Race Report- Disney's Princess Half Marathon

This was a great race! It was, of course, mostly women (7300 women, 200 men) and a lot of first-time half marathoners, at that. I trained pretty well for the race, but did not follow the rules before a race of staying off your feet, resting, and hydrating. On Friday and Saturday, I spent the time wandering all over the Disney parks. But, it's Disney...who cares about the race! :)
The Expo was pretty good...other than waiting in line 20 minutes to pick up my bib and chip. The tech shirt was pretty and pink, and my bib was pink (I chose Sleeping Beauty as my favorite princess). We also got a nice drawstring bag, and a pink sharpie!


The one drawback to the Disney races is the early start due to the heat. The race began at 7 AM, and the last bus picks up at the race hotels at 5 AM. So, we were up at 3:45 AM! And, it was the Daylight Savings Time change morning, so it was really 2:45 AM. Eek! I made it, though.

I wore my pink dress, a blue princess skirt, a tiara, and blue and pink ribbons in my hair. I was Sleeping Beauty, for real!


It was cold standing around waiting for the race to begin. I wish I'd brought a "throw-away" long sleeved t-shirt or something. Somehow, I ended up in Corral A. Not sure how that happened...except that a lot of the runners were very slow (I finished in the first half of the finishers....and I did a 2/1 run/walk).

The race began near Epcot, and we ran on Disney roads to the Magic Kingdom. There were some bands and some music along the way. My feet and calves began to hurt after mile 4, so I knew it was goingo be a long race! I took a quick 1 minute potty break at mile 5, and then we hit the Magic Kingdom! This was by far my favorite part of the race. We ran up Main St. with hundreds of people cheering...through Tomorrowland and by Space Mountain, and finally ran through Cinderella's Castle. Trumpets were playing as we went through the castle...it was great! By mile 9...I was struggling. Not hydrating and staying off my feet was beginning to catch up with me! I was running a pretty fast Galloway for me...averaging around 11:45 min miles (my marathon Galloway was 12:30 min miles). By mile 11, I was ready to walk it in...but managed to keep running somehow (those are the times when I realize how determined I really am...). We finished up at Epcot, and I managed to finish strong.

The medal was all worth it...a jeweled tiara medal!

I finished with a chip time of 2:33.15. My watch was at 2:31.51 (I stopped it for my potty break). My place was 2300 out of 6000 finishers, and I was 493 out of 1047 in my age group. So...a pretty slow half-marathon! It was a ton of fun, though. I would highly recommend this race. I won't run it next year because I'm heading down to Disney in January for the Goofy Challenge...but watch out in 2011...:)

Taper Week Training

Since I'm running the Disney Princess Half marathon on Sunday, this week has been a light running week. I was supposed to get out over the weekend for a 5-7 mile run, but for various reasons, that didn't happen. Then, we had an 8 inch snow on Sunday/Monday with temps not getting above 25 on Tuesday...so my Tuesday route would have been turned to ice. I hopped on the treadmill for 2 miles yesterday to at least move a bit and break in my new shoes a little.

I accidentally packed my running skirt instead of my shorts...so I ran on the treadmill at the office in a skirt. Most of the men that wandered into the gym gave me funny looks. If anyone asked why I was wearing a skirt, I planned to tell them that I was practicing for running in a dress this weekend. :) I couldn't let anything else deter me from getting a run in!

Lauren and I are planning on getting out for something short and sweet when we wake up at Disney tomorrow morning. Another 2 miles or so...just so our legs won't forget what it's like to run! I'm looking forward to the race...and the fact that we will be at Disney!

Look for a race report sometime next week...

Running Gear Update

In preparation for the half marathon I'm running at Disney World this coming weekend, I've been buying and updating my running gear.

I'll be running the race in this dress:


The footloose dress from Skirt Sports. And yes, it's pink. I'm Sleeping Beauty...:) I'll wear my Under Armour compression shorts underneath for comfort.

I also bought this watch:

It's great for interval timing (I use the Galloway run/walk method for longer races..2:1s for those that are familiar with Galloway). It is also sleek and light. Since it's an "ironman" model, it's very water resistant so I can use it for the triathlon as well.

Finally, I got another pair of my trusty motion-control shoes:I am a severe over-pronator, so these are perfect for me. I've worn the Brooks Ariel for 3 years now and have had very few Achilles issues like I had before.

This distance and pace are incorrect. I ran 3.25 last Thursday evening, and averaged aroun 11 minute miles. Oh well, this just keeps reminding me that I need to recalibrate my Nike+ sensor. One day...

Anyway, I've been finishing up my training for the Princess Half at Disney. I ran 11 miles last weekend (without my Nike+...forgot to re-attach the receiver after charging my nano!) and averaged around 11:30 minute miles. If I can keep that up for 2 more miles, I might actually run a decent half-marathon time. Who knows?

This week I'll be lucky if I get 2 runs in...considering there is currently 8 inches of snow on the ground. Guess I'll be hitting the treadmill!