A Dopey Idea

I’ve done something ridiculous. That in itself is nothing new. But this time the level of ridiculousness is rather impressive. A few weeks ago I registered for the Dopey Challenge.

For the uninitiated, the Dopey Challenge is a series of races that takes place at Walt Disney World in January. It consists of: a 5K (3.1 miles) on Thursday, a 10K (6.2 miles) on Friday, a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday, and a full marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday. That’s 48.6 miles in 4 days. I signed up to do this…on purpose. And I paid an exorbitant amount of money to do it.

Oh – and did I mention what time these races start? We toe off the line at 5:50 am. Eastern time. They require us to be in our starting corrals by 5:00. Since many of the streets in the area are closed, the shuttle buses are the best way to get to the starting line and you have to be on the bus by 4:00. Four days in a row. So in addition to putting in the miles, you’ll be doing them in a sleep deprived state.  Does this sound like fun yet?

Why exactly did I do this? I guess the easiest answer is the cliché “because it’s there.” Maybe it’s because I needed a new challenge. I’m a goal-setter and when a goal-setter doesn’t have a goal to work for, they tend to get restless. I’ve tackled half marathons, full marathons, triathlons and even a 100 mile bike ride. I guess next it was either this or an Ironman and I’m pretty sure my mom would kill me if did that. So now it’s the Dopey Challenge. And yes, I know how appropriately it is named. 

Now I am signed up for Dopey, I can’t help but think about what the next eight months of my life will be like. I imagine it will include the following:

I will want to eat all the food. When you’re doing the kind of training required for something like this, it’s not unusual to burn 2000 calories before noon. But don’t get too excited. It’s rare that you lose much weight training for a marathon because you’re hungry. All. The. Time. While I was training for my last marathon, I got in the habit of eating 2 glazed doughnuts after every run that was 8 miles or longer. So friends, stock your fridges ‘cause I’m gonna need to eat.

I will wonder why I thought this was a good idea. I’m sure more than once I will question my sanity for deciding to take on this challenge. Pre-dawn wake-up calls, arranging my weekends around my long runs, and being tired all the time will take its toll. I will dream about sleeping while I’m sleeping. I will fantasize about free time. I will have a hard time remembering what it feels like to not be sore.

I will be doing laundry like it’s my job. When you’re running as often as I’ll need to for this challenge, you’re going to go through a lot of laundry. As I was in the final stages of training for my most recent half marathon, I had two loads of clean laundry sitting waiting to be folded and put away and another load ready to go in. And this is just for me. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t consider just buying new clothes to put off doing another load of laundry. That method worked in college.

It’s very possible I will lose body parts. Well, not the important ones. I have been known to lose a toenail or two during marathon training. It’s not a big deal, but I have grown attached to them. Literally.

People will call me crazy. Not that this doesn’t already happen on a semi-regular basis already, but I imagine the frequency and passionate delivery of such statements will increase. I don’t mind though. At this point, I kind of think of it as a compliment.

Given all the above information, though, I think it’s safe to label me as crazy. Hopefully after January 10, I’ll be Dopey too. Wish me luck!