I’ve finally worked out my training for the Dopey Challenge. Thirty weeks to work up from 20 miles a week to 48.6 over four days! I want to make sure I respect the distance and am not taking the challenge lightly.
Disclaimer – I am not a medical doctor or an RRCA coach. I’m just a runner sharing my personal plan. I am not recommending you train in the same way and am not responsible for anything that happens to you while you train!
I trained for the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon using Jeff Galloway’s “to improve” plan. It was my first marathon, but I’ve been running fairly consistently since 2008 and running half marathons since 2010. I added an extra day of running to that plan along with some mat pilates classes and some “pump” type weights classes on days I did not run. Since finishing the marathon in January, I’ve run two half marathons and have settled in around 20-25 miles a week with a max long run of 10 miles.
We’re looking at 30 weeks to get ready for Dopey Challenge. I’m already registered for the RunDisney Wine & Dine and we decided to register for the Indianapolis Monument full marathon just the week before Wine & Dine. Paul needs to run a full marathon before Dopey and Indianapolis is reasonably close for us. I’ve run all three Wine & Dine half marathons and they are the slowest three times of the nine half marathons I’ve completed, so this one will probably even slower! I may also add in a very small local half marathon on the day of my 20th high school reunion just so I can qualify for Half Fanatics.
I use run/walk intervals for runs longer than 10K. At Jeff Galloway’s suggestion, I race with a 90 second/30 second run walk and set my half marathon PR of 2:14 using that. I’ve managed a few sub-30 minute 5K’s over the years, but 9:45-10 minute miles is about my max speed. My 23, 26, & 29 miler last fall were done around 12:30 min/miles. I do his Saturday runs exactly as suggested, I think the mile repeats really helped me in training for the full.
I had to push the entire plan back by two weeks to account for the two weeks I’ll likely take completely off from running. I organize a children’s consignment sale and have learned that it’s just impossible to run the week that the event is taking place. I do spend the entire week on my feet and log some serious milage just walking around the facility.
So, here’s my plan. I started with Jeff Galloway’s Dopey Challenge plan. Then I adjusted the long runs to match the “to improve” marathon plan. Then I readjusted the dates of the long runs to get me ready for the Indy Monumental marathon at the first of November. After Wine & Dine, I’ll go a little longer and practice the back to back to back to back runs. After September, I’ll do my Monday & Wednesday runs using the speed and tempo workouts & paces from the Run Less Run Faster Plans. I plan to keep up with my mat Pilates class at least once a week and twice if I can swing it. I know increasing my core strength will help a lot on those long, long runs. I did a whopping 12 miles last week and will peak at 56 miles in the week before Christmas.
How have you decided to tackle training for the Dopey Challenge?
| Week | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| -2 | speed – 2.75 | weights | 4.25 | off | 5 miles | off | Rest |
| -1 | 5 | weights | 4.75 | off | 3 | 7.5 miles | Rest |
| 0 | 5 | weights | 5 | weights | 4 | 9 miles | Rest |
| 1 | 5 | weights | off | 10K race | Rest | 11 miles | Rest |
| 2 | 5 | weights | 5 | off | 3 | 13 miles | Rest |
| 3 | 5 | weights | 5 | weights | 3 | 5 mi MM | Rest |
| 4 | 5 | weights | 5 | weights | 3 | 9 miles | Rest |
| 5 | 4 | weights pilates | 4 | weights | 5.5 miles pilates | 15 miles | Rest |
| 6 | 4 | weights pilates | 4 | weights | pilates | 5 mi MM | Rest |
| 7 | 4 | weights pilates | 4 | Rest | Walk 7 miles pilates | 17 miles | Rest |
| 8 | Consignment Sale Week – walk 8-14 miles/day | ||||||
| 9 | 5 | weights | 5 | Rest | pilates | 4 x 1 | Rest |
| 10 | 4 | weights | 5 | 3 miles | Walk 8.5 mile | 20 miles | Rest |
| 11 | Consignment Sale Week – walk 8-14 miles/day | ||||||
| 12 | speed -3 | weights | tempo – 6 | 4 miles | pilates | 7.5 miles | Rest |
| 13 | speed – 2.5 | weights | tempo – 7 | 4 miles | pilates | 6 x 1 (possible half marathon) | Rest |
| 14 | speed – 3.25 | weights | tempo – 7 | 3 miles | Walk 10 mile | 23 miles | Rest |
| 15 | speed – 4 | weights | tempo – 6 | 4 miles | 3-4 miles pilates | Rest | Half Marathon |
| 16 | speed – 3 | weights | tempo – 6 | 4 miles | pilates | 8 x 1 (~11 miles) | Rest |
| 17 | speed – 4 | weights | tempo – 5 | 4 miles | pilates | 7 mi MM | Rest |
| 18 | speed – 3 | weights | tempo – 8 | 3 miles | Rest | Indy Monumental Marathon | Rest |
| 19 | Rest | weights | tempo – 6 | 4 miles | Rest | Wine & Dine Half | Rest |
| 20 | speed – 4.25 | weights | tempo – 10 | 4 miles | pilates | 6 mi MM | Rest |
| 21 | speed – 5.25 | weights | tempo – 6 | 4 miles | Walk 12 miles | 26 miles | Rest |
| 22 | speed – 4 | weights | tempo – 6 | Thanksgiving Day – 4 miles | pilates | 6 miles | Rest |
| 23 | speed – 3.75 | weights | tempo – 10 | 4 miles | pilates | 12 x 1 (~16 miles) | Rest |
| 24 | speed – 4.75 | weights | tempo – 8 | 4 miles | pilates | 6 mi MM | Rest |
| 25 | speed – 5 | weights | tempo – 5 | 5 miles | Walk 12 mile | 29 miles | Rest |
| 26 | speed – 4 | weights | tempo – 6 | Christmas Day – 4 miles | pilates | 14 x 1 (~18 miles) | Rest |
| 27 | speed 2.25 | weights | 5 mile race tempo – 3 | 4 miles | pilates | 7 miles | Rest |
| 28 | 30 min – 3 | Rest | Rest | 5K | 10K | half-marathon | full marathon |