Disclaimer: I received a free entry into the Virtual Grandma’s Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

As I mentioned before, time waits for no one…especially when it comes to training (or not) for a running event…

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Grandma’s Marathon Weekend Week

Running Plan

Due to a less than ideal season of running (wouldn’t even stretch to call it training in any way, shape, or form), my plans for the Grandma’s Marathon weekend were different than anticipated. Switching up my reported results from the “Recreational” division to the “Incremental” was the best decision for my current fitness — or lack thereof.

• Previous plan : train well, run all the miles in one go on “race day” in the Recreational Division and aim for a 2:40 or better finish

• Current plan : play it smart and safe, running the Incremental Division throughout the week and finishing strong over a few days time

I was sure glad the Virtual Grandma’s Marathon had several levels of competition built into their 2021 experience :

• Competitive Division: proof of performance required (GPS, Strava, RunKeeper, etc.), included in Competitive virtual results & eligible for virtual age division awards

• Recreational Division: completing their race all at once but not interested in being in Competitive virtual results. No awards. Rec results listed separately

• Incremental Division: completing their race in segments and submitting cumulative time. No awards. Incremental results listed separately

I planned on running “whenever my heart desired” over the week after the live event — June 21st – 25th. I didn’t have the hubs or kids around that week but I ended up working more than I anticipated…and then packed the miles into a few runs towards the end of the week.

William A. Irvin 5K

June 22nd — 3.25 miles

The pup and I set out for a mile and then I set out for a few more — I certainly didn’t feel up to the distance to start, but after a little bit, the miles became easier.

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Virtual Incremental Grandma’s Half Marathon

Every run for my Virtual Incremental Grandma’s Half Marathon was vastly different in effort, feel, and experience

June 29th — 2.5 miles (10.62m to go) – hot evening, kicking myself for my lack of training

June 30th — 2.0 miles (8.62m to go) – another hot evening but legs feeling fresh

July 1st — 4.12 miles (4.5m to go) – cooler temps (relatively so) meant longer miles felt good; fireworks started in the area and scared the crap out of me several times

July 3rd — 4.52 miles (0.0m to go) – cooler temps (yay!!) and a personal fireworks show for the longest miles in this incremental cycle; very happy to be done with the task at hand

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Overall

I have a love / hate relationship with virtual events — in the case of the Virtual Grandma’s events, the event staff made the lead up exciting with frequent emails and social posts. I clearly didn’t find enough motivation with the virtual event to keep up with my training…which is a pitfall to not being at an in-person event. I know that this experience will give me a little more drive to stick to my training plan for my next half marathon…

I look forward to receiving my Grandma’s swag later this summer! Stay tuned…

Have you run the Grandma’s Marathon before?

What running event are you looking forward to the most in 2021?

Let me know in the comments below!