Getting Back to Basics

Over the last 10 years, I’ve adopted a lifestyle that’s all about traveling to different places and running marathons.  That’s all on hold for now.  The last time I ran a marathon was March 1st.  The last time I was on an airplane was March 2nd.  I don’t know when I’ll travel or race again.  I’m no longer racing, but I’m still running.

Since the middle of March, I’ve been “sheltering at home.”  I only leave the house for essential activities.  Fortunately, getting outside for exercise is considered to be an essential activity.  The important thing is to run by myself.  I’m used to doing that, so it’s not that big of a change.

I have several different running routes.  I have a few different loops through my neighborhood on streets and sidewalks.  I can combine them in different ways, depending on how far I want to run.  I live in a quiet suburban neighborhood, so it’s not generally crowded.

My shortest loops are only about a mile, but they’re entirely on residential streets.  Running in the street, it’s easy to maintain “social distancing.”  Most of the time, I’m the only one there.

I have longer loops that include sidewalks.  Sometimes, I’m the only one there.  If I pass one person on the sidewalk, I’ll move way to one side as I pass, and they’ll move to the other side.  If there’s too many people, I can move into the street.

Running the same loops over and over again can get boring, but it’s the easiest way to avoid crowds.  I have other routes that are much longer.  Some are loops that as much as 7.6 miles.  Others are out-and-back routes that are about 10 miles.  One day in March, I did a 10 mile out-and-back run on a paved bike path that follows a narrow greenway under some power lines.  At first, I didn’t see many people.  Toward the middle of my route, I started to see more people.  Often, it wasn’t easy to maintain “social distancing.”  I enjoyed the change of scenery, but I haven’t returned to that route.

I’ve been a runner since I was 19.  In recent years, I’ve been in a perpetual state of marathon training, but it wasn’t always that way.  At times, I ran primarily so I could lose weight.  At other times, I ran to maintain my overall fitness.  I know what it feels like to be in really good shape.  I also know what it feels like to be completely out of shape.  I much prefer how I feel when I’m in shape.  I don’t want to lose that.

I’m currently running about six days a week.  Often, my daily run is the only time I go outside the house.  That’s made me really appreciate my runs.  I’ve always enjoyed how I feel when I run, but now it’s also my only chance to get fresh air and sunshine.

I wouldn’t characterize what I’m doing as training.  I’m just running.  When I was racing frequently, I didn’t need to get out by myself and do long training runs of 20+ miles.  If you’re running 26.2 miles every other weekend , you don’t need any other long training runs.  Likewise, if you’re going all-out in most of those races, you don’t need to do much more in the way of speed work.  I used to do two or three all-out marathons every month.  On the days in between, I’d just do an hour or two of easily mileage.

I’m still doing all the easy mileage, but without the races.  For now, I’m just enjoying my runs and maintaining a minimum level of fitness.  I’m not doing long runs, and I’m not doing speed work.  I’m keeping up a mileage base of at least 40 miles per week.  When the time comes, it won’t be too hard to get ready for races.  I’ll need to add the long runs and speed work, but my mileage base will be there.