Four Parks, One Dope: A 2015 Dopey Challenge Trip Report!

[FFigawi]

Mile 10! And another split! 10 miles in 2:03:34, 12:22/mile pace. Estimated finish time of 5:23:57 (11:27AM). I DID look at my phone when this split came in and remember thinking, "...hey, not bad!" I mean, duh...WOW, if I don't stop for all of the character photos I'll have a faster time?! What a concept! Continued in Next Post

Speaking of faster times, run the tangents! If you weren't running in the middle of the track and instead ran along the cones on the inside, you'd save plenty of seconds for more character stops.

 

[Ariel484]

I agree if they had the frozen characters out that line would be the longest in the history of RunDisney races.

Absolutely! I'd probably wait in it...although I'm planning on meeting them on the Fantasy this summer, so it would have depended on how long the line was.

Though Kristoff isn't on the Fantasy...yeah, I would have waited!

That hill at speedway would bother me too.

Make a note to yourself about that for the future!

Great pace! I can't wait to hear about the rest.

Thanks!!

Then you'll really love the two-or-so miles leading up to Angel's stadium in the Disneyland Half. Though I will say, cars don't do anything for me either, but I found that stretch of the race MUCH more entertaining then the speedway at WDW, which I equated to a death march in 2013. The year I did the WDW full some of the drivers were revving their engines on the speedway, because doesn't everyone want to inhale car exhaust during a marathon?

Hahaha! Thanks for the warning! I'm glad to hear it's better than the speedway though!

Ugh, I totally remember the engines revving!! Could you not?!

Speaking of faster times, run the tangents! If you weren't running in the middle of the track and instead ran along the cones on the inside, you'd save plenty of seconds for more character stops.

I tried!! I really did! I didn't even know that running the tangents was a thing people did until a year or two ago...I read an article about it and was just like... DUH!!

I didn't really do a great job though...looking back at my Garmin account I added 0.11 for the 5K, 0.21 for the 10K, 0.4 for the half and 0.47 for the marathon. BUT BUT BUT! I did do better with the marathon this year compared to previous years (26.88 miles in 2012 and 26.85 miles in 2013). So...progress?

 

[travisx4]

Breaking news that only I care about...


I AM IN!!!

This Dumb Dope is going Coast to Coast in 2015!!! SOOO EXCITED! AHHHHHHHH ALLLL THE MEDALS!!!

that is all.

How did you already register for that? I ran the Dopey and I want to do this Double dare also but it says registration opens on the 10th of February. By the way I am reliving the runs through your report, thanks.

 

[Ariel484]

How did you already register for that? I ran the Dopey and I want to do this Double dare also but it says registration opens on the 10th of February. By the way I am reliving the runs through your report, thanks.

Early registration for Annual Passholders and DVC members started yesterday! My WDW AP is still good for another month...whew!

Congrats on being Dopey!

 

[FFigawi]

I tried!! I really did! I didn't even know that running the tangents was a thing people did until a year or two ago...I read an article about it and was just like... DUH!! I didn't really do a great job though...looking back at my Garmin account I added 0.11 for the 5K, 0.21 for the 10K, 0.4 for the half and 0.47 for the marathon. BUT BUT BUT! I did do better with the marathon this year compared to preview years (26.88 miles in 2012 and 26.85 miles in 2013). So...progress?

Definitely progress! Just easy to tease you when you're taking pics of running well away from one of the few places where the tangents are easy to find and follow.

 

[Ariel484]

Definitely progress! Just easy to tease you when you're taking pics of running well away from one of the few places where the tangents are easy to find and follow.

Fair enough!!

I'm signed up for a marathon at home and you'd better believe I will NOT be pulling off to the side to take pictures and WILL be focusing more on the tangents.

 

[steph0808]

TENTATIVELY planning on Princess 5K + Glass Slipper Challenge for 2016. By that I mean, I'm definitely signing up but may end up deferring to 2017.

I hope you can make it work some day!!!

Well then maybe I will have to defer my registration and hope to run next year if you are going to be there. Someone to meet and maybe run a little with.

 

[Miffy2003]

We liked the racetrack bit - but not the slope

Oh the villains - we so so nearly stopped - but were worried about the sun and wanted to plug on while the temps were still good. If I'd known it would end up raining and we wouldn't have an issue, I would have stopped - obviously have some regret now!

Looking forward to the next fascinating instalment .... At the water treatment plant

 

[Biggie Smalls]

2015 Walt Disney World Marathon! Miles 1-5

Back to the TTC!

]

Continued in Next Post

Hey that's me over on the left by the ladies with the Mickey balloons! I was cheering for you even then! Haha

 

[Biggie Smalls]

Great job and good luck on DDD (gurl you izzzzz crazy!) you were killing it in pace, that stretch by Poly seemed so cramped I felt bad for the runners trying to press through.

 

[Slogger]

2015 Walt Disney World Marathon! Miles 1-5

" the first mile straight through with no walk breaks, but after that, I stuck to the intervals for the remainder of the race."

I typically do a similar interval...run the first mile or two and then run/walk but typically 5 mins of running with 30-60 seconds of walking. Never tried the 3/1 ratio, how does that affect your time?

" One very, very notable part of this course was just before Mile Marker 2 - mile 1.9 to be exact. Why?? Because that’s halfway Dopey, people!! "


I was thinking the same thing that mile 2 was the halfway point for the Dopeys among us. Loved how the announcer guys each morning told us that we were 25% done with Dopey after the 5k, and then 50% done after the 10k, 75% done after the half.....yeah, real funny guys!

 

[sumlee]

This is so fun reliving the races with you! Loved Magic Kingdom! I love the energy there and I get the same goofy grin when I see the castle!

I was surprised at how steep it was going into the raceway. Didn't seem very safe. I didn't mind the raceway itself, was not my favorite, but something new to look at.

 

[Ariel484]

Well then maybe I will have to defer my registration and hope to run next year if you are going to be there. Someone to meet and maybe run a little with.

Like I said, it's VERY tentative for me!!

We liked the racetrack bit - but not the slope

I'm pretty sure no one liked that slope!

Oh the villains - we so so nearly stopped - but were worried about the sun and wanted to plug on while the temps were still good. If I'd known it would end up raining and we wouldn't have an issue, I would have stopped - obviously have some regret now!

It really is a great meet & greet. I definitely would have stopped if I hadn't already done it twice in the past!

Looking forward to the next fascinating instalment .... At the water treatment plant

Mmmmm yum

Hey that's me over on the left by the ladies with the Mickey balloons! I was cheering for you even then! Haha

Hey!! Well can I just say, THANK YOU SO MUCH for cheering! You are awesome!!

Great job and good luck on DDD (gurl you izzzzz crazy!) you were killing it in pace, that stretch by Poly seemed so cramped I felt bad for the runners trying to press through.

Thank you!! Agreed, that area is pretty cramped...and a little bit of a bummer for me since we'd just left the MK.

I typically do a similar interval...run the first mile or two and then run/walk but typically 5 mins of running with 30-60 seconds of walking. Never tried the 3/1 ratio, how does that affect your time?

I am not totally sure, to be honest. I have never used that method when trying to run a fast race...and I think that different intervals work for different people so it's possible that 3:1 is not the *ideal* one for me, just what I decided to use since I liked it for my 18-mile training run (for that one I ended up with an overall pace of 11:59/mile, but I felt really good the entire time and after the run was done - for my 16-miler 2 weeks before I did 4:1 with an 11:50 pace, but I didn't feel as good afterward).

On the other hand I am one of *those* people who, when I do these Disney races, I don't ever try to PR or anything - I know that I'm going to take it pretty slowly and stop for pictures and whatnot. So I would take the results of that 18-miler with a grain of salt, because I wasn't trying to hit any specific pace with that (actually, I guess I wanted it to be under 12:00/mile...I forget why though. Woohoo, just made it!).

I think this spring I'm going to try different intervals to see if I can find *the one* for me. I just read a post on FB from a guy that was running 12:00-13:00/mile and he tried an interval of 1:45/:30, and claimed that brought him down to 10:00/mile. I thought that was interesting...I recently read a thing from Galloway where he's pushing 30-second walk breaks instead of 1-minute breaks (because he says 30 seconds is enough time to recover, so the extra 30 seconds isn't needed and just adds to your overall time - which I agree with). So I may try something like that FB guy did for a few runs and see how that goes - a shorter run interval with a 30-second walk break. I have a 10-miler coming up in April and a 10K in May and I'd like to PR at both of those, so hopefully I can figure something out.

AAAAAAND tangent.

I was thinking the same thing that mile 2 was the halfway point. Loved how the announcer guys each morning told us that we were 25% done with Dopey after the 5k, and then 50% done after the 10k, 75% done after the half.....yeah, real funny guys!

My husband was texting that to me too! And I was like, "not really when you think about the mileage!" and he was like, "yeah, but it's sort of true!" Silly husband.

This is so fun reliving the races with you! Loved Magic Kingdom! I love the energy there and I get the same goofy grin when I see the castle!

Yay!! It's totally hard not to smile when you run through there.

I was surprised at how steep it was going into the raceway. Didn't seem very safe. I didn't mind the raceway itself, was not my favorite, but something new to look at.

I agree that the entrance doesn't seem super safe. At least it's early in the race!! Imagine if that was at mile 25! I'd collapse.

 

[Slogger]

:Mmmmm yum


"this spring I'm going to try different intervals to see if I can find *the one* for me. I just read a post on FB from a guy that was running 12:00-13:00/mile and he tried an interval of 1:45/:30, and claimed that brought him down to 10:00/mile. I thought that was interesting...I recently read a thing from Galloway where he's pushing 30-second walk breaks instead of 1-minute breaks (because he says 30 seconds is enough time to recover, so the extra 30 seconds isn't needed and just adds to your overall time - which I agree with). So I may try something like that FB guy did for a few runs and see how that goes - a shorter run interval with a 30-second walk break. I have a 10-miler coming up in April and a 10K in May and I'd like to PR at both of those, so hopefully I can figure something out."

Interesting. I read a similar post by Galloway that he ran/walk and qualified for Boston by running something crazy like 1:30/walking 30. How fast is he running those 90 seconds! Probably faster than I'm used to. I've had good luck with running half mile and walking 30 seconds at a good pace. Will try to tweak it with shorter runs but slightly faster and see what happens.

 

[garneska]

Am so glad i gave you a reason to post a pic of Archie. He is adorable. I knew you were a dog person though, so that is why i thought you might be interested to see mine. Thanks for the validation, not that anyone is saying anything, but so nice to know that others would chose dog first.

I agree on the slope into the speedway. I hate it. I know about it so based on how miserable my knee was i knew to get ready to walk it. Can't wait to see how it goes past mile 10. 10 is where i started having problems. I had to walk a lot at that point, but i pulled it out and finished it.

I did not read the whole training log but i too suffered and ankle sprain. I rolled it in Sep at the beginning of my second 10 mile training run. Not sure how you landed but i rolled it so hard i fell forward and caught myself with my right arm. That was not so good either. I thought i broke it, but just severely sprained it. My training basically got me to a 14 mile run with a follow up run of 7 miles in the beginning of Dec. I then had issues with my right knee. No running until the race. Definitely not how you want to go into a Goofy but since it was my 6th time i knew what i had to do. Unfortunately i am still not running yet. The knee was really bad after 39.3, am considering a dr visit soon.

Love the pics of Archie. He looks so cute.

 

[ZellyB]

OK, those pictures of you in front of the castle are so adorable!! You got some great shots. So worth it to hurry along so you got there while the lights were still showing up so well.

You are killing it on pace. Like you said, not stopping for those character stops really makes a difference huh. LOL And, I never think about tangents at Disney. I know we weave all over the place for a variety of reasons. Not smart I know but I can't seem to control it.

I remember liking the speedway (not the steep entrance) the first year I ran the marathon, but last year and this year just didn't do it for me. The first year, they also had Lightning McQueen and Mater out for pictures and haven't had that since.

And, as you know, I mess with my intervals all the time. We did 1:30/:30 for most of our training season and I got a PR with a half marathon using that. But, at least for us, when we got into higher mileage (17 miles +) we felt like the recovery in those later miles wasn't enough. But, I think everyone is different so it's worth it to play around with them. And, it keeps things from getting boring.

Ready to read more.

 

[mbwhitti]

This Dumb Dope is going Coast to Coast in 2015!!! SOOO EXCITED! AHHHHHHHH ALLLL THE MEDALS!!!

that is all.

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I just might be going Coast to Coast now! I think I have convinced my husband. When I told him I was going either alone or gonna find a friend, he got jealous and wants his Coast to Coast too!! Now I just hope I can get it when registration opens. I'll be in the car that day coming back from a work conference. Have you ever tried registering from your phone? I'm so nervous.

 

[Ariel484]

Interesting. I read a similar post by Galloway that he ran/walk and qualified for Boston by running something crazy like 1:30/walking 30. How fast is he running those 90 seconds! Probably faster than I'm used to. I've had good luck with running half mile and walking 30 seconds at a good pace. Will try to tweak it with shorter runs but slightly faster and see what happens.

Yeah, I don't really understand how it works either! I saw other posts from people who said they used intervals and ran sub-2 hour half marathons, so clearly some people are figuring it out. Maybe it just takes lots of experimenting and practice.

Am so glad i gave you a reason to post a pic of Archie. He is adorable. I knew you were a dog person though, so that is why i thought you might be interested to see mine. Thanks for the validation, not that anyone is saying anything, but so nice to know that others would chose dog first.

Thank you.

Oh yeah, we are totally obsessed with him. I get it!

I agree on the slope into the speedway. I hate it. I know about it so based on how miserable my knee was i knew to get ready to walk it. Can't wait to see how it goes past mile 10. 10 is where i started having problems. I had to walk a lot at that point, but i pulled it out and finished it.

I hate that you had such a hard time but WAY TO STICK WITH IT!! That is awesome that you still finished even when you weren't feeling your best!

I did not read the whole training log but i too suffered and ankle sprain. I rolled it in Sep at the beginning of my second 10 mile training run. Not sure how you landed but i rolled it so hard i fell forward and caught myself with my right arm. That was not so good either. I thought i broke it, but just severely sprained it. My training basically got me to a 14 mile run with a follow up run of 7 miles in the beginning of Dec. I then had issues with my right knee. No running until the race. Definitely not how you want to go into a Goofy but since it was my 6th time i knew what i had to do. Unfortunately i am still not running yet. The knee was really bad after 39.3, am considering a dr visit soon.

Mine was DEFINITELY not as bad as what happened to you - I just rolled it and didn't fall, just sort of took a big step forward and caught myself. My bigger issue was arch pain (which I feel like may have been a very, very mild case of tendinitis?).

I think you hit on a really important point - the mental aspect can be SO helpful when doing these challenges. Like...if it was your first Goofy and you had this injury, it probably would have turned out a lot differently! I hope the doctor has some good news for you!

Love the pics of Archie. He looks so cute.

Thanks! I could post pictures of him allllll day long

OK, those pictures of you in front of the castle are so adorable!! You got some great shots. So worth it to hurry along so you got there while the lights were still showing up so well.

Thanks!! I was really happy to see those - that's what got me thinking about buying the package. I was like, "Okay, those two are good...and there are some good ones from later in the race..." And the price to download one picture is so ridiculous, so why NOT get the package? MarathonFoto got me again!

You are killing it on pace. Like you said, not stopping for those character stops really makes a difference huh. LOL And, I never think about tangents at Disney. I know we weave all over the place for a variety of reasons. Not smart I know but I can't seem to control it.

LOL indeed!

Yeah, I mean...I really just do not care a ton about pace or tangents or whatever at Disney! I just want to have fun!!

I remember liking the speedway (not the steep entrance) the first year I ran the marathon, but last year and this year just didn't do it for me. The first year, they also had Lightning McQueen and Mater out for pictures and haven't had that since.

Yeah, this year I remember running by the cars and the owners were just sitting in chairs sort of silently watching us. It was weird. Cars characters would have helped, and I don't even like that movie!

And, as you know, I mess with my intervals all the time. We did 1:30/:30 for most of our training season and I got a PR with a half marathon using that. But, at least for us, when we got into higher mileage (17 miles +) we felt like the recovery in those later miles wasn't enough. But, I think everyone is different so it's worth it to play around with them. And, it keeps things from getting boring.

Yeah, I'm just really not sure what to do. Maybe I actually need to get Galloway's book and READ IT. HMMM

I get what you're saying about needing longer walk breaks as the mileage goes up...not sure what to do!

Ready to read more.

Well right back at ya!!

 

[Ariel484]

I just might be going Coast to Coast now! I think I have convinced my husband. When I told him I was going either alone or gonna find a friend, he got jealous and wants his Coast to Coast too!! Now I just hope I can get it when registration opens. I'll be in the car that day coming back from a work conference. Have you ever tried registering from your phone? I'm so nervous.

YAAAAAY!!! I hope you get in!!

I feel like I have registered from a phone before, but I don't remember which race it was. Not on Tuesday - HOWEVER, my friend Courtney (who has been popping in and out on this report) did register for Dumbo and the 5K on Tuesday on her phone, and she was done before I was. So it CAN be done!

And yeah, we were crazy nervous, all 3 of us (me, Courtney and Jess). I can sympathize!

 

[Ariel484]

2015 Walt Disney World Marathon! Almost Halfway!

Continuing on down Bear Island Road...

Well thanks pal!

After the above picture I was chugging along and slowed up when I saw a small group of runners on the right side of the road, looking up in a tree. Like the sheep that I am, I stopped and looked too - a bald eagle! So cool!

AMERRRRRICAAAAAA, SPREAD YOUR GOLDEN WINGS!

We continued around the bend and I remember seeing a purple tent way up ahead...hmmm...

SCREEEECH. That's the sound of the breaks being put on for a character stop - I mean really, it's about time!! I got in line and FINALLY got that little rock out of my shoe!! Only took me a little over an hour!

BUT SQUEEEEEE...rare character love!

FAB! And I don't think the line was too long, either.

I started running again and quickly made a few realizations:

1. Running WITHOUT little rocks in your shoe is better than running with them IN your shoe
2. The foot with the shoe I'd just taken off, put back on and re-tied felt MUCH better than my other foot - no arch pain! - because I'd tied it tighter, so I vowed to make that adjustment on the other side the next time I stopped. AHHH
3. And this is something I'd been suspecting for awhile, but now I was sure I could confirm it - running faster made my arches hurt a LOT less. I think slowing down was messing with my natural stride, because keeping the pace up made the pain almost non-existent. So I continued to try to really, really focus on keeping my form good - natural pace, strong core, yadda yadda yadda. You know, things I should probably ALWAYS do while running. KNOWLEDGE!

Somewhere in here, I came across the first food stop - volunteers were handing out bananas. There's a well-known rule in running: nothing new on race day. Whatever you wear should be clothes you've worn before during a run. Whatever you drink should be stuff you have drunk before during a run. And whatever you eat should be something you have eaten before during a run. Trying new stuff during a race can be disastrous!

I had never eaten a banana during a training run (Vanilla Honey Stinger Waffles are my fuel of choice - I had half a waffle every 4 miles) but I grabbed a banana anyway and scarfed it down my pie hole for two reasons: 1. I was freaking starving, and 2. I was hoping to stave off any potential cramping later. Such a rule breaker!

The banana didn't bother my stomach at all, luckily. It was underripe and weirdly cold for some reason...but whatever.

Yo, funky dudes!

This part of the course STINKS - literally! It's by the waste treatment plant and it smelled terrible!

I'm not sure if it's because I write trip reports or what, but I was finding that I was having a very good memory of how I felt at certain points on this course in 2012 and 2013, which was helpful in bracing myself for any potential disaster. It certainly helped me in the Speedway - I knew I wouldn't like it so I just put on my game face (photographic evidence above!) and tried to get out of there quickly. This was another area I was nervous for. It was here, right before getting into Animal Kingdom during the 2013 marathon, where both of my feet started to cramp. It was horribly, horribly painful, something I had never experienced before, and it stayed with me for the rest of the marathon that day. So I was expecting it to happen here again...but it DIDN'T! WOO! Not then, and not during the rest of the race!! I have a theory as to why, which I will talk about later!

Continued in Next Post