It is official Boston 2020 CANCELLED

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Boston Marathon to be cancelled.

Years of collecting

It’s been difficult staying motivated to train for any length run since no race is happening. Sure, there are the virtual races but being that I don’t enjoy racing to begin with, there’s no reason to sign up for a race and run by myself. I mean… why?! I still engage the help of a trainer in hopes to better my performance at different distances once REAL racing begins again. This holds me accountable. Typically, I’m running 6 days a week with 2 harder workout days and a longer run one day per week. I don’t like hard days. I don’t like speed work. I do enjoy easy, no pressure, no goal runs when the weather is nice and my legs aren’t heavy. The longest weekend run all year has been 15 miles with 10 miles being the norm, totaling 43 – 45 miles per week. If Des Moines, IA still holds the marathon on October 18th, then I’ll run it but without a speed goal in mind. 2020 running is a new adventure, forced by the pandemic.

With any energy reserve from not logging long miles I’ve turned my focus to making bread. I jumped on the sourdough wagon. Yes, making my own sourdough starter and intending to feed it weekly until it’s 50 years old. If it actually makes it 50 years it will most likely outlive me unless I make it to 107. Maybe I will based on all the nutrients and added minerals in sourdough.

More about not going to Boston for my 10th consecutive run. On May 28th, 2020 the mayor of Boston in collusion with the BAA announced the cancelling of the 2020 Boston marathon. They had postponed the race to September but things still looked bleak in Massachusetts apparently and to keep everyone safe, CANCELLED. There will be a virtual race in September and I’m not completely on board with that. It’s tough enough running a marathon with 30000 others but alone?

Trying to stay positive among the challenges. Ted had a heart attack earlier this month and spent two nights in the hospital. Luckily, it wasn’t bad as heart attacks go. He’s back to working part time and playing golf. I’ve been walking the dogs a minimum of 2 miles pre run every morning. Work has been crazy busy and yes, our business is essential based on the parts supplied to other essential businesses. The weather. Snow just a couple of weekends ago then 90 degrees this past week. CRAZY! When there is no upcoming race and no one to run with it’s hard to find motivation to get up at 4:30 am walk dogs then run 9 miles. What helps get me out of bed and into my running gear is seeing other runners posting 10, 15, 20 mile runs.

These are other distance runners and, like me, no real race in sight but many opt for virtual races. I’ll have to decide if jumping into that virtual starting line is something I want to do when the BAA hosts the virtual Boston Marathon in September. It will be run anywhere you like with a printable finish line, a bib, shirt, and a medal. No, it won’t replace the real marathon that I’ve been so determine to run since starting in 2011. 2020 would have been my 10th CONSECUTIVE Boston Marathon. That virtual race? Well, I don’t want to ruin my streak and it’s easy to say I’ll do it now but come September, do I really want to run 26.2 miles solo? TBD…. In the meantime, it helps to buy new running gear. I’m waiting for a new pair of Hoka to arrive. In an effort to help boost the desire to run more miles on the weekend, I bought a hydration vest. Let’s hope it helps.

*Actually used it this past weekend with Zoey and it worked out well.

New found hobby. Sour dough bread making. It’s fun. This quarantine has me grasping for things to do. Creating through food is so much fun. I thought about crocheting or embroidery but then what would I do with the items I made? At least we can eat the bread. I embark on a new bread recipe each week using my home grown sour dough starter. First I used Bouchon Bakery recipes for sour dough baguettes.

Ended up with an extra baguette and made French Toast. French toast baguette Both delicious! Then made a country loaf which was awesome. Made Ted sour dough yeast pancakes with discarded starter. Buckwheat sourdough crackers out of discarded starter. Oh my goodness these were all good. I made a spectacular multi grain which had very interesting flavor, crumb and lots of beautiful grains for texture.

This past weekend, I used “Beard on Bread” by James Beard to make Sour Cream Sour Dough Bread. Let me tell you, that bread is a tad tart, sweet, salty and so soft, it makes me believe I’ve crossed the line to a professional bread baker! Ok, an exaggeration because perfecting bread making takes experience, but I’m getting there.

All I can do at this point is to keep running especially if I continue to make bread other wise that bread padded Buddha belly will make an appearance. As the days warm, the sun shines, positive news on beating COVID-19 progress, getting up and getting out and running miles will get easier. I know this and will keep running.