And yet, we run.

The world is a different place since my last post.

I had an amazing January and February (well, at least in terms of running.  2020 as a year has been something of a shitshow).  I logged more miles in those two months than I did all of 2017 and 2018 combined.  My half marathon training was going very well, and I was all set to run the Disney Virtual Half Marathon the last week of March.  And then COVID-19 changed everything.

Within the span of a week, my daughter's school transitioned to distance learning, my wife was working from home, and the college I work at sent all of the students home and transitioned to online coursework.  A week later, I also switched to working from home 4 days a week.  Lifetime Fitness closed, the college Rec Center closed, and I lost all motivation to run.

In the end, i decided to take a few weeks off and adjust, and stopped running.  Ultimately, I decided not to run the half marathon; it seems like such a minor thing, with everything else going on, but it was let down.  In the past two weeks, countless other races and events that either my friends or I had been training for have been cancelled as well.  Ragnar Sunset in June has been cancelled, Grandma's Marathon in Duluth has been cancelled.  The freaking Olympics have been postponed!  I suspect at this point that Ragnar Road in August will also be cancelled.  It's all for the best, of course, as Minnesota does what it can to flatten or delay the curve.

I've gotten out here and there over the last month for a few miles, but I was really lacking motivation.  Out of curiosity, I checked the Minnesota Brewery Running Series website to see what their plans were; while I didn't run in any of their events last year, the event I ran in 2018 was an awesome time, and I had planned to do several of their events this year.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had added a virtual option for many of their events; you pay a modest entry fee, which gets you a $5 voucher for the brewery you're running at, and a copy of the course map.  You then have the option of either running the course at the brewery and stopping by for a growler to go, or you can just run a 5K on your treadmill or around your neighborhood and stop by when things are closer to normal.  

Yesterday morning, I decided to choose one at random and run 5K that afternoon, and then I saw they had a four pack... and the option for a shirt.... and a stainless steel pint glass....

Yesterday, I ran the Utepils Brewing 5K from the familiar confines of my own neighborhood (dodging dogs, cyclists, and people out walking for the first time, but that's a whole different post).  Today, I was absolutely GIDDY to get out on the trail, planning my run (Lakes & Legends 5K) for the warmest part of the day, which just so happened to have near blizzard conditions.  It was one of my favorite runs of the year, and while I know I need to rest my legs tomorrow, I just want to keep going.

For the next two runs in the virtual series, I chose a local brewery, as well as one near where I work.  I'm planning on actually running the course for these, and hopefully stopping by for some social distance growlers.  It's going to be a strange spring and summer, but I think running is going to help me get through it.