Half Marathoners!: Give the Princesses some advice!

[fall08CP]

If you're planning on doing Galloway method, start it from the beginning. I raced with 3 friends- all of them planned on running the whole thing "because walking is cheating." Not only did I beat ALL of them, but I had negative splits at each 5k mark. Their times got slower and slower as their legs got exhausted but they were unwilling to walk, even for a few minutes.

Bring proof of time if possible, or at least put your anticipated finish at 2:45. I moved up to Corral C with a 10k race time and didn't deal with any walkers. My friends that didn't submit a proof of time were in F+G and spent the first few miles dodging walkers.

I got a picture at each mile markers and it's one of my favorites momentos. I also talk periodic video on my iPhone to send to family that couldn't make it. I can watch it get myself back in that mindset when I consider signing up for another one...

But really, it's a blast. Enjoy every single moment. The first few miles absolutely fly, but I struggled the last 3 (even though I was going faster). I had just enough energy to spring the final .1 and I honestly felt like I left everything on the course. It's such a high

 

[Maddykins06]

some girls in front of me at the nyc marathon had the best mantras on their shirts. i was totally cracking up...

how to run a marathon
step one: start running
step two: THERE IS NO STEP 2!!

I love that!

 

[KristinU]

That was from "How I Met Your Mother". It's a real funny episode where Barney takes Marshals bib in the NYC Marathon and runs it with no training.

"pah, Ted, you don't TRAIN for a marathon..." Love that show!

 

[chimera]

Princess is a whole different animal than marathon weekend. I resisted it hard the first year....still bitter that they got rid of the Minnie 15K....but I have come to enjoy Princess MUCH more than the Jan half.

1. It's waaaaay less crowded.
2. The atmosphere is different...somewhat more uplifting, more camaraderie on the course and throughout the weekend.
3. It's the ultimate goal of the weekend. During the Jan half, I find myself telling people I 'only' did the half because I'm surrounded by people doing the full and Goofy. During Princess weekend, the half is the big race.

My best piece of advice: don't go for the PR. HAVE FUN!! You can PR any old half marathon, but you cant stop in just any race for a pic with Tiana or Rapunzel or a 20-year old half-naked dude dressed like Tarzan in 40 degree weather (last year).

For photo ops: you'll come from the back of the castle, to the front...there are always photographers hidden along the castle exit. Try to get to one side or the other for your castle pic, make sure your bib number is showing and you're not picking your nose or doing anything you don't want preserved for posterity.

 

[MISSINWDW]

Great Tips all! So glad to hear that the atmosphere is so good. I hear what you are saying about the Princess being the main event. I am so glad that this is my first half. Most races it's the lesser of the 2 biggies and you could find yourself saying "I'm JUST doing the half". Isn't it amazing how we can sell ourselves short? I am not discounting ever doing a full marathon, it's just that I've only been running since Sept and I've just finally wrapped my mind around 13.1 miles so that I "get" what that mileage really means. I am not even letting my mind go to the 26.2 place until I've been running for at least a year. I'm doing the Princess, a Half Marathon here in South Korea, and then the Disneyland half. Then I'll see how my body feels and if I'm ready to go bigger. Haven't run the half Marathon Distance yet but will in 2 weeks. Our longest run so far was 11 miles (Today!) and we did it in 1 hour 55 mins so hopefully I won't have to worry about the bus and can just go run and have fun!

 

[verticalchaos]

Great Tips all! So glad to hear that the atmosphere is so good. I hear what you are saying about the Princess being the main event. I am so glad that this is my first half. Most races it's the lesser of the 2 biggies and you could find yourself saying "I'm JUST doing the half". Isn't it amazing how we can sell ourselves short? I am not discounting ever doing a full marathon, it's just that I've only been running since Sept and I've just finally wrapped my mind around 13.1 miles so that I "get" what that mileage really means. I am not even letting my mind go to the 26.2 place until I've been running for at least a year. I'm doing the Princess, a Half Marathon here in South Korea, and then the Disneyland half. Then I'll see how my body feels and if I'm ready to go bigger. Haven't run the half Marathon Distance yet but will in 2 weeks. Our longest run so far was 11 miles (Today!) and we did it in 1 hour 55 mins so hopefully I won't have to worry about the bus and can just go run and have fun!

I didn't really find that at Marathon Weekend FWIW. In fact, as we were cheering on those running the maarathon after we'd had breakfast at Cape May Cafe, I was astounded at the number of marathoners who were congratulating us on our half medals - and even my sister on her 5K medallion. Runners just get it (most...there are exceptions). And from what I can see, Disney does a fantastic job of treating them very much the same (the Marathon Monday ticket aside).

 

[luvdiz2]

All very wise advice. I will add don't let others rush you especially at the beginning. Know your pace and stick to it. So excited to try this race and very excited about the bling!!!

 

[MISSINWDW]

Do any of you know if you can register for the Disneyland 1/2 at the Expo? Do you get any special perk if you register for a Disney race AT a Disney race? Thanks!

 

[fashionista311]

also princesses - don't forget to take a look around at the men walking around the parks throughout the weekend. i swear, 90 percent of them are all wearing ironmen, nym, or boston shirts and caps. as if they are saying "yeah well i might be here supporting my wife running a "princess-themed" half marathon, but i really do the "manly macho" races too" all of these old-school, type a runners think alike...maybe because my dad and all of his friends fit the bill, but i just find it hilarious

 

[MISSINWDW]

Another Expo question:
I was so bummed that there were no "princess in training" 2011 t-shirts for sale through the Disney Store. Do they sell them at the Expo's for other races? Did they have Princess 2011 t-shirts at the marathon weekend Expo? Will I be able to get an "in-training" t-shirt for the Disneyland half at the Princess Expo do you think?
THanks!
-M

 

[verticalchaos]

Do any of you know if you can register for the Disneyland 1/2 at the Expo? Do you get any special perk if you register for a Disney race AT a Disney race? Thanks!

The "perk" is no extra online fee. (At least that was the perk at Marathon Weekend)

That said, it will be $10 more by that time than it is now, so the savings will be negligible.

 

[Hey Mickey]

Princess is a whole different animal than marathon weekend. I resisted it hard the first year....still bitter that they got rid of the Minnie 15K....but I have come to enjoy Princess MUCH more than the Jan half.

Thanks for that, mel! This is my first Princess and I too resisted out of a sense of loyalty to the discarded Minnie. But after foregoing marathon weekend this year and being quite bummed about it, and realizing i would be there for the race, i decided to plunge in and hope Minnie will forgive me! Your post has me looking forward to it that much more.

 

[verticalchaos]

I'm still resisting this one. Partly this year because a trip to Florence was more intriguing to me. But mostly because I just want to run in RUNNING CLOTHES and not have worry about being looked at weird because I don't feel the need to be all sparkly and girly and focused on a costume.

 

[lolakat]

Another Expo question:
I was so bummed that there were no "princess in training" 2011 t-shirts for sale through the Disney Store. Do they sell them at the Expo's for other races? Did they have Princess 2011 t-shirts at the marathon weekend Expo? Will I be able to get an "in-training" t-shirt for the Disneyland half at the Princess Expo do you think?
THanks!
-M

I didn't see any in training shirts for up coming races at the expo. Strangly, there were some in training shirts for the 2011 Jan races.

As far as advice I will echo some of the things said above.

1. Take your time and enjoy it! This was my first 1/2 so I didn't have a time or PR in my mind. I stopped to take pics with a lot of charecters and increased my overall time by at least 20 min. My only regret is not stopping to take even more photos.

2. Take it easy at the parks the day before the race. My friend and I wiped ourselves out treking all over AK and Epcot. We were so tired we could barely walk at the end of the day and I was really nervous about how I would feel in the morning. The only good part is we were able to go to sleep by 8pm and sleep soundly until our 2:45 wake up call.

3. Use the port-a-poties at the staging area as much as possible. Something about the pre-race hydration combined with the anticipation of starting and the cold makes for a weak bladder. If you find that you need to go after the start try to hold on until you get to the MK. The lines were much shorter after mile 6 or 7.

4. Bring your camera and have a place (spibelt etc etc) to stow it when you get tired of holding it.

5. Have your prefered pre-race breakfast handy in your hotel room the night before so you don't have to go searching it out at 3AM on race morning.

Have a great time. Relax and trust your training. I'm a little jealous, I wish i could be heading back to relive the whole experience again!

 

[johde]

3. Use the port-a-poties at the staging area as much as possible. Something about the pre-race hydration combined with the anticipation of starting and the cold makes for a weak bladder. If you find that you need to go after the start try to hold on until you get to the MK. The lines were much shorter after mile 6 or 7.

To go along with this, if you find a port-a-pot without a line. Grab it even if you don't need to go yet. I've never done Disney, but in my first 2 halves, I knew I would probably need 1 restroom break. Starting around mile 5 before need was pressing, I starting looking for potential spots to stop. In my first half, I found an empty one in mile 9, and in the second one it was mile 7. These were in races with 10,000-15,000 people.

 

[leeshiebean]

Check out my race report here: http://gorunninghamsgo.blogspot.com/2010/03/one-night-last-july-jon-was.html


1) Bring along a small digital camera (or the disposable they give you in your goodie bag) and stop for pictures with characters along the way. My fiance is a more serious runner, so he ran for time, whereas I was a beginner and ran to finish. He was happy to see all of my pictures in the end because there was a lot of stuff he missed along the way.

2) If it's not overcast, the run back toward Epcot right after the Magic Kingdom is pretty much full sun. Around mile 8 or so, I finally shed my long sleeved top for my tank top, and I was happy to have my sunglasses. (FYI, my running sunglasses are from Target and cost somewhere around $17 I believe)

3) Dress up if you want! I didn't do a full costume because I know it would have irritated me, but I did wear a running skirt (that I'd run in many times before) and I wore a tiara and put ribbons in my hair. The fun of a Disney race is really getting to have fun with the theme. Just make sure you run in it beforehand so you know you can deal with it on race day. (And no, my tiara did not bounce around at all. It was a small one on a comb that went snugly into my hair on the top of my head)

4) If you can hold it, wait for bathrooms inside the MK or after, which should have significantly less of a line. The porta potties within miles 1-3 have lines and you'll have to stop and wait in them. I only had to go once, and it was around mile 4 I believe. No line!

5) Soak it all in. The Princess was my first half, and of the two I did last year it was definitely my favorite. The atmosphere in a Disney race is like no other, especially for Disney lovers. The crowd really builds up around the TTC and along Main Street, USA. Both of those points were so emotional for me. Hearing the crowd cheering and screaming really put me in the moment and I kept thinking, "Wow, I can't believe I'm running a half marathon and I'm doing it in Disney World!"

6) Try to thank the volunteers along the way. They work hard putting on a great race for you!

7) If you can afford it, buy the pictures. I bought the digital download of all of my pictures for $75 or whatever obscene price it was. But it was totally worth it. I love to look at the pictures of myself running through the race and crossing the finish line, and to me, they were worth every penny. You could even say that a tshirt may wear out over time, but a photograph is 'forever'.

8) And lastly, keep in mind that the apparel at the expo will likely sell out of sizes quickly, so get what you want when you see it. If you go home after the race and wish you'd bought a piece of race merchandise, call the Disney Parks merchandise line and see if they have your size. I ordered the Princess tank top after the fact (though they were out of Med and I had to buy a Lg) because I had decided not to buy any shirts at the expo and I wished I had. Keep in mind the shipping is like, $10 or $12 to do this.

 

[verticalchaos]

Check out my race report here: http://gorunninghamsgo.blogspot.com/2010/03/one-night-last-july-jon-was.html


1) Bring along a small digital camera (or the disposable they give you in your goodie bag) and stop for pictures with characters along the way. My fiance is a more serious runner, so he ran for time, whereas I was a beginner and ran to finish. He was happy to see all of my pictures in the end because there was a lot of stuff he missed along the way.

5) Soak it all in. The Princess was my first half, and of the two I did last year it was definitely my favorite. The atmosphere in a Disney race is like no other, especially for Disney lovers. The crowd really builds up around the TTC and along Main Street, USA. Both of those points were so emotional for me. Hearing the crowd cheering and screaming really put me in the moment and I kept thinking, "Wow, I can't believe I'm running a half marathon and I'm doing it in Disney World!"

6) Try to thank the volunteers along the way. They work hard putting on a great race for you!

8) And lastly, keep in mind that the apparel at the expo will likely sell out of sizes quickly, so get what you want when you see it.

1) They did NOT have disposable cameras in the goodie bags at the regular weekend this year. So don't count on that being an option.

5) Agree with soak it all in.

6) +1,000,000,000!!!!!! Races like this would NOT happen without the volunteers!!

8) Definitely! If you're all crazy superstitious, give the bag to a travel mate to hold onto. But don't count on them having your size even in the family reunion area merch stand at the end of the race. My running partners both figured they'd wait, and they ended up not getting the shirts they wanted or the sizes they wanted them in.

 

[Yogamama]

Leeshiebean, awesome trip report! I gotta say, I'm emotional just reading your blog about the experience, I'm likely to be a mess on the morning of. Thanks for sharing!

 

[lisah0711]

Bumping in case someone has some more tips for us!

 

[marathonmommy]

My mantra has always been:
You can do anything for a mile!

Just repeat it 13.1 times, and you're set.

Actually, during the marathon, that turned into things like: You can do anything for 10 miles. Or, you can do anything for 1 minute. Whatever I needed at that time. At the end of my half marathon the day before, my goal was to beat this cute little 20 year old in her sports bra and short shorts. Mean and petty, I know, but it got me through the last mile or so.And, then, in the full, it was trying to beat Jeff Galloway. So, basically, whatever motivates you.

The words I say to myself while running (never thought of them as mantras) usually have me cussing at myself. I find myself repeating, "Just F ____ ing Go!" I guess that's not so good....

Do any of you know if you can register for the Disneyland 1/2 at the Expo? Do you get any special perk if you register for a Disney race AT a Disney race? Thanks!

I doubt it. Funny, they were giving out free Training For ________ backpacks for Disney races (can't remember which ones - but probably the Full) if you registered at the Philadelphia Rock n' Roll. I guess they figure if we are already at Disney, we are Disney suckers and don't need to be enticed by swag?