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

[roomthreeseventeen]

You can also download "Disney's Greatest". There are three volumes worth of great running songs.

 

[Twingle]

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!!!

Just to go along with other posters, you CAN ABSOLUTELY DO THIS and completing the half is a wonderful goal to work towards. On the course, you'll see people of every shape, size, age and fitness level - but only compare you to you.

I also agree with the suggestions for the Couch to 5K program. It's a solid program, that progresses in a newbie pace.

Good luck to you - can't wait to see you cross the finish line

 

[HockeyKat]

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 absolutely think you can do this.


However, I am not sure I would recommend the couch 2 5 K program.

FWIW, when I started training for the Princess this Jan (2010), I was 220 lbs. I am now 181.

That said, Couch 2 5 K is very concentrated on running 30 min straight. I found this to be very discouraging as after week 3, I had a lot of trouble ever progressing to running more than 3 min at a time.


My approach was to start improving my walking pace, and throw in running intervals where I could. I knew the time limit was 3:30, so I gradually increased walking pace until I could walk a 14-15 min mile. I started with 2 short run/walks a week, with a walk 8 minutes, run 1 minute interval scheduled, and 1 long walk a week, only walking, but trying to walk as fast as possible.

As the weeks progressed, I upped my walk/run pace as I could. Now I am at a run 3 min, walk 1 min interval.

I also, after the race, realized that the Galloway program was where I belonged, since the walk/run intervals work so well for me, and I joined a local group where I can do my long run/walk with others.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I absolutely think you can do this.


However, I am not sure I would recommend the couch 2 5 K program.

FWIW, when I started training for the Princess this Jan (2010), I was 220 lbs. I am now 181.

That said, Couch 2 5 K is very concentrated on running 30 min straight. I found this to be very discouraging as after week 3, I had a lot of trouble ever progressing to running more than 3 min at a time.


My approach was to start improving my walking pace, and throw in running intervals where I could. I knew the time limit was 3:30, so I gradually increased walking pace until I could walk a 14-15 min mile. I started with 2 short run/walks a week, with a walk 8 minutes, run 1 minute interval scheduled, and 1 long walk a week, only walking, but trying to walk as fast as possible.

As the weeks progressed, I upped my walk/run pace as I could. Now I am at a run 3 min, walk 1 min interval.

I also somewhere in there realized that the Galloway program was where I belonged, since the walk/run intervals work so well for me, and I joined a local group where I can do my long run/walk with others.

I really dislike Galloway, because it encourages you to keep walking even while you are training for a HM. Run/walk intervals REALLY hurt my knees, much more than straight running.

 

[importswim]

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!!!

You GO girl! You can SO do it!

I need to lose around 70 pounds and the Princess Half is my goal. I'm running (walking!?!) with 4 other girlfriends and we all (with the exception of one, a dedicated runner friend who will keep us honest!) could stand to lose some weight and shape up! It's absolutely achievable you just have to stick with it (best way to do this is to sign up for it! You'll be less likely to back out if you've signed up!)

The question that I have is: How are people signing up for rooms/packages already? When I get on the Disney website it says that rooms can only be booked as far in advance as December 31st (I understand that this is because there are new room rates starting in January) - I'm a planner and would love to have the room booked ASAP.... How can I do this? (I'm not a part of DVC) Thanks!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I use the Galloway run/walk method and it totally works for me!!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

You GO girl! You can SO do it!

The question that I have is: How are people signing up for rooms/packages already? When I get on the Disney website it says that rooms can only be booked as far in advance as December 31st (I understand that this is because there are new room rates starting in January) - I'm a planner and would love to have the room booked ASAP.... How can I do this? (I'm not a part of DVC) Thanks!

You can call Disney's Marathon booking, and they will book the package (or room, depending on what you want) for you. It's just like calling CRO, only they ask you a couple of questions about who is actually running in the race, etc. The other reason for having to call the Marathon booking is because of the special race rate that you get.

Hope that helps!

Oh, and by the way--the number to call for booking is 407-WDW-IRUN...

 

[HockeyKat]

I really dislike Galloway, because it encourages you to keep walking even while you are training for a HM. Run/walk intervals REALLY hurt my knees, much more than straight running.

Everyone's different. Running straight through is not something my joints will accept, so far. More than a 3/1 and my knees and shins are killing me. Maybe after I am down to my goal weight?

Just wanted to offer a different perspective. C25K made me give up running in 2009, Galloway made me a run/walking addict in 2010. Since I gained 40 lbs in 2009, and lost 40 lbs in 2010, I will take the latter.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Yo
The question that I have is: How are people signing up for rooms/packages already? When I get on the Disney website it says that rooms can only be booked as far in advance as December 31st (I understand that this is because there are new room rates starting in January) - I'm a planner and would love to have the room booked ASAP.... How can I do this? (I'm not a part of DVC) Thanks!

I booked room only at PO Riverside (host resort) this morning. It was the rack rate, but I will use my AAA discount for the rooms closer to time. DH and I will be AP holders by then.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I booked room only at PO Riverside (host resort) this morning. It was the rack rate, but I will use my AAA discount for the rooms closer to time. DH and I will be AP holders by then.

My DH and I will be at POR as well...booked our room last night using the race discount.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

My DH and I will be at POR as well...booked our room last night using the race discount.

POR is a family favorite from way back when it was Dixie Landings. Heck, we still call it Dixie Landings and yes, I am still bitter about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

When I found out the Princess room packages included park tix, I opted for room only since we are AP holders.

 

[HockeyKat]

Congrats to everyone who is booked!! My friend who hosted us last year, booked DVC as soon as the race dates came out.

What kind of discount on the tix do you get for a package? Is there a discount code for tix only this year?


I am waiting to register until after the Aug Chicago RnR... hoping my finish time will be good enough for proof of time. I am still sort of holding out for a past participant coupon code but I am not holding my breath... any 2009ers get one for 2010?

FWIW, last year it was corrals A-E. All of the 9 of us who went registered in Jan or so, and only 2 had proof of time. 2 (the proof of time-ers) were in corral A, and the rest of us were divided between corrals C and D.

ETA: Can you tell I am bored at work today?

 

[miztigg]

POR is a family favorite from way back when it was Dixie Landings. Heck, we still call it Dixie Landings and yes, I am still bitter about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

When I found out the Princess room packages included park tix, I opted for room only since we are AP holders.

the room pkgs include park tix that would be nice think im gonna stay at the poly never stayed there and if my DH goes it would be a nice weekend for just the 2 of us

 

[Cripey]

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).

thanks for the info...I guess I had an easier time because I was up and ready to go very shortly after my runner left for his bus. We experienced the EXTREMELY long bus lines after the Half in January as well. They even gouped all 3 All-Stars in the same line, which made it completely insane...and that's where we were staying. At that point we decided to jump on whatever bus had the shortest line and was boarding immediately and just took a cab from where ever it took us(I think we ended up at the Pop)...totally worth the $10 or so it ended up costing us. So you think the monorail will be up and running early with the marathon busses for the Princess as it was for the Disney Half in January? That seemed super easy for me to use to get to the various places I wanted to see my runner so I was hoping to strategically place my cheerleaders in spots easily accessible from the monorail.

 

[ljcrochet]

DH is on the phone booking our room at AKL right now. I'm so excited.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Echoing HockeyKat... what kind of discounts do they have on tickets? It says on the website "Specially Priced Theme Park Tickets and Resorts" but I see nothing about park tickets.

Looks like the Poly is out! $468/night is a little steep for us!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Echoing HockeyKat... what kind of discounts do they have on tickets? It says on the website "Specially Priced Theme Park Tickets and Resorts" but I see nothing about park tickets.

Looks like the Poly is out! $468/night is a little steep for us!

$468 is basically rack rate for Poly in February.

 

[joan4mickey]

About watching your runners at MK...
MY DD took the later runners bus-the last one leaving resort before they break for a short while. They all go to Epcot and from there take the monorail to MK...watch your runner and get back on monorail to EPCOT and see finish. I was in corral b and expected to be in the MK by 7am so it all worked out great. DD said it was so cool being in the MK early, the stores were open and it was quiet sitting on the benches, by 7am the street was packed when I came by and DD just called my name so I saw her. OK, hope that helps.

 

[Poohlove]

I have been doing a lot of reading (more reading than running ) about working up to running and a lot of articles say that if you have more than 50lbs to lose (like myself) then you should work your way up to running while losing weight along the way to avoid unnecessary stress to your joints/bones. I have been having a hard time with running on account of my shins getting really sore but I have plenty of time to ease into a running routine. I figure once I have lost about 15lbs I will start trying to run a bit more but for now I am walking and crosstraining on the elliptical.

 

[mishoe01]

My sister just challenged me to do this....she wanted to do the 1/2 marathon in January but I talked her into this one.....1 more month to train!