Training Plans- Dumbo Dare Experience

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In less than a month 27,000 runners will arrive in Disneyland to earn these lovelies and I’ll be one of them.

Dumbo Dare is the first Disney 19.3 mile challenge ever.  It was announced in December 2012, with early registration starting at the Marathon Weekend expo.  Adding a 10K to the weekend caused quite a bit of excitement with the Disney runner community.  So much so, the event sold out in under an hour when it was finally open to the public for registration.  What it entails is simple:

Doesn’t sound too bad, right?  The course maps have been released and they look pretty great too.

I signed up in January at the Tinker Bell Half.  I saw it as a chance to earn the pretty D medal I love so much, and as a way to see if I *really* might want to consider possibly thinking about maybe running Goofy someday.

Clearly I have concerns about that one.  My heart says YES! Go Goofy! 2015! But would my body agree?  And what about that head of mine?  So the Double Dare is a test in a way to see if I really am interested in doing a back to back race weekend like Goofy.

My answer right now is NO.  No Way Jose. Not happening. Not now, not ever.  Does this mean I can skip the Dumbo Dare? HA- no. I’m even signed up for both races at Tink weekend and the Glass Slipper Challenge.  Just tattoo #Sucker on my forehead.  I love the bling, love the race, love the runners!

But training is a whole different story.  I really don’t like this part.  Can’t I just be good at this and run the races?  No?  Doesn’t work like that, eh?  le Sigh.

There’s a lot of plans out there, but I’m a Galloway runner, so I stuck with my guy Jeff.  I’m following his plan to finish in the upright position for Dumbo Dare. It’s been fine.  I appreciate his concern about injury (doh- I still got injured!) with his back to back runs being one walk, one run.  He doesn’t want us to get hurt training for this race, but does want us to be trained for the race properly.  Jeff’s a cool dude like that.

Jeff Galloway at Tink Half Meet Up

I’ve been following this program and am confident I should be able to complete both races.  Not fast, not in a PR, but to completion.  Even with the injury.  Huzzah!

Galloway’s plan hasn’t been hard for a busy mom to follow either.  It’s still really only one long run.  Time is a precious commodity in this house and I worried about my turtle pace finding time for two long runs every week.  Thankfully that is NOT the case here.

This weekend I completed a modified version of the plan due to the injury.  I walked 4 on Sat and 10 (should have been 12.5 per plan) on Sunday, both under 16 min miles. My legs feel GREAT today.  Granted- I walked those miles, but did so at a brisk pace and have no leg pain, discomfort, or soreness at all.

Jeff, I’m a believer!

But I’m considering branching out for the next set of halves I have coming up.  Wine and Dine followed by Space Coast 2 weeks later.

What plans are you following for your back to back races or any races? Are you a Galloway runner or did you find another fantastic program to use?  Will you share?

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