Anyone else a first timer in the half marathon? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Hey! I've been to WDW before during the marathon and always told myself that if I ever were to run one, it would be there. Well, I talked a friend into it and we decided to start with the half marathon in 2008. After having my third (and last) baby in November, it will be nice motivation to start training and get back into shape! Seeing as how I've never been more than a casual jogger, I'm wondering if anybody has any tips for my first half marathon adventure... anything at all??!! Thanks!!
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I would love to see some replies to this, considering I am thinking of running the 1/2 marathon with Team in Training.
Good luck to you!
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Congrats on doing the WDW Half Marathon! My first half marathon ever was the 2005 WDW Half Marathon, and I had a blast! I actually power-walked it, and still finished in plenty of time. Several months before the race I made a point of getting out several times a week to power-walk/jog around area lakes. I started out at three miles and worked my way up from there. I made it through the actual race by breaking the race down into four - 5K distances. Each time I finished 5K (3.1 miles), I would celebrate another leg down on the race. It made the 13.1 mile distance not seem so far then. WDW does a good job also of getting you through the race by having fun character themed mile markers. Be sure to bring a small camera with you so you can take photos of these mile markers as well as the characters along the way. Just be warned that if you have never done a half marathon before, you will be very tired for the rest of the marathon day. You have to get up really early to catch the shuttles to the race site. I had all these plans to go to the parks after the race. Well I went to Downtown Disney for lunch. I was very hungry so I ate an entire pizza from Wolfgang Puck's. After that we walked around and looked at the shops for awhile. All of sudden this wave of tiredness hit and I could barely make it back to the car. We drove back to the resort and I ended up napping by the pool for the rest of the afternoon instead! Good luck!
I am running the half-marathon this year, and my husband is doing the full. He was supposed to run it last year (trained for 10 months) but then was incorrectly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. We finally found out about a month and a half ago that the diagnosis was wrong and he actually had a weird virus that made him feel that way---- so he's back to training now that he's feeling better. We were supposed to do it two years ago as well, but didn't have anyone to leave our kids with during that weekend. Now that the half and full are on different days, we can take the kids with us. Hopefully, third time's the charm. I have found it a great motivator to work out. I am at the gym every day-- and I push myself more than I have in the past.
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Dina
Last edited by Happymommy; 04-17-2007 at 07:09 AM..
Wow, this is so cool! I'm training for the 2009 1/2. As a fat, out-of-shape, 30 something, I thought I'd take it slow. I'm up to about 2 miles per day and have slowly started working some jogging. Good luck to all!
DD (18) just called last night to remind me she wants to sign up. She did her first half marathon at 12 and is looking forward to this one. Her equestrian team trains in Orlando the week before, so the timing is perfect for her.
She wants me to do the fun run, but we'll see. I am not much of a runner and also want to watch and cheer her on.
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Anyone else a first timer in the half marathon?
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My first half marathon ever was the 2005 WDW Half Marathon, and I had a blast! 
I actually power-walked it, and still finished in plenty of time. Several months before the race I made a point of getting out several times a week to power-walk/jog around area lakes. I started out at three miles and worked my way up from there. I made it through the actual race by breaking the race down into four - 5K distances. Each time I finished 5K (3.1 miles), I would celebrate another leg down on the race. It made the 13.1 mile distance not seem so far then. WDW does a good job also of getting you through the race by having fun character themed mile markers. Be sure to bring a small camera with you so you can take photos of these mile markers as well as the characters along the way. Just be warned that if you have never done a half marathon before, you will be very tired for the rest of the marathon day. You have to get up really early to catch the shuttles to the race site. I had all these plans to go to the parks after the race. Well I went to Downtown Disney for lunch. I was very hungry so I ate an entire pizza from Wolfgang Puck's. After that we walked around and looked at the shops for awhile. All of sudden this wave of tiredness hit and I could barely make it back to the car. We drove back to the resort and I ended up napping by the pool for the rest of the afternoon instead!
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