Sunday, March 29, 2020

Weekly Sweats: a virtual 5k and a virtual high five


In this week's adventures: 19.1 miles of running, one weight workout, a socially distant high five, and my first virtual race.


I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out.

BREAKING FAMILY NEWS: as a follow up to last week's post,  I am pleased to announce that 100% of us are now runners.  Stepson #2 started couch to 5k this week, and he's been finding the workouts pretty easy, so he's working ahead in the program to catch up to his big brother.  Now it is true that the boys' willingness to use the C25K program might have something to do with the fact that anyone who uses the treadmill in our house gets to watch whatever they want on TV while doing so, but heck, that's been my incentive to start many a workout.

Monday: weights followed by 4 easy outdoor miles.  At least that was the plan.  It was one of those days when my legs didn't feel like moving and those miles were anything but easy.  My body was not having it and I had to take a few walk breaks...now let's be clear that real runners walk, but this run was tough on the ego and yes I let one bad run get to me. 

Tuesday: 6 miles and my running mojo was back in force for speed day.  1.5 miles warm up/cool down and then 4 x 800 fast/400 recover.  I negative split my repeats (not planned, it just happened) and was one click faster than last week: 10:24, 10:18, 10:14, and 9:50.

Wednesday: off, though I "commuted" to work with a short outdoor walk to get from the couch to our upstairs home office.

Thursday: 6 miles, and I decided to take it easy and just run instead of trying to add a speed element to the workout.  I only saw one other person outside, another runner.  The first time we looped each other, I took the initiative to socially distance by moving from the sidewalk to the road.  The 2nd time, he moved out into the street and as we passed, we gave each other a socially distant high five.  And it was every bit as good as a non distant high five.

Friday: another rest day to charge my batteries for Saturday's 5k, another "commute" from couch to office.

Saturday: The Rambling Runner Virtual 5k!  My experience has been that when I step onto a race course, some kind of magic happens and I become a faster runner.  So the purpose of these races (apart from virtual being the only option right now) is to see if I can push myself to get anywhere near race speeds on my own.  I said before that I think it's possible to PR the 10k and very likely to PR the half, but not so much for the 5k.  It's the one race that I feel that I've performed at my fullest potential.

One recommendation that Matt made on his podcast was to do the virtual races close to "real" race time, so I made my goal to start the race at 9.  I picked a flat running trail within walking distance of my house and made a leisurely amble down there.  The one curve ball was that we had massive rain the night before, so my trail was pretty waterlogged and as you can see up top, me and my Old Glories got quite the mud bath.


When I got to the trail, I had a moment of nerves (just like a real race!).  I started up music that I knew would get me going and picked an imaginary start line.  I started a slow jog as I approached my official start and fired off the Garmin as I crossed.  I tried to go fast but not too fast and about a quarter mile in felt pretty miserable.  I peeked down at my Garmin and saw a 9:00 pace, yep that would be the reason. I slowed my butt down and settled into a grove.  And before I knew it the race was over and I walked home.

Um so what was my time and where's the picture of my Garmin?  Sorry to be vague, but I need to keep the specifics on the DL for this one because I'm none too comfortable with Strava's privacy settings.  We'll let SmashRun give the deets:

Safe to say that I'm happy with how things turned out and if I can do what I did in a "pretend" 5k, then good things are in store for the 10k and half.  P.S. the highest heart rate ever is fake news, it was the same as my last 5k.

Thoughts:
  • Whoa, I need to do more virtual racing.  
  • The only thing that I wish I had done differently was to push a bit more in mile 3.  Mentally I kind of lost faith at 2.5 miles in and I didn't quite leave it all on the course.
  • Running a virtual race means that you get to be your own Race Director.  Lisa posted that she ran a half on her treadmill yesterday and was thinking of having a beer, and the lightbulb dawned for me.  Races around here usually offer Miller Lite and no offense, but that is not my brew.  I could totally have cracked open a Dead Guy Ale or a Bell's Two Hearted yesterday, and maybe I will after my next virtual.
Race Cancellation Recaps
(P.S. I'm recapping the cancellations for humor...we're serious about the whole shelter in place thing.)
  • The 10 Miler in late April has been postponed, new date TBA.  
  • The Big City Marathon in mid May offered the choice of virtual or deferring entry until 2021 or 2022.  A sensible person would defer their entry, but I registered so early that I don't have a lot of cash on the line for this one and I like the cause that the race supports, so I'm down for virtual.  And hey-o the dates line up with the Rambling Runner Half so I can double dip.


26 comments:

  1. Totally awesome on that 5K! I'd have to agree, it's hard to do a virtual at a true race pace without the benefit of other races among the (virtual) herd. That's awesome you now have a household of runners ;-)

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    1. It was a really gratifying result. Next time I'll ask my race director (me) to step up the course support a bit;-)

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  2. Oh bummer about your shoes but great job on your virtual race! How awesome that your whole family is running now. Hopefully soon you will all be racing as a family too.

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    1. The shoes have taken quite a bit of mud recently in the name of socially distancing.

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  3. wow looks like you are made for virtual running! So fun that your whole family is now running I love it. Thanks for joining us today and have a great week

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    1. Hey one out of one isn't bad. We'll see what happens with the next two virtual races;-)

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  4. Nice job on that virtual 5k!!! I have those shoes too, but mine are still pretty new. Saving them for races in the summer. If we have any, that is.

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    1. If I'd thought more about it, it would have made sense to keep the Old Glories inside for the treadmill. Oh well.

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  5. Wow! Awesome virtual race. Way to go!I like the idea of having a beer after a virtual race. Wish I had thought of that after my virtual half last weekend. We were supposed to get a beer at the end of the race that was canceled. I like your choices for post-race beers way better than Miller Lite of Michelob Ultra too! :)

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  6. So glad the virtual race was a success!

    I suppose with more solo running, I should probably be more cognizant about what I share on Strava...argh.

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    1. I wish there was an option to hide the running route, I feel like that's a major safety issue.

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  7. Great job on the race and making progress!! I think I would have switched over to a street instead of sloshing in the water... so kudos to you! I have a virtual 5K coming up each week for the next 4 weeks, but I won't be racing them. Just a tricky way to get my son out running with me :)

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    1. That's a pretty neat trick! There were only a few really splashy parts on the trail and it's very flat, so that was why I stuck with it. Unfortunately there were a few walkers who weren't socially distancing, so that's how I ended up getting so muddy:-(

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  8. That's awesome news about your virtual 5K - congrats!

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  9. Hooray for a whole family of runners! That's so awesome. Well done on the virtual 5k. I find it SO hard to keep the fire burning in those late miles when it's virtual.

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    1. Thanks Marcia! I won't be running the 10k as hard but hopefully I can keep the intensity going toward the end.

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  10. Yay on your kids doing C25K. I definitely use the TV as incentive for my own treadmill workouts and will save “my” shows to watch on the ‘mill. Nice on that virtual race. I think Lawyers Have Heart DC postposed their June event to a bit later .... that’s the latest event I’ve seen change.

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    1. I totally have a stash of dedicated treadmill TV shows. I feel like June is the earliest that racing will come back, and that's probably pushing it.

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  11. Great job with your virtual 5K! And, I love that your kids are now both doing the C25K!

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    1. I'm surprised and impressed how well they've taken to it.

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  12. Yay to the whole house being runners!! And if controlling the remote gets people running so be it my friend!! Well done on that Virtual Race! I've signed up for my first one - 17 May. It's a Half and will try to PB if I can.

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  13. That's great news that everyone in the household is running now :) And congrats on that fastest run for the 5k!

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  14. Way to go! Virtual races are hard. When I do them, it's usually because I love the medal or the cause (yes, I have several pug virtual medals, and I'm not sorry at all). Right now, I haven't signed up for any specifically, but I will keep them in mind for when I am really running again.

    Congratulations on all of you being runners! That's so awesome for your family!

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  15. Isn't is so fun to be able to pick your own beer after your own race? That's one of the perks of racing on your own. How great that your whole family runs now! Congrats on your 5k!

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