2020 Dopey Challenge: The Final Countdown

Guys, I am so excited - the time of the 2020 Dopey challenge is finally upon us, and the first week of the year was the last week of training…. and packing.

I started the year off slow, sleeping in a little after a late night. I texted Dad when I woke up, and he agreed to bike along as I ran, even though it was a chilly, windy morning - the real feel was 24 degrees. I layered up and drove over to my parent’s house, and Dad and I headed out. We chatted as we looped around the neighborhood, and soon I needed to switch from a jacket to a vest. We wound up totaling a little more than four miles, and at the end of the run I did something that I usually neglect - a cool down stretch. Something I really need to be more on top of, and I figured that I may as well use the new year as an excuse to be more on top of it.

On the second I headed back to work, and was so busy that the days flew by. On Thursday I was planning to head to the gym after work, even through I was dreading the new years crowds, but my husband’s family made dinner plans, since it was my sister-in-laws last day in New York. Since she is only here for a few weeks of the year, I headed to dinner with everyone, and just snuck in a short body weight strength session before bed.

Friday night I was so exhausted that I was hardly functioning when I got home from work. I felt a little better after dinner, but still didn’t have energy for much. So I organized some clothing and headed to bed early, since I had a race the next morning.

My body decided to wake up before my alarm, and I rolled out of bed around 5:30. I got dressed, and grabbed the race bag that I had packed the night before. The race was the first New York Road Runners event of the year - the Joe Kleinerman 10k, and I was heading into the city with a few friends from the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team to run it. It was rainy outside, but it was more misty than pouring, so I was hopeful that it would stop before we got to central park. I drove to Sami’s house, then met up with her, Tailia, and James, and Sami drove us the rest of the way to the park. Tailia had picked up everyone’s bib earlier in the week, so we just had to drop our bags and hit the porter potties before starting time. This year the NYRR re-did their corral assignments, with each runner being assigned a corral based off their best time in the last 12 months. For me, that meant getting moved back from corral E to F, since my best pace was from 2017 - but it gives me something to work towards this year!

We all loaded into the corrals, as we waited for the race to start. As a result of the rain, I put on way too many layers, that I would wind up shedding throughout the course. I didn’t really have any goals for the race, so I figured I would just see if I could keep up with some of my team mates. When the race started, the course took up us the worst hill in central park: Harlem hill. It is not only steep, but it winds up for so long that it feels like there was no life before the hill before you see the top of it. Once I made it through that hill, the work was not done - after all, the race was a 10k, and that was only the first mile.

I was glad I wore capris with pockets, and stuffed my gloves and headband into a pocket. From harlem hill I headed to the three sisters, and rolled through each one of them. We went all the way from the north end of the park to the south end, running the whole outer loop. The course was packed, and eventually I lost sight of my friends. When mile three rang in at a sub-9-minute mile, I questioned what I was doing - yes, the challenge of this pace felt GOOD. But I also hadn’t run paces this fast since before my injury in August, and I felt like I may be doing something stupid, with marathon weekend less than a week away. So I backed off the pace a bit, and focused on the run one mile at a time. Once we were headed north again we hit Cat hill, and then it wasn’t too far to the finish line. I had indeed lost layers as I ran, and was in the tank top that I had worn as my base layer by the time I crossed the finish line. I spotted Katie and Tailia on the side of the finish, and Sami and James came in right after me - looks like we had been within moments of each other throughout.

I found Carson after the race, and she took a walk back to the car with me. We all headed home, and Sami, Tailia, James and I had breakfast together, chatting and talking about our 2020 goals, and what races we wanted to run in the coming season. I headed home after and worked on marathon weekend costumes for a little bit, and then eventually headed into the city for a second time that day - Jennie had gotten us tickets to see Frozen on broadway, so we made a while girls night out of it, and got dinner in the cities before. It was a great night, and we had so much fun.

Sunday was a sleep in day for sure - the perks of tapering. Once I was up I got started on the day’s projects - packing and costumes. I had a lot of work to do, including finishing sewing three skirts. I had a lot of work to get done, and a long say of sewing ahead of me. Overall the crafting went smoothly, other than the skirt I made for my marathon costume - the material I picked was too silky, and when I tried it on with my running shorts it was super clingy. So off to the craft store I went, with Mom’s company, and I picked out a new material (and bonus, it was on sale!).

By the end of the day I had finished a mask, a headband featuring a tiny hat, three skirts, and two shirts. Phew! The line up for the weekend?

For the 5k Mike, Jude and I will be running as Buzz, Woody, and Zurg.

For the 10K the three of us will be going as Lock, Shock and Barrel, aka “Oogie’s boys” from nightmare before christmas.

For the half, Mike and I will be running as the Mad Hatter and Alice.

Finally, for the full, the last leg of Dopey, Mike and I will be running as Dopey and Snow white.

I am a little nervous about the heat for the full, so I have a raw threads snow white tank top, incase it it just too warm for a shirt that has a cape attached.

With all the costumes ready, I just had to get the rest of my supplies packed up, which I took care of on Monday night. My checked bag was very on-brand for me, and weighted in at 49 lbs, juuuust under the 50 lb limit. Once I was all packed, I just had to wait one more day before heading to Florida.

2020 Dopey Challenge: 23 Days Out

Day by day, the Dopey Challenge inches closer, and my excitement grows! This week was especially exciting, because I got to head to Disney World with my family for a Christmas trip - I had never been to the parks in December before, so I was really excited for this trip!

After another weekend of back to back runs, my knee was sore on Monday. I decided to start my week with a ride on the trainer, so Monday morning I got up early and selected a workout on Zwift. The one I picked was a 55 minute ride that included hill intervals, so it was a little rough at times. I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished the ride, and hopped in the shower before work.

Tuesday morning I once again managed to get my butt out of bed early, this time with a run planned. I drove over to my parent’s house to meet up with Dad, since it was an unseasonably warm morning for December. I got there around 6:30, and Dad pulled his bike around to the front of the house… but then discovered that he had a flat tire as we went to hop on. Not an issue though - he had a spare. We headed into the back yard to pop it onto the bike stand to change the tube…. only to have the second tube to refuse to fill with air. Upon closer inspection, we realized that there was a burr of metal near the stem, and without another tube the bike wasn’t going anywhere that morning. Womp Womp.

So, instead of a run/bike Dad cooked some eggs and bacon for breakfast, I used the stim machine on my knee, and cuddled with the cat for awhile. I texted Mike inquiring about his plans for the night, and he agreed to head to planet fitness with me after work to get in some treadmill miles.

Before running, I headed to the nail salon with my Mom to get pedicures, a pre-vacation ritual. She was heading to Florida on Wedensday, before the rest of the fam, so Tuesday was our best bet. Then I changed quick before meeting Mike, and we met at the gym. We even managed to find treadmills next to each other, and got to chatting as we started our miles. I started at an easy pace, but was feeling really good as I got moving, and after the first half mile kept turning the pace up. Mike and I were both planning to participate in the weekly BibChat session that BibRave hosts on twitter, so at 8:00 we hopped on twitter while we were running. Over the course of the subsequent four miles I upped the pace from a 10:30 to an 8:00 mile, and held that for about a half mile total before slowing down to cool down. I totaled five miles of running, and then walked on the treadmill for a few minutes while Mike made his way to 5 miles. Once both of our runs were complete we headed into the basement, where our planet fitness has their strength training equipment, and did about 20 minutes of mobility work, since both of us had knee pain over the weekend.

Since I ran Tuesday night, I wasn’t going to push it by running again Wednesday morning. Plus it had snowed a little overnight, so that made running a less of a choice anyway. So I had a lazy morning, sleeping in a little and then working on packing for my trip. My plan was to workout after work, and swap one of the five mile runs on my training for a swim. I had my company’s holiday party after work, and planned to head from there to the pool to meet up with some of my teammates from the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team at the pool - until I wound up with a flat tire. That, unfortunately, changed my plans. Instead of heading to the pool I got my car to the shop, where I hoped they would be able to fix it the following morning. I thought about running when I got home after, but my knee was aching so I figured it would just be better to call it a wash.

When I woke up Thursday though, my knee was still aching. I weighed my options, feeling guilty at the idea of not running another day in a row. Ultimately I decided to take another day off, reminding myself that the goal was to make it to the start line, and be able to participate. So I listened to my body, and once again took it easy. At least it gave me time to finish packing, and pick up my car, which had thankfully been repaired by my local mechanic.

Friday after work I headed to Disney with my family, for a Christmas trip! I was traveling with my husband Dennis, my parents, my Aunt Karen, and my cousin Ryan. We spent a total of four days in the park, taking in the new attractions and enjoying all of the holiday decorations. We even went to Mickey’s very merry Christmas party, which was a first for me!

Since we had Christmas party tickets for Sunday night, we weren’t heading into the parks that morning. So, I took advantage of the time I had and went for a run around the resort. We were staying at pop century resort, which has a shared running path with the art of animation resort. I got in a total of 6 miles, and my knee felt foot throughout, which I was really thankful for. My original intent had been to run 12 that day, but with the pain I had been feeling throughout the week, I figured it was a safer bet to keep it short, since I would be walking around the parks for the next few days. I explored the hotels as I ran, checking out all of the decorations that they had around.

I stayed in Florida with my family until Tuesday night, when we headed home. It was a great little trip, and we even got to meet up with our family that lives in Florida. I’m the “planner” for my family, so these trips can get a little exhausting at times, but at the end of the day I’m so grateful that I have the chance to spend time with the people I love, especially at Disney!

2020 Dopey Challenge: 30 Days out

Two weeks in a row - the blog is back to active status guys! I am excited that I am finally starting to be able to train consistently again, and I am getting excited as the countdown grows smaller and smaller, and my trip to Disney for the Dopey challenge approaches!

Monday we got the first snow of the season in NY, and while I had originally planned to meet up with my brother at the gym after work I got a text from him asking to reschedule to the following day, so I agreed to meet him on Tuesday instead. Which made Monday a total rest day, which I think are good sometimes. I stayed home relaxed, and it was a relaxing way to start the week. Plus, my throat was a little sore, which for me usually means a cold is coming on - so I hoped that it wouldn’t mess up my plans for the week.

Tuesday morning I totally had intentions of getting on my bike trainer for a ride, but was exhausted when I woke up and just didn’t manage to get myself out of bed -these things happen. But Tuesday night after work I did manage to get to the gym with my brother Tommy, and we did a chest workout. I like that when I go to the gym with Tommy I get to just play follow the leader, as he likes to set the workout. Today’s set included chest presses, flys, and tricep pull downs, among other things. Once we were done lifting I found a free treadmill and hopped on, needing to get a five mile run in. I had kind of been dreading the treadmill, but when I hopped on and started a show on Hulu, and knew I just had to get through one episode and I would be done. The miles slipped away, and I even managed to increase the pace as I progressed through the miles. The gym that I go to recently remodeled, and I have to say I am a fan of the new treadmills.

Since dealing with this knee injury, I have been swapping some of my “easy” runs for swims or bike rides, and on Wednesday I did just that. I was supposed to run 5 miles, but instead I planned to swap it for a swim. First, I headed to the gym with my brother and we got in a leg workout. He was working on maxing out his leg press, so we wound up doing 7 sets on that machine, which was a lot for me! We also included squats and some calf raises, which I was sure to feel in the days that followed.

When we finished with strength training I headed to the pool and met up with a few members of the Merrick bicycles Tri team. Our coach, Jackie, had assigned us a workout. I was a little nervous about it, since when I go to the pool I usually just swim laps without any real goals. The workout was a long one for me -

Swim workout - concentrate on EVF (early vertical forearm)-

w/u 200 easy

4x75 (50 catch up drill, 25 free) rest 10' btw. each

2x200 bilateral breathing rest 30' btw each

4x75 (50 fist drill, 25 free) rest 10' btw each

2x150 - concentrate on your pull rest 20' btw each

8x25 (follow below)

2x25 - free fast 5' rest

2x25 catch up drill

2x25 - free 5' rest

2x25- fist drill

*add in optional:

2x300 for endurance- rest 30' btw each

I teamed up with Ken, and we split a lane for the workout. We swim really similar paces, so it was nice to have someone to swim with throughout the whole thing. It took us about 50 minutes to get through it all, and I was pooped and starving by the end! But I was glad I got in the pool.

Thursday was listed as an off day on my schedule, and I needed it! I headed to the doctors office on Thursday morning, as my sore throat had evolved into a cold. I’m asthmatic, so when I feel a cold coming on I have to be on top of it, or I wind up down for the count. Leaving the office I was on a steroidal inhaler, prednisone, and antibiotics, plus a recommendation to use my nebulizer a few times a day. I headed to work after the doctors appointment, and took it easy Thursday night. Instead of workout out, I headed to the fabric store and grabbed some supplies to start on my costumes for the Dopey challenge!

I did have intentions to run Friday morning. I even laid out clothes on Thursday night. But when Friday morning rolled around my body refused, feeling the full cold symptoms. I rolled over and got an extra hour of sleep, thinking maybe I would try to get in some miles after work.

But of course, I wound up having to stay late at work, and missed out on having a real lunch during the day, because I was just so busy. So by the time I got home, dinner was my first priority. My mileage for the weekend was planned to be 18 miles on Saturday and then 9 or 10 miles on Sunday. So I was worried about running too late on Friday, and not giving my knee time to recover. So instead of the 4 miles that I planned to run, I hopped on my bike trainer. I figured that way I would still get some cardio in, but it would be lower impact on my knee.

Saturday morning was a little rough when it arrived. Was it really 6 am already? Because it felt like I had just gotten into bed. I grabbed my gear bag, which I had thankfully packed the night before, and got dressed in some cold weather running gear and drove to Mike’s house. From there he drove us into Central Park, where we were planning to get our long run done. Mike was running the ted Corbett 15k, but I had hesitated on registering, and missed out. It was one of the last NYRR events on the year, and since I had already completed more than 9 events, I didn’t want to take a spot away from someone who needed this event to qualify for the 2020 marathon.

It was a chilly morning in central park, and I was glad that we took the approach of booking a parking lot right near the entrance of the park that was closest to race day central. We started our run as soon as we got into the park, and ran right to the porter potties - gotta have your priorities in order! We found Carson shortly after, and were on our way to 18 miles.

So, I carried my own water and tried to stay out of the way of the runners and organizers of the event, as I started my Central Park run that morning. Mike and I started on our loops, and were very relieved that Harlem hill was not a required part of our day. We proceeded to run loops of Central Park for a little over the next three hours, first following the race course and then exploring other routes. Around mile 16 the hills started to bother Mike’s knee, so we eased the pace as we finished up. Despite the pain we managed to finish the 18 miles, feeling strong overall. I really love running in Central Park, there is something going on to focus on between the people in the park and the scenery, and it makes for an interesting long run, even if the hills can be difficult at times.

As is the catch of dopey training, our weekend runs weren’t over after completing our 18 miler - we still had another 9 to run on Sunday! The original plan had been to do the long run Sunday, we we decided to swap the distances, as we were attending a holiday party Saturday night, and didn’t want a late night to impact our long run.

As is the theme of dopey training, we had a second long run planned for that weekend - a 10 miler a little closer to home. We were both registered for Race Awesome’s jingle all the way 5k at cedar creek park. Mike and I met at the park about an hour before the race, and we headed out to the trail that leads towards jones beach. We kept the pace easy as we chatted, and when it was time to line up to start the race we had run just over 4 miles.

We met up with my friend Allison who was pushing a stroller with her 11-month-old in it during the race, and we stuck together for most of the race. it was an out and back course with a loop of the park, and when we were on the “back” part, just around mile 2, Mike’s knee started to hurt again. We took a walk break, and after a moment of stretching we were on our way again. We finished our loop around the park, and headed towards the path again.

As we reached the path, Mike’s knee started to hurt again. It reached a point where we were walking more than running, so we decided to switch to walking after a total of 7.5 miles for the day. We both felt like we would rather cut the mileage a little short rather than wind up injured. Plus, it was nearly a mile walk back to the car, which was still distance under foot! We had a fun time at the race though, and were still able to snag some hot chocolate and bagels when we finished our miles, which was really good.

All in all, I felt good about the mileage that I got done this weekend, and am really trying to listen to my body. My knee was sore after the long miles, but I was so happy that I was able to get through them feeling strong. 30 Days between me and the Dopey challenge!