Here’s the timeline:
- Signed up for Eagle Up as my A-Race for the spring, goal of 50/50 (81 miles).
- Built my training plan (combination of two different RFP plans with the speedwork workouts from Pfitz), training started the week of Christmas, 24 week plan.
- Signed up for both O24 and Get Lucky as tune up races in my plan.
- Get Lucky became virtual, ran that on the river trails.
- O24 got delayed until the first weekend in October.
- Eagle Up cancelled, had made it through 18 weeks of training.
- O24 became my new A-Race and was exactly 24 weeks out from when we got the news Eagle Up was cancelled.
- Took a week off, reconfigured my training plan so I wasn’t starting back at week 1 and started up again (eventually sliding back in at weeks 9-11).
- Signed up for the virtual Pink Lightning as a tune-up (and to support them).
- O24 cancelled until 2021.
- Currently, I’m in week 17. I have two more weeks until the Pink Lightning virtual race, bringing this cycle to 19 weeks.
Total, with one overlap week, that means I will have been in a training plan for 36 weeks. It’s time for a break. As much as I’d still love to run 5050 in 2020 (my original plan), it’s just not in the books (I’m not at a point where I could, logistically or mentally, run that much by myself).
Pink Lightning is a virtual 50K, and on my plan, it’s either 50M or 100K (62M). Depending on the weather and how I feel, I’ll play it a bit by ear. Part of me want to run it as a 50M, but I’m also okay not destroying myself for it.
I’ll have to readjust my eating a bit during some off weeks, but maybe it’s good to mix that up as well, we’ll see. And part of me wants to end with something big and exciting (I’ve never run a 50M before), but again, I have to weigh it against what’s smart in the long run, my right leg has what could easily turn into an injury if I’m not careful, so there is a bit of babying that at the moment, anyway.
The yoga I’ve been doing (in the park) has been great, just the right kind of class for me! I also want to get back into my bodyweight fitness routine, I know I’ve lost a chunk of that progress. A ‘down’ fall with less mileage and focusing on some core and strength work I think would be good, and will put me in good position to start training for spring races (tentatively again, Eagle Up and O24).
Through all this, I still haven’t gone back to a gym (I’ll have to change anyway, as mine closed), but I’ve really enjoyed getting to know my neighbors a bit as I do my tiny loops, or at least getting almost all of them to wave back at me. I’ve caught up on most of a podcast series (Critical Role), so I’ll need something epic to listen to again anyway.
I’m so glad I forced myself to run this summer, something I’ve never really done before. I definitely learned a lot (including how much a new pair of shoes really can change in my running), but I’m looking forward to running in the cold once again.
This has been a tough and strange year, and I can see the finish line a few weeks away. Then I’m looking forward to some much deserved time off.
Virtual Races coming up: Pink Lightning 50K, Mario Lemieux 6.6K, New Holland Lightpoint 5K, The Great Race 10K (and hopefully 5K when I sign up for that challenge as well).
