Dopey Primer - thoughts?

[TiggerTrigger]

I'm not even sure where to begin as I'm sure this is going to be a pretty longwinded mini novella, but I'd kind of like some opinions on whether this sounds like it's ridiculous, wise, or somewhere in between.

For starters, after doing the 5k, 10k, and Half during WDW Marathon week in 2020, I had set a goal to work on Dopey for the upcoming year. Covid got in the way in the beginning, but then cancer, related complications involving months of being sedentary and letting myself go (physically and mentally) in the process made it seem like an impossible dream. In late 2024, I started to pull myself back together and after a ton of work, Dopey now seems like a possibility. The earliest I can do it is 2028. DD17 plays travel ball, we're trying to get her recruited, and until all of that happens...her dreams consume our vacation time and budget. Of course, I can continue to work on me and prepping in the meantime. I went from being a power walker to a Galloway style interval runner back to a power walker. I have suffered from exercise induced bronchoconstriction/asthma my entire life and while intervals made running possible, the wrong cocktail of intervals on the wrong day still aggravated things and I just hate taking meds if I can help it. I also prefer walking and my walking speed is fairly comparable to my interval speeds. So, I'm leaning into what I enjoy and what brings my mind peace. I also like that my doctor is encouraging distance walking every day and walking doesn't cause me pains like I experience with running (which continues to get worse as I get older). I put in 50-55 miles per week power walking and do a lot of gym work to boost my strength and stave off injuries. So, there's quite a bit in my mix. In any event...

I am one of those people that would like to go into Dopey with experience under my belt...assuming I still want to do it after said experiences. I want to make sure my body can handle a full (and enjoy it) before I do any kind of challenge. I also want to make sure my body can handle back to back long race challenges before sinking the money into something like Dopey. While my race life is not going to be limited to these...this is what I have in mind...

1. St. Patrick's Day races- This weekend I will be power walking back to back half marathons. I've already simulated it several times in training, including one weekend where I accidentally went 14.87 and 14.35 miles because I made some mapping errors. I still had a lot of gas left in the tank both days, so that was encouraging. Still, it seemed like a good place to start with back to back longer races. The Saturday half marathon is one where I can, if I want, take a more leisurely pace. Saturday is the day they also hold the full marathon, so the course is open much of the day. Sunday, is more of a time crunch, with a 4.25 hour limit on the half marathon course. My last few training walks at this distance had my average pace around a 14.03-14.12 minute mile (the slower of which was day 2 on more tired legs) and I always pace faster in a race setting, so I'm pretty confident that time won't be an issue. This course was my first ever half marathon, back in 2014, it's a fun theme and it's super pretty in many spots, so it seems like a fitting place to get this started. Not sure how much extra time I want on my legs/feet on Saturday, but if I slow down and enjoy, it goes along the coast of the bay as well as a bunch of marshy nature trails. It's a mixed surface situation...pavement, crushed granite, boardwalk.

2. 1/1/2027 - There is a full marathon (as well as a half) held on my town's fully paved forested greenbelt trails each year on New Year's Day. This would be my next big training goal. I ran the half marathon they offer in 2020 and accidentally crashed the course this year as my planned walking route coincided with this year's race route. In fact, it was a runner who chatted with me for about a 1.5 miles who said I was nuts for not signing up. Mind you, he had just finished mile 13 and I was in mile 10, but he pointed out that he was running...I was walking...and I was slowing down to pace with him to chat. Still, he had longer goals for the day on his menu and was likely intentionally pacing slower. I have no idea what next year's route will look like but it will surely cover some of my normal spots, and trying my first full marathon on the trails I walk on nearly every day in my current hometown seems kind of right in so many ways. It's also very walker and first timer friendly. I believe the course opens at 7:30am and closes at 5:30pm.

3. Mid March 2027 St. Patrick's Day races- This next part would bring me back to that St. Patrick's Day race weekend I detailed in 1, but this time, I'd do the full and the half challenge. So, sort of a reverse Goofy. I know some people wouldn't entertain another marathon, let alone a challenge, 2.5 months apart but as a walker...it seems more feasible. The full marathon course also opens up something like 75 minutes early for walkers. So, I'd also have that in my favor.

*The only thing I haven't been able to account for in my plans is the race size and controlled chaos that you experience running at WDW. It definitely had an impact on me in 2020 and I'm getting flashbacks seeing people discuss their crowd issues in the various facebook groups. I think the only thing I can get locally that could come close to simulating this is the Houston Aramco Half Marathon on January 11, 2027. The pace minimum is supposedly an 18:18 minute mile, so it's certainly doable. I just don't know about doing a half that close to my first full. The other races almost never sell out, but this one will soon. So, I'll need to decide ASAP if this is worth adding in for the crowd and corral experience. The course touches a lot of iconic Houston spots and goes pretty close to my office, so it could be neat.

Any thoughts you guys have would be greatly appreciated. I know it's a bit different as a walker vs. a runner, but surely...I'm not the only one to walk races. Thanks

 

[FFigawi]

A reverse Goofy is going to be much more difficult than a regular Goofy. The full will take much more out of you than you might think, making the half on Sunday that much more difficult. I did weekends like that when I was training for Comrades, and I'd never recommend doing it as part of normal training, especially since Dopey would be close to 10 months away.

 

[The Expert]

I agree with @FFigawi that a reverse Goofy is a bad idea. But I would definitely do one full marathon before you commit to Dopey. The January 1, 2027 one sounds like a good one, and leaves you plenty of time to recover and reflect before you'd have to commit and sign up for Dopey 2028.

IF you did a 2027 St Patrick's Day race, I'd do ONE of the halfs and not push it, just to keep active during your recovery after the full. After that, you could roll back to your usual schedule for a while and look at starting Dopey training toward the end of summer.

You're already super active and you know your body well. What you're finding out here is how a marathon feels mentally and physically, and how you feel racing again afterward. It also gives you some extra time to deal with any injuries or unexpected things that may come up.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Thank you @The Expert and @FFigawi . This is why I asked because what sounds good in my head and looks good on paper isn't always the case. Seeing if I have a full in me and how I feel about it afterwards is definitely the priority.