Dopey Challenge Game Plan

After much debated thought and research, I've made a somewhat concrete training plan for the 2018 Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World. If you aren't familiar with Dopey's Challenge, it's a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon all on consecutive days. I'm still a bit in shock that I actually signed up for this race....

As a veteran marathoner (although I sorta feel like a newbie since it's been SO long since my last full marathon), I kind of have an idea of what has and hasn't worked for a training plan and my cranky knees.

This is the first year since I began running that I don't have a running coach lining out a training plan for me and telling me what to do. To be honest, that kind of scares me. Dopey's Challenge - it's 48.6 miles in 4 days. Y'all. Seriously, what was I thinking??

Thankfully, the folks over at runDisney have utilized an amazing individual who has a wealth of knowledge on all things running, and he created a Dopey Training Plan! Yes I'm talking about Jeff Galloway and yes...I love you runDisney!

Jeff's training plan for the 2018 Dopey Challenge officially begins next Tuesday and I am SO excited. After Princess, I took a little break from a rigid training plan because my brain and body needed a break. Now, I feel refreshed and ready to go once again!

One thing I love about Jeff's training plans is the functionality of them! His Dopey plan has runners training three times per week at the majority with a few four day weeks in there as well.Three days per week? I can handle that!

I've used the concept behind Jeff's training plans where he has runners run a training run or two at a distance longer than their upcoming race. This worked incredibly well for me as I was able to obtain a sub 2 half marathon using this training mentality.

For 48.6 miles however, my main goal is to finish the full marathon upright and not break any crazy PR's, so that's where a few of my tweaks to this training plan come into play.

• On three occasions, this training plan has runners tackling distances over the 20 mile mark. Sadly, I'm pretty sure my knee would not agree with that idea, so I'm cutting these three down to one 20 mile run that I'll tackle some time in December.
• In total, I'll have several 13-18 mile training runs as well, scattered throughout the 29 week training period. 
• This plan also includes about four "mock Dopey" weekends with training runs/walks back to back. I think I'm going to cut these down to two total.
• For the three day a week training weeks, I'm going to add one day of cross training as well as my PT/squats/lunges routine throughout.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a running coach nor am I an expert at this. However, this will be my 6th full marathon and I sort-of have an idea of what has and hasn't worked for my IT Band issues in the past. Hopefully, all goes well and come January, I'll have a shiny new medal (or six) to show for it and I'll remain injury free! :)

Dopey, here I come!!

Today I'm linking up with these lovely ladies (Erika, Marcia and Patty) for Tuesdays on the Run!

Dopey Challenge, Here I Come!

Well, I did it. Yesterday, I officially registered for the 2018 Dopey Challenge in Walt Disney World!!

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Yes, this is a race I said I'd never run. I also said I'd never run a full marathon (now I've done 5) or Goofy's Challenge (I've completed it once), so here I am. Learn your lesson, Karen...never say never!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Dopey's Challenge, it's a 5K on Thursday followed by a 10K on Friday, the half marathon on Saturday, and the full marathon on Sunday for a grand total of 48.6 miles!

The whole idea behind Dopey began several months back. I finally began to feel the urge to run Goofy's Challenge again (it's been five years...so hard to believe) and I considered asking my Florida friend Melissa to run with me. Instead, she actually text me first and asked if I would run Dopey with her. Well, "it's just a 5K and a 10K more"...yes, and a couple hundred dollars more but who's counting...but ok. I agreed and now I'm in!
 

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It's also an anniversary year for so many of the races! The 20th Anniversary of the Walt Disney World Marathon was one of my favorite races and I'm super excited to be going back for the 25th Anniversary!

This will definitely be a one and done for me, but I'm super excited to rise up to the challenge! As you know, Marathon Weekend holds a super special place in my heart as that's where my running journey all began.

My IT Band will have to be nursed extra carefully over the fall/winter as I don't want to go into this race with an injury. Hopefully it will behave...I'm crossing my fingers at least!

The races...the characters...the costumes...the medals...oh my I can't wait!

So, who else is joining in for Marathon weekend? Anyone?