I have never done a Virtual Race because they always seemed so complicated. I like showing up to a race and following a course. Pretty easy. But I know the Badwater races and they're usually awesome and since I plan to make this year a good year for my running, I thought this was a good start!
This was 267 miles for the month of January, an average of 8.6 miles a day. That's a long race. But they report to you where you are along the courses of their 3 big races, two of which, I'm very familiar. Below is a screenshot of an email I received, which has me at the Hellhole Canyon trailhead, which is climbing desert trail in the middle of the Badwater Salton Sea race.
I have used Strava but usually have problems with it. I don't have a gps watch and after posting on a Trail and Ultrarunning Facebook group looking for Strava strategies, I realized most people use Strava with a watch. So, now I'm considering a fancy watch FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.
Thankfully, the race only used RunSignUp to log the miles since I got tired real quick of bringing my phone everywhere to track my miles on Strava. Especially those morning neighborhood runs without a pack. I just used Mapmymiles, old school! 😅
The biggest challenge was finding the time. I've learned how to downshift and move around priorities being a mom and have shared some of this in my nutrition business. So I made sure to take care of my boy and my job first. Opting for the multi-sport division, rather than the just running division - I emailed RD prior to ensure I could use the elliptical, since all we have is a stationary bike and an elliptical, no treadmill - meant that I could do some of the worksout with River, my 3 year old, in the house. It is still much easier to get workouts in while he's still asleep or after he goes down.
Some of the priorities that I didn't look after so much are dishes, laundry and cleaning. We still got out on the weekends and played at the park or visited family so I don't feel so bad on that end. And there were a few times we lifted our make-shift blanket/wall from the sunroom where the elliptical lives so I could watch a show together with my husband. Worked out alright!
The other challenge was the concern that I was going to get sick, which would have up-ended the whole thing. I knew that there was a good possibility it was going to happen, especially after River went back to preschool the 2nd week. So I took a few drops of oregano oil every day and every vitamin I could find in the house! Haha. I also made sure to stay on top of my sleep, sometimes leaving dishes sitting for longer than I would like but I knew it was temporary and tried not to stress over it, which also decreases your ability to fight illness. I realize I'm lucky that I work from home and have been in the role long enough to do chores while on meetings.
I wanted to do most miles outside, which was a challenge but I ended up doing the longest midweek morning runs I've done postpartum, which is a pride point for sure. Especially considering the first two weeks of January were rainy and cold! 😒 I literally left the house some mornings in the same outfit I ran around my old neighborhood in Illinois in 30 degrees only 10 days earlier. It helped me to get out, even if I was overbundled, getting out of the house was the goal.
The days I opted for the inside elliptical, I heard David Goggins calling me a little bitch.
Most mornings I was up between 6am-6:20am. Most days I did two workouts. The morning run started out shitty in the cold rain. I usually felt better once I warmed up but it wasn't 'fun'. Near the end of the month, I looked forward to the morning runs, starting in the dark, watching the sunrise, feeling strong. I have a hill leading up to my house that I always finish running if I'm on a run, opposed to some of the other hills in my neighborhood I power hike. This finish literally adds the last dose of epinephrine needed to feel great and ready to actually start my day. I work from home for the public health department with a 3 year old so I need feel good emotions. I also never looked at social media or emails before my morning runs or workouts.
My time on the elliptical, provided I didn't have a 3 year old joining me, was used for podcasts and music. I listened to a spiritual podcast, a nutrition podcast and a small business podcast. I also listened to country music, bachata, and classic rock. I would get into the elliptical workouts and up the tension when I felt really good! I laughed, I cried (wtf country music), and smiled my way through the 9-11pm workouts. I also tried to use the stationary bike but it wasn't my thing. I even put a book on the monitor to try to read since it's a reclined bike but I wasn't into it, only tried twice.
I made a commitment last year to add more strength training to my training since realizing I'm in perimenopause and need to keep at it to hold onto muscle, otherwise the shift in hormones causes muscle atrophy. So I did a strength training workout every other day for the month as well. I use Mommastrong and Beachbody on Demand.
My food intake went up - as usual during a training block. I made sure to add extra protein due to the strength training as well. There's a very fine line between compromising my nutrition/getting enough protein and time. I've been on Beachbody's plant-based protein recovery chocolate drink, which helps a lot, I mixed it with moringa powder and children's probiotics if serving to River also - he loves it and I approve of him drinking it!
I also ate breakfast either right before or during my morning logins at 8am for work. Which meant that I often had zero time to shower or get myself together, often starting work and mom duties in my wet workout clothes. Some days, it was right up to the minute that I either got back home or off the elliptical and into 'good mornings' on the work chat while making oatmeal. Which would otherwise be stressful but I had that previously mentioned hormone dose which made everything alright.
I also used the pre-workout from Beachbody which helped those morning that I wasn't feeling it. Some days I literally went from the bed straight to the kitchen to mix it up and then got dressed, etc. I never used pre workout supplements pre-pregnancy but I'm older now with more priorities; so it really helped and it's clean and nutritionist approved.
Now that it's over, I'm still waking up at 6 automatically, even when trying to rest. I think I'll use this momentum I started to keep up with it and register for something else soon!
All in all, it felt more like a race near the end, where I was legit struggling to keep the mileage up every. single.day. If I didn't do the full 8.6 in a day, you fall behind and then you're doing more mileage. Kinda like what happens when household chores get backed up.
I'm constantly looking at local and not-so-local races and I'm not registered for anything else but certainly itching!
Here's a photo from Sycamore Canyon, in it's greenest condition! By the end of spring, it'll be more brown.
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