There are still a few days left for us to complete the VIRA Island Race Series Harriers Pioneer 8k Virtual Challenge.
Therefore, if you haven’t already done so, you should definitely do it as soon as possible because you only have until January 13th to upload your submission.
The challenge is as follows:
A. Run challenge: Run 8K with two significant hills.
B. Photo challenge: Take a selfie outside a favourite pub
Since this first challenge started, the following questions have come up:
Q: Does the run and photo challenge have to be done at the same time?
A: No, it does not, as long as both the photo and the run challenge are done during the challenge week.
Q: What exactly is a significant hill?
A: A ‘significant hill’ is whatever you want to make it. It all depends on your fitness level. Therefore, a hill may be tough for one person but easier for another. It can be short and steep or long and gradual or a combination. The goal is to make it both enjoyable and challenging for you. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to have fun with it.
Q: What if I want to run longer than 8k, does it still count towards completing the challenge?
A: Yes, it does, as long as the two hills are included at some point during the run.
Here’s how mine went down:
Since I live near the Uptown Shopping Center along the Galloping Goose trails, I decided to complete my challenge there. Living near the Uptown Shopping Center, I knew that The Monkey Tree Pub was in one direction. However, if I were to go towards Langford, then I would find more than just two hills, particularly if I did an out and back.
With that in mind, I opted to do the photo challenge and the run challenge on different days.
First, I did the photo challenge by doing an out and back run to The Monkey Tree Pub. I didn’t go in and I’m sure that the people driving by were wondering why I was taking selfies there. The VIRA Island Race Series toque is definitely the highlight of this photo since it concealed my messy hair exceptionally well. 🙂
Today, I did the run challenge. Of course, I’m not going to be racing any of these. My goal is to build up my base mileage so that I can work towards the wild idea that I’ve come up with for 2021.
I opted to run 11km instead of 8km because I need to start increasing my mileage gradually again (and, if you can imagine, I was the one who asked if I can go longer for some of these).
Below is a screenshot of my route on Strava. There were definitely a few hills going towards Langford.
Could I have chosen bigger hills? Absolutely. However, I still feel like I’m in recovery mode from the 6-Day Race that I did in November, so I will continue to run these at a slower pace.
I’m excited for the next VIRA Island Race Series Challenge! If you haven’t signed up yet for the Virtual Challenge, you can do so here.
Looking forward to hearing how the challenge goes for you!
Header photo: Heath Moffatt.