First Virtual Marathon in the Books!

26.2 miles (at least) and just under 4 hours (down to the minute) later and I have finished my first ever virtual marathon! The weather was sunny and near perfect temperature, my body cooperated, and I even had the support for the last several miles of my girlfriend who was biking behind me. My route was a hodgepodge of sections I had used in various training runs so I had familiarity. I also used the same shoes, hydration vest, and energy gels I had been using for everything over 10 miles so this felt just like another long run, only longer.

Compared to my marathon race 2 years ago, this one was quite challenging mentally due to the lack of other runners beside me or crowd supporters. I also had a good idea of what route I wanted to take but had to rely on my watch to determine turnaround points and my eventual finish line. Given my COVID diagnosis a short 6 months ago as well as various other life stressors myself and many experienced transitioning into pandemic life, I felt like this was one of my most proud personal achievements.

The only thing I probably would have changed was my tracker. According to the data I looked at afterwards, my pace significantly slowed over the last 6 miles but I think this was more due to my Fitbit not tracking my run accurately than slowing down due to tiredness. I don't doubt that I actually ran well beyond 26.2 miles but my accuracy on this was only as good as my watch's GPS. I think for Christmas this year, I will see if Santa feels like bringing me a Garmin which I have heard are quite a bit more accurate.

#covidrunner #virtualmarathon #marathonfinisher #runrichmond