Week 2 of Dopey Challenge Training
Monday, November 17, 2014 - Sunday, November 23, 2014
32 miles completed
53.55 miles completed in Dopey Challenge training so far
700.16 miles completed in 2014 so far
Monday, November 17: 60-minute Core class planned, unscheduled rest day taken
Despite the fact that I ran 12.25 miles yesterday, I could NOT fall asleep last night.

I was expecting this fantastic night of sleep and it just didn't happen. And my hamstrings are talking to me this morning. So no Core today.

Some day I'll get back to it...some day.
Tuesday, November 18: Run #1 (4 miles on the treadmill)
GREAT run today! Man did I need it!
I don't know what it was, exactly - maybe just that I'm feeling like myself again, or that this run felt decent, or that since I was on a treadmill and didn't have to worry about drivers honking at me and giving me dirty looks like my last 2 runs, but I am in SUCH a better mood now. During the run I played with intervals a bit (miles 1 and 3 were run 4:00/walk 1:00, miles 2 and 4 were run 5:00/walk 1:00), and I liked that okay. Total time for the run was 44:22, 11:06/mile pace. YAY! Hopefully this is the beginning of my settling back into my training schedule. After the run I did two 30-second planks.
Also, Ohio has decided that, for now, it is really, seriously winter. Right now it's 18 degrees out but feels like -2!!

The weather forecast says it'll warm up on Saturday into the 40s and it'll be in the 50s by the beginning of next week...man I hope that is true!
Wednesday, November 19: Rest Day
Hooray for sleeping in! It's still very cold here, though, and it's supposed to snow more today - BOOO!!
Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend update: This is something that happened a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to mention it...about a month ago I mentioned that
I submitted a point rental request for a studio at the Grand Californian. I also said that we had a back-up room booked at Paradise Pier, because we were all very sure that the point rental would not come through. Turns out we were right - I got an email on November 2 that studios are BOOKED for that weekend!

So my deposit was refunded and it looks like our home for the race weekend will be Paradise Pier! I'd be lying if I said I wasnt a teeny bit disappointed, but I knew from the beginning how unlikely it would be to actually get a studio...there's nothing more we could have done (beyond paid for it in cash - no thank you!

). Im sure we will LOVE Paradise Pier though!
In other news, last night my brother and I signed up for Cleveland's
Turkey Trot! We'll be covering 5 miles on Thanksgiving morning. Looking forward to it! It'll my my second time running this race (first time was in
2012), first time for the bro.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that this weekend I reserved some
Fastpass+ for January! The window actually came available while I was in WDW for Wine & Dine, but I was way too busy (mostly) having fun to make FP+ reservations! I'm happy with what I did get - the only thing I wanted that was not available was an Anna & Elsa meet & greet FP+. SHOCKER!! (/sarcasm). I'm a little bummed about that but if I don't see them in January I'm sure I will on a cruise in 2015.
Then today I logged into My Disney Experience and was floored to see my trip countdown at 49 days
!!!

Somehow I missed this countdown when I was doing FP+ stuff over the weekend, but there it is. Ever since I have been back from Wine & Dine I have been thinking, "Marathon Weekend is less than 2 months away," so obviously I know the trip is approaching...but somehow seeing it written as "49 days" makes is seem a lot closer than "less than 2 months." If that makes any sense. Online check-in was available, of course (should have known since I was able to select some FP+ over the weekend) so I did that.
It's just weird...I think because I was so focused on Wine & Dine, it makes it seem like I don't have time to get ready for Dopey. Which is dumb because everything I have been doing all year has been leading up to it - even though my "official" Dopey training is only 9 weeks long, I have spent this year running more consistently and getting stronger. I have to think that this (hopefully good) fitness base I have been building is going to help get me through the weekend. And of course I still have those now 7.5 weeks left to get the runs in. Can't believe its only 4.5 weeks until taper starts!
Thursday, November 20: Run #2 (4-mile treadmill run)
**WW UPDATE**
Well, as predicted, I did gain back some of the weight I lost last week - I was up 1.2 today. Not too bad though!
Yesterday I was reading a thread on one of the SparkleSkirts Facebook groups about how people use Galloway intervals for running. Reading posts in that group has been really interesting - I had no idea that running 30 seconds/walking 30 seconds is a popular interval for people to use until I read about it there a few months back!
Anyway, some people were saying they like 2:00/1:00, 1:00/1:00, etc...so for this morning's run I thought maybe it would be nice to switch things up a bit and try some other intervals.
For the first mile, I did my (now normal) run 4:00/walk 1:00 intervals. For all walking intervals I had the treadmill at 3.3 MPH (18-something minute per mile pace). For the 4:00 run intervals I had the treadmill at 5.8 MPH (10:20/mile pace).
For mile 2, I did run 3:00/walk 1:00...for the run intervals the treadmill was at 5.9 MPH (10:10/mile).
For mile 3, I did run 2:00/walk 1:00...for the run intervals the treadmill was at 6.0 MPH (10:00/mile).
For mile 4, I did run 1:00/walk 1:00. I'm not sure I've ever tried this interval for an extended period of time before...mostly I'll go to that when I'm in survival mode at the end of a looong run.

I started with the treadmill at 6.1 MPH (9:50/mile) for the run intervals, but doing this 1/1 interval just seemed to make that last mile take FOREVER. I didn't love it for that reason...I did like the fact that I felt really sort of refreshed when I was done with the run, though. But over the last mile I found myself continuing to increase the speed of the run intervals - eventually I think I got to 9:22/mile pace. My total time for this run was 46:22, about 11:36/mile. So it did slow my pace compared to Tuesday's run...but I did like switching it up a little bit. Definitely something to keep in mind as I keep doing these 4-mile treadmill runs (which will jump to 5-milers soon).
After the run I did three 30-second planks. Not a fan.
We're supposed to get more snow this evening, which is making me increasingly nervous for tomorrow's scheduled 8-miler. More disgruntled drivers giving me dirty looks and honking at me as I run in the street! Yahoo!

But on the bright side, temperatures are supposed to warm up and we should be in the 40s by Saturday. Good news for my long run!
Friday, November 21: Run #3 (8-mile out-and-back)
Weather: 21 degrees (real feel of 10 degrees), sunny with light snow
Not a bad run today. I was really worried about this one, just because it was supposed to snow...which it did. But it wasn't bad. The first half-mile was tough, just because I was SO VERY COLD. Once I warmed up, though, I was good! I wore my running tights, thicker socks, a long-sleeved tech shirt, my running jacket, gloves, a hat, an ear warmer and sunglasses. At the last minute I wrapped a scarf around my neck and that helped a LOT. Definitely something I think I could only handle for coooold runs though.
I had to go in the street though.

The sidewalks are still icy, but the roads weren't as busy today. Woohoo! Total time for this run was 1:29:31, 11:11/mile pace.
Also, my DME envelope arrived today. Excitement!!
Saturday, November 22: Run #4 (16-mile run)
Weather: 41 degrees with occasional wind and rain
WOOHOO!! I did it!
I feel like this is the first really good, really solid Dopey training week I have had. I feel a lot more confident!
This time I mapped my route out ahead of time. Instead of doing one big loop like I normally do, I made it a series out out-and-backs...this worked out surprisingly well. I thought I'd get bored running the same roads over and over, or that I wouldn't like turning around so much (3 times) but it made the run feel a lot shorter in a way, I think because in my head it was broken up into smaller chunks.
The bad thing about possibly using this method in the future is that there are a few points where I'm close to home, so it would be easy to cut the run short. Hopefully I won't do that.
So besides breaking this run into smaller chunks, the other good thing that happened is we have had a lot of melting action over the past 24 hours, so I didn't have to run in the street the entire time! This made the run SO much better. I still had to dart into the street a few times to navigate around leftover ice patches, but it was so nice not to worry about jerk drivers the entire time. I did have to slowly walk through/around puddles quite a bit, so that reflected in my pace. And then during the last mile I ROLLED MY FREAKING ANKLE.

AGAIN.

This time it was the right one (I rolled the left one a few weeks ago). It wasn't as bad as last time and the pain went away quickly, and I finished the run, but still...ARRRRRG!!!! No more of that please!
Total time for this run: 3:09:27, 11:50/mile pace. So much slower than yesterday, but I don't care. This run was tough and I wanted to quit more than once, and I'm so glad I didn't!
Selfie is from Friday. I look like a creep in my running gear.
After the run I sat in a tub of coooold water for as long as I could stand (a whopping 4 minutes). Later I stretched and rolled.
Sunday, November 23: Rest Day
Was signed up for yoga, slept in instead.

I'll hit the mat again one of these days.
We did clean like crazy today though. Nothing motivates me to clean quite like an impending visit from family members...especially when it's my in-laws!

I looooove having the house be so clean.
I also grocery stopped today. In general I'm feeling really good after yesterday's run! My quads and hamstrings are a little sore (makes me wish I'd gone to yoga) but otherwise I feel great! I stretched and rolled a little more, and I figured out my schedule for this coming week - THANKSGIVING!! Woohoo!
And then I spent the rest of the day watching old Simpsons episodes with Will...
...and snuggling with my favorite pup, while wearing my new favorite hoodie. Not a bad weekend!
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