Running when you Can’t Race

It has been something out of story book the last couple months. Sometimes I can not even believe this happening. It has definitely has not been easy. I am lucky my sport is one that can be done totally solo. That being said it has come with challenges and uncertainties. When I found the races were cancelled or postponed I initially really did not know what to do with that information. My emotional reaction was disappointment and anger. Not only is it hard to feel as if your training is going to waste but this was also the year I decided to fully and completely commit to running. To make training one of the main priorities in my life; to push myself to get up early for workouts, to run through all kinds of weather, to really see if I could qualify for the Boston Marathon. I decided that getting a running coach this year would take my running to the next level; it totally has helped and improved my running. It has changed the way I look at different workouts and what I can really do in training season. All these aspects brought on the disappointment and anger of cancelled plans.
Yet, as I scrolled through social media I saw a post from E. Kipchoge about the London marathon cancellation, in this post:

Eliud Kipchoge stated “Be proud of the work you have put into this journey, keep smiling and seek your next goal on the horizon to continue running in a smooth and positive way. I hope to share the starting line with you again soon” after the London marathon was cancelled. These words have been helpful in trying to re focus my training.

His words as well as my own stubborns made me continue training as if the races were still happening. I have been able to run in bit of denial as my second planned raced was able to be rescheduled for later in the summer, specifically August. If this race actually is going forward is something I have to wait and see but I am acting like it happening. I am not ready to let go of my progress that I have made over the past couple months. The longer I trained more I felt my body getting stronger, the more that running a Boston qualify time really seems possible. The progression of my training has further pushed my desire to qualify for Boston, it is making the goal a lot more realistic and me a lot more stubborn with my training. Although, I understand the reason behind cancellations and the uncertainty of when race season will resume it still majorly sucked to have been training for a goal race and not being sure you will be able to run it.

Tomorrow would be the Vancouver Marathon race day. The last couple weeks I have been tapering as I would have if I was going to run a race. I have been feeling really strong and rested. I decided early this week that I was going to switch my registration to the virtual Vancouver half marathon. The half would be easier to run alone and easier to push myself than to run an entire marathon alone; especially one that does not count towards qualify times. Additionally, running a half marathon is a faster recovery than a complete marathon. I am planning to run this virtual race slightly faster than my goal marathon pace. It will be good indication of my training and also it will be faster than any other half marathon that I have run. All in all that sounds like a pretty solid goal.

In the spirit of trying to make this virtual half as real as possible I asked my husband and my friend (at respectable safe distance) to come and ride their bikes and cheer for me at different intervals throughout my planned course. Stimulating a race day scenario will help train my mental strength on future race days as well help physically push myself.
I have set out a start time for myself, planned route, planning to treat tomorrow morning like I would any other race day.

Tomorrow is overall just another fun long run that helps show how training is going.