Official Dopey 2018 Thread

[courtneybeth]

My high school cross country did the full with them 2 years ago I think it was, in Colorado and his quads were hurtin after, now he is used to 100 milers and winning them. His now wife was signed up for the half but there was some sort of bus snafu issue (since it's point to point and they bus you to the top) if I remember correctly and she didn't get to even start. I think a lot were mad due to the half issue. It's like they didn't have enough buses for people, I know there's articles from it as I read them after. That's all I know of them & it was 2 yrs ago I think, maybe 3 so hopefully they have it better together now and that was just a fluke.

That's a mixed review... Yikes! I'm hoping to get the POT (2:37 goal) completed before the 10/4 cut-off but was thinking of using this as a last-chance effort. WHo knows, I may not even need this race if I get lucky with my training and get a good race.

 

[RunDisney Crazy]

Yes. I had my room booked before the race went on sale. The travel agent we go through get's blocks of discounted rooms at different resorts for Marathon weekend. I think our agent said her agency had 20 rooms at Contemp for example. (My group booked 5 of those)

I'm using a travel agent for the first time this Dopey. Wasn't too concerned about Dopey selling out immediately, but figured that would take the stress out. Plus, no Active fees and the hope of having discounted rooms. I received a PIN code for the time we were going to be there this past year for W&D but was never able to find available rooms. So figured, first, Disney would have to release discounts, they would have to fall on the right dates and I would have to try and rebook with those discounts - why not just save all that trouble and book through an Agent and hope they have a good discounted rate.

About what % is their discounted rates over rack rates?

Everything else seemed like a no brainer. Discounted rooms, guaranteed bibs, same cancellation policies and possibly able to transfer a bib if it came down to that.

 

[Keels]

@courtneybeth -- have you tried looking for a 10-miler?

 

[courtneybeth]

@courtneybeth -- have you tried looking for a 10-miler?

I have looked - but haven't found anything local within the time allowance for POT. (Surf city 10 is a week after). With me traveling for work now I am very open to new cities and states - I may be able to swing an extra day for hotel.

Any recommendations?

 

[Keels]

I have looked - but haven't found anything local within the time allowance for POT. (Surf city 10 is a week after). With me traveling for work now I am very open to new cities and states - I may be able to swing an extra day for hotel.

Any recommendations?

The Surf City 10 would be PERFECT, but damn if Dopey PoT isn't the worst-timed deadline ever! It's one week before Chicago Marathon and a lot of the major/popular 1/2s and 10-Milers.

Let me look for something that might work. My two favorites have already passed (they're Fall/Winter).

 

[Anisum]

I have looked - but haven't found anything local within the time allowance for POT. (Surf city 10 is a week after). With me traveling for work now I am very open to new cities and states - I may be able to swing an extra day for hotel.

Any recommendations?

I know of two three in the Spring in the Philly area and at least one in the summer. Other than the obvious Broad Street (which you'd have to hunt down a bib for) they're all kind of off the beaten track from the city though so you'd need a rental car to get there.

Edit: This link may also help

 

[camaker]

I have looked - but haven't found anything local within the time allowance for POT. (Surf city 10 is a week after). With me traveling for work now I am very open to new cities and states - I may be able to swing an extra day for hotel.

Any recommendations?

My suggestion is to check runningintheusa.com and see if anything matches up with your travel schedule. If you have any trips to NC coming up, let me know. There are a lot of races here until mid-June or so and then they pick back up in September.

 

[courtneybeth]

The Surf City 10 would be PERFECT, but damn if Dopey PoT isn't the worst-timed deadline ever! It's one week before Chicago Marathon and a lot of the major/popular 1/2s and 10-Milers.

Let me look for something that might work. My two favorites have already passed (they're Fall/Winter).

The Austin 10/20 would be perfect but I can't justify the flight cost on such short notice. Maaaaybe work can send me to Texas and I can leave a few days later, staying with my brother Surf City 10 looks to be a great race that i'll use for other POT. I already signed up and am so disappointed that the POT deadline is the week before. There are so many amazing races in October that the timing is just off.

I know of two three in the Spring in the Philly area and at least one in the summer. Other than the obvious Broad Street (which you'd have to hunt down a bib for) they're all kind of off the beaten track from the city though so you'd need a rental car to get there.

Edit: This link may also help

Thank you for the link! I'm going to look into these for sure.

My suggestion is to check runningintheusa.com and see if anything matches up with your travel schedule. If you have any trips to NC coming up, let me know. There are a lot of races here until mid-June or so and then they pick back up in September.

I hope work can send me to ride alongs in NC or at least near there. I wouldn't mind a brief stopover to run! I loved RNR Raleigh last year and wish I wasn't running the Carlsbad 5000 and doing that race again.

 

[surfde22]

I have looked - but haven't found anything local within the time allowance for POT. (Surf city 10 is a week after). With me traveling for work now I am very open to new cities and states - I may be able to swing an extra day for hotel.

Any recommendations?

The Stillwater Log Run 10 Miler near St Paul, MN is a nice course. It is a net downhill course with the only significant uphill around the 6 mile mark, and a pretty steep down hill for the last 0.75 miles or so to help cut some time right at the end. It takes place in mid-September, so early enough for Dopey. I used this race last year for my 2017 Dopey POT.

 

[FelisLachesis]

The Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Miler is a great course. a net downhill, and almost completely straight. There's only 4 turns on the entire course.

 

[Anisum]

The Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Miler is a great course. a net downhill, and almost completely straight. There's only 4 turns on the entire course.

The biggest issue with Broad St. is the sheer size of the race. Depending on your pace you can end up boxed in near the start and get a slower time due to the struggle and weaving to get around people.

 

[FelisLachesis]

The biggest issue with Broad St. is the sheer size of the race. Depending on your pace you can end up boxed in near the start and get a slower time due to the struggle and weaving to get around people.

True that! The 40,000 people soft-limit does help, somewhat. I wonder how bad it would get if there wasn't a limit to the number of registrants.

 

[OlieRow]

I signed up and had a custom training plan made for me thru the Jeff Galloway website. It was made by JG running coach, Chris Twiggs. I am pretty happy with it. He monitors my runs thru Garmin Connect and a site called Final Surge and texts and emails about my progress. And on Tuesdays we have a video chat to discuss how things are going, answer any questions I have and make any adjustments to my plan he or I want. It was $98 for 6 months.

@DopeyBadger enjoys making custom running plans for people (for free, bless his heart!). I only went with the JG one because it focuses on interval running and that is what I needed.

Congrats on signing up for Dopey!

I personally made my own training plan based on a variety of sources (link). It was custom to me based on a myriad of factors, but the concepts and ideas behind the plan are translatable to others. I've gained a lot of experience making custom training plans for others and I'm happy to make something for you if you'd like. As @Dis5150 points out, I think customization of a training plan to you is a critical component to having the best running experience, whether that's through me or with a real professional coach like she did.

I make my own training plans, but they're mostly a mix of Galloway and Higdon styles. For me, the key is using past experience to know what style works best for me (i.e.: my body likes a two-week cycle with cut-backs every other week, plenty of back-to-backs, and built-in cross-training), and then working backward from race weekend to plan out a schedule that fits into my life.

Thanks for the feedback. I just got back from a trip to WDW so I'll have to look into DopeyBadger's link and the Galloway coach more closely.

 

[TLKearsey]

And the training takes a setback, blew the knee out at a hockey playoff game Tuesday night. Awaiting doctor appt................doh!!!

 

[ZellyB]

And the training takes a setback, blew the knee out at a hockey playoff game Tuesday night. Awaiting doctor appt................doh!!!

Oh no! Sorry to hear that. The good thing is that at least there is plenty of time to heal and get back into training before the race. I hope things go well at your appointment.

 

[courtneybeth]

Started some cross training at an abs, buns, and thighs class yesterday. Woke up this morning and I think I found them. Wow! So sore but I am excited to see where I am in 12 weeks.

 

[TLKearsey]

Oh no! Sorry to hear that. The good thing is that at least there is plenty of time to heal and get back into training before the race. I hope things go well at your appointment.

Luckily for me there's no ligament damage or anything. Just some rest and physio. Out of action a couple weeks. Much better than I initially thought. Phew.............

 

[bellrae]

Has anyone here signed up for the Runners World package for Dopey?

 

[Anisum]

Has anyone here signed up for the Runners World package for Dopey?

I haven't. I almost considered it when it came out have to worry about getting in at regular registration but the cost is a lot. They seem to give you a lot but some of the things I really don't need made it not worth the extra money to me. @jeanigor has done it before if I recall so they may have more information on the experience.

 

[jeanigor]

Has anyone here signed up for the Runners World package for Dopey?

I signed up with them for the first year. Looking back all the extras were nice, but not entirely necessary. If it wasn't such an investment at once, I would consider it again.