Dopey Simulation #2 Complete! Four Weeks to Go

 

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it’s the first week in December.  We leave for Walt Disney World in 4 weeks!  That means just four more weeks of training, two of which are tapering.

 

Week 13 was my second Dopey Simulation.  The plan was four consecutive days of 3, 5, 8, and 18 miles.  After trying to extend the plan for Week 11 and struggling through an 18 miler, I was content with just trying to stick to the plan.  The goal was to get to the 18-miler in good enough shape to target a 12-minute per mile average.  

 

The week started with a cold and windy day, temperatures below 20°F, and I had no desire to run outside but it was Monday and the plan called for 5 miles.  I could foresee that I would need to use the indoor track at the Pettit National Ice Center soon, so I headed there to reacquaint myself with the logistics and protocol.  It had been 13 years since I trained for a January marathon (the runDisney Goofy Challenge in 2011), so it had been just as long since I ran at the Pettit.  I also need to calibrate the track distance with what my Apple watch measured in Indoor Run mode.  It’s easy to lose track of your lap count and being able to cross check with the distance on my watch allows me to self-correct.  I had a nice run, figured out my logistics, and discovered that my Apple Watch was almost true to the distance.  I ran 20 laps, which should have been 5.51 miles, and my watch measure 5.59.  For a 20-mile run, my watch would only be off by .32 miles, which is consistent with the error in GPS mode.

 

After Monday’s experiment, it was time to get ready for the Dopey Simulation starting on Wednesday. It was cold (30°F, feels like 20°F) but sunny.  Even though it was cold the sun made it feel warmer.  I stuck to the plan and ran 3.1 miles at a 10:25 /mi pace.  My mantra was “slow and easy, do no damage.”  Thursday was warmer (41°F, feels like 34°F), a little wind and partly sunny, not bad for the last day of November.  I ran 5.2 miles at a 10:28 /min pace.  I felt I was running faster than I should, so I threw in a few walk breaks to slow it down.  I made it through the “warm up” days without doing harm.  Success for Day 1 and Day 2.

 

Day 3, Friday December 1, was similar weather conditions as Day 2, except it was overcast, dreary and no sun.  The plan was 8 miles.  I set out on a course that followed my 10-mile loop from 13 years ago when I was training for the Goofy Challenge.  Nostalgia took over and I decided I was going to retrace my steps from 13 years ago.  So I diverted from the plan and extended 8 miles to 10 miles.  I was very conservative though in my pacing.  I used a 3/1-minute run/walk strategy and purposefully kept my heart rate below 130 BPM, most of the time below 125 BPM.  I ran 10.2 miles at a 11:29 /mi pace, right on target for my goal of a 11:30 /mi pace.  

 

Day 3 was complete and I was able to run outside each day, a bit of a moral victory. I had a little fatigue, soreness, and tightness.  But I felt pretty good and ready to take on Day 4. Late in the day on Friday we started getting a little snow and the forecast for the Saturday morning was right around freezing.  That could make conditions dicey.  Since Saturday’s run was going to be nearly 4 hours, I wanted to start early.  Friday night I wavered back and forth on where to run;  outside on roads and trails, outside doing laps on the road at the county park, inside on the track at the Pettit Center.  This is where the logistics of clothing and fueling get tricky.  So I laid out my running gear to handle all three scenarios.

 

I awoke Saturday morning to temperatures a little above freezing and the snow on the ground looking slushy.  The roads near my house were perfectly clear, so I assumed the roads at the county park were clear.  If I got lucky, the bike trail near the county park would be clear also and I could do a combination of laps in the park and out-and-backs on the bike trail.   So I did my warmups, layered up, packed up my extra gear and fueling, and started driving out to the park.  On the drive out to the park, I crossed the bike path a few times and could see that it was still snow covered in many spots.  As I drove into the park, I was concerned to see patches of snow on the 1.7-mile road that looped the park.  But I had to do this, no turning back.  I parked, jumped out of the car with my water bottle and proceeded to start my 18-mile run with a 2/1-minute run/walk ratio.   About 60 seconds into it, I hit a section of road that was slushy and slippery.  Another 60 seconds and it was time for a walk break.  I thought, this is futile!  I can’t do 18 miles on this surface.  Sure, it might warm up and melt, but it’s going to be like this for another hour or two.

 

I stopped my watch, turned around and walked back to my car.  After a quick mental check of the gear I had with me, I set course for the Pettit Center.  I should have just gone there all along, what was I thinking?  I wanted to conquer Wisconsin weather and do the complete Dopey Simulation outside.  But it’s not worth struggling through poor conditions and risking an injury.

 

By the time I got to the Pettit and started running,  it was an hour later than I wanted to start, but no bother.  I was here, running, and going to get it done with no further hinderances.  I also figured since I was in perfect running environment, I might as well complement my 10-miler from the day before and do 20-miles.  72 laps later, my watch gave me credit for 20.5 miles, while my calculation estimated that I covered 20.2 miles.  Pretty close to the error that I estimated from Monday’s run at the Pettit Center.   My average pace was 12:12 /mi, not too far off from my hope of 12:00 /mi.

 

My second Dopey Simulation was complete.  My hips and knees seemed fine.  I experienced the usual soreness and tightness, but I’ve had that all my life.  My right calf was making me aware that it was sore, but it never flared up to the point that it was inhibiting.  I was feeling pretty good about how I faired through this 4-day challenge.  After I got home, I realized that I was in an irregular heart rhythm.  I was disappointed but not surprised.  I took it in stride, acknowledging to myself that I was going to have to walk more in the half and full marathon at Disney.  But I am okay with that.  At this point I am just getting myself as physically fit as possible such that completing the real event is as easy as possible.