Official 2016 Princess Half Marathon Thread

[sperkins921]

Why can't you run while you're gone? Nearly every hotel has a gym with a treadmill these days. It's not as enjoyable as running outside, but it's still a good option while traveling. Plus, keeping active and exercising while traveling keeps your body and mind sharp and can help with jet lag.

I agree with this, you should try to get some running in while you are gone. The treadmill is not fun, but better than nothing.

Also, I'm jealous of your trip! Sounds like fun.

The flight over to HKDL won't have me land until about 6pm on Saturday. So I will lose Friday and Saturday on the plane. Same for the return, Saturday and Sunday I will lose to travel. That leaves Sunday through Friday. Sunday I will be at HKDisneyland; so I'm being honest with myself that I will not run that day because I will spend it in the parks. Monday I leave HKG and fly to Tokyo. So Tu-Fri I will be at TKDLR. And likely, I won't get a whole lot of running in because I'll be in the parks and exploring Tokyo. If I get in a run, it certainly will not be a long run. I may cram in a short 5k or such, but I doubt I'll have the time and energy to run 10 miles on top of touring Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. I'm assuming that the MiraCosta has a gym, but I'm just trying to stay honest with myself given the situation.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

The flight over to HKDL won't have me land until about 6pm on Saturday. So I will lose Friday and Saturday on the plane. Same for the return, Saturday and Sunday I will lose to travel. That leaves Sunday through Friday. Sunday I will be at HKDisneyland; so I'm being honest with myself that I will not run that day because I will spend it in the parks. Monday I leave HKG and fly to Tokyo. So Tu-Fri I will be at TKDLR. And likely, I won't get a whole lot of running in because I'll be in the parks and exploring Tokyo. If I get in a run, it certainly will not be a long run. I may cram in a short 5k or such, but I doubt I'll have the time and energy to run 10 miles on top of touring Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. I'm assuming that the MiraCosta has a gym, but I'm just trying to stay honest with myself given the situation.

Ah, yes I don't blame you then. I thought maybe your trip was longer based on your first post. I think if it were me I would try to get in a short run, at least, mostly because I think it would be fun to do a run there. You will be getting plenty of walking time in.

 

[IrishMel21]

I have a question for those Resort (Grand Floridian & Boardwalk) pros!
We are staying at CBR for PHM Weekend and want to make sure we get different things in this trip. We still plan on doing 2 days at Parks, but also want to spend an afternoon at the Boardwalk and then dinner reservation at 1900 Park Fare.

My thought for Grand Floridian is from CBR is to take a shuttle to Epcot and then hop on the monorail for Grand Floridian (reverse to get back to CBR). My thought for Boardwalk is to take a shuttle from CBR to Epcot. However, what do I do from there? Can I walk over even though I'm not planning on going into Epcot, is there a walkway? Or do I have to take a shuttle from Epcot to Boardwalk Beach Club or Yacht Club resorts?

And another potential option is to walk around the Boardwalk for early afternoon and then head to Grand Floridian for our reservation. What's the easiest way to get from Boardwalk to Grand Floridian?

Am I understanding that right, or are there better ways to get there? TIA!

 

[IrishMel21]

Oops I just realized this is the Princess Half thread! Sorry all.

Oh yah, I'm going to go check out your instagram pics!!!

 

[preciouspups]

I haven't trained since last Wednesday. My body needed a break. A spasm in my lower back put me out on Friday. I was scheduled to run yesterday but we were at Great Wolf Lodge and my feet were killing me from walking around on the cement. Not to mention, the world was spinning from all the slides! I will repeat week five tomorrow

 

[Gryhndmom]

I'm late to the show but I just saw this thread today! I'm registered for the PHM 2016! I did it this year and it was my first half and I made so many mistakes on race day that I was only seconds away from getting swept! I managed not to get swept but did far worse than I wanted to do. 2016 will be personal redemption for me! Hope to meet some of you at the race!

Like your post and the can do, will do better attitude...you go Girl ! Look at your finish this way....you finished when lots of people didn't and some people didn't even try ! Look forward to reading about your training for 2016!

 

[kathleen27]

I have a question for those Resort (Grand Floridian & Boardwalk) pros!
We are staying at CBR for PHM Weekend and want to make sure we get different things in this trip. We still plan on doing 2 days at Parks, but also want to spend an afternoon at the Boardwalk and then dinner reservation at 1900 Park Fare.

My thought for Grand Floridian is from CBR is to take a shuttle to Epcot and then hop on the monorail for Grand Floridian (reverse to get back to CBR). My thought for Boardwalk is to take a shuttle from CBR to Epcot. However, what do I do from there? Can I walk over even though I'm not planning on going into Epcot, is there a walkway? Or do I have to take a shuttle from Epcot to Boardwalk Beach Club or Yacht Club resorts?

And another potential option is to walk around the Boardwalk for early afternoon and then head to Grand Floridian for our reservation. What's the easiest way to get from Boardwalk to Grand Floridian?

Am I understanding that right, or are there better ways to get there? TIA!

For Boardwalk, might be easier to go to DHS & you won't need a park ticket.
From CBR to Epcot you'd end up at the front outside the park. You'd need a park ticket to walk through Epcot to the international gateway (between France and England), exit the park and walk or take a boat to the Boardwalk.

If you take the CBR bus to DHS and you can catch a boat near but outside the DHS entrance, you can also walk but I have never done it. There are boats that run a continuous loop between Epcot (gateway entrance), Beach/Yacht Club, Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, and DHS.

From Boardwalk to Grand Floridian, I'd take the bus from Boardwalk to Magic Kingdom, then the resort monorail to GF.

 

[DVCFan1994]

For Boardwalk, might be easier to go to DHS & you won't need a park ticket.
From CBR to Epcot you'd end up at the front outside the park. You'd need a park ticket to walk through Epcot to the international gateway (between France and England), exit the park and walk or take a boat to the Boardwalk.

If you take the CBR bus to DHS and you can catch a boat near but outside the DHS entrance, you can also walk but I have never done it. There are boats that run a continuous loop between Epcot (gateway entrance), Beach/Yacht Club, Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, and DHS.

From Boardwalk to Grand Floridian, I'd take the bus from Boardwalk to Magic Kingdom, then the resort monorail to GF.

These are the same routes I was going to recommend. I will say I always walk the path from DHS to Boardwalk. It is a fairly quick walk. 15 minutes tops. Also, if you decide to go straight to GF from CBR, I'd skip the EPCOT choice. You would have to change monorails at the Ticket and Transportation center, and that can be tricky sometimes, depending on crowd levels. I would take a bus to MK and then either take the resort monorail to GF or resort boat from MK to GF.

 

[keahgirl8]

These are the same routes I was going to recommend. I will say I always walk the path from DHS to Boardwalk. It is a fairly quick walk. 15 minutes tops. Also, if you decide to go straight to GF from CBR, I'd skip the EPCOT choice. You would have to change monorails at the Ticket and Transportation center, and that can be tricky sometimes, depending on crowd levels. I would take a bus to MK and then either take the resort monorail to GF or resort boat from MK to GF.

I'm not going to the parks next year, so I have so much transportation to figure out. Didn't I see a website somewhere that helps you plan your route to and from anywhere on property?

 

[Ariel484]

I'm not going to the parks next year, so I have so much transportation to figure out. Didn't I see a website somewhere that helps you plan your route to and from anywhere on property?

This one?

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.Ve9s9mb3aJI

 

[zianha]

Please share those mistakes with us. This will be my first Disney run and my first half marathon.

Oh man! I feel like there were SOOOOOO many mistakes! First, during training last year, I never tried to push myself past the 10 mile mark. I use the Galloway method and was doing his training program that's on the runDisney web site. The week that I was supposed to do an 11 mile run/walk, I only went 10 miles and then I pretty much started making up my own training plan after that. I never increased my mileage beyond 10 miles. I should have stuck to the original training plan.

Next, I never followed or even tried to develop an actual hydration and running nutrition plan. Learned my lesson the hard way on race day....

I also did not get enough sleep the night before the race and ended up being nervous and not eating or drinking anything before the race (I had a pre-race meal planned but I was so nervous that I felt I was going to be sick if I ate). I hardly drank at the water stations because I was concerned with needing to use the restroom during the race. I got so many cramps during the race that it hurt just to walk! And I felt it for the next few days!

I didn't stick with my timed intervals during the race at all! This totally messed me up. I got all freaked out and didn't follow my plan at all.

Basically, I didn't properly train to go 13.1 miles and I didn't fuel before or during the race and didn't stay hydrated at all. Ugh. But now I know not to cut any corners and I'm preparing better to tackle this race!

You'll love doing runDisney! Just make sure you follow your training and fuel and hydrate properly!

 

[jwjulie]

Finally booked my airfare! I was hounding Southwest while on break at work, and saw a decent price - that had dropped significantly from before - and when I got home two hours later, it had dropped even more! That was the final piece of planning that I needed to tackle. Now, to continue training!

 

[keahgirl8]

This one?

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.Ve9s9mb3aJI

That's the one! Thank you!


So...mistakes. I made many. If you're not ready, don't run it as though you are. I had a bunch of medical issues derail my training, so I never got past 10 miles. For the last 6 weeks or so, I only ran 6 miles max at a time. I did no strength training. In spite of all that, I still ran it with my planned intervals, as though I was fully prepared. I did all 3 races. Run/walking with the same intervals I trained with, never really stopping or slowing down when I was in pain. 7 months later, and I'm still hurt and unable to run. If I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't have deferred, but I would have walked a lot more (if not all of it). Just listen to your body, and adjust. Be smart...is what I'm getting at.

 

[preciouspups]

I need to find a cheap tutu for a 1 mile fun run I'm doing in a few weeks. My friend and I are running it with our 8 year old sons. The boys are refusing to wear tutus. LOL! The race was free to sign up!

 

[Anisum]

I need to find a cheap tutu for a 1 mile fun run I'm doing in a few weeks. My friend and I are running it with our 8 year old sons. The boys are refusing to wear tutus. LOL! The race was free to sign up!

You could look on pintrest for tutorials on how to make your own. You only need tulle and an elastic band I believe. It's probably the cheapest unless you find one at a Halloween store.

 

[girliea]

Oh man! I feel like there were SOOOOOO many mistakes! First, during training last year, I never tried to push myself past the 10 mile mark. I use the Galloway method and was doing his training program that's on the runDisney web site. The week that I was supposed to do an 11 mile run/walk, I only went 10 miles and then I pretty much started making up my own training plan after that. I never increased my mileage beyond 10 miles. I should have stuck to the original training plan.

Next, I never followed or even tried to develop an actual hydration and running nutrition plan. Learned my lesson the hard way on race day....

I also did not get enough sleep the night before the race and ended up being nervous and not eating or drinking anything before the race (I had a pre-race meal planned but I was so nervous that I felt I was going to be sick if I ate). I hardly drank at the water stations because I was concerned with needing to use the restroom during the race. I got so many cramps during the race that it hurt just to walk! And I felt it for the next few days!

I didn't stick with my timed intervals during the race at all! This totally messed me up. I got all freaked out and didn't follow my plan at all.

Basically, I didn't properly train to go 13.1 miles and I didn't fuel before or during the race and didn't stay hydrated at all. Ugh. But now I know not to cut any corners and I'm preparing better to tackle this race!

You'll love doing runDisney! Just make sure you follow your training and fuel and hydrate properly!

Thanks for the post zianha! It does help to see what mistakes were made so that I will hopefully have the wisdom to learn from them instead of making them myself. Thanks for being humble enough to share...and good luck on your future races!

 

[IrishMel21]

These are the same routes I was going to recommend. I will say I always walk the path from DHS to Boardwalk. It is a fairly quick walk. 15 minutes tops. Also, if you decide to go straight to GF from CBR, I'd skip the EPCOT choice. You would have to change monorails at the Ticket and Transportation center, and that can be tricky sometimes, depending on crowd levels. I would take a bus to MK and then either take the resort monorail to GF or resort boat from MK to GF.

For Boardwalk, might be easier to go to DHS & you won't need a park ticket.
From CBR to Epcot you'd end up at the front outside the park. You'd need a park ticket to walk through Epcot to the international gateway (between France and England), exit the park and walk or take a boat to the Boardwalk.

If you take the CBR bus to DHS and you can catch a boat near but outside the DHS entrance, you can also walk but I have never done it. There are boats that run a continuous loop between Epcot (gateway entrance), Beach/Yacht Club, Boardwalk, Swan/Dolphin, and DHS.

From Boardwalk to Grand Floridian, I'd take the bus from Boardwalk to Magic Kingdom, then the resort monorail to GF.

Thank you both - this is exactly what I needed. You all rock!

 

[BriarRose59]

I can give you a piece of advice from a very uncomfortable newbie today. When I first started running in February i was put into Brooks Ravennas. I was having pain on the inside and outside of my knee area. I went to another running store where I was put into Brooks Pure Cadence 4. These were perfect for me! Since I'm stronger now I thought I would try the Ravennas again this past Monday for my 2 mile run. Big mistake! About mid afternoon I started having lower back discomfort. I took a hot soaking bath with Epsom salts and stretched. Yesterday it was still sore so I continued stretching and alternating heat and ice. Today when I got up I could barely stand it hurt so bad. Heat and slowly walking around my house has loosened it up some. I'm on my way to the chiropractor. Lesson learned! Don't switch shoe types within your training!

 

[preciouspups]

Question for you outdoor runners... what do you do when you have to go to the bathroom? Now that the weather is cooling, I would like to get in more outside runs but it never fails that I have to go about halfway in!

 

[SarahDisney]

Question for you outdoor runners... what do you do when you have to go to the bathroom? Now that the weather is cooling, I would like to get in more outside runs but it never fails that I have to go about halfway in!

I usually run in a park that has bathrooms, so it's not a big deal. If you can, try to plot a course that passes a restroom that you can use around halfway through.
The other option is to plot your course so that you'll pass your house around halfway through and can run into the house for a quick pit stop.

For me the hardest part is getting started again after my bathroom break. It always takes me a minute to two to get back into the right mindset.