In a galaxy far far away.. One man prepares to get Dopey.

(It literally took me 3 days to think up that title)

I started this training journal once and then some how lost it before I could post it. So here we go again.

A little introduction is in order. My name is Matt and I'm from Massachusetts just south of Boston. I'm 44 years old and work in Construction in the elevator trade.



A somewhat brief version of my running history. In 2012 I started the couch to 5k program in order to help lose weight. I ran some 5ks and other races culminating in a half-marathon where I finished in something over 3 hours. My training and running towards the end was sporadic and crappy and I had lost all motivation and eventually I gave up.

Fast forward to July 2015 where I found myself weighing the heaviest I had ever been, had high blood pressure and was in danger of becoming diabetic. It was time to make changes. I started watching what I ate and counted calories. I then joined the dreaded gym and since I have no idea what I'm doing in said gym I signed up for personal training twice a week. There was the occasional run on the dreadmill but mostly it was doing whatever torture my trainer made me do.

A yearish later I had lost 50 pounds and started signing up for races to challenge and motivate me. So far this year I have completed 2 5ks and 2 obstacle course races and in November I'm signed up to do a Spartan Race at Fenway Park.



I've always wanted to do a Disney race ever since I almost did the Tower of Terror 10 Miler, which I bailed on. Last week, on a whim, I signed up for the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon and the 5K. On an even bigger whim after signing up, and looking at the medals you can get, I decided I wanted to do the Kessel Run Challenge so I signed up for the Rebel Challenge at Disneyland. The more I started reading about these Disney Races and looking at trip reports I'm determined to attempt the Dopey Challenge in 2018. Basically I'm into running for the bling.

I'm hoping to use this training journal as extra motivation plus any feedback anyone might want to throw my way.

Following along! Love the title!

DopeyBadger said:

Following along! Love the title!

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Thanks, every once and a while I come out with a winner.

Star date... Oh wait, wrong series. I guess I'll call this

I finally had a rare day off yesterday and did my first long run of training. I'm going to work on a walk/run strategy hopefully running 3 times a week and cross training twice a week with maybe a bonus on Saturday.

So my planned weekly schedule is as follows;

• Monday - Personal Training at Gym
• Tuesday - Easy Run
• Wednesday - Personal Training at Gym
• Thursday - Easy Run
• Friday - Rest
• Saturday - Rest or Group Class at Gym
• Sunday - Long Run

I still need to figure out an actual running schedule, Galloway, Higdon or something else.

I also picked up a Garmin Vivoactive HR, which while it won't replace my Apple Watch, it is awesome for running and I can set up run/walk intervals on it.

And speaking of runs, yesterday's run went really well. There is a beach near my house that I walked to and doing an out and back is about 4 and a half miles. I stuck to a 4 minute run, 1 minute walk and while I felt good throughout, at the end my legs and feet were really feeling it. I did get a nice pick-me-up halfway through when another runner going in the opposite direction gave me a high five.

Looking at the stats from my Garmin, my running was pretty consistent at around 11:00 min/mi sometimes a little faster or slower. Total miles was 4.46 with a time of 53:11. Average Pace 11:56.

I'll probably stick to weekly updates on Mondays with a report of the previous weeks training.

Speaking of stardate and wrong series, my mantra before my first 1/2 in 2011 came straight from Worf. "Today is a good day to die." I noticed a couple of Starfleet officers running the 2016 Star Wars 1/2 Marathon too. I always like seeing Dark Helmet signs promoting Ludicrous Speed along the course at the Star Wars 1/2 Marathon - The Light Side.

Running in Fenway sounds awesome. I've run in Angels Stadium in Anaheim twice as part of the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon and would love to someday run through AT&T Park in San Francisco and LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah (home of the BYU Cougars).

I'm also doing the Kessel Run next year with both the Rebel Challenge and Dark Side Challenge. As a huge Star Wars fans, those medals are incredible. If you've never done a runDisney challenge event before, you're in for an experience. I've followed the Galloway plans for the Rebel Challenge and will do so again.

If possible, I recommend listening to Jeff Galloway speak at the Expo about a challenge event before your first multi-day race event. He does a great job teaching how to correctly tackle both events with a focus on making sure you pace yourself appropriately during the 10K and proper recovery afterwards to conserve your strength for the 1/2 while still enjoying the 10K.

i was doing a lot of thinking while googling training plans and ideas and paces.. I pretty much gave myself information overload and the sinking feeling that I have no idea what I'm doing. Running is supposed to be easy.. One foot in front of the other.

After a bit more Google-fu I decided to find a local running coach and I'm going to meet with him Saturday to talk about what I'm doing and maybe come up with a plan to get me through this safely and injury free. After working with a personal trainer all year I value working with someone who knows what they're doing.

PERSONALLY, and so much about running / training / plans is person specific.. I love the Galloway plans.. For 2017 I am again following (actually very poorly right now) the Galloway plan. It just works for me.

dburg30 said:

PERSONALLY, and so much about running / training / plans is person specific.. I love the Galloway plans.. For 2017 I am again following (actually very poorly right now) the Galloway plan. It just works for me.

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That's what I was going to use. My main goal is to not overtrain and I just want to have an opinion of someone who knows what they're doing to at least get me on the right path.

Yes, once you get into running / walking / jogging, call it what you will, it can easily become, I hate to use the word, but addicting.. So it's so, so easy to over do it. The journey is long, and plenty of time to ease into it.

I met with the running coach on Saturday. Very nice guy and he's USAT&F certified. If I decide to go forward it will not be cheap. This is the breakdown.

1. you are eligible for 12 one-on-one sessions with me at the Quincy track on Tuesday(primary) or Thursdays(secondary) after 4pm.
2. the initial bio-mechanical eval is included in the price (must be completed prior to your leaving on vacation)
3. a 1 hour "strength session for runners" is included in the price. (must be completed prior to your leaving for vacation)
4. 16 weeks of written daily running instruction
5. many valuable "add-ons"
6. the first 3 weeks in September will be a "re-intro" to easy running/walk-jog, etc to get you to a good start point. Those three week are also included in the price.

I'm 90% sure I'm going to go for it.

If it's a value to you , by all means, go for it. Have you checked around for some local running shoe stores to see what kind of running clubs are around? I joined one, and they were all very supportive from front to back, fast to slow, whatever...

I also love the Galloway plans. In my opinion they provide a challenging, but doable path to success. My first time was based very much on trust. As in Disney paid Jeff Galloway to design these plans so that non runners like me could follow the plan and achieve the end goal. Now that I have some experience and have listened to Jeff Galloway a few times, I understand how they work. Per Galloway, the purpose of the maintenance runs is to keep you at the level of your most recent long run for 2-3 weeks. The long runs are designed to safely build up your body's endurance to the required distance with appropriate and gradual increases in mileage until you're at the desired distance.

The Galloway plans on the runDisney website follow a certain formula. Tuesday and Thursday maintenance runs of 30-45 minutes and a long run on Saturday that alternates between a short distance and a longer distance every other week. For a challenge element, roughly 6 weeks or so into training, the back to back mileage runs on the weekend start with a back to back run every other weekend leading up to 5 miles and 14 miles 2 weeks before the race before the taper begins.

Now for my own real world experience. Starting to train is always a problem for me. In both my first and second 1/2 marathon races, I slacked off on consistent training until I had to eliminate the short weekend runs in order to fit all the long distance runs in before the race. This can work because the long runs are designed to build up mileage gradually. However, overall fitness is better when you're running more. I finished all 3 races and saw improvement each time. For reference, these were the 2011 and 2012 Disneyland 1/2 marathons and the 2012 Wine & Dine 1/2 marathon.

I decided to run the 2015 Rebel Challenge. Realizing what I was attempting to do, I began training months in advance of the official Galloway start date in mid September. My usual slow training start remained, but I was out of that phase by the actual start of the race. No training plan ever really survives life. I didn't get every maintenance run in. But I did get most of them in and got all the necessary back to back distance runs in. While I was nervous on race day, I was also confident and finished both 10K and the 1/2 to earn the Rebel Challenge medal.

For 2016, I went for the Rebel Challenge again. However, between moving at the end of September, catching the cold that never really went away for about 6 weeks, and multiple week long vacations (although one of them was at Disneyland) training was not even close to optimal. I skipped out on multiple back to back runs including the last one, cutting the 5/14 mile runs off altogether, and had to cut my last long run short at 12 miles instead of 12.5. While I wasn't too worried about this since I knew that I was close enough to the distance, I also braced myself for a less than optimal race 3 weeks later. And wouldn't you know it, my 10K produced a negative split although I believe this was a function of the course congestion improving considerably and my 1/2 was my fastest one yet.