Official 2012 Princess Half Marathon Thread!

[Michele325]

So, completely unrelated--can folks who have trained for the Princess in cold climates reassure me that I will be able to train? I just started running in March, and I'm looking at training plans and thinking about running 10-14 miles in the snow and ice here in New England. Any reassuring thoughts, tips, or ideas? (Or, hopefully not, "you're completely screwed, give up now"?)

Thanks.

Cate

I have the exact same concern. Here in Michigan, once it starts to snow it does not melt. So pretty much from Dec 1 will be stuck inside. That is a long time before the princess! I have a Dec trip planned to FL, so that will help get atleast one long run done outside. And maybe, just maybe I will be able to get a few short runs done out in the cold. I haven't done this before, so I am not sure how this all will work out. Luckily I do have a treadmill. Last year I watched 24 on netflix while I ran. I will be looking for another series with a lot of seasons so I will look forward to running on the treadmill this year.

 

[lehto]

So, completely unrelated--can folks who have trained for the Princess in cold climates reassure me that I will be able to train? I just started running in March, and I'm looking at training plans and thinking about running 10-14 miles in the snow and ice here in New England. Any reassuring thoughts, tips, or ideas? (Or, hopefully not, "you're completely screwed, give up now"?)

Thanks.

Cate

I invested in Yak Traks last year for my long runs while training last year in NH. They took a bit of getting used to, but I love them! The slush on the other hand was more my pitfall. I tried to run outside as much as possible because I love the fresh air instead of spending hours on the dreadmill

 

[shellbelle76]

thank you so much for sharing your travel plans! i am in the camp of "need to get in without stress and then get home relatively quickly, while still managing to have some fun!" - carving out more than a few days away is tough. that said, i think i'm going to try to fly in on friday morning, fly out on monday. i live in a relatively isolated area where it will take about 10 hours for me to get to where i want to be (counting from when i leave my snow-covered house to when i walk out into the Florida sunshine). friday will be a long day, but i'll get to do a little bit of park fun on saturday/sunday (no intentions of doing TOO much walking on Saturday - there will be plenty of mileage on Sunday!!). same 10 hour journey on monday. and back to reality on tuesday!

with regards to running outside over the snow/ice, i'm very new to training, so i have no experience training in winter, but as i look ahead in my schedule, i, too, have been concerned about the potential for injury. i love stitchfan18's habit of looking ahead to when a big storm is coming and rearranging training accordingly. i am certain i'll be on the treadmill when i feel it's too dangerous to run outside, but i enjoy training outside and want to do it as often as i can. just boils down to being flexible in my planning! and being aware of what's coming. Love it!!

i'm so encouraged when i read about the achievements shared on this thread. what an incredible group of princesses?!? thank you, again, for sharing your plans for the weekend. VERY excited

xo,
shelley

 

[mountaineer]

Went back to the doc today. She released me and I am ready to run again. I'm going to take a few weeks slowly, I don't want to have my achilles flare up again. Feels good to be pain free.

The next 6 months are going to go by so fast!!

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Road trip this weekend so I got my long run done this morning. 7 miles in 97:01. I've had a knot in my calf most of the week so I paid attention to it every second, but thankfully it let me get the run in. Now between traveling and work, my next long run probably won't happen till mid-September.

 

[haleofafamily]

I love hearing about everyone's races and training. It keeps me so motivated!

I'm very slow and started running sprints with the family (all the boys are in some sort of football program and want to be in top condition ). My question is how to fit them into my training schedule. My plan is to lift weights Mon, Wed, and Fri; run Tues, Thurs, and Sat. Which day would be best to do the sprints? Would it hurt to do them more than once a week? (my kids loved it and asked if we could do it every night )

Merci

 

[saysay]

Went back to the doc today. She released me and I am ready to run again. I'm going to take a few weeks slowly, I don't want to have my achilles flare up again. Feels good to be pain free.

The next 6 months are going to go by so fast!!

Great news Marty!!!!! Happy running....and taking it easy is something I am doing also this year.

 

[CutePsuFeb2012]

I bought new shoes, and started my training for the 1/2.... I plan on sewing ruffles on my shorts, just for the heck of it! When I went to get my shoes today the sales dude totally looked at me like I'm nuts... trust me, I don't "look" like I'm going to be running/walking 13.1 miles in 6 months! HA!

 

[shellbelle76]

CutePsuFeb2012 - New shoes and you started your training!!! and

haleofafamily - your training plan inspires me. and i love that you run sprints with your family. so cool.

DisneyParrothead - 7 miles? Way to go, you!! enjoy your road trip

mountaineer - terrific news! so happy for you. and i, too, expect the next 6 months to go by fast.

Have a GREAT weekend, princesses!!

xo,
shelley

 

[tinkeramy]

I bought new shoes, and started my training for the 1/2.... I plan on sewing ruffles on my shorts, just for the heck of it! When I went to get my shoes today the sales dude totally looked at me like I'm nuts... trust me, I don't "look" like I'm going to be running/walking 13.1 miles in 6 months! HA!

You know what, if they judged everyone by who "looks" like they are going to be running, 3/4 of the population would be under scrutiny! Just remember one of the recurring phrases on this board - no matter your pace, you are still passing all of the people sitting on the couch!!! The one thing I learned from training last year is that this is totally do-able - you might be slow as Christmas, but you can absolutely do it. And this half is so much fun, with all the photo ops, that not many people are in it for speed, I think! I'm planning to do another half in March to get my "real" time. The Princess is all about fun! Congrats on the start of training; this is about the time I started training last year from complete couch potato mode and I found it was plenty of time.

In regards to a previous question about running in the winter weather - if you have access to a treadmill, I would def. hit that rather than risk an ice injury so close to the half. Otherwise, if it's just cold, it actually feels kinda good! Here in GA we don't get much snow & ice (except that one week in Jan where the heavens seem to unload and Atlanta is at a standstill!!) but if you have the right clothes on, you should be fine. I got a great running jacket from Nike.com (with MyCoke Rewards points - boo ya!) that is made for 40 degrees and below. It was great, and I often found myself rolling up the sleeves and unzipping, even in freezing temps b/c on 10 mile long runs, you get a little worked up!! You def. don't want to bundle up too much and then be running with all kinds of extra clothes tucked into your waist band and tied around you!

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Whoo hoo! Just ran my first 5k, 35:00. It was at Wild Rivers in Irvine and was so much fun! The course was set so that you ran about 2.5 miles, then ran 0.2 miles in the Lazy River, then finished out the course.

Also, Chik-Fil-A was a sponsor, and they had a Cow run the course. Whoever beat the cow to the finish line won a free C-F-A meal (the cow finished in about 22 minutes).

Let me tell ya, that River felt gooooooood!

 

[TMcDwyer]

Whoo hoo! Just ran my first 5k, 35:00. It was at Wild Rivers in Irvine and was so much fun! The course was set so that you ran about 2.5 miles, then ran 0.2 miles in the Lazy River, then finished out the course.

Also, Chik-Fil-A was a sponsor, and they had a Cow run the course. Whoever beat the cow to the finish line won a free C-F-A meal (the cow finished in about 22 minutes).

Let me tell ya, that River felt gooooooood!

CONGRATS!!!

I just signed up for my first 10K on Sept. 25. At times I still can't believe that I am paying money to get to run, but I am loving it!

 

[saysay]

Whoo hoo! Just ran my first 5k, 35:00. It was at Wild Rivers in Irvine and was so much fun! The course was set so that you ran about 2.5 miles, then ran 0.2 miles in the Lazy River, then finished out the course.

Also, Chik-Fil-A was a sponsor, and they had a Cow run the course. Whoever beat the cow to the finish line won a free C-F-A meal (the cow finished in about 22 minutes).

Let me tell ya, that River felt gooooooood!

That sounds like a FUN race! Great time too. We love our Chik Fil A here in Atlanta. Way to go.

 

[slp1650]

Whoo hoo! Just ran my first 5k, 35:00. It was at Wild Rivers in Irvine and was so much fun! The course was set so that you ran about 2.5 miles, then ran 0.2 miles in the Lazy River, then finished out the course.

Also, Chik-Fil-A was a sponsor, and they had a Cow run the course. Whoever beat the cow to the finish line won a free C-F-A meal (the cow finished in about 22 minutes).

Let me tell ya, that River felt gooooooood!

Aw, I wish I still lived in CA and knew about that! It sounds so cool!

Maybe Chik-Fil-A can do that for a race out in Orlando? I'll definitely do it... just to see the cow really.

 

[mountaineer]

I did ride the exercise bike for 2 weeks. It's hard for me to start totally over so this way I kept active. I didn't really like it, though.

I kept up with the thread for motivation, too. I'm like a lot of you, I'm 40 and could lose 20 pounds. I eat too much. I'm going to start writing down what I eat and focus better. I bought a new skirtsports skirt for Feb and it's a little too tight.

I love hearing about everone's races. I have one next Sat but I'm not sure how much of it I will run. I hope most of it, but I'm nervous about the foot. I have meds left so I'm prepared.

 

[Ateam97]

You know what, if they judged everyone by who "looks" like they are going to be running, 3/4 of the population would be under scrutiny! Just remember one of the recurring phrases on this board - no matter your pace, you are still passing all of the people sitting on the couch!!! The one thing I learned from training last year is that this is totally do-able - you might be slow as Christmas, but you can absolutely do it. And this half is so much fun, with all the photo ops, that not many people are in it for speed, I think! I'm planning to do another half in March to get my "real" time. The Princess is all about fun! Congrats on the start of training; this is about the time I started training last year from complete couch potato mode and I found it was plenty of time.

I really needed this encouragement today! Thank you!! I particularly loved this quote: "No matter your pace, you are still passing all of the people sitting on the couch."

 

[Nishmom]

Whoo hoo! Just ran my first 5k, 35:00. It was at Wild Rivers in Irvine and was so much fun! The course was set so that you ran about 2.5 miles, then ran 0.2 miles in the Lazy River, then finished out the course.

Also, Chik-Fil-A was a sponsor, and they had a Cow run the course. Whoever beat the cow to the finish line won a free C-F-A meal (the cow finished in about 22 minutes).

Let me tell ya, that River felt gooooooood!

IN the river?? Wow! What a fun summer race! Congrats - that's a darn good time!

 

[Nishmom]

I really needed this encouragement today! Thank you!! I particularly loved this quote: "No matter your pace, you are still passing all of the people sitting on the couch."

Oh yeah!! ALWAYS keep this in mind, ladies. Sometimes it's that thought and that thought only that keeps me going. Of course today it's couch potato for me as Hurricane Irene is bring rain and wind. Tomorrow: 7 miles and weather.com says it will be sunny!

 

[mamacate]

Thanks for all the good advice peeps! I appreciate it. I actually have a pair of yak trax I got for dog walking a few years ago, plus I work at a college so there's a gym with treadmills and even an indoor track. It's just hard to imagine running 12 miles on either of those! But if I have to, at least I have the option.

I'm not worried about the cold. Having started c25k in early march, I ran a handful of times in 20f weather. March is still winter here, sigh. It's when the snow piles up and the roads get really narrow that I'm worried about. If it's not super snowy, I should be fine. I've got pretty decent winter gear, and was planning ahead and got a few things on clearance last spring.

Today was the first time I've been able to run since Monday due to child care. I did just over 8 miles. It felt great, and I haven't had a great run in a while. I paced myself based on heart rate, trying to stay under 160, which was good because I tend to get very caught up in pace and burn myself out trying to go as fast as I think I SHOULD be going. So I stopped shoulding all over myself and had a great run. 15:30 pace so I'm ahead of the sweepers, right, even at an avg 75% MHR. Now I just have to stay ahead of the should monster.

I also stayed ahead of Irene, who is supposed to show up late tonight. Everybody stay safe!

Cate

 

[HockeyKat]

6th half complete! Garmin said 13.3 miles in 2:57. The race was not chip timed so I am taking my Garmin and not the "official" time.