This weekend was supposed to be a goal achieving weekend. I was helping Coach Erin in planning a fund raising #myhomecourse5K run for the North End Opportunities Fund. Supporting local youth in sports and recreation is so important and combining this with something I love, felt like a natural thing to do… We simply could not have predicted when we started this that our little race where we were hoping to get up to 50 runners would come up against the COVID barrier. So cancelling this before we had to in order to #plankingthecurve was not a difficult decision to make. Check them out and support if you can at https://www.neof.ca
So what to do instead? A virtual 5K it is. Coach had a name-the-race contest and we ended up with an appropriate COVID name. We have tribe members around the province and the world participating in a 5K race some time this weekend. I choose to do the course we would have done this weekend as the Africville route is a nice usually quiet run. Usually except for today, I’ve never seen so many runners out on this road in years … must be all those runners staying close to home! WTG Bluenosers 🙂
Telecommuting and pandemic planning have taken a toll (physically and mentally), but running is one of the things keeping me sane and still squeezing into my jeans🤪. I had posted on my club’s FB page the following 3 truths & a lie. Reading this blog may help them figure it out🤔
- While a good night’s sleep was had, should take into consideration overall pandemic planning fatigue
- Potato chips & a glass of wine may or may not be the best night before pre race meal
- Security check in the middle of a virtual race to ensure physical distancing is a thing
- a tight hip on one side and a tightening hamstring on the other side should have been a sign to turn around and try again tomorrow
Warm up – 5.32K Yes, this is a bit more than Coach prescribed, but with our Premier telling us to #staytheblazeshome, I was not going to cross him! My 85 year old aunt from Ontario called me the other day and in her conversation she stated (and she only speaks in statements) that she liked how stern our Premier is and that she doesn’t know how anybody would disobey him. She is a former nun, twice married and former teacher…nobody is ever too stern for her! So, I was not able to drive to the course. But knowing that as long as you don’t have to drive there, you’re OK…I picked the shortest route and I had to run to the start. My body was not being very cooperative and my head was already playing games. I reviewed my modified goal and 2 plans. Plan A: sub 25…would be a stretch, so hang on to that 5:00 min pace. Plan B: 25 would have to be in the result. There was no Plan C.
The Race: 5:01K (had to remember to run to the 2nd light pole!) My body grumbled through the whole race. I never really loosened up, but somehow my brain kicked in. Lots of thoughts throughout each of the kilometres:
“Be the Storm”
“You got this”
“Fuck COVID”
“I am not part of the reckless few”
“What would Coach, Allana, Jody, Meghan or Sara do?”
“Slow down if you must, stop you won’t”. …. until I had to.
Whaaaat? Let’s just say that even if nobody is at work (a rare occasion for Irving Shipyard), security still is and be aware they are serious about enforcing COVID expectations!
Kilometer 1: Slight down hill. I dragged my body to a sub 5 minute K. I told myself, OK….just try to hang on to this even though you are breathing way too hard. You can do it.
Kilometer 2: A turnaround across a road and slight up hill. Completely lost the 5minute pace, but didn’t panic. I knew there was plenty of time to make it up on flat Terminal Road.
Kilometrer 3: Still a bit of uphill and when I hit the flats on terminal road, I could feel myself easing into it. My body was finally warming up and while I was no where in PB territory, I had hopes of getting close to that first goal.
Kilometer 4: I had a group of runners in sight and was using them as an inspiration to pass them. My pace was getting quicker and I was closing the gap. Then all of a sudden a security guard jumps out of his parked truck and stops them. As I was about to run past, he motioned me to stop so I did. He was scolding them for not respecting the 6 foot rule. Fortunately the group told him that I wasn’t with them, so he let me go. But my pace was broken and I was gasping for air, so I had to do a quick circle back and then restarted my watch at the point where I think he stopped me. I knew I had lost around a minute and it was so hard to get back into that rhythm I had finally captured. It was time to bring out the general and push this out of my mind.
Kilometer 5: My fastest K of the day! It’s amazing what a little downer can do to get you to buckle down. I wasn’t on the pace I should have been on. I had run long run intervals faster than this just a month before, but based on this last month I really couldn’t care less 😉 I was just happy to be running as fast as I wanted to at that moment, gasping for air and feeling grateful for good health and a supportive tribe & coach!
Conclusion: Strava says 26:16, but I’m going to take my Garmin 25:14. I know this isn’t totally legit, but so be it! The only other time I’ve had a race interrupted was Boston in 2013 and I wasn’t able to finish that one. The BAA gave us an estimated finish time based on what we had run before the bombings happened. I got to finish this one, so I’m adjusting the time. I have total respect for the security guard taking his responsibilities seriously and nothing but a “tsk tsk” to those runners not respecting #physical distancing
Cooldown – 5.64K It was a slooow uphill slog back home but feeling completely satisfied with my run today. The sun started coming out, people were out for walks and each one making an effort to keep appropriate distance between them. Success all around. The Premier and Dr Strang would be very proud !
Oh and any guesses on which one is the fib? This should not be difficult 🤪🤪😂🤪🤪