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It’s been a long year and a hot summer. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve fallen off a bit. I was running daily between March and June because sanity miles gave me the opportunity to get out of the apartment and explore a new city. Fast forward to summer and life happened. I spent July traveling, moving, and launching Made ByKwest. Then, August was spent settling into my new routine. My races got cancelled, and that shifted the sense of urgency I had around training. Even as someone who loves running, I’ve not been as consistent lately. I’ll admit the July/August heat really didn’t help. Now that the weather is cooling down and I’m more settled into my new city, I’m getting back into it.

Sharing this so that you know, no matter where you are in your running journey, you can hit the reset button and get back into it. I miss racing in real life, but there are so many cool virtual opportunities. I’m excited to train for a race this fall in honor of the NYC Marathon I’d planned to run. As I plan for my fall race, I wanted to share a few upcoming race options happening virtually as well as a few tips for getting back into the swing of running if you’ve stopped for awhile or want to build a more consistent routine.

Virtual Races: Runners World has put together a pretty awesome list by month of virtual races, so highlighting some additional ones below.

• National History Museum UK Virtual Race for Nature

• Run Through Virtual Races

• Air Force Marathon

• Volvo Virtual 5K

• NYC Marathon

• Flying Pig Marathon (see you virtually there!)

There are so many great options out there at a variety of distances from 1 mile to 26.2 miles and beyond! Virtual racing is such a great way to work toward larger races in the future, and I’m excited to run on my own course but still with the community feeling I love about racing. Now that I’m focused on integrating running and sanity miles back into my routine, here are a few of the things that have helped me get back into it!

• Have a snack (probably my life advice for any situation) but running take a lot of energy so make sure you’ve had a snack or hearty meal a few hours before your run.

• Make sure you’ve got an amazing playlist or podcast ready! You’ll want something you’re excited to listen to.

• Whether you’re training for a race or not, start out running for fun and remove the pressure of distance or time to allow yourself to enjoy the experience.

• Follow a program! There are so many great options out there for free via Nike, Pinterest, and Google that you can follow if having a plan is helpful for you.

• Invest in sneakers that make the journey more comfortable. I’ve been testing out sneakers and love these Hoka One One Rincon 2. Super comfortable with a thick fluffy sole which is perfect for running, walking, jogging and everything in between! With Zappos if you don’t love your sneakers, returns are so easy.

I’m excited to get back into running more regularly and continue running in these sneakers. Purple is one of my favorite colors, so you know I’m loving that! I will, of course, bring you all along on my journey! Follow along on my most active social channel, instagram @ByKwest for more updates on my running journey.

Where are you running this fall?