2024 Dopey Challenge plus Strength Training Plan

      Here we go again! Dopey Challenge #12, Here I come! I got my hair done today and it gave me life I needed to dig into my new Dopey Challenge training plan! Last year, I posted my first two weeks of training and never posted any other updates after that. Talk about a slacker! However, I did run Dopey Challenge (48.6 miles) and then the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Dumbo Double Dare Challenge (22.4 miles) the next weekend. Dopey to Dumbo was alot of crazy fun! But also crazy expensive! 

In 2025, I will not be running Dopey to Dumbo....only Dopey Challenge! So let's get into it.

The one thing that I will be doing that I always do every year is follow the Hal Higdon training plans. I combine the Half Marathon followed by the full Marathon training and that has always worked for me in the past. The one thing that I will be doing differently this year is that I will be incorporating my friend Runfitmama's strength program into my training. She has some really great training programs that go along the all of the runDisney races. She also sends demonstration videos for her exercises and sends such great motivation along the way! Check her training plans out here!

Here is what I am planning and like every year, I leave room for breaks, pauses and life in general! And with a new grandbaby on the way, I feel like a may need to take a few more breaks this year which is another reason why strength training will be SO very important to me!

I am listing the training weeks below and am setting my running days for 3-4days a week, strength/cross  training to at least two days a week, 2 rest days per week and no more than 20 miles for my longest runs. I also do not do the 4 day in a row simulation plans like some of the other plans that I've seen online. I also know over the course of the upcoming weeks, I will inevitably have to shift my training days around as needed!

WEEK

1.  3 miles, Cross, 3 miles, Cross, 4 miles
2.  3 miles, Cross, 3 miles, Cross, 4 miles
3. 3.5 miles, Cross, 3.5 miles, Cross, 5 miles
4. 3.5 miles, Cross, 3.5 miles, Cross, 5 miles
5. 4 miles, Cross, 4 miles, Cross, 6 miles **4th of July Week**
6. 4 miles, Cross, 4 miles, Cross, 3.1 miles **On a Cruise this week**
7. 4.5 miles, Cross, 4.5 miles, Cross, 7 miles
8. 4.5 miles, Cross, 4.5 miles, Cross, 8 miles
9. 5 miles, Cross, 5 miles, Cross, 6.2 miles
10. 5 miles, Cross, 5 miles, Cross, 6.2 miles
11. 5 miles, Cross, 5 miles, Cross, 10 miles
12. 4 miles, Cross, 2 miles, Cross, 13.1 miles
13. Cross, 3 miles, 3 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 6 miles
14. Cross, 3 miles, 3 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 7 miles **Labor Day Week**
15. Cross, 3 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 5 miles
16. Cross, 3 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 9 miles
17. Cross, 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 10 miles
18. Cross, 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 7 miles
19. Cross, 3 miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 12 miles
20. Cross, 3 miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 13.1 miles
21. Cross, 3 miles, 7 miles, 4 miles, Cross, 10 miles
22. Cross, 3 miles, 7 miles, 4 miles, Cross, 15 miles **Halloween Week**
23. Cross, 4 miles, 8 miles, 4 miles, Cross, 16 miles
24. Cross, 4 miles, 8 miles, 5 miles, Cross, 12 miles
25. Cross, 4 miles, 9 miles, 5 miles, Cross, 18 miles
26. Cross, 5 miles, 9 miles, 5 miles, Cross, 14 miles **Thanksgiving Week**
27. Cross, 5 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles, Cross, 20 miles
28. Cross, 5 miles, 8 miles, 4 miles, Cross, 12 miles
29. Cross, 4 miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, Cross, 8 miles
30. Cross, 3 miles, 4 miles, 2 miles, Cross, 20 miles **Christmas Week**
31. **New Years Week--Can makeup any mileage here if i need to 
32. ** Dopey Week 3.1 miles, 6.2 miles, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles

I am super excited to begin my training. Let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see you all out on the course at some point over the Dopey Challenge weekend!

XoXo, Happy Training!

Quick Memorial Day Weekend Trip to Walt Disney World!

Me and the hubby decided to take a quick trip to Walt Disney World last weekend! We worked a half day on Friday and jumped in the car! We booked our room on the way down and off we went! 10/10 recommend running away for the weekend with your better half!❤️❤️

First night, we drove to Lake City Florida and stayed at the 

Tru By Hilton right off of I-75 South. This room was just what we needed for the night. Clean, Comfortable, Continental Breakfast the next morning. I will definitely keep this hotel on my list of places to stay. AND…. They even had a Peloton bike in the gym! So nice!

After breakfast on Saturday morning, we hit the road! Walt Disney World, here we come! We checked in early at Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Our room was ready and we were greeted by Goofy and Donald Duck. Too Cute! 

After checking in and hanging out in our room for a bit, we headed over to Magic Kingdom Park. We spent the day there riding rides, eating all the yummy snacks and just being big kids.🥰🥰

I have to say, I was really impressed with my 

Joffrey’s Cold Brew and will order that again on my next trip! And, I can never go wrong with the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls from Adventureland! 

Next, we hopped over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for dinner and to ride Toy Story Mania! We ate at the Sci-Fi Dinner Theater (David’s first time) and we both got cheeseburgers! They were really good and VERY filling. We also got the chicken wing appetizer and those were good too! 

I lost big time in Toy Story Mania… oh well. I guess I’ll just have to go back to redeem myself.🤣 LOL

Stay tuned for part two of this quick trip to 

Walt Disney World. We LOVE LOVE LOVE being Annual Passholders!🙌🏼🥰🇺🇸

Week 2 of Dopey Training

Week two of Dopey training is a HOT one! This week, I’m logging, 3 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles and 4 miles on my runs. I’m also adding in some strength training and spin classes! I absolutely love to sweat so these hot, steamy summer miles are my jam!

Happy training and happy sweating!!!

Xoxo, 

BAMAGIRLRUNS 💦💦

2023 Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

2023 Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend, here I come! I’m in for year #15 and I couldn’t be more excited! After my Dopey Challenge is complete in January, I’ll take a full week to recover and then pick it right back up to stay trained for Princess Weekend in February. 

Hope to see all of my Princesses on the course or in the parks that weekend!

Happy training!

Xoxo, 

BAMAGIRLRUNS 

My 2023 Dopey Challenge Training Plan!

                                     

DAY ONE of 2023 DOPEY CHALLENGE TRAINING STARTS TODAY!!  WOW! Hasn't life been crazy over the last couple of years?! It has been for me at least. SO much has happened in my personal life...big life changes and all for the good! I'm looking back at my blog and realizing that it has been AT LEAST 2 years since I have updated here. I have been beyond busy. Family, working full time, teaching classes, kids leaving home, becoming an empty nester..... and soooooo many date nights with my hubs. Life has been good to me. 

Once again, I'm training for runDisney's Dopey Challenge. I always get super excited when I start my training plan. I write it all out, buy new gear and shoes, and enjoy the love/hate relationship with training for this challenge that I have.

On this post, I'm jumping right in and am going to post my plan.

But, if you're new here, here is what I'm doing! I'm running the 2023 Dopey Challenge (my 10th one) and I'm just as excited for the 10th one as I was my first. I will run a 5k on Thursday (3.1 miles), a 10k on Friday (6.2 miles), a Half Marathon on Saturday (13.1 miles) and a Full Marathon on Sunday (26.2 miles.)  This race sold out very quick and has a 90's retro vibe (which I absolutely adore.)

Last years' Dopey was a fiasco....so I'm glad to put that one behind me and move forward! I'll write a post about that one later. LOL

So here is my thought process for my training plan for 48.6 miles around Walt Disney World. I am going to build a solid 12 week Half marathon training base, run a few races as training runs and then begin and 18 week Dopey Challenge training plan.

I'm following the Hal Higdon  training plan this year. I've done others in the past and this one seems to work for me. With this plan, I run 4 days a week during the 12 week Half Marathon training and 5 days a week during the 18 week Dopey Challenge training.

I am going to list is out very simple for you here... I have set my days to run to be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and long runs will either be on Saturday or Sunday. When I start the 18 week program, I will run Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and both Saturdays and Sundays.  However, I need to give the disclaimer that I always tweak my schedule according to my family life and may miss a run here and there or I have to make it up some other time.  The most important thing to remember is to not beat yourself up if you miss a run. AND, nutrition, hydration and rest are just as important as logging the miles.

Hope this helps if anyone needs a plan to follow!

Week 1 --- 3 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles, 4 miles

Week 2 --- 3 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles, 4 miles

Week 3 --- 3.5 miles, 2 miles 3.5 miles, 5 miles

Week 4 --- 3.5 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles, 5 miles

Week 5 --- 4 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles, 6 miles

Week 6 --- 4 miles, 2 miles, 3.5 miles, 5k (3.1 mile race)

Week 7 --- 4.5 miles, 3 miles, 4.5 miles, 7 miles

Week 8 --- 4.5 miles, 3 miles, 4.5 miles, 8 miles

Week 9 --- 5 miles, 3 miles, 5 miles, 10 (6.2 mile race)

Week 10 -- 5 miles, 3 miles, 5 miles, 9 miles

Week 11 -- 5 miles, 3 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles

Week 12 -- 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, 13.1 miles

Week 1 --- 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles, 3 miles, 13 miles, 

Week 2 --- 3 miles, 5  miles, 3 miles, 7 miles

Week 3 --- 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles 4 miles, 14 miles

Week 4 --- 3 miles, 6  miles, 3 miles, 8 miles

Week 5 ---  3miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, 5 miles, 15 miles

Week 6 --- 3 miles, 6  miles, 3 miles, 9 miles

Week 7 --- 4 miles, 7 miles, 4 miles, 6  miles, 16

Week 8 --- 4 miles, 7  miles, 4 miles, 10 miles

Week 9 --- 4 miles, 7 miles, 2 miles, 7 miles, 17 miles

Week 10 -- 4 miles, 8 miles, 4  miles, 11 miles

Week 11 -- 5 miles, 8  miles, 3 miles 8 miles, 18 miles

Week 12 -- 6 miles, 8 miles, 5 miles, 12 mile race

Week 13 -- 5 miles, 5 miles, 4 miles, 9 miles, 19 miles

Week 14 -- 5 miles, 8 miles, 5 miles, 13 miles

Week 15 -- 5 miles, 2.5 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles, 20 miles

Week 16 -- 5 miles, 4 miles, 12 miles

Week 17 -- 4 miles, 3 miles 8 miles

Week 18 -- 2 miles, 5k (3.1), 10k (6.2), Half Marathon (13.1), Full Marathon (26.2)

I hope you will follow along and can use this training plan for your own race!

Can't wait to see all of my friends during 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend! It's truly one of my most favorite weekends of the year!

Happy Training and See you REAL SOON!!

xoxo, Bamagirlruns

                        

                    

Memorial Day Weekend..aka 6 days away from Dopey Challenge

Memorial Day weekend. Ahhhh the long weekend. The good food from the grill. Hanging out with friends and fam. The nutritious diet... what?!!? 

Yep.

Nutritious diet is Out the window. 

So THAT’S why I’m looking forward to marathon training. I have a purpose. I have a vision of the “skinny” me. I know I will feel better. Buh-bye junk food. Running will be so much easier minus a few pounds.

However, tonight,,,,, I indulge in the fried pork chops, the Mexican food after church, the popcorn during Netflix. Lord help us during the Netflix! ;)

Healthier days are coming. Did you hear me??! HEALTHIER DAYS ARE COMING.... SIX MORE DAYS UNTIL DOPEY CHALLENGE TRAINING!!! Until then, I’m up wayyyyy past my bedtime. I’m not drinking and eating the healthiest of things. But. In my mind, I’m a disciplined soul and there’s a finish line to cross. I’ll get there.👊🏼

See ya in a few days I’ll check back in when my training starts! 

Happy training and NO MORE JUNK FOOD. or Netflix;)))

My 2021 Dopey Challenge Training Plan!

Running through Cinderella Castle makes every mile worth it!

I seriously CANNOT believe that I'm about to embark on my 8th Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge event in 2021!! This year, I'm doing things a little bit differently!

1. I'm running SOLO. (I'll find lots of my runDisney pals once I get to the races and all around Walt Disney World but as far as the running, training, races....I'm solo.) I'm a little bit excited about that. It's great to have company but I also like to run alone and get lost in my own thoughts so I'm totally cool with it!

2. My training starts on June 1st and I'm giving myself a few extra weeks to run the mileage (not too different than my previous years training) and am also only wanting to run 3 days a week. Crazy I know, when you are training for a big race. But hey, I'm getting older and I'm babying my body. I've learned over the years that PR's and fast running is way overrated (for me) and I care nothing about trying to bust out race times that in the long term, I won't even remember. (insert the "I'm getting older line again here. LOL)

3. I'm raising money for an awesome charity!!! I posted it on Instagram and Facebook already but I'll include it here in my training blog post as well! I'm raising money for Team Hemophilia Federation of America! I have wanted to run for charity for a few years now and was just always a little bit worried as to whether or not I could actually raise the money. I don't want to let my team down. My son has Von Willebrands Disease so this is very near and dear to my heart. I decided to bite the bullet this year and just DO IT. So, I'm asking all of my friends and family to donate $4.86 to help me meet my $1600 goal.

Why $4.86??! Dopey Challenge consists of running 48.6 miles over the course of 4 days so I thought that was an easy amount to raise per person and it correlates with the race mileage!

Here is my link if you would like to donate! (My name is Kristin Long or Team Bamagirlruns)

Okay. So now what???

It's time to put my money where my mouth is and get my butt into high gear!!!
IT'S TIME TO TRAIN!!!!!

I will be using the Dopey Challenge training plan  that is listed on the runDisney website. As usual, I will be tweaking the mileage to fit into my personal schedule and most likely will not exceed 20 mile long runs. I may be Dopey enough to take on this challenge but I'm not Dopey enough to run longer than 20 miles during training! I know some may disagree but after 7 years of running this race, 20 mile runs are enough for me!!

So when am I starting my training plan????
JUNE 1ST!!!!!

It's so crazy to think that a race that I will run in January, I will start training for it in June. It sounds insane to me too! However, the training plan that I am using is a 29 week plan and as of June 1, we are 31 weeks out. Like I said, I give myself a little wiggle room and tweaking time to pack it all in!

Each week, I plan on running 45 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Long runs will be on Saturdays and will throw in a few extra runs on Fridays and Sundays towards the end of my training.

Here is my schedule:

Week 1 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 2 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 4 miles

Week 3 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 4 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 5.5 miles

Week 5 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 6 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 7 miles

Week 7 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 8 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 9 miles

Week 9 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 10 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 11 miles

Week 11 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 12 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 4 miles, Sunday 13 miles

Week 13 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 14 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 5.5 miles, Sunday 15 miles

Week 15 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

Week 16 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 7 miles, Sunday 17 miles

Week 17 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 5 miles

Week 18 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 6 miles

Week 19 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 8.5 miles, Sunday 20 miles

Week 20 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 6 miles

Week 21 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 7 miles

Week 22 Tues/Th 45 min---Friday 4 miles, Saturday 10 miles, Sunday 20 miles

Week 23 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 6 miles

Week 24 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 7 miles

Week 25 Tues/Th 45 min---Friday 5 miles, Saturday 12 miles, Sunday 20 miles

Week 26 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 6 miles

Week 27 Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 7 miles

Week 28 Race Week! Thursday 3.1, Friday 6.2, Saturday 13.1, Sunday 26.2!

Week 29 Recovery Week! Tues/Th 45 min---Saturday 3 miles

I hope you will either join me in my training or follow along. I will continue to post training run, accomplishments, failures, and just overall updates on how I'm doing. Oh! And cute clothes ;)

Thank you in advance to all of those who have donated or will donate to my fundraising efforts. I cannot wait to cross the Happiest Finish Line on Earth representing Team Hemophilia Federation of America!

Happy Training, Donating and Crossing the Finish Line!!
xoxo, Bamagirlruns