Official 2016 Princess Half Marathon Thread

[SarahDisney]

Wow, I've been doing straight running because I kind of need the confirmation that I can run a good portion of it if I'm being chased by balloon ladies but I'll have to try and work more on intervals when I finish my current training plan.

I started off with intervals but slowly switched over to straight running for similar reasons - I wanted to know that if I had to, I could run it all (or most of it). I thought that intervals were for beginners and "real runners" ran the whole thing. Well, I switched back to intervals for the summer (the heat and I are not friends) and I don't think I'm going back to straight running. For me, I'm at a similar pace (sometimes faster) with intervals as I was without and mentally it's a lot easier for me. I think that being able to run away when you see the sweepers is good, but you may be able to maintain a better pace with the intervals and not have to worry as much about the dreaded balloon ladies and sweepers!

Also - remember that the balloon ladies aren't the official sweepers. If you fall behind them at any point, you may get a chance to catch up before the runDisney officials catch you at the next sweeping point (they only sweep at certain points along the course).

 

[sperkins921]

@SarahDisney Are the sweeping points the same for the course year to year? Ie on the W/D are the points the same or do they change? Thought it might be helpful to know for some....

I can say I'm much faster with intervals than without. I have an easier time maintaining my pace and kind of internally knowing I'm at pace without watching my garmin when I use intervals than when I don't.

 

[SarahDisney]

@SarahDisney Are the sweeping points the same for the course year to year? Ie on the W/D are the points the same or do they change? Thought it might be helpful to know for some....

That I don't know ... there may be others here with more experience who know how consistent the sweeping points are (and where they are).
If you search google you may be able to find reports and blogs from people who have been swept ... I know I've seen some for marathon weekend races. You can use those as a guide for where the sweepers have been in the past.
There have been reports in some races (not sure if W/D is one of them) of them sweeping within the first few miles of the race, so you do have to be close to pace at the beginning, but they don't sweep inside parks, so you can slow down a bit and relax there. But definitely see if you can find some reports from past years - that's where you'll get the best information.

I can say I'm much faster with intervals than without. I have an easier time maintaining my pace and kind of internally knowing I'm at pace without watching my garmin when I use intervals than when I don't.

For me, I am sometimes a little faster, but not always significantly. But it's a lot easier for me to maintain the pace and not feel like I'm dying. To me, that's more important than the speed - the mental aspect of knowing that even if it's hard now, I'll get a walk break soon - so I'm willing to push myself a little more to get to that walk break and not just give up and check out.
I really don't care that much about my pace - I always have a goal pace in mind, but if I don't reach it, I don't beat myself up about it too much. It's nice to be fast, but it's more important to finish in one piece and not want to die at the end.

 

[Ariel484]

In my opinion...there's way too much focus on the sweeping points and balloon ladies. Just focus on training!
ETA: And I don't just mean here, I mean everywhere I read about runDisney races.

 

[DVCFan1994]

In my opinion...there's way too much focus on the sweeping points and balloon ladies. Just focus on training!
ETA: And I don't just mean here, I mean everywhere I read about runDisney races.

Totally agree with this. I read and heard so much about them before GSC 2014 I was totally panicked about getting swept even though logically I had very little reason to be. I was in corral F for the half, so started way ahead of the sweepers timewise. Enough that even if I walked the whole race at a comfortable pace for me (16:30 mile usually) I would not have been caught by them. True disaster would have had to strike for them to really be a threat, and yet when my knee acted up between mile 4 and 5 I was really nervous, constantly trying to calculate paces and my start vs. theirs etc in my head while running. I knew my family was watching me go by BLT and then heading to EPCOT for the finish a little while after. I was running and texting (DUMB) my husband to watch out the window at BLT and/or on the monorail for the sweepers and tell me when he saw them and where so I could try to figure out how far back they were from me. I mean come on, that is crazy In the end I was on the monorail home to my hotel when I passed over the sweepers. All that worry and time not enjoying the atmosphere for nothing. Tell yourself now you will be fine and you will. There is so much time still to train, it is not worth worrying about now, put all that energy into training

 

[bumbershoot]

But...not everyone who wants to know about sweeping will then worry about it. For me, knowing about it is good. I never worried once about it. NOt even when "running" with what had to have been the plague (ha) in Jan 2014, being soooo slow, feeling soooo bad...I had my Garmin, and even though I fooled myself by pausing it while in the bathroom (I can't do math while running so I was relying on it, and didn't even think about how just b/c my watch was paused it didn't pause time), I was still well ahead of sweepers. And I knew it.

It's just knowledge, to find out about them.

Some of us go one way with the info, others go another way. But the knowledge is good.

 

[Ariel484]

It's good until people being to obsess over it. Not saying that is what is happening here (yet), but I see it happen with every race and i feel bad that people get so panicked.

 

[SarahDisney]

It's good until people being to obsess over it. Not saying that is what is happening here (yet), but I see it happen with every race and i feel bad that people get so panicked.

Definitely this.
A little discussion isn't a bad thing. I think that for a lot of people it's important to know that it's a possibility, and it makes some people (myself included) feel better to know as much as possible.
But there's a very fine line between being informed and obsessing, and I think that we all need to remember that. It's okay to discuss it a little, but I don't think any of us want to become too obsessed - we're all training, and I think it's highly unlikely that any of us will get swept. So there's nothing to really panic about, and as long as we remember that, I think a little discussion is okay.

 

[DVCFan1994]

It's good until people being to obsess over it. Not saying that is what is happening here (yet), but I see it happen with every race and i feel bad that people get so panicked.

This is my feeling. I feel like as the race got close in 2014, and corrals were released there was a good bit of talk here and other places about sweepers, ballon ladies, paces to avoid being swept, amount of times between corrals and how that factored in, etc. If you can really take all that in and not worry, more power to you. I was one of many people already nervous for a first race and then injured on top of it, that just got too caught up in other peoples hysteria.

I agree, it is good to know there is a required pace to keep, and good to be aware of some common sweep points, but outside of that I think it often quickly spirals into a lot of unnecessary stress.

 

[S'Mores]

I have to say that it helped my mom and I a lot to know "Okay you have to make it to that overpass before the balloon ladies or your swept." and then later "Once you are in Epcot you are save they can't sweep you" helped us to finish! For the 2014 PHM the balloon ladies were what Disney was using for sweeping. They were the official pacers for the final corral and if you were behind them at certain points you would be swept. We learned this just outside MK when there was a man yelling "Ladies, you must beat those balloons or you are done! I don't want to be rude but you better hurry! Those buses will pull out behind the balloons and you will be on it if you are not in front of or with those balloons" That will forever be imprinted on my brain! We booked it and then spent the rest of the race looking over our shoulders. While I am not too worried about it for any runDisney race because I survived that one, I will be looking for advice on where they sweep to help ease my anxiety while actually running. For me knowledge keeps the anxiety dragon off of my chest. So while yes don't fret about it and train well works as my philosophy now, I also know that when I'm running I can't control that freak out building and run with out some knowledge to slay the dragon, so I will be preparing.

 

[Keels]

In my opinion...there's way too much focus on the sweeping points and balloon ladies. Just focus on training!
ETA: And I don't just mean here, I mean everywhere I read about runDisney races.

It's good until people begin to obsess over it. Not saying that is what is happening here (yet), but I see it happen with every race and i feel bad that people get so panicked.

100% this.

Put in the miles, and the balloon ladies won't even matter! Also, support your area running community by doing a local race for PoT to not only get a good idea of your pace and finish, but also get that needed PoT to get you a buffer from the back.

I've mentioned it on other threads, but I had a friend/former co-worker swept just past the 3-mile mark of the WDW Half earlier this year. She spent quite a good deal of the prior year training, but it was never more than 4 miles and never on anything other a treadmill. She had no idea what an actual road race situation would be, and thought because she could get right around that 16:00/mile pace on the treadmill at the beginning of her workout that she would be fine. She was definitely disappointed, especially because of how much the race cost and it really put a damper on her weekend vacation with the family. But it has motivated her to train harder and try it again next year!

 

[Ariel484]

I'm not saying to pretend like they don't exist - and I absolutely do think people need to be aware of the time constraints (trust me, I have strong thoughts on that one). I'm just saying, as @SarahDisney said, that there's a fine line. It's unfortunate when it gets to a point where peoples' fear of the balloon ladies outweighs their excitement for the races themselves.

Aaaaaand fin.

 

[S'Mores]

I'm not saying to pretend like they don't exist - and I absolutely do think people need to be aware of the time constraints (trust me, I have strong thoughts on that one). I'm just saying, as @SarahDisney said, that there's a fine line. It's unfortunate when it gets to a point where peoples' fear of the balloon ladies outweighs their excitement for the races themselves.

Aaaaaand fin.

Oh yes I agree whole heartily with not letting the fear outweigh the fun! For me knowing where they sweep and at what pace etc helps keep that fear from eating me alive and ruining the run. We ended up loving running with the balloon ladies. They cheer you on, give you tips to keep going and even sing to keep you going! I love them! I just did not like missing meeting Stitch on the race because they were right behind me

 

[Ariel484]

Oh yes I agree whole heartily with not letting the fear outweigh the fun! For me knowing where they sweep and at what pace etc helps keep that fear from eating me alive and ruining the run. We ended up loving running with the balloon ladies. They cheer you on, give you tips to keep going and even sing to keep you going! I love them! I just did not like missing meeting Stitch on the race because they were right behind me

I've heard that they are really fun and nice! It's really nice of them to do what they do, seems like it can be a thankless job.

 

[bumbershoot]

But there's a very fine line between being informed and obsessing

You're asking runners to not obsess about fine points of races?

Hmm.

How many pairs of shoes do most of each of us have, now? What about our GPS watches? What about food?

It's unfortunate when it gets to a point where peoples' fear of the balloon ladies outweighs their excitement for the races themselves.

Who says anyone has to be excited about a race? I haven't been excited about ANY race. Still not sure why I do them. They are there, I do them.

Everyones' reactions are their own. It's not anyone's responsibility that I haven't really enjoyed a rundisney event yet (though if I ever meet the weather gods or germ gods I'm going to have a little chat), and it's no one else's worry if something they mention causes another person to think a lot about something.

 

[keahgirl8]

I agree with what everyone is saying here about balloon ladies, sweeping, corrals, etc. Be aware of the facts, train to the best of your ability, do the best you can during the race, and that's it. Enjoy yourself, or there is no point in spending all this money for a Disney race!

 

[FFigawi]

I've heard that they are really fun and nice! It's really nice of them to do what they do, seems like it can be a thankless job.

Here's a great article about them. I love the line "In all of sport, few figures are more feared than the balloon ladies."

 

[Anisum]

I guess for me the concern is that I might be too slow as I only started running recently and still average 14:30-15min miles. Every time I train though I get more confident that I'll be able to do it. I get more and more excited for the race every day. For me being swept is only a fear because I spent the money and time to get down there and I don't want to go home without completing the race.

That being said I think I could do well as a balloon lady if anyone ever needed a spare. 16 minutes sounds like a wonderful pace to keep.

 

[Ariel484]

...well, anyway...

So how's training going everyone?

 

[Ariel484]

Here's a great article about them. I love the line "In all of sport, few figures are more feared than the balloon ladies."

I guess for me the concern is that I might be too slow as I only started running recently and still average 14:30-15min miles. Every time I train though I get more confident that I'll be able to do it. I get more and more excited for the race every day. For me being swept is only a fear because I spent the money and time to get down there and I don't want to go home without completing the race.

That being said I think I could do well as a balloon lady if anyone ever needed a spare. 16 minutes sounds like a wonderful pace to keep.

You've still got lots of time, and I think you have hit on a very important point - training will help you both physically AND mentally to get there.