Official 2011 Princess Half Marathon Thread - Link to new thread Post 3703!

[khomer504]

All signed up and ready to RUN! This is my first Half Marathon... can't believe how excited I am! I'm looking forward to training/planning with everyone!

Karen

 

[Bookwood]

I signed up last evening - DD#2 (Becky) and I will be a team. I'm looking forward to this one since I can't do the WDW Marathon weekend this year.

 

[poohs4me]

Can someone explain the team thing to me? My sister and I are both running. We have not signed up yet because we were not sure whether to sign up as a team or as individuals. We both want to run the full 13.1 miles. Is a team a relay team or something else? And if we both get to run the full 13.1 as teams what is the point of being a team?

 

[KarenAylwood]

So excited to sign up!! I haven't yet, but will be soon. Likely will wait until the 15th when I get paid

Question for those who submitted proof of times. I ran a 10K in May that would qualify me for a corral that isn't the last one. They say they need the name of the race, distance, time, date, etc. Is this really enough? Do they just google the results of the race to find out if you're telling the truth? It doesn't look like we need to give any proof other than the race and time (like no printout, etc).

This will be my first half and my mom is making the trip with me. She's a walker so we're doing the 5K together on Saturday, and I'll run the half alone on Sunday.

And commemorative pin? Sign me up. I don't know why I "need" pins but I always seem to

 

[jenn-]

Hello! I'm going to sign up. This will be my first race, unless I do one soon while training.

I am pretty sure I will be her running mate. Guess I will have to figure out how to commit to torture in the next couple of weeks.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

So excited to sign up!! I haven't yet, but will be soon. Likely will wait until the 15th when I get paid

Question for those who submitted proof of times. I ran a 10K in May that would qualify me for a corral that isn't the last one. They say they need the name of the race, distance, time, date, etc. Is this really enough? Do they just google the results of the race to find out if you're telling the truth? It doesn't look like we need to give any proof other than the race and time (like no printout, etc).

This will be my first half and my mom is making the trip with me. She's a walker so we're doing the 5K together on Saturday, and I'll run the half alone on Sunday.

And commemorative pin? Sign me up. I don't know why I "need" pins but I always seem to

Yep, you give them race, distance, time and date. I don't know if they check up on you or not, but I assume it's the honor system. As my 10k time gets better, I've been e-mailing Disney Endurance to update them.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Yep, you give them race, distance, time and date. I don't know if they check up on you or not, but I assume it's the honor system. As my 10k time gets better, I've been e-mailing Disney Endurance to update them.

Thanks so much for the quick answer! I'll be running another 10K in October so maybe I'll email them with an update then. I can start with the 10K time from May and see how much better I am in October (it was HOT in May so I'm hoping Oct will be better!). Based on my time it calculates I should be in the 2:30 corral. Not a huge difference but something

I just wanted to make sure I really didn't have to print something out to send them! I assume they could more easily find the results by googling if they wanted to

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Thanks so much for the quick answer! I'll be running another 10K in October so maybe I'll email them with an update then. I can start with the 10K time from May and see how much better I am in October (it was HOT in May so I'm hoping Oct will be better!). Based on my time it calculates I should be in the 2:30 corral. Not a huge difference but something

I just wanted to make sure I really didn't have to print something out to send them! I assume they could more easily find the results by googling if they wanted to

No problem. If you run a faster 10k time within eight weeks or so of the Half, you can bring them a printout to the expo and they'll update your corral again.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Yep, you give them race, distance, time and date. I don't know if they check up on you or not, but I assume it's the honor system. As my 10k time gets better, I've been e-mailing Disney Endurance to update them.

That is exactly what I am going to do as I have a 7 mile race end of July and then my first HM end of September. I will email those results hoping for a better corral.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I booked at PO Riverside this morning at rack rate (room only) then will snag either an AAA or AP rate at a later date. I just wanted to make sure DH and I had a place to put our heads at night AND I wanted a host resort.

My question is this however. If I didn't get the package plan ($183-ish per night) at the host resort, will I still be able to use the transportation if I pay just room only rate? Clear as mud LOL?

 

[HockeyKat]

I booked at PO Riverside this morning at rack rate (room only) then will snag either an AAA or AP rate at a later date. I just wanted to make sure DH and I had a place to put our heads at night AND I wanted a host resort.

My question is this however. If I didn't get the package plan ($183-ish per night) at the host resort, will I still be able to use the transportation if I pay just room only rate? Clear as mud LOL?

You can use the transportation no matter what. There is no real way for them to know what rate you booked, and they don't check room ids anyway. I guess they figure that if you are up at 4AM to get on a bus, you deserve to get on the bus.

We actually considered driving to a host hotel (ours was not one) and taking the transportation from there, but decided that just driving to Epcot was easier.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

You can use the transportation no matter what. There is no real way for them to know what rate you booked, and they don't check room ids anyway. I guess they figure that if you are up at 4AM to get on a bus, you deserve to get on the bus.

We actually considered driving to a host hotel (ours was not one) and taking the transportation from there, but decided that just driving to Epcot was easier.

That is what I figured and THANK YOU! Our usual resort is Pop and of course thats not a host resort. Since this is a shorter trip we opted for another family favorite. Woot! So excited!

Last night I snagged an awesome AAA rate for our December Pop Century trip, so I know I can get a better rate over the rack rate for Princess trip.

 

[Cripey]

I was a spectator at the Disney World Marathon weekend this past January and was impressed at how easy it was for spectators to get around to various points along the course using the marathon busses initially from the hotel and then the monorails that were up and running just as early as everything else. (Also impressed that all the hotel food courts were open that early for runners and family as well!) Does anyone know if the same applies to the Princess run weekend? Have the monorails been up and running early for this event in the past? I hope so, but was a little worried about it since it's a smaller race. I'm starting to get alot of commitments from family members who want to come down with me that weekend to cheer me on so just wondering if they can expect the same thing I experienced in January...hopefully minus the sleet though...that was miserable. If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it!

 

[maroo]

I was a spectator at the Disney World Marathon weekend this past January and was impressed at how easy it was for spectators to get around to various points along the course using the marathon busses initially from the hotel and then the monorails that were up and running just as early as everything else. (Also impressed that all the hotel food courts were open that early for runners and family as well!) Does anyone know if the same applies to the Princess run weekend? Have the monorails been up and running early for this event in the past? I hope so, but was a little worried about it since it's a smaller race. I'm starting to get alot of commitments from family members who want to come down with me that weekend to cheer me on so just wondering if they can expect the same thing I experienced in January...hopefully minus the sleet though...that was miserable. If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it!

Gosh...I am so glad you had a good experience, but mine was the opposite this past January.

They had the busses running at 4AM - and if you went with your runner, then you were fine...but if you wanted to sleep some and meet them closer to 7 or so to see them in the MK (or wherever), then you had to wait for the busses that take folks to breakfast. So mine didn't come till 7 and I really wanted to leave POR around 6.

Then they had closed the roads, so they could not actually take you to the MK and the TTC was way backed up with runners that were finishing up.

It was a transportation nightmare, really.

At the Princess Half last year the lines to get on the buses after it was over were so long......Very, very long lines. (This was at about the 4 hour mark - I guess a lot of us waited around for some walkers and took pics, etc.) It was at this point that I was so glad I sprang for a room at the Poly, because I was actually able to board that bus easily rather than waiting for a long time for an All Star bus (the official value resort where we were going to stay).

 

[fluffernutter]

would love some honest feedback.
what are your thoughts on someone setting the half-marathon as a goal if they are extremely overweight. Im in the process of losing weight (I want to lose 100 lbs but dont expect to lose it all by the princess half) and I have a long road ahead of me and have always wanted to walk a half-marathon especially a Disney one.
is it something that can be done in this short amount of time...is everyone participating slim and fit or can someone be pooh sized and accomplish this?
thanks for all honest opinions!!!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

would love some honest feedback.
what are your thoughts on someone setting the half-marathon as a goal if they are extremely overweight. Im in the process of losing weight (I want to lose 100 lbs but dont expect to lose it all by the princess half) and I have a long road ahead of me and have always wanted to walk a half-marathon especially a Disney one.
is it something that can be done in this short amount of time...is everyone participating slim and fit or can someone be pooh sized and accomplish this?
thanks for all honest opinions!!!

I definitely think it's do-able. You've got almost eight months.

My suggestion would be to start with Couch to 5k. Don't worry if you can't do each "day" on one try. I repeated a bunch of days when I did Couch to 10k. If you can't run the "run" sections, walk faster, and then back slower when you get to the walk sections.

After you can run/jog/walk a 5k, you can do the Bridge to 10k, and then start your Half Marathon training from there. As long as you are walking a 15 minute mile, you are fine.

 

[UGAFan0829]

would love some honest feedback.
what are your thoughts on someone setting the half-marathon as a goal if they are extremely overweight. Im in the process of losing weight (I want to lose 100 lbs but dont expect to lose it all by the princess half) and I have a long road ahead of me and have always wanted to walk a half-marathon especially a Disney one.
is it something that can be done in this short amount of time...is everyone participating slim and fit or can someone be pooh sized and accomplish this?
thanks for all honest opinions!!!

I just wanted to echo what roomthreeseventeen just posted. I totally agree with her. In fact, I consider myself to be Pooh sized as well, and I was able to complete this year's Princess. So, YES, you can do it!! In fact, after the half this year, I pretty much stopped running--just didn't have any encouragement, so I've started over. And I'm doing exactly what roomthreeseventeen suggested--starting on the C2K, followed by the bridge to 10K, and then half training from there.

 

[pikaboo27]

would love some honest feedback.
what are your thoughts on someone setting the half-marathon as a goal if they are extremely overweight. Im in the process of losing weight (I want to lose 100 lbs but dont expect to lose it all by the princess half) and I have a long road ahead of me and have always wanted to walk a half-marathon especially a Disney one.
is it something that can be done in this short amount of time...is everyone participating slim and fit or can someone be pooh sized and accomplish this?
thanks for all honest opinions!!!

I am pooh sized and I am training for this half marathon. I agree with the last poster who said to start with the couch to 5K program to start. If you have an iphone, it's even better because you can get the app. You don't even have to think or pay attention to the time. You just select a playlist and go and it gives you audio cues on when to jog and when to walk. I'm almost done with week 6 and I am amazed and what I can do now. I actually enjoy the feeling I get from this. I don't really run yet, though I am trying to incorporate it. I mostly do a slow bouncy kind of jog, but it works for me for now.

Good luck with your weight loss and hopefully with your training. And if you ever need encouragement or just a little , this is the place to come.

 

[haleofafamily]

would love some honest feedback.
what are your thoughts on someone setting the half-marathon as a goal if they are extremely overweight. Im in the process of losing weight (I want to lose 100 lbs but dont expect to lose it all by the princess half) and I have a long road ahead of me and have always wanted to walk a half-marathon especially a Disney one.
is it something that can be done in this short amount of time...is everyone participating slim and fit or can someone be pooh sized and accomplish this?
thanks for all honest opinions!!!

I'm definitely pooh sized (want to lose 90 - 100 lbs) and am using the motivation to run the Princess half to help me get in shape and become healthy.

I am using the C25K and am on week 6. I plan a running a 5k Labor Day and a 10k in Nov. This is the most excited I have been to exercise in my entire life. I blog to my family to keep me accountable and motivated.

Just get started and don't quit!

 

[pikaboo27]

Hey, if anyone is looking for a fun playlist, I've put together a Disney one that I use. My current one is:

Friend like Me-Aladdin
Prince Ali -Aladdin
Disney's Electrical Parade soundtrack
Strangers like Me-Tarzan
Just beyond the river bend- Mulan
Circle of Life-Lion King
Kiss the girl-The Little Mermaid
I Wan'na be like You-The Jungle Book

The ELP soundtrack is the best! It's about 11 minutes long and keeps a great beat, but changes as the song progresses. So awesome.