Official 2012 Princess Half Marathon Thread!

[fashionista311]

Hi all, just registered for the 2012 Princess ... super excited! I am actually a triathlete, and this is my first Half ... hoping to do some running and walking, would love to be able to run all 13 miles, but too worried about training away from the swimming and cycling. Anyway ...... can't wait! Plan to order a necklace too!

I have an interesting situation, because I will already be in the area for a business convention, and plan to stay an extra few days to complete the Princess. Is there any roommate service to help keep costs reasonable and also have moral support for those of us who will be in the area solo? I've seen a few other posts, and wondering if there is a place people can reach out. Any suggestions?

Thanks and looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can. Wishing all your training dreams come true!

funny - I'm primarily a distance runner, and looking to finish my first tri (olympic..I'm jumping in full steam ahead ) the end of next June. This winter I really need to work on my swimming skills, and do as much as I can with the bike until I get back on the road in the spring (spin classes? indoor trainer?). I run 5 days/week with a base around 30 miles/week, and I really don't want to dial back on the running too much - I like to keep a strong enough running base that I can basically race a half marathon year-round. I'm thinking I'm going to have to double-up on workouts during the week...but really would love to hear how you plan on making it work with the 3 sports, too! It's a bit overwhelming to me to be honest, and I just feel like I have SO much to learn

 

[tetney12]

Just registered myself and DH for the Princess....our goal is doing the Coast to Coast this year.....Team Pascualarian....here we come!!!!!

 

[tinkeramy]

Question for repeat halfers: what kind of running schedule do you maintain in between halfs? I am planning on doing my 2nd half this Thksgvg, but not sure what kind of training schedule to keep between that and the Princess. Any suggestions welcome!

 

[stitchfan18]

Question for repeat halfers: what kind of running schedule do you maintain in between halfs? I am planning on doing my 2nd half this Thksgvg, but not sure what kind of training schedule to keep between that and the Princess. Any suggestions welcome!

I keep my runs during the week normal (usually 2-4 miles 2-3 times a week.) On the weekends I do a longer run 6-8 miles. I've been on a marathon training schedule, which a couple of my 1/2's have fit into, but when I wasn't on that schedule I just loosely followed my 1/2 schedule and made sure to get in a good 10-12 miler in about 4 weeks before the race.

 

[Carolina Blair]

Hi everyone,

My best friend and I are thinking about signing up for the Princess. We both started C25K earlier this year and now want to do something big. This board is very helpful! We're planning to use the Galloway method and will start training with it later this month.

Does this race usually sell out? If so, does anyone know how far in advance it sold out in the past?

Thanks!

 

[slp1650]

funny - I'm primarily a distance runner, and looking to finish my first tri (olympic..I'm jumping in full steam ahead ) the end of next June. This winter I really need to work on my swimming skills, and do as much as I can with the bike until I get back on the road in the spring (spin classes? indoor trainer?). I run 5 days/week with a base around 30 miles/week, and I really don't want to dial back on the running too much - I like to keep a strong enough running base that I can basically race a half marathon year-round. I'm thinking I'm going to have to double-up on workouts during the week...but really would love to hear how you plan on making it work with the 3 sports, too! It's a bit overwhelming to me to be honest, and I just feel like I have SO much to learn

One way to train for the bike and swim legs while also keeping your running up is to either do doubles (2 practices a day, typically 1 in the morning and 1 at night) or a brick workout where you practice 2 legs of the race back to back. You'll probably want to try a brick at some point just to see how the transitions make you feel because they can be some of the hardest.

When I was on my tri team we would rotate when we practiced each leg, although swimming was almost always in the morning with only a few "on your own" swims in the afternoon and evenings. Everything else was easy to work around school and work schedules.

 

[Ateam97]

Hi everyone,

My best friend and I are thinking about signing up for the Princess. We both started C25K earlier this year and now want to do something big. This board is very helpful! We're planning to use the Galloway method and will start training with it later this month.

Does this race usually sell out? If so, does anyone know how far in advance it sold out in the past?

Thanks!

I believe it sold out in January this past year. You can keep checking the registration site - last year they updated the capacity regularly (by percentage) beginning at around 50%.

And you and your friend should totally do this race! I did it last year with my best friend of more than 25 years, and it was an awesome experience!!

 

[westgre]

Forgive me, I'm new here and a new runner. I know I saw it somewhere while I was browsing the 144-ish pages on this thread, but can't seem to remember or find it now. I only have 4 days at Disney. Would it be better to tour Fri-Mon or Sat-Tues? The only thing that concerns me is packet pickup and fitting that into our touring schedule. We do plan to use the Unofficial Guide touring plans for families with young children, so I should be able to hit the Expo while kids are at the hotel taking a swim/nap. I've already booked the hotel for Thursday to Tuesday, but don't think it will be a problem to change at this point. TIA!

 

[stitchfan18]

Forgive me, I'm new here and a new runner. I know I saw it somewhere while I was browsing the 144-ish pages on this thread, but can't seem to remember or find it now. I only have 4 days at Disney. Would it be better to tour Fri-Mon or Sat-Tues? The only thing that concerns me is packet pickup and fitting that into our touring schedule. We do plan to use the Unofficial Guide touring plans for families with young children, so I should be able to hit the Expo while kids are at the hotel taking a swim/nap. I've already booked the hotel for Thursday to Tuesday, but don't think it will be a problem to change at this point. TIA!

Are you flying or driving? If you are flying I would strongly recommend arriving on Friday sometime to ensure that you don't have any delays that cause you to miss packet pickup since there is no race morning pickup. If you know someone else that could pick up your packet in case of flight delays, then flying in on Saturday wouldn't be horrible, but If you end up with an early morning flight you'll have to keep in mind that you will be having an early morning again on Sunday.

As far as touring the parks, I would recommend only being on your feet in the parks for 1/2 a day on Saturday. You could send the kids back to the hotel and hit packet pick up after lunch on Saturday. It will be crowded, and there are no strollers allowed, so I wouldn't bring the kids unless it's a last resort. After packet pickup and expo shopping you could head back to the resort and relax by the pool, or do something mellow. Last year since the temperature was so warm I was able to spend the day at Typhoon Lagoon, and it was the perfect balance of lounging around and being on my feet. It won't be the end of the world if you end up in a park longer on Saturday. Many people who are running will have been in the parks for a week before the race, so you won't be the only one running on tired legs.

 

[krn82259]

Do you find that you get better deals booking your room through IRUN, just through general Disney, or what? Trying to figure the best way to book my room. Just registered today!!

 

[stitchfan18]

Do you find that you get better deals booking your room through IRUN, just through general Disney, or what? Trying to figure the best way to book my room. Just registered today!!

I've heard the IRUN packages end up being more expensive than book through Disney. I personally rent DVC points instead. We're paying about $500 to stay at AKV for 3 nights. Disney has the same room listed for $1500 for the same 3 nights.

 

[Disfan11]

Question for repeat halfers: what kind of running schedule do you maintain in between halfs? I am planning on doing my 2nd half this Thksgvg, but not sure what kind of training schedule to keep between that and the Princess. Any suggestions welcome!

I use the Hal Higdon's 1/2 training program for intermediates. You can print out a free copy online. I used his beginner one before my first 1/2 and I did pretty well. Since then I have done 3 more halfs this year (beginning with the Princess 1/2 in Feb), with one left - the Disneyland 1/2 on Labor Day weekend. I ran 2 halfs in the same month (San Diego at the beginning of June and Seattle at the end of June) and just modified the intermediate schedule to work for me.
Good luck on your runs!

 

[Disfan11]

Do you find that you get better deals booking your room through IRUN, just through general Disney, or what? Trying to figure the best way to book my room. Just registered today!!

For the Princess this year, I booked through IRUN. The pricing seemed reasonable to me. So I'll probably go through them for next years race also.

 

[tinkeramy]

Forgive me, I'm new here and a new runner. I know I saw it somewhere while I was browsing the 144-ish pages on this thread, but can't seem to remember or find it now. I only have 4 days at Disney. Would it be better to tour Fri-Mon or Sat-Tues? The only thing that concerns me is packet pickup and fitting that into our touring schedule. We do plan to use the Unofficial Guide touring plans for families with young children, so I should be able to hit the Expo while kids are at the hotel taking a swim/nap. I've already booked the hotel for Thursday to Tuesday, but don't think it will be a problem to change at this point. TIA!

Keep in mind that the prev. week is President's Day Week - one of the most crowded at Disney. You might want to do Sat - Tues just to give yourself an extra day with a lot less crowds - most people are going back home on that Saturday and Sunday, so Mon / Tues should be MUCH less crowded in the parks.

 

[Nishmom]

Hi Ladies!

Haven't checked in for a while but have been following. Thanks for all the advice on shoes, as I took a week off I thought it would be a great time to start fresh in some shoes, so was fitted in the area and found that I was running a half size too small. Working towards the Half here in Richmond on Nov 12th, so here goes nothing . Keep training and know the heat will break soon!

Watch the hills in the Richmond Half - DH and I drove the course and decided to spend the $$ to go to the Outer Banks that weekend to run a half. However the Richmond finish is a long wonderful downhill!! Good luck!

 

[Nishmom]

Learned a valuable lesson this morning: 30 second walk intervals may be fine in cold weather, but in this summer heat, not so much! I ran 4 miles this morning with a 4:1 run/walk ratio and it worked much better.

Also, DH and I have bought shoes several times from Kelly's Running Warehouse. Their prices are great and since we are repeat customers, we get special offers regularly. I recently bought a pair of Asics Gel Nimbus-13s for less than the price of the Nimbus-12s. They ship really quickly too.

How do you all feel about technical shirts for hot weather running? They still get soaked but don't feel nearly as heavy as cotton when they are so wet. In this weather, anything that helps us deal with the heat is a good thing!

 

[rocio]

I've officially moved myself from the "I think I'm going to run this race" category to the "I'm going to do it!" category. I registered today! I'm so excited and a little nervous. Training is going well. I decided to do a 10k training program until it's time to move to the half marathon training program. I just wanted to get going already. I'm running a 5k next week and a 10k in the fall. I'm not planning to break any records. Just have fun and have a goal so I continue to work out when the weather gets yucky.

 

[daisy112878]

Hi everyone,

My best friend and I are thinking about signing up for the Princess. We both started C25K earlier this year and now want to do something big. This board is very helpful! We're planning to use the Galloway method and will start training with it later this month.

Does this race usually sell out? If so, does anyone know how far in advance it sold out in the past?

Thanks!

I started the C25K back in March and now using galloway for traing. I'm a 10K on labor day. I love the galloway training and you can totally do the princess!!

 

[HockeyKat]

Learned a valuable lesson this morning: 30 second walk intervals may be fine in cold weather, but in this summer heat, not so much! I ran 4 miles this morning with a 4:1 run/walk ratio and it worked much better.

...

How do you all feel about technical shirts for hot weather running? They still get soaked but don't feel nearly as heavy as cotton when they are so wet. In this weather, anything that helps us deal with the heat is a good thing!

The heat has been brutal this summer! Tech shirts are a MUST. You can get them for cheaper at Target or TJ Maxx.

We had a break from the heat here today, a bit - but instead? Raging thunderstorms. I got in 16.47 miles, 7 of it circling the parking garage where my group met, and the rest in the POURING rain. Still felt better than the heat!!

 

[daisy112878]

stitchfan or other experienced princess runners - I saw the post you made that you can send text messages to friends with your clock times along the way. So I could sign dh up for this and he'll get updated times of where I am?? Am I understanding that right. This would be great for him to know when to get to epcot with the boys for the finish.