Who did NOT die! Founding member of Team Not-So-Fast and costume addict (Comments welcome)

[The Expert]

I'm supposed to be packing today, but instead I'm nosing around the boards. May as well post one last pre-Dopey update...

Friday: 3.5 miles easy + Heat.
Had the day off for my birthday (thanks for the wishes, everyone) so I jumped on the treadmill between working on costume stuff. I had intended to run outside this week, but we've had a massive storm with rain and snow non-stop since Thursday. I'm fine with the cold, but didn't want to risk slipping and twisting something, so I played it safe. Plus, it's easier to do the heat acclimation inside.

Saturday: 3 miles easy + Heat.
On the treadmill again, and this time I did my final costume test run for the 10K. (I ended the year with 155 iFit workouts!) Here's Sadness/Dale (imagine a red nose painted on). I'm hoping the forecast stays cool as I really need the arm sleeves and calf sleeves or leggings to pull this mashup off! You can't tell in the photo but the calf sleeves are a gradient from lighter brown by my ankles to dark brown by my knees. I also popped the lenses out of the glasses so I don't get glare in photos.



Yes, I'm wearing two different shoes. Because I didn't have enough going on, I decided to cut some vinyl to add designs to my shoes. I wore one of each pair I'll be swapping between to make sure it didn't come up anywhere. (Spoiler: it didn't.)




Seriously, THE most comfortable tail I've ever worn with a costume. I didn't even know it was there.
And my cat was very confused about whether she should be chasing me.





Sunday: 3 miles easy + Heat.
Finished up my costumes by sewing the patch on the back of the 5K shirt! The pattern was way too busy to put the design right on it, so I put it on the side of a light canvas bag, cut it out in a fun shape and sewed it with purple thread in a decorative top stitch pattern.

After the Chiefs/Broncos game, I did the run on the treadmill along with the live New Year's 5K that iFit always does. I adjusted to my own pace and even got one of my questions read during the broadcast! Did the laundry so I'm ready to pack.

Monday (today): Rest.
Yeah right. I had the brilliant idea to try contacts today, so I don't have to deal with glasses when racing. HA! Lenscrafters was open and had an appointment so I am currently trying out a pair to see how they work for me. So much for nothing new on race day!

I've started my packing pile, but since I'm not flying out until almost midnight Tuesday, I probably won't physically pack until tomorrow. I've had all my costume stuff together in a big shopping bag in my closet since I started gathering pieces, so everything is together. I travel a ton, so the packing part is no big deal. I'm on a direct flight, so if I have to check a bag it should be okay.

Tuesday: 2 miles easy + Heat
I'm going in to get my hair color finalized in the morning, then working until late afternoon. I'll probably walk to and from my appointment to get those 2 miles in as that's about the right distance. I'm slightly jealous of all of you already down there or headed that way, but happy to be home with beautiful snow instead of humid 80s right now. PRAYING the weather forecast stays on the cool side!

I'll land Wednesday about 6am, pick up the rental car, grab coffee and breakfast and head to the Platinum Club rD expo line about 7:30-7:45 (hope to see you there @lookingforsunshine -- grab me if you see me first as my hair should be easy to spot). I have a few things to pick up for DISers with my early expo access, but room for more if you want to hit me up via DM. I'm happy to deliver at HH meetup on Friday.

Can't wait! See you all soon!

 

[The Expert]

I just realized I misread the early entry. It's at 8:30, not 8! So I'll likely be there closer to 8 @lookingforsunshine

 

[Herding_Cats]

Contacts?! So exciting!!!!! I really prefer them for running since my glasses tend to slide down my nose when I run.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Have fun! Can’t wait to see the pictures!

 

[The Expert]

Dopey Race Recaps: Expo day
I flew in on my traditional redeye flight on Tuesday night, and we took off about an hour late. We were due to land at 6am on Wednesday, but landed at 7 instead. So rather than heading to Waffle House for breakfast and leisurely getting to the expo by 8ish, after waiting for my bag, changing clothes in the bathroom and getting my rental car I drove directly to the expo. Parked at 8:10 and walked over to the Platinum Club rD line and got checked in.

Just as @lookingforsunshine found me in the line, we were split up into A-L and M-Z so we only had a few minutes to chat. I went directly up to pick up my bibs and shirts in the lounge, and headed to the early entry merch holding area. I only had to wait a few minutes before getting in, so it all timed out great.

It's always a surprise how busy it is even for that early window, but I was able to scope out everything, grab a few items for fellow DISers and the things I wanted. I got checked out, grabbed photos of the backdrops and was done by 9. I hadn't had coffee yet, so I went up to the Joffrey cart and grabbed some and a breakfast bagel and sat down to wait for the Expo to open. I wanted to get some goodr sunglasses and Tailwind, see the upcoming medals and ask about the Paris races at the rD booth. I played around on my phone and they let us in about 15 minute early.

I got the goodr glasses -- check! A pretty pink pair with pink mirror lenses. I also grabbed some "Air" something goodr knock-offs that were Dopey colors -- purple frames and mirror lenses with green arms. I could not find Tailwind anywhere so grabbed some extra stroopwaffles (they had been given out at W&D in the Club lounge, but none for MW) and some Nuun. Made my way over to rD and played with the interactive message thing State Farm did. I was done by 10 and headed back to my car to drive to Bay Lake Tower.

I had purposefully not checked in online as we were starting in a 2-bed lockoff and moving to a 1-bed on marathon day. I was hoping they could link the two together so we didn't have to move rooms. The front desk was super helpful and made that happen! I popped over to MK for a quick lunch, shopping and rode the train. DH was to land about 1:30 but his flight was delayed to after 4pm. So I picked up our Publix order early and swung back by BLT to drop my bags and the groceries with the bell desk before heading to the airport for DH.

Coming back from getting him, we got the room ready notice, so went right to the room after we got back. We always get a lake view room and the only request we make is a higher floor. We've always been put on the outside of the building, which is great, fairly quiet and dark. But this time the put us smack in the middle of the building on the 4th floor. The pool lights were blazing into our room 24/7 like a mack truck coming at us! And we could hear the music and pool noise. This was not gonna work for Dopey and 7pm bedtimes. So DH called down to the desk and asked if there was anywhere else they could move us. Somewhere higher up, or at least a quieter area (realizing of course that MK fireworks are a thing). They told us they had something opening up Thursday if we could do one night, and since it was just the 5K we said ok.

My mom and step-dad had been due to come over that day but ended up delaying as they weren't feeling great. It was just as well as we wouldn't have been able to spend much time with them anyway. It was already past 6pm and I had to unpack, get my 5K costume and stuff sorted, so it was a bit of a stressful wind down, but after going all day with virtually no sleep on the redeye, I managed to crash before 8.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey Race Recaps: 5K

I did manage to sleep okay and left the room about 3 to drive over for the 5K. They actually had parking CMs out directing parking lanes, and some folks were being put WAY out on the edge of Discover, but I jumped into the other lane and ended up in a closer spot. I got to the meetup and just a few of us were there, but it seemed everyone recognized me (or my hair, or costume) and we had a good size group before long. It was great to see everyone and get to know some new faces!

My costume was pretty easy today: headband with long dog ears, dog collar and light, Boulder skirt, costume shirt and Pluto tail. It was warm but comfortable. I also painted my nose and added whiskers. I did manage to accidentally rub half the nose paint off at some point - oops.


I headed to the corral somewhat early as this B placement was new to me. I was planning to stop for all the characters just because I could, and walk the whole race to save my legs for the last two days. Starting in B was kinda cool! We were already staged well into the start chute when the national anthem was played. I was surprised how many Club folks were there and walking or moving slowly just after the start. I was worried I might be the only one. And most of the B folks who earned it were nice about it. We were very conscious to stay far right from the get-go.

The first photo stop was Tarzan, but cell phones only so I skipped that one. The second was Mushu in China, and I waited. And waited. For 25 minutes I waited! From B corral! At that moment I gave up on my goal to get all the photos in all the races. I am far too impatient, but also it hurt to just stand there. And I was super anxious about getting so far behind, even though it was just the 5K. I knew I wasn't going to do well in that position for the other distances. So after Mushu, I didn't stop for other pics. Lumiere was tempting, but all the lines were crazy by that point and I was over it.



After the race, I drove back to BLT, showered and changed and DH and I went to Waffle House for breakfast. Back to BLT to pack what little we had unpacked, and bell services came to store everything until we could move rooms. Then we headed to AK. We waited out the rain in the car and enjoyed the cooler weather in the park. The animals were super active! About 3pm we got a room ready notice, and my mom was driving over to stay, so we headed back to BLT.

The new room was still on the 4th floor. Hmm. And yes it was on the outside of the building, but super close to MK. We could see Space Mountain from our window like it was next door. So much for a darker, quieter room. Again, I know there are certain things we can't avoid, but this was NOT an improvement on the previous location. Rather than deal with another move, we decided to just live with it and see how it went. As we got our things from bell services, my mom arrived, so we all settled in and unpacked.

We popped over to the bar at Steakhouse 71 for some apps for an early dinner and I came back to get ready for the 10K about 6pm. My goal each night was the same as last year. By 6, back in the room getting ready, doing flat me photos, etc, and in bed by 7, even if I'm still posting from my phone. Success!

 

[The Expert]

Dopey Race Recaps: 10K

I woke up at 2:15, made coffee, two scrambled eggs and an Eggo. Yum, but maybe a smidge too much. I put on all my layers for this costume, which I was grateful for as the temp had dropped quite a bit. I left the room again about 3 and drove over to Epcot. Managed to get a fairly close spot again despite parking CMs. |

On Thursday while we were out and about, I popped into a Target and bought bright yellow construction paper and a Sharpie and made DIS signs for the pre-race meetups, since a few folks had trouble finding us for the 5K. It worked! We had another great meetup before the race and ended up using someone's bib magnets (was it you @Z-Knight ?) to attach the sign to the light pole. Genius!



It was definitely colder than I thought and I could have used my gloves this morning, but the arm warmers and calf sleeves helped a bit.

Once again I headed to the corral a smidge early and moved a little more toward the front this time. Someone had shared a list of the 10K characters that leaked and if it held true, Hercules was going to be out just barely past the start. I wanted to get that one with minimal wait and there were no other must-do photos. It turns out this WAS true and I got the Herc photo with about a 10 minute wait. The guy behind me in line had a character stop list for the Half, so I grabbed a pic of his phone and posted it to pay it forward. The list for the 10K turned out to be spot-on. By the end of the race someone had also shared the list for the full, and those were SO nice to have for planning.



During this race, I started to hear comments on the graphic on my shirt and to get questions about the costume and upcoming races, which was nice. People were getting it! I walked the whole thing and just took it easy and had fun. It was even colder by the end of the race and the didn't hand out mylar?! Weird choice, rD. Lots of people were complaining about it in the finish area.

I drove back to BLT where DH and DM were up and getting ready for the day. Step-dad decided it was best not to come over as he was feeling pretty bad and didn't want to get me sick. DH, DM and I went over to DHS for our 11am res at Brown Derby. Cobb salad for the win! We rode Runaway Railway and took a turn on TSMM before grabbing the boat for the HH meetup. DH and DM went over to the pool bar at BWV while I visited with everyone. Such a great time catching up and seeing everyone! I stayed about an hour and then went over to meet the family and we headed back to BLT. I had for sure overdone it on my feet after the 5K, and wanted to be back in the room to prep for the half and try to get a bath in with the recovery bomb.

We snacked on some things in the room for an early dinner, I got my bath in and got out my half costume, which was the most complicated of the bunch. Ready for day 3 of Dopey!


A note about the contacts
So, after a few days of testing I noticed my near vision didn't seem to be improving. In fact, it was like I had the wrong prescription. I could see worse than if I had no glasses on at all. Distance and middle seemed okay. So the day I had to fly out, I called the doc and told them this. They said give it a few more days. There was no alternative option they could give me to try as I had to go back in for any adjustments, so I just had to tough it out until after MW.
After two more days, it was obvious that it wasn't an adjustment thing. Something is off with the close up prescription. I can't see my watch or my phone, so no contacts for the longer races. Ugh. I ended up just not wearing glasses at all after the 5K because I could see better than with the contacts. But I got to wear my new fun sunglasses for the half and full! I have an appointment on Thursday to get re-checked. ::sigh::

 

[The Expert]

Dopey Race Recaps: Half Marathon

I got up about 1:40 after sleeping TERRIBLY. The fireworks were incredibly loud from this new room, to the point the room shook when they went off. I got to bed at 7 as planned, but those go off from 8:15-8:30 and I just could not get back to sleep. I checked the time every 20 or 30 minutes until the alarm went off. UGH.

I had coffee, eggs and a waffle again, and layered on the costume. I also added arm sleeves and gloves after being so surprisingly cold at the 10K. Today was supposed to be even colder, and it was.

I left the room about 2:25 to head to the monorail. As I was walking across the bridge from BLT to the main building, I saw the monorail pull in, but there was a line of about 30 people waiting at the security level. The two CMs allowed us through just as I arrived. For some reason they sent half to the escalator and half to the elevator, filling it with about 15 of us. When the door shut and we hit the button, it just sat there. After a few minutes of button pushing and trying to figure out if it was moving, we hit the door open button and we were still on the same floor. We all spilled out, relieved that being trapped in an elevator was NOT our story today, and got upstairs just in time for the monorail to leave. But another pulled up just a few seconds later, so no harm done. There was really no wait at TTC either, and we spent the ride joking about the elevator and talking about the cold.

Again I got to the meetup with just a few folks there. We put up our sign and had a good group in no time. Some large charity group had decided on the same spot but we gave each other space. I was really glad I had my gloves today! I got a lot of looks over my seemingly elaborate Anger/Donald costume, but it was one of the easiest to wear of the bunch. I never even noticed the headband once it was on. LOTS of fun comments on the quote from the back of my shirt during the race, too. "Can we used the cursed word now?"

I was surprised they had the walkout for A/B in the wet grass, and heard several of the A elites complaining about it. I ate a stroopwaffle in the corral but was still hungry by mile 4 so my fueling wasn't great for this race. I had packed a few nuun tablets but they didn't do a lot for me.

The race itself was perfect in terms of weather. I started out slow, mostly walking, hoping to let @Herding_Cats catch up at some point. I only had one character I had to stop for - Hades, who was at mile 7 and past MK. I loved having the castle in the dark pic, AND I got a jump, but the flash was set too hot and you can hardly see the castle!



Herding_Cats and I connected just past my Hades stop and we finished the race together. We had both moved just fast enough to have a good buffer and we mostly walked at about a 17 mile pace to the finish. I ended up leaving my arm warmers on for the whole race! I did ditch the gloves off and on into my waistband, but there were spots where I definitely needed them and was glad to have them. rD gave out mylar at the end, which I didn't need but kept for the next morning.



My legs and feet were feeling terrible after this race and I was starting to get a scratchy throat. So I took it easy and spent all day off my feet after taking a bath with the recovery bomb. DH had driven over to Largo to see his mom for the day, so DM and I just vegged in the room, snacking and watching Inside Out (which she had never seen). Almost forgot we did pop over to DS for a bit to meet a fellow DISer and hand off some expo goodies. DH got back about 5 and I had prepped a frozen lasagne and salad kit for an early dinner. It was surprisingly good!

The Chiefs played their last game of the season, which was thankfully an uneventful and easy win. It ended just as I needed to get to bed. I got my marathon costumes out, carefully putting the laters in the order I needed to dress in the next day. I got to bed about 7, with earplugs this time! They definitely helped, and the fireworks didn't completely disrupt my sleep like the night before. I was pretty nervous about the marathon, especially since my throat tickle had gotten a bit worse, but I was going to at least start and give it what I had left.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey Race Recaps: Marathon

I got up at 1:30 and felt pretty rested. My legs and feet definitely benefitted from my rest the day before, and while I had a dry throat, nothing had progressed to illness. I made my eggs and waffles and had coffee, then got my costumes on in the proper order.

I headed for the monorail about 2:30 and caught one right away from the Contemporary. I just missed the monorail at the TTC but wasn't worried as it had gone so well the day before. HA! We waited at least 15 minutes for another to come, and when it did the CMs instructed everyone that this one wasn't taking passengers. So we waited another 5 minutes or another one. By that time there was a large and impatient crowd of marathon runners, and I was happy to be toward the front to get a seat.

By the time I got to the meetup with my sign, it was well underway and I only stayed a few minutes. I was checking a gear bag for the first time and wanted to be sure I had plenty of time to do that and walk out early. In my gear bag I stashed my recovery sandals, a pair of calf sleeves and an rX protein bar. I accidentally left my sunscreen in there too -- oops.

On the walkout I was happy to see they had adjusted the A/B route to the pavement. In the corral, I sat as long as I could and had a stroopwaffle. I had packed 3 more in my pockets, along with my Tailwind packet I had brought from home. It was cool but not as cold as the previous morning. Still, I was happy for my arm sleeves and gloves at the start -- and the extra costume layers and event the wig for a bit.

I started with 45/30 intervals right from the beginning of the race. I had no characters I needed to stop for, so my plan was to just gauge lines and do what I felt as I went by. @Herding_Cats and I were checking in via text and hoping to connect somewhere between MK and Bear Island Road. DH was to meet me in front of BLT and again in front of GF for any potential costume hand-offs. I settled into the intervals and felt good. My legs and feet were fresher than they'd been for any race except the 5K and the weather was good. I stopped for the bathroom in Epcot and managed to miss the only official photopass stop on the race before MK (aside from characters), so have zero photopass pics of the Disgust costume, ugh!

My one weak selfie:


By the time the sun was coming up, I was so ready to be done with that wig! I got tons of comments from folks who had seen me on previous days, which was fun. They were all excited for the big costume change. DH was outside BLT as planned, so I handed off my gloves and arm sleeves and he gave me my dry spray for my hair. I got a decent Main Street selfie as Disgust and routed off-course to the Tomorrowland Terrace bathroom.

It took about five minutes for the costume change, I just dropped the layers I didn't want to the floor, re-pinned my bib, and attempted to find a way to stash my wig in my Mickey belt. But it had stretched out quite a bit and it just wouldn't stay. I didn't want to waste my post-race shopping bag (or have it in pics), so I just ditched everything but the Minnie bow, which I clipped to the back of the belt. I sprayed and fluffed my hair and felt like a new person! I was so cool and comfortable after all those layers.



I stopped for a castle pic (no jumping today) and realized @Herding_Cats was only a few minutes behind me. I waited in the Frontierland/Adventureland bathroom tunnel and we ran together from there. She had also bene doing 45/30 intervals, so we just kept that up. I never saw DH at GF -- partly because once I hooked up with HC I totally forgot to update him on my location. So he just missed me there! I ended up carrying my hair stuff in my shorts pocket for the rest of the race, which was fine. But I was glad I hadn't bothered to try and keep the wig. I would have ended up ditching it anyway when I didn't see him.

The rest of the race is largely a blur, although I do recall us being very proud of continuing the intervals and being slightly ahead of where we were last year at various points. I don't remember anything special about fueling, but I felt pretty good for most of the race. We did stop in AK for HC to take off her leggings and made the decision we didn't want to try Everest. Coming out of AK, we had 25 minutes on the 7 hour pace group and decided to flip our intervals to 30/45. While it was getting hot, we got some lovely cloud cover between AK and BB. That parking lot sucked but was over fast. They were giving out ice, which we took, and sponges, which were awesome.The support for the back of the pack was fantastic!





I recall stopping for some characters that had no lines and a few selfies along the way. And we talked back to our barking bodies a lot when they were trying to trick us into thinking they were hurt. We chatted with other runners, talked about how we can't imagine doing this race without each other, and all kinds of things. Before we knew it we were coming up on HS and realized we hadn't had a bathroom stop in quite a while. Last year it felt like we had to stop every time we had the chance. But we both felt good and well hydrated, so yay us!

HC's DH met her in Epcot with a giant donut and we crossed the finish together. Selfies and hugs and medals all around, then it was time to grab our gear and go on our way. I'm so so grateful to have found a compatible rD running buddy and seriously can't even contemplate doing another marathon unless @Herding_Cats does it with me.

After the race, I put on the calf sleeves, my recovery sandals and ate my protein bar. I stretched a bit and headed back toward the monorail. I passed the finish line as the very last person was crossing, which was cool to see. After the journey back on the monorails, my legs were feeling decent.

DM and DH had moved our stuff to the one-bedroom side (thankfully we still got to keep half the room) and DM said her goodbyes to head home. I took a recovery bomb bath and DH and I took and Uber over to Coronado for our reservation at Rix to watch DH's Broncos play. The food was okay but it was good to keep moving and I felt tired but decent.

We Ubered back to BLT, grabbed a Mickey bar in the shop and ate it in the room. I managed to stay up until about 9pm before crashing and sleeping 10 hours.

 

[The Expert]

Dopey Race Recaps: post-race thoughts

Honestly the best part of this whole weekend was the people. Our DIS meetups, the folks on the course, the cast members... everybody. It truly is a family and I'm so so grateful to be part of it!

After a few days of contemplation, I'm not sure I am up for another marathon (or let's face it, marathon training cycle) this year. I think I'd like to tackle something I feel like I can improve on. Having done three marathons now, I am pretty much just skating by and finishing. But I feel pretty confident about the half distance and would like to get better at it. I think this is a good goal for the coming year, so for 2024 MW I will probably be back for the 5K or 10K and the half. Yes, I'll probably have Dopey FOMO once I get there, but it will be super fun to spectate with an awesome sign for the full!

I'm going to take a few weeks off, then start running 2-3 times a week and find a couple of races on the calendar that I can work toward. RnR is doing an inaugural half in SLC in August, so that could be an option right at home. The weather scares me, but if it's early enough and starts in the foothills it could be tolerable.

 

[Herding_Cats]

and we crossed the finish together. Selfies and hugs and medals all around, then it was time to grab our gear and go on our way. I'm so so grateful to have found a compatible rD running buddy and seriously can't even contemplate doing another marathon unless @Herding_Cats does it with me. But honestly the best part of this whole weekend was the people. Our DIS meetups, the folks on the course, the cast members... everybody. It truly is a family and I'm so so grateful to be part of it!

AAAAH! You're going to make me cry! I feel exactly the same way. How will I ever get through a marathon on my own??? We absolutely rocked that 26.2 on Sunday (and I think we were faster than last year?) and I'm so thrilled to have had the opportunity to run 2 marathons with you now.

 

[The Expert]

Medal Monday

Despite getting a ton of sleep, my watch told me it wasn't productive and I woke up feeling awful -- congested, coughing, etc. (Not Covid, thankfully!) I lazed around for a few hours, ate breakfast and still wasn't doing great so I had to bail on DATW. ::sad face::

My priority was to pop over to MK for pics and to get my marathon ears embroidered, so we rallied to do that about noon. My legs felt okay, so we walked over. I went to the hat shop first, waited in line about 20 minutes to put the order in and then went to get pics.

We took the train from Main Street all the way around, and then got off on the second loop at Splash and rode it (DH's fav and it's about to close for a long time). Then we walked over to the exit of Mine Train where the Snow White cottage is. I thought maybe we could do pics there. The CMs were super nice about letting us back there and DH got some great photos!




I stopped for a few photopass CMs on Main Street, neither of whom were great. (Wish I'd known about the one by the garden while we were there.) We took the monorail to Poly for a Dole Whip swirl float, and got a ping saying my ears were ready. Took the boat back to MK to pick them up and walked back to BLT. I was DONE.

I took a 90 minute nap (which I never do) and then we had to get ready for Citrico's. I really wasn't feeling up to it but I was hungry, so we decided to go. We wore our cute matching Mickey Tommy Bahama dress (me) and shirt (DH) and took the monorail over. It was lovely but I started to get a headache and feel nauseous mid-meal, so I didn't eat much. By the time we got back, I was starting to feel a bit better but ready to crash. I took some sinus meds so I could breathe and went to sleep about 10.

Today I felt a ton better, though still a bit stuffy. Our flight was at 11:45 so plenty of time to leisurely do breakfast, pack and head to the airport.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Fantastic write-up! Sounds like outside of a few peripheral things it was a great experience! Way to go!

 

[The Expert]

Fantastic write-up! Sounds like outside of a few peripheral things it was a great experience! Way to go!

It really WAS great! Thanks so much for your support and for the training plan I attempted to follow. I'm looking forward to focusing on a shorter distance that I have more confidence in and seeing how I can actually improve if I stick to a plan as intended.

 

[surfde22]

Love your write up. Definitely brought me back to my races this past weekend, and can certainly relate to some of the issues you seemed to be having. Though, I didn’t take it easy in the parks at all, probably not the best idea. I started feeling like I was coming down with something on Saturday too, and was certainly a little congested going into Sunday. That had me a little worried going into the marathon given the lofty goal I had set. Thankfully it held off. I wish I had the opportunity to lounge around afterwards, but the six year old and 16 month old didn’t like that idea. We spent a full day in MK after the marathon. Surprisingly though my legs get better after the marathon than the 10k. I think all the lines for pics I stood in during the 10k did a number on my legs, plus all the standing around before the race with no real warmup. But I survived it all and met all my time goals so no complaints. Marathon weekend isn’t in the cards for me next year, but good luck on whichever races you go with. I told my wife I’m going to be come a 5/10 anniversary year runner of Dopey as long as my body holds up, so I’ll see everyone in 2028.

 

[The Expert]

Wow a full park day after the marathon is rough @surfde22 -- I'm impressed! And congrats on meeting your goals.

I like the idea of anniversary Dopeys. Having a plan like that may be a good way to approach it without feeling FOMO every year.

 

[The Expert]

I was looking back over previous races and trying to figure out what a realistic goal time would be for a half marathon.
Most of my HMs have not been serious endeavors. They've been Disney races with lots of stops, or RnR Vegas with friends and family who walked.

My one actual attempt at racing a half was RnR Vegas in November of 2019, in the middle of my first marathon training cycle. My goal was to be under 2:45 for the THEN-necessary POT for rD, and I was so excited to hit it! (Before they went and changed the POT on me.) I finished in 2:41:48, which was a PR by 25 minutes.

So what say the masses? Is 2:30 a realistic goal this year? Or ever? I want something that is going to challenge me but also be attainable at 52 years old and having just finished Dopey #2. I welcome the expertise of @DopeyBadger but also anyone else who wants to weigh in with their experience or advice.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I was looking back over previous races and trying to figure out what a realistic goal time would be for a half marathon.
Most of my HMs have not been serious endeavors. They've been Disney races with lots of stops, or RnR Vegas with friends and family who walked.

My one actual attempt at racing a half was RnR Vegas in November of 2019, in the middle of my first marathon training cycle. My goal was to be under 2:45 for the THEN-necessary POT for rD, and I was so excited to hit it! (Before they went and changed the POT on me.) I finished in 2:41:48, which was a PR by 25 minutes.

So what say the masses? Is 2:30 a realistic goal this year? Or ever? I want something that is going to challenge me but also be attainable at 52 years old and having just finished Dopey #2. I welcome the expertise of @DopeyBadger but also anyone else who wants to weigh in with their experience or advice.

Depending on your time frame towards the goal "A" race HM, a good place to start is a standard mile time trial. It would be best completed after about 4-6 weeks of easy running and return to training coming off Dopey. That would give you a generally good idea of you current maximal potential in the HM using a race equivalency calculator. Then it would be about getting your endurance in a place to match that. So if you wanted to set a goal of a 2:30 HM, then you'd want to be able to run a 9:47 mile (or at least something close to it) to feel reasonably confident about the goal HM time.

 

[The Expert]

Depending on your time frame towards the goal "A" race HM, a good place to start is a standard mile time trial. It would be best completed after about 4-6 weeks of easy running and return to training coming off Dopey. That would give you a generally good idea of you current maximal potential in the HM using a race equivalency calculator. Then it would be about getting your endurance in a place to match that. So if you wanted to set a goal of a 2:30 HM, then you'd want to be able to run a 9:47 mile (or at least something close to it) to feel reasonably confident about the goal HM time.

Well, I can basically set the A race whenever I want, so no pressure. Once I'm feeling recovered from Dopey, I'll settle into a regular, easy running schedule and let that mile time trial be my guide to setting my goal(s).

Thank you!

 

[The Expert]

Post-Dopey Recovery Update

I'm still heeding advice to take two weeks off, but I did walk to and from an appointment on Thursday (about 1.5 miles round trip), which felt fine.

Today (Sunday) I did a somewhat easy strength workout with my trainer, going easy on the legs. It was good to get back into the groove and use some different muscle groups.

My watch has progressed from a training status of Overreaching to Straining to Productive and now says I'm Maintaining. The recovery indicator says I need 0 hours, but my HRV is just starting to bounce back and not yet in the green. I'm definitely still fatigued and ready for bed early every night, and fighting off the last of the sniffles. I have a work trip this week so it shouldn't be too difficult to take another week off.

I need to decide what my maintenance schedule is going to be after that. I know myself, and if I don't put runs on the calendar, it'll be too easy to get to the end of the week and not have done any of the intended 2-3 runs. Per Billy's advice I will set a 4-6 week schedule and then end with a mile time trial.