Official Dopey 2019 Thread

Trust the training got me through my very first half when I started out way too fast and felt a pain comparable to shin splints less than half a mile into the race. I guess what really almost terrifies me is bathroom stops and fueling for that long a distance. In a sense, I've heard enough horror stories about a full that I'm still questioning whether or not I really want to run a full.
If you can get your hydration down right you shouldn't need the bathroom much. As for fueling that really depends on the person. I use sport beans which now Disney uses and that works for me. Everyone is different on that. You just find what works for you in training.
 
I believe I could run the full and finish in the allotted time runDisney gives you. I don't care if I take 7 hours to finish because I still finish. But the training required for that distance worries me. I don't really want to sacrifice 5+ hours in training every other Saturday for the full. @DopeyBadger and his custom training plans intrigue me especially because of the possibility of not running all day for my long run weekends. But I also know that I must respect the training if I'm going to do this.

So I'm looking for feedback. Am I completely insane? Is it foolish to do nothing longer than a 20 mile run in preparing for a half? Any other experience in attempting Goofy or Dopey without running anywhere from 5-7 hours every other week on long runs?

I'll share the same thing I said before about it (for you and anyone else reading in a similar situation), these are different runners who attempted a very similar situation as what you are describing. Attempting to run your first marathon as part of Dopey (some not all), fitness around a 5.5-6.5 hr marathon, and limited the long run to either 150 or 180 min. Again though, don't misunderstand that a lack of a 5+ hour training run (or going up to or over 20 miles) makes the plans I make easier. They are not easy, but they enable you to do what you trained for. The biggest hurdle won't be physical, it will be mental. Because even though you may max at 12 miles, you've got to believe on race day that you can in fact run 26.2 miles. Plenty of people are successful with training at or longer than 20 miles. All I do is offer an alternative that says you don't have to if you don't want to.

Name: Anisum
Marathon Weekend Race: Dopey Challenge
Training Plan Duration: 16 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Continuous
Days per Week: 5 then 6 for remaining 8 weeks
# of Hard Days: 2 then 3
Peak Week Duration: 9:00:43
Peak Week Mileage: 38.25 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:30:34
Peak Single Run Mileage: 11 miles
Testimonial: I would say that while I had read the research regarding cumulative fatigue I got many skeptical looks from others when I explained I maxed out at 11 miles when training for the Dopey. I think evidence from my training and that of others shows that it works. Billy wrote a plan with my schedule and needs in mind and I definitely got what I wanted. I spent time in the park each day and walked at least six miles between resorts and bus time when I wasn't running. Despite that aside from a little soreness in my feet and legs immediately following the marathon I felt great. I was able to walk without looking like something ran me over the next day. More importantly for my running as a whole Billy's plan taught me how to listen to my body and rely on my feelings which lead to a more successful race experience. Where before I may have rushed to stick to a certain pace leading to a crash at the end, I was able to pull back and run at a pace that made me comfortable without worrying about time because I knew I would finish strong. I didn't hit an insurmountable wall that I felt I wouldn't be able to run through, I always felt like even if my feet hurt it was more of an annoyance that could easily be pushed through rather than a showstopper. I had an amazing weekend experience and felt great because I was well trained. Thanks so much Billy!

Name: sourire
Marathon Weekend Race: Marathon
Training Plan Duration: 15 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Continuous
Days per Week: 4 days, then 4 and 5 alternating
# of Hard Days: 2
Peak Week Duration: 7:45:52
Peak Week Mileage: 36 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:32:19
Peak Single Run Mileage: 12 miles
Testimonial: I was nervous about so many things going into my first marathon, but I see now that there was no reason to be. [I was told by some friends who have run marathons before, that I'd cramp, that "the wall will come crashing down", that I would not be able to tow the line if I didn't do at least one 20 miler (one person told me to do at least three 20-milers), etc. Remind me next time not to consult with these people.] I am so happy and thrilled to report that I was more than able to "tow the line" on Sunday (and to continue to walk an additional 7 miles around EPCOT that evening)! No cramps and no wall! My goal was to finish my first marathon strong, happy, smiling, and uninjured. I started the marathon off near my long run pace (was afraid to start out too quickly), slowly got closer to my marathon tempo, and kept feeling good. I walked all of the water stops, was able to run the rest of the thing, and even ran the second half about 4 minutes faster than the first half! At some point around mile 18, I looked at my Garmin and realized I had been running more hours/miles than I had ever run before, and I got very nervous all of a sudden (even felt a little nauseated), but then thought to myself: "Billy knows you are going to crush this, so why don't YOU know that you are going to crush this yet?!" I seriously pondered that one for a few miles through WWOS, and by mile 23ish, I can see via the photopass evidence, that I was beaming. I felt strong at the finish, and was in absolute disbelief that I had done it, even in staring down at the medal around my neck. Billy was extremely patient with me and all of my questions and worries through this training cycle. I've gone on for longer than a paragraph, but the point is: I followed the plan and reaped the benefits. So grateful to you, Billy, for your time, energy, and patience, and so glad to have had the chance to meet you to say thank you in person.

Name: LikelyLynae
Marathon Weekend Race: Dopey Challenge
Training Plan Duration: 12 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Run/Walk
Days per Week: 6 weeks
# of Hard Days: 2 to 3 based on week
Peak Week Duration: 9:20:24
Peak Week Mileage: 38.5 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:58:23
Peak Single Run Mileage: 12 miles
Testimonial: Considering I started my Dopey training late (October!) I was very excited to try the cumulative fatigue idea. I was weary about the idea of only running 12 miles as my longest run, but the fact that I had minimal muscle fatigue and didn’t feel like I even had a long run is proof that the system works. I also PRed my marathon time by 35 minutes. Train slow to run fast. Trust your training. It works.

Name: Anon #3
Marathon Weekend Race: Dopey Challenge
Training Plan Duration: 23 weeks and then 10 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Continuous
Days per Week: 5
# of Hard Days: 2 or 3 alternating
Peak Week Duration: 7:44:38
Peak Week Mileage: 36 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:31:06
Peak Single Run Mileage: 12 miles
Testimonial: I have run two marathons before and was able to finish both but the last several miles were always terrible. I was excited to try a new way of training after hearing so many good things about Billy’s plans. Unfortunately, I broke my toe two weeks into training but Billy was great to make me a new plan as soon as I could run again. Other than missing a couple of days due to sickness-this was the first training plan I was able to finish and finish feeling good!! I was only able to run the 10k due to the winter storm and sickness. But it was the easiest 10k I have ever done!! Billy’s plan has really made me a better runner and has kept me injury free. I was able to train for the marathon without further injuring my foot. I am excited to start a new plan!

Name: Anon #6
Marathon Weekend Race: Dopey Challenge
Training Plan Duration: 15 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Continuous
Days per Week: Extremely Variable
# of Hard Days: 2
Peak Week Duration: 6:35:14
Peak Week Mileage: 34 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:15:41
Peak Single Run Mileage: 12 miles
Testimonial: Completed Dopey Challenge

Name: Anon #8
Marathon Weekend Race: Marathon
Training Plan Duration: 11 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Continuous
Days per Week: 4 and 5 alternating
# of Hard Days: 2
Peak Week Duration: 7:26:27
Peak Week Mileage: 56.2 kilometers
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:31:00
Peak Single Run Mileage: 19.3 kilometers
Testimonial: Your training plan is truly something of brilliance. You have mastered the calculations that most people just can’t figure out and have somehow figured out how to personalize your method.

I finished my race at 5:30. Slower than I hoped, but I took it slow on my own accord, trusting what you had taught me and kept your words of positivity on mind throughout the race. I had the stomach bug on Friday night, so I kept it slow, but I am more proud of myself than I have ever been. I finished with energy left and absolutely NO pain! I started very slow and kept a slow pace until about mile 12, where I picked up a bit, but not too much. I stayed comfortable and did not get swept up by the flow around me and was so pleased by how comfortable my pace was.

Although I was a bit slow, I consider this race one of my greatest successes and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication and time.



Name: Anon #9
Marathon Weekend Race: Dopey Challenge
Training Plan Duration: 12 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Run/Walk
Days per Week: 5
# of Hard Days: 2
Peak Week Duration: 8:04:37
Peak Week Mileage: 34.5 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 2:51:31
Peak Single Run Mileage: 12 miles
Testimonial: thank you so much for my training plan! All 4 of the races were great, I completely surprised myself and didn't struggle in the marathon! I kept to the intervals for all 4 of the races for the majority of the time (the start of the races were pretty congested). I didn't have too much soreness either which was a shock as I thought I might struggle to carry on the in the parks but I didn't have that problem! Again thank you so much for helping, I don't know how it would have gone if I had carried on training the way that I was!


This is 7 different runners that during their training for a marathon never ran further than 12 miles in training. Some even completed the Dopey Challenge (again without going over 12 miles in training).

So how is it possible to train at 150 minutes (or 12 miles) and still be able to run 26.2 miles (or 5, 6, and 7 hours)? It comes from the balance of the plan. This is not 3 days per week. And most of these are doing 5 days per week. They're doing lots and lots of aerobic training (slower than marathon tempo). Remember the goal of the 12 mile long run is not to train for miles 0-12 of the marathon. The purpose is to train for 14-26.2. This is accomplished by putting a 90 min run before the 150 min run every weekend. Keeps you from being 100% fresh entering the long run and helps make it just a touch harder. All of these runners were instructed to maintain their pace at or slower than what we trained at. That's the easy explanation.

TESTIMONIALS: 2018 Disney Marathon Weekend; Winter/Spring 2018 (updated 3/11/18)
 
I believe I could run the full and finish in the allotted time runDisney gives you. I don't care if I take 7 hours to finish because I still finish. But the training required for that distance worries me. I don't really want to sacrifice 5+ hours in training every other Saturday for the full. @DopeyBadger and his custom training plans intrigue me especially because of the possibility of not running all day for my long run weekends. But I also know that I must respect the training if I'm going to do this.

So I'm looking for feedback. Am I completely insane? Is it foolish to do nothing longer than a 20 mile run in preparing for a half? Any other experience in attempting Goofy or Dopey without running anywhere from 5-7 hours every other week on long runs?

You can respect the training and still follow an @DopeyBadger plan. For me, his plans and philosophies have made marathons much more accessible. I'm 47 and started running seriously in 2015. At this point, I have run 4 marathons, including one during Goofy and one during Dopey. For 3 of those marathons I trained using @DopeyBadger plans and my long runs during that training have been 14-16 miles. I've done one cycle with 4 days/week running and a max run of 14 miles which resulted in my current marathon PR of 4:20, which could have been better on a more friendly course (2 marathons run during this training). The other marathon was run after a cycle of 5 days/week with a maximum long run of 16 miles. I went into this past Dopey feeling like I was in the best condition of my life and planned to shoot for another PR. Bronchitis prevented me from finding out what I could've done, unfortunately. You're not crazy to give it a shot. Just look for the right program for you. I heartily endorse @DopeyBadger and his plans for older, slower runners!
 
I trained for Dopey this year. The longest run I had during my training was 18 miles I also had a couple of 16 mile ones in there. I was using a modified Hansons plan, which had me running five days a week with speed work and a tempo run thrown in. I would do a semi-long run (8-10 miles) on Thursday followed by my long run on Friday. I was very well prepared for Dopey and even hit a 14 minute PR in the marathon.

I do agree with everyone else that being properly trained is the key to really enjoying things. I've run a marathon before where I was very undertrained, and there was nothing really fun about it.

The early mornings are manageable. Getting a nap break in each day in the early afternoon was the key for DW and I this year.
 


@Sleepless Knight You can do Dopey. I am 63 and didn't start running until I was 58. I first trained for "just" the marathon in 2016, and then decided that with that much training, I could do Dopey in 2017. I did, but with the half canceled (I did the "unofficial" Pop/AoA half, lol), I had to have a do-over this year. If I can do it, anyone can.
I generally ran 4 days/week, except for a couple of Dopey simulations toward the end (not the full distance in the sims) that got me up to 5 days a couple of weeks. I never went over 20 miles and spaced my 16, 18, and 20 milers apart by three weeks instead of two. Those three were the only runs that took 3+ hours, so there were not many hugely time-consuming weekends. I generally run/walk on anything over a half at 2:1 intervals.
Get a good, but not overwhelming, plan and go for it!
 
Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate hearing everyone's experiences. It's giving me confidence that I CAN do it. Now it's just do I WANT to do it? The thought of all those long runs makes me want to cry, but being able to brag about having done the challenge lasts a lifetime...
 
Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate hearing everyone's experiences. It's giving me confidence that I CAN do it. Now it's just do I WANT to do it? The thought of all those long runs makes me want to cry, but being able to brag about having done the challenge lasts a lifetime...
But The bonus of long runs is they give you a nice long escape from reality or at least that's how I look at them many times :)
 


Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate hearing everyone's experiences. It's giving me confidence that I CAN do it. Now it's just do I WANT to do it? The thought of all those long runs makes me want to cry, but being able to brag about having done the challenge lasts a lifetime...
I really appreciate the kind words, experiences, and testimonials from @DopeyBadger plan runners . In case anyone misunderstood my original post, when I say "respect the distance/training" I did not mean that every runner must run a set number of miles before their first race of any distance. Rather I believe that respecting the distance/training means taking it seriously and putting in what it takes to complete it.

Doing the research and finding a Goofy/Dopey plan that requires 5-6 days of running per week that may culminate with a long run of 12 miles and then doing your very best to get most/all of those runs in, especially the long ones respects the distance/training. And if you asked someone to do a custom plan for you, this means you also respected their time in creating and modifying that plan as needed.
 
I really appreciate the kind words, experiences, and testimonials from @DopeyBadger plan runners . In case anyone misunderstood my original post, when I say "respect the distance/training" I did not mean that every runner must run a set number of miles before their first race of any distance. Rather I believe that respecting the distance/training means taking it seriously and putting in what it takes to complete it.

Doing the research and finding a Goofy/Dopey plan that requires 5-6 days of running per week that may culminate with a long run of 12 miles and then doing your very best to get most/all of those runs in, especially the long ones respects the distance/training. And if you asked someone to do a custom plan for you, this means you also respected their time in creating and modifying that plan as needed.

Agreed. Whatever training plan you choose (Higdon, Hansons, Gaudette, Daniels, Galloway, me, etc.), the key part is to follow the instructions and execute the plan as written to the best of your ability. All of these plans have different but similar basic principles. And these individual principles are what allow these plans to work come the victory lap of race day.
 
For me the greatest benefit of the Galloway plan in my decision to sign up for my first half was that it did not seem impossible. Somehow in my mind I believed that training for a half would involve 2-3 hours of running daily 5-6 days a week with daily long runs coming in at the end. I clearly then had no clue about how building up and then maintaining your mileage works. I chose the Galloway plan because it was free (which meant I didn't have to buy a book) and because the author knew what he was doing. All that said, I spent a lot of time in all of my long runs before my first half blindly relying on a plan I hoped would work.

Since then whenever I feel like a training run isn't go as planned, I remind myself to trust the training and do the training.

I don't believe that there's such a thing as an easy training plan for any distance. If there truly was, then more people would do this. My current hang up on tackling a marathon comes down to time. Based on how I've trained for every race I've run up to this point, training for a full will entail anywhere from 5-7 hours every other Saturday. Throwing Goofy or Dopey into the mix would increase the runs the days before accordingly. And that's where my concern over any combination of full/Goofy/Dopey comes in.

Now, my decision to try Avengers 2017 on just 3 weeks training changed everything. I put in 2 consecutive weeks of 20+ miles. Contrary to what I once believed, it wasn't impossible. To me the appeal of a custom plan is not that it will be easy. As I said earlier I don't believe training for a 5K is easy. Rather it lies in the idea that instead of concentrating the necessary impact into 5-7 hour long runs every 2 weeks, I would build up that endurance through spreading it out over the duration of the week and quite possibly every week.

My very basic understanding thinks that I would trade running 3-4 days a week of 30-45 minutes each day except the long runs of 2-3 hours on the weekend for longer runs 4-5 days a week with 3-4 hour runs on the weekend. It's not so much the 7 hour time that a full would bring on race day that scares me. I believe I could handle that if properly prepared. It's more about not wanting to train 5-7 hours every other Saturday to reach that point. Ultimately, it seems to me that a custom plan could enable me to spread the approximate number of miles necessary to train for the marathon or Goofy or Dopey over 5-6 days a week instead of 3-4.
 
I don't believe that there's such a thing as an easy training plan for any distance. If there truly was, then more people would do this. My current hang up on tackling a marathon comes down to time. Based on how I've trained for every race I've run up to this point, training for a full will entail anywhere from 5-7 hours every other Saturday. Throwing Goofy or Dopey into the mix would increase the runs the days before accordingly. And that's where my concern over any combination of full/Goofy/Dopey comes in.

I'll go on record and say that I think there is such a thing as too many back-to-backs when it comes to Goofy/Dopey. I did the Higdon plan to a T my first Dopey - and even threw in an extra sim weekend over Christmas when I got to Orlando - and it ended up being way more mileage than I needed.

For the last two Dopeys, even though I was hurt most of the time and had to fast-track training, I only did one sim weekend and didn't even do many true back-to-backs. For Goofy next year, I'm planning to do the Higdon Marathon Intermediate 2 plan with some tweaks ... like the Thursday shorter runs will be hills/speed instead and I don't think I'll do as many 20 milers (there's three of them scheduled - I may do 16/18/20) and just call it good.

I don't really have any ambitions other than 1) finishing and B) making it to a brunch reservation at California Grill on Sunday.

ETA: Oh yeah, and there will be schedule changes too since I don't do long runs on the weekend. But anyway - I'll get to the mileage one way or another.
 
I think the four early mornings are harder than the running sometimes.

I am not one and done but definitely did not regret either time I signed up for it. Some of the best races I have ever done.


I know those 4 early mornings will be hard for me. The 4 hour earlier time difference is tough on the WDW races, but I’m looking forward to them
 
Posted by Run Disney this morning on its website as well as social media: "UPDATE REGARDING REGISTRATION DATES. We are working to create a more streamlined race registration experience for runDisney participants. As a result, registration for the 2018-19 Walt Disney World race event weekends will be temporarily delayed; however, all races are still scheduled for this season as planned. Registration for this summer's Virtual Running Shorts Series and the June 5K will open on Thursday, April 12, 2018 at noon ET. We apologize for the delay and will have more information to share on June 1 regarding registration for all remaining races."
 
temporarily? seesh....june 1st is when they share more info so we are looking at 1.5 months of delay at least. so glad i am going through a TA because this kind of crap is annoying
 
Add me to the list of people anxious awaiting when they will provide more information about registration for Dopey. It will be my first, including first marathon.

If it weren't for the fact that I am dragging my family along on this escapade, I would just do it through a TA and be done with registration already.
 
Count me in again! I couldn't decide what to do this year but since I can already feel regret thinking about doing a single race or Goofy I'm pretty sure that answers my question!
 

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