Official 2012 Princess Half Marathon Thread!

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Ohmygoodness... Just registered for the Tinker Bell half.... now I can't wait until registration opens for the Princess!

 

[stitchfan18]

Ohmygoodness... Just registered for the Tinker Bell half.... now I can't wait until registration opens for the Princess!

How fun that you are running both races! I wish I could swing both too!

Since I'm pretty sure this will be a solo trip, I'm wondering if anyone else thinks they'll be looking for a roommate for this race. I'm really wanting to stay at whatever resort is on the monorail line for this race, but can't swing the cost of the room if I'm staying by myself. I can sleep almost anywhere, and since all the monorail resorts have daybeds I can definitely sleep there if there are a couple other solo travelers, like myself, interested. If anyone else is possibly interested in rooming together shoot me a PM!

 

[lifeasiseeit]

Hi everyone!

I've read through the ENTIRE thread (yes, I'm a little crazy) and just wanted to say that I'm super pumped for the half!

I've been running off and on for the last year or so, but I've kept it a secret since I tend to lose motivation right before big events - typical fear of failure, if no one knows and I don't do a race I can't fail, right? I've started to over come that - I completed a half a week and half ago, I completed a big corporate race held around here a week ago, and I accidentally let it slip (to one of my staff) that I was registered for a 10k at the end of this month - the same one she's registered for (and she runs. regularly.).

I've told a couple friends about running this - one of them lives in the Orlando area and one *might* come down for it. Otherwise, I'll be running/traveling solo.

This thread is a wealth of information...I'm loving it!

 

[lifeasiseeit]

Oh, and I'm (back) on DailyMile - I'm Elizabeth from Boston, MA. Feel free to add me.

 

[tinkeramy]

Hi everyone!

I've read through the ENTIRE thread (yes, I'm a little crazy) and just wanted to say that I'm super pumped for the half!

I've been running off and on for the last year or so, but I've kept it a secret since I tend to lose motivation right before big events - typical fear of failure, if no one knows and I don't do a race I can't fail, right? I've started to over come that - I completed a half a week and half ago, I completed a big corporate race held around here a week ago, and I accidentally let it slip (to one of my staff) that I was registered for a 10k at the end of this month - the same one she's registered for (and she runs. regularly.).

I've told a couple friends about running this - one of them lives in the Orlando area and one *might* come down for it. Otherwise, I'll be running/traveling solo.

This thread is a wealth of information...I'm loving it!

Holy cow - just saw your tag - ummm... the only judgement I'm making is to think that your time for the half was slow is CRAZY! I did the Princess in 2:45 and I did train! Granted, I was stopping for pics every 5 minutes, but without all that I would have only predicted a 2:15 finish. Imagine what you can do when you stick with it!

As far as the not telling everyone part - I understand, and that is why I told every person I had ever met in my life that I had signed up for the half!!! I totally need accountability. And I knew the only way I would "fail" was if I didn't finish the race; finishing was my only goal. And I knew I could do that. So don't psych yourself out! It's a great, fun race (as fun as 13.1 miles can be!) and it's definitely something to relax and have a good time with. You already know that you can complete the distance, and that's most of the mental battle!

 

[misskitkat]

I’ve been training for about two months on a program for complete beginners to run a ½. The goal of the program is to be able to finish the race but, as we all know, we have to maintain the 16 minute mile pace. My problem is that I’m slow! What is the best way to increase my speed? I’ve read that pushing yourself to hard can lead to injury, which I would prefer to avoid. I know I have plenty of time to train but I want to be sure I can finish the race in time to take pictures and wait in the horrific bathroom lines I’ve read about.

 

[disneyfreak1]

I’ve been training for about two months on a program for complete beginners to run a ½. The goal of the program is to be able to finish the race but, as we all know, we have to maintain the 16 minute mile pace. My problem is that I’m slow! What is the best way to increase my speed? I’ve read that pushing yourself to hard can lead to injury, which I would prefer to avoid. I know I have plenty of time to train but I want to be sure I can finish the race in time to take pictures and wait in the horrific bathroom lines I’ve read about.

I'm in the same boat as you....I just want to finish in the time frame allowed and not kill myself!

 

[stitchfan18]

I’ve been training for about two months on a program for complete beginners to run a ½. The goal of the program is to be able to finish the race but, as we all know, we have to maintain the 16 minute mile pace. My problem is that I’m slow! What is the best way to increase my speed? I’ve read that pushing yourself to hard can lead to injury, which I would prefer to avoid. I know I have plenty of time to train but I want to be sure I can finish the race in time to take pictures and wait in the horrific bathroom lines I’ve read about.

I would do one training session a week where you work on speed. You can work on hills, do intervals, or a combination of both. If you don't have good hills to train on in your area, find a treadmill and put it on an incline. If you can do hills then you'll be faster on a flat course (like Disney.) If you choose intervals, push your pace for 15-30 seconds, then back off for 1-2 minutes. Repeat several times.

 

[cewait]

Holy cow - just saw your tag - ummm... the only judgement I'm making is to think that your time for the half was slow is CRAZY! I did the Princess in 2:45 and I did train! Granted, I was stopping for pics every 5 minutes, but without all that I would have only predicted a 2:15 finish. Imagine what you can do when you stick with it!

As far as the not telling everyone part - I understand, and that is why I told every person I had ever met in my life that I had signed up for the half!!! I totally need accountability. And I knew the only way I would "fail" was if I didn't finish the race; finishing was my only goal. And I knew I could do that. So don't psych yourself out! It's a great, fun race (as fun as 13.1 miles can be!) and it's definitely something to relax and have a good time with. You already know that you can complete the distance, and that's most of the mental battle!

I too am of the camp of putting the stake into the ground and making sure that folks know so that I HAVE to push harder to assure a success. Much like Cortes scuttling his ships upon arrival in the new world, I find that publicly announcing a new stretch goal works to keep me honest with my training.

 

[cewait]

I’ve been training for about two months on a program for complete beginners to run a ½. The goal of the program is to be able to finish the race but, as we all know, we have to maintain the 16 minute mile pace. My problem is that I’m slow! What is the best way to increase my speed? I’ve read that pushing yourself to hard can lead to injury, which I would prefer to avoid. I know I have plenty of time to train but I want to be sure I can finish the race in time to take pictures and wait in the horrific bathroom lines I’ve read about.

Hills and speed work work well. As a newer running I would work hills over speed. Your program should have 2 midweek runs and one weekend run as a minimum but no more than 4 runs a week for a newbie. I guess that is a long way of saying 3-4 runs a week.

The weekend run is reserved for your long run and should be a very aerobic pace. That is a pace where you could carry on a near normal conversation if you had to (4-6 words per breath). Ideally, this pace is a little slower than race day pace. Ok they always say that but if you never have run a race how do you know? I use that only to help you understand that on race day you will be just a little faster than your training runs, if you trained well.

Again as a newer running, I would look at hill work over track work at first. Hills are speed work in disguise. Speed work alone can lead to injury if you are not aware of of your stride as you can lengthen the stride too far instead of working on number of strides a minute. This is a precursor to injury.

Find a hill that will take you a couple minutes to climb. Start at the bottom and go up at an effort that leaves you huffy and puffy and only able to say 1-3 words per breath. jog/walk to the bottom and repeat. Only do 1-3 hills at first then continue your run for the amount of time scheduled in your training plan. Add a hill per week and be sure to keep the effort high. a couple weeks into the training, work on turning over your stride. Nice crisp quck steps. No hills? Go to the high school and run bleachers. Find a parking garage. Have access to a treadmill? the buttons on the left are elevation. Create your hill.

Later in your plan, you can start working on speed work. Simply stated, you are looking to run half mile intervals at the effort described above. Starting with 1-3, run the interval, walk/jog for the same amount of time it took to run the interval then repeat.

You have plenty of time to get there

 

[Princess 1/2 Hopeful]

My best advice is to spend a few minutes going back and reading many of the past posts on this board - SO MANY topics have been covered already, and we're still not even to registration yet!

For me personally (like you, I started running last summer with the goal of running the princess), it made a lot of difference to register for local 5 & 10K races during my training in order to keep me motivated and keep me from slacking off! It also gives you a little bit of experience what a race is like; I wouldn't have wanted the princess to be my first race ever - that would have been completely overwhelming!! Welcome and good luck!

Thank you for the advice Amy! We are definitely looking into some 5 and 10Ks in our area once it gets cooler... we live in FL and it is getting hot hot hot right now!

 

[Cripey]

Hi everyone!

I've read through the ENTIRE thread (yes, I'm a little crazy) and just wanted to say that I'm super pumped for the half!

I've been running off and on for the last year or so, but I've kept it a secret since I tend to lose motivation right before big events - typical fear of failure, if no one knows and I don't do a race I can't fail, right? I've started to over come that - I completed a half a week and half ago, I completed a big corporate race held around here a week ago, and I accidentally let it slip (to one of my staff) that I was registered for a 10k at the end of this month - the same one she's registered for (and she runs. regularly.).

I've told a couple friends about running this - one of them lives in the Orlando area and one *might* come down for it. Otherwise, I'll be running/traveling solo.

This thread is a wealth of information...I'm loving it!

Telling people about the race was the first thing my trainer told me to do when I asked her if she would help me train for a half...she told me to register as soon as it opened and tell at least 10 people. What also eventually helped motivate me during the miles was that 6 of those people decided to make the trip with me to be my cheerleaders...talk about pressure! There was no way I was going to NOT give this everything I had when 6 other people decided to spend their $$ and vacation time to watch me put one foot in front of the other and give me a gross sweaty hug at the end! So, I say definitely tell as many people as you can and bring some along too if possible!

 

[PinkerTish]

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to join the thread. My mom and I are currently training for the Princess Half now and are extremely excited to participate. Can anyone tell me if there is a limit for people signing up? Do you have to register the morning it opens to get a slot or is it a pretty relaxed sign up process? Neither one of us have ever run a half marathon before and don't really know what to expect. Any help would be fantastic and I just don't have time to read through all of the threads.

Thanks!

 

[rizzobob]

cewait - If I live with no hills (South Florida), what do you set your incline to on the treadmill. Remember, I'm new....lol

Thanks!

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

How fun that you are running both races! I wish I could swing both too!

I'm fortunate enough to live about 10 minutes away from Disneyland, so WDW is the bigger hurdle to get to!

 

[J-2]

I'm brand new here and wanted to say hi! I'm planning to register for the Princess half and I'm so excited as this will be my first!

I started the C25K program back in April and I'm currently on week 7. I actually have a 5K coming up this weekend even though I'm still a few weeks from completing the program. I have to say that the C25K has completely changed my outlook on running. I have always despised it! I can remember running a 10K back in college and cursing it every step of the way and never running again, until now.

I'm planning to redeem myself with another 10K this August and then stepping it up for my first half marathon. Of course, it being a Disney run has me motivated more than ever!

I've managed to read this entire thread in nearly one sitting and I'm glad to now be a part of it.

 

[tellemarie]

Could it be your shoes? Everytime I have trouble with my back or feet when running it usually means my shoes have worn out. I was just going to the department store and buying shoes and I was going thru them every 3 months. I ended up going to Raleigh Running Outfitters over on Six Forks and they found a pair that works for my gait. They are awesome and will last about 9 mos.!
And that is so cool you are a fellow Raleighite!
Keep us posted-
Neely

I've actually gone through 3 pairs now! I had gotten a pair of Adidas that the pain started about 10 minutes in so I returned them. I got a pair of Saucony's from Raleigh Running Outfitters and the first day I used them it was 10 minutes, the next time I used them it was only five before I had to stop! I went to TrySports at Crabtree yesterday tried on EVERY pair of women's shoes (and 4 men's!) and couldn't find a pair. I found that I BAAAADLY overpronate but now it just seems like I can't find any shoes that work. This is highly discouraging

 

[ColleenG]

I've actually gone through 3 pairs now! I had gotten a pair of Adidas that the pain started about 10 minutes in so I returned them. I got a pair of Saucony's from Raleigh Running Outfitters and the first day I used them it was 10 minutes, the next time I used them it was only five before I had to stop! I went to TrySports at Crabtree yesterday tried on EVERY pair of women's shoes (and 4 men's!) and couldn't find a pair. I found that I BAAAADLY overpronate but now it just seems like I can't find any shoes that work. This is highly discouraging

Sounds like orthotics are the way to go for you. I had gotten a new pair of running shoes and probably ran for about a week without my orthotics. They have such good support, but then my shin splints came back so I am back to the orthotics. My shins are better, still hurt but not as bad, now I just have some other weird pain in my foot. It doesn't bother me when I run but afterwards it hurts if I move my foot a certain way. Time to find a good foot specialist.

 

[cewait]

cewait - If I live with no hills (South Florida), what do you set your incline to on the treadmill. Remember, I'm new....lol

Thanks!

I work from 6% to 10%. Being a new by start at 4%; up for 4 minutes then back down for 2 minutes..... Repeat at least four times. One needs to work a little harder on the mill since it does some of your work..

After a couple weeks add more intervals until you arer on the mile for 40 minutes.... Then start adding elevation.

Couple other notes. This time does not include ten minutes to warm up and ten minutes to warm down...

Do not....do not hold on to the hand rail. It will reinforce bad form and than is so counter productive.

 

[cewait]

I've actually gone through 3 pairs now! I had gotten a pair of Adidas that the pain started about 10 minutes in so I returned them. I got a pair of Saucony's from Raleigh Running Outfitters and the first day I used them it was 10 minutes, the next time I used them it was only five before I had to stop! I went to TrySports at Crabtree yesterday tried on EVERY pair of women's shoes (and 4 men's!) and couldn't find a pair. I found that I BAAAADLY overpronate but now it just seems like I can't find any shoes that work. This is highly discouraging

Describe where your toes point as you run. If the word penguin comes to mind then the orthotics suggestion is not going to help much as you have other structural issues that really need work. If your toes are pointing straight ahead, then you may want to consider orthotics.... But before that, I would get to to a sports med clinic and have them look at your gait and possibly suggest corrective exercises BEFORE heading to the crutch route. More often than not, the root cause of over probation is a structural issue in the hip complex.