Masters, your workout of the week this time is actually a race! We’re entering the “Virtual Racing World of 2020/2021” and what better way to be prepared than to test out a few options for your own competition. No Strava or smart watch required…but it can make things more fun! For this workout, all you’ll need is a stopwatch and a set course that you know won’t change too much (for example, if on a bike try not to pick a dirt road that’s slated to be paved!).
This can be done in any mode…run, bike, ski, hike, swim…the goal is to either:
-Establish your own “race course”
-Compete on an existing “virtual course” or “segment”
Some of our Masters are already familiar with chasing segments, and can tell you just where their favorite timetrial and competitive locations are. Will anyone unseat Steve Crafts as the legend of “Hobo Hill” on the 127 bikepath? Can anyone top the 2015 time set by Torin LaLiberte on a pair of speedy rollerskis up the Bolton access road? Maybe you watched the Harmeyer brothers in their epic quest to claim the biking segment on Burlington’s Depot Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W9MQyqNz2c
With an uncertain season ahead, virtual racing is one way to compete without the constraints of a typical racing scene (crowds, confined spaces, personal contact, etc). But you don’t even need an account on Garmin or Strava to make it happen. The first virtual races happened well before technology even made that term a concept…clipboards and pencils stashed away in basements and desk drawers held record times of local hills and loops. Skiing and running teams that don’t even exist anymore kept track of tons of routes and rankings. And you too can create your own race if you don’t want to tackle the online pages of Strava.
Your challenge this week is to give it your all in one “race” effort. Maybe it’s a minute long, or maybe it’s a big climb of a few miles. But either way, you’ll have to dig deep and find the motivation to push it just like a regular race, which is something we just might all see a bit more of this year.
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