Official 2012 Princess Half Marathon Thread!

[DeerIsleDisney]

For those of you using the Galloway training plans from RunDisney, how did you decide which plan to select? I think I might be somewhere in between the "beginning runner" and the "finish in an upright position" plans. Could I mix and match a bit? Perhaps use the pacing guides and mid-week run times from the "Finish in an Upright Position" with the long run distances of the "Beginning Runner" plan?

I was sporadically (0-3 times/week) running 3 miles in about 30 minutes when I started. Since Oct. 1, I've done two long runs of 6 miles (62 minutes) and 7.5 miles (77 minutes) using the 4/1 run walk ratio. I know I wasn't supposed to jump to 7.5 yet.. but I wanted to get some sense of whether I could do this before it gets cold and icy.

Any suggestions on which plan to use or whether a combo approach might work? Also, in the Galloway plan, do you count the warm-up period in the 30-45 minute workout times, or are you supposed to do the 10 minute warm-up first and then start the regular run/walk ratio for 30 minutes?

 

[italianlover]

For those of you using the Galloway training plans from RunDisney, how did you decide which plan to select? I think I might be somewhere in between the "beginning runner" and the "finish in an upright position" plans. Could I mix and match a bit? Perhaps use the pacing guides and mid-week run times from the "Finish in an Upright Position" with the long run distances of the "Beginning Runner" plan?

I was sporadically (0-3 times/week) running 3 miles in about 30 minutes when I started. Since Oct. 1, I've done two long runs of 6 miles (62 minutes) and 7.5 miles (77 minutes) using the 4/1 run walk ratio. I know I wasn't supposed to jump to 7.5 yet.. but I wanted to get some sense of whether I could do this before it gets cold and icy.

Any suggestions on which plan to use or whether a combo approach might work? Also, in the Galloway plan, do you count the warm-up period in the 30-45 minute workout times, or are you supposed to do the 10 minute warm-up first and then start the regular run/walk ratio for 30 minutes?

Let me first start off by saying I am NOT a professional runner like some on here but I think if you feel you can do better than the weekday run for the beginner plan than go for it! Somedays I feel like I can go more than 30 and I do other days I'm pushing to get to 30 but my long runs stay right on track.

 

[westgre]

I am following the Galloway beginner plan for my long runs, but I always run 3 miles on the short runs instead of time based 30 or 45 minutes.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Finished the longest run yet today: 8 mi in 1:28, which gave exactly 11 min miles!

The current plan I have puts race-day on Dec 18... so I'll have to find something else to add 2 more months. Maybe it'll be something between the Galloway "upright finish" and "time goal", though I haven't been using the run/walk or magic mile at all (it's been generally all running, with the occasional walk break for water, traffic light, or just to recover). Any other suggestions?

 

[JCH]

Let me first start off by saying I am NOT a professional runner like some on here but I think if you feel you can do better than the weekday run for the beginner plan than go for it! Somedays I feel like I can go more than 30 and I do other days I'm pushing to get to 30 but my long runs stay right on track.

The training stuff says if after 3 weeks you feel like you can do more, switch to the "to finish in the upright position" plan, which I think is basically what you said here.

 

[lifeasiseeit]

I managed to finish 5 miles today. It was a serious struggle, I had to take several serious breaks (not walking breaks...but actual non-moving breaks) I was definitely slower than I was prior to my little running break, but I stuck with it and managed to finish with a rough 10:00/mile (slightly over, but not much). It's a far cry from the 45:00 minutes I was aiming for a couple weeks ago, but I'm confident that eventually I'll get back there.

For anyone near/around Boston, I looked around for a couple of races again and found one that I am considering and one that I hope they do again:

I'm thinking about this one: http://runagainstcancer.org/holiday-5k/
I hope they do this one again: http://runagainstcancer.org/supersunday/

I'm thinking the Holiday 5k might be fun, but I'm running another 5k the following Sunday and I'm not sure if I can find anyone to run with...so I may or may not do it. We'll see.

 

[shellbelle76]

Okay, after literally an hour of comparing hotels, I bit the bullet and booked All Star Music for the Princess! I figured it made more sense to spend the same amount of money to stay to 2 nights there and not have to rush out of the hotel afterward than staying at Port Orleans.

YAY! Congrats on making a decision - and for getting two nights out of the stay!!

I have a 4 miler planned for tomorrow but was wondering how it effects your body if you run in the A.M. vs the P.M.? Obviously, it's better to train in the A.M. since Princess will be then but sometimes I just can't get my butt out of bed early enough! If I push it til P.M. I dread it and think about it and end up talking myself out of it so I know the A.M. is better for me. I'm trying harder and harder because I can't take the heat in FL either, lately its been gorgeous but I know the sun will be in full force again soon enough Any tricks to motivating yourself in the A.M.?
Also, I need new songs BAD!! I'm getting SO sick of listening to the same thing. How often do you download new songs? What's been your favorite lately to listen to during your runs? Thanks again for all your advice

I am a morning run kind of girl, too. By evening, I'm just so wiped out, a run is not happening... My only suggestion for motivating myself has been to take on the mantra of "no more excuses" day after day - for far too long, I was willing to give a million reasons as to why I couldn't exercise, eat better, etc. And so in the spring I decided to adopt a "no more excuses" attitude and while it may sound silly, I've found it to be incredibly effective in keeping me on track.

I had a very unique obstacle this week - ocean swells!

We had some very rocky weather on our ship's route (Boston-Bermuda-Boston) and I had to miss one of my conditioning runs altogether because I didn't think I'd be able to stay on the treadmill.

The weather was a little better last night, but it still had me all over the place on the treadmill and put some crazy strain on my right knee and calf. I had to walk a lot more than I normally would have, so I put up my slowest time and shortest distance to date. Boo to that.

Because we're behind this week, my husband and I are going to do our long run today rather than leaving a day in between. I'm comfortable with that considering yesterday was mostly walking - and we're docked in Bermuda, so we won't be fighting waves!

Enjoy your cruise!!! Hope you have nothing but smooth sailing from here on out!

For those of you using the Galloway training plans from RunDisney, how did you decide which plan to select? I think I might be somewhere in between the "beginning runner" and the "finish in an upright position" plans. Could I mix and match a bit? Perhaps use the pacing guides and mid-week run times from the "Finish in an Upright Position" with the long run distances of the "Beginning Runner" plan?

I was sporadically (0-3 times/week) running 3 miles in about 30 minutes when I started. Since Oct. 1, I've done two long runs of 6 miles (62 minutes) and 7.5 miles (77 minutes) using the 4/1 run walk ratio. I know I wasn't supposed to jump to 7.5 yet.. but I wanted to get some sense of whether I could do this before it gets cold and icy.

Any suggestions on which plan to use or whether a combo approach might work? Also, in the Galloway plan, do you count the warm-up period in the 30-45 minute workout times, or are you supposed to do the 10 minute warm-up first and then start the regular run/walk ratio for 30 minutes?

I take training plans as "suggested guidelines" and adjust to fit my schedule. I personally prefer to do warmup/cooldown in addition to the mileage/time in any plan. And it sounds like you could create a hybrid of the two plans without too much trouble - seems like a hybrid is a good fit for you. I know I have a weekend where I have an 8K when I'm supposed to just do 3 miles. Well, I'm going to just fiddle with it a bit to make it all work. And later in January, I'm running my first Half, so I need to figure out what to do with the 3 weekends in between my first half and the princess. But I'm convinced the most important thing is that we get the long runs in, and we dial it back a bit on a regular basis in order to keep from overtraining. Hope that helps

 

[DeerIsleDisney]

Thanks for all the great feedback on the Galloway plans! It's very helpful to hear about what others are doing re: training.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Went ahead and registered today to make Princess 1/2 #4 on my list (Did DLR/Wine and Dine and have the Space Coast 1/2 next month!)

Not worried so much for distance but would LOVE to shave 10+ min off my time before princess

The hardest part on registering? Picking a princess...

-em

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

I keep looking at this or POR and booking a princess room. Would that be too cheesy?

LoL I have a friend who did it. If I could get a discount on it I would too, just to check them out.

For those of you using the Galloway training plans from RunDisney, how did you decide which plan to select? I think I might be somewhere in between the "beginning runner" and the "finish in an upright position" plans. Could I mix and match a bit? Perhaps use the pacing guides and mid-week run times from the "Finish in an Upright Position" with the long run distances of the "Beginning Runner" plan?

Any suggestions on which plan to use or whether a combo approach might work? Also, in the Galloway plan, do you count the warm-up period in the 30-45 minute workout times, or are you supposed to do the 10 minute warm-up first and then start the regular run/walk ratio for 30 minutes?

I choose the time goal plan because I had a new time goal I wanted to hit. I wanted to cut a hefty amount off my time (almost 30 minutes) so I knew I would have to train hard to do it. I am getting ready to start week 6 (for the Tinker Bell) and so far so good.
I agree with the pp and you should be able to mix and match the plans a bit to better fit your needs.
I walk for about 5 minute before I start my training time. I don't want the warm up or cool down to effect my over pace (according to my watch) so I don't start my watch until I am ready to start running.

The current plan I have puts race-day on Dec 18... so I'll have to find something else to add 2 more months. Maybe it'll be something between the Galloway "upright finish" and "time goal", though I haven't been using the run/walk or magic mile at all (it's been generally all running, with the occasional walk break for water, traffic light, or just to recover). Any other suggestions?

I am following Galloway's program for the Tinker Bell so I have about a month between that and the Princess. Right now my plan is to just follow the Tinker Bell plan. It has me do the half and then the next week do 5 miles, then 14, then 5 and then it would be time for the Princess.
I did my first repeats yesterday but I haven't done any MM either. I don't completely *get* them so I haven't been too concerned about getting them in.

Went ahead and registered today to make Princess 1/2 #4 on my list (Did DLR/Wine and Dine and have the Space Coast 1/2 next month!)

Not worried so much for distance but would LOVE to shave 10+ min off my time before princess

The hardest part on registering? Picking a princess...

-em

The Princess will be my 3rd and I feel the same way as you. For this years Princess I was much more worried about the distance. Now that I have done it the distance doesn't scare me as much, but for the Tinker Bell I want to cut about 27 minutes off my time (put me at 2:30). I am thinking the Princess will be somewhere between the two.

 

[lifeasiseeit]

Hi,

Got another question. I've seen a lot of people talking about various running apps, and I've tried a couple before but they just never really worked well for me. Maybe I'll give one of them a try again now that I'm a more experienced runner, but just in case I nee to come up with an alternative if I plan on running outside.

I've been thinking about getting a Garmin (305 or 205), but I wonder if it's any better than the apps? And my bigger question...does it get 'confused' by running in circles? I'm guessing that using it on a treadmill would be pointless, but if I run a circle (say around a park), would it pick up the entire distance?

Thanks!

 

[tinkeramy]

Okay - was shooting for my next half (last year's Princess is my only one so far) to be the Atlanta Half on Thksgvg. However, hubs is wanting to do a local 10K that day, oldest DS is prob. up for the fun run and will have to shuttle DS 2 &3 to FIL's house for all this to go on. Found another half somewhat nearby - next Saturday!!! Since I did 10 miles yesterday, I think it's totally do-able - and I'm so happy to be able to say that! I found another one that's in early November, but - get this - it's a 1.1 mile loop that you run ELEVEN times and then a short out-and-back to make up the difference. Can you imagine running the same flippin' mile 11 times?! I think they would have to pay ME to do that one. So.... this Saturday it might be! It will be exciting to get a benchmark time; the Princess is the only thing I have to go on right now and I was most certainly not running that one for time. So, hey - I'm almost guaranteed a PR, right?!

 

[HockeyKat]

Hi,

Got another question. I've seen a lot of people talking about various running apps, and I've tried a couple before but they just never really worked well for me. Maybe I'll give one of them a try again now that I'm a more experienced runner, but just in case I nee to come up with an alternative if I plan on running outside.

I've been thinking about getting a Garmin (305 or 205), but I wonder if it's any better than the apps? And my bigger question...does it get 'confused' by running in circles? I'm guessing that using it on a treadmill would be pointless, but if I run a circle (say around a park), would it pick up the entire distance?

Thanks!

I have a Garmin 405. I find it to be MUCH better than the running apps (and you are talking to someone that is cheaper than cheap).

I also have the Garmin footpod, so it will work on the treadmill as well as outside.

Running around a circle, as long as you are outside, will work just fine with a Garmin (20x and up).

Okay - was shooting for my next half (last year's Princess is my only one so far) to be the Atlanta Half on Thksgvg. However, hubs is wanting to do a local 10K that day, oldest DS is prob. up for the fun run and will have to shuttle DS 2 &3 to FIL's house for all this to go on. Found another half somewhat nearby - next Saturday!!! Since I did 10 miles yesterday, I think it's totally do-able - and I'm so happy to be able to say that! I found another one that's in early November, but - get this - it's a 1.1 mile loop that you run ELEVEN times and then a short out-and-back to make up the difference. Can you imagine running the same flippin' mile 11 times?! I think they would have to pay ME to do that one. So.... this Saturday it might be! It will be exciting to get a benchmark time; the Princess is the only thing I have to go on right now and I was most certainly not running that one for time. So, hey - I'm almost guaranteed a PR, right?!

You can SO do this Saturday!!! Let us now how it goes.

If you want to take a short jaunt north, though, you are welcome to come do the City of Oaks with me in Raleigh on Nov 6th...

 

[ColleenG]

Hi,

Got another question. I've seen a lot of people talking about various running apps, and I've tried a couple before but they just never really worked well for me. Maybe I'll give one of them a try again now that I'm a more experienced runner, but just in case I nee to come up with an alternative if I plan on running outside.

I've been thinking about getting a Garmin (305 or 205), but I wonder if it's any better than the apps? And my bigger question...does it get 'confused' by running in circles? I'm guessing that using it on a treadmill would be pointless, but if I run a circle (say around a park), would it pick up the entire distance?

Thanks!

I have the Garmin 205 and LOVE it! I got it after the apps I was using were just so ridiculously off for tracking my distacnce. I had been using RunKeeper and iMapMyRun. I don't know if it was the app or just the GPS on my phone stinks. Both apps are free so no money lost there. Maybe try the apps and then recheck the distance by car to see if they are close. I did a 4 mile run that the app (forget which one) said was 6 miles. That's really not helping me with my training.

The Garmin is fine if you are running in circles. I ran a loop twice and it was fine. Oddly enough the apps worked better when I was running on the high school track.

Today I hit a new PR distance. I did 6.7 miles. I'm hoping to push it out to 7 later in the week. Now I have another toe nail that is getting all gross. The other one just looks weirder by the day. I wish it would just fall off already. For those of you who have lost toe nails in the past, once the new nail grew in, did you have any problems with the new nail turning black or purple as mine seem to be doing?

 

[HockeyKat]

I have the Garmin 205 and LOVE it! I got it after the apps I was using were just so ridiculously off for tracking my distacnce. I had been using RunKeeper and iMapMyRun. I don't know if it was the app or just the GPS on my phone stinks. Both apps are free so no money lost there. Maybe try the apps and then recheck the distance by car to see if they are close. I did a 4 mile run that the app (forget which one) said was 6 miles. That's really not helping me with my training.

The Garmin is fine if you are running in circles. I ran a loop twice and it was fine. Oddly enough the apps worked better when I was running on the high school track.

Today I hit a new PR distance. I did 6.7 miles. I'm hoping to push it out to 7 later in the week. Now I have another toe nail that is getting all gross. The other one just looks weirder by the day. I wish it would just fall off already. For those of you who have lost toe nails in the past, once the new nail grew in, did you have any problems with the new nail turning black or purple as mine seem to be doing?

Woo on the PR distance!!

Maybe your shoes are too small? I lost one toenai early last yearl, and then got (larger) new shoes and have had no issues since. If you are losing toenails, you may want to go up a half size.

 

[DeerIsleDisney]

Hi,

Got another question. I've seen a lot of people talking about various running apps, and I've tried a couple before but they just never really worked well for me. Maybe I'll give one of them a try again now that I'm a more experienced runner, but just in case I nee to come up with an alternative if I plan on running outside.

I've been thinking about getting a Garmin (305 or 205), but I wonder if it's any better than the apps? And my bigger question...does it get 'confused' by running in circles? I'm guessing that using it on a treadmill would be pointless, but if I run a circle (say around a park), would it pick up the entire distance?

Thanks!

I've heard the Garmin's are great, but I'm not quite ready to spring for one yet. I'm using Nike+ in the meantime and it works pretty well. You fit a small sensor into your shoe (or onto the laces if not a Nike+ shoe) and it talks to your iPod. About $20 for the sensor and the app is free. Once I calibrated it, the distance seems to be accurate. I like that it lets you play your iTunes playlists and it is easy to get updates on your time, distance, and pace while you run. Bonus: you get motivational messages from Lance Armstrong, etc when you hit a PR.

 

[pjpoohbear]

Colleen, I also got new shoes just after messing up my long toe and bruising it so bad it fell off about eight weeks later, as the new nail came in underneath. But the new nail is good, no discolouration or soreness, I went up 1/2 size, just could not deal with having a size 11 shoe.

Pj

 

[TiggerAllie]

I use the free iMapMyRun on my iPhone 4--it works great. I never have any problems with the distances, so it may be the GPS in my phone. It does well even when just running around the park a few times.

Speaking of shoes... at what point do you need to replace them? I've had the current pair for quite some time, and have put over 150 mi on them since June (and probably put at least 50-75 mi on them sporadically before that). They don't bother me at all, but I'm sure the deterioration is gradual. I'm nervous about breaking in a new pair (especially as my distances are getting longer and we get closer to the race).

 

[ColleenG]

Woo on the PR distance!!

Maybe your shoes are too small? I lost one toenai early last yearl, and then got (larger) new shoes and have had no issues since. If you are losing toenails, you may want to go up a half size.

Thanks Kat! The toes only started acting up when I got my new orthotics and running longer distances. But my shoes have always been a little tight in the toe box. I just got them in May and hate to shell out the $$$$ to buy another pair. UGH

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

TiggerAllie:
Regarding replacing shoes, it depends on who you ask, but a middle of the road recommendation is to replace your running shoes every 300 miles. I've seen as high as every 500 miles. It may very well depend on what surface you are running on. I would suspect roads are much harder on your shoes than say a track or a treadmill. You could get another pair and alternate the 2 that way you have a fresh pair ready to go for the Princess and then you can retire your old pair. If you buy the same shoe you will be able to compare the comfort of the 2 and get a better idea how worn out your old ones are.