Disclaimer: I received an Amazon gift card to share the FitnessBank Des Linden Step Challenge as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!
It’s crazy to look back at my last few postings and see how much has changed. I went from having a jam-packed Spring, filled with family travel, races, and big plans; to being in a state-wide stay-at-home order due to the Coronavirus. But this isn’t anything new to anyone here as we’re all in some version of this. We all had big plans or different visions for how our Spring was going to look… and even beyond at this point.
Our end-of-March trip to DisneyWorld (ending with a cruise) was cancelled when the parks were closed and the cruise ships docked. Our local half marathon was cancelled and at the same time, Big Sur International Marathon was announced as postponed. My husband and I were going to take the trip out to California together as Big Sur was one of our favorite escapes when we lived in the Bay Area. And finally, and most recently, I made the call to cancel our family trip to the Grand Circle area for the Bryce Canyon 50 miler. The signs weren’t looking great that this would be resolved by then, and I wanted to get on top of the other options while I had control to reschedule, arrange refunds, etc.
I don’t want to dwell on the negative. There’s enough of that going on with the constant barrage of news and statistics. We’ll travel again. All of these actions are taken to slow the spread of the virus, and I’m thankful to be home with my family. It’s definitely hard; working, homeschooling, and missing our friends and extended family, but thank goodness for technology to keep us all connected.
Because of these changes and the sudden clearing up of my schedule, I’ve had to be a lot more purposeful in my exercise. I have limited time and can’t go far from home. I found a blessing in all of this: I was burned out from running having gone from race to race for the last few years. I didn’t allow myself any downtime and always had a race looming in the near future. The longest training ‘break’ that I really took was just a couple of weeks, then it was on to a new round and the next goal. I’m falling in love with running again by just going out and doing what my body feels like. What I have time for when I can squeeze it in to the above-mentioned day-to-day activities. I’ve also allowed myself to (gasp) walk. Yup, that’s right, I go on walks. Sometimes several miles a day. I’ll go with my family or put on an audiobook, and just walk. I have found that it is easy to get cooped up inside the house (and yes, contrary to the title ‘stay-at-home’ orders, we are allowed and encouraged to go outside to exercise, as long as we maintain social distancing).
Every day I make an effort to get some air whether it be for a walk, run, or just to play outside with my kids. I’m excited for the FitnessBank Des Linden Spring step challenge that starts tomorrow, April 1st. It’s giving me more incentive (and a nice reminder) to keep moving through all of this. Even if you start after April 1st, the tracker can get your steps through April 30th. You don’t have to be a runner, it’s just about moving forward! There’s also some awesome prizes thrown into the mix, including running shoes, a free year of racing, etc. Check out the link for more details (it’s free to join), and I hope you’ll join me in this fun way to incorporate movement into your day.
In the meantime, I’m hopeful for the future. Assuming this all gets under control before the Fall, I have a few races scheduled. As I’m not doing the Bryce Canyon 50 miler, I instead decided to continue with our family trip and do the Grand Circle Trailfest instead. We could still visit all of the places we originally intended to travel to, and I could rebook a lot of our hotels and services so that we were able to still contribute to the economy of the area. Big Sur International Marathon is also going to be rescheduled though the date is to be determined… hopefully it won’t conflict with my other plans, but I’ll play that one by ear once I know more. And then finally, the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October and the Kiawah Half Marathon in December. Fingers crossed. Now we just concentrate on staying safe, healthy, and trying to flatten the curve.
