yes, I am Dopey


"You’re mad, bonkers, off your head. But I tell you a secret. All the best people are."

So, I ran this half marathon on Sunday… it was pretty awesome.  But before that happened, there was madness.  ‘Cause that’s how my life is. 

When I was training for my first half marathon, I ran into a moving SUV about 7 weeks before the race.  I was sidelined for a few weeks, but in the end Iwas able to run the race.  Training didn’t go as planned, but the weekend of the race, I had all my ducks in a row: good food, relaxation, peace, and quiet.  I was by myself in Disney World, and for a few days, I was able to do whatever I wanted (or not).  That’s pretty rare for me. 

A race weekend here in Raleigh goes more like this:  Out late on Friday night catching up with a friend, up early on Saturday for a yoga retreat (ok, that’s also rare, and it was awesome!), then Saturday afternoon: Birthday Party!!  My five-year-old niece and I share a birthday, and I LOVE celebrating with her.  This year it was an Alice in Wonderland theme, complete with the Mad Tea Party and at least a dozen kids! 

I intended to be careful about what I ate, really, I did.  But it was a MAD TEA PARTY!  And there were cupcakes:

I only had one cupcake, but the frosting… O  M  G!   As luck would have it, the kids sitting near me did not share my passion for the frosting, so I was happy to help out.  I’m pretty sure I had the frosting equivalent of at least 6 cupcakes!  Then, it’s my family, so we always hang around too late.  Got home after 10, and we still hadn’t walked (my kids and I walk a mile every day… some days it’s a challenge).  So, we walked, got home before 11, and I was thinking I’d still get a little more than 6 hours of sleep (for me, that’s very good!) 

Then the power went out.  Our power hasn’t gone out since 2001—we’re on the same grid with three nursing homes, it just doesn’t happen.  This inspires my daughter to launch into “Blackout” from In The Heights, so now I’ve got that stuck in my head!  (“has anyone seen Benny?...”)  I set the alarm on my phone, and had just dozed off when the power came on—and so did all the lights, the TV, the flashing alarm clock…

I finally got to sleep, slept like a rock (as I do) and woke up to the alarm(s) at 5, but I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed until 6, and we had to leave at 6:30.  Instead of a leisurely breakfast, 30 minutes of yoga and then foam rolling like I did in Disney, it was a pretty quick foam roll, no yoga, and an apple and almond butter in the car on the way.  Not the ideal meal to eat while driving.  My son: “um, Mom, since we’re out of the neighborhood, do you think you should drive with BOTH hands?”

And did I mention the weather?  The forecast for Sunday was gorgeous, but at 7am?  45 degrees.  Colder than when we ran on New Year’s Day!  At least it wasn’t raining…

None of this was how I would plan to prepare for a half marathon, but it’s my real life. 

And the race was awesome!  After about 5 minutes, I didn’t feel the cold, I had my Camelbak, so plenty of water, and the course was gorgeous and FLAT!  I was able to find myself an opening where I felt like I was pretty much out there alone, just me and my music, and aside from a little concern about getting lost, it was heavenly!  I did easy 2:1 intervals, and wound up finishing with my best half marathon time yet! 

Today, I’m feeling great!  I was looking forward to a quiet day of relaxing and rest from training, until I get this message about race registration!  Yikes!  I hadn’t really even decided what I was going to do yet!  I had made up my mind to go for the Goofy Challenge—a half and a full back to back—when they announced the Dopey Challenge!  5K, 10K, half, full… six medals.  DOPEY!    

I could explain all the crazy reasons and why it makes sense for me, but the bottom line is this: I got the idea in my head that I’d like to try, and couldn’t convince myself to walk away from it. 

When I started to write this post, I wanted a quote from Dopey himself.  Then I realised Dopey never said much.  But here’s what Happy had to say:

Happy:  This is Dopey.  He don’t talk none.

Snow White:  You mean he can’t talk? 

Happy:  He don’t know, he never tried. 

That pretty well sums up why I’m going for the Dopey Challenge.  I have a bunch of “rational” reasons for thinking I can do it, but the reality is, when I first signed up for the Princess Half, I did all the math, counted the weeks, and knew I could get to that distance.  Turns out, I wasn’t following the plan that included running into a moving SUV.  Even with all the math and training, in the end, I had to go with Plan B.  I’m hoping to steer clear of moving vehicles from now on, but no matter what I set out to do, there’s no telling what might cross my path.  I can think I “know” how things are going to play out, but the truth is this:

I’ll never know if I never try. 

Thank you, Dopey.