Official all things Princess Half Weekend 2015 thread! DOoneY and offical mErcH on DisneyParksBLOg

[mbwhitti]

Mickey mail came today!

Same here! Got our Magical Express! Almost time!

 

[mieuxmew]

Mickey mail came today!

Mickey Mail / Magic Express arrived here, too!

In the mean time, I have got lots more training to do! Working this weekend but will do a couple of long runs the following 2 weekends. It is so cold here in NJ so it has been the treadmill. I have to figure out how to set my treadmill to intervals.

Anyone know if and when they will take pre-orders on Dooney & Bourke bags?

 

[mieuxmew]

How many participants are in the 5K vs the 10K? I know the 10K is a timed race with corral assignments. Is the 5K a timed race and are there assigned corrals?

I am staying at the Yacht Club and deciding if I should drive or take the runDisney bus to the races.

Thanks!

 

[eandesmom]

I should have mentioned that we are hoping to run most of it so we can take walking breaks for pictures with the characters! We are planning worst case that we are in the last corral and won't have much extra time for breaks. And I don't have a problem walking some. We both want to be able to go to the parks that afternoon and the next day. On the plus side, no matter when we finish it'll be a PR!

Just keep track of your time and you will be ok. If you are in the back corrals be aware that lines are likely to be quite long and can eat up a ton of time so just plan accordingly.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

Mickey mail came today!

Is there race specific mail? I have received my Magical Express stuff, but I was wondering if I should be looking out for anything else.

 

[keahgirl8]

Is there race specific mail? I have received my Magical Express stuff, but I was wondering if I should be looking out for anything else.

Nope! All the race stuff comes by email.

 

[HockeyMomNH]

Nope! All the race stuff comes by email.

Ok, thanks. I'm getting nervous for my first race trip. I don't want to miss anything.

I have a question, what do people carry during the race to take pictures? Just your phones, or a camera? My DH has a gopro, I'm wondering if I should bring it.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

I ran a 10K a couple of weeks ago and it always takes me longer to recover from races than I think it will, and then I was out of town for 5 days, and then I just had minor dental surgery which is making me not feel particularly active--SUFFICE TO SAY my half marathon training is suffering. I can't believe it is so close!!

 

[keahgirl8]

Ok, thanks. I'm getting nervous for my first race trip. I don't want to miss anything. I have a question, what do people carry during the race to take pictures? Just your phones, or a camera? My DH has a gopro, I'm wondering if I should bring it.

I use my phone for selfies and then I have a small camera that takes video.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Mickey Mail / Magic Express arrived here, too!

In the mean time, I have got lots more training to do! Working this weekend but will do a couple of long runs the following 2 weekends. It is so cold here in NJ so it has been the treadmill. I have to figure out how to set my treadmill to intervals.

Anyone know if and when they will take pre-orders on Dooney & Bourke bags?

I'm doing long runs inside, too. Breaking it up between the track and treadmills. Waiting on Dooney's, also. My sister got her ME info, as well. Bibs any day now.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I use my phone for selfies and then I have a small camera that takes video.

Between the six of us someone will have a phone and another will have a camera. If I had to choose, I think I'd do camera.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I ran a 10K a couple of weeks ago and it always takes me longer to recover from races than I think it will, and then I was out of town for 5 days, and then I just had minor dental surgery which is making me not feel particularly active--SUFFICE TO SAY my half marathon training is suffering. I can't believe it is so close!!

I had a unexpected dental procedure, as well. DH and I feel, better now than having it happen while at Disney.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Is anyone else staying at SSR or a Treehouse villa before/during the race? My sister booked a THV but isn't bringing a car seat for her two year old so I guess they will use WDW buses to get to the Race Expo at WWoS.

Does SSR offer transportation to WWoS (Thursday) ???

 

[KlutzyK8]

I'm running the 5k myself too...maybe we can meet up to say hi!?

This would be great! I'm planning on doing a walk/run. Where are you staying? I tried to send you a PM, but I'm not sure if it went through.

 

[Miss Whimsy]

ugh, TERRIBLE run this morning. 5.5 miles and I felt like throwing up most of the way and then was dizzy when I got home. This half marathon thing is going to go so great!

 

[joan4mickey]

Holiday, beautiful weather, yep, it's time for a 10 mile long run.
Set a goal, ran, finished under goal pace and now I am feeling good.
Time for food and a shower.

Stay positive ladies…and keep working at getting in the practice runs/walks. Even with set backs it can be done. In past years, I have had some physical illnesses, and I just kept doing what I could and finished strong.

 

[eandesmom]

ugh, TERRIBLE run this morning. 5.5 miles and I felt like throwing up most of the way and then was dizzy when I got home. This half marathon thing is going to go so great!

I am so sorry! Has this happened to you before? How does the 5.5 compare with other runs you've done? If you aren't coming down with something then it sounds like something is quite off with hydration or nutrition.

 

[DVCFan1994]

ugh, TERRIBLE run this morning. 5.5 miles and I felt like throwing up most of the way and then was dizzy when I got home. This half marathon thing is going to go so great!

I am so sorry! Has this happened to you before? How does the 5.5 compare with other runs you've done? If you aren't coming down with something then it sounds like something is quite off with hydration or nutrition.

Sorry this happened. Bad runs can be discouraging. But they are a great opportunity to find solutions to problems we may face on race day. I have only felt nauseous while running due to running much too fast. But it happens after any run where I don't fuel and/or hydrate properly.

So I'd agree with the other response above. If it's new phenomenon I'd think about what you may have eaten/drunk differently in the last 24-48 hours and how you hydrated/fueled on the run. Focus on figuring out what went wrong and fixing it, instead of just dwelling on the fact it happened. If you really can't find any reason it could be a fluke, but if it were me I'd write a brief reminder to myself of what I'd eaten/drank before and what I did to fuel/hydrate on the run so if it happens again you can look for similarities before or during the run.


I'm trying to keep up with my training despite this cold weather. I had 11 miles to run Saturday . It was -8 when I started with the wind. A balmy 3 degrees when the the wind was quiet. I didn't think there was any chance I'd make it the whole 11 so I only brought enough fluids for half the distance. But I had dressed well and sure enough I made it 7 miles easily and realized I could have done the whole thing. Lesson learned, always bring all my water bottles. I made up the difference later on the treadmill. I have a history of injuries, so my pt has me on a modified plan, I build for two weeks, recover, build two weeks recover. So I recover this week, then two more long runs before I taper. Can't believe how close its finally getting.

I seem to remember bibs and corrals coming out about 2 weeks pre-race last year, which people said was later than usual. Anyone else have the same or a different recollection? Maybe it was two weeks before I was supposed to leave, which was a week pre-race.

Of course my flight was cancelled thanks to a blizzard. I guess I need to start praying that doesn't happen again. I don't need that stress repeated this year!

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm not running Princess, but since there's a Castaway Cay challenge for you, thought I'd give my experience with the inaugural Challenge.

When the waivers, etc, show up, there should be info for the Castaway too. For the Marathon weekend it didn't show up at the same time, and there was no notice, but suddenly there it was. Waiver and small pamphlet PDF.

You pick up bibs and shirts at the expo. Look for the booth! I had NO idea that they would be there, as there was nothing in the main weekend's program about it, and I didn't see the mention of it in the castaway online pdf. Turned a corner and saw the booth. Whew.

There was special childcare available for the runners, and you had to sign up for it before the Castaway 5K day.

The run was *early*. It started at 7, but disney being disney, that meant a meetup at 5:45. We actually docked around midnight, to give the ship the strongest chance of actually docking at the island that day. There was a buffet at 5am, there were 3 corrals for us (800+ runners), and we left the meeting room (theater) in corrals. Since the course is different than the normal 5K on the island, the walk to the start was pretty much a mile.

Spectators had to get off with the runners. The island wasn't officially open at that hour; if they didn't get off the ship then, they had to wait until about 8:30 when the island opened. That would be after the finish. Once finished with the race, you get back onboard then officially disembark once the island was open.

There's a new 5K medal instead of just the plastic mickey ears, and, of course the Challenge medal.


I hope that helps. Doing a first-time event is rough, so I figured I'd give what-felt-like good info to the second-timers.


Oh! On our cruise, the merchandise was available at Sea Treasures at 5:45 the first night, which is the same time as Main Dining. There was a line that started a good hour before that time. DH and DS went to dinner and ordered dinner for me and brought it back to the room. They limited people to two each of the merchandise (meaning two of each item per person). If the Navigator app says there are water bottles, don't believe it. None were made, at least for the inaugural. There were Bondibands with the logo on it. Of course, this will be different for Princess, so I'm just telling you what we had.

From rundisney:

with magical Disney moments to surprise you along the way. It’s a runner’s paradise in a spectacular island oasis. Best of all, as a runDisney guest on board the Disney Dream, you’ll receive VIP treatment with exciting activities, special merchandise offerings, and featured menu items.

Hardly a runner's paradise with one water stop (doing the normal Island 5K course you have the opportunity for water between 4 and 6 times, not that you need that much, but it's there...with the paid one, there was ONE water stop), IMO! And the path was narrow narrow narrow for the out and back. I think there was one character along the way and maybe one at the end...there was no VIP treatment apart from a digital sign on the funnel vision, NO exciting activities whatsoever (one one-hour meeting in the Buena Vista with 3 rundisney people), there was merchandise, and there were no "menu" options, just the option to buy a coconut water and kale smoothie. Which they advertised the day of the run.

Hoping your experience has more, but if I were doing this one too, I wouldn't expect it. Sorry if I sound negative; I'm just trying to relate my experience factually so people have the info we didn't have.

The course, however, was good. I liked the course and I felt good doing the 5K, which totally made up for a spectacularly awful Half.


Hope that helps any Castaway Challenge Princess people!!!!!

 

[Miss Whimsy]

I am so sorry! Has this happened to you before? How does the 5.5 compare with other runs you've done? If you aren't coming down with something then it sounds like something is quite off with hydration or nutrition.

6.2 is the farthest I've ever run, and I've been taking it easy for a few weeks following a New Year's Day 10K where I REALLY pushed. So I was trying to increase back to about 6-6.5 today after a few down weeks.

I think I can explain away the bad run--gum surgery on Friday means I've been eating a lot of soup the past few days so I've probably been under-nourished for the distance I was trying to go, and there was a massive headwind as I tried to go up hills (because hills is what I have near me, unfortunately...) and I downed a banana like 45 minutes before I went out but maybe that wasn't enough food AND too close to the run. I also usually have pretty awesome runs after I have really terrible runs, so I'm hoping to be back on track next week.

But even with all the excuses, it's still disheartening, especially so close to my first half!