My Virtual 5K Race plan

It has been a tough decision, making this year's BreyerFest 5K a virtual one.  I suspect I would not have run at all if George had not had a brilliant idea.  He said, with the elegant simplicity we value:  Why not run virtually right there in Lexington?  And I was instantly charmed.  Yes, that solves everything! 

I could not bear Not to run,... not after having run in every BFest race since the beginning, 2016.  Not after keeping myself in shape all through the year!  Much of the rest of this post will deal with that...  But equally I was so deeply afraid of the official race's "plume."  Aerosols hang in the air...  I cannot do races in a mask.  :(  I could run with maybe one or two other people, if they were known safe and clean.  But three hundred strangers...!   In a county (Fayette) still judged as red (in Covid numbers, that is)... well, I'm just really hoping that next year things will be,... even safer,... for the compromised.  Thank you Breyer for the virtual option!!

 I was enchanted to find a lovely 5K course literally across the road.  See that intersection at the lower right edge?  That's the one by the Clarion Hotel...  The map is turned 90 degrees right, that is, east, so that west is up; but the bottom road is Newtown Pike.  This next shot shows my course a little more clearly.  I shall park in the uppermost spot, labelled Legacy Trail Parking on the above map.

 At time of writing, I am hoping to run early Friday or Saturday morning.  The virtuals are allowed to run anytime between the 11th and the 17th. 

Breyer and 3Way have not recognized my race times for last year, 2021.  I emailed them twice, with pictures.  Their stated reason was that I hadn't submitted my time before noon on race day.  For the record, I finished in 41:40.

Below is my official 2020 race finish, my first virtual one.  

 I keep waffling about being officially recognized.  The race officials bend over backwards to offer you an app (RaceJoy) for your phone. I very much wanted to, and I thought for a long time I would have the technology in place by 2022.  However, I didn't have a case for my phone.  Probably (now that I think of it) this was the result of a combination of not using a cell phone on a daily basis, plus severe restrictions on shopping.  Carried in my pocket -- this is damning -- the thing butt-dialed itself into various configurations I did not want, and took time for me to get it back to its stopwatch.  And the phone's stopwatch was only good for 30 minutes.  My 5Ks are longer than that.

[Not yet realizing that RaceJoy would allow more than 30 minutes.]

I did actually try running while holding my phone in my hand.  I could do it;... but it was too distracting for really good times.  In classic procrastination mode, I had left it too late to purchase a case online.  Or an armband, which I now know exist.  Oh yeah!  I was also deeply distracted with the thought that I could make my own case,... fatal attraction of being a leatherworker.  After all the TSII specializes in small leather pieces...

 

 And so, in this saga of self-imposed restraints, having given up on the RaceJoy app for yet another year, I started using my tack bench stopwatch.  And here I had marvelous success.  Riding along in my pocket did not disturb it the least.  Shoulda done this all along!  I started taking pictures of important (to me) results.  This first one was for 4.76K, on June 30.

I don't want this post to turn into a boring list of times and dates, so I'm only going to show the times I actually photo'd.  So far there's only four. 

This next one happened July 5, over the full distance of 5K.  Not bad!!

Another factor that may have impacted my increased times was a proper sports bra.  Customized it may be, but it gets the job done, which wasn't done very well up to now.

Here's one I put up on my FaceBook.  July 7, over a distance of 3.45K.  This works out to a little more than 8 minutes a K (8.11).  Anything under 9 can be considered pretty darn good for me.

Here is this morning's take, a full 5K run in less than 9 minutes a K.  (8.69).  A 5K is exhausting.  It's more than 3 miles.  Of course there is walking,... at least for someone like me.

We will end this stretch of singlemindedness with a view of my Race Door, actually the inside of the TSII tack room door.  Here is where I hang all my medals and bibs from my races.  "I love me wall."  As it happens, Breyer has not shipped my t-shirt and bib for this year in time (as they were supposed to for virtual runners).  Maybe it's just as well.  One great development in the hopeful category this past year has been that we're no longer quarantining mail.

Ed. Note:  Breyer/3Way DID get me my t-shirt on time!!  The morning I left, Monday, I swung by the box and it was waiting there for me.  Wowzers!!

Virtual or in-person, I am cheering for every runner this year!