Spring Break Plan: 30 Miles in 24 Hours

While I miss the camaraderie of live "racing," one positive consequence of our (so-far) year long  quarantine is embracing virtual runs to try different distances and challenges, and as a means of establishing training targets. One of the inherent realities of virtual racing at any distance is the importance of personal accountability in following through and reporting results. While in certain ways the stakes are lower than live racing ("If I DNF no one will be there to see it.") the added responsibility of honestly reporting your performance, good, bad or ugly, feels in a way a raising of the stakes. With Spring Break here, and the world slowly beginning to re-open to running adventures, there remains time left to squeeze in some final virtual running fun. With this in mind, I registered for the Yeti 24 Hour Challenge, organized by Yeti Trail Runners, last week. 

The challenge here is to run or walk 5 miles every four hours for 24 hours resulting in total of 30 miles. I will, however, be deviating slightly from the implied mission statement of Yeti Trail Runners by traversing roads, due to both easy access and, sadly, my propensity for getting lost on trails. To prepare myself, in addition to increasing the distances of my long, moderate runs, I  have spent the past few weeks incorporating a variety of different 5-ish mile routes into my runs. The intention is to  allow for some variety in scenery and, more importantly, safety--while I have rarely not felt safe running during the very early hours within my community, taking unnecessary risks at 1 a.m. seems unnecessary.

The plan is to use one day of Spring Break to cycle through the 24 hour period free of other responsibilities so that I can focus, recover and complete the challenge as comfortably as possible. Once certain days were taken of the table as possibilities due to previously schedule follow-up COVID vaccinations (both for myself and my mother), movie premieres (Godzilla v. Kong!) and other commitments, Monday, March 29, came away as the best choice. Within the context of my regular training program this will also permit a rare second weekend recovery day going in to better insure my body would be rested, ready and responsive to the challenge.

I have previously run a few ultra races (26.3 miles or longer), both in person and virtually, so my intention with this challenge is to "run" each 5 mile section with the intent of sharing the final outcome: good, bad or ugly!