As we are becoming more aware of the potential health impacts of the Corona Virus it is becoming clear that we will have to adapt and change our behaviors and out lifestyles to some degree for the benefit of society as a whole. I big part of that is the cancelling of events and gatherings. I know many of us plan our lives around going to things or doing things that involve lots of people gathered in one place and now we won’t be able to do those things. It is frustrating and may make us sad and even angry and that’s ok. Feel those feelings. Allow yourself that. There is nothing wrong with that. But do not unleash your feelings on others. That helps no one. No one wants to be making these decisions. No one wants to be cancelling events. No one wants to have to be worried about the health of our communities like this. But this is where we are.

As I followed the news of the corona virus and listened to medical professionals I didn’t really expect the cancelling of events to affect me directly. I am not exactly a go out and gather with the masses kind of person. The only thing I do is run in a few races every year. This winter I have been training for a half marathon that I was hoping to set a new personal best at. Now that race has been cancelled.

I am not going to lie, at first I was a little sad and frustrated. And that is ok. How could one not be when you’ve been putting in the work towards a specific event like that? I am sure lots of people are feeling that right now. But I know that cancelling events right now is the right thing to be doing and I am thankful that we have leaders who are willing to make these hard decisions. I am not sure if I could do that.

So that leaves us with what to do when our event gets cancelled. As I said before take time and feel the feelings. That is human and it is ok.

For me my plan for moving forward is this: At the point in time I learned my targeted race was being cancelled I had two more weeks of training to get through with my two longest runs of the training cycle to complete and then a taper week leading into race day. Guess what? My plan is to do exactly that. Finish out my training. I have been feeling good. Training has been going well. I have been having fun with it. Why stop doing that just because the race is cancelled?

I am also going to run a half marathon at the end of my training. It won’t be an “official” half marathon at an event and it won’t be on the same course as the race I had planned to run but that is ok.

The thing I love about running is pushing myself and seeing what I can do. Seeing how fit I can be. How far can I run? How fast can I run? How much better do I feel now than I used to? Signing up for races are great to get that boost of motivation it sometimes take to push ourselves to train hard. And sure running races can be fun. Swag is nice. Bagels and beer post-race a good too. But I do not run for the race. I run for me and how it makes me feel and the person it shapes me into. I had a goal to set a new PR at the half marathon this year and there is no reason for that goal to change. I can still finish out my training. I can still run a half marathon that same weekend. I can still push myself as hard as I can and see just what I can achieve. Don’t let the cancellation of an event make you forget what you can do or what running is really about.

Running has allowed me to enjoy other aspects of my life to a fuller extent. That is why I started running, to improve other parts of my life and running has certainly given me that, but running is not my life. Running is only a part of my life and it will continue to be part of my life in whatever form that takes and it will continue to make me a better person in so many ways even without official races to run.

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