Virtual runDisney Blog Hop: Training for the Princess Half Marathon weekend

Welcome to Didi and Patty's Princess weekend blog hop! In this edition, I'm going to be talking about Training!

Whether it's your 1st race, or your 50th, you should always have a training plan. But before you get a training plan, you should consult your physician about starting any exercise routine. And while we're disclaiming, I am not a doctor or a dietician or anyone who should be the last word in YOUR training success. All runner's are different. The runDisney/ Jeff Galloway plans work well for me, but not everyone. You should ultimately pick a training plan that works best for you. What works for me doesn't work for everyone BUT I'm all about sharing the wealth when I do find what works for me, in case it might help you.

Did you know runDisney, with the help of Jeff Galloway, puts together training plans for each of their races? This includes all the race Challenges! Since I'm signed up for the Glass Slipper Challenge, it's what I'm using.

My first experience with back to back races was the 2011 WDW Half Marathon on Saturday and the WDW Marathon Relay on Sunday. Honestly, it didn't turn out so well. I  thought it was ok to just throw in a couple of back-to-back 8 milers into my training and be done with it. In other circumstances, that might've been fine, but I was also pre-race injured. Let's just say, that second leg of the marathon relay was NOT pretty and I'll never look at Oseola parkway the same again. I've found the key to challenge training for me is to incorporate early on a lot of back to back training runs. The more accustomed your body is to it, the better you'll do on race days.

Which is why when the inaugural Dumbo Dare Challenge rolled around, I thought it would be a good idea to look at the runDisney plan. The plan sounded extremely similar to what I was already doing, so why not? I loved that it was more of an intermediate runner plan, with high and low mileage weeks instead of just increasing miles. It also incorporated back to back runs early, which really helped ease my body into it. . . instead of just throwing it in and expecting it to react positively. I felt extremely prepared going into Dumbo and just wish the weather would've been more cooperative.

These plans are also known for taking you higher than the mileage for the race (ie. the marathon plan will have you running up to 29 miles and the half up to 14). While there are MANY training plans that do not go above 10 for half training/ 20 for full, and that's  perfectly ok, I think mentally being prepared knowing you can run the entire distance might be helpful in some cases. Not ready for all those miles? That's ok, too! I've also heard many people customize these plans to stop at the 20 mile training week and then proceed to taper. For me, The 14 mile training run worked perfectly since I was training for The New York City marathon as well.

When it came time to start training for Princess weekend, I took the Dumbo plan and moved the dates around (until runDisney updated their site). If you've been following along during my weekly updates, you'll know my training hasn't been going as "on schedule" as I want, but that's life. You make do as well as you can with what you've got and hope for the best, right? I think I've gotten enough solid back to back training runs in to get me through. This race weekend is also about having fun and enjoying the experience. There will be no PRs or Boston qualifying times for this gal. The least amount of pain post-race to enjoy the rest of my time on vacation is the goal.

And speaking of my weekly training updates, I've found they are extremely helpful in keeping me accountable. I know they're not the most popular blog post to write or read, but for me, having to admit what I did or did not do for training helps motivate me to not skip.

Are you running The Princess weekend? What's your training plan looking like? If you're looking forward to the weekend as much as we are, be sure to enjoy the rest of the blog hop. There are over 30 bloggers with 30 different topics!