Official 2017 Star Wars - Light Side Half Marathon Weekend (Jan 12th - 15th, 2017)

[Dis_Yoda]

Did some planning for this trip yesterday - booked the Noon Warner Brothers Studio Tour for after the 10K and our VIP Universal Hollywood Tour for MLK Day! (We have a car this trip)

Now to work on ADR planning.

 

[kirstie101]

Yea, I'm chatting with a few TA now. Problem is I want to get an annual pass for DL as I'm going to be back again later in the year. I wonder if you can use that 1day ticket value towards an AP???

I registered with a TA for Rebel Challenge. My TA was fairly sure that will be able to upgrade my ticket (I'm actually getting a 3 day hopper just in case) to an AP at the ticket boot.

 

[94bruin]

Where do people like to eat the night before the race? We're coming in the day before the 10k and will not be in the parks. DTD or nearby will be fine. Thanks!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Where do people like to eat the night before the race? We're coming in the day before the 10k and will not be in the parks. DTD or nearby will be fine. Thanks!

The past two years we've done the following:

Friday Night - Naples
Saturday Night - Steakhouse 55

It works really well for us - we like do our heavy carbs on Friday and Saturday have a mix of carbs and protein.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

One thing I would recommend is that if you want to eat early (like between 5 and 6:30pm) - make sure you make your reservation for Friday Night and Saturday Night. Both years, we saw so many people upset there were really long waits for places early in the evening. Last year - I think I saw one of the worst hissy fits I've seen a grown man have when Steakhouse 55 turned him away b/c "that never happens"

Race Weekends = Lots of People Eating Early!

 

[scrapshappen]

I just registered for the 10k. It will be my first 10k ever and my first real RunDisney event. (I don't count the Castaway Cay 5k I did in January 2015 right after RunDisney took it over). We had planned a trip to Disneyland for MLK weekend and when I found out it was a race weekend, I decided to jump on board. I'm fairly new to this whole running thing, but I am slowly increasing my distances to get ready.

I don't have time to read all 20 pages of posts, but is there a good place to get the lowdown on what to expect? I know I have to pick up my packet the day before at the expo, but how early do I need to arrive before the 5:30 start time. I'll be in the last corral since I registered so late (but I'm old and slow so it's where I belong anyway).

 

[kirstie101]

Where do people like to eat the night before the race? We're coming in the day before the 10k and will not be in the parks. DTD or nearby will be fine. Thanks!

Normally we are in the parks but for Tink this year we were not so I made a reservation at Rainforest Cafe. It worked well for my friend and I since the menu was so varied we each got something that worked well for us. Portions are large so we both took half back to the room also. DTD has lots of options though so you should easily find someting you like. Definitely try to find a place that takes reservations though!

I just registered for the 10k. It will be my first 10k ever and my first real RunDisney event. (I don't count the Castaway Cay 5k I did in January 2015 right after RunDisney took it over). We had planned a trip to Disneyland for MLK weekend and when I found out it was a race weekend, I decided to jump on board. I'm fairly new to this whole running thing, but I am slowly increasing my distances to get ready.

I don't have time to read all 20 pages of posts, but is there a good place to get the lowdown on what to expect? I know I have to pick up my packet the day before at the expo, but how early do I need to arrive before the 5:30 start time. I'll be in the last corral since I registered so late (but I'm old and slow so it's where I belong anyway).

Congrats on registering! First of all you're gonna have a blast! As for the race details, I like to be in my corral about 30 minutes early. You wont be at the front of the corral if you get there then, but you wont be in the back either unless you try to be. And if its just you, its fairly easy for one person to work their way up I think. I get to the race area about 45 minutes before the start. I figure that gives me enough time to hit the porta potties and make my way to the corral without any stress. I usually am not checking a bag though so leave a little extra time for that if you are. Expect there to be lots of people. And know that the last corral takes awhile to get started. Maybe 20-25 minutes? Hopefully someone else can chime in. I was in one of the middle corrals for the 10k last year and I think it took me 10-15 start.

 

[scrapshappen]

Congrats on registering! First of all you're gonna have a blast! As for the race details, I like to be in my corral about 30 minutes early. You wont be at the front of the corral if you get there then, but you wont be in the back either unless you try to be. And if its just you, its fairly easy for one person to work their way up I think. I get to the race area about 45 minutes before the start. I figure that gives me enough time to hit the porta potties and make my way to the corral without any stress. I usually am not checking a bag though so leave a little extra time for that if you are. Expect there to be lots of people. And know that the last corral takes awhile to get started. Maybe 20-25 minutes? Hopefully someone else can chime in. I was in one of the middle corrals for the 10k last year and I think it took me 10-15 start.

Thanks Kirstie! I won't be checking a bag either. It's all helpful information!

 

[courtneybeth]

Heads up for those looking to make breakfast reservations for Star Wars weekend since we're just about there for the reservation time.

We noticed that the Steakhouse 55 menu CHANGED for race weekend at Avengers.... prices went UP for some of the items and others were removed. No "two times four" on the menu -- the best thing on there was gone! I'm not sure if other restaurants did the same but we won't be dining there post-race anymore. We got up from our table and left because the food options were very expensive for how little food you got.

 

[srauseo]

I made a reservation for lunch at Blue Bayou the day before the race. We are doing brunch at Steakhouse 55 after the race. Going to do character breakfast at PCH Grill on Monday before heading to the airport.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Made basically the same exact reservations - except keeping breakfast in the air for now.

 

[kirstie101]

Just got back from a couple days in the parks and have decided that we're going to stay at Hojo for this race. I love the location of Stovalls to the start and their breakfast but Hojo's standard room size is a good deal larger. I figure with the stroller, the rollaway bed ( so I dont have to share with one of the kids) and the fact that three of us are racing on Saturday morning so I'll have to have three race outfits laid out for that day, the extra room is going to be beneficial to us.

Since I was in the parks this weekend I didn't get my 9.5 rebel challenge training miles in so Im planning on doing those this weekend. Hopefully my IT band cooperates!

 

[SlightlyocdDisneyfan]

I'm signed up for the 5K and 10K along with my DDs. Very nervous right now. We were training in August and September, but had to stop due to unrelated injuries. We're back to running today - totally off training schedule. Please tell me we can do this!

 

[kirstie101]

I'm signed up for the 5K and 10K along with my DDs. Very nervous right now. We were training in August and September, but had to stop due to unrelated injuries. We're back to running today - totally off training schedule. Please tell me we can do this!

You can most definitely do this! Just under 2 months to train which is fine. Get those miles in!

 

[SlightlyocdDisneyfan]

You can most definitely do this! Just under 2 months to train which is fine. Get those miles in!

Thank you for the encouragement. We aren't "runners" but are trying to become them and can only go as fast and far as our weakest link. We just did a 13 minute walk/run for 2.25 miles. Any suggestions for a training program to get us to a 10K in seven weeks? I'm thinking that if we add 1/2 a mile each week we can make it close enough without injury. For all you experts here, does that sound reasonable?

 

[dis_or_dat]

I'm signed up for the 5K and 10K along with my DDs. Very nervous right now. We were training in August and September, but had to stop due to unrelated injuries. We're back to running today - totally off training schedule. Please tell me we can do this!

You can do it!

 

[kirstie101]

Thank you for the encouragement. We aren't "runners" but are trying to become them and can only go as fast and far as our weakest link. We just did a 13 minute walk/run for 2.25 miles. Any suggestions for a training program to get us to a 10K in seven weeks? I'm thinking that if we add 1/2 a mile each week we can make it close enough without injury. For all you experts here, does that sound reasonable?

I am by no means an expert. I'd suggest looking at the Jeff Galloway Star Wars 10k training program on the rundisney website and see if you can alter it to fit your needs.

I'll also throw in my experience...my first 10k race was only the second time I ever ran 6 miles and I actually had a pretty "fast for me" time. Most likely due to adrenaline from race day excitement. And when I first started running and didnt have a training plan in mind, I basically did what you're considering which is adding on a set amount of distance each week. The only thing I would suggest is to have some weeks where you back off the mileage and give your body time to recover.

 

[C_leen]

Doing pretty good. Ran 2 on Saturday and 9.5 on Sunday. It felt good to realize I was ready for Hot Chocolate 15K on 12/11. I definitely get irritable running anything more than 9.5. The good news is even though I am not built to be a runner, I am still managing to get a little faster each year I run.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

 

[courtneybeth]

Turkey Trot tomorrow - anyone else running on Thanksgiving?

 

[dis_or_dat]

I'm doing one (5k) tomorrow. Good luck on yours!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!