May 5, 2020 – Virtual Races

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Hey Guys!

 

I love continuing to see your smiling faces out running. Something to look forward to on every run – trying to spot a friend!

 

I’ve been seeing a lot of virtual races out there on social media. Kind of fun for some – maybe stressful for others. I ran a virtual 5K the other weekend. I was glad to have done it, but it wasn’t the same as racing. It’s definitely harder to push yourself when you’re alone and that extra oomph is missing. However, I’ve come around to thinking that it might be a long time before we can do a real race, so maybe we should dip our toes into this virtual thing and see if we like it. One thing for sure: it will likely be a better effort than you’d get from a low-purpose workout, so you can think of it as a virtual race or a tempo on steroids.

 

Monica came up with this great idea and format. It’s just for us – no one has to go public with “results”. I’d think of this sort of like our oh so loved Ekidens and Ragnar Relays. It’s something we can do together as a team and it’s just a fun hard effort to do as a team. And something to sort of “wake us up” a bit. Details below. Winning team gets a celebratory beer or White Claw delivered by me. Oh, and I still have a few singlets and shirts so if you ordered and don’t have yours, please let me know!

 

What is the LES Team Virtual Relay?

 

  • Teams of 4
  • Relay total distance 21.1km
    • 3 members run 5km each
    • 1 (un)lucky member runs 6.1km
  • Each runner submits their goal race time when they are registering
  • Teams will be selected at random. Once selected, the individual goal time of each team member will be added together to create the TEAM GOAL TIME
  • All legs to be completed solo between May 14-17
  • Runners must follow provincial regulations and social distancing guidelines
  • Record your run via Garmin or Strava (honour system will also be accepted)
  • Goal is to come as close as possible to your goal race time
  • Add cumulative times together to get half marathon time per team
  • The winning team will be the team that comes CLOSEST TO THEIR TEAM GOAL TIME
  • And remember … wear your LES gear, post to social media, encourage your teammates!!

 

Next steps:

  1. People who are interested please email Monica before Sat May 9 with the following three items:
  • Name
  • Goal 5km race time
  • Goal 6.1km race time
  • (Challenge yourself with your goal time! It should be realistic …but it should also push you out of your comfort zone)
  1. Once all names are received, teams will be selected at random. Each team will consist of 4 people; (3) will be racing 5km and (1) will be racing 6.1km – for a total team distance of 21.1km.
  2. Teams and goal times will be announced in Seanna’s weekly email on Tues May 12
  3. You will have to run your leg between May 14-17
  4. Winning team will be announced on Tues May 19
  5. And remember, the winning team isn’t the fastest team…it’s the team that comes closest to their team goal time.  Team work and pacing is the key here 😊

 

Example:  Pre-race goals

  • Runner 1: 5km goal 20:00
  • Runner 2: 5km goal 25:00
  • Runner 3: 5km goal 18:00
  • Runner 4:  6.1km goal 25:00
  • TEAM GOAL TIME:  1:28

Example: Race results

  • Runner 1: 19:00
  • Runner 2: 26:00
  • Runner 3: 20:00
  • Runner 4: 25:00
  • ACTUAL TEAM TIME:  1:30 (2 minutes off of goal time)

Alright – let’s go!

 

Oh, also, workout options for this week (whether doing tempo/race or not – I think we can “train through” this one 😉):

 

1 – Pottery Rd Hills. Mix up the longs and shorts. How about 2 x full, 1 x short. Repeat 2-3 times

 

2- 4-5 x 5 min hard (faster than tempo), with 1:30 easy (OR 3-4 x 1 mile w 1:30 rec)

 

3 – Brick workout. I did this one day when I couldn’t wrap my head around going for a long run. Alternate shorter runs with something else. ie. 2K run, 5-10 mins of core/strength – repeat a few times OR 3K run, 15 mins on the bike trainer – repeat a few times

 

Have fun and see you soon!

 

Seanna