Dopey Challenge Training – Week 13: We’re Halfway there!

I ordered a pair of Ratatouille “Little Chef” mouse ears from an Esty site called ShimmeringEverAfter back in August in the hopes they would arrive in time for Wine and Dine and lucky for me they arrived before the estimated November date. 

This is the same shop I bought my beautiful Dopey ears from. Her products are the absolute best. 

 

It’s hard to believe I am halfway through the Dopey training plan. This week I’m still recovering from the weekends long run (13.1 miles) so my first run was a little slower than usual. I have discovered I’m not eating enough before my long runs. I was hungry into the next day after this weekend. I’ve decided to start a food log to make sure I have enough calories – good calories, not junk food. 

 

I’ve finalized all my dining options for Wine and Dine and sadly did not get all the locations I wanted. Yak n Yedi was all sold out and had to book a late evening time slot for Oga’s cantina and the night prior to the half marathon. I’m continually checking in the hopes I can snag an earlier time on a better day. I also wanted to get into the brand-new Space 220, but alas that will have to wait for another Disney trip.

 

September is nearing a close and the fall/winter season is quickly approaching. I have two big craft shows coming up, a friend visiting from Texas and then the holidays. My training plan is increasing in miles and added days of training, I’m going to have to be much more diligent in my organization if I want to get everything done and not lose my mind in the process. Just kidding, I love being busy. If I’m not going 100 miles an hour with my hair on fire…. Then I’m just bored. 

 

This week our beloved General Manager told us he was leaving to take a job in Los Angeles. After the initial shock wore off, panic and uncertainty set in. Our Club is run by a Management Company so an interim GM arrived Thursday (same day as my training run). I made sure to dress nicely, I even put on a pair of nylons, haven’t done that since the pandemic started. I waited all day to meet my new boss. 5:00pm rolled around and a thought, well maybe tomorrow. Our offices have a shared bathroom, so I went in and changed into my running clothes, opened up the door and guess who was standing there? Yep, the new guy. Great impression I made. YIKES!

 

I’m finding that after using an interval timer for so many years, I think I’ve trained myself that I need to take walk breaks. This is starting to worry me, so this week I am concentrating on running more. I increased my ratio to 4 minutes run/1 minute walk. I want to be able to run without stopping for a full 4 miles before heading to Wine and Dine. 

 

 

Recipe this week is from the Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook – Blue Milk vs Green Milk

Since I may not get to Oga’s cantina because the late booking time, we decided to hold our own taste test and see for ourselves which Milk, the Blue or the Green we liked the best! Anytime I can break out my ice cream machine is a good day. Both were very tasty, however we thought the Green milk was far better, maybe because I am a fan of Orange Juice over Pineapple juice. But if you mix them both together, this was by far my favorite. 

 

If you want to watch Week 13 on my YouTube channel Click here!

Dopey Challenge Training – Week 12: Cool Down

 

Are we ready to ramp it up? I hope so, because Week #12 adds a 4 mile walk to the training plan. It won’t be the only time we have additional days, so I need to look ahead and make sure my work schedule doesn’t conflict with my training schedule. Both are necessary for my happiness and paying of the bills.

 

This week I worked on my Wine and Dine costumes. Between Amazon and my sewing abilities I completed 2 of the 3 costumes. 

I plan on running the 5K as the Evil Queen from Snow White.

 

I am really happy with how this costume came out and the poison apple is the "cherry" on top.

 

 

The 10K will be my version of Jack Skellington 

 

 

 

But the Half, I really want to run as Ysma from Emperors’s new groove. 

Making this costume has max’d out my creative juices. I may have to pick another villain, but I better hurry we only have seven more weeks until race weekend.

 

Even though Saturday was the most raining day ever, Baxter insisted on completing the 4 mile walk.  Thank goodness my video equipment is water proof.   

 

After our wet walk we drove to Dutch Brothers for a warm pumpkin latte and Baxter indulged in a puppuccino 

 

 

This week trader joes brought out all things pumpkin spice and if you know my love of Pumpkin spice you will not think it odd at all that I spent a fortune on my favorite flavor.

Recipe this week is from the Disney Princess Cookbook – Savory Shepherd Pie

Merida is one of my favorite Princesses, she not just brave, but smart and not afraid to speak her mind. Sounds a lot like myself. Unlike most of the recipes I’ve selected, this one appears to be very difficult, but as I went along it was quick simple. I used Impossible burger rather than the ground beef that was listed in the ingredients. I found out from a YouTube subscriber that Lamb is used in Shepard’s Pie, substituting with beef makes it Cottage Pie. I love it when I learn new thinks, Thank you Ann C. (don’t want to put last name with out permission). I kinda contradict myself by using plant-based beef and then pour in a can of beef broth. I’m trying…. I also used sweet corn, only because I’m cheap and had a bag in my freezer. I’m not sure if it was the plant-based meat or if it’s supposed to look like dog food, but halfway through the recipe I was about ready to order pizza. However, alas, once it came out of the oven, it was so tasty. Even with the over pour of paprika. It even looked like the one from the cookbook.

 

What do you think, here is my version of Disney's Shepherd's pie.

And this is a photo from the Cookbook. I think they look identical. What do you think?

If you want to watch Week 12 on my YouTube channel  Click here!

Dopey Challenge Training – Week 11: Went by too fast

 

If you are looking for week 11 on my YouTube channel. STOP…… just stop, because it’s not there. Week 11 was the final heat wave here in Spokane. It was quickly followed by rainstorms each day. I found myself on the treadmill for all my training runs this week. 11 miles in total, but no fun filming of a Disney recipe.

 

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from social media, it refreshes and reinvigorates a person. You must do whatever it takes to get through a training plan and if you find yourself overwhelmed, it’s best to just take a step back and breathe. Next week is going to be a jump in the training plan adding an additional day of training and a 13 miler on the weekend. 

 

I’m going to take a nap now….. 

Dopey Challenge Training – Week 10: Virtual Mayhem

 

This week was so busy I can hardly put my thoughts on paper much less on the internet. I’ve had the misfortune of being a victim of porch pirates this week, normally they don’t come out until closer to Christmas. I’ve had three packages stolen off my front porch, with the most recent my order of holiday flavored Joffrey’s ground coffee. It’s for this very reason I have a PO Box where I get most of my mail, however Joffrey’s does not mail to PO Box’s. Luckily when I contacted them, they immediately sent out a replacement order – THANK YOU JOFFREY’S!! As you can see I immediately dug into a bag and brewed a cup of “Apple-y ever after”. I’m saving the ‘Happy Harvest” for Thanksgiving morning, but the pumpkin will be open sooner than later!!!!

 

This final theft of my holiday yumminess, prompted me to add to my existing home security system. I already have Arlo cameras inside my house and being extremely pleased with them, I installed a camera to monitor my front porch and surrounding yard. I also subscribed to their online service for just $10 a month. The extra $$ is worth my peace of mind. You don’t need an expensive security system to protect yourself – Arlo is super affordable and took very little effort to get up and running. If I can do it so can you!

  

I been reading on Facebook everyone were starting  to receive the Disney Virtual Lion King medals and mine finally arrived. Thanks to my Arlo, no one stole them.

 

 

I was so excited on how my homemade lion king running costume turned out, but sadly I never got to wear it. 

 

 

Between the triple digit temperatures and smoky air quality I never ran the three dedicated runs I had planned for these virtual races. I do feel I deserved them since I ran 30 5K’s in 30 days during the “Close your rings” Challenge I did in June. I put in the miles to earn they gorgeous medals, just didn’t dedicate any particular run to each of them. I must say I’m super impressed with the packaging this year, except the medals were really hard to get out of the box. I think that was all me!

 

I added an additional 3 miles to my training plan this week with the long overdue Virtual Margarite 5K. I had been planning this with my friends for months, but weather, smoke and busy scheduled had postponed this run more times than I can count. 

 

I have to say I have the best friends in the world. 

 

 

The day of the race, which was supposed to be in the mid-70’s ended up closer to 90 degrees. And to make matters even worse there was a brush fire not more than half a mile from the “aid station” they were attending for me. The wind started up and the smoke filled the air as well as my lungs.  I actually ran right by the fire, through all the firemen. Who by the way, said I looked very refreshing. Did I mention, I ran the entire race in a Margarita costume, completed with a lime wedge headband, which by the way kept falling off because of the windy conditions. 

 

 

After the race we were hot and thirsty. So what better way to celebrate the end of a Margarita run then with MARGARITAS!

 

 

The week ended with my long run, 11 miles on the plan and as I walked out the front door, I was not sure there was 11 miles left in me. Surprising enough the three margaritas the previous day did not slow me down too much. I did change my intervals to 3 run/1 walk and this helped keep my energy level up as did the lower temperatures. When I hit mile 8, I realized I was actually going to complete the entire 11 miles today!

 

Recipe this week is from the Disney’s Simple Family Cookbook – Summer Ratatouille Salad and Miguel’s Favourite Empanada. 

 

The title states “simple” so why was this weeks recipes so hard for me. I couldn’t get the pie dough to keep from ripping, not sure if it was because there was too much meat or if the meat should have cooled before dumping it on the dough. Regardless, I’m glad there were two dough rounds or this would have been a catastrophe. Then there is the issue of me not paying attention to the directions and noticing the oven temperature was NOT in Fahrenheit so when it said 200 degrees with a “C”, that doesn’t mean set your oven at 200 degrees. The recipe also used metric measurements. It’s a wonder we had dinner at all that night. The Ratatouille salad was very delicious, however more salt could have been added, but that is my own personal preference. Despite the major mishaps in preparing the empanadas, they were most flavorful and the crust was nice and flaky.

 

 

Here is how the recipe should look.......

And this is my version, may not look like as pretty.... but it was very tasty.

Week 10 was a long and busy week, to watch all the Mayhem on my YouTube Channel, Click here!

Dopey Challenge Training - Week 9: I Wanna be Royal

The week began with Washington State’s third round of mask mandates. I’m actually okay with this, except for the ornery emails and phone calls from members who do not want to comply. I am a Membership Director at a private social & health Club, so yeah there’s that. You can imagine how the last year and a half has been. Enough said…. Moving on…..

I look like the masked bandit going for a run!! hahaha

 

The weather has been wonderful this week, not once did it get near the 90’s and hardly in the 80’s. Running has been so much for fun, which has helped my attitude immensely. I have been working hard to get myself organized; making lists, realistic goals and following my planner each day rather than glancing at it once a week. 

My house is still dusty as all get, but with the weather getting cooler the windows will be closed and I can finally get rid of the layer of dust particles covering every piece of furniture I own.

 

Tuesday was Princess weekend registration and I went into the morning as calming as physically possible. I refused to let myself drag every laptop and iPad I own to the office and frantically monitor each like a dog waiting for a juicy treat. And guess what?????? I got every race I wanted, 5K and Challenge. It was the most laid back, relaxing Disney race registration I have ever done!

 

My costume crisis is slowing fading into costume completion. Items are arriving and ideas are coming together nicely. 

 

One of my favorite Fall/Holiday flavors made a pleasant early arrival this year……….PUMPKIN SPICE! Over the weekend I found flavored coffee at our World Market, Pumpkin pie and waffle mix at Costco AND STARBUCKS HAS PUMPKIN SPICE. I am not at all embarrassed to say I had not one, but two pumpkin spice drinks on premier day (Tuesday). 

Could life get any better?!?!?! Well, as a matter of fact YES!

This week special medals arrived for our Wine & Dine weekend. During Disney’s Food Festival we will be participating in Around the World 1 mile challenge. This year’s medals were too amazing to pass up. As you drink or eat at a Country you insert the corresponding flag into the magnetic slot. I am way excited to complete this challenge. 

If you see me drunkenly staggering around Epcot, please help me from falling down. And if you see my passed out from a food induce coma, just drag my limp body off to the side, preferably a nice grassy spot behind Germany. At least I think this is where this picture was taken. Hard to say, as this was not my first drink that day. 

 

Thursday was National Dog Day, so I thought it fitting to take Baxter out for my second run of the week. It was actually a four mile walk, since I’m still not comfortable yet running with him now that I’m almost completely healed from our July 4^th tumble. This is the first time we’ve been out together since that holiday mishap. He was so happy to be out and about with his Human, and with the weather a bit cooler I welcomed his company. 

 

My son participating in a Sprint Relay Triathlon this weekend at Hills Resort in Priest Lake Idaho. This is the first in person race either of us has done since the pandemic started. I was there for support and photographer. Watching all the race participants having so much fun and all the excitement made me feel very antsy to get back into the racing game. Their team came in 11^th and let’s just stop right here….. the Mom in me has to take a moment for some major bragging. My son came in first overall for all participates in the relay triathlon. I’ve said it so many times for so many different reasons, but here I go again………. I am so PROUD of him!!!!!! What a great way to end the training week.

 

Recipe this week is from the Disney Villains Cookbook – Huntsman Pie

Why is it every recipe from this Villains cookbook has 47 steps and takes hours and hours and hour make? We renamed this dish the “All meat, meat Pie” because it was so filling and meat rich that seriously we had meat sweats all night. Baxter and Blitz were all up in my cooking business since they could smell all the meat fragrance. It must have been torture for them, with their super sense of smell to resist the temptation of jump on the counter and grab themselves some bacon or port or chicken. The final product looked surprisingly similar to the Disney version.  It smelled like Thanksgiving and provided days of dinners since you could only eat a small portion at a time. 

This is how Disney's Pie appeared in the Cookbook. 

 

Mine was surprisingly similar.

To watch the recap of this week on my YouTube channel click here!