The First of 4 Races for The Dopey Challenge

Pluto’s 5K

The morning of this race was a little nerve racking, I hadn't done a race in over a year, my feet were tender and this was the start of a 48.6 mile journey. I got up at 1:30 am, dressed, made my coffee, drank my water, and waited until it was time to go to the bus stop for a ride to the start area and corrals. We had to be on the bus no later than 4:30 am. This race started 30 minutes later than the others due to it being a 5K. We left the resort, drove a mile to the next resort and Amy dropped me off at the bus stop and I hopped on the next bus to go to the start area. At this point I was getting excited and was happy to be on the bus and moving… I said Hello to the fellow runners, but they seemed sleepy or nervous, because not many responded. I found a seat, several more runners boarded and then we were off.  As I exited the bus, I felt it and needed to find the port-a-potties, my bladder was full. I walked over to the bathroom area they had set up, got in line, did my business and then found a seat to wait until it was time to go to the corrals. I tried not to think about the race or my bladder or anything that would make me more nervous. I was trying to calm myself down and it worked for a while. I then had to pee again, when I was done I decided to go to the corrals and wait there. Over the course of 45 minutes I used the port-a-potty about another 3 times. I didn’t want to dehydrate myself so I drank enough water that I felt would replenish my nervous bladder. I knew I was going to the bathroom so much because I was nervous. I kept saying calm down, it’s just race one, it’s just 3.1 miles, easy peasy, you got this. I seemed to settle at that point and my corral started to move forward towards the start line.  

As we slowly advanced, Amy texted me that the first person had just crossed the finish line…. We were only 16 minutes into the freaking race… the woman next me just gapped at me, when I told her. We were slowly getting closer to the start line, I could feel my heart rate increase, I immediately told myself to calm down. As we approached the start line, I got my phone ready (I had to set my Road ID to let Amy know where I was on the course). I got my watch ready to track my time and distance, then they set the fireworks and we were off. 

I started off to fast and was running an awesome 11:30 per mile pace. I felt really good until I realized I had a lot of more miles to go over the next 4 days and I didn’t want to over do it or injury anything. I slowed down to a 12:45 - 13:30 per mile pace, I felt much better and more comfortable at this speed. I settled in and enjoyed the run with all the sites, it was Disney World’s Epcot center and the staff put on a show for us. I didn’t stop for any pictures with characters but I did stop to do a couple of selfies and took pics of some Characters. Then just like that it was over, there was the 3 mile marker, then the run to the finish, I made sure I was enthusiastic when I crossed that line, I was going to have fun and enjoy these runs and look good in my race photos. 

NEXT: KT Tape and Minnie’s 10K

Training for & Running a Marathon…

Oh, wait not just one race,

but 4 races in 4 days,

which is Totally Dopey.

5 years ago, a year after my heart attack, I completed The Donald, the half marathon race that happens every first weekend after New Years in Disney World. I decided that I loved racing and half marathons were the perfect distance. But I needed a bigger goal, I decided to get my body ready to run a marathon in five years and I would run The Mickey, a full marathon, 26.2 miles. The first race was magical why not make this bigger race magical too. Then the next year Disney announced a brand new challenge and a new race distance they had not offered before. 4 races over 4 days through all 4 of the theme parks, they named it The Dopey. They already had the 5k race and renamed it The Pluto 5K. They added a 10K distance and named it The Minnie. They had the half marathon named The Donald and the marathon named The Mickey with a challenge of it’s own The Goofy. If you run Donald and Mickey you accomplish The Goofy Challenge. The Dopey would not replace The Goofy it would be in addition to The Goofy allowing the participant to earn a total of 6 race medals. One medal for each race, then one medal for each challenge. 

I am a huge Donald Duck fan and that is why I chose that race to be my first half marathon. Dopey is one of my second favorites behind Donald and as I read the new challenge and what it entailed, I was sucked in. I decided I had 4 years, I could train and do those 4 races in 4 days including my first marathon ever. 

So I trained, kinda of, I started pursuing training December of 2015, but that kinda of flopped cause I injured myself. I took time off until my injury healed and I kept putting off training until about May of 2016. I started to get scared and determined, cause I had purchased a treadmill for when outdoor running wasn’t an option, I had spent $600 dollars and signed up for the race and I had made a commitment on local TV that I was doing it. I was running 4 to 6 miles a day and I was cross training, then summer heat hit and I couldn’t be in the heat anymore due to my heart and the increasing of my pace. I took to the A/C and the treadmill for July, August and part of September. I used my time wisely and increased my pace and speed, but I needed to get outside on the asphalt to really train for a road race. 

In the middle of September I finally got back outside and was very happy with my results, I was faster, my stride was better and I could breathe well when I ran, I wasn’t huffing and puffing through my runs. 

I started to increase my distance and every single time when I would do my long runs I would hit a wall. I would do 9 miles going for 13 and I once I got to 9 I couldn’t go anything further. I knew it was more mental than physical. I had to work on my mind accepting this goal as well as conditioning my body and increasing my endurance. 

Every day I would say you are going to do this, you can do this, this marathon is in the bag, and the miles started to pile on. I increased my daily runs from 6 miles to 8, then after about 2 weeks I increased my 8 mile daily runs to 10 miles. Some days I would only get 5 miles, but most days I would get the 10. 

Pace, speed and endurance increased. The long runs on the weekend became easier and longer, I hit 16 miles and I was ecstatic. The longest distance I have ever run and I felt great after. Then I had a weekend where I was going for 20 miles, I didn’t make it, I was running against a head wind and exhausted myself by mile 14. I was not happy, I was 3 weeks away from a major race and I hadn’t even hit 20 miles running. So the next weekend was Christmas and I caught a break, I would be off two days in a row. I took to the streets on Christmas Eve and ran. It rained and the people in cars were mean and splashed and drenched me, but I made 22.5 miles. I was happy I knew I was only 4.5 miles away from a marathon. 

I rested the next day and then decided to take advantage of New Years Day too and get more miles in the next week. I did 23 miles and I was ready to go to Orlando. I wanted to get at least one more run before we left, but my feet started to ache some so I rested for 3 days until the big race was to start. 

I wasn’t to concerned with my feet hurting but it was new pain and it was a bit irritating. I pushed it aside and didn’t dwell on it. 

NEXT: Disney World and the Pluto’s 5K