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Disney's Princess Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Orlando, Florida
United States
Disney's Wide World of Sports
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 3h 20m 17s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

This race was a complete disappointment on pretty much every level for me. My friend called me months ago and said "Hey why don't we do Princess for our birthdays" and I said yes. Then IMFL and the gastrocs tear left me unable to run for almost 3 months. I am seriously NOT an athlete who can not train and just pull it out of my ass. I have zero talent and I get injured easily.

In the mean time my friend was training with a couple neighbors and I made hotel reservations fri-sat. She made reservations late and was unable to book at the same hotel then decided to book sat-sun because her kids had concert tickets in Orlando sunday night and then they would not have to drive home after the concert................OK but I had thought when she said "lets do something fun for our birthdays" we would be there Saturday to actually do something fun.

It was thoroughly depressing to be at this venue by myself because here are all these women and their groups of friends all princessed up taking pictures etc and I am on my own and I THOUGHT that was what I would be doing too. She didn't get there until Saturday 4pm..........

So socially, complete bust which is really the only reason I was there because I was completely under trained with my longest run being a very sluggish slow 7.5 miles in 90 minutes of running. I just didn't have enough time. I knew it was going to be slow and awful but I really did think I could manage a sub 3 hour effort. Worst performance in a stand alone 1/2 ever. :(
Event warmup:

This race starts at 5:30 am...........yeah. I got up at 2:30 got dressed and headed to the bus. Off the bus and found a place to sit. I never saw my friend at the start because they were calling for my corral to walk to the start before she arrived and its about a mile walk to the start line. I ate my breakfast and waited. I guess they got there with a few minutes to spare. I really should have jumped the corral and peed in the woods before the start but I didn't
Run
  • 3h 20m 17s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 15m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

This was just horrible. Like an hour slower than I should be. I was undertrained and fighting some injuries but still. Pathetic.

ANYWAY. Somehow I was in the second corral. My stand alone 1/2s have been in the 2:30-2:17 range consistently so I had said 2:30 as a predicted time. At this race that gets you in the top 5-10% apparently. Honestly its more of an event of girl power, princess dressing, picture taking and female bonding than a race.

So this race has gone from 8000 the first year to 26,000 this year. SO CROWDED. I ran the first mile with a pee stop and to about 15 minutes in. This was not the 2:1 prescribed by coach but it was so tight it was impossible to walk. Then I started my 2:1 thing. Stopped to take a few pictures. They probably had 20 places you could stop and take pictures with characters plus the 13 mile markers but there were usually 20-30 people in line to do so and I am too frigging slow to stand in line for a photo op.

Ran into the park and just could not believe how slow I was going. Persisted in the 2:1. Running thru magic kingdom is always fun but it was super crowded. Just pathetically slow the whole way. I made it thru 2 hours which was 30 minutes more than my longest training run but at a glacial pace. I had a hand held water bottle with me that I refilled 3 times (I was drenched by mile 3) but I was having some stomach cramping by mile 11. About that point I did not give a rats ass about much other than being finished. I had abandoned my run walk ratio and ran when I got frustrated with my walking pace as it didn't really hurt anymore to run than to walk. Totally NOT a cardio issue. I walked the last mile as my hip started getting super sore.
What would you do differently?:

Not be injured so I could train properly
Post race
Warm down:

Could they not supply CHAIRS after a 1/2? Really? I was hurting pretty bad esp my left foot PF. Sweaty crampy and in general cranky. Got my medal. Did not bother to stand in line for a finisher picture and got some food and just headed for the bus. I texted my friend but they had not finished and I just went back to the hotel to shower. I sat down in the parking lot to wait for the bus and after a few minutes felt immediately better.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Injury and lack of training due to injury

Event comments:

This race is all grown up now. The expo was very good and the race was also very well done aside from the fact its a bit more crowded than I would like. 26,000 over 13 miles = 2000 people on each mile. ACK. They had lots of things to keep you engaged and entertained.

One of the charities associated with this race is an organization for Rett syndrome which my best friend from colleges' daughter has. Next year we may run it together pushing Alaina in her wheelchair.

My princessdom to train and race uninjured




Last updated: 2012-10-27 12:00 AM
Running
03:20:17 | 13.1 miles | 15m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Thru Disney and epcot. Same course as the Disney 1/2
Course:
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 1
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2013-02-27 3:12 PM

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