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Are you reading this post thinking, "I swear a virtual was not her agenda for January," and are now confused? Your thoughts are right. A virtual was definitely not part of my plan for the month, but a few things happened to change that.
First, our internet went out. Now, it's been going in and out fo a while but the past two weeks or so it has happened more frequently and then the first weekend in January, it was went out and pretty much stayed out for almost 3 days with a few bursts of it actually working for about 30 minutes at a time, and when I say a few bursts, I mean 2-3 each day. Sadly, we didn't always know it was working until the tail end so it didn't really help us out. In any case, by the time Comcast could get a tech sent out to fix everything and get it working again, race registration was over for both races I had chosen. Way to wait til the last minute Sabrina.
So I began looking for a different race to sign up for, and I started thinking and the more I started thinking, the more I questioned if registering for an actual event was the right choice for me. I was just getting back into running and financially it may not be the best choice since TJ just started back to school and we haven't started receiving housing yet. That and those pesky problems called bills and taxes get in the way. So I made the decision to run a virtual race through US Road Running.
I chose the free option. I did wonder if it doing it this way would cause me to not it take quite as seriously as being in an actual race enviornment. And I was kind of right. I didn't push myself as hard as I probably would have in a race enviornment but it did push me. Before heading out, I knew I wanted to try something a little different and so instead of heading out and taking my usual route, I went in the opposite direction toward the college that is basically at the edge of our neighborhood. I live so close to the college and it's baseball and soccer fields, that on game night if the house is quiet you can hear loud cheers from the fans. It's faint but you can hear it.
The college has a trail that you can walk, run or bike ride on so I figured I'd give it a try. After a short warm-up, I began my 5K on the main road in my neighborhood and then headed towards the college trail. The trail was pretty peaceful despite being right next to the back road that takes you out of my neighborhood. It's not completely hidden but enough to make it peaceful.
It didn't start out at all the way I wanted it to. I immediately started feeling it in my legs and I wanted to stop. 2 miles was as far as I wanted to go, and I seemed to struggling to get to that, but I pushed through telling myself this was supposed to be my 5K, and only if I really needed to would stop at 2 miles.
I slowly started feeling better and knew I could get the 5K done, but there would be a walk break in there. I mean, hello, I was just getting back into running after an extended break; I had to allow myself that walk break if I needed it. And I did, but it was the virtual 5K and the thought that I told myself today was the day that actually kept me going to finish it out rather than quit at 2 miles.
So, the virtual 5K definitely helped. It may not have been as motivating but I got it done and that's what's important. Oh, and my overall time was just a few seconds slower than my first ever 5K, so I really can't complain.
****Side note: I'm totally aware this is pretty much the most boring post ever since there are no pictures. Oops!! Next time I run the college trail I'll be sure to snap some pictures, I promise.