“I feel grateful to get the chance to hit the reset button.”- 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials runner Cate Barrett              Photo by Jess Barnard Creative

It’s a tough time for everyone. Texas, and our entire country are battling the coronavirus by staying home and following “shelter-in-place” guidelines. Everything, including sports has been put on hold. Even the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been postponed.

And although local races have been canceled, runners continue to train—fortunately, running does not need to be a group sport. Here’s how some of our top local runners are handling the COVID-19 outbreak in terms of staying fit.

Rory Tunningley (2020 Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier)
“I haven’t changed my training due to the COVID-19 outbreak. I was planning to run the half-marathon at the Grandmas Marathon in June and as of now it hasn’t been postponed or canceled. I was disappointed to not be able to run the Capitol 10,000, as it is one of my favorite races that I usually try to compete in.”

Will Nation (2020 Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier)
“My training hasn’t changed too much, all things considered. I’m still building up towards my target mileage (90-100), although now I’ll be doing most of that without company. My coach and I were already planning to do more speed-oriented workouts this spring and we’ll likely continue to spend more time developing that system opposed to doing more marathon specific workouts. Given the uncertainty of when races will resume, I’m trying to use this time to address many of my deficiencies. I’ve been doing virtual workouts with Mallory Brooks (Spectrum Trail) and have been trying to do more strength and mobility work at home in my free time.

My goal for now is to just enjoy the process and not worry too much about the lack of racing. But I do want to make sure that I’m taking care of the little things so that I’m healthy and ready to go when things the racing season starts up again.”

Cate Barrett (2020 Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier)
“I am actually pretty excited to be off the hook from racing for a while. No one would make me race of course, but there’s always so many fun ones to do that it can be hard to pass them up.

After the Trials I needed a break anyway, so this just feels like an extended version of that. I feel grateful to get the chance to hit the reset button. And it’s nice to pick up other parts of my life that I didn’t give much energy to the last few months. I’m catching back up at work and at home, and I’m able to focus more on how I can help the Austin community during this crazy time. I did a fundraiser for the food bank last week, And I tried to give blood this week (got turned away… but it’s something I never would have tried while training,

Allison Mendez-Cleaver (2020 Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier)
“My training hasn’t changed (due to COVID-19), just getting back into my groove. Races being cancelled didn’t have an effect on me because I didn’t have anything planned after the Trials. However, there are fall races I have in mind. I’m slowly building mileage but incorporating strength training everyday with my husband. We’ve developed a routine to stay active and find joy pushing ourselves every day. With that said, I’m trying my best to take care of myself and my patients. Running during this time has reassured me why I have a strong passion for the sport and find a sense of happiness.”