Why do I sign up for these things?
It’s a question I ask myself in a half-serious and half-jokingly way every single time I land on race day morning.
In this case, it was October and it was the week of the virtual London and virtual Boston marathons.
Having the challenge of completing each marathon within one week of each other sounded awesome when I signed up for them back in February and March this year, but the week of? Hmmm, not so much.
The truth hit me like a ton of bricks: I wasn’t ready to participate in any marathons.
Netflix-watching marathons, yes. Running marathons, not so much. Perhaps it would’ve helped if I actually trained for them. The physical marathons, that is.
Yes, I did run some but not in the strategic planning and training mode that one would sorta need in order to have a somewhat successful race with a strong goal in mind.
My only objectives were to finish them (since I did pay money for them), to enjoy myself, and to not get injured.
I was successful in all three, but I wouldn’t recommend doing what I did, or not do.
My intention was to train of course. I had 7 months to prepare! In my mind that’s code for wow! I have plenty of time and I don’t need to do this right now!
Part of my training even included using the 24 Hour Cirque Du Griffith event as my last long training run. It was to take place during Labor Day Weekend (4 weeks before the virtual London Marathon) but Cirque got canceled again for 2020 and 2021 and I’m not even sure if it’s taking place in 2022 so I guess I’m out $250. And no, I’m not going to be participating in a virtual 24 Hour event on my own.
In fact, I may be finished with participating in any other virtual marathons altogether, because while I did complete both the virtual London Marathon and a week later, the virtual Boston Marathon, I’ve learned something very important: Virtual marathons are way harder to do than actual in-person marathons!
Holy moly they are tough!
There are no crowds for cheers and support and funny signs telling me I’m nowhere near the finish. There are no mile markers posted indicating that I’m not lost. And aside from creating them yourself, you don’t get any entertaining bands along the way or aid stations with wonderful helpful volunteers telling you “You got this!”
By the way, super huge kudos to you for using your own mental toughness and resourcefulness to run and/or walk 26.2 miles in one go!
Marathons are challenging, but virtual marathons, are in a whole other league.
I actually broke up the virtual London Marathon into two parts, which you could do. In fact, you could’ve broken up that marathon into several parts. All you needed to do was complete the distance within 24 hours, and stop and start the app as many times as you’d like.
The virtual Boston Marathon had to be completed in one continuous swoop. Once you started the app, the clock was ticking. You could also manually enter your miles and/or complete them on a treadmill.
I wasn’t concerned about finishing times or PRs and walked most of each race. I wasn’t kidding about not training or having very minimal training. Just like riding a bike, right? I could’ve used a bike.
To track my progress I used each marathon’s app and if I had to choose one app over the other as far as which one was better, hands down, without a doubt, the app for the virtual London Marathon was the best!!! Every half-mile you received encouragement and fun facts, and it passed the time quickly! The app for the virtual Boston Marathon could learn a few things from London. It lacked some pizzazz.
However, what Boston lacked with their app, they kind of made up with race swag! A bottle opener and Poland Spring towel?! Say what?
Both shirts and medals were lovely, but Boston did slightly edge out London in those departments. I kept thinking the London Marathon medal said 20.2 and I got confused. “Why does it say 20 and 2?” I asked myself.
Now, would I do either of these virtual marathons again? I suppose To Virtual Marathon, or Not to Virtual Marathon, that is the question. I couldn’t resist that London Marathon app, but I’m not aiming to do another virtual marathon again. And if I don’t, I can simply look back and remember that time I completed two virtual marathons within a week of each other, and feel proud of that fact.
In the meantime, I’ll wait and see what the race Gods have in store for me. * wink wink *
Thanks for reading!