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

[jbm02]

OMG - ADRs already!!!

Where is the time going, I just want to rewind or hit the "slow down" button. It seems like life is going by so fast lately!!!

Thanks for the welcome SHOCK that I have to do it!! Thank god I am off tomorrow as I now have something else to add to my list.

Advance Dining Reservations... A necessary evil at the World these days!

We made ours already because of the free dining offer beginning the Friday before the race. I wasn't sure how quickly the restaurants fill up due to this promotion!

 

[Jeter02]

So I dragged myself out bed on another fine morning, started my run at 6am today (Had the day off from work troday and got home late last night, so I needed some form of sleep), which is much later then my normal start of 4:30 and 5:30. And ugggggh, between just being tired, the humidity this morning was gross, and my poor tummy felt a t-bite funny. So once I hit mile 1 I turned around and went home. I wasn't feeling the run. It really had a lot to do with the S.Flo humidity....I know it sounds crazy, but its so true when it hits about 6am you can start to feel that ickyness.

We will go at again on Sat, and pray for a small breeze, but I plan starting 4:30 am, 6 miles this weekend....woohoo Looking forward to it

 

[MamaCrush]

So I dragged myself out bed on another fine morning, started my run at 6am today (Had the day off from work troday and got home late last night, so I needed some form of sleep), which is much later then my normal start of 4:30 and 5:30. And ugggggh, between just being tired, the humidity this morning was gross, and my poor tummy felt a t-bite funny. So once I hit mile 1 I turned around and went home. I wasn't feeling the run. It really had a lot to do with the S.Flo humidity....I know it sounds crazy, but its so true when it hits about 6am you can start to feel that ickyness.

We will go at again on Sat, and pray for a small breeze, but I plan starting 4:30 am, 6 miles this weekend....woohoo Looking forward to it

Kudos for you for even getting up, dressed and out the door!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

Kudos for you for even getting up, dressed and out the door!

yes! especially on your day off!

 

[NCrunner]

My mid-week runs are between 4 and 6 miles, depending on how I feel.

The standard "rule" is that your long run shouldn't be any more than 40% of your weekly mileage, and should be closer to 30%.

With my LR, I either added a mile every other week, or two miles every three weeks.

I am somewhere in between.....I formulated my own training schedule from all that I have read and came up with somewhere between 7-10% increase in overall mileage weekly. I also incorporated 3 up 1 down rule.....3 weeks increase, 1 week down 10% to allow for recovery of the stiff increase. I usually do add about 1 mile a week to long runs....so avg week looks like this for me on week 9.....M4, T3, Wct, Th3.5, Sa6.5. Week 10: M4, T3.5, Wct, Th3.5, Sa7. Week 11: M4, T3.5, Wct,Th3.5, Sa8. Week 12 (recovery): M3, T3, Th3, Sa 5. How does that look? This has seemed to work so far, but I welcome any advice for tweeking....Rhonda

 

[tmanaster]

Not sure exactly where we'll be the night before the race (my super friend jen is taking care of our ADRs - thank God! ) But we'll be at Ohana on Sunday night!!!

Ohana for my daughter and I as well. It is her favorite in the World. Those wings are going to taste SO darn good!

 

[jenelope]

Ohana for us, too. We'll all have to wear our medals so we can recognize our fellow "royalty."

 

[Mbg98]

Hi all!
Just finished my runs for the week, now i get to enjoy 2 days of rest but I will sneak in a upperbody weights session tomorrow..Then Sunday is my first ever 1/2marathon! Boy am I scared! I havent been following a training program but mid june started running and slowly increasing my miles weekly.. I hadn't planned on doing a 1/2marathon till the princess but I figured if I am already running 10miles why not go for the 13..

I ran 6miles Tuesday, 3 yesterday and 2.5 today..So hopefully that was enough or not to much for the week..Im excited but also scared about Sunday.. I am trying to look into all the prep that i need to know about (food, ect.)
I figured out my clothing, my shoes and socks are good to go, I have to get some stuff called "glide" so i dont get rubbed raw from the sweat and my sports bra..I am going to wear my hydration belt (even though i feel like a dork), loaded with my pre mixed Accelerade and i will stash a accel gel in my belt for an if needed case. I will have hubby and boys holding my bananna and dark chocolate peanut butter at the finish line, and will have some sort of toast and protein shake for an hour or so later, they have a meal for us after the race but nothing gluten free of course(Im a Celiac)!

Here is where I am lost... I don't know anything about carb loading the night before cause when i do my long runs now i don't do anything special, so is that a necessity?

also, I like to run on an empty stomach, for some reason i have more energy that way, my race is at 8, line up at 745 and i live 35min away..Usually i eat some frozen grapes and a few sips of accelerade then head out the door, should i throw a bananna in there when i first wake up since it will be awhile before the race?

Thanks so much for any advice you all can offer...!

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Hi all!
Just finished my runs for the week, now i get to enjoy 2 days of rest but I will sneak in a upperbody weights session tomorrow..Then Sunday is my first ever 1/2marathon! Boy am I scared! I havent been following a training program but mid june started running and slowly increasing my miles weekly.. I hadn't planned on doing a 1/2marathon till the princess but I figured if I am already running 10miles why not go for the 13..

I ran 6miles Tuesday, 3 yesterday and 2.5 today..So hopefully that was enough or not to much for the week..Im excited but also scared about Sunday.. I am trying to look into all the prep that i need to know about (food, ect.)
I figured out my clothing, my shoes and socks are good to go, I have to get some stuff called "glide" so i dont get rubbed raw from the sweat and my sports bra..I am going to wear my hydration belt (even though i feel like a dork), loaded with my pre mixed Accelerade and i will stash a accel gel in my belt for an if needed case. I will have hubby and boys holding my bananna and dark chocolate peanut butter at the finish line, and will have some sort of toast and protein shake for an hour or so later, they have a meal for us after the race but nothing gluten free of course(Im a Celiac)!

Here is where I am lost... I don't know anything about carb loading the night before cause when i do my long runs now i don't do anything special, so is that a necessity?

also, I like to run on an empty stomach, for some reason i have more energy that way, my race is at 8, line up at 745 and i live 35min away..Usually i eat some frozen grapes and a few sips of accelerade then head out the door, should i throw a bananna in there when i first wake up since it will be awhile before the race?

Thanks so much for any advice you all can offer...!

Good Luck!! I would go with a training plan after this race. It just makes you more accountable. I like Hal Higdon because his aren't too ambitious and then for my running style I take a bit of the Jeff Galloway approach. I write down all the mileage amounts on my calendar and that way I know what to expect and push myself for. I never do the carb loading before and haven't had any issues. It really doesn't make sense to me in that it would only benefit you if you ate pasta for breakfast which I won't. I do eat a lot of protein the week before - stuff I know I can digest and that won't upset my stomach. In short, I keep it simple.

Your race won't have water stations and food stations afterwards? I never carry my own water, just my own Gu (since I never like the stuff at Disney especially) and make sure that someone in my party has a big thing of chocolate milk which helps me a lot after all my runs. I take the Gu around mile 9 and alternate between water and powerade (or whatever sports drink) from each water station. I would get bodyglide, some carry it with them so that if they start to chafe, they are set.

I would try to eat some sort of gluten free grain before the race in addition to the banana - but start eating it now in the morning so that you gauge how your stomach handles it. I run my training runs on a nearly empty stomach (only up to five miles) and everything else I eat some sort of grain. The week or two before, I start my pre-race meal which is two apple cinnamon oatmeal packets, and a banana. Be sure to go to the porta potties first before you start. I found for my first half that I didn't gauge the amount of water/powerade that I should consume and went overboard which slowed me down a lot by having to stop at the portapotties. My last half, I never did stop and it was great.

Afterwards, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving...stretch and ice and hopefully you will feel great! Good Luck!!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

For those of you who have run HMs before, or who will have run an HM or two before the Princess: what plan are you using? I'm thinking of using Higdon Intermediate. Thoughts?

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

For those of you who have run HMs before, or who will have run an HM or two before the Princess: what plan are you using? I'm thinking of using Higdon Intermediate. Thoughts?

Higdon Novice or Advanced. I find that the intermediate plans would be better if you were planning on doing the Goofy. But too advanced for most running their first or even second half marathon. Jeff Galloway spoke during the DL Expo and talked about how he used to do one minute intervals (walk/run) but was going to do 30 second intervals instead. So, I took his advice and it was great. I improved my HM time from the Princess to the DL by 25 minutes even with having IT band pain and having to take it a bit easier towards the end. The important thing at Disney is to have fun. I think too many treat the races like they were at the Boston Half or New York Half and don't enjoy it as much as they should. Sure, people beat records, but they don't notice all the fun stuff or speak to all the fun people. BTW, Jeff Galloway likes to be in the back corrals because he likes it better. The atmosphere is different, the people are a bit more fun and not nearly as serious. No matter how much my time improves, I am never going to declare it to get to move up to the top corrals.

I like being with the fun people.

 

[MamaCrush]

Higdon Novice or Advanced. I find that the intermediate plans would be better if you were planning on doing the Goofy. But too advanced for most running their first or even second half marathon. Jeff Galloway spoke during the DL Expo and talked about how he used to do one minute intervals (walk/run) but was going to do 30 second intervals instead. So, I took his advice and it was great. I improved my HM time from the Princess to the DL by 25 minutes even with having IT band pain and having to take it a bit easier towards the end. The important thing at Disney is to have fun. I think too many treat the races like they were at the Boston Half or New York Half and don't enjoy it as much as they should. Sure, people beat records, but they don't notice all the fun stuff or speak to all the fun people. BTW, Jeff Galloway likes to be in the back corrals because he likes it better. The atmosphere is different, the people are a bit more fun and not nearly as serious. No matter how much my time improves, I am never going to declare it to get to move up to the top corrals.

I like being with the fun people.

I like your perspective! Now if I can just embrace it!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

For those of you who have run HMs before, or who will have run an HM or two before the Princess: what plan are you using? I'm thinking of using Higdon Intermediate. Thoughts?

I am using a plan that I retrieved frm Smart Coach inside runnersworld.com. You plu in your numbers from your most recent 5k or whatever race, you choose your intensity, your running level (novice, intermediate, etc) and you pretty much get a customized program. I will be using their maintenance program as per my peronal numbers until i start my Princess training December 5-ish. I also utilize run/ walk method also and will ALWAYS use it.

 

[swim-mom]

Hi everyone -

Just made my ADR's for Sat the 26th only, I think I am flying down on the 6am flight and leaving on the 9:45pm flight home. I just got a full time job, so being able to enjoy an extra day or two is out.

So I made Kona for 10:45am and 7:30pm for the Cali Grill.

I have my first half since the Princess October 3 - I am a bit behind in my training but I never trained more than 10 miles for the Princess so I feel confident that as long as I get to 10 (which will be 8 this sunday and then 10 next week) I should be fine.

 

[Mbg98]

Good Luck!! I would go with a training plan after this race. It just makes you more accountable. I like Hal Higdon because his aren't too ambitious and then for my running style I take a bit of the Jeff Galloway approach. I write down all the mileage amounts on my calendar and that way I know what to expect and push myself for. I never do the carb loading before and haven't had any issues. It really doesn't make sense to me in that it would only benefit you if you ate pasta for breakfast which I won't. I do eat a lot of protein the week before - stuff I know I can digest and that won't upset my stomach. In short, I keep it simple.

Your race won't have water stations and food stations afterwards? I never carry my own water, just my own Gu (since I never like the stuff at Disney especially) and make sure that someone in my party has a big thing of chocolate milk which helps me a lot after all my runs. I take the Gu around mile 9 and alternate between water and powerade (or whatever sports drink) from each water station. I would get bodyglide, some carry it with them so that if they start to chafe, they are set.

I would try to eat some sort of gluten free grain before the race in addition to the banana - but start eating it now in the morning so that you gauge how your stomach handles it. I run my training runs on a nearly empty stomach (only up to five miles) and everything else I eat some sort of grain. The week or two before, I start my pre-race meal which is two apple cinnamon oatmeal packets, and a banana. Be sure to go to the porta potties first before you start. I found for my first half that I didn't gauge the amount of water/powerade that I should consume and went overboard which slowed me down a lot by having to stop at the portapotties. My last half, I never did stop and it was great.

Afterwards, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving...stretch and ice and hopefully you will feel great! Good Luck!!

Hi thanks so much for the response and pointers! They should have water/aid stations but I have been doing my long runs using accelerade in my water bottle and that seems to really work for me.. Once it runs out I will use their water and i will also bring an accegel..I could just take my gels i guess but my belt is like my security blanket..lol!

I will start tomorrow with a gluten free waffle and some egg whites for bfast and see how that agrees with me, hopefully that will work for race morning..do i even need the egg whites or should i just do primarily carbs?

Thanks again!

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Hi thanks so much for the response and pointers! They should have water/aid stations but I have been doing my long runs using accelerade in my water bottle and that seems to really work for me.. Once it runs out I will use their water and i will also bring an accegel..I could just take my gels i guess but my belt is like my security blanket..lol!

I will start tomorrow with a gluten free waffle and some egg whites for bfast and see how that agrees with me, hopefully that will work for race morning..do i even need the egg whites or should i just do primarily carbs?

Thanks again!

I do carbs mainly to curb the hunger feeling I get at the end of the race. I then have a banana and the chocolate milk at the end and am set. Jeff Galloway just spoke at my company and he said that a cup of coffee and a banana is good for a lot of people. I don't drink caffeine that much so I don't like the feeling I get. I do eat a bag of Gu Chomps - Orange Caffeine Free while we wait to start that gives me that electrolyte boost just in case. Make sure you do that if you do like caffeine before a race as it does dehydrate you. I would follow coach's tips about water intake. Believe me, you don't want to stop at any portapotties. It slows you down and isn't great. As long as the race provides water and gatorade stations just about every two miles or so, you should be set. I do recommend bringing your own gel, etc. as you never know what flavors they will have and they are gross enough in the best flavors, the worst flavors are a shocker!

I would really encourage anyone to do the 30:30 or 1 minute: 1 minute intervals that Jeff Galloway encourages. You would think it slows you down but it doesn't. The best thing about it (at least in my experience) was that I didn't ever get tired. I never was huffing and puffing and having to catch my breath. I expected to finish at the same time but when I started to look at the clocks when we passed the markers, I was doing so much better!

My new strategy this time is to train to the exact distance of the race as Jeff Galloway had a great point. My first half I only went as far as doing seven miles. So, sure enough when I got to the seven mile marker, I hit the wall and wanted the race to be over. This time around, I did 10 miles and when I got to that marker, I had the same feeling! So, I will add a bit more to Hal Higdon's plan. That way, I will be disappointed that I am already at 13.1!

As far as carrying your own water, just make sure you ration it - take a tiny sip. Then, just stop for a sip of water at the stations. If you are carrying a sports drink, don't drink more sports drinks at the stations. That will be easy since they are usually in the back.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

My new strategy this time is to train to the exact distance of the race as Jeff Galloway had a great point. My first half I only went as far as doing seven miles. So, sure enough when I got to the seven mile marker, I hit the wall and wanted the race to be over. This time around, I did 10 miles and when I got to that marker, I had the same feeling! So, I will add a bit more to Hal Higdon's plan. That way, I will be disappointed that I am already at 13.1!

As far as carrying your own water, just make sure you ration it - take a tiny sip. Then, just stop for a sip of water at the stations. If you are carrying a sports drink, don't drink more sports drinks at the stations. That will be easy since they are usually in the back.

I agree! My training plan has 2 - 12 mile long runs with the first one this Sunday. I am relieved that I will be running them and I am sure that the adrenaline alone will see me through the ofther 1.1 mile. I am not sure I would feel comfortable with a 10 miler being the longest.

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

It's just me for the princess. do I need to make add or will i get in just being 1?

 

[jenelope]

I would make ADRs, anyway. At most restaurants, solo diners will be seated at a table for two. And it seems like Disney restaurants have a lot more four-tops than two-tops. Better safe than sorry!

I ran in my neighborhood yesterday evening and I'm kind of disappointed. My average pace dropped about 30 seconds per mile and I hurt all over this morning. I suspect the slow pace was partly caused by running in an area I wasn't totally familiar with and not having any real plan about where to run. It was a timed run instead of a distance run, so I figured I would wing it. It was also getting progressively darker during my run, which is something I'm not used to yet. I discovered that I like the cooler temperature, but I don't like the gathering gloom. Also, I need to stop paying so much attention to cute dogs while I'm running. Otis the bulldog probably appreciated the skritch behind the ears, but that was the slowest point of my run.

I'm kind of hoping that the aching joints and muscles are just the result of a little more use than usual. But I suspect it might have something to do with switching from running on tracks and asphalt to running on concrete sidewalks.

 

[dumbo_buddy]

Otis the bulldog probably appreciated the skritch behind the ears, but that was the slowest point of my run.

i always stop at the cute dogs too and the bulldog on lafayette ave is my favorite (probably because i have bulldog at home too!).

luckily i don't think there will be any bulldogs at the race!!