Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Hellooooooooooo DISboards! 
As the thread title suggests, Ive signed up to take on the Dopey Challenge in 2013!
This means Ive committed myself to running 42.4 miles over a span of 3 days during Walt Disney Worlds Marathon Weekend (the 5K, half marathon and full marathon). Should be fun
and painful. But before that comes training, and before that, let me introduce myself.
My name is Shannon. Im a 28-year-old gal from the Midwest who loves Disney and running. Put the two together and Im one happy camper.
(From our summer trip to Chicago! Love The Bean!)
My love for Disney began a bit late in life we went on one family trip in August 1995 (HOT HOT HOT!) which I LIKED, but didnt LOVE.
Stupid little me. Think of all the years I wasted! Fast-forward to 2009 and I was knee-deep in wedding planning. My fiancé-now-husband agreed that I could do whatever I wanted with the wedding (smart! 
) as long as he got to pick our honeymoon destination. His choice? Disney. I dont think he knew what he was getting in to, because I came back from that trip a changed woman. Obviously I was now a wife (yay!)
I was also completely, unexpectedly, a total Disney freak. 
Woohoo! So thats the Disney part of this whole thing
what about running?
After some half-hearted attempts to stick with it throughout high school and college (including one random, ill-fated try at joining the track team my junior year of high school) I began consistently running in 2008. I remember watching the Biggest Loser and thinking, I am such lazy bum if these people can run on the treadmill, so can I! My employer was holding a 5K that spring, so I made it my goal to finish that 5K without dying. And, lets be honest I also wanted to look good for my wedding, which was still a little over a year away.
I downloaded the Couch-to-5K plan (cannot recommend this enough), got a good pair of running shoes, and havent looked back since. To date I have run 19 races: one 2-miler, 4-miler and 5-miler, six 5Ks (I DID finish that first one
it took me almost 38 minutes in the rain, but I was so proud!), one 10K, three 10-milers, four half marathons (including the 2011 Princess Half Marathon) and one marathon the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon!
Set to join me on the trip are my husband (Will, 27 - #1 cheerleader, not a runner, and the one that started my Disney obsession) and my brother (Craig, aka Princess Craiggy, 26 my runDisney partner in crime, though hes not currently signed up for the 5K). My mom may join us I think she WANTS to, but shes unsure if itll work out at this point. Fingers crossed!
Here are the 4 of us during 2011s Princess Half Marathon weekend. The ESPN: The Weekend signage is still confusing to me, as that wasn't actually going on yet.
Anyhoo, I thought it might be fun to document my training and other pre-trip report activities here. I think Ill do a weekly recap sort of thing, and probably a post here and there on some other stuff (trip plans, running musings, random tangents, etc.). I don't consider myself any kind of expert on training or gear (far from it!) but I know what works for me and I DO like to blab on about running and Disney trip planning, so...why not?!
Wont you join me?
After all, marathon weekend is only 20ish weeks away! 
As the thread title suggests, Ive signed up to take on the Dopey Challenge in 2013!
This means Ive committed myself to running 42.4 miles over a span of 3 days during Walt Disney Worlds Marathon Weekend (the 5K, half marathon and full marathon). Should be fun
and painful. But before that comes training, and before that, let me introduce myself.My name is Shannon.
Im a 28-year-old gal from the Midwest who loves Disney and running. Put the two together and Im one happy camper.
(From our summer trip to Chicago! Love The Bean!)
My love for Disney began a bit late in life we went on one family trip in August 1995 (HOT HOT HOT!) which I LIKED, but didnt LOVE.
Stupid little me. Think of all the years I wasted! Fast-forward to 2009 and I was knee-deep in wedding planning. My fiancé-now-husband agreed that I could do whatever I wanted with the wedding (smart! ) as long as he got to pick our honeymoon destination. His choice? Disney. I dont think he knew what he was getting in to, because I came back from that trip a changed woman. Obviously I was now a wife (yay!)
I was also completely, unexpectedly, a total Disney freak. Woohoo! So thats the Disney part of this whole thing
what about running?After some half-hearted attempts to stick with it throughout high school and college (including one random, ill-fated try at joining the track team my junior year of high school) I began consistently running in 2008. I remember watching the Biggest Loser and thinking, I am such lazy bum if these people can run on the treadmill, so can I! My employer was holding a 5K that spring, so I made it my goal to finish that 5K without dying. And, lets be honest I also wanted to look good for my wedding, which was still a little over a year away.
I downloaded the Couch-to-5K plan (cannot recommend this enough), got a good pair of running shoes, and havent looked back since. To date I have run 19 races: one 2-miler, 4-miler and 5-miler, six 5Ks (I DID finish that first one
it took me almost 38 minutes in the rain, but I was so proud!), one 10K, three 10-milers, four half marathons (including the 2011 Princess Half Marathon) and one marathon the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon!Set to join me on the trip are my husband (Will, 27 - #1 cheerleader, not a runner, and the one that started my Disney obsession) and my brother (Craig, aka Princess Craiggy, 26 my runDisney partner in crime, though hes not currently signed up for the 5K). My mom may join us I think she WANTS to, but shes unsure if itll work out at this point. Fingers crossed!
Here are the 4 of us during 2011s Princess Half Marathon weekend. The ESPN: The Weekend signage is still confusing to me, as that wasn't actually going on yet.
Anyhoo, I thought it might be fun to document my training and other pre-trip report activities here. I think Ill do a weekly recap sort of thing, and probably a post here and there on some other stuff (trip plans, running musings, random tangents, etc.). I don't consider myself any kind of expert on training or gear (far from it!) but I know what works for me and I DO like to blab on about running and Disney trip planning, so...why not?!
Wont you join me?
After all, marathon weekend is only 20ish weeks away! 
**...24 miles completed in training.
DH and I are running the half marathon in January. It will be our 3rd half so I'm thinking we'll have to step up to at least the marathon if not Goofy for 2014. 
I know I need to just suck it up and do it but seriously that's a lot of work! 
Ignorance is bliss, right?
I can't take credit for that one...but it makes sense, right? LOL!
It’s hard to believe I signed up for Goofy all the way back in April (just signed up for the 5K about a week ago)…and now it’s about time to get this show on the road! In case you can’t tell, I’m totally in that “yay training is about to begin, I’m so pumped, the race is almost here!” state of mind…I wonder how long that will last?! 
We have classes for free at work and I can go during my lunch, but I skip a decent amount because I often “just don’t feel like it” (that is to say, I like to be lazy during lunchtime). Runner’s World says that 
I mean, seriously…I’d be dumb not to take advantage of such a great perk, especially something that I truly do enjoy and know will help my running. So yeah, 1-2 times per week is the goal. If…er, WHEN I do go it’ll be on the same days as strength training. 
). But I’m going to try super hard to follow this schedule I’ve set up for myself. If I can get to the starting line(s) healthy and in good enough shape to completely enjoy myself and not want to die during any of the races, I’ll consider my training successful. 
Heck, I may even walk the 5K. I don’t want to stay on my feet TOO long (especially for the half marathon with the full the next day), but as long as I beat the sweepers I’ll be happy. So if you’re looking for blazing fast speed, this is not the training pre-trip report for you. 
No surprise there! And 2.) Since we were focusing on the 7th chakra, we ended class sitting in meditation instead of shavasana (corpse pose), the usual final pose and my total favorite:
Total time for the run was 29:56 (9:59ish pace) and I listened to the Muppet Vision 3D area music loop on my iPod…which was okay to run to, but not great. Still, a wonderful start to the day, and now I have Muppet music in my head!
