To say that Covid-19 had put a damper on the 2020 and 2021 running seasons would be an understatement. From full on lockdowns, gyms closures and race cancellations, it was difficult to keep up a running program this past year. The last race I did was the Chilly half-marathon in early March 2020 - before the world changed. Alas, with the widespread vaccination of the general population, life and training appears to be slowly returning to normal. People are running and racing again, and it is such a wonderful feeling. Although there are still some race restrictions and modifications (e.g. staggered starting times, reduced in person capacity, live/virtual events) elite athletes and average people are signing up for events and getting back to their training plans on a consistent basis.
While I normally look forward to running the CRS Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon events in a live race format, I took part in the virtual half-marathon on Oct 18, 2021. It felt really great to be sharpening my running legs again. The feeling of sticking to and completing a race plan is so good, both physically and mentally. I managed to drop those extra covid pounds I put on in lockdown, and I just felt generally happier throughout my day. Hence the smile running gives me:
Moving forward, the Abbott World Major Marathons have all re-commenced this fall. The Chicago marathon was held this month and it looks like they will all go ahead again in 2022. Now that the land border with the USA is open to Canadians, and with the formal recognition of the Astra Zeneca vaccination (which I received) by the US Center for Disease Control, I can finally re-apply for admission for the Chicago Marathon, which I qualified for back in 2019, and was supposed to run in 2020.... but, you know, covid happened.
I'm so pleased to announce that I've been formally accepted for the 2022 Chicago marathon!
Hopefully, the upcoming winter will be kind to us runners, and we will all have a long awaited training block ahead of us this year. Here's to happy and healthy run training ahead of us.
If you're looking for any running advice or need help laying out a training plan for the 2022 racing season, please reach out, I'd love to help any runners get back on track. Remember, we are all in this together.
