The New Running Reality: 2020

At this point, pretty much every runner I know has been affected by COVID-19. Many of us have had races cancelled or postponed. More of us are running solo more often, and when we meet, we don’t run quite as close together as we once did. I know of people who, under community decree, can’t go out and have run marathons in their backyards. Some have actually been quarantined.

And that’s just the running.

I communicate with runners who do race timing. Now out of work. I know many who are small business owners teetering on the brink, trying to navigate the new reality. My wife is (was) a flight attendant, now out of work for at least six months, so we’re on one income. ...as long as my jobs lasts.

We’re all trying to cope.

Me? There were so many great races that I couldn’t do due to family constraints. The two events I could do were busts. I had to drop out of ABF Trail Marathon after my wife’s trips were rescheduled and my kids came down with the flu. Prairie Spirit 100M has been cancelled due to the pandemic. So what’s next?

That’s the question we’re all answering right now. I have so much fitness right now. My training for ABF and Prairie Spirit have taken up the better part of the last four or five months. I avoided injury. I put in big miles. I was ready. Then nothing.

Yesterday I made a decision.

There’s no way for me to run a “virtual” Prairie Spirit. The hills of Northwest Arkansas are not conducive to fast times (which was my goal). Others have suggested making local FKT attempts. That may happen, but right now there’s just so much stress in life, I don’t want the stress of planning something like that (which to me would be stressful). In the end, I have opted for fun.

Training for races often becomes my part time job. My focus right now needs to be family and work. Running is icing on the cake. I’ll still get in my base miles, 8-10 mile morning runs, maybe throwing in an occasional tempo run or speed day. On weekends, I just want to look for fun challenges, adventures, and experiences to enjoy.

I am not sure what I'm doing with my hands. I blame it on the miles.

Today was the first day of running for the joy of it. I met a friend at 6 a.m. to run KMR* repeats. We went at a relaxed-ish pace. He ran the first 8 repeats with me (at proper social distance). The next 6 repeats, I ran by myself. The final repeat was run with a friend and his son (also at proper social distance). In total, I put in 32.15 miles and 7500 ft of vert in an easy-ish 5:16:18. The weather was gorgeous, as was the sunrise.

SO! MUCH! FUN!!!!!


Day one of “run for the joy of running” is complete. And my smile is large.

How are you coping?

#HaveLegsWillRun

* KMR: A dirt road that is just over a mile long. It gets about 500 feet of vert per repeat.