Dopey here.  It's difficult for me to think about what to blog.  Giving you my training schedule, miles run, speed per mile, etc. doesn't seem that interesting.  I'll give all of that, but I will try to think of more interesting things to write about.  In general, I run 5 miles on Monday and Wednesday @ about a 10-10:30 mile pace.  Thursday's are speed runs of about 3 miles (I usually do a 5K) at race pace.  For me that about a 9 minute mile.  Saturdays are for long runs unless we're running a race.  I ran a half marathon for my long run this past Saturday.  I plan to try and keep the long runs at 12-13 miles for now to maintain my fitness level and start increasing that mileage the closer we get to Disney.  I start out slower, running with Goofy, who is still coming back from an injury and still building speed and distance.  Then I speed up to finish my runs that are usually longer than Goofy's.

Along the way I will try to remember some funny or interesting stories.  First, I set a new PR in the 5K while running the Chrysalis House 5K @ RJ Corman on May 17th.  My time was 27:33, so not great, but good for me.  My hope is to break 24 min., I just don't know how fast to start to be able to finish strong.  I was huffing and puffing but I may have had a little more in the tank.  The story from that race is that I ran side by side with the lady who won the over 70 age group for about a mile before I tried to speed up and left her behind.  The winner in my age group was about 18 min. I think!  I have no hope of ever winning my age group I don't think.  I guess I will just keep racing against myself.

During a run at Shillito Park I ran into a zombie/monster and two victims!  Okay, it was actually 3 little girls playing.  The 2 victims ran across the path just in front of me, but then the zombie had to pause just a few seconds as I ran by, so I like to think I help the other two girls escape.  We have also seen LARPers (live action role play) at Shillito Park.  I guess they were in some sort of medieval time period since they were beating each other with swords and had shields.

All the happy runners seemed to out at the Legacy Trail this weekend.  We ran into several people who actually said hello, or good job, or chatted in some way.  Goofy and I were doing hill repeats (yeah!)  ("hills make you stronger" one of my many sayings) when I passed two cyclists going up the hill!  I think they were really waiting for the third cyclist, so were going up the hill slowly.  When the third cyclist passed me when I stopped at the top of the hill, he said "that was awesome" and gave me a fist as he rode by!  Kind of made my day.  I passed another cyclist on another hill repeat, but he was a tween, so too cool to say anything.  I mat another runner who gave me a high 5 as we passed.  She saw me touch a mile marker, so I told her the miles didn't count if you didn't touch the mile markers.  Passed her again on the way back and she said she had been touching the mile markers.  I'm a trend setter!  :OP  I saw another woman who was walk running and seemed to be having a "bad" run.  (there are no bad runs, right?)  So, I gave her a high 5 on the way out and told her is was a great day for a run.  She was done running on the way back, so I gave her another high 5 and she told me to have a good run.  Finally, at the end of my run, another guy (a little heavy) was finishing his run.  He was huffing and puffing, but he was getting it done.  I don't know how far he went, but I felt like he could use a fist pump, so I passed one on.  Generally a good run and a good day for a run even though I was quite tired after 13.1 miles.

I'll try to blog more often so my posts won't be so long.  I hope your runs are as fun as mine!  I love running!  (another of my many saying)

Goofy Checking In

Hey, everyone!  Goofy here this morning.  We've been busy running, swimming, and hitting the Y to work out on mobilefit, so there haven't been many posts.  Here's my catch up.

Two weeks ago, I missed out on a complete week of running due to a lung infection that was not fun at all.  I finally went for a run on Monday and managed to get in 4 miles, which was my longest since coming back from the ankle break.  It was a really slow run since I was coughing my head off by about 2 miles in courtesy of the remaining lung funk.  It was good to get to run with Dopey again though, even if I know I was majorly slowing him down.

Wednesday was another 4 mile run, but this one was a little faster than on Monday.  I was starting to feel better after this run, so I think I'm finally over the lung funk and can get back into the full swing of running again.

Friday was a mobilefit workout at the Y with Dopey.  We noticed that his workouts don't seem to have as many exercises as mine do, which is probably due to our fitness settings in the app.  We just did weight training on Friday since we had a run planned on Saturday.

Saturday I did 5 miles while Dopey did 12.  It was pretty hot out there, which surprised us both since it was only in the 70s.  The sun was blasting though, as evidenced by my bad sunburn that I managed to get.  After I ran 5 miles, I did 5 50 yard sprints just to get in a little speedwork while waiting on Dopey to finish up.  I'm finally feeling like I'm starting to get back after that stupid broken ankle.

Sunday was another mobilefit session and a little bit of swimming.  We figured the Y would be fairly quiet given the holiday weekend, but it was actually pretty busy in the pool.  I might be a little miserable because of this sunburn though, which does suck.

Today we'll be running and figuring out what to do with this Monday off.

Hey all, Dopey here with my first post.  I don't really know what I will talk about, but it will be running related.  As Goofy said, we ran the 26.2 with Donna in Jacksonville, FL in February but didn't get to finish.  Since I was in marathon distance condition, I ran the next marathon in my neck of the woods, the Kentucky Derby Marathon in Louisville, KY on 4/19/14.  I ran it in 5 hours flat, which isn't great, but it was my first marathon, a PR, and gave me confidence to finish the Dopey Challenge.  Between the 26.2 with Donna and the Kentucky Derby Marathon, I stayed in shape by running the Run the Bluegrass half marathon in Lexington, KY.  I generally just try to run easy and don't kill myself for a fast time.  I have started doing mile repeats to try and increase my speed and have seen some results.

My most recent training run was Saturday.  I ran 11 miles from my apartment to the Arboretum (3 laps around the Arboretum @ 2 miles per lap) and back home.  Garmin says my average pace was 9:50 mile.  It started raining about a mile in, but stopped by mile 3-4, which was good because it kept me cool and there weren't many people at the Arboretum when I got there.  It had cleared by the time I left, so more and more walkers/runner were showing up.  Which brings me to my observations from the run.  I ran into path hoggers, you know, the people who spread out to block the whole path so you have to run through the grass.  They usually don't bother me too much, but when the grass is wet, I don't particularly want to run through it.  There was the Meb speed walker imitator.  He was walking quickly, swinging his arms wildly and in the middle of the path.  Luckily I didn't get a hand to the face.  The dog walkers who stand on one side of the path while their dog walks on the other - leash across the path of course.  There was an Asian couple walking in the opposite direction on their left hand side (so coming right at me), that I had to go to the left to get around.  I figured they may have been from Hong Kong since they drive on the left in HK.  Finally, it was the stroller walkers.  I know you need a stroller for the little ones, but please don't block the whole path.  I'm sure all runners have run into (no pun intended) these types of people.  We all just learn to live with them.  If you are one of these types of people, please be mindful of the runners.  It's much easier for you to keep to one side or take a step or two over to give us a path than for us to turn suddenly or run through the grass.  We can all enjoy the great outdoor together!

Goofy Running

Hi there!  I'd like to welcome you to the Goofy and Dopey Run blog.  A couple of weeks ago, my fiance and I signed up for two races in the Disney Marathon Weekend.  I signed up for the Goofy Race-and-a-Half Challenge and DF signed up for the Dopey Challenge.  We decided that it would be a fun thing to create a log of our training for these races and just to chronicle the entire journey as we prepare for one heck of a challenge.

So, a little background on me to get everyone up to speed seems appropriate.  I broke my ankle in the first week of March, so I am coming back to running after being in a cast and not being able to do much of anything while stuck in that.  Prior to that, I ran in the 26.2 with Donna marathon on February 23rd, but like a couple hundred other runners, was pulled off the course due to the severe thunderstorms in the area.  So I have some unfinished business with the marathon.  Instead of just going after the marathon this next year, I decided I would just get goofy instead.

Stay tuned for some goofy running stories!