In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali tackles one of the most stressful Dopey training questions she gets every year…what to do if you miss your peak week long run. 

She explains why skipping the 20-miler late in training is not only okay but often the smartest choice for slow, back-of-the-pack, or injury-prone runDisney runners dealing with illness, pain, or life getting in the way. 

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali tackles a belief that keeps so many slow, back of the pack, or injury-prone runDisney runners stuck in fear…the idea that you have to run 26.2 miles in training to prove you can finish a marathon. She breaks down why late-cycle full marathon training runs actually increase injury risk and decrease your chances of feeling good on race day.

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali tackles one of the most common questions she gets from slow, back of the pack, or injury-prone runDisney runners…can you break up a 16-mile long run when training for a marathon or Dopey? 

In this episode of Running to the Castle Dr. Ali answers a listeners question if it’s possible to actually get faster with 5 weeks left before Dopey 2026 race.

Dr. Ali dives into the nuance of yes, it is, and no it’s not, possible to get faster about 1 month before Dopey 2026.

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali tackles how back-of-the-pack marathoners can get meaningfully faster before January races so they have a bigger buffer from the balloon ladies and time for character stops.

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali discusses how to continue training for Dopey after a Marathon with 10 weeks to go.

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali discusses how to train after Wine and Dine Half Marathon or 2 Course Challenge and the Dopey Challenge, or other races that include the Marathon in January 2026.

The biggest thing to avoid is overtraining. 

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn 5 Signs You’re Going to Not Finish Dopey.

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn the top 3 main reasons RunDisney runners do not finish (DNF) their races:

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn how to finish the Dopey Challenge even when you’re injury-prone without getting injured with strength training.

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn 7 patterns Dr. Ali recognized as a physical therapist to runDisney runners DNF’ing their race.

In this episode of Running to the Castle, you’ll learn how to strategically prepare for the Dopey Challenge, especially if you're a new runner. I cover the essential steps to avoid injury and cross that finish line strong

In this episode of Running to the Castle you'll learn if you want to spend time all training season googling answers to different things and do it yourself having a coach isn't for you.

This episode is a little tongue-in-cheek which is out of the norm for this podcast, and that's OK we can have a little fun even when Dr. Ali is typically on the serious side.

Learn when to officially start training for Dopey and what to do leading up to official training. There are specific things to work out and a top mistake to avoid. Avoid this top mistake so you don’t get injured again and you can stop getting minor injuries throughout training.

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn the 3 Main Elements you need to include in the time between Dopey and Princess Weekend.

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn how to recover fast from a Marathon so you can keep training for your next race.

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn what to do in the first few days after Dopey to recover fast and get rid of pain and soreness.

Listen to the whole episode to hear examples of how many carbs are in honey stinger waffle, honey stinger chews, clifbloks, gummy bears and more. Top tips for the hard miles, fuel by time not mileage, and how often to take in fuel.

In this episode of Running to the Castle you’ll learn how much and when to start carb loading for the Dopey Challenge at Disney World.

For the injury-prone runDisney runner you may want to run the week of your race to get a few final miles in… or you may feel guilty about taking time off.

Listen to this episode to find out which is best: running race week or taking some time off.