Whilst all races have been cancelled for the foreseeable future and training is in that lull before starting the next marathon or ironman block, things can get boring and motivation levels can drop. Especially in these unprecedented times when we don’t know when the next race will be and we are stuck in lockdown.
Thankfully, the UK lockdown rules allow us to leave the house for one form of local daily exercise.
One great way to keep me motivated has always been racing and having a race to train for. I am the type of person who signs up for a few races at a time so that there is always another race on the plan after the next one is run.
Virtual racing has taken the place of the traditional race day for the time being.
It is not the same thrill and buzz of lining up at the start line, checking out your competition and pushing to catch that person in front or stay ahead of someone chasing you down, but it does give something to train for and a reason to push a little harder than you would on a traditional hard training session.
I often find that I can push that little bit harder come race day, so my virtual race times have always been slower than real life races, but this past few weeks I have been giving my PB’s a run for their money.
I have been running the NYRR Virtual Races since March 2018 but not properly raced them, they have always fallen during a training cycle for a marathon and often just formed part of a longer training run. Last week I decided to race the NYRR Virtual 5k flat out and give their Virtual Brooklyn Half a good shot.
Recently I discovered that Ironman has started a Virtual Race series, I missed the first four weeks after illness and just doing other things but I decided to give their Ironman 70.3 Sim a shot last weekend.
Also, I signed up to the Rock n Roll Marathon Series Virtual Racing, which happened to also be a half marathon last weekend.
- 25 – Apr 2021 – NYRR Virtual 5k – 00:18:04
- 27 – Apr 2021 – SAYSKYRacing Virtual 10k – 00:39:05
- 02 – May 2021 – Ironman VR5 – 03:52:59
- 03 – May 2021 – NYRR Virtual Brooklyn Half & Rock n Roll Virtual Half – 01:28:14
My NYRR Virtual 5k time of 18:04 was my 3rd fastest 5k, the SAYSKYRacing 10k was also my 3rd fastest 10k and my half marathon was my 3rd fastest half.
The Ironman VR5 was made up of a 5k run, 90k Bike and 21k run. I ran the 5k in 17:54, only 6 seconds off my 5k PB then ran the 21k at marathon pace as my legs were feeling tired from the 90k bike. Luckily, I could tick off Ironman VR5, Virtual Brooklyn Half and Rock n Roll Half with that one run. They say efficiency is key to endurance sports right? One run ticking off 3 races seems pretty efficient.
Oddly, I found the nerves building up on the morning of the virtual races, something I didn’t expect but that nervous energy is always something I feed off on race day. I do put a lot of pressure on myself by targeting fast times, I always go out to with PB pace in mind, rather than settling for a steady run. I always want to push it hard and give the best I can on that day.
This first round of races I have pushed a little harder than usual and clocked up some good times which has given me confidence that the speed is still there despite scaling training back of late.
I will leave it a few weeks and hit some speed sessions in training and try to find some more virtual races towards the end of May to attempt to beat this weeks racing. Maybe spreading them out will be more sensible than racing a 5k, 10k, half marathon and half Ironman all in 8 days.
The things we do to earn a virtual badge!
The Cheshire Runner. 
I’ve run two virtual races since this all began and will probably run more.
I have a half marathon that went virtual! They are mailing my bib, shirt and medal.
I’ll run the distance, probably further. But it will be far from a real race experience. All the things you mention: the nerves, chasing people down, trying to keep from getting chased down and pushing just a bit harder than you ever would on a training run.
How often have you felt like you were going to die on a training run and then pushed harder?
I know it’s all for the best, but I’m beginning to feel like a gerbil in a cage.
Andy
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It is definately not the same running through fields of cows and sheep during a “race”, not quite the Brooklyn Half I had planned for. That was good of them to mail out the shirt and medal, at least it is something to show for the run but as you say, not the same experience.
My worry is that races as we knew them could be a thing of the past for quite some time. I have read blog posts from race directors setting out how they could potentially put on an event with social distancing guidelines still in place. No mass starts, setting runners off in groups of 10 or less, no corrals, self service water stations, fewer volunteers, no post race events. Basically you run from A to B get a medal and go home in a time trial format. Very similar to runner a virtual race at home in my opinion. It is going to be interesting to see how they work around this pandemic until a vaccine is found. Assuming they can find a vaccine.
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