Ironman VR Series races
This is has been the most fun I have had in a while. Virtual racing! Who would have thought. Ironman came up with this brilliant idea to keep people connected, healthy and I would imagine this has not hurt their brand image. My hats are off to them for this series. The other beauty to this series is that they are giving you the weekend basically to complete it. It allows for work or family and in my case...Church! Thanks IM
Also I have been super blessed to have a great wife who has supported in this weekly series. She even has gotten out there and ridden her bike along side of me on the run! The first race she set up chairs in our front yard and put out signs to encourage me. What a blessing it is to have such a great sherpa.
Since this is an ongoing series, I will keep updating this post as we go and fill in little race reports or recaps also.
VR1 was a 70.3 distance race. Well, there is no swimming in this virtual series, so they give you an appropriate run to start instead of the swim.
3.1 mile run :45
56 mile bike 3:16:33
13.1 mile run 3:33:39
Finished!
VR2 was a shorter distance, I believe this is officially an Olympic distance race.
1.9 mile run :28
24.9 mile bike 1:18:31
6.2 mile run 1:40:00
That was much funner than the longer distance. Because they track off of your watch, my first run on Saturday did not count. I only ran 6 miles instead of 6.2. Ugh, so Sunday I had to run the full 6.2 to make it count. Lesson learned!
VR3 was a Sprint distance race I believe. Short and fast, at least for some people!
.9 mile run :13
12.5 mile bike :35
3.1 mile run :43
That was a fun race distance! I could get used to this distance.
VR4 was a repeat race distance of VR2. This was great because it gave me a chance to see if I had improved any.
1.9 mile run :25
24.9 mile bike 1:13:28
6.2 mile run 1:30:33
As you can tell from the VR4 results, I did improve slightly. Nothing to brag about, but improvements....3 minutes on the first run, 5 minutes on the bike and about 10 minutes on the final run.
VR5 was a 70.3 race. I feel like I am getting dialed into this distance for the bike portion, but a solid half marathon run still is alluding me right now.
3.1 mile run 44:29
56 mile bike 2:57:48
13.1 mile run 3:45:19
It will be interesting to see if for the next 70.3 my run will improve any....
VR6 was a shorter distance. Same as VR2 and VR4. My indoor bike trainer was in the shop for this race and due to COVID-19, I ended up riding in circles in the local Baptist church parking lot.
1.87 mile run 26:01
24.9 mile bike 1:38:56
6.2 mile run 1:28:09
Slight improvement on the final 6.2 mile run. At this point of my life I will take any improvements on runs.
VR7 was a Sprint distance race. Short and sweet as they say. I utilized the Baptist church parking lot for the bike portion of the race.
.94 mile run 12:55
12.47 mile bike 53:57
3.1 mile run 43:39
I could do this distance race once a week. It is really fun!
VR8 was the Olympic distance race
1.87 mile run 26:33
24.9 mile bike 1:14:38
6.2 mile run 1:30:29