Disney 1/2 Marathon #rundisney

I run (or walk) the 1/2 tomorrow morning (way early).  If you're interested, you can sign up to track me here.   You can see the path we'll be taking here.   I'll post pictures after I get back and have a chance to recover (and catch up on work).   Today we'll go to the Expo and pick up our race packets and talk about how unprepared we feel, then tomorrow we'll prove ourselves wrong.

Getting Ready #rundisney #disneyside

The last time I did the Disney 1/2 was 2012. It was two years ago today. As I prepare to do it again, I'm sharing some of my memories from that day.

WDW Marathon Weekend

Fee for 1/2 marathon - $140
Fee for 5K - $50/person
Stay on site to avoid Traffic hassles
Cost of meals
Pain during 1/2 marathon
Soreness/Stiffness after 1/2 marathon
Lots of Tylenol/Ibuprofen
Running the 5K with my family and having them support me as I do the 1/2 - priceless.

Just some stats for those that are interested. There were 8000 of us running the Family 5K on Friday. There were 22421 FINISHERS for the 1/2 (and more of those were female than male).

Disney 1/2 Marathon

I don't recommend doing it like I did. I had minimal training during the year (plans to train harder didn't work out like they should). I debated all the way up to the day before as to whether or not I'd make it. Hubby was supposed to go with me, but he did NO training. As hard of a time as I gave him, his decision to not do it was a good one.

I'll admit that I made a better start than I'd expected. I downloaded a program to my iPhone that updated me regularly on my pace and let me know if I needed to increase speed. My normal method of pacing is to find a Team in Training coach and manage to stay between two groups they're working with. It was just as well that I had my program as I didn't manage to stick with one of their coaches.

The only downside of the program I used was it wouldn't let my music continue when it went to speak to me. It was supposed to allow my iPhone to multi-task, but instead of pausing my music, speaking, then restarting my music. It just paused it. I didn't want to have to mess with it, so I just didn't have music.

I actually did fine until around mile 9. At that point my knee really started bugging me. My mile 11, it was hurting. When I got back to our room, it was nicely swollen. I did manage to get it down and the pain controlled enough to be able to go to EPCOT, though, to check it out more than just in passing.

Getting in shape

for the Walt Disney World 1/2 marathon. I've decided it's time to do it again, so I'm back in training. My first 5K is this weekend at the Women's Health 5K at Candler Park. From there, my daughter and I are doing a 5K with friends with Diamonds in the Rough. I'm still working out the rest of the year but am looking at the US 10K in September and the Merrell Mud Run in October. I've registered my family and I for the Family 5K at Disney which runs the day before the 1/2 marathon. Hubby has decided to run the 1/2 marathon with me this year, though I have a feeling either he'll zoom ahead or be falling behind.. dunno about the keeping pace thing.

My dad is supposed to do the 1/2 with me as well (he's done it with me before). My mom had lap-band surgery last year and she's in training to do the 5K with my kids. It should be a fun (if tiring) weekend in January next year. If you're interested in info on the Disney marathon weekend, you can find it here.

Contemplating Torture

My dad has suggested we try to do the 1/2 marathon again in January 2010. We took this year off due to lack of preparation and just to take a year off. If we want to do it, though, we have to sign up by March or all the slots will be gone.

Disney World Marathon

My dad and I decided not to do the marathon next year at Walt Disney World. Part of the reason is time to train. We have not had much time lately for either of us to train. The other is that next year is a "big" birthday year and I'd rather spend it with family at home than doing the marathon. I've been down 5 years in a row, completed it 4 of those years.

It's interesting to note, though, that the Goofy Challenge is already full (barely a month after the last) and the half marathon is 75% full. It's a great race to do if you're into that sort of thing. It's a good challenge even if you're not.

So if you're looking for a great race, register now.

We're off..

again! This time we're going camping on the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC. We leave in the morning and return Monday. I'll have pics/reviews of that when we get back. In the meantime, I leave you with the ability to see the OFFICIAL race photos of me during the marathon.

EPCOT performers

Another day, another sharing of pictures taken while I was at Walt Disney World for the marathon. These are performers that we saw at various times the Friday before the actual marathon. All can be found at various times in the World Showcase of EPCOT. The mariachi band was in Mexico, the drummers were in Japan and the street performers were in France. I missed seeing my favorite group, Off Kilter (found in Canada), while I was there.

Disney World

While I was at Disney for the marathon, I stopped at EPCOT to play for a day. In their Innoventions West area you have the chance to try out a Segway. Those things are fun. You have to be at least 16 years old, minimum 100 pounds, maximum 250 pounds. You also have to sign a waiver.

So neglected..

I've so neglected my blog. I have a good excuse though! I travelled to Florida Thursday and walked/ran in the Disney 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning. I didn't achieve any records or beat my own pace, but I did finish. It was my 4th and final time actually participating. At least for a long while. :) Here's a picture of my dad and I when we reached Main Street at the Magic Kingdom. It's not easy to stop in the middle of the race, much less pose for a picture, but we did. I took a disposable camera along with us, I'll have to post pics from that later.

Walt Disney World Half Marathon

Well, it's official. My dad and I are training for the Disney World Half Marathon in January. We skipped this year since he wasn't feeling tops and neither of us really prepared. This year, though, we plan on chopping another 15 minutes off of our finish time. First year we did it, we finished in 3:30. Second year in 3:15. So, this year we're shooting for 3:00 even. (Those are hours:minutes for you who are curious.)