I'm like a phoenix, rising out of Arizona. Except technically I'm not actually in Arizona. I've only even been there a couple of times. Hopefully, this whole journey doesn't end in disaster like it did when Frank Costanza resumed his cooking again.
I marked this past week a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Namely, I designated it as the Star Wars virtual half weekend figuring that 13.1 really isn't much further than 12.5 miles and this week worked perfectly to do so. I also decided it would be another good test.
3/20/18 3.43 miles. Tougher run than I expected. I think the stress from work is taking a toll. But I did it.
3/22/18 3.44 miles. Went a lot better. Also the first day of 3 consecutive days in preparation for Dark Side weekend.
3/23/18 4.51 miles. In order to preserve my legs for tomorrow and conserve my energy, I forced myself to take this one slow. Sometimes, I hate going slow. This one felt like it dragged on forever. But I got it done.
3/24/18 13.12 miles. Went strong for most of the run, but decided to slow down for the last 20 minutes or so. I calculated that slowing down wouldn't impact my time by very much and I felt like I'd had enough anyways. I believe weeks like this one show us why we train. In order to know how to power though tougher runs. If we've already powered through tough runs during training, then we know how to do so on race day. If anything, race day will somehow feel easier than yesterday since race day brings with it all the fun of photo backdrops, crowd energy, characters, and the sights of Walt Disney World. I also believe race day will be easier because I'll have more time off between the last two races. It's simpler for me to run after work. That's later right now, and when a run calls for a long run as part of a back to back, that often means less than 12 hours between finishing one run and starting the lone run. Not ideal for recovery purposes, but I can do it.
It's kind of strange. I finished the run in roughly 3 hours and 18 minutes. That's actually slower than most of my fastest race times which include photo stops. Maybe because I slowed down at the end, I feel like the race defeated me, but I know that is not what actually happened.
Most importantly I remain on target for race day. This is my last really long run before the race. Due to even more time constraints coming next week, I will shorten the Galloway plan 14 mile run to 8 miles. I simply don't have time to run 14 miles in 2 weeks. But this worked last year. Again this is the benefit of consistent training. When we consistently train, we position ourselves to absorb less than ideal situations because the accumulated fitness does not disappear immediately.
As this marked my very first virtual race, I'll share my thoughts on that idea.
First off, I understand the arguments against virtual races especially when any virtual race medal feels like it's been purchased since no proof of complying with any time requirement is necessary. However, keep in mind that no "unearned" virtual medal takes anything away from any runner who actually met the requirement. I also believe virtual races have a place. Maybe some beginners feel too intimidated to sign up for a race held at a predetermined location. In the case of runDisney, how many runners want at least part of the runDisney experience, but for geographic or scheduling reasons cannot make it to a runDisney race weekend? Virtual races offer at least part of that experience with the finishers medal.
in the end for me this virtual race became little more than a slightly extended training run as part of my Dark Side training preparation. I however still like the idea of a virtual run. In my conversations with non runners in the parks on race weekend, I feel like many of them wish they could do it too, but do not actually believe they can do so. The idea sounds neat, but actually impossible. Honestly, I can't blame them. I used to believe that too. And despite so much encouragement from so many runners I didn't believe them either until I actually did it. In that respect a virtual race offers an opportunity to give it a go. Hopefully it helps new runners build up the confidence to someday run a location based race.
Now, will I sign up for a virtual race again? Honestly, the answer depends on the medal. For a medal I really like, then sure. Count me in. I'm likely to register for the virtual shorts series this year with medals inspired by The Incredibles. I'd probably sign up for a virtual Star Wars next year should they offer it. But otherwise, I much prefer the location based race experience. There truly is something very different about crowd support, volunteers, and ultimately having someone place a medal around your head because you earned it. And honestly I missed not receiving a medal yesterday when I finished my virtual race. It's coming next month at the Expo. But at least I did get something Star Wars related yesterday. My blu-ray copy of The Last Jedi arrived 3 days early. Pretty cool timing if you ask me.