Today I had this moment where I remembered: “Oh yeah. I’m training.” I didn’t think I’d decide to go for Boston Marathon’s virtual option. But when they finally released the details, I changed my tune.
It had been nice to untether from goals for a bit and just enjoy running, yet the thought of…
…running a historic first virtual Boston,
…getting that finisher medal,
…making the 2020 celebration jacket (a gift from my husband’s family last Christmas, still hanging in the closet, never worn) actually mean something.
And the icing on the cake—they are charging way less than I expected. A reasonable $50 (on top of offering a generous full refund for the initial registration fee for the cancelled in-person race).
So I signed up on the day they opened registration, July 7. And I wrote on Strava: “Officially registered this afternoon, so here we goooooo again. Run #1 of the 3rd take of starting a new training cycle for Boston 2020. 😅 It was perfect to run this with Rachel, since we have both been on this rollercoaster🎢 for what feels like forever. 💛💙”
Three takes. Three restarts. Rollercoaster, indeed. Given the short window for training, and this being my first virtual marathon, I threw any time goals out the window. My one hope is that I can run the whole thing, no matter the pace.
I didn’t even write up a training plan. I loosely gave myself a range for weekly and long run mileage targets, and otherwise have been running what I feel like day by day. It wasn’t feeling all that different from what I was doing before.
“Oh yeah. I’m training.”
I’ve found it easier to shorten a run here and there. I haven’t done much speedwork. The hot weather gives me a further excuse to take it a bit easier. I am not sure this lackadaisical approach works for me for training for real.
But for virtual? Maybe. We’ll see. If this gets me through the race without walk breaks (aside from quick fueling breaks, as I would walk through an aid station during races), the answer will be yes. And I guess it’s good to test it out when the stakes are pretty low.
Tell me your secrets for staying focused training for virtual races! I’ll take all the help I can get.