The Jelly Bean Virtual Race

I follow quite a few other running blogs written by women; it's nice to share in the successes of others and to help gain some advice from the struggles we all endure.  Anywho, one of the blogger's, Jess, organized a fantastically cute virtual race for this past week, The Jelly Bean!

Virtual races are a smart idea when gas prices are up and it becomes that much more expensive to travel to actual races.  And when you start adding those travel costs to entry fees, the number of events you can attend start to dwindle.  The Jelly Bean race was free to enter and was on a runner's honor to report your official time - there was really no need to cheat because the winners of prizes that Jess' sponsors provided would be randomly selected.  P.S. awesome sponsors for this event, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed to maybe win something :)

I planned to cover my 5k during my 4-mile training run scheduled for Saturday, unfortunately the weather that morning had other plans.  Luckily, the rain cleared up and by mid-afternoon it was beautiful, albeit pretty windy!  My boyfriend and I still took it as an invitation to head down to the trail to get a 5k in.  My time was not incredible, 34:12, but with the 3% grade and a headwind in both directions, I was alright with it.  I didn't force myself to hit a certain pacing so it was a nice mind-clearing run. 

I highly encourage newer runners to look around for these "virtual races."  It's a great way to accomplish a goal of "running a race" without the stress or worry of not being fast enough or being last.  I do miss the competition aspect of running in an actual race, though.  I have a bit of a stubborn and driven personality, so when I'm in a race I tend to push myself that much more, just to prove to others that I can. 

Regardless, I had a blast with my first virtual race. Thank you, Jess, for organizing such a cute event!