Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Sole sister virtual run recap

Standing in front of the door, thinking about all that rain...
I received a free entry to the Gone For A Run Sole Sister Virtual 7 mile run in exchange for this blog post. But all opinions are mine, of course!

I was pretty excited to run this virtual race. When I posted about it a few weeks ago, the response from my virtual sole sisters was amazing! So many of them signed up to do this one that it actually sold out. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how to best fit a 7 mile run into my marathon training plan. You know Becky doesn't like me to mess with the plan. But on Saturday, I had a 5 miler on the plan before work, and I figured that 2 extra miles weren't going to hurt me.

My alarm went off at 5:30, and as I laid in bed thinking about getting up, I heard the rain pouring down. My heart sunk. Was I going to have to do this one on the treadmill? I hoped not, but I got up to make some coffee and check the weather. It didn't look good.


But I looked outside and it wasn't raining too hard, and I decided to suck it up and do the 7 outside. I put on a bright neon shirt for visibility and headed out the door. Immediately, I got wet. I ran the path through the park by my house and stepped in a big puddle. I felt the water soak into my shoes. Great. Only 6.9 more miles to go with wet feet. At least it was warm out, and my legs felt amazing. I ran from my house to the retention pond where I do all that speedwork.

When I got there, I realized I was THE ONLY person on the path. It reminded me of those solo runs in winter when I run there. It was a little eerie, but I made my way around. I got a side stitch (what is it with those lately?) around mile 3 and I concentrated on my breathing. I stopped at mile 4 for a drink of water and to take this picture. Too bad I didn't capture the lightning that would occasionally flash. The lightning didn't bother me, but every time I heard a thunderclap, it would start to pour again.


I was pretty happy about this run. Considering the conditions, it would have been easy to blow this run off. But since I was committed to running the race--all my sole sisters were out there doing it too--I had no choice but to run it. I'm so glad I did. I got my marathon pace too, 8:47 minutes/mile, which for a 7 mile run in the rain was a big confidence booster!

Here are some of my sole sisters and me!
I have to share that I have met all of these ladies through social media. I know I always say it, but what an amazing community we have! I've linked to FB pages and blogs to those that have them! I am honored and thrilled to share their photos. Please check them out and show them the love!

Me

Jennifer

Lorelei

MaryBeth from Tutus and Tennies. We'll be meeting next March when I head back to run the Sarasota Half Marathon!

Jennifer from See Mom Run 13 point 1! I'll be meeting her in real life at the Chicago marathon in October!

Sweet Katie and her daughters from Sole Sister Katie
Misty from Misty Runs NJ


Paria from Mom On the Runsanity. Check out her beautiful posts on her blog...

Smitha from Running with SD Mom

Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin
Holly from HoHoRuns, my partner in crime with That Time of the Month. and her sister. I get to meet her in October at Chicago!

Joni

Karen from Running Over the Hill

Kimberly from Kooky Runner

Liz from Bitchinrunner

This was the best virtual run yet! I think this should be an annual event. There were so many of us out there, getting it done! "Sisters are doin' it for themselves"!...

Would you do this one if it was offered again?

64 comments :

  1. this should be an annual event for sure! so many great pictures! I wish we would get some of that glorious rain!

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  2. Love your race recap and thanks for including all of your virtual sole sisters (including me)! Hopefully we can do another virtual race together!
    Awesome pace on your run!

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    1. I thought this was so fun and it was great connecting with everyone!

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  3. So glad that you were able to still able to complete the race outside. Long runs on the treadmill are never any fun.

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    1. I wouldn't have done it if but for all my sole sisters getting it done!

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  4. Great job, what a fun virtual race! Wish I could have participated but I had another race scheduled for the weekend. I do love Gone For A Run's virtual races though so I'll definitely be joining in on the next one!

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    1. I have agree, this was fun! I connected with so many runners on FB because of this! Next up is Run for Beer...not a problem for me!

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  5. Great job in the rain! Thanks for including all of us Sole Sisters! My real sister really enjoyed it. She doesn't race much because of her knee problems and had never heard of a virtual run. She may be hooked now.

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    1. This was my favorite virtual run. I knew all of you were out there running too! It was so fun!

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  6. Let's do it again! Thanks for the shout out!!! We thought here in Florida we might be stuck in the rain, didn't happen :) You are a warrior!

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    1. Yeah, kind of ironic that we got all that rain here! I definitely want to do this one again.

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  7. You are one tough cookie. If it were raining, I would have bailed. Sound like fun. I usually run real races rather than virtual since I need the company.

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    1. This one felt like I had lots of company, tho! And it was a warm rain...

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  8. Good for you getting it in!
    Love all the sole sisters pictures!!! So many awesome ladies out there!
    That picture of you in the rain is a great shot!

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    1. This was so much fun! Hopefully you can do one with us in the future!

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  9. Love all the pictures!! And you are tough to start in the rain, especially a virtual race!! WTG!

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  10. Love all of the pictures! Really shows how much of a community running is:) Great job on your run in the rain...sometimes that can be a deterrent, but sometimes it is so invigorating to me too.

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    1. This run really made me feel that sense of community! Who knew a virtual run could do that?

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  11. I actually really enjoy running in the rain - as long as it's warm rain. I'd be nervous about thunder and lightening, though. Way to get it done - no excuses!

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    1. I don't mind running in the rain but the whole idea of heading out into the rain...I needed a little push...

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  12. I need to keep an eye on these Gone on the Run events! This looks like it was a good one! Love that pic of you in the rain! Nice work!

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    1. This was fun! The next one is Run for Beer! Which is a no brainer for me...

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  13. Looks like fun and great to see the others' pictures too!

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    1. I loved having the other runners to participate with. It felt like we were running together!

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  14. I agree! This should be an annual event! One day, we will all run together in real life. In San Diego of course. We don't have to worry about running in the rain here.

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  15. Awesome job! I know that feeling of hearing the rain outside before you even start a run...I don't mind when it rains when I am already out running but its tough to go out when its already raining! Nice pace too! This sounds like a great event:)

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    1. Same for me...if I'm already running and it starts raining, no biggie!

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  16. Great job - marathon pace for that long is impressive, especially in the rain! It sounds like a great event - 7 miles is a fun and not common distance, and virtual races are fun as well! I don't mind running in the rain and actually like it, unless it's a torrential downpour and flooding. We used to get a lot of those in St. Louis and northwest Indiana, but here in Seattle the rain is so pleasant to run in.

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    1. I'm coming to Seattle in September for a long weekend! Any suggestions for running in the city?

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  17. Oh Wow Wendy I had no idea there were so many of us! I do think we need to make it an annual event! A big congratulations to everyone! Thanks to you for the inspiration to get us to enter and run this one together!

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  18. Good for you for getting out in the rain! You're a tough sister :)

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  19. So inspiring to see all of the pictures!!! I especially love the one of you standing outside staring up in the sky. You look like a Greek goddess come to earth!

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    1. Well, wow, I just don't know what to say to that except Thank you!

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  20. Great job ladies!!!! I truly miss the camaraderie of running friends!!!

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  21. What a fun themed virtual race! I love it!! Way to go!

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  22. Love this!!! Thank you for including me:)))) I'd do a couple of virtual races a year....if I was again linked up with people and doing them. And I have a thought for next time....how about if in addition to doing a virtual race together, we also all committed to turning on our charity miles app at the same time and running for the charity of choice of the organizer? Charity Miles donates the money, and it would be fun to see collectively how much we could raise..... I'd be up for doing that sometime.... #solesister

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  23. I love how you shared the pics from the other virtual runners! So fun. I love virtuals and I am looking forward to the skirt sports one coming up

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    1. It was fun having so many friends join in this one! Made it more than a virtual run.

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  24. Great job!1 Lightening def scares me when I run!!! Nice that you had a lot of friends join!

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  25. Wow, that radar looked intense! Congrats for getting it done. Love all the photos and the shirts you all had on.

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    1. I loved how many of my virtual running friends joined in! This was a good one!

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  26. This looks like a great run. Sometimes being the only one out there is fun! Love that medal for the 7 mile and race shirt.

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    1. I really enjoyed this virtual race, knowing that so many of us were out there doing it!

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  27. Awesome!!! So much participation...almost seems like you were in an actual race!! Virtual races are always a challenge for me so doing them as a group would be ideal. AWESOM pic of you, BTW.

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  28. I have never ran in a virtual run! It's still too new of a concept for me I think! The tanks and the medals look really cute though!

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  29. I've never done this. Looks like so much fun!

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  30. Love the name of the race. Way to get it done in the rain. I actually love running in summer rain. As long as it's warm, I'm game!

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  31. I have no pictures but I did do a long run that day. By the way, did you use a timer you get your picture of you after your run?

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    1. I used a self timer for that picture by the lake, but my post run picture was a selfie!

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