Dopey Trial Run(s)

This past weekend was my last weekend before the all important taper.  While I have run a couple of Marathons in the last couple of months, I was a little worried about running four days back to back.  I had concerns about how my legs would hold up.  So Thursday I ran 3 miles, Friday 6 miles, Saturday 10 miles, and Sunday 20 miles.  Finally, given my hard learned lesson from the Apalachicola Bay Marathon, I ran the majority of the miles on sidewalks.  

Note: This post lacks my normal sense of humor.  I will make sure to add it back in when I recap my actual experience during the Dopey Challenge.  

Thursday

I am not a fan of running at night; I didn’t get to start this run until about 8:30pm.  Also, I dislike road running, so the sidewalks in my neighborhood were no fun for me.  However, with a cool breeze and perfect weather, I seemed to fly down the road.  I probably went out too fast and have made a mental note to slow down for the 5k during Dopey.  

Friday

Feeling good from the run the day before, I definitely ran Friday far too fast.  Once again, the weather was beautiful and I seemed to forget about my hatred of sidewalks.  This time, I made sure to get the run in early to make sure I could make it to my movie date with DisneyBride.  Again, I need to make sure to keep the pace down for Dopey.

Saturday

I had a hard time getting up for this run.  I was more sore than I had originally expected.  However, I was heading back to some of my favorite trails for this run.  The always supportive Disney Bride joined me for a run at the same time.  After shaking off the soreness, the run was quite nice.  I had expected this run to be far more taxing that it actually was.  Finishing the run strong, I looked forward to the challenge of the 20 mile run the next day.   

Sunday

Surprisingly, I was not sore at all when I woke up Sunday Morning.  After my normal pre-run breakfast, I headed out for 13.1 miles.  It is quite amazing how much farther everything is when you are on foot.  I rarely run from my house, so I did not really have a gauge of how far 13 miles was from my house.  The run felt great, everything was clicking and I had a amazing run.  Returning home, I grabbed Disney Bride for 7 more miles on a local trail to get to my desired mileage.  With the mileage complete we celebrated with Thai food.

Lessons Learned

While I now have no doubts that I can finish the distance.  I need to make sure not to burn myself out during the 5k or 10k.  

Rest and a good nights sleep are going to be key.  I am not a morning person, getting up at 3:00am for four day straight is far more scary than the mileage.  Further, I need to avoid the lure of the parks and Downtown Disney.  DisneyBride is going to have to run around the House of Mouse on her own.  

I have no time goal in mind for the race and I really believe that that will make the experience much more enjoyable.  

I hope my fellow Dopey Challengers had excellent training runs this weekend, and they went as well as mine did.  Don’t forget Dopey is fun!  Don’t stress about time and just enjoy the course.  I look forward to seeing everyone on January 8th.

The bling awaits!  

-Disney Groom