Official 2016 5th Anniversary Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend!

[Jackie Skellington]

I've just never been out there and on property isn't an option cost wise so its great to hear my gut instinct was the right call.

Now to worry about transportation between LAX. I'm not sure if I'm going with the disney transportation or not.

I too use Super Shuttle often and it's only 20-30 mins from Orange County (John Wayne Airport) which is so much easier to get in and out of than LAX. You can usually google coupons for super shuttle and get 10% off.

 

[Ariel484]

Disneyland Express only picks up once an hour, right? That was the deal breaker for me.

 

[flvy]

Oh my gosh this super shuttle thing looks AMAZING. It seems like a great deal if you can be a little patient while waiting on the shared shuttle. I can wait for something that costs less than $20. I love all these tips so much. The two biggest questions in my planning have been eliminated in a day.

 

[Keels]

Disneyland Express only picks up once an hour, right? That was the deal breaker for me.

During busy times, yeah - outside of those, you're looking at every 75-90 minutes. Plus, (#YayAirlines), just a few minutes delay either on the tarmac or at baggage claim and you could just miss the bus and be waiting for way longer.

 

[Ariel484]

During busy times, yeah - outside of those, you're looking at every 75-90 minutes. Plus, (#YayAirlines), just a few minutes delay either on the tarmac or at baggage claim and you could just miss the bus and be waiting for way longer.

Yeah, that was why I didn't do it. Didn't want to just miss a shuttle and be stuck waiting around.

 

[Keels]

Yeah, that was why I didn't do it. Didn't want to just miss a shuttle and be stuck waiting around.

That's exactly what happened to my friend - thought they had a 45-minute cushion and then delays made them miss the bus by like 5 minutes.

Luckily, you can also do SuperShuttle when you arrive (just walk outside to the stop and they'll match you then).

 

[Ariel484]

Also...new toy!

 

[Ariel484]

That's exactly what happened to my friend - thought they had a 45-minute cushion and then delays made them miss the bus by like 5 minutes.

Luckily, you can also do SuperShuttle when you arrive (just walk outside to the stop and they'll match you then).

Yeah, no. The risk of losing Disney time is unacceptable.

 

[Keels]

Yeah, no. The risk of losing Disney time is unacceptable.

Especially when traffic from LAX (or anywhere in SoCal) is THE WORST. Just different levels of THE WORST.

Also, man - I meant to tell you earlier but did you hit the jackpot OR WHAT when you got your PAP in September. I'm kicking myself for not doing that - with the DLR price increase, you basically got a WDW AP for, um, free.

 

[Ariel484]

Especially when traffic from LAX (or anywhere in SoCal) is THE WORST. Just different levels of THE WORST.

Also, man - I meant to tell you earlier but did you hit the jackpot OR WHAT when you got your PAP in September. I'm kicking myself for not doing that - with the DLR price increase, you basically got a WDW AP for, um, free.

I KNOW. That price increase was insane. Whew!!

 

[Ariel484]

Just got an email from runDisney with some good reminders! Pasting it here for anyone that didn't get it:

These are the links from the email...
Proof of Time Submission (due by February 2): http://www.trackshackresults.com/disneysports/proof/tb/proof.php
Proof of Time Information: http://www.rundisney.com/tinker-bell-half-marathon/registration/#proof-of-time
Pacing Chart: http://www.rundisney.com/tinker-bell-half-marathon/registration/#pacing
Training Plans: http://www.rundisney.com/training/running/
Nutrition: http://www.rundisney.com/training/nutrition/

 

[courtneybeth]

Can someone do me a huge favor and explain the "light wand waving" warning. Do you have a picture of it?

I'm terrified of sweepers and I'm doing my best to not get picked up during my 10K. I'm at a 14.5 minute mile presently and am hoping to get that sucker down to about 12.5-13 mins when doing my training program.

 

[Ariel484]

@courtneybeth I found this on runDisney.com: "Pace Cyclists will be on the course indicating when runners are behind pace by waving light wands at each mile markers according to the official pace time."

The cyclists are the official pacers...people mostly talk about the Balloon Ladies, but the cyclists are the ones that really enforce the pacing.

Don't forget two things:
1. The sweep clock starts when the very last runner crosses the starting line. As long as you are not the very last person to start the race, you WILL get some extra buffer time in addition to the 16:00/mile
2. It's only December. You still have tons of time to train and gain both speed and confidence!

 

[jennynoel]

@courtneybeth - remember that the pacer is for the very last corral, too. I don't know how the corrals work for the 10k, but I'm guessing if you signed up as a sub 14:00 minute miler you will not be in the last corral, which will give you additional padding. I was worried about the sweep when I ran the Tink Half last year. I was in the last corral because I didn't have proof of time. They had a walker carrying a flag for the "official" pace time of 16:00. I kept an eye on her around some of the curves during the first half of the race, to make sure I had time for a few photo ops. I ended up running it in 3:03 and got in a couple of great photos (although I didn't take time to wait for any character photos.) I'm hoping to improve my time this year and to qualify for an earlier corral - I don't really care about my finishing time but now that I know the course I want to have time for a character photo or two!

 

[courtneybeth]

@Ariel484 and @jennynoel - thanks for this insight. Whew. I'm not so scared now.

I'm in the system as a 12ish minute miler, as I hope that is where I'll be when I'm done with training. I'm starting Couch 2 10K when I get back from Disney World (moving it up a week to 12/26 - why wait?!) and will be working hard to improve my stamina. I'm not worried about speed but more of the stamina - I want to keep going for longer periods of time and that'll eventually get me to where I am hoping to be

Both of you guys have eased my fears. THANK YOU!

 

[Ariel484]

@Ariel484 and @jennynoel - thanks for this insight. Whew. I'm not so scared now.

I'm in the system as a 12ish minute miler, as I hope that is where I'll be when I'm done with training. I'm starting Couch 2 10K when I get back from Disney World (moving it up a week to 12/26 - why wait?!) and will be working hard to improve my stamina. I'm not worried about speed but more of the stamina - I want to keep going for longer periods of time and that'll eventually get me to where I am hoping to be

Both of you guys have eased my fears. THANK YOU!

You're smart to not fixate on speed too much. I think that's a mistake that newer runners make and it can be super frustrating. I'm sure you will be totally fine if you stick to your training plan!

 

[flvy]

My Garmin shipped out today. I cannot wait to play with it!! Now if the shipping on some of my cold weather gear would stop being pushed back...

 

[Anisum]

On the subject of the Dinseyland Express the lack of hourly pick-ups sucks but it's much better than the shady van that it was recommended I take last time since it dropped off at my hotel (which was a mile from Disney while still in Anaheim) I was half expecting to be murdered. My friend took the far more reputable Super Shuttle however her trip took three hours from LAX to Anaheim. Not due to traffic which is an event in it of itself but due to the shuttle stopping to drop a former NFL player off at their home and the shuttle driver holding them all up since the guy was letting everyone on the shuttle tour the house.

I would rent a car, or wait for the Disneyland Express because losing an hour in Disney is way preferable to the other interesting adventures one goes on when leaving LAX.

 

[flvy]

My Garmin Forerunner just got here I'm so excited! I'm so mad tomorrow is a rest day.

 

[WDWarchitectureguy]

So excited for this event since I'm a Legacy runner but just realized it's only 3 weeks after the Dark Side Challenge! I know lots of people do back to back weekends in January...anyone have any advice for recovering and getting back up to speed quickly?

Just keep training and keeping up your maintenance runs during the week with maybe an 8 to 10 miler the weekend after Dark side, then taper. Back to backs are easier than you'd think. Just have to train for it or just don't stop training. The month of December I have a half every weekend except the day after Christmas. Then have a Double Double. New Years Eve and New Years Day. A double is 2 halves or fulls in a single weekend. A double double is 2 races both days one of the races being a half or full. Since I did Dopey 2015, this is my new challenge. New Years Eve is a 5K, finish, 10 minute break, start a Half. Repeat the next day. Awesome bling.

I'm terrified of sweepers and I'm doing my best to not get picked up during my 10K. I'm at a 14.5 minute mile presently and am hoping to get that sucker down to about 12.5-13 mins when doing my training program.

At a consistent 14.5 mm don't even worry about pacers or sweepers. Just find your groove and go.

As for the PDC medal. I was disappointed just because it's large and busy and unless you know the different fairy classes (which I didn't until afterwards) it just didn't make sense.
Also it's just one more medal that's larger than the Dopey medal. I'm still bitter. Train for months and complete 48.6 miles in 4 days and the medal is smaller than the C2C medal. Hell, it's smaller than most of the medals out there for any of the new races.