Favorite Summer Treats

Happy Summer! Although it's felt like summer here in Southwest Louisiana for weeks now, I can officially say that summer has arrived in full force, complete with a tropical storm! What a way to kick off the season. The portions of Tropical Storm Cindy (the "eye") that hit SWLA only left us with minimal flooding, although other areas of the south can't say the same. Sad face....stay safe, guys!

By Thursday afternoon, all remnants of the storm will hopefully have passed through so life can resume as normal, including Dopey training!

With summer's heat and humidity and all things related, I like to enjoy a cold, sweet treat on occasion, especially after a hot run. I'm a sweets fan (bad, I know) and after a long Saturday run in the ridiculous heat and humidity, I usually crave all the cold things!

#1 Fruit

Strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, kiwi, grapes, bananas...you name it, I love it! Watermelon is definitely a summer favorite for sure!

#2 Gatorade

I guess it's not truly a "treat" but it's a necessity for me on long hot summer training runs, especially while training with longer distances!

#3 Snoballs

Hello...who wouldn't enjoy one of these after a hot long run?! They are the perfect way to cool down, although you have to eat fast if you're attempting to enjoy it outside!

#4 Smoothies

I know I mentioned it on Monday, but a local juicery opened here and oh my goodness...so many healthy and delicious options were available. I know I'll be a frequent visitor here this summer for sure! Also, nothing beat a nice homemade cold smoothie with a frozen banana and a little fruit...pure heaven!

#5 Iced Coffee

Aaaah yes...a nice cold coffee on a warm summer morning is the perfect way to begin the day! I enjoy these often during the summer!

With all of these yummy treats, I'm destined to survive marathon training during the hot and humid summer months!

What's your favorite summer treat?

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!