P3 Athlete Running Stories of Running through a Pandemic | Story 4

In early March, many of my co-workers and I were joking with each other that we would welcome an early Spring Break.  As special educators, the end of the school year wrap-up really begins in March and it ramped up FAST this year.  Little did we know that we would get an early Spring Break, but we should have been careful for what we wished for.  We thought we would be home for 14 days, America would rally and life would get on.  It didn’t.

My job is safe.  My husband’s job is safe.  Our dog is rad. We have a nice little life next to the ocean and plenty of redwoods to get lost in.  I was asked to do my best with work and to stay within 5 miles of my home.  In the grand scheme of things, one could say I was winning at this game of life.  The first month of quarantine was okay, but as the days went on, I found myself spiraling into a dark place.  At first, running was a helpful outlet, especially as I didn’t have to run in the dark, I had a couple of friends that I could safely run with, and I had plenty of time to do all the good runner recovery stuff.  Soon enough though, there was zero interest in doing more than getting some in some miles. Michele wrote training plans, I signed up for a few virtual races, but one thing I learned was that I am NOT a virtual runner.  Take my money for your cause, but don’t expect me to actually put in any effort for said event.  Maybe I’d run the 5k... maybe I’d run 5 miles... maybe I’d just run a half cause I could.  I had no clue what I was doing except that I liked running on my own terms.

In the summer months I have time to venture onto the trails and since COVID brought an early summer, I found myself in the forest a bit.  Because I afraid of falling, I am so cautious and slow.  I soon discovered that I didn’t care how slow I was because I was having fun.  In mid-July, I agreed to scout a loop in Pinnacles National Forest as a friend was seeking a FKT there.  She told me it would be 12.5 miles with 3,000 ft of climbing. She lied... It was 18.5 miles with well over 3,000 feet of climbing AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! (Side note... it was also over 90 degrees that day).  It had been a long time since I had so freely jumped at an adventure like this and instead of Michele now writing plans that I simply won’t do, I’m out on the trails and have planned an unofficial trail marathon to finish up my September Birthday Month.

I’m sure when racing emerges that I’ll be right back out on the streets, but you better believe that the trails will not be forgotten.  I may even need to find some trail races and those “easy” run or long, slow distance days will be done on the trails.  

During the pandemic, I have found myself falling in love with running even more and finding myself open to new challenges.  I still long to give my mom a big hug, sit by a Vegas pool with Mojitos, and to get back into a classroom with my sweet students.  Until then, I’ll be counting my blessings and trying to stay upright on those trails.