Well it’s less than 30 days away now! For me, the Dopey challenge is close to half way completed 30 days from now. I will have been through Day 4 of the challenge on the half-marathon portion of the event. The funny thing is, you aren’t halfway through the mileage until around mile 1.9 of the marathon on Sunday.
The runDisney Official Event Guide is now published and has all of the information you need to know for what to do, where to go, what time the Expo takes place, when and where the kid races are, Pasta in the Park info and so much more!
What I was waiting most for was the map of the marathon course. Now that the Richard Petty Speedway was demolished that removed some distance off the course we used in the past. My friends in Team Shenanigans put together screens comparing the 2015 and 2016 course maps.
From what you can see in the Magic Kingdom portion of the course, it appears that we will be running through the castle and Towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then out through the back side of the park and towards Cone Alley and the long road towards Animal Kingdom. There is also a little out and back portion in there on the way to Animal Kingdom created to make up some of the distance. I’m just grateful we aren’t making up the difference in ESPN Wide World of Sports. Although I have to say that last year it didn’t feel as long and dreadful in that part of the course as it did the two years prior.
I’m getting excited to know that in less than a month I’ll be racing in Florida. I was listening to the Mickey Miles Podcast today where Jeff Galloway was answering questions and he answered the question I had posted to the Mickey Milers Team page. I asked what to do about my training since Marine Corps was my longest distance since October and then in November I was up to 10 miles (plus the 12 i did last weekend). Jeff’s recommendation is to do a cluster of runs to simulate Dopey beginning on December 17. He said to do 3 miles, then 5 the next day, walk 7-10 the following day and then on the last day get in 23 miles with either most of it walking or walk a mile, then run with 15/30 intervals. So I am going to think about this suggestion and compare it to what I had in my mind which was to do a longer run that weekend of 15-17 miles (mostly running) and perhaps I’ll tack on the last 3 miles as a walk to get the 20 miles under my feet for the endurance. I know Jeff knows best. But many of my fellow running pals are getting training burnout. But we all know what happens when we don’t train like we should (see my Marine Corps Marathon recap).
I’m starting in Corral I and the corrals go up to letter P so that give me about a 20 minute buffer between when we take off and when the last of the pack takes off. I’m not worried about finish time with the race this year. I just want to have fun. And it wouldn’t be fun if we didn’t see the balloon ladies at the races!
I just registered my kids today for the Kids Dash races for Friday. I usually register them for Saturday based on when they fly down; but in the past that was crazy for me to rush back from the half marathon, pick everyone up at the hotel and then get over to ESPN. So it will be nice for a chance to do the 10K and then shower and head over to ESPN for their race. This is becoming a tradition that I would like to keep doing with them while I can. It’s easier to get them up for an 11:00 race than it will be to get them to a 5K that takes place at 5 a.m.!
Now I have to start putting together my costume ideas! I already have one planned with my mom! She and I are doing her first Disney race at the 5K. We have been sharing ideas back and forth from Etsy, we both have the same Minnie ears and Team Sparkle Skirt so now we have to find coordinating skirts. I have another one planned with Christina and Diana and that leaves the half and full marathons to plan for. I have to really get going to put something together. Let the fun of packing and planning begin!