Official 2012 Princess Half Marathon Thread!

[kmchisholm]

Hey ladies - check out the August edition of Runner's World - it's the Half-Marathon Edition. Plenty of good Disney ads, article on clothes & mentions Disney in how to keep fit on a vacation.

 

[HockeyKat]

Did you run the whole Magic Mile or did you do intervals for it?

I ran as much of it as I could, but not the whole thing. I probably took at least 4 walk breaks, nothing timed though. Maybe some day I can run a whole mile, but it's not really my goal. I like the intervals.

 

[disneyfreak1]

Has it ever rained during the Princess Half? What is the plan in case of really bad weather?

 

[NCrunner]

You can indeed order the commerative necklace after you registered for the race. I too regreted not giving it a chance to be more than Mardi GRAS beads.
So here is the link (it looks like te same registration form as you filled out for race but read closely, it is actually just to order the necklace)

http://www.active.com/framed/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1970373

Rhonda

 

[Neelym]

Has anyone ever strained/damaged their facet joint? Or their Sacroiliac Joint? I had and injection for the facet joint last week, but I am beginning to wonder if it is the sacroiliac joint. No running for two weeks, at least!
So bummed.

 

[FFigawi]

Has it ever rained during the Princess Half? What is the plan in case of really bad weather?

If there's serious danger from a thunderstorm, lightning, etc., Disney will take measures to postpone or stop the race and get people to a safe location. If it's just a day of pouring rain, well, you're going to get wet. Some tips on surviving in the rain:

- use plenty of Bodyglide on your feet to help prevent blisters from your socks rubbing
- wear plastic bags over your shoes until just before the start to keep them dry as long as you can
- wear trash bags or ponchos to keep you dry as long as you can
- wear a hat to keep the rain out of your face
- run carefully going downhill and around corners to keep from slipping and falling
- embrance the rain with a good mental attitude. Weather is out of your control, so whining and complaining about it during the whole race won't make your race any better. Having realistic expectations about your time goal (a PR in a downpour is unlikely, for example) and meeting the weather conditions head on will do wonders for getting you through the race.
- Tough it out with a smile and get ready for all the stories you can tell afterwards

 

[TMcDwyer]

Hey ladies - check out the August edition of Runner's World - it's the Half-Marathon Edition. Plenty of good Disney ads, article on clothes & mentions Disney in how to keep fit on a vacation.

I just subscribed to this. Do you think I will get the August edition or should I go buy it?

 

[mountaineer]

Thanks for the link!! I kept wishing I had ordered it when I registered.

 

[KathleensKid]

Thanks for the link!! I kept wishing I had ordered it when I registered.

I wish I knew what it looked like...... Hmmm. To take a gamble on the quality/look of the necklace or not.
I wonder if they will sell them at the expo or not?

 

[mamacate]

Thanks for the link from me too! I didn't order it when I registered but then when I read some threads where people were kicking themselves for not ordering commemorative swag from last year (seems last year they didn't have extras at the expo, the year before they did), I figured a $21 gamble is worth it. If I don't like it I'll pawn it off on my daughter.

Cate

 

[TMcDwyer]

Thanks for the link from me too! I didn't order it when I registered but then when I read some threads where people were kicking themselves for not ordering commemorative swag from last year (seems last year they didn't have extras at the expo, the year before they did), I figured a $21 gamble is worth it. If I don't like it I'll pawn it off on my daughter.

Cate

That was my thinking EXACTLY!!!

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

I did it! I did it! Hubby and I signed up for the Princess!! Sheesh, I will be 60 years old next month, but I did my first half in March at age 59, so what's 11 more months??!! And he's 63! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

Wow thats amazing!!!!

 

[NCrunner]

I wish I knew what it looked like...... Hmmm. To take a gamble on the quality/look of the necklace or not.
I wonder if they will sell them at the expo or not?

Its DIsney! I look at it this way....I just wasted 21$ on a meal I ate in 2.5 seconds that was mediocre at best! How bad could a disney commerative piece be? Couldnt be that bad or think of the complaints they would get!

 

[saysay]

If there's serious danger from a thunderstorm, lightning, etc., Disney will take measures to postpone or stop the race and get people to a safe location. If it's just a day of pouring rain, well, you're going to get wet. Some tips on surviving in the rain:

- use plenty of Bodyglide on your feet to help prevent blisters from your socks rubbing
- wear plastic bags over your shoes until just before the start to keep them dry as long as you can
- wear trash bags or ponchos to keep you dry as long as you can
- wear a hat to keep the rain out of your face
- run carefully going downhill and around corners to keep from slipping and falling
- embrance the rain with a good mental attitude. Weather is out of your control, so whining and complaining about it during the whole race won't make your race any better. Having realistic expectations about your time goal (a PR in a downpour is unlikely, for example) and meeting the weather conditions head on will do wonders for getting you through the race.
- Tough it out with a smile and get ready for all the stories you can tell afterwards

Great advice. Thanks John!

My first 1/2 it POURED about 1/3 of the race. The rest of the race was either a fine mist or light rain...and this was in November, so it was a little chilly, but not bone chilling cold. Not exactly what I imagine or hoped for, but it was still fun. The people who supported the crowd even in the rain helped. The adrenaline of "wow I can't believe I am doing a 1/2 marathon.......AND its raining"....really got me through. Just added to the charm. I did get blisters on my feet, but not horrible. I seem to recall I had on some layers and just threw them to the side when I got hot.

Because you never know the weather, its best in your training to just get those runs in whatever the weather as you don't know what it will be like race day....well not in lightening obviously.

While its possible, I think February is not exactly a very wet month for Orlando, so with that and some Pixie dust odds are we won't have to worry about it.

 

[DisneyBoyz]

I booked BLT two months ago (rented DVC points), anticipating I would be participating in the 2012 Princess Half. I finally registered today! After reading several pages in this thread, I decided to go for the necklace...no regrets! Thanks ladies!

As this is my first half, and I am not a runner at all, any training suggestions would be appreciated. My DH is an avid runner and would love to do this with me, but I think someone needs to stay with our 4 & 7 year old boys! My DH is running the Marine Corps Marathon this Halloween, and runs all the time. Would late October be too late to start training? With our work schedules and kids, it makes it difficult for both of us to run simultaneously.

Unfortunately, we have no family here to help kidsitting either!

 

[fashionista311]

if you are a bit shy to pull the trigger on the necklace...you could always wait to see what it looks like for the tink at the end of jan in la, and order after that

 

[stitchfan18]

I think I need to start cross training better. I played softball on Sunday night for a couple hours and am still super sore. While I was playing I was so impressed with my stamina being in the heat for a couple hours, now I feel like a wimp for being this sore. DH commented that he didn't understand how I could run a half marathon and only be slightly sore if this is how bad I feel after softball I guess the elliptical is too much like running to work different muscles... any suggestions for other cross training activities?

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

I booked BLT two months ago (rented DVC points), anticipating I would be participating in the 2012 Princess Half. I finally registered today! After reading several pages in this thread, I decided to go for the necklace...no regrets! Thanks ladies!

As this is my first half, and I am not a runner at all, any training suggestions would be appreciated. My DH is an avid runner and would love to do this with me, but I think someone needs to stay with our 4 & 7 year old boys! My DH is running the Marine Corps Marathon this Halloween, and runs all the time. Would late October be too late to start training? With our work schedules and kids, it makes it difficult for both of us to run simultaneously.

Unfortunately, we have no family here to help kidsitting either!

Hi I am a new runner also, I started last year I did C25K, I have lost 20-30 lbs but I am still over weight, I did do the princess last year with my family. I met some amazing women from DIS that helped me train and celebrate my first half, I also have 4 & 7 year old but mine are girls, so I try to run in the AM and long runs on the weekend. We don't have sitters were we are also. Good luck to you, I know this will be a life changeing day.

 

[cewait]

I think I need to start cross training better. I played softball on Sunday night for a couple hours and am still super sore. While I was playing I was so impressed with my stamina being in the heat for a couple hours, now I feel like a wimp for being this sore. DH commented that he didn't understand how I could run a half marathon and only be slightly sore if this is how bad I feel after softball I guess the elliptical is too much like running to work different muscles... any suggestions for other cross training activities?

Actually one of the funner and better cross training things that will help in softball as well as running are ladder drills.

http://www.phs.d211.org/Athletics/Lacrosse/Conditioning/ladderdrillslogo.pdf

http://www.agilityladderdrills.com/

While not cross training, these are great for balancing out the leg muscle in all directions of travel.

Other than that, you really should focus on body weight based workouts to work the muscle structure of the entire body. Yikes.

 

[elderfam]

Today I did a 6 mile walk/run, took my time wanted to just get some easy miles in and was amazed how good I felt when I was done. I have my first 10K coming up in less than 2 weeks. Now I want to work on ramping up the runs and walking less.

There is a lake in orlando (google Luckys Lake Swim Orlando) that's kinda a thing to do. I will start hitting the pool this week so I can do that swim on October 30th 7 am. It's 1K and since I am thinking about going for a "sprint Tri" next year, the open water swim is something I need to work on.

I am really excited that I have 6 friends and relatives already signed up to run the Princess half with me!! This will be a first Half marathon for all of them!! I just sent out a general email letting everyone know I was doing this and that if anyone was interested I would love the company. I'm just blown away by the response!

I have to say that my husband (not a runner) has been really good so far about late dinners and my non-stop running conversations. It is hard to get out and run when you have little kids. I do most of my running on a treadmill set at a 5% incline.

SO HEAR is a BIG QUESTION: I promised my spine doctor that I would only do this for one year. SOOOOO I am trying to find a half marathon anywhere on the planet with a truly "COOL" factor to wrap this phase of my life up. Any suggestions? I have iceland and finland (artic circle race) already on the board and in the running.

Have a good week out there, WATCH out for that heat!