12 Months of Medals: My 2015 (And Beyond!) Running Challenge

We'll see. Gotta give it a shipment cycle to get through some bad cans (Weekend Warrior) that had clearly been sitting in storage for a while at one of the distributors.

Apparently Krunkin' Pumpkin is pretty good, but I'm morally opposed to anything pumpkin. Ever.
 


The only good pumpkin item is roasted pumpkin seeds.

Weekend Warrior is pretty good, but I like Rodeo Clown better.
 
Yay! I'm not the only one!

Every time I see some new pumpkin trend, it's like the terrorists have won.

The only good pumpkin item is roasted pumpkin seeds.

Weekend Warrior is pretty good, but I like Rodeo Clown better.

Yummmm. Rodeo Clown. I've got a growler of Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter in the fridge that's almost a week old. That baby ain't going to drink itself!
 


It was 90 degrees with 60% humidity at 10 a.m. this morning.

I still have no internet. I also have no TV either.

Gmail is down.

I hate today. Is noon to early to go to the bar for a 3 p.m. baseball game?

Carry on.

Is this even a real question? It's the playoffs.
 
Welp.

My team lost (and in historic fashion, of course).

I also broke a cinderblock in the parking lot with my bare hands, so there's that.

And now I've got to get everything ready for us to hit the road to Florida on Friday.

Yay?

At least there is internet and TV in Florida.
 
At least the governor didn't jinx your team like the poor Astros. What a moron.

At least there is internet and TV in Florida.

There's good beer in Florida too. Cigar City in Tampa makes some outstanding ones.
 
Why am I just now finding this!!! Following along because I am betting our race paths will cross at sometime.
 
Why am I just now finding this!!! Following along because I am betting our race paths will cross at sometime.

OMG!!!! I love you Cupcakes - you're so amazing! I wish I was a Cupcake!!!!!!!!!!
 
OMG!!!! I love you Cupcakes - you're so amazing! I wish I was a Cupcake!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone can be a cupcake! Only requirement is that you have to support each other and celebrate that finish line!
 
Hey! It's me! Keels!

You might remember me from such boring training journals as ... well, this one!

I don't know if y'all know this, but I recently participated in the 2016 WDW Marathon Weekend - with the goal of completing the Dopey Challenge.

Four days. Four races. 48.6 miles. If you don't like spoilers, don't look at my avatar.
BUT. If you're thinking about going Dopey in 2017 or for the anniversary year in 2018 (or even beyond!), then these next few posts may be of value to you!

#KeelsDoesDopey: The 2016 Dopey Challenge
Table of Contents:
The Background
The Expo
5K
10K
Half Marathon
Marathon
My Thoughts
 
Last edited:
#KeelsDoesDopey: The Background

If you follow along on these boards, you'll know that before I'd even run my first rD race I had become quickly enamored with all the races. In fact, I hadn't even run my first race (the Disneyland 5k) before I'd been convinced that the Dopey Challenge would be what I needed to kick off my 2016 year of running.

I'd recently completed my FIRST EVER half marathon, after only "running" since the beginning of December 2014. The sense of accomplishment pushed me to such a high, and took my training in a completely different direction. I knew I could do Dopey back then - even before I'd experienced a race weekend of such a huge magnitude as that of a rD weekend - but I needed a push in the right direction.

I may have sent a late-night email to my Dad mentioning that I was thinking about running Dopey and maybe they could gift that to me as my birthday or Christmas present (let's be honest - the first ridiculous step in the Dopey Challenge is paying the outrageous entry fee).

The next morning, I woke to the go-ahead for Dopey - a registration confirmation.

And the rest is history.

I'm not really going to bore you with specific training recaps, because honestly? The last 19 pages have been that. Also, what I learned during MY Dopey journey is that it was just that. It was MY journey. It was MY training program. MY successes. MY failures. Just me, putting in the miles.

I've posted my training schedule I made up and followed a couple of times, so I won't repost that - and mostly for the reasons I mentioned above. What I did worked for me.

So - here's the nuts and bolts:
- Going in to Dopey I had been running for exactly one year and one month.
- I had completed eight 5Ks, six 10Ks and 6-ish half marathons.
- For PoT for Dopey, I had to submit a time of a half marathon distance or higher. Due to injury and weather, my best time (by the PoT submission deadline) was a 3:01 half marathon time. With the Dopey Curve (it's a real thing), my estimated finish at PoT deadline for the marathon was 6:22.
- We left for Florida on December 22, and stayed with my parents for Christmas and the time leading up to and including Dopey. Because it was the holidays, and my parents are such great people, we had a revolving door of guests coming to enjoy the beautiful Florida weather.
- I had no time goals, other than finishing and not getting swept. Also, not getting hurt was a big thing. Running on a reconstructed foot attached to an underdeveloped leg was already a hurdle I had to deal with. But, I have to deal with that every day. I promised my parents and my husband that if I felt ANYTHING ... and I mean anything, in my little foot (my reconstructed clubfoot) or the accompanying ankle, that I would stop immediately, wait for a "Parade Bus" and give up the Dopey Challenge. There aren't many people who have had the fusions and surgeries I've had in my little foot - and there certainly was no case study in what would happen if one of those fusions were to pop, split, break or even just slightly fracture. I also had two elongated Z-shaped slices put in my Achilles' Tendon during my last surgery to help lengthen the tendon to match with the final length of my leg (I was given a heel made of cadaver on my left foot in that surgery as my growth plates had closed and it was the final step in giving me a "normal" foot), so that was another MAJOR concern. If Vegas was taking odds, I'm very certain that even money going into Dopey was my left Achilles' rupturing.

And all of that takes us to ...

The Expo
 
Last edited:
#KeelsDoesDopey: The Expo

Because we almost always drive to Florida and stay with my parents, we do not have to rely on WDW transportation.

On Expo Opening Day, I left the house (roughly 5 miles/10 minutes from Disney Springs) for WWoS at 8:30. I parked and was walking up to the complex by 8:45. It was chilly and as soon as I got in line, the light rain started. There were maybe 20-25 people in line in front of me, which was surprising until I realized that WDW transportation had not started.

There was a VIP shopping event going on, but it didn't really have any affect on our shopping experience.

We were let in shortly after 9:30 (yup - 30 minutes before true opening time), and it was like watching a plague of cicadas attack the Official Merchandise booth. Dopey items (namely jackets) were the first to go - and that was in what seemed like less than 5 minutes. I grabbed a Dopey ladies "jacket", a pair of Dopey capris, a Dopey hat, a few Dopey medal pins (more on those later), a Marathon pin and Marathon "I Did It" shirt for @mbwhitti (who would be joining me later that week), a Half Marathon "I Did It" shirt for Dr. S (who was also arriving later), and then a Dopey and a Marathon "I Did It" shirt for me. I got in line and after my AP discount (and $300 something dollars ... eesh!), I was out the door to start visiting other spots.

My next stop was bib pickup. There was an entire wall of the Field House that was just stations for Dopey bibs. Upon receiving my bibs, I had to go and take a picture with my Purple bib (half and full bib) for race confirmation. And then it was off to pick up all of my race shirts! For the challenges during Marathon Weekend, you don't have to visit multiple stations to pick up shirts - they're all in one bag for you!

In a VERY odd bit of Expo placement, the MarathonFoto booth was hidden amidst the line for Dopey/Goofy shirt pickup, but it worked out for me as I was able to pre-purchase my Dopey package while I was waiting in the insane line for my shirts. Which I would ultimately have to go to the next building to swap out, because after W&D I learn I preferred a different size in the Champion long-sleeved tech shirts.

It was back outside to the corridor of the stadium for my Race Retreat wristband, and then through the stadium to pick up a couple of ChEAR packages.

All in all, I was back to the car to leave around 11 a.m.

For Dopey, you are given two bibs - one for the 5K and 10K, and a second for the Half Marathon and Marathon. There was signage everywhere informing you that the orange bib was for Thursday and Friday, while the purple bib was for Saturday and Sunday.

Much to @FFigawi's disappointment, I did not get a beer at the Expo. But would I get a beer after ...

Up Next: The 5K
 
Last edited:

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top