The short story: a virtual community is keeping me accountable and motivated during this time of social distancing.
So, at the beginning of the year, I had a packed spring race schedule - the NYC half, the Delaware half, the Long Island Half, and the Brooklyn half, among a assortment of shorter races. But one by one, my races got cancelled (understandably) as a result of the impact that Covid-19 has had on the world, and more specifically, on the tri state area. As a runner that usually jumps from race training plan to race training plan, it was weird to suddenly have no race goal - I felt almost like there was nothing to work for, and was unsure of what I should be doing. It seemed silly to continue following the training plan that I originally had in place, and burden my body with race specific workouts when there was no race at the end of the plan.
I took inventory - what did I want to be doing? How many miles did I want to be running? It was a strange question to ask myself. But I found that when I took the obligation of a training regiment off of myself, I was finding more time for strength training. For yoga. For the things that I want to do, but was too wiped out after a speed workout or a long run to get around to.
Knowing that I still (hopefully) have fall marathons on the horizon, I knew that I wanted to keep a solid running base. So I decided on a goal of 28 miles a week. Why 28? Because for the last two years I have tried to hit 1500 miles for the year, but was kept from it in 2018 by a wicked cold that lasted for most of December, and by a knee injury that lingered from August until the end of the year in 2019. So, to hit this goal in 2020, I need to run an average of 28 miles a week. So that was my starting point. For the most part, I have been keeping to runs that average around five miles, and trying to hit a double digit run every other weekend - usually 10 miles.
Mike and I started challenging each other on solo runs, since group runs are ill advised at the moment - we would run at the same time, and make up a scavenger hunt list for us each to find, from chalk drawings to holiday decorations. Once Mike downloaded the Peloton app, we started “meeting” on our treadmills, towns away, and taking the same classes, commiserating via texts and taking photos “together,” often coordinating outfits from the many races we have run together.
I knew that strength training usually falls by the wayside for me, but with all this extra time at home, it was something I suddenly had consistent time for. I am thankful that my job has allowed me to work from home for the last month, but now that I am not commuting, I have extra time on my hands. I don’t have a huge gym setup at home, but I have some dummbells and resistance bands, so I started taking classes through the Peloton app (which is currently free for 90 days). When one of the instructors started hosting a “21 day core challenge” through his instagram, I started taking daily 10 minute core classes. Though short in length, they are certainly challenging at times!
Eventually, the Merrick Bicycle Tri-Team came up with an idea - the REQ challenge. In this case REQ stands for the “Race to Escape Quarantine,” and the concept is simple: Different strength moves are worth points, and the goal is to earn a total of 12,300 points in a 30 day period. Of course, it is all for a good cause - the proceeds from the challenge’s $25 registration fee would be donated to local long island charities, to help families who are in need as a result of this pandemic. I hesitated about signing up at first, because I questioned my ability to complete the challenge. But I love the sense of community that the Tri team brings to everything they do, and the opportunity to help my community - so on the last day of registration, I closed my eyes and hit the register button - what had I gotten myself into!? Like the planner that I am, I sat down and wrote out 30 days of workouts, that would get me to my point goal, that way it would be thought free when it was time to pick my workout each day - I would just need to pick an envlope.
Now, I won’t lie to you and say that keeping moving has resolved all of my quarantine woes - I am beyond thankful that Dennis and I are able to stay safe at home, but I miss my parents. I miss my friends. I miss my people. But I know that we are all safer this way, and we are keeping people like my brother, who is a NYPD officer, safer by staying at home. But, having a sense of community, virtually at least, has helped to carry me through this pandemic. Knowing that the other members of the tri tream are working to hit the same numbers that I am. Knowing that Mike is shouting at the peloton app just like I am as we hold planks and sprint on our treadmills. It is not normal, but slowly it is settling into a weird, new normal, for now at least.
I hope that you all are staying safe, and have found some way to keep moving forward, one day at a time, through all of this craziness. And if you can, stay home to stay safe. We will all be able to return to a more standard day to day, one day.