I have a lot of friends who are disappointed this evening.  The Pittsburgh Marathon, which was due to happen in early May, was cancelled as an ‘in person’ race today. 

The Pittsburgh Marathon is a great race, and usually attracts around 40,000 runners for the marathon and half marathon races.  I have done the half marathon three times.  I think the plan this year was for a smaller number of runners, but realistically holding a race of any size over a few hundred people, is still a major challenge.  I still think many of my races for this year, are still on the borderline of actually happening or being cancelled too.

Some people struggle with motivation when they don’t have a race to look forward to.  I understand that feeling but fortunately, I am not that bothered by it.  Do I want to race?  Absolutely I do, but there are other things that motivate me.  The desire to get fitter and faster. The possibility of trying new things, like the ultra run I did last year.  Just the feeling of being healthy.

I was not planning to run the Pittsburgh Marathon. My next scheduled race is Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga on May 23rd.  It is sixteen weeks away.  Is that far enough in the future to hope that races are back by then.  Who knows?  In the meantime, I will wake early tomorrow to do a run and continue on my journey.  At least my training has remained ‘normal’…