Mel
Yes, too bad about the weather at WDW last weekend. It's almost worse to hear that it's usually much nicer and less humid. Last night I was able to do something I could not do on Sunday; run a relaxed, strong, and even 10K. It was cold and raining, so I was on the College's indoor track. My plan was somewhere between 4 and 5, but I felt strong, so did 10,000 meters. Needless to say I felt redemption after Sunday's flop.
Regarding those powder blue San Diego Chargers' home uniforms, easily the best looking uniform in North American professional sports. They are the classics from the original AFL, matched with the stark white helmets with the lightning bolt and number on the sides. I don't understand why the team doesn't junk those horrible navy blue things from the 1980's. Retro is cool.
For Everyone Who Is Concerned That The Sweeper Will Get You, I have thought of some hints to give you a few more minutes and increase your change of getting to the finish successfully.
1. Hydrate the night before, lots of water and non-caffinated drinks, maybe one beer or glass of wine, but no more. When you wake up don't drink much, little sips, but little coffee and don't drink lots of juice. You should already be hydrated, so shouldn't need to fill up in the early morning.
2. Do not start at the very end (as previously posted). Do not start at the front or in the middle either, remember the serious runners will blow out at the start and they aren't very forgiving to walkers or slow movers. Seriously, you could get pushed, knocked over, etc. It happens. Fine, avoid that bunch, but get into the starting corrals in an area that you feel comfortable in, that is in the back half, but not at the back. You'll save a few minutes vs. the sweeper here.
3. Start at your target pace. You've trained and know what, say 15 minute miles, feel like. You cannot start slowly, warm up, and hit that stride. You need to be there right away. Of course, you need to hold this pace for the entire distance, so you must concentrate every minute. If you let your mind wander into the ethernet you may slow down and not be aware of it.
4. Start your watch when you go under the starting banner, and carefully monitor each mile. Some watches will show you each mile split, others don't so you need to calculate it in your head. If you hit mile 2 in 30:20, then be looking for mile 3 in about 45:30. Sooner and you've picked up pace, later and you've slipped. A slower mile can be corrected right away if you are tracking each mile's pace. The mile markers are big, tall, and whimsical. You'll have no trouble seeing them. Use them to make sure each and every mile is what you need.
5. Keep moving. Moving along with others doing the same pace is great, it makes the distance go faster and you pull each other along. Having said that, if your "group" begins to slow down, you must say goodbye and keep your pace. You cannot afford to slow down with them. You've worked too hard to get to the finish to put yourself in danger of getting swept. Helping others is great, but don't let others slow your pace. In this case it is all about me.
6. Don't stop EVER. And I mean EVER. At the water stops, slide over to the tables, get your drink, and drink while walking. You don't need to drink huge volumes at the stops anyway. Drink down your little cup while walking, and then get back to your target pace right away.
7. Bathroom breaks are to be avoided at all costs. Yes, when you gotta go you gotta go. Thus avoid coffee in the morning. A sure way to get swept is to spend time standing in line during the race, and then emptying the tanks. If you've been prudent with fluids in the early morning you'll be fine. The danger of this year's half course is the first real bathrooms you'll see are probably at mile 5.5, inside the Magic Kingdom, in tomorrow land. Guaranteed there will be a line there. If you have to go, wait until you are in Frontierland. There are bathrooms on the left between the Diamond Horseshoe Review and the Shooting Gallery. These will hopefully be non-line facilities, as all will stop at the first bathroom. If you come across a port-a-potty with no line, fine. Unfortunately, the probability of that is close to zero.
8. Be efficient in your course. This means do not take wide corners. At first in the crowds you will be forced to stay wide on some, tight on others, but after the crowd thins out, save valuable steps. You need to take the shortest possible route whenever possible. If you're on a sweeping curve, you want to act just like a race car. Start high, follow a straight line to the bottow of the curve, then follow a straight line to the top. Effectively you are running tangents instead of arcs. The distance saved over 13.1 or 26.2 miles on a turning and twisty course like WDW is huge.
I suppose this sounds like the rantings of a compulsive-obsessive personality (guilty
), but if you can save yourself an average of just 6.5 minutes over the half then you've bought yourself 30 seconds per mile of cushion.
My last bit of advice paraphrases the pre-show to Soarin' (the gentleman who is the voice of Kronk in Emporer's New Groove), have fun. The training is the work. The race is the fun.
If anyone has other hints and tricks, please post them.
Craig
) Not gonna let it stop me though,once I get this frustrated it lights a fire under my butt! Although I am running the full,my 18 yo daughter is running the 1/2,will I be able to meet her at the finish and anywhere along the route to cheer her on?(Im not sure if the finish is in the park or the parking lot)I will have a car,is there anywhere I can meet up with her along the route? 
One more question.Do we use the restrooms in the park should the need arise? 
Thanks for all your help everyone,happy training 
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Luckily there aren't too many people out gawking at 5AM!!!! But the yard workouts could be tempting...
Bree and I also stopped to take lots of pictures too. We were way ahead of the sweepers. So I guess if you are near the sweeping time, don't stop to do this.
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