I'm in the group that does not think Marathon Weekend will be canceled either. When runDisney had to cancel Star Wars Race Weekend in 2020, they made the cancellation decision further out from the races than we are right now and they did so under much worse conditions. The vaccine is widely available now and has been for months whereas in March 2020, we hoped it would be possible sooner rather than later. None of this means we should pretend it isn't happening and throw caution to the wind. It just means that we can do more now than we could in April 2020.
SAFD: What a year it's been. Like last year before it, I'm just happy to have gotten through it. The ongoing pandemic challenges contributed to even greater fatigue and burnout than I had at the end of 2020. At least I've hopefully been able to manage it better because the most stressful time of the year at work kicks off as usual shortly after marathon weekend. But that was also why I signed up for Marathon Weekend 2022. I knew I would need the time away from the office for my mental health and I believed that having a fitness goal to work towards would help improve my outlook as well. As it turned out, my hoped for December 2021 WDW visit with friends was postponed to December 2022, so I will really need that time out of and away from the office.
As far as running this year, I had a good year. After 2020 training fell apart, I decided to modify my virtual WDW marathon into 26.2 over 6 days. I concluded that more regular running would be much better than proving to myself that I could accomplish a very slow 26.2 in one setting that could injure me. I used that momentum to carry me through the Princess Virtual 10K and Half. Training dipped off again somewhat due to work insanity, although I did run the final Star Wars races in April with the Rival Run Challenge. My little sister joined me for the half and a friendly neighborhood dog thought her plush porg was breakfast so that gave us a good laugh and her a newfound appreciation for a stuffed animal that she was previously indifferent towards. And yes, her porg is just fine.
I also did the WDW Kids Races and Star Wars Kids Races with 2 of my nephews. The 4 year old was especially proud of having earned his medal and told my sister how much he loved doing it.
My 2021 mileage will top my 2020 mileage so I feel good about that. Highest yearly miles since 2018. My mileage tracking before Star Wars Dark Side 2018 is unreliable to non existent so I think this will be my second highest mileage year ever. It's not going to break 1,000 though. But I'm okay with that. I missed a few weeks due to injuring a toe and my usual summer slump even before then. But I got back into the habit so that's always an accomplishment.
