‘Twas a good week. Maybe this shelter-in-place isn’t so bad? Yes, I miss my friends and family and travel, but I’m surviving. Thank goodness for running! It didn’t hurt that the weather was wonderful for runs; clear and mid-40’s in the morning nearly every day.
Here’s how my fitness wrapped up this week:
Monday: 5 miles solo, 1.4 with Ruth (our vizsla); 9:05 min/mile average.
Discover Strength 1:1 virtual strength training session after work. Trainer was Macy.
Tuesday: 7 miles with the final 1.4 miles with Ruth, 9:15 min/mile average. Gorgeous morning.
Wednesday: Speed work of the week: 20 minutes easy, 3x(3 minutes at 8:15, 1 minute recovery, 2 minutes at 7:45, 1 minute recovery, 1 minute at 7:15, 2 minutes recovery), i.e. 30 minutes of work, 20 minute cool-down with Ruth at the end. I saw a beautiful bald eagle on Lake the Isles swooping down to catch a fish; loved it. It was a very endorphin-y morning.
Discover Strength 1:1 virtual strength training session after work; trainer was Derek.
Thursday: 8 miles easy before work; no Ruth this time as she got to go back to Pampered Pooch Playground, her doggy daycare! Apparently, she was a little wild there. I guess 8 weeks of isolating with us did not prepare her for ‘the real world’ again! But I’m glad she’s able to socialize/play with other dogs again. The drop-off is contactless and you’re strongly encouraged to wear a mask. I felt fine taking her there, especially since it’s a small local business trying to stay in business during all this. I know there are articles out there that dogs can get Covid-19, but the cases seem quite rare, so I don’t view it as a risk.
That evening, I had a zoom cocktail hour with my running friends. Always great to connect however we can.
Friday: After a few drinks Thursday night, I slept in a bit and took Ruth for 4 miles in the morning- her longest run yet!
She still had the zoomies post-run, so I don’t feel like 4 miles was too much, but I’ll be careful not to increase her weekly mileage too quickly.
Like many others on social media, I dedicated 2.23 miles of that run to Ahmaud Arbery. It was beautiful to see the running community come together and spread the word of this tragic story; I do hope justice is served.
I did a 30-minute virtual 1:1 strength training session with Discover Strength over lunch. Trainer was Kayla.
Saturday: Solo long run with a workout! My coach gave me the same workout as a few weeks ago: 40 minutes easy, 20 minutes at 8:15, 5 minutes easy, 15 minutes at 8:00, 5 minutes easy, 10 minutes at 7:45, 5 minutes easy, 5 minutes at 7:30, 15 minutes to cool-down for 13 miles total. I ended with 13.5 miles at an 8:58 min/mile average. I ran into Christie around Cedar Lake, so we stuck together for a few miles (at a distance.) It was nice to run with her, albeit still apart. It turned out to be a nice morning for a run; mid-40’s, no wind. The rest of the day was a rainy one, but at least it held out for the long run!
Will our whole summer be runs with Christie 6 feet away?
Saturday night, we ordered takeout from Colita, started our first puzzle of quarantine, and listened to a “virtual historical pub tour of Chicago” via Mysterious Chicago. My sister and her husband watched it too, so we texted back and forth during it; it was almost like being together for a historical walking tour!
Sunday: 5.5 miles with Dustin at an 8:35 min/mile average, then a bonus 1.25 miles with Ruth AND Matilda. A weird storm blew in during that 1.25 mile bonus run and we got sleet/hailed on! It was not so much fun…But, only one bad weather run all week isn’t too bad!
Summary: 53 miles of running, 3 virtual strength training sessions. Overall, it felt like a good week; solid workouts, great feeling easy runs. I wish every week felt this good!
I really hope all of you are staying healthy and safe during this stressful time. It’s great to have the ability to stay connected virtually and support each other; this link-up hosted by Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner ‘s is a great way to do so! Check it out below:
It’s amazing how much better weather you are having in Minnesota than we are having here in Chicago! Lake Michigan does mess with us but this year is ridiculous. Are you back at work or still at home? Have a great week.
I’m still working from home! I work in finance for an investment company, so its easy enough to work from home. But Ruth still needed to get out of the house and it was nice to have a day where she was really tired at the end!
Yeah, running for me this week wasn’t great (what little there was).
Dogs need that constant socialization. Ours don’t get it any more, and Lola has gotten increasingly annoyingly reactive & barky on walks. And she still sometimes has zoomies after the walk. She’s 14! But little dogs tend to live longer.
Oh no to being hailed on! At least I stayed dry for all my runs.
Not sure what summer running is going to look like, I can’t keep running in my neighborhood! Well, I can but it’s not fun.
Summer is such a fun time to explore with running, but things will look a bit different this year, that’s for sure!
Matilda (our senior vizsla) is a bit grumpy towards other dogs too, and we’re hoping Ruth isn’t that way.
Awesome job on your workouts this week, as always!
Your Saturday night plans sound so cool! I’ve been trying to find puzzles online but the shipping time is so long on them. We’ve been trying to do different things like Scrabble, playing card games, etc on the weekend to help make Quarantine Life a little more fun.
The puzzle we’re working on is one I ordered back in March! It’s nuts.
I love Scrabble 🙂
I found a driving tour of our downtown area that tells all about the gangster stuff that used to happen there. I keep wanting to go drive the tour, but apparently my kids really do have to do school work, and my daughter has been working all weekend. Even with all of the downtime some things are still hard to fit in! Sounds like you had a good week. I feel like people are getting used to the rhythm now. I do miss my friends, but I can’t say I miss how packed my schedule used to be. Taking this… Read more »
That driving tour sounds right up my alley!
I agree, we’re kind of in a rhythm now. At this point, it will be hard to go back to work. I like the extra down time!
We have numerous puzzles…somewhere. I need to go searching. I’ve always enjoyed doing them. I’m jealous you guys didn’t have much wind…it’s been terrible in Iowa, most of the spring actually.
Puzzling is a good time 🙂
That is great that Ruth gets to go back to daycare. I want to go back and play with my friends too! Looks like you are having some great running weather! Enjoy that and thanks for linking
Haha, yes, Ruth gets to see her friends before we do!
I’ve taken Max for an 11 mile run and he still had the zoomies afterwards…and he’s 4! I don’t think anything can tire him out. Ha! Great week of workouts. And I love that you did the virtual pub tour virtually with your sister. That sounds fun!
11 miles! That’s incredible. I love it!
Ruth is doing so great with running! Glad to hear the doggy daycare is open. I believe groomers are now open here (or soon) and I’m glad because Ozzy is pretty shaggy.
Vizslas fortunately don’t need grooming, but my husband on the other hand..his hair is looking pretty shaggy 🙂
Ooh it’s very exciting that doggy day care is open again! Congrats that you had better weather than we did last week, so much cold, frost, and snow.
That’s crazy that so many other parts of the country had snow, but not Minnesota!
Is Ruth getting the hang of staying focused while running, or is she pulling all over the place? Our dog never mastered that component of running!
Haha, I wouldn’t say she’s that focused. It’s better when we run in the road and there aren’t smells (aka goose poop) to distract her!
One bad weather run for the week isn’t bad at all! We have had so many cold, windy, rainy days lately.. I’ve been thinking I want to do a puzzle but we dont have any so i would need or order one and then find somewhere to to it that my son wont be able to get to it!
Yes, our dining room table is currently just the puzzle table. We’ll just eat at the counter for now, haha!
I can’t believe it’s 8 weeks! Ugh!
I need to crack open another puzzle. I’m a little busy right now, taking care of our crazy puppy, but once her playpen shows up I will have a little more freedom. I can’t wait to start socializing her!
I would love to see Ruth’s zoomies!
Congrats on the puppy, so exciting!
I’m reminding myself that low 40s is great running weather even though it’s not what I’m expecting in May. How fun that Matilda gets to go back to daycare! I read that we should be leaving our dogs alone so they don’t freak out when we go back to work. I guess that means I have to be more dedicated to our weekend bike rides.
I like 40’s for running!
I think Ruth will be shocked when she has to be crated again when we’re gone. The only time both of us have been gone is for long runs on Saturday and its never that long.
That’s a great running week, well done, and I’m glad Ruth is able to continue her socialisation. We have been freed up to meet a friend in a public space at a distance so that’s quite exciting and feels safe still.
That’s progress and probably feels great to see friends again!
I hope you do not have to run the whole summer 6 feet away from Christine! As much as I am complaining of having to stay at home, I am just happy not to be sick. This week I got news of another friend being sick and a friend’s family being sick too.