One NY Run... Done!

Setting out for the final 6 of 310.75 miles this morning at 5:30 a.m. (7/23/20)

This morning’s 6.9 mile run brought me just though the finish line of my latest virtual running venture, the One NY Virtual Challenge. When first signing up, I (like all participants) was given the opportunity to commit to running roughly half the length of the state, measured at 500 kilometers (310.75 miles), or the entire length, 1000 kilometers (621.5 miles). I had just come off logging 33 miles in a single day for the Mind the Ducks Virtual Race, so played it safe by going with the 500k option. Now having finished with 40 days to spare, I like to think I could do the extra 500km, but am proud to have finished what I started. (It is not like I am going to stop running anyway!)

Registration opened on May 15, and I began my mile counting on the following day, though I held out hope some other non-virtual opportunities might happen. They did not, so by embarking on the average weekly the initial weekly average of 22 mile—well within weekly average, especially with Summer Break on the horizon—I would comfortably conclude the challenge on the final day, August 31. As it turned out, I was able to maintain my current practice of four weekly runs, and slowly add miles to build my weekly average to around 33 miles during the challenge. This average is an all-time high; even the years I trained for ultras usually resulted in lower monthly averages over the course of the twelve month calendar due to the need for rest weeks and injury. While I am aware it is not “amazing” by most standards, I am proud to have been able to slowly build. Ultimately I finished today, five weeks ahead of schedule in a cumulative time of approximately 47 hours, 28 minutes. An average of  9 minutes, 10 seconds per mile, which is fairly close to me median pace given planned key fast and slow-easy runs. I guess I'm nothing if not steady, at least when it comes to running!

View from run up East Main Street--from Twitter--on Day 1 of One
NY Run journey on May 16. (5/16/20)

Just as the state and national quarantine has taken away some of the enjoyable running events I look forward to annually (Lilac 10k, Shoreline Half Marathon, Firecracker 5 Mile, and so on), I have tried my best to allow the quarantine to give me something in return. The greatest gift here has been time. Whether the time home working with my wife during the height of quarantine or additional hours while teaching remotely which had previously been used to commute and/or arrive early to get to the copier before the daily rush. This extra time has been an incredible gift I have attempted to take advantage of before things (and the chaos of work schedules) necessitates a return to “normalcy”.

Now, onto the next adventure...