You’d think a Year in Running recap for 2020 would be empty, every race I planned to run was canceled. Yet I ended up running more “races” in 2020 than I did in 2019. It’s hard to believe, but between actual, real-life races and personal race efforts I tallied up a total of 16 “races.”

Snowshoe World’s + Nationals

Before the world shut down due to COVID, I traveled to Japan to race at the World Snowshoe Championships on February 15, 2020. There, I ran a strong race, finishing just four seconds behind second place to take home the Bronze medal. It was one of the most bittersweet moments: it was incredibly satisfying to realize my goal standing on the podium, but a little gut wrenching to fall just four seconds short of silver. You can see that play out HERE.

Two weeks later, I flew to Colorado for the National Snowshoe Championships in Leadville, Colorado on February 28, 2020. That trip was one of my favorites, Leadville was breathtaking and quirky and fun and I had a great time connecting with dear friends in Keystone while I was there. I finished seventh at the National Championships, which was a bit of a disappointment not to make the top five. It was a mild consolation to know that every woman who finished ahead of me lives at elevation, I live at 600ft above sea level.

When I think about these two race experiences I feel incredibly grateful to have had them. How lucky to have had at least a little bit of travel to two amazing places, before everything shut down. The memories from those trips feel even more special.

Personal Projects > Races

When everything started getting canceled and postponed, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Instead of holding out hope for each race I’d signed up for I opted to give structure to my training by tackling a running ‘project” each month. I wanted to run the canceled 50K I had planned to run (even if it was on my own), tackle some sort of elevation challenge in the stead of the Mt. Washington Road Race, give an FKT a go and work on getting my 5K time down. As in-person racing came back in New Hampshire, I was able to pepper in a couple ‘real’ races later in the fall.

Here’s how it all played out:

DIY 50K

I was originally signed up to run my first 50K in April. It was of course postponed (then later cancelled) and instead of going back to the drawing board, I decided to continue with my training. I was logging 2-3 hour long runs on the weekends and towards the end of March and beginning of April these long efforts were exactly what I needed mentally. When I went out for these long runs I forgot about the pandemic and the news and it was just me on my favorite rural roads. It was exactly what I needed.

Then on April 18th I ran my DIY 50K. I picked a route around my town that was mostly dirt roads, mother nature delivered a snowy day and my husband and kids, parents and my photog friend, Joe Viger followed me around cheering, snapping pics and supporting me. It was honestly one of the best days of 2020. I finished the 50K in 4:32. These clips from the day are my favorite.

The 5K Project

After taking May to recovery (and explore on my ElliptiGO) I tackled my 5K project in June. The plan was to run a time trial at the beginning of the month and then a second at the end, with the goal of improving my time. I ran each time trial on a certified USATF course near my house (I’d run this exact same course in a real-life race in November).

Solo 5K time trials in summer humidity are so hard.

Despite running some fast time in track workouts, I struggled during each of the time trials running 20:36 then 20:14 and since I was so disappointed a few days later I tried again, running 19:59. Still all far slower than my PR. I decided to give the 5K Project a break until fall

August FKT

I spent all of July prepping for my early August FKT attempt on the Belknap Range Trail. Most weekends I spent running long on different ends of the trail, scoping out places I wasn’t familiar with and prepping to string together a fast day on the range. On August 10th I tackled the FKT, tagging all 12 peaks in the range and finishing an hour and one minute faster than the previous time.

When you take a picture at every summit to document for the FKT you start to get a little crazy with the faces.

Someone has since set a new FKT, but on a slightly different route. I wanted to get back out there and try this different route, but didn’t have a chance before the leaves fell and hunting season started. Giving this other route a try and taking back the FKT is on my list for 2021

October Half Marathon PR

September was all about logging road miles and workouts in prep for a early October Half Marathon. It wasn’t a race that was on my calendar at all, but when Millenium Running announced their safety protocol for races and started hosting “socially distanced” races, I immediately signed up for the New England Half Marathon. It’s be a few years since I have run a road half and I wanted to take down an old PR, which I did, bettering my half marathon time by 3 minutes and finishing in 1:30:50 (I definitely would have loved to have those 51 seconds and gone right under 1:30. You can read all about that race HERE.

Turns out it is incredibly difficult to pin a bib on straight while wearing a mask. Who knew?!

The 5K Project Cont.

The saga of the 5K Project continued after the Half Marathon. In mid-October, just a few weeks after the half I ran a strong workout that indicated I was in shape to run a really big 5K PR. The workout was 12x300m with 100m cruise recovery (a slightly uptempo recovery vs. full jog recovery), so basically a 5K. I went into the workout feeling good, like I could potentially run really close to my 5K PR...and I did. I ran 19:47 (my 5K PR was 19:40) for the whole workout (plus 200m I added to make it 3.1).

With that workout under my belt I started to believe that running a sub-19 min 5K on the track was a real possibility. I gave that an attempt on November 1st, but stopped after nine laps. Ultimately, it boiled down to having a really emotional disagreement with my husband the previous night (marriage...it always has ups and downs) and I just didn’t have the emotional push to get through the hard part. Quitting that day was one of my biggest regrets. I was doing OK and wasn’t too far off pace (I ran 2.25 in 13:48).

I tried again later that week and ran slower than I had in the workout. Another disappointment.

There was still time, but it seemed like the window was closing: I had already peaked. I’d been training hard since December 2019, with no real breaks. Typically November is my off season, where I take a bit of time off and then use December to ramp up again for a peak in February for snowshoe racing. Going so late into the year without a break isn’t so typical for me, but man I wanted that 5K PR.

>> READ WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE AN OFF SEASON HERE.<<

Despite the fact that my workouts were starting to feel flat,I thought I could still pull it off, so I ran a road 5K on November 21st and ran 19:56 and then another 5K on Thanksgiving day and eeked out a tiny PR, running 19:36 (on the same exact course I’d run 20:36 back in June).

But I still wanted to try once more on the track. So I set my sights on December 19th. With a massive snowstorm forecasted I quickly switched around my schedule and decided to attempt the 5K a few days early by myself, it didn’t go so well as I struggled to find energy and rhythm in the cold (it was 23 degrees), running 19:55. Nearly twenty seconds slower than my 5K on the rolling road course a few weeks before. It definitely looked like a sign that I was due for a break. But then I changed my mind…

I got a text about a small group who was still going to try to run a fast 5K despite the fact that the track was covered. So I decided that the off-season could wait a few more days, bundled up (because it was 2 degrees) and joined a few others for a socially distanced fast 5K.

And I finally got that time I wanted to see, running 18:29. I can hardly count it as a PR since it was a downhill course, but it was nice to see the paces I was running during track workouts all summer and fall finally materialize in a “race.” For now, I’d say my 5K still stands at 19:36, but when real racing comes back I don’t think that time will stand for much longer.

>> Have you read about how I’ve used the ElliptiGO to get faster? Find out how HERE. <<

Off Season

There’s no more training on my calendar for the remainder of the year, so it’s time to let my mind and body relax and re-charge. I’m sure I’ll still get out there (hello?! We have almost two feet of snow on the ground!), but the focus now is to take a break and get ready for (fingers crossed) the return of racing in 2021.

Happy Running!

-Sarah

2020 Running Year in Review