the route and all that, but it's good to hear some positive notes.
Can't wait for April!
No. The on-course photos are done by an outside company called MarathonFoto. The only way your race pictures would be included in the Memory Maker would be if you happened to catch a PP phtographer at a character when running through a park that is already open, which only is possible during the WDW Marathon or at the very end of one of the half marathons (if the course goes through a park at the end).I'm thinking of purchasing Memory Maker, so my question is, do you know if the race photos would be included in that (I thought I had read they were not)? I assume there are Photopass photographers wherever the characters are along the course? Would the Photopass pictures be included in MM?
I have not experienced AKL myself but I was going to book it as well and realized with the road closures it would be near impossible for family to meet me after the race. It also depends on if you are going alone. If you will just be running it and will come in towards the end it shouldn't be a problem.Am I okay at the AKL? I was at W&D and booked a bounceback. I thought it was relatively close to WWOS where I understand this will end up. However, I was on another thread, and folks on that thread indicated that AKL was a disaster on marathon weekend because of all the road closures. I assume I will be running into some of that at AKL. What are people's thoughts on staying at AKL? I was really wanting to be close to WWOS, and the discount on the mods for bounceback wasn't as great as before, so I splurged with AKL.
That is good to hear (about AKL). We're staying there for the first time for SW race weekend (also first rundisney event).We stayed at AKL marathon 2014 and it was fine. Granted, we didn't have anyone come meet us, just rode the bus there and back. Planning to stay there again for Star Wars. It's nice and peaceful. Good place for pre race relax.
Has anyone tried the Hanson half marathon plan (not the full)? I was thinking of trying that for Star Wars Dark Side half. Also, since I am doing the Dark Side Challenge, do I need to add to the plan to be better prepared for back-to-back races?
@DopeyBadger, @IamTrike, and anyone else that has used Hanson's... any thoughts/words of wisdom?
Let me know if you have any questions or whether you'd like me to put a plan together for you based on the Hansons and other training plan philosophies I've compiled..
@DopeyBadger, thank you so much for the offer, but I know you already spend quite a bit of time on other folks' training plans here. Plus, I probably will have more buy-in if I spend the time to develop my own plan.
I do have a couple questions, though, based on your response above. I downloaded the sample (first couple chapters) of the Hansons Half Marathon Method book for free on Google Play, but given your dislike of that book, would it be better for me to purchase and read the full marathon book? Would I be able to come up with a good half marathon plan if I read the marathon book? Also, I think you have completed Dopey before, so you are familiar with back-to-back races. Would you suggest taking one run easy and racing the other on the Dark Side Challenge, or trying for more equal effort between the races? For example, let's say my 10k goal race pace is 7:35-7:40 and my half marathon goal race pace is about 8:05-8:10. If I was trying to spread the effort equally, I might run the 10k at a 7:50-7:55 pace and the half at a 8:20-8:25 pace. Otherwise, I could take one close to my goal race pace, and just jog the other.
Just so you have a little background on me, I have been running (off and on, but mostly "on" except for a few years after our first child) for about 27 years. I have completed seven (I think) marathons in the past and several half marathons, but my last full marathon was over 10 years ago and my last half marathon was a little over two years ago. I didn't race much this year; in fact, I only did one 5k, one 10k, and one 15k all within the last couple months. My longest run this year was yesterday at 12 miles, and I have been in the 20-30 miles per week range for the last couple months.
Recent races:
5k - 22:44 (7:19 pace)
10k - 47:35 (7:39 pace)
15k - 1:15:59 (8:09 pace) - this was not an all out effort, but given how the last two miles felt, it might have been pretty close
Last half marathon (9/2013) - 1:49:14 (8:20 pace), pretty hilly course
About a year or two ago, I was about 15-20 seconds per mile faster, but I had a hamstring injury, followed by a REALLY lazy winter last year, so I lost some speed and had to ease back into things this year. I am finally at a place where I feel I have a good base to work from.
I am doing a half marathon on Thanksgiving morning, but it is a trail run and will likely be pretty cold, so I do not really expect I will race it, but I may try for an 8:30 pace. After that race, I don't really have a plan, and hence why I am trying to figure out my next training plan to get ready for a good Dark Side Challenge. My main goal is to improve my performance.
I appreciate your thoughts!
And I thought my training spreadsheet was organized! I've been put to shame! Thank you so so so much for all this info @DopeyBadger I love learning about running. A lot of this is going to be good to look back on when I add speed work back in after the winter is over. My winter is going to be spent on strength and conditioning.