Chapter 1 - Becoming Dopey, A Pandemic, a New Reality

 

Getting a Little Dopey

It all began in February 2020 on a Saturday morning when I had some free time.  I was surfing the web and started coming across several YouTube vlogs chronicling some runners’ adventures at the recent runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. One video about the Dopey Challenge (4 races in 4 days, 5K, 10K, Half and Full marathon) intrigued me. In particular, I found interesting the strategies for pacing over the 4 days without totally burning yourself out before the 4th day.  The physical and mental challenge was calling me. As a lifelong runner I started thinking about how I would go about it and what I might be physically capable of. I was going to do this!

End of the World as We Knew It


Soon after becoming intrigued by the Dopey Challenge, the world was scrambling to figure out how to live and work in a world overrun by a Pandemic.  Running events became virtual, a few of which I participated in including the 2020 New York City Marathon in November 2020.  It was a bit different running alone on a bike trail without the NYC skyline to look at and millions of spectators to cheer me on.  Needless to say, struggling to complete the last few miles on the streets of my suburban Milwaukee neighborhood was not quite the same experience as running through Central Park.  But I proved to myself that I could still run 26.2.  RunDisney Dopey was still possible, if we ever got through this pandemic.

COVID-19 Positive and After Effects

One month after I finished the virtual NYC Marathon, in December 2020, my wife and I were struck with COVID-19.  It was the first variant, before vaccines were available, so it was a nasty variant.  With both of us being physically fit and healthy, we were never in any distress, just really sick for a few days.

I suffered through 48 hours of fever, chills and fatigue followed by 48 hours of severe fatigue and irregular heartrate.  I was out of breath after climbing a flight of stairs.  But this all passed as quickly as it came, and we both felt optimistic that we now had natural immunity for a few months.  

A week later I was back out running.  But running was a bit of a struggle.  I found myself getting out of breath more quickly and at times my heartrate seemed to become irregular.  I assumed I was dealing with some long term COVID effects.  From some research I learned it was not uncommon, and the current wisdom was to get back into endurance exercise slowly and monitor heart rate more closely.   

So, I did.  I learned to run by heart rate instead of just pushing myself as hard as I could.  I started avoiding steep hills and seeking flatter routes.  The Dopey Challenge seemed like a long past fantasy, especially since Disney was only doing virtual events because of the pandemic.  

A New Running Reality

Early in 2021, The COVID vaccines became approved and, by early Spring, available to the general public.  Folks were getting vaccinated, and restrictions were being relaxed.  RunDisney Marathon Weekend was back on for January 2022.  And I was back on YouTube admiring the achievements of the RunDisney vloggers.  I started “studying” the slower runners, because I had become one of them.  I had recently passed my 60th birthday, and with my post COVID effects, I had resigned myself to accept that my sub 4-hour marathon days were in the past.  

I watched videos of participants who did 40-minute 5k’s, 90-minute 10k’s, 3-hour half-marathons and 6-hour marathons.  Their achievements were no less amazing than those of the 4-hour marathoners.  If anything, their perseverance and commitment to a personal goal was more commendable.  Many of them were fund-raising for a charity, making the adventure even more meaningful.  I wanted a piece of this, no matter how slow I had to go and how long it took.  I started plotting for Dopey once again.  Or should I say I started getting a little Dopey again?

2023 runDisney Dopey Registration, or Maybe Not

My retirement from Corporate America was fast approaching at the end of March 2022.  My plan was to work on health and fitness and build toward my Dopey Dream, I mean my dream of finishing the Dopey Challenge.  

Cat and I did some traveling in April, and I missed the registration day for RunDisney Marathon Weekend 2023.  I realized it when people started posting YouTube videos of their harrowing registration experiences.  People were in tears because Dopey was sold out before they could enter their credit card information.  Or they got into Dopey, but their best friend who they planned on running with could only get into one of the races.  Apparently training for Dopey is not the hardest part, one must first play runDisney registration roulette. 

Then I remembered the charity runners.  I checked a few charity websites.  They had already distributed their allotment for Dopey registrations.  Oh my!  I had missed 2023 already.  Lesson learned for 2024.  But we can still work on health and fitness to confirm that it is physically possible.

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