I signed up to run the triple crown

After running a marathon for the last two years at the annual Fort4Fitness Fall Festival I will settle for the Triple Crown this year. Apparently, a marathon is too big an event for the organization to handle, so after four years they decided to abandon it. They are now only offering the 4-mile, 10k, and Half Marathon. The Triple Crown is for runners wishing to do all three. You start with the 10k, followed by the Half Marathon, and finish with the 4 mile all back to back for a total of 23.3 miles. And... it will all be virtual this year too!

I totally understand going virtual. Everything is virtual anymore. I still wanted to compete because I've participated in this even since I started running, plus I need something to train for. When they announced last fall they were doing away with the Marathon I guessed I would just do the Half.

A couple weeks ago, while training for the Half, I started to feel pretty good about running again. That's when I began to consider the Triple Crown - especially if it was virtual. Until last week they were still planning the in-person event. My hesitance at doing the Triple Crown in-person was because you had to finish the 10k in an hour, and the Half in 2 hours, in order to make it to the starting line for all the races. I have done that before, but I hadn't been training to do quite that much that fast. However, when they announced it would be virtual I signed up the next day. I feel pretty good about doing it all in one day, but it will allow me the freedom to go slower on my own.

I'm still feeling pretty good about it... other than... the day I registered, my right foot started bothering me again. I ran 7 miles this morning and it was pretty sore a few times. I will probably start icing it in a bucket and topically, and massaging as much as I can myself.

So, my plan as of now is to run the Triple Crown on the day the race would have been (Sept. 26). I will start by running the 10k (hopefully with Jane), then the Half Marathon, and finish with the 4-mile. Since my training plan is still mostly for the Half (I started adding an extra mile to everything this week), I am planning to walk the 4-mile finish, and maybe part of the Half if I need to. I'm not worried about a time. I would simply like to finish within the 5 hours they allow for the real event.

**For those wondering how virtual events work: There are different ways to do it. This one is on the honor system. Registrations are drastically reduced in price (for instance, I am paying $30 instead of $125). I am essentially paying for 3 races. So I will get a shirt and 4 finisher medals. I can do it whenever and wherever I want. They will likely encourage people to provide pics and give input on the community page. I know it seems to stupid to pay just to go out and run. It's a mental thing, and for someone like me, it beats not doing anything.

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Hebrews 12:1

" Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."