June 7th has arrived, and with it comes more questions about my running career in general and my participation in the AJC Peachtree Road Race in particular. But first, let me back it up a month.
May 7th sees my back go out to a point where it is difficult to walk the next day. I will spare my loyal readers the political aspects of whether the injury is work-related, but since there was no real point of injury, I can not in good faith report it as workman's comp. In the days and weeks that follow, I make some progress, but it is still painful to walk any distance.
Enter Zwift. For those not familiar with this program, Zwift is a virtual training program that allows users to cycle in a virtual world while using a bike equipped with a trainer and some basic tracking equipment. I acquired the basics when I was injured previously but never really set anything up with a virtual trainer and pretty much forgot everything was there once I healed enough to start running again—time to take inventory and see if indoor cycling can work.
I locate my daughter's ten-year-old bike in the garage, and to my surprise, all of the sensors seemed to work just fine. I found the cheap dumb trainer that I used for the last attempt at indoor cycling, set everything up, and was biking in place in no time. My first few runs were simultaneously recorded in Garmin, which features the ant+ platform, and Wahoo, which is set up with Bluetooth technology. I was somewhat astonished to find that everything was not only working but working well. Both platforms were recording the data in real-time and seemed to read the same distances and speed. Throw in a little Netflix, and I am good to go.
After about a week, I was wondering if signing up for Zwift might be a logical step. The cycling was not aggravating my back at all, so I took the plunge and signed up for the free trial. First things first, syncing my equipment. If you are a serious cyclist, you can buy all kinds of sophisticated equipment to monitor your ride; however, my Wahoo sensors seem to do the trick and are synced rather quickly. After setting up my avatar, I am ready to roll. Your first ride on Zwift starts with a tutorial about the ride and its metrics, the social aspects and interacting etiquette with other "Zwifters," and various challenges you will encounter.
Zwift offers such features as rides with varying degrees of terrane, multiple recording of various metrics (it should be noted that Zwift can estimate your wattage if you do not have a trainer or a dedicated power meter) on your ride, races that not only give you different challenges but group you with Zwifters roughly compatible with your ability, group rides, pacers, and even structured workouts similar to what you get on a Peloton without the trainer. The routes are virtually in various cities around the world, such as London and New York. Still, the main setting is in a fictional land called Watopia, complete with small villages, volcanos, snowy mountains, and jungle trails.
My first week on Zwift is mostly spent on free rides exploring Watopia; however, I cycled in Richmond and the Makuri Islands, the latter being another fictional land based on Japanese culture. I did do a workout that was challenging for multiple reasons, but mostly due to duration. I also participated in a 10-mile race; I finished in a respectable mid-table position. What surprised me the most was my Strava score, which was higher than any running week that I had recorded. The perfect segway in my status for the Peachtree 10K? You bet!
I did end up signing up for the Peachtree 10K. While I have no idea how I will feel on July 4th weekend, I decided to take the chance. The registration, while noting you could run on the 3rd, the 4th, or virtually, gave no choice or option as to which one you could pick. That really is not my biggest concern. I have to admit I feel better today, and I hope that the training that I am doing for Zwift will help me in the race. Keep your fingers crossed.
See you in Watopia.
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