This is actually the first virtual race I have ever done. I have done one or two “challenges” through the blogging world, but they weren’t virtual races by any means. They just required you to run on a trail, or take some kind of running picture, blog about it and call it good. I was once featured in a #RunChat blog for my Trail Run Challenge!

This time, I had to keep track of my time, milage and report back to the race director, who is Jill Conyers over at Fitness, Health and Happiness, through a google document. (Speaking of google docs….isn’t that the coolest idea ever!? A document that you can update and share with everyone; and everyone else can update as well! Well… I think it’s cool).

Anyway, I already needed to run 3 miles for marathon training, so why not just add a tenth of a mile, time it, push myself  and call it a race?

Welcome to the Tackle the Miles Virtual Race! (I was able to select any distance, so I chose a 5k).

Look at the weather! In February!

Race Day Conditions: Beautiful! Yeah, it was quite a lovely day in Denver, CO. I even got to run in a t-shirt and capris! I probably could have even gone with shorts and a tank…but I didn’t want to chance it….knowing my luck, if I had broken out the tank top, it would have immediately starting raining or something.

Race Course: Just a jaunt around my neighborhood. Because I had limited time to squeeze in training, I stuck to the streets around my house. I would love to get to the trails more, but that’s not that plausible right now, so my race course was sidewalks and asphalt.

Time: I finished in 26:11! I thought that was pretty decent, especially for a lone race. I’m definitely a feeder of competition. Having other people around me defnietely makes me run faster.

Overall: Being my first virtual race, I wasn’t sure what I would think. I mean, I would have been running anyway, but having the idea of a race behind it gave me an excuse to really challenge myself. It’s kinda cool to know that there were a ton of us running around, somewhere in the world, for the same reason!

I do want to point out that I TOTALLY ran with my race bib. Yep. I’m a dork. But I loved all the looks people were giving me; even people in cars! I know Jill is posting an accumulation of everyone’s results today as well, and I’m curious to see how I did compared to others (see…competition) but I also just want to see and read about everyone else experiences! I already have seen a handful of Tackle the Miles race completions that have popped up on the 13in2013 facebook page!