Princess 1/2 walkers?

[debbieandroo]

Sadly yes. After the car accident DH just couldn't do yard work anymore. DS16 does help a lot, and I'm teaching DS12 how to run the lawn mower. But wood stacking, gardening etc is all me. Mom and I tackled the side yard this spring, and got a good jump on some of it but I have 9 pine trees that need to be cut down. I'm hoping to get a tree guy out this winter to get those.

I did forgo the big garden this year though. I really wanted to get a larger garden off the ground here but we don't have time so we are just doing the small garden at moms. Maybe next year.

Sent from my iPhone using DISboards

wow, after all of that, the PHM will be nothing!

Debbie awesome plan! You are one busy lady! I have no races scheduled and most likely I won't but think its great that you are! I'm glad to know I'm not going to be the ONLY STRICTLY WALKER!! I really hope we will get a chance to meet up?!

I hope so -- I'd like to hug the lady who first inspired me to walk this race. Thanks!

Just got back from our 40th anniversary cruise and went to this thread first. AWESOME seeing all the action.

Keep up the great work and keep it fun.

D2012-took me 3 years before I finally added some jogging and now my knees are hurting a bit from my laps on the cruise ship. Going to start very easy again and am hoping to be much, MUCH better by the time I have my Ironman in November.

Congratulations on the 40th anniversary! A cruise sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate.

Hello all!! Planning to participate in this thread again this year, even though I'm walking in the January half marathon (and the new Minnie 10K) and not the Princess (can't afford to do both unfortunately!).

Right now I'm training to walk in the Rock n Roll half marathon here in Chicago in a few weeks. My walking is still slower than I'd like, but I'm gradually starting to see improvment (which I guess is the point of the training, haha). On Sunday, we did 8.75 miles and were able to average right at 16 minutes per mile. On Tuesday, we did 5.23 miles and were actually under 16 minutes, so that was exciting. But then last night's 3 miles was back hovering at that 17.5 minute range. Still having issues with very tight calves and achilles. I've been trying to remember to roll them a couple times a day with the Stick...when I'm consistent with that, it definitely helps...but I get so busy at work, I forget....a LOT!

I'm hoping to be under 16 minutes per mile for the RnR (they also sweep if you're slower than that pace) and then keep working on gradually getting faster. I'd like to be under 15 minutes by the time January rolls around just to build in a little security blanket. I don't want to be too close to those balloon ladies!!

It's so strange--most of the time, its such a struggle to push myself to go faster and it just feels so hard...and then sometimes, suddenly, I'm walking really fast (for me) and I don't even feel like I'm working THAT hard. There were a couple miles on Sunday before the heat got to me that I was going about 15.25 per mile, and I felt GREAT. The other night, my last mile was actually under 15 minutes, and I've never done that before. But the first couple were really tough. It seems like my first 3 miles are always super hard. Don't know why that is.

Anyway, I'm so glad this thread is still alive. I know the runners move twice as fast as I do, so I'm usually not comfortable talking too much in those threads, but in here, I know you guys can relate to the same concerns that I have...

Have a good day everyone and if the Princess is going to be your very first race, you could NOT have picked a better place or race experience!!!! Start walking now, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

Brooke

Hi, Brooke!

So glad you're coming back in January! Your training is going so well. I'm the same way about those first few miles. It's as if it takes about three miles for me to get into my groove - another reason I prefer the longer distances.

And I have yet to actually know how fast I'm going. I will feel really fast then find out that I've been really slow. I will feel really slow and find out that I've been really slow, too -- I can't win!

Have fun at the RnR! And thank you, as always, for your encouragement.

I am so happy to see old friends returning and new friends joining!! I have been working hard doing 3 or 4 miles on the treadmill nitely. I have been reaching my daily FITBIT goal of 10,000 daily steps!! And recently have added some lower body weight training...weights have only been a few times so the proverbial jury is still out on how effective it will be! Anyone already booking where they'll be staying? Best rates? I'm taking more ppl (5of us total) so we are having a difficult time finding affordable accommodations at a good price - we want to be on property - the cost for two rooms is not much less than a deluxe - I don't want to end up being penny wish and pound foolish...any thoughts?

About reserving a room for 5, have you tried Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter? Those are moderates that accommodate 5, although it might be a tight fit. The All-Star Music Values have suites that accommodate up to 9 and cost a little more than two rooms. There's also the Fort Wilderness cabins but they're a bit pricey, I think.

I started weight training back in March and can tell a difference, albeit slight for now. My endurance is getting better even though my speed isn't that great.

 

[Dreamer2012]

Nice to see you again JohnVN!! Congrats on the 40th!!
Need your thoughts on this:
I've been walking 3 Miles's day pretty consistently for a couple months - someone suggested to further increase both my heart rate and calorie burn I should add some jogging - you know how I have felt about that...but I am trying:
At 3.8 - 4.0 I've been walk 2 mins/jog 1 min. I do NOT increase the speed if I'm walking at 3.8 then the 1 min jog is at 3.8 - I am working a lot harder! Sweating a lot more too... My question is WHY? Will this make me thinner, faster, smarter - or am I just torturing myself???

 

[NC State]

I'm going to go for it in 2014! I wanted to do it in 2013 and we just couldn't get our weeks to work out. Now, I'm planning to do the Princess. I can run/walk 5Ks so with this 1/2 I'm planning to walk it. It's something I really want to do and so ready to get started.

 

[Dreamer2012]

Yea NCState!! Welcome! You really CAN do this! It won't be easy - but it will be worth it!! Glad you're here with us!!

 

[mickeymom629]

I just signed up for the 2014 PHM with my DD21! I completed the PHM in 2010 with DH and another couple and didn't think I'd sign up for another one, even though I really enjoyed the experience (except for getting up at 2 a.m. and waiting to start in my corral! )

Anyway, I WALKed and trained with music on my iPod that has one "song" that is many peppy songs spliced together for 50 minutes. I know what song is playing when I complete one, two and three miles and then I restart the "song".

DH and I stopped for just about all of the mile markers and character spots for photos, 1 potty break and, to pass people or make up for some time, I do a very embarrassing glide-jog for about 20 paces or less - my back will go out if I jog more. I completed the race without being swept. I started close to the front of Corral D.

My GF jogged the whole way, which I think was harder on her body. Our husbands stayed with us even though they could have started in Corral C (it was a first marathon for all of us - unless you count the March of Dimes one I did when I was 19, walking the entire 26). We all finished the race together at about 3:19 to finish! DH and I kind of held back at the end to let the other couple catch up. Did I mention that we all were about 51 yo's?

It's very invigorating when you are actually there and it's easy to go faster, especially at the beginning when you are so cold!!

I trained on my street, just looping on the courts, which has an incline. The Disney course was sooo flat comparatively, so that really helped!!

I'm hoping I can do this again, but I'm starting all over with training since I didn't keep up all the good work I had accomplished I will also probably be in a further back corral since I signed up so late.

Good luck to all!

 

[Dreamer2012]

Welcome MickeyMom!
Nice to have another walker here! Sounds like you do more of a combination walk/Jog correct?
I have just begun to try to occasionally "WOG" a bit! (WOG=walking but slightly faster in a slow jog fashion.) right now I Walk 2 mins / Wog 1 min - I'm nursing a badly bruised heel pad ( moral of the story-REPLACE YOUR SNEAKERS WHEN NEEDED....- since I'm a heel striker when I walk and not so much when "wogging" so I'm getting stronger - who knows maybe this will improve my pace?? Are you and your daughter going to dress up?

 

[mickeymom629]

Welcome MickeyMom!
Nice to have another walker here! Sounds like you do more of a combination walk/Jog correct?
I have just begun to try to occasionally "WOG" a bit! (WOG=walking but slightly faster in a slow jog fashion.) right now I Walk 2 mins / Wog 1 min - I'm nursing a badly bruised heel pad ( moral of the story-REPLACE YOUR SNEAKERS WHEN NEEDED....- since I'm a heel striker when I walk and not so much when "wogging" so I'm getting stronger - who knows maybe this will improve my pace?? Are you and your daughter going to dress up?

Thanks! If you call what I do at a faster pace "jogging", then I guess I do it for about 1/8 of each mile at most (and not all at the same time), to keep up the time. My strides, when walking, are very short and my daughter teases me about how I walk two paces for her one (she's shorter than me). When I did the PHM in 2010, I could definitely do the miles in 16 min or less, striving for 13.5 or 14 in case some miles during the marathon were slower than others. But I'm 4 years older this time and trying to get out of the house in all this heat is not helping my training

I have a small crown that I bought at the EXPO last time and wore in the race. That was about the extent of my "dressing up". My dd wants to wear a crown, for sure, and maybe a tutu. We are both open to the idea of dressing up, so we probably will try to think of something as the race nears. How about you? I was amazed at all the outfits (including guys as princesses) in the last one! Some must have been freezing at the start!!

 

[heathere3]

I'm joining in here as it seems so supportive to walkers, THANKS! I will actually be walking the Minnie 10K in January.
I was in a bad car accident in May 2011. End result was major spinal surgery March 2012 and lots of restrictions for a year. But my year of "sorry, can't do it, not allowed" is up, and I want to get active! I wasn't a runner before, and my spine sure can't handle running now, so walking it is. I set myself a goal of just finishing the Minnie as the "to me" goal to show that I'm recovered from the accident.
I walked on my treadmill for years before, and especially during my recovery once cleared for it. Until I hit that "magical" one year mark, I wasn't allowed anything faster than a 2mph pace! That's slower than the three year old who doesn't want to leave the toy aisle!
I'm trying to do the 2 short but quick sessions during the week (with mixed success fitting them in), and am doing a long walk every weekend. Three weeks running now I've covered the full 10k, so now I just need to work on pace

 

[keahgirl8]

I'm still trying to decide what to wear. I originally wanted to dress up, but I need to be comfortable when I am running, so I'm not sure now! Are there a lot of people who don't dress up?

 

[mickeymom629]

I'm still trying to decide what to wear. I originally wanted to dress up, but I need to be comfortable when I am running, so I'm not sure now! Are there a lot of people who don't dress up?

There are definitely a lot of people who don't dress up! I didn't feel out of place at all when I didn't.

One thing that was fun for me was reading the backs of t-shirts in front of me; lots of people had some really cute ones with clever sayings or something! I appreciated the reading material when behind someone for a bit

I would definitely not wear something uncomfortable. There was some woman wearing a long Belle dress the entire time! I think she walked, not ran. I don't know how she did it. I will definitely be wearing long jogging pants, so the most I will do is put a mini-skirt (maybe a Minnie-skirt ) over them and possibly coordinate a t-shirt. Depending on the weather, I may have lots of layers on top of that until it warms up!

Dress for your comfort - the outfits mostly make it fun for other people to look at, imo.

Congratulations, Heathere3! You sound like you have really been through a lot and it's great that you are improving so much!

 

[Dreamer2012]

Welcome Heather! The first year we did not dress up, and we felt fine. The second year we wanted to try joining the people who DID - we had even more fun!! I highly recommend joining the fun! Just makes it even more magical! Keep comfort in mind too, but when else so you get to be a bit silly and play dress up!? There's so many ideas and different things to do! Be creative, let loose and enjoy!!

 

[heathere3]

Congratulations, Heathere3! You sound like you have really been through a lot and it's great that you are improving so much!

Thanks! It's not been fun or easy, but life is what you make of it! I've already blown my initial goal right out of the water. It was just to manage to actually walk 10K and not need serious pain meds afterwards. Next up is making the full distance within pace req's, and then it's all gravy!

 

[Bewitch324]

Hey there walkers, checking back in! I'm proud to say that I successfully completed the Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon yesterday in 3:31:11 (16:07 per mile). Walked the entire way, and kept a sub 16 minute pace for most of the race, so feeling really good about it. The last hour was uncomfortably hot, I'm not sure I could have finished if my DF hadn't been carrying our hydroflasks of cold water for the whole race...there were several stations where they had run out of water (around mile 9-11) and there was no gatorade at all left when we got to their stations until the very last one. But we finished, and we finished on pace and never even saw the sweepers. Crossing that finish line I felt like I'd climbed mount everest!! So proud.

As for the running/walking in costume question: I think the most important thing is to make sure you've trained in whatever you want to wear so you know if it will drive you crazy or not. I've never done the costume thing, but I do "dress up" in that I always wear a fun sparkleskirt. But I always train in sparkleskirts too (can't live without all those amazing pockets, especially on LONG walks) so there are no surprises on race day. I think it would be really fun to run or walk in "character" but on longer walks, even a hat bugs me so I don't know that I could handle anything too "extra" know what I mean?

Starting to work on our training plan for January, doing the 10K Friday and then the 1/2 on Saturday. Hoping to be down some weight and hopefully some time per mile by then too. We're taking engagment pictures on the Sunday after the races, so hoping to be looking fabulous and showing off our medals


Have a great day!!!
Brooke

 

[BlazerFan]

Hey there walkers, checking back in! I'm proud to say that I successfully completed the Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon yesterday in 3:31:11 (16:07 per mile). Walked the entire way, and kept a sub 16 minute pace for most of the race, so feeling really good about it. The last hour was uncomfortably hot, I'm not sure I could have finished if my DF hadn't been carrying our hydroflasks of cold water for the whole race...there were several stations where they had run out of water (around mile 9-11) and there was no gatorade at all left when we got to their stations until the very last one. But we finished, and we finished on pace and never even saw the sweepers. Crossing that finish line I felt like I'd climbed mount everest!! So proud.

As for the running/walking in costume question: I think the most important thing is to make sure you've trained in whatever you want to wear so you know if it will drive you crazy or not. I've never done the costume thing, but I do "dress up" in that I always wear a fun sparkleskirt. But I always train in sparkleskirts too (can't live without all those amazing pockets, especially on LONG walks) so there are no surprises on race day. I think it would be really fun to run or walk in "character" but on longer walks, even a hat bugs me so I don't know that I could handle anything too "extra" know what I mean?

Starting to work on our training plan for January, doing the 10K Friday and then the 1/2 on Saturday. Hoping to be down some weight and hopefully some time per mile by then too. We're taking engagment pictures on the Sunday after the races, so hoping to be looking fabulous and showing off our medals


Have a great day!!!
Brooke

Congratulations Brooke!

I know many runners don't carry water on race day, but as a walker coming at the back of the pack you never know. I always carry water just in case.

 

[Dreamer2012]

Hello fellow Princess Half Marathon /Glass Slipper Challenge Walkers! Can't believe its sooo close now! What is everyone thinking, feeling?? Anyone have anything they want to talk about? Anyone heard of a "Walkers Meet-Up"?

 

[John VN]

Hello fellow Princess Half Marathon /Glass Slipper Challenge Walkers! Can't believe its sooo close now! What is everyone thinking, feeling?? Anyone have anything they want to talk about? Anyone heard of a "Walkers Meet-Up"?

How's things? Ready to kick butt??

McFlurry John

 

[mickeymom629]

Being 4 years older than I was the first time I walked the PHM, I am a little scared about finishing in time!

The weather has not been kind here on the east coast and I was out with chest congestion for about 2 weeks. I don't have a treadmill for walking indoors.

But this past week, DD22 came to visit - we are doing the PHM together. So, I've been trying to get back into training. Today I did 4 miles in less than an hour, mostly walking with a little jogging in spurts! She did 5, jogging. I was getting tired after 2 I am someone who has been walking 3 miles everyday for the last 34 years! I was wearing 2 jackets and two hoods, and the wind was blowing, but still. To think I have to go more than 2 times more than I did today seems

Tomorrow we are going to try to go for 2 hours and see how many miles we can do. Or, we may just aim for 6-8 miles. I can't forget my blister pads on my little toe tomorrow!

I'm going to work my hardest in the next 4 weeks. I really hope the weather in Florida during that weekend is not hot and humid!

The fun part is that we both got our sparkly skirts and tiaras!

 

[Dreamer2012]

Hey John! Nice to hear from you!! Guess we are the only walkers left on the DISboards... I'm not sure about kicking butt this year...I'm just coming off a 16 week injury. I had a stress fracture in my left heel. It's healed now, but I'm only at a 17mm pace...hope I can lower it in time......

 

[Dreamer2012]

Hi mickeymom! I'm sure your endurance will come back pretty quickly. How nice you're doing the race with your daughter ! So am I! Mine is only 16 - so she will be leaving me in the dust pretty quickly!

 

[John VN]

Hey John! Nice to hear from you!! Guess we are the only walkers left on the DISboards... I'm not sure about kicking butt this year...I'm just coming off a 16 week injury. I had a stress fracture in my left heel. It's healed now, but I'm only at a 17mm pace...hope I can lower it in time......

Very sorry to read your update. Listen to your body during the walks and be careful. Good luck to you and DD.

McFlurry John