Disney Princess Half Marathon 2012 Race Report

The big day has come. And gone. Uneventfully.

Disney Princess Half Marathon: February 26, 2012, 6:27am

Yesterday was the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Before you I get you invested and excited, I didn’t finish. We got to mile 5 and got swept for being 8 seconds behind the required pace.  Let me explain...

I had a toe injury for about 3 weeks before the race. I did some swimming and biking, but no running. On race day, it felt fine. There were no toe issues. But in those 3 weeks, I really lost a lot of conditioning and strength. I could have easily worked back up to where I had been if I had a few more weeks, but I just ran out of time.

My 2-mile run a few days ago left my legs sore for a day or two. I thought I was prepared, but I really should have prepared better.

I think what started my downward spiral, toe injury not included, was participating in the 30for60 challenge in December and January. It was a mental struggle for me, as I was more concerned with getting something in each day, that I didn’t focus fully on each running workout and didn’t give it my full attention. Not to mention, it was around the holidays and I started my own business, which I put 110% into and my workouts slacked because of it.

I’m glad I did the 30for60 challenge, though. I learned a lot about myself and I needed it to push me through the holidays. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably still do it, I’d just be more structured about it and go into it with a better plan. I just played everything by ear and tried to fit things in wherever I could. I should have been more prepared.

I’m not at all using these things as excuses, just lessons to learn for my future endeavors. I knew there was a 16-minute mile and I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with that pace. But I tried. The 5 miles that we did seemed to go by pretty fast. It definitely didn’t feel like 5 miles. Maybe more like 3. Of course now, my legs tell me it feels like 10 miles. I had a good time. Good people, great entertainment and a positive atmosphere.

I planned this race early last year with two friends Gabbie and Amanda. They both live in Florida. We kept in touch as we trained throughout the year and were each other’s cheering squad during good times and motivation during hard times. I wish we lived closer because the training runs would have been a lot more fun as a group since we are all about the same pace.

We all went to the expo together on Friday morning and got some fun race stuff and listened to Jeff Galloway speak. I actually asked him during a Q&A how much conditioning one could lose with 3 weeks off. He told me I shouldn't do the half marathon and do the Royal Family 5K instead. Not an option. Then he said I should just walk the half marathon and jog when I saw the sweepers. Ha. I'd have been swept at mile 1! I appreciated his answer though, because he also stressed the run/walk method which is what we planned to follow.

Expo entrance

Jeff Galloway speaking

I finally got the Spibelt I’ve been wanting. As well as a t-shirt that says, “I did it” with the race course on the back. A little premature, yes, but I had high hopes. I plan to get a patch or decal to put over the word “did” that says “tried”, so it reads, “I tried it”. Then I plan to circle mile #5 on the race course picture and add another decal or lettering that says, “There’s always next year”. Or something to that effect. It was the experience that matters most to me, and it certainly was an experience, that’s for sure.

We all met up at my hotel at around 3 in the morning to board the bus over to Epcot.

Excited at 3am, even on little sleep.

When we got to the race area, we checked out the amenities and got the lay of the land. After checking a bag, we started our walk to the start/corral area. My friends were gracious enough to hop back a corral into H with me since they were all in G and I was in H. I appreciate that more than they realize. It wouldn’t have been as much fun by myself and I’m glad they were willing to stick with me, even if it meant that they got swept in the race because of it.

We used the bathroom about 3 times each – I could not stop peeing! The port-o-potties weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. We hung out in our corral for about 45 minutes before the race started. As the first corral took off, they counted down and shot off fireworks! Gabbie wasn’t a fan of them and tried to hide under my tutu.

Protecting Gabbie from the fireworks. My tutu was good for lots of things!

As each corral took off, we got to move up closer to the start line. Finally, it was our turn! It was very exciting.

The beginning of the end.

Each mile ticked by really quickly. By mile 2, we saw the lead runner on her way back towards the finish. Wow. She was quick!! I knew my mom was waiting to view us at mile 4.2 so I was constantly texting her letting her know where we were. I also had other friends texting

Hi Mom!!

Right after we passed her we noticed a bathroom with no line. At this point in the race we were one minute ahead of pace and we figured that it would be the best opportunity we’d have to go to the bathroom with little to no line. All of the other port-o-potties that we passed had crazy long lines and I was getting to the point where I couldn’t hold it any longer. So we stopped. By the time we finished, the dreaded balloon ladies marking the back of the pace pack had passed us and we were now a minute behind pace. A 2-minute bathroom break was our downfall.

There were people on bikes riding near us letting us know that we had 5 minutes to get to the next mile marker or we’d be picked up. I appreciated their warnings because I knew how much I needed to pick up the pace to get to where we needed to be. But we just couldn’t do it. We went from one minute behind pace to 8 seconds behind pace by the time we got picked up. If we had just a little bit more distance, we’d have been able to catch up.

We were RIGHT outside the gate entrance to Magic Kingdom, missing our chance to run through the castle by a half mile. Sad. I’m grateful that my mom at least got to see us once on the course. She had originally been planning to wait outside the entrance of Magic Kingdom to see us enter the park, then go back to the finish to wait for us. Instead she decided to go to the spectator view point at mile 4.2, and then walk a 10 min path to see us again at mile 7 near the Polynesian Resort. I’m glad she decided to see us before the park!!

We got onto a bus where they took our names and bib numbers so they could keep track of us and drove us back to the finish area. They gave us our medals and we took a few “non-finisher” pictures.

Nice try.

I didn’t put my medal on. I just carried it around. I don’t feel right wearing it. I may have registered, trained for and started the race, but I didn’t finish it. They gave us finisher medals. I didn’t finish, and I certainly didn’t earn a medal. I’m grateful they still gave us a medal because it’s going on my wall at home as a reminder to keep trying so I can earn that medal another year. It’s hard to see other people walking around the resort wearing their medals, knowing that I got one too, but I can’t wear it because I didn’t finish. Hopefully the disappointment will turn into more motivation for my future races and challenges.

Better luck next time!

Throughout this entire half-marathon experience, I have discovered that I really appreciate the sport of triathlon – sprint triathlon, that is. My sprint triathlon last year was a total of 13.63 miles. Just over the distance of a half marathon, yet there are 3 sports to break it up instead of constant running, which for the record, I still hate. I haven’t yet signed up for the Title 9 Sprint triathlon again for 2012, but I think I will now. I was turned off by all of the horrid hills on the bike ride, but I think if I continue to train and work on more strength training, I can do better than last year!

As far as the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I don’t doubt that I’ll do it again. I didn’t reach my goal – to finish. So I have to keep trying until I finish. I won’t lie; it was disappointing not to finish. I would have loved to cross that finish line. I would have loved to even get to Magic Kingdom and run through Cinderella’s castle. But this time, it just didn’t workout. I don’t know if I’ll do it next year or not, but eventually, I will. I want to make sure I can be under the time limit and know confidently that I will finish the race, not just hope for the best.

Despite the disappointment of being swept on the course, I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of myself for having the guts to try it. I’m proud that I kept up with my training plan the entire time (minus the 3 week injury period), I’m proud of myself for not quitting. I’m proud of myself for thinking those 5 miles that I did complete, were easy. I’m proud of myself for doing my best. And I’m so lucky to have so much support in my friends, family, and those who read my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you and thank you so much for cheering me on throughout my journeys. 

Week Two: Disney Princess Half Marathon Training

Week Two

Monday – yoga

There were significantly less people in this class than there was last week. I assume it was because of the holiday weekend (Happy Thanksgiving to Canada!). I was okay with that; it meant more help from the teacher when I was obviously doing a pose wrong. Happens often. I’m new. I expected the class to be the exact same, in terms of poses, as it was last time, but it wasn’t! There were some new poses in there and we didn’t do a few that were done the last time. Honestly, I’ve never been to yoga classes twice in a row before. Yoga Mondays has never existed before in my life! Cheers to more fun yoga classes!

Tuesday – rest

I went into Boston to meet up with some other bloggers in the area! We had a great time and I can’t wait til the next time we get together!

Wednesday – run walk

I was supposed to do a 30-minute run, but I didn’t feel well all day. When I got home from work, I didn’t have the energy for a run, but took the dogs for a walk instead. I figured it was better than sitting on my butt.

30 mins - 1.27 miles  (23:38/mi)

Thursday – walk

Light the Night walk in Boston. Two laps around Boston Common (about 2.2 miles) with the dogs.

2.2 miles - 1:06 mins (30:22/mi)

Friday – run

This almost didn’t happen. I woke up and couldn’t stand upright. After tweaking my back lifting a chair after work and then being pulled by inquisitive dogs all night during the walk through Boston, my back wasn’t feeling so well. I had to call out of work. Around noon I was finally about to get out of bed and walk a little bit. By 5pm I didn’t have sharp pains anymore, just slight soreness in my back, so I attempted a run.

It ended up being a great run. I don’t know when I’ll ever say that again so savor it. It might be cheating because it was raining so I did it on the treadmill, but I’ll take what I can get! I did a pyramid of speed work – my first speed work run ever! Walking at 3mph for 1 min in between each run interval which I did as follows: 4, 4, 5, 5, 5.5, 5.5, 6, 5.5, 5.5, 5, 5, 4, 4. Each run interval was 1 min. Except the 4 mph ones were at 2 mins. Make sense? In my head I planned the 6 mph interval for 30 seconds. I didn’t think I could do it. But when I got to 30, I was okay and decided to push it to 45. Once I got there, I figured I couldn’t back down now and went for the full minute. I did it!

30 mins - 1.95 miles (15:23/mi)

Saturday – rest

My Goddaughter’s birthday party. There was a bouncy house. I may or may not have bounced the hell out of myself. You can’t prove anything.

Unless there are pictures.

Okay, so there were pictures... 

Sunday – long run

This was my second "long run" of the training cycle. I'm getting more comfortable with this running thing. This was just shy of a 5K distance, and I didn't feel nearly as worn out and tired as I have in the past running 5Ks. I did a run 2 walk 2 interval system the entire time. It seemed as though each time it was time for me to run, it was uphill and every time I was walking, it was flat or downhill. Figures.

I should have gone earlier in the day because starting at 5:30 pm meant it got progressively darker as I went on. I thought ahead, though, and wore a bright yellow shirt. Which, as it turns out, was a good thing. I took a picture of myself when I was almost home and you can barely see me, but you can see my shirt! And I didn’t get hit by a car! Plus one.

Next time I'll bring a headlamp.

At one point during this run, it said I was running at 32 mph. I can promise you that didn’t happen. I wonder how much that threw off my average pace.

3.00 miles – 54:04 (18:01/mi)

Week two, done. I don't know how I'm going to handle 4 miles next week. The longest distance running I've done is a 5K. It will be interesting. I'm doing a 5K that morning anyway, so I suppose I'll just tack on the extra mile after the race. Once the 5K is over, 1 mile won't seem as daunting.


Right?

Oct 10 - Oct 16

Week One: Disney Princess Half Marathon Training

This marks the beginning of my half marathon training!! 

One of my favorite bloggers, Marlene, logs her training for big races by making notes on each day of training and posting that weekly. I need something other than dailymile to help me track my training. Don’t get me wrong, I love dailymile, I just need something else to help keep myself on track. What better tool than talking more about myself? Ha! I also want to be able to look back and see my progress. Since I’ve switched from triathlon training to half marathon training, I decided to use Marlene’s strategy to help keep me on track.

Week One

Monday – yoga

I’m initiating a new thing: Yoga Mondays. I have had my eye on Groupons that have passed through my e-mail for Yoga for a long time. For some reason, I kept missing them. Finally I caught one in time. It was for Metrowest Yoga. I went Monday night and fell in love. It was beginner yoga with no heat. Really? No heat? I sweat in places I didn’t know existed. At one point as I was in downward dog, Sweat went up my nose. UP MY NOSE!

It was my first yoga class in over 5 years and I loved it! It was beginner friendly, thank the Lord, and the instructors were really helpful with modified poses for those of us who couldn't stand on our heads on our first try. I kid, I kid. But at one point, they got us all ready for Crow Pose.

Source

I don't know who they were kidding if they thought I was getting up into that! When the instructor said "It's okay if your crow doesn't fly, some crows like to perch", I was grateful. Only because if I was forced to try to "fly", I'd probably have hurled myself forward and face planted into the ass in front of me. Classy, I know. In case you were wondering, I perched.


I forgot how much of a workout yoga is!! I'm sore all over, but it's a good sore! Starting the week off with Yoga Mondays from now on!!

Tuesday – run

First day back running since the triathlon. Yeah, 23 days off. Not completely “off”. Just off from running. I had been walking to keep myself moving, researching to see what training plan I wanted to do and thinking about how awesomely awesome I was going to come back and get at it by being a runner. Or jogger. Whatever. Don’t judge. I did better than I thought I would. I wasn’t amazing, but I felt strong and like I didn’t really regress during those 23 days.

30 mins – 1.75 miles (17:03/mi)

Wednesday – rest

Sweet, sweet, rest. Not completely though. I had a CRP and first aid class and pushing on those fake dummies is an arm workout!!

Thursday – run

Finally got to run outside on the trail I’ve been wanting to test out. I’ve ridden this trail during the summer a few times, but that’s it.

It's actually quite pretty

It was cold. I don’t like the impending doom of winter and running outside. I will probably be a pansy and treadmill it as much as I can. I realize I’ll be sweating while running and not be uncomfortable cold, but breathing in the cold that heavily, hurts. I don’t need that. I will reevaluate as it gets colder and I complain more. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated!

30 mins – 1.77 miles (16:59/mi)

Friday – rest

Saturday – long run

Or as I like to call it...”long run”. My first "long run" of my training program. It felt very weird to be considering 2 miles a long run, especially since my 30 minute runs earlier in the week were about 2 miles with the warm ups. I guess that's why I'm a beginner! :) I followed the rules of the long run and walked/ran slower. My average pace equaled out to close to my regular walking pace! Was a very nice and easy run though! I tested out some new running shoes that I bought a few months ago, but haven’t gotten around to using yet. I didn’t want to try them out until after my triathlon and I wanted to test them on the treadmill so they didn’t get dirty in case they didn’t work out. I’m undecided. They are really light and airy and would be nice in the summer. But summer is over. And while they don’t hurt my feet or legs, they don’t feel amazing. I need to test them out again. Of course by the time I’m done testing them out, I’ll have worn them so much, I’ll be attached to them. Plus, they’re blue. And so pretty!

They are a lot more blue that this cellphone camera picture allows.

2.01 miles – 40:03 (19:54/mi)

Sunday – bike

My first biking expedition since the triathlon! My bike and helmet still had my racing numbers on them! It was time to dust the cobwebs off and get it done!

I biked the Minute Man trail in Cambridge towards Bedford. The entire trail is 9 miles one way. We went about 4.5 miles because we were on a time crunch.

Arlington center at the Minuteman Bikeway

There was a slight incline of the trail on the way out towards Bedford, which was made noticeable on the way back when we flew down the trail about 5-7 mph faster than we had been going on the way out. I really enjoyed this ride because it wasn’t a training ride! It was purely for enjoyment and being outside on an 86 degree October day in Boston. I can’t remember the last time I rode my bike for just fun and not to see how much faster I could push myself or stopping to check my pace every few moments. It was great! I hope it stays warm for at least a few more weekends so I can do this again!!

9.44 miles – 1:05

Good week, I’d say!! I’m proud of my first week. And wicked excited for YOGA MONDAY tomorrow!!! Love.

Oct 3 - Oct 9

Three Things Thursday

1. I started my half marathon training this week. I started on Monday with Yoga Mondays. It’s a new thing. I already love it. It’s really going to help me with stretching and feeling relaxed after trying to run all week! I’ve already done two runs and I didn’t do as bad as I thought I would after 23 days off from running. The first run was inside on the treadmill because it was raining after work. I almost skipped it and changed it to a Wed, Fri, Sun run schedule instead of Tues, Thurs, Sat, but I had plans on Wed night and I knew I’d be getting home late and I wouldn’t want to attempt a run then. So I did it. And I’m glad I did because it was the FIRST day of the plan. How much of a loser would I have been to slack of on the first day of my training plan? Geez?

2. I’m addicted to popcorn. After a fitblog chat on twitter a few weeks ago @Boston2Berkeley mentioned eating popcorn with chopsticks. I haven’t eaten popcorn without them since then. It’s fun. Seriously, try it! She also mentioned putting truffle salt on her popcorn. Me, when I think of truffles, I think chocolate. I jumped on that. Turns out, she meant mushrooms. Gross x100. Instead I seasoned mine with garlic and chili powder, with a dash of parm cheese. Holy popcorn magic. Again I stress: Seriously, try it!

I really love chopsticks though, so it was an easy sell.

3. My run was cold tonight. It was only about 55 degrees. Not freezing, but chilly. It actually hurt to breathe while running. Temps are dropping drastically tonight and I can only imagine how much colder it will be during training runs. I’ve never run in cold weather before. While I was training for my triathlon, I did everything on the treadmill until it got to spring and summer. But I can’t do that this time. I need the training on the outside, at least once a week because the half marathon isn’t going to be on a treadmill. I wonder how hard it will be to race 13.1 miles in warm weather in Florida in February after training in winter temps in Massachusetts. Any ideas on how to deal with this?

I am a triathlete. And now what?

I never really knew what to expect after I finished training for my triathlon and completed the race. When I started this blog, I didn’t really think about it. A few months into it I began to think about what the purpose of this blog would be, since the goal was to do a triathlon. I did it! (Man, did I do it!!) And now what?

I did it. And now what?

Something in me decided that I wasn’t going to just stop. I enjoy the social factor of doing 5Ks with the group of friends I made while training for the triathlon. So I knew I’d be doing some 5Ks after the triathlon and into the fall or winter. What I didn’t know was that I was going to get sucked into the idea of doing a half marathon. In April, shortly after I started my blog, two of my friends in Florida began talking to me on twitter about the thought of doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I told them I’d think about it and promptly thought “Yeah right, you are crazy if you think I’m running for that long on purpose. 5K is one thing, 13.1 miles is stupid”. And then I told them “Yes”.

I seriously don’t know why. Maybe it was a subconscious fear that if I didn’t make another BIG goal after my triathlon, then I’d become a couch potato and stop training, working out, being active, etc. I remember looking through a Runner’s World magazine and I saw an ad for a Disney half marathon in November. It reminded me of the convo my friends and I had and I thought, “Oh that looks cool, I want to do that”. I must add here that I sincerely enjoy reading about running and researching running, running shoes, running blogs, running pace calculators, running accessories, helpful stretches for runners, ways to be a better runner, the right food to eat as a runner and much more. However, I hate the actual ACT OF RUNNING. I don’t like it. When I’m out there running, I hate myself for even getting myself into this running stuff. When I’m at a 5K, I love the social atmosphere before and after the race, the excitement before the race, the glow after the race, and of course the t-shirt (more so the medal!!), but I HATE the run part. I so desperately want to be a runner and I love the idea of being a runner, but I don’t like doing it. It’s okay, I know I’m mental.

The amount of books that I’ve bought on running is ridiculous. The amount of magazines I get is borderline crazy. The number of websites I have bookmarked would probably put most runners to shame. And I’m not even good at it. But I want to be. I try so hard to enjoy myself while running, but I just don’t. For some reason the want that I have to BE a runner is what gets me out there and keeps me going. I guess that’s all that matters right?

I know people have said to me before, “You are a runner” I still don’t consider myself one. It’s a mental thing and until I can conquer it, no one can convince me otherwise. I’m stubborn.

Back to “now what”. I have been looking at half marathon training plans (and I won’t lie, it terrifies me) and trying to choose one that looks like I can handle it and at least complete the half marathon. By the way, it’s in February. That’s in four months. FOUR MONTHS. I gave myself 9 months of training time for the triathlon. I found a plan by Jeff Galloway on the runDisney website and I think I might try that one. It starts the training in on October 4th and is a 3-day a week plan. I can fill those other days with spin classes or strength training or kickboxing or yoga or rest. Rest sounds like the most fun.

I also have the book Run Your Butt Off! that I plan to read and try to follow. It’s basically a program that helps people eat right and train right so that they can lose weight and start running. Regular people, like me. Not athletes who run a bunch of marathons per year, but people who are overweight and can’t run at all. They must have read my blog.

Get yours here!

The book specifically says, on page 24, “YOU NEED TO RUN SLOWLY. Very slowly. How slow is slow? Try this: Make your run no faster than your walk”.

Seriously, did they read my blog? It’s like they are speaking directly to me. My run is probably the same pace as my walk, maybe even slower. Good to know I’m supposed to start slow. Here’s my problem though. I’m not starting out. I’ve been doing this for 9 months. And I’m still at the beginning. No matter how hard I tri try, I don’t see progress with my running. It’s frustrating and I don’t know why I still want to do this.

Regardless, I have a half marathon to train for and six 5Ks coming up in the next 3 months. We shall see if this book and Jeff Galloway’s training plan can help me get somewhere fast. Kinda fast. Or just get there period. Here goes nothin'!!

First stop: sprint triathlon. After that: a half marathon??

My best friend, Emily, recently said to me "I do not find the need to run unless something is chasing me that has to potential to kill me." I normally don't run unless something is chasing me either, in fact I think the last time I ran, I was being chased by a dog when I was in elementary school. Apparently he didn't want me cutting across his lawn as a shortcut on the way home from school. But unfortunately, it's part of this horrific triathlon I signed up for. And the duathlon isn't much better, it's running and biking, then MORE running. Seriously? Where’s the swimming and biking only race? Isn't that a duathlon too? I'd like to hop on board that train.

Here's where it gets weird: Yesterday two of my friends ambushed me on twitter with the premise of doing the Disney Half marathon next February. My first thought? "I can't take a vacation to Florida in February and March!" March is my Red Sox Spring Training month. I can't miss that. I can't. Don't give me excuses, or a way out, I'll rephrase it for you, I won't.

My second thought was "I'm only doing a 5K as part of this sprint triathlon in September. That’s only 3.1 miles of running. A half marathon is 13.1. miles. That extra 10 miles to run with only 5 months of training, is highly daunting." And now that I reminisce about yesterday and my thoughts, it means training during the winter. I hate winter. I try not to go outside if possible. This is not looking good.

Yesterday was a great day though, although cold, and I frown upon that. My co-worker, and great friend, Alyson and I headed down to Rhode Island to bike along the Easy Bay bike path. It was very flat and a very easy path. It was nice for a leisurely ride without any purpose of training. But, man, was it cold.

Before we rode, we went into a store to use the bathroom and I was on the lookout for the Runner's World magazine. See, even though I don't like to run, I'm constantly reading articles online, flipping through magazines and reading blogs by other runners to get ideas on how to become a runner, or advice for my poor form, or to find to why they do it and how far they've come. If they can do it, why can't I? I seem to spend more time researching running than actually running. Works for me.

I found one lone copy of Runner's World and decided it must be fate. While normally this running business wouldn't interest me, I've become obsessed lately. Probably because I can't do it and I have an obsessive compulsive need to fix that. This issue of Runner’s World has a SPECIAL BEGINNER’S GUIDE. See?

I most definitely need a special beginner's guide. Because I’m sure it's different from the 47 other beginner's guides I've read. I haven't read this one yet, but I have started looking through the magazine. That's when I found this:

And I thought "Oh, how cool, I want to do that". WHAT?? Who am I? And why am I having these thoughts. Reminder: I can't run.

So, I Googled the Disney Princess Half Marathon for 2012. It’s Feb 24-26, and it will probably take me that long to complete it. They key about that though; it's over a weekend in February. I can still take my week-long March vacation. Score. And then I Googled "Half Marathon Training Schedules". Dammit.

Well girls, I guess that made my decision for me about the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I'm in.