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