2017 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

[Keels]

I've heard of this magic, but I haven't experienced it yet. What to do with all of that extra sleep? lol

Plus, don't forget the Magic Time Change! For me - that 4:30 was basically 6:30!! Sorcery!!

 

[keahgirl8]

Plus, don't forget the Magic Time Change! For me - that 4:30 was basically 6:30!! Sorcery!!

Definitely! I live in California (yes, I live in CA and have never done a CA race...I am crazy), so that time change kills me! My body thinks it is the middle of the night!

 

[Ariel484]

Thoughts on a monorail resort versus an Epcot resort?

I've stayed at monorail and Epcot resorts for race weekends and they've been fine - really I have yet to have a bad transportation experience during a runDisney weekend, but there's always at least one horror story.

Either way, you'll likely share a bus. When I was at GF, we stopped at Wilderness Lodge, the Poly and Shades of Green going to/from the expo. Monorail was available for marathon and half but not the shorter races - I think it would be similar for Princess (half marathon morning is only time monorail is running) but I could be mistaken.

The start/finish lines are at Epcot, so those resorts have a very short ride. All 3 resorts + Swan and Dolphin share a bus, so I would just get off the bus at the first stop and then walk to my resort.

You really can't lose either way.

 

[keahgirl8]

I've stayed at monorail and Epcot resorts for race weekends and they've been fine - really I have yet to have a bad transportation experience during a runDisney weekend, but there's always at least one horror story.

Either way, you'll likely share a bus. When I was at GF, we stopped at Wilderness Lodge, the Poly and Shades of Green going to/from the expo. Monorail was available for marathon and half but not the shorter races - I think it would be similar for Princess (half marathon morning is only time monorail is running) but I could be mistaken.

The start/finish lines are at Epcot, so those resorts have a very short ride. All 3 resorts + Swan and Dolphin share a bus, so I would just get off the bus at the first stop and then walk to my resort.

You really can't lose either way.

I've never stayed at either, but to tell you the truth, POR seems pretty close. Obviously not as close as en Epcot resort, but for people who can't afford that, it's a good option.

 

[Ariel484]

I've never stayed at either, but to tell you the truth, POR seems pretty close. Obviously not as close as en Epcot resort, but for people who can't afford that, it's a good option.

Yeah I've stayed at PORS and POFQ and both have been very good.

 

[Bree]

I've stayed at monorail and Epcot resorts for race weekends and they've been fine - really I have yet to have a bad transportation experience during a runDisney weekend, but there's always at least one horror story.

Either way, you'll likely share a bus. When I was at GF, we stopped at Wilderness Lodge, the Poly and Shades of Green going to/from the expo. Monorail was available for marathon and half but not the shorter races - I think it would be similar for Princess (half marathon morning is only time monorail is running) but I could be mistaken.

The start/finish lines are at Epcot, so those resorts have a very short ride. All 3 resorts + Swan and Dolphin share a bus, so I would just get off the bus at the first stop and then walk to my resort.

You really can't lose either way.

I have my car so I'm not worried about the Expo transportation. I stayed at CBR for the 10K in 2014 and it was great, but I love that resort!!!. It's my 40th the week before race weekend so i was looking to splurge. I was supposed to be booked at BC, but Disney messed up and now I'm at the Contemporary in a garden wing room. Not overly excited about it. I dunno....I'm just not feeling the love for the Contemporary for my 40th! I'm thinking of scrapping the whole deluxe resort, moving to a moderate, booking the race retreat and the Wild Africa Trek over at AK.

 

[keahgirl8]

I have my car so I'm not worried about the Expo transportation. I stayed at CBR for the 10K in 2014 and it was great, but I love that resort!!!. It's my 40th the week before race weekend so i was looking to splurge. I was supposed to be booked at BC, but Disney messed up and now I'm at the Contemporary in a garden wing room. Not overly excited about it. I dunno....I'm just not feeling the love for the Contemporary for my 40th! I'm thinking of scrapping the whole deluxe resort, moving to a moderate, booking the race retreat and the Wild Africa Trek over at AK.

I'd do it! Moderates are beautiful! Honestly, unless you just particularly want to stay in a deluxe, or you really want the location, the moderates are where it's at. You save so much money and still get to stay at a beautiful resort.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

What's everyone's plan for running during the PHM?

I can finish a 5K with no walking, so I'd think through training I could run the majority of the time, with limited walk breaks.... but on the other hand, the Galloway method is intriguing! The thought of having consistent, planned walk breaks seems to take a lot of stress/worry out of it.

 

[keahgirl8]

What's everyone's plan for running during the PHM?

I can finish a 5K with no walking, so I'd think through training I could run the majority of the time, with limited walk breaks.... but on the other hand, the Galloway method is intriguing! The thought of having consistent, planned walk breaks seems to take a lot of stress/worry out of it.

Galloway. Always Galloway. I never want to run without it.

 

[Bree]

Galloway here too. I love the run/walk method.

 

[JulieODC]

Galloway here too!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Definitely Galloway for me - the only way I've ever been able to run more than a 5k!

 

[Ariel484]

Galloway!

 

[weCANfly]

I'm also using Galloway, and I feel like every time I try to stray from it and push myself too much, I get hurt!

 

[tacboze]

Okay, I'm using Galloway, and...I'm confused about the intervals.

I started on his C25K program and it's on a 1 min run/1 min walk....I've done that for more than 2 weeks now...seems like that interval doesn't change the ENTIRE 8 weeks. I see that I can manually change it...but I don't know what I'm doing...which is why I like the app. I needed someone to tell me what intervals to run and walk. And at what point to increase those intervals for more running?

I see on runDisney website under training programs, he has his half marathon training programs laid out...he talks about a 5 sec run/50 sec walk?!?!? Am I supposed to go down to that after running a 1 min:1 min interval for 8 weeks? Also, his half marathon app has these long "easy walks" in there...4 days training per week as opposed to 3, like his princess half training.

The princess half training also says it's a 22 week program, but there's only 19 weeks in there. I don't know. I have been loving his program during my actual runs, (I REALLY like having someone just tell me to walk and then to run without having to keep track of time myself), but looking at it overall, it seems inconsistent/all over the place? I'm not really understanding any of this. I know he's a big name and lots follow him, so I'm assuming I am simply just not understanding. But in his apps, there's no "help" or "tutorial" that I can find.

I'm clueless...and could really use some help.

 

[Keels]

Okay, I'm using Galloway, and...I'm confused about the intervals.

I started on his C25K program and it's on a 1 min run/1 min walk....I've done that for more than 2 weeks now...seems like that interval doesn't change the ENTIRE 8 weeks. I see that I can manually change it...but I don't know what I'm doing...which is why I like the app. I needed someone to tell me what intervals to run and walk. And at what point to increase those intervals for more running?

I see on runDisney website under training programs, he has his half marathon training programs laid out...he talks about a 5 sec run/50 sec walk?!?!? Am I supposed to go down to that after running a 1 min:1 min interval for 8 weeks? Also, his half marathon app has these long "easy walks" in there...4 days training per week as opposed to 3, like his princess half training.

The princess half training also says it's a 22 week program, but there's only 19 weeks in there. I don't know. I have been loving his program during my actual runs, (I REALLY like having someone just tell me to walk and then to run without having to keep track of time myself), but looking at it overall, it seems inconsistent/all over the place? I'm not really understanding any of this. I know he's a big name and lots follow him, so I'm assuming I am simply just not understanding. But in his apps, there's no "help" or "tutorial" that I can find.

I'm clueless...and could really use some help.

1. This is RunDisney. They most certainly don't employ a copy editor or even have a second set of eyes look at a document before they put it out, so don't worry about the week discrepancy between 19-22 weeks.
2. You've been doing C25K for two weeks, so obviously the 5 second/50 second doesn't apply to you. You're currently already running at a 1/1 interval - which translates to a 13:00/mile. If you feel like you're stalling out at that interval and can go faster, you can try out a different interval according to this chart (which, again, hasn't been updated as Galloway now encourages a :30 recovery walk period over a :60 recovery walk period, but you get the idea):
Run-walk-run ratio should correspond to the pace used. Here are suggested strategies:

• 9 min/mi: run 4 minute/walk 1 minute (4/1)
• 10 min/mi: 3/1
• 11 min/mi: 2:30/1
• 12 min/mi: 2/1
• 13 min/mi: 1/1
• 14 min/mi: 30 seconds/30 seconds
• 15 min/mi: run 30 seconds/walk 45 seconds, or run 20 seconds/walk 40 seconds
• 16 min/mi: run 20 seconds/walk 40 seconds
• 17 min/mi: run 15 seconds/walk 45 seconds

I have two Galloway die-hard friends that have had the greatest time improvement using a :90/:30 interval, and the best overall performance during building distance using a 3/1 interval (which is basically the same, but require slightly different mindsets).

3. Again - I don't use his app so I'm not at all familiar with any of the things that he mentions on the app, so for that I apologize. But the plan can be as simple or as difficult as you make it. If you go by the PDF available on the RunDisney site, simple follow those time and mileage marks using the interval you're comfortable with. So, if you're looking at Week 1 (Oct. 25) - you need to do runs of 30 minutes in duration at your chosen interval (in this case, what you've been doing - 1/1), followed by a long run of 3 miles - again at your chosen interval. And so on and so forth as the plan dictates. The beginner plan Galloway provides to RunDisney doesn't (and, honestly, shouldn't for a first-timer) introduce pace during training runs - just two maintenance runs and the gradual building up of mileage to reach the race injury-free and prepared.

 

[keahgirl8]

1. This is RunDisney. They most certainly don't employ a copy editor or even have a second set of eyes look at a document before they put it out, so don't worry about the week discrepancy between 19-22 weeks.
2. You've been doing C25K for two weeks, so obviously the 5 second/50 second doesn't apply to you. You're currently already running at a 1/1 interval - which translates to a 13:00/mile. If you feel like you're stalling out at that interval and can go faster, you can try out a different interval according to this chart (which, again, hasn't been updated as Galloway now encourages a :30 recovery walk period over a :60 recovery walk period, but you get the idea):
Run-walk-run ratio should correspond to the pace used. Here are suggested strategies:

• 9 min/mi: run 4 minute/walk 1 minute (4/1)
• 10 min/mi: 3/1
• 11 min/mi: 2:30/1
• 12 min/mi: 2/1
• 13 min/mi: 1/1
• 14 min/mi: 30 seconds/30 seconds
• 15 min/mi: run 30 seconds/walk 45 seconds, or run 20 seconds/walk 40 seconds
• 16 min/mi: run 20 seconds/walk 40 seconds
• 17 min/mi: run 15 seconds/walk 45 seconds

I have two Galloway die-hard friends that have had the greatest time improvement using a :90/:30 interval, and the best overall performance during building distance using a 3/1 interval (which is basically the same, but require slightly different mindsets).

3. Again - I don't use his app so I'm not at all familiar with any of the things that he mentions on the app, so for that I apologize. But the plan can be as simple or as difficult as you make it. If you go by the PDF available on the RunDisney site, simple follow those time and mileage marks using the interval you're comfortable with. So, if you're looking at Week 1 (Oct. 25) - you need to do runs of 30 minutes in duration at your chosen interval (in this case, what you've been doing - 1/1), followed by a long run of 3 miles - again at your chosen interval. And so on and so forth as the plan dictates. The beginner plan Galloway provides to RunDisney doesn't (and, honestly, shouldn't for a first-timer) introduce pace during training runs - just two maintenance runs and the gradual building up of mileage to reach the race injury-free and prepared.

I think you pretty much covered it. That being said, I just use the intervals I'm comfortable with. I started at 3/1, and the more I worked at it, I gradually came down and down until I arrived at 30 sec/30 sec. I'd also like to add that I disagree with that pace chart. I always hear people say that this is how you choose your intervals. I am doing 30 sec/30 sec, so that means I should be doing a 14 min/mile. I can do 12-13 min/mile with those intervals. I can do 14 min/mile with 15sec/15sec. The reason why you don't see Galloway telling you what intervals to do is that you can do whatever intervals you want. That's the beauty of it. I really think it's trial and error like everything else about running.

 

[Ariel484]

Okay, I'm using Galloway, and...I'm confused about the intervals.

I started on his C25K program and it's on a 1 min run/1 min walk....I've done that for more than 2 weeks now...seems like that interval doesn't change the ENTIRE 8 weeks. I see that I can manually change it...but I don't know what I'm doing...which is why I like the app. I needed someone to tell me what intervals to run and walk. And at what point to increase those intervals for more running?

I see on runDisney website under training programs, he has his half marathon training programs laid out...he talks about a 5 sec run/50 sec walk?!?!? Am I supposed to go down to that after running a 1 min:1 min interval for 8 weeks? Also, his half marathon app has these long "easy walks" in there...4 days training per week as opposed to 3, like his princess half training.

The princess half training also says it's a 22 week program, but there's only 19 weeks in there. I don't know. I have been loving his program during my actual runs, (I REALLY like having someone just tell me to walk and then to run without having to keep track of time myself), but looking at it overall, it seems inconsistent/all over the place? I'm not really understanding any of this. I know he's a big name and lots follow him, so I'm assuming I am simply just not understanding. But in his apps, there's no "help" or "tutorial" that I can find.

I'm clueless...and could really use some help.

Hi!

Don't sweat the intervals so much - if 1:1 feels good for you, stick with it. If you want to try running more/less, give that a shot. I'm not sure how the app works but you could try the RunKeeper app and manually adjust the intervals that way. I've heard people say it takes experimentation to find the "perfect" run/walk ratio - think of it as part of training!

And as others have said...runDisney makes typos. Galloway used to includes a few weeks of training AFTER the races so I think a couple of years ago you really would have had 22 weeks total - 19 including the race week + 3 after or whatever. He seems to have stopped putting in the post-race runs and someone forgot to update the count!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

1. This is RunDisney. They most certainly don't employ a copy editor.

This really made me laugh

 

[keahgirl8]

Hi!

Don't sweat the intervals so much - if 1:1 feels good for you, stick with it. If you want to try running more/less, give that a shot. I'm not sure how the app works but you could try the RunKeeper app and manually adjust the intervals that way. I've heard people say it takes experimentation to find the "perfect" run/walk ratio - think of it as part of training!

And as others have said...runDisney makes typos. Galloway used to includes a few weeks of training AFTER the races so I think a couple of years ago you really would have had 22 weeks total - 19 including the race week + 3 after or whatever. He seems to have stopped putting in the post-race runs and someone forgot to update the count!

Agreed. You can manually change the intervals in the app too. I don't think you can put just any intervals, but maybe in 30 second increments? It's been a while since I've used it, so I don't remember exactly. You can definitely change them though.

This really made me laugh

No kidding. Remember when the training for GSC said "Dumbo Double Dare"?