… and I feel fine. Hello!!! I write this post day by day as my week progresses. But by now (Sunday) it would be crazy not to talk about the elephant in the room… Coronavirus, aka COVID-19. What can I say? There is not a thing that has remained the same because of the virus, other than getting outside to run, and staying inside with my family. Boston Marathon? School? Vacations? Life as we know it? Above all I’m amazed and impressed at the speed in which the world is reacting to this pandemic and how everything has halted to a stop (for a positive goal!). I haven’t even been to the grocery store in a week just because, but I’ve seen the posts on Facebook. Yikes! Hopefully there is something left for me when I need it. I’ve been washing my hands like it’s my job! I hope you all stay healthy and take the time off to relax and not freak out. We’ve got this!!
- Fitness related news: Running = 47 miles, cycling = 20 miles
Monday – 7 easy miles, treadmill. Last we left this drama show of my life, I was seriously considering dropping to the half at Glass City due to chronic hamstring pain I’ve been having. Guess what? Today was a freak show and I did not have ANY pain. I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t have any pain during a run. Go figure. Run 20 miles, have doubts, then feel great. Good news, but seriously odd!!
Bike ride – 11.5 miles. It was so seriously nice outside today (65 degrees!) that I had to go for a quick ride after work. My bike feels amazing. I have to get signed up for some duathlons!!
At night I helped out with some race prep for the Blarney Shamrockin’ Shuffle.
Tuesday – 6.5 miles, intervals treadmill. Double kudos today – not only did I get a good workout in, I also made it through the entire episode (2 hours) of The Bachelor finale part 1 while on this run!! Woot! I mean, I can only take so much of the drama of the people just staring at each other so I fast forward through quite a bit of it. 🙂 Intervals today were 1 mile long, x4, with 2 mins “active rest” (walking). I did it! I did it! Yep, feeling good today.
Wednesday – Rest day! Helped out at packet pickup for the Blarney Shamrockin Shuffle. [this race ended up getting rescheduled for June!]
Thursday – THE DAY. Pace run = 9 miles. Not only did I run a whole lot today, it was also the big coronavirus day around here. But to start, I had a run with pace miles in the AM. I was really happy with the way it turned out. I actually had 8 miles under 9:00! That’s a huge win. I busted out those new neon Kinvaras and they felt great! I even got compliments on my shoes when I was running. Everyone loves a blinding bright shoe!
Track night – 5.25 miles. Shortly after I arrived home, I saw a last minute request for a sub coaching job at the track that night. Do a track workout after this run? Normally, this would be a dumb idea. But sure, I was feeling pretty good!! What I didn’t realize was how fast it was going to be. Ended up being 4 x 1600 at the same pace I just ran. Oops!!! It was decent workout for me and when I got home (about 40 mins after the hard running), my husband told me my face was still flushed. LOL!!! Yep, I was working hard! I also got to try out the new Brooks Gylcerin shoes. I’ve never run in those but I *really* liked them.
Bike ride = 8.5 miles Went for a ride with my husband in between workouts today.
The biggest thing going on today was that EVERYTHING was being canceled. Not only the huge things like the Boston marathon, but also our small races (no Blarney Shuffle!) and more importantly MY KIDS WILL BE OUT OF SCHOOL FOR THE NEXT MONTH! OMG!!!! All school events are canceled 🙁 I was excited about a week off school when I was a kid because we had a blizzard, but this is freaking unbelievable!
Friday – Rest day! I really needed a rest after that speedy double yesterday. I did make it to the gym though. And used lots of wipes on the machines. Also trying to get back into regular PT exercises. Enjoyed some games with my kids and watched TV together 🙂
Saturday – 19 miles, Long run!! I took another sub coaching job. Did I mention my goal is to get 13 “jobs” before the training program ends? I’ve had a lot of fun attempting to reach my goal too. I’ve been running with groups and paces I have not run with before. It’s opened my eyes to how running “easy” is a great thing. This week I ran 16 miles with the 11:00 min pace group. Even though my splits were a bit up and down, the average was pretty close! We all kept our distance, and probably got the closest for this group picture 🙂 We also had to split the entire training program (about 400 people) into 4 groups meeting at different places and times to complete our run. Dave’s Running is doing it’s part to keep us socially distanced and healthy!
For some reason (poor pre-run fueling?) my stomach was growling something fierce by the time I got to 11 miles! I had one more GU (yum, French Toast flavor!) which kept it a little quieter, but I was starving by the end of the run. A big Starbucks drink rescued me on the way home, and after pizza for dinner, my cat made sure I didn’t roam far.
Sunday – Gym, for some “active time”. I told my kids that I expect at least 30 mins a day of physical activity from them each day, so here’s me following suit!
At this point no changes have been announced for the Glass City marathon happening on April 26th. I don’t have any insider information, nor will I be sharing my thoughts on it 😉 It will be training as usual until I hear otherwise! I’m also still going to work. Not sure how different that looks because I haven’t been there since Wednesday. What crazy times we live in!!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: What has changed for you with COVID-19? Still working? Going to school? Races all cancelled?
Yep high 5 we’ve got this. While I fully expect for my spring races to be canceled, I will continue training my little heart out and staying in half marathon shape through my final planned half in mid May. My company enforced a travel ban and WFH until further notice, and now that I don’t have a commute there’s enough morning daylight time to run outside, so that’s a nice glass of lemonade. School is closed, and the kids are thrilled. While I absolutely support shutting everything down, I know that this means a loss of income for many people and my heart goes out to them.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie recently posted…Weekly Sweats: New Normal Edition
It is a bit mind boggling to think of the loss of income from all the shut downs! And I’m lucky to not have young kids and don’t need to be concerned with childcare. On the plus side, working from home and having kids home is a bonus to get the time to spend with them. My teenagers just want to lounge in their rooms all day 🙂
Awesome job on your workouts during this crazy week!
I feel like everything really escalated from Wednesday onward. I do hope that the hysteria dies down over this next week or so.
It’s just been knocked up a notch here… no restaurants, AND my marathon has been cancelled. SIGH.
Came back to Chicago for the week to get taxes done and visit with my old running group. They talked me into signing up for a St. Patrick’s Day Half that they were all going to run today. $85 to register and the race was cancelled the next day! Damn! I have three half marathons scheduled in April and May. I expect they will also be cancelled. This really sucks not only because I want to run but also most of these smaller races don’t offer any refunds or deferments.
Ouch. That sucks! I know, it’s a tough situation for the race directors due to the stuff they have to pay for ahead of time, etc. Not a happy decision for anyone!!
Yup, pretty much all races cancelled. I guess it doesn’t really effect me too much, I’m disappointed I won’t get to go to DE in April, but I think keeping everyone healthy is so much more important — and since I hadn’t been feeling well, probably just as well. Still!
Oh, that is SO weird about the no pain run! That’s just not fair.
I love that you’ve laid down the law for your kids. I try to do the same for my husband, LOL. I told him he’s on his own to walk the dogs today, since I ran 5 miles & am still taking it “easy” as I get over whatever I’ve had.
Good luck with those kiddos. That’s got to be tough! So many hugs.
Luckily my kids are anxious or stressed about it. We’re all pretty chill at our house, just wondering how the online education is going to work. I do think the school system can come up with something good though.
All my friends’ races are cancelled, Matthew is keeping away from his elderly parents with high risk but will go to them if one of them gets sick; his brother is handling groceries for them as nearby so that seems a good balance. We are keeping running but safely as you say. Good luck!
My parents are both in their early 80’s, but have told me they aren’t too concerned with getting sick. Luckily they are staying home. They were supposed to take a cruise this month. Bummer they had to reschedule it!
Great job on that pace run under 9! That must have felt great!
Must be interesting to be on the ‘inside’ for a race decision; good luck!
Race operations is very interesting! So much going on to put on a quality race. Unfortunately, the decision was made to cancel my marathon. With the latest recommendation on groups smaller than 50 people, there’s no other choice!
Our daycare is closed, starting Tuesday, for 3 weeks! So figuring out how to work with them at home will be challenging.
I’m not sure if daycare is closed in our area, but I would guess it is. Good luck on working at home! I hope you can find a system. On many days I have a problem keeping myself on track and it’s just me at home. haha!!
Everything here is shutting down. They just closed all restaurants and bars. It’s crazy and thank goodness for running!
Yep… there goes Taco Tuesday this month 🙁 Crazy!!
SO far, only the Fight for Air Climb (March 29th has been postponed (TBD). There was a race in Florida I’d registered for next weekend, but we’re probably not even going now. I have two 13.1’s on April 19th and 26th that are still a go….fingers crossed. Totally a crazy time!
Kimberly Hatting recently posted…March Madness and Mayhem
Our marathon just canceled (April 26th). Boo! At least it’s a local race for me. I’d be extra bummed to miss a trip out of town.
Solid week for you. I hope your race does not get canceled. Congrats on coaching job!
My marathon just got canceled today… and my coaching gig too! They decided it was in the best interest not to have official groups getting together for runs. Dang 🙁
What hasn’t changed? I think work will make an announcement tomorrow … Not surprised your race was postponed but your outfit for packet pick up is awesome! I hope things are getting back to normal by April 26 ….
Those kilts are quite smart – they wrapped around and have sizing buttons so pretty much any size person can wear them!
Way to get so much done on a crazy week! My son is now home from college too. The next few weeks will be very challenging for all of us. thanks for sharing and linking up with us. Stay well!
“Forced family time” does have benefits! I’m not sad about getting my kids to play some games with me, and go for walks 🙂
It sure has been a crazy week! My race is May 3rd so there is no word yet on if it will be cancelled. I am working from home, but I basically work contractually with a school system so I am somewhat limited with what I can get done. That’s crazy that your kids are off for a month! Schools here closed for 2 weeks (so far).
They advised us on Sunday to be prepared that the school closure could last longer! I just feel bad for the kids who have band, sports and those who are seniors. So crazy!!
Crazy, crazy week. Thankfully, we still have no reported positive cases in Botswana. But with 61 cases now in neighbouring South Africa, they have closed most of the borders and stopped several flights from overseas. We have now done the same. Many (including me) working from home. But as of today, kids are still in school. But situation changing day by day so who knows how long that will last!
Shathiso recently posted…Y-Care Oodi-Mmamashia Walk Race Recap, #1/20
I hope you do avoid this crap!! I have never been a big hand washer (my hands get so dry – I need to always have hand lotion close by!) but I’ve been washing my hands like crazy and making sure my family does too. I think we would not have much of an issue if one of us got sick. We are all in very good health (knock on wood!).
My son’s school was supposed to have Spring Break this week. That has been extended to 3/31, at least. Races cancelled. Libraries are closed. The mayor in the next county just shut down all public gatherings over 50 people. It’s crazy.
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So far our school isn’t supposed to return until April 13th. But really, I would not be surprised if they don’t even go back this year. That would be a big bummer for them to miss their friends and events though so fingers crossed it won’t last that long!!
That’s great news that there was no pain on Monday’s run! Good luck with the kids being out of school for so long 🙂 Things are cancelled around here too. We’re both lucky enough to be able to work from home at least.
My kids are lucky I’m not working at home everyday… I’d be cracking the whip on getting the “distance learning” done in a prompt fashion! 🙂 I’m a stickler for schedules.
pretty amazing week amongst the craziness! and yes definitely keep training! you never know!
let’s see: no gym, no pilates, no bars, restaurants, cafes. No “Rondje van Nederland” 10K, no Rotterdam Marathon (10K). No Starbucks, no movies, no other theatre, no concerts, no parkrun (my parkrun won’t even get launched now until who knows when), no seeing my friend Gerrit transform into Miss Charlie Sparkle at her monthly drag show. No holiday in Spain to see my parents (they are luckily back in the US). working from home 50% (rotating in with 1 other colleague in case anyone gets sick; limits exposure).
I’m still trying to come to grips with it.
Renée recently posted…WRD: Lock Down Lows
My company is in the process of spacing everyone apart this week. Unfortunately that means scrambling to find laptops, software for remote access, etc. I think it’s a good idea though. You just never know who is carrying something! That’s a bummer about all of the stuff you are missing.
It’s great that you’re feeling better on your runs. While coaching I once ran about ten miles with my 11:00-11:30 pace group and got soooo sore from changing up the way I ran to slow my pace. It was so weird!
I have had to cancel all personal training sessions and classes I teach due to COVID-19. It’s weird, but it’s what I had to do to help keep human inactions to a minimum.
Take care and stay safe!
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You’re right – running at a pace that’s slower than a normal gait can definitely cause issues! I think I’m feeling some of that this week! I seem to be a bit more sore (for more days) this week. At my office lunchroom, they just pulled half of the chairs from around the tables to space us apart. It’s so odd!!
Great week of workouts despite the entire world being essentially turned upside down. I’m doing my best to stay calm, stay home, enjoy having the kids home and roll with it. Love that kilt!