As you may already tell from the title that my favourite Stroud Half Marathon this year has been cancelled due to, like almost all other running events, COVID-19. I had been taking part in the Stroud Half Marathon since 2006 continuously. It goes without saying I was disappointed this event has been cancelled as well.
Today, I could have been in Stroud If not the COVID-19. Instead, I was at home 113 miles away from the start line at Marling School in Stroud this morning. So, as the commiseration for the cancellation of the Stroud Half Marathon, I went out to run 13.1 miles. My last long run was on Sunday 23rd February this year in the Hemel 17 milers before COVID-19 hit and the world pandemic began.
During the past 8 months, with all the sports events cancelled during the lockdown and restrictions, I didn’t have any events to train for. I just did my own training a couple of times a week sometimes 7 miles and sometimes 10 miles. This morning was my longest run since the Hemel 17 miler 8 months ago. I tried to imagine I was in a race but virtual race is never the same as real race. I lacked both the physical and mental strength to push myself. I even turned to walking mode when climbing up the hill. Oh well, there was no marshal cheering me on and giving me any encouraging words. I felt exhausted in the last couple of miles. I had no extra energy to do 3.1 miles more than my maximum training distance in the last 8 months. The 1-metre social distancing rule also meant that I had to run on the road or cross to the other side of the pavement when I saw other pedestrians walking towards me. The sudden downpour when I was just over half way nearly deterred me from carrying on. Fortunately, the rain only lasted for about 10 minutes or so. Then the lovely sun emerged for the rest of the morning.
I was relieved to cross the “virtual” finish line and pressed my stop watch when it showed 13.1 miles. I finished in 2 hours 26 minutes 9 seconds with an average 11.09 minute a mile pace. It was indeed a very slow pace because I didn’t “train” for it. After my half marathon “race”, there was no finisher’s t-shirt, no medal, no goodie bag, no conversation with other runners to compare note. I just had a pad on my back and returned home. The feeling was weird. I have come to the realisation that I can’t do “virtual” race. I can never push myself as hard as in the real race. I love to run with other people in the running events. I love the camaraderie I love the tribal atmosphere in running with other humans. I just hope the COVID-19 will go away soon and we can all return to our pre-COVID life and can run together with other people without having to worry about facemask and social distancing!!