Dopey Challenge 2020 – Choosing a Training Plan

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We’re fast approaching the Wine and Dine Challenge and before we know it, we’ll be closing in on January’s races. We’re putting in lots of miles (truth!) and building our endurance, speed, and strength (I like to think so anyway). We’re following the training plan we selected after a couple of weeks of research back in late summer. How did we decide on this particular plan and what is it? I’ll explain.

Dopey Challenge 2020 – Choosing a Training Plan

The most important aspects we considered when deciding on a training plan were that it needed to be both adequate and realistic. We want to be prepared for our events and complete them in relative comfort. We also don’t have unlimited training time and need quality training versus a large quantity of miles. We can fit in long runs on weekends and prefer the longest of those be scheduled on Sundays. We also have time for speed work, tempo runs, and strength training, but in relatively limited time windows.

There are a lot of free training plans available on the interwebs and as I plied my mad Google skills on the hunt for race prep perfection, I quickly became overwhelmed. Information overload! I kept coming up with new plans to run by Joseph and he, never having completed a marathon (or the associated training for said event), kept agreeing to whatever new idea I presented. To narrow down the choices, I went straight to Dopey veterans for advice. First I found 2-3 Dopey Challenge Facebook groups (I like this one and this one the best) and then I searched for some tips on YouTube and BOOM! Just like that we found Hal Higdon’s Marathon Training – Dopey Challenge plan. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

This plan is exactly what we needed. Plenty of rest days, plenty of tempo runs and time for speed work. The maximum miles per week reaches 42.5 which sounds like a LOT but is manageable. We can get it done without killing ourselves or taking days off from work. We just finished week 5 of the 18-week plan and we’re feeling strong and optimistic (after escaping from one large angry dog!). An important component to this plan is that in a few weeks we will start to run consecutive days of short, medium and long runs to get ourselves ready for the actual challenge of running a 5K, 10K, half, and full marathon over four days. That’s what makes this plan perfect. Hal Higdon, you’re the bombdiggity!

If you’re interested in watching our YouTube version of this info, check it out here (our little channel could use some love). If you are training for a runDisney event, I’d love to hear from you!

Walt Disney World Skyliner Exhaustion

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Disclaimer: This post is about the Disney Skyliner gondola system at Walt Disney World. If you’re an average person, you might not have even heard about it. If you’re a Walt Disney World fan, you’ve likely heard nothing but Skyliner news for days on end and this post is for you.

I haven’t even ridden the darn thing and I’m exhausted by it! So much speculation among my fellow Disney fans from the very first announcement. Some people were excited, some afraid, some so negative that they predicted those gondolas doomed from the get-go. Then? The mishap and holy guacamole, everyone went completely nuts! Let’s talk about…

Walt Disney World Skyliner Exhaustion

Back when Disney made their intentions clear about a new-ish mode of transportation for Walt Disney World resort guests, my initial reaction was excitement. I loved the gondolas in Magic Kingdom and only got to ride them on one visit before they were gone. I thought the Skyliner sounded like a fantastic alternative to a crowded Disney bus.

Then I saw a map of where the Skyliner routes would be located and my excitement dimmed a bit. We typically stay at resorts that aren’t reachable by the Skyliner. I realized we probably wouldn’t be riding the gondolas unless we just wanted to check out the experience and take in the scenery. I knew the views would be amazing and contrary to many, we aren’t worried about the interiors being too hot. We don’t fear heights and motion sickness isn’t a problem. The only drawback is that it seems to me (I could be mistaken) that the Skyliner will simply not be the most efficient way to get between the Studios and Epcot when we could walk or take a boat.

Then, The Mishap

What an explosion! Nope, I’m not talking about the Skyliner incident itself, it’s the aftermath that wore me out! Twitter and Facebook were overrun with rumors, stories, speculation, and too many “I told you so’s” to count. From the “I will never ride the Skyliner now” people to the “I wonder how many law suits will be filed” folks and everything in between. I avoided social media for big swaths of time and still, it went on for days. I found it all a bit overblown. It got old in a hurry.

Let me acknowledge that yes, being stuck in a gondola for 3 hours on vacation would be horrible. That’s time that cannot be recovered. I’d have been extremely disappointed and angry. Would I understand that even after months and months of testing, glitches were likely? Maybe not, to be honest. The gondolas were only in official operation for a week before stranding passengers for an extended period of time. (The Perera family was my favorite story by far.) But is it the worst thing that could happen to a vacation? Not by a long shot. I believe what many are missing is perspective.

Wait and See

That’s where I am now. Social media has calmed down somewhat. Mostly, I suspect, because the Skyliner has yet to reopen as of this moment, but it will. I’m not any more or less likely to ride it than I was before the incident. I’m simply tired of hearing about it. How about you?

5 Reasons to Visit Walt Disney World in November

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The truth is, we have and would visit our favorite vacation destination any time of the year. Walt Disney World in November, though, has wonderful advantages and I’m here to share…

5 Reasons to Visit Walt Disney World in November

Magic Kingdom Entrance in October

The Weather – If you love feeling like you’re in a tropical paradise without those sweltering summer temperatures, November’s a good bet! It’s also a typically very low month for rain in Florida (average of 3 days of rain). With average highs are in the upper 70’s and average lows in the upper 50’s, packing a few layers will get you from rope-drop to park closure in comfort and being able to enjoy pool time at your resort is a strong possibility.

Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival – So much to love about these 87 days! Since the festival runs nearly to Thanksgiving, there’s lots of opportunity to take in those concerts, food booths, and extra special offerings in November. We love getting to Epcot early so we can enjoy a few attractions before eating our way around World Showcase for lunch. Sharing plates makes this technique last longer before all available intestinal real estate is used up and we start feeling nap-ish.

Magic Shot at MNSSHP

Parties – In November, it’s possible to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on the same trip! This year, the Halloween party’s last night is on November 1st and the Christmas party begins on November 8th. Plan ahead and you can hit both of these popular Magic Kingdom events in a single vacation. We’ve yet to experience Mickey’s Vary Merry Christmas Party, but it’s on our to-do list. Maybe next year.

Decorations – Just like the parties, November provides a small opportunity to see both fall and holiday decorations in the parks. After the last Halloween party, the fall decor comes down. By the first Christmas party (November 8th in 2019), Magic Kingdom is all decked out! If you love holiday decorations, wait until later in November and prepare to be amazed. Every park, resort, restaurant – the variety and volume of decorations is simply spectacular. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think the combination of charming decorations and fun holiday music in Disney’s Hollywood Studios may be my favorite for overall experience.

runDisney opportunities – With the Food & Wine Festival comes the Wine & Dine runDisney events. Since this year will be our first to try them, I can’t tell you yet how they compare to the others we’ve done. I am welcoming the opportunity to burn off enough calories to feel completely guilt-free about all the food booths I’m going to visit.

Have you been to Walt Disney World in November? How did it compare to other times you’ve visited?

WDW Marathon 2020 – Proof of Time

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I was born a procrastinator. If my mom hadn’t been induced on her due date with me, I would have procrastinated my own arrival I’m sure. I always say it’s because I work better under pressure, but that doesn’t apply to today’s example. I procrastinated (or maybe I just didn’t think ahead) – and there was a price to be paid for my inaction.

As I’ve mentioned before, we try to always submit a proof of time for runDisney races that accept it (half and full marathons). For the Wine & Dine Half, we used a 10K time from last fall – easy peasy! When Joseph and I registered for the Dopey Challenge and the marathon portion of the entry asked for proof of time from either a half or full marathon run after January 2018, I realized I should have thought of this much sooner…like last winter! We skipped a favorite December half in Lafayette, Louisiana last year and we should not have done that. Now I needed half marathon race times for Joseph and I and didn’t have them. I checked the deadline for submission – October 8th.

I’d just have to find a half for us to run before the deadline. Easier said than done! I checked the half marathon calendars for four states and found only one possibility – The Walkons Independence Bowl Kick Off K’s Half Marathon in Shreveport on September 28th. I got us registered and started waiting for some fall weather. It never came. Everyday the meteorologist on TV kept saying the temperatures were 10 degrees above average with no break in sight. September 28th arrived with a low of 76-degrees and a projected high in the low-to-mid 90’s. With a 7:00 am race start, we could at least hope to finish the race before the thermometer hit 80.

WDW Marathon 2020 – Proof of Time

In spite of the hilliness of the course, which started at mile 3, we made good time in the early miles. We grabbed water at every opportunity and snacked on Sport Beans somewhere around mile 7. Shortly after that, we mixed some Tailwind into our water at the next aid station. After that, we (mostly I) had issues and we slowed WAY down.

Backing up for a second, our original plan was to finish in 2:15 to 2:20. We’d done it before and were sure that if we had any break in the heat, we could do it again. When the weather was making our training runs nearly unbearable, we cheered ourselves up by believing there was no way the low temperatures could keep being in the mid-70’s. It was almost October – we were bound to catch a break! Oh, it was not to be.

If only we could have kept our average for the first 8 miles going. We would have finished in just under 2:17. Instead, we started taking walk breaks and whining (again, mostly me) about pain, heat, and generally feeling like we were running on the surface of the sun. We crossed the finish line together (I did ask Joseph to leave me to die a few miles earlier, but he stayed with me to the bitter end) in 2:27:26. The temperature when we started was 78 and 80 when we finished with 80% humidity. On a funny note, I still scored a 3rd place age-group prize from Orangetheory Fitness. I managed to beat some of the other old ladies, so there’s that.

Proof of time has officially been submitted for Dopey 2020. Maybe we won’t be in the last corral. We’ll see. Technically, our time was too slow to really make a difference, but we’re hoping for a bit of pixie dust anyway.

I dusted off the old YouTube channel and put this all in video form, which you can find here if you’re interested. I promised Joseph I’d buy him pizza at his favorite restaurant and after 13.1 miles, nothing could have tasted better!

Guess what this weekend’s weather is supposed to be? Yup, lows in the 60’s. Back to training for the Wine and Dine Challenge. Anyone else going to be there with us?