I Can't Believe I Ran the Whole Thing: A 2016 Dopey Challenge Trip Report

[DLHNYC]

Really enjoyed reading your TR, and CONGRATS!!! I'm impressed, you should be proud. You have a really positive attitude, and I like that you had fun with it. Especially loved the medal photos in front of the castle, nice!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Sorry to hear about your flu! Rockstar or not you have definitely inspired me!!

Thank you so much, that is lovely of you to say!

Yak and Yeti Not only is the food delicious but the view from your table/the ambiance in general is great. I love that place! I went there after the half last year and the waitress offered to let us use the elevators as well

What a great trip/accomplishment! Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

It was wonderful ambiance and food! I'd love to go back when I'm feeling healthy. And thank you for following and commenting along the way!

The food at Yak & Yeti looks yummy! And the restaurant looks really nice ... I don't think I've ever been there, so it was nice to see pictures of the inside!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us - I enjoyed reading about your experience.

Congratulations, Dopey!

Thank you so much! The food was really delicious and I hope to eat it again sometime when I am not sick! It was my first time at Y&Y, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect and it was really pretty great. To be honest, it's going to be tough for us to get there again (DAK is usually a half-day park for us), but I really would enjoy eating there again!

I haven't ever tried Yak and Yeti, but your pictures certainly make it look appealing.

Final congrats on you Dopey finish and thanks for a very enjoyable trip report!

Thank you so much for the congratulations and also for following along and commenting!

I really enjoyed your trip report! Congratulations on finishing the marathon-- it looks like an amazing experience. My long term fitness goal is to do a RunDisney event. Like... very long term. Maybe in three years.

Thank you so much! The best way, IMHO, to do a runDisney event is to sign up for it! Seriously, registration is so far in advance, it gives you plenty of time for training for any of the distances. Good luck to you!

Really enjoyed reading your TR, and CONGRATS!!! I'm impressed, you should be proud. You have a really positive attitude, and I like that you had fun with it. Especially loved the medal photos in front of the castle, nice!

Thank you very much, especially for mentioning I have a positive attitude (my day job doesn't make me feel like that! ). Thanks for reading and commenting!

 

[girliea]

Hey Mimsy!
Late reader and poster but had to let you know that I loved reading your TR and your costumes were awesome!!
I did the GSC this year solo and had a lot of fun. I am a BOTPer too so reading your story really inspires me to give the Dopey a try....one of these days! Oh, and my daughter made my enchanted 10K costume. It was Kevin....had so much fun with that costume-she did a great job on it. I got sooooo many compliments (and I thought she went a little overboard on the tutu but everyone loved it!). I think your Kevin was GREAT!
Anyway, thanks so much for sharing!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Hey Mimsy!
Late reader and poster but had to let you know that I loved reading your TR and your costumes were awesome!!
I did the GSC this year solo and had a lot of fun. I am a BOTPer too so reading your story really inspires me to give the Dopey a try....one of these days! Oh, and my daughter made my enchanted 10K costume. It was Kevin....had so much fun with that costume-she did a great job on it. I got sooooo many compliments (and I thought she went a little overboard on the tutu but everyone loved it!). I think your Kevin was GREAT!
Anyway, thanks so much for sharing!

Hi girliea!

Thanks for joining in and all your lovely comments. Isn't solo running kind of fun at Disney? I ran PHM last year (and Star Wars Half) by myself and had a blast. It's kind of liberating to just do what you want to do without discussing in committee. But it's also nice to mix things up and run with others, too. Kevin is awesome! And mine was just so easy to run in, I probably could have saved it for the marathon. I think I might need to give it another go sometime because I feel with all the rain, Kevin wasn't given her proper due and respect. Thanks for reading and commenting!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Well, it’s been two months since I participated in the Dopey Challenge and have had some time to ruminate on the experience. Before registering for the event, I’d had no intention of running a marathon. Ever. So why I decided to run my first marathon after three days of running a 5K, 10K, and half marathon is anybody’s guess. But I think it’s because I do enjoy challenging myself to do things outside my comfort zone.

Some things that really surprised me about the Dopey Challenge:

1. I emerged relatively unscathed from the 4-day challenge. The only injury I had was a small blister on the top of my right foot (3rd toe). Sure, my sock ended up quite bloody after it popped during the marathon, which I didn’t realize until after the race, but it only hurt for about a mile near the beginning of the race. I didn’t suffer any of the maladies that marathoners often experience.
2. I wasn’t nearly as exhausted or sore as I thought I’d be afterwards.
3. Waking up 4 mornings in a row at 3am was the hardest part. Everyone told me that beforehand, but having never run a marathon before, I was quite skeptical. But it turned out to be absolutely true; we’d trained for the mileage, but not waking up so crazy early on the regular.
4. Walking around the parks and on property after each race helped to stay limber. Of course, we limited our park-walking to 3 hours maximum, so that also helped. But I was surprised that it wasn’t necessary to return to the resort and just lie around. I also wore calf compression sleeves after the half marathon, so maybe that helped as well.
5. Training for a marathon is a lot different than training for a half marathon. This seems intuitive, but it’s not a simple matter of math, where it’s only twice the effort to run a marathon. As a result of the training, your perspective changes a lot and while I remember a time when an 8-mile long run seemed a daunting task, post-marathon it seems like a walk in the park. Enjoyable even.
6. I never hit that wall during the marathon! I was fully anticipating that around mile 20ish (especially being in WWOS) and it never happened. I’m going to count myself lucky on that one since I felt just as good at mile 26 as I did at 16!
7. Apparently the key to feeling great during a half marathon is to have trained for a full marathon. In the past, I’d start feeling tired around mile 10 or 11 and really have to push through the fatigue to finish the race. While training for the marathon, I’d run a few half marathons, treating them as training runs and during one of those, I actually PRed because I felt so great.
8. I ran all four races without the benefit of my own music. I typically have at least one earbud in while doing long runs with my BRF (one ear for conversation and to be aware of my surroundings), but for Dopey, I did not listen to music of my own at any time whatsoever. And it’s not like we had deep philosophical conversations the whole 48.6 miles, but it was nice to immerse myself in the race courses and the experience.
9. The Florida humidity, if you’re not accustomed to it, can be quite dangerous. I was surprised because of how many people I saw succumb, including the runner down at the entrance to Hollywood Studios during the marathon, clutching on the shrubbery for dear life. It’s scary to see, but it also proved to me how difficult humidity (and the heat, don’t forget the heat!) can be for runners, yet it’s something I almost take for granted because it’s nearly year-round here. I personally did not find it too humid during the race weekend, but I understand how someone coming from more northern climes could be severely affected.
10. The costumes. While I shouldn’t be surprised at the intricate and awesome costumes that people clearly put a lot of effort into by now, I still am. Really amazing, and just when you think you’ve gone overboard, there are hundreds, if not thousands, who have put in a lot more time and effort and look absolutely fantastic!!
11. And finally…the post-Dopey malaise. I actually took almost a month off from running because after Dopey and the huge high of accomplishment, there was a huge crash afterwards. I probably should have had a race scheduled in February to keep up momentum, but I did not. So I ended up signing up for a local half marathon last weekend just 2 weeks before race day! When I think about all the planning, training, and confidence-building I had to do to run my first half marathon, it is just awesome that I now have the confidence to just randomly sign up for a half marathon on the fly. And I have no doubt that the Dopey Challenge had a hand in that!

If I haven't properly thanked you all for tuning in for this report, THANK YOU! I really appreciate the readership, the lovely comments and conversation that happened here. This was my first DIS trip report, and it has been a wonderful experience thanks to you all!

 

[TeeterTots]

Thank you! I truly enjoyed reading along and i appreciate your helpful comments! You should be very proud! As a very very (like 1 month) new runner, I'm a little nervous to sign up for my first race next week. As I've mentioned earlier in the report I've never ran a race so I'm scared that I chose the half for my first, but as you said, I'd like to push myself out of my comfort zone. Having only ran for a month, I could run a 5K tomorrow no problem. I'm looking forward to pushing closer to the 10K mark but even though I've got until nov, 13.1 seems horrifying! I know I can do it and after reading this trip report I'm even more confident. Does it kinda sound like I'm convincing myself? Well I am a little! Lol! Thanks again, I really enjoyed it!

 

[SarahDisney]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It was really interesting to read about your trip and to read your thoughts after the event.

 

[girliea]

Hi girliea!

Thanks for joining in and all your lovely comments. Isn't solo running kind of fun at Disney? I ran PHM last year (and Star Wars Half) by myself and had a blast. It's kind of liberating to just do what you want to do without discussing in committee. But it's also nice to mix things up and run with others, too. Kevin is awesome! And mine was just so easy to run in, I probably could have saved it for the marathon. I think I might need to give it another go sometime because I feel with all the rain, Kevin wasn't given her proper due and respect. Thanks for reading and commenting!

Yes, running solo was so fun! And I think Kevin deserves another run--that costume was soooooo much fun for me, I'm sure you just loved it too!

I never hit that wall during the marathon! I was fully anticipating that around mile 20ish (especially being in WWOS) and it never happened. I’m going to count myself lucky on that one since I felt just as good at mile 26 as I did at 16!

So I wanted to ask you that having run solo and with a buddy, do you feel like having your BRF doing Dopey with you helped you not hit that wall?

Again, GREAT TR!!

 

[AliciaY]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! It was very helpful! I'll be running the 5K, 10K, and Half in 2017. I've never run a Half before so I'm pushing myself to do something that scares me!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Wow, I can't believe how neglectful I've been of this thread! Thanks for all your wonderful and supportive comments!

Thank you! I truly enjoyed reading along and i appreciate your helpful comments! You should be very proud! As a very very (like 1 month) new runner, I'm a little nervous to sign up for my first race next week. As I've mentioned earlier in the report I've never ran a race so I'm scared that I chose the half for my first, but as you said, I'd like to push myself out of my comfort zone. Having only ran for a month, I could run a 5K tomorrow no problem. I'm looking forward to pushing closer to the 10K mark but even though I've got until nov, 13.1 seems horrifying! I know I can do it and after reading this trip report I'm even more confident. Does it kinda sound like I'm convincing myself? Well I am a little! Lol! Thanks again, I really enjoyed it!

I'm so glad that I could help in some small way! And you can absolutely do it - if you can dream it, you can do it! I've heard that somewhere...

Thank you for sharing your experience. It was really interesting to read about your trip and to read your thoughts after the event.

Thank you, and likewise! I think I mentioned that I thought I saw you during the 10K on the Epcot perimeter road but with the rain, it was hard to tell. But I've very much enjoyed your trip report, too.

Yes, running solo was so fun! And I think Kevin deserves another run--that costume was soooooo much fun for me, I'm sure you just loved it too!

So I wanted to ask you that having run solo and with a buddy, do you feel like having your BRF doing Dopey with you helped you not hit that wall?

Again, GREAT TR!!

Kevin totally deserves a drier run! The poor headdress feathers never really recovered, but I would like to use it again sometime. I'm debating on running the 20th Half Marathon in January (I'm already registered for the W&D challenge and will likely register for the Light Side challenge in January, which are the only reasons there's even a debate!), and if I do, I may resurrect the costume! Thanks for commenting on the TR, I enjoyed writing it, and it's even more rewarding when people enjoy reading it! As for Dopey, I think it definitely helped running with my BRF. I didn't run with music, it was nice to have someone to talk to, and we'd trained together for 8 months so we knew each other's rhythms and agreed beforehand on if one if us needed an unplanned walking break, there'd be no pressure. I don't know if that's what helped with the wall, I'm guessing it was more the training, but I'm sure BRF was a factor.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience! It was very helpful! I'll be running the 5K, 10K, and Half in 2017. I've never run a Half before so I'm pushing myself to do something that scares me!

Thank you! And good luck with your races in 2017!! Pushing yourself outside your comfort zone is a good thing - and if you train well enough, the race is your victory lap!