Week 1 of Quarantine…

Most weeks, my recaps are a countdown to the next marathon. Of course, there was a little blip in 2018, when a big portion of the year was spent counting weeks since the broken leg.

But there is no marathon on the horizon…and that’s not the only thing that’s different right now, obviously! We’re in an unprecedented place. A place that’s uneasy, stressful, and a bit scary. For now, I’m incredibly grateful to still have running to keep me sane, even though I’m not sure what exactly I’m training for!

Dustin and I were planning to run the Thunder Dragon Marathon in Bhutan (a country in Asia) in May, but that won’t be happening.

Maybe next year.

I briefly looked at the Fargo marathon as an option, but then that one was postponed to August.

Will June or July marathons occur? I recognize that uncertainty about races is a first-world problem compared to what is going on right now. And I definitely recognize how fortunate I am to still have a job and my health and time to think about travel and running again some day. For that, I really am grateful.

But still, this is a running blog and its weird to not know what’s next for running! I’m just going to keep working hard and eventually a race will happen.

Even though I’m not sure what I’m training for at the moment, I’m still planning to share recaps of my week in fitness and link up with Kim and Deb’s weekly link-up, (Details below.)

Monday: Solo 8 mile run before work, 9 min/mile average. Social distancing at its best. Runners are good at this!

Work = working from home. This was my first full week of working from home. Dustin is set up in the kitchen with all his screens, and I’m in the office.

At least the dogs are happy!

For morning runs, I’ve still generally been starting at the same time as before. I still “get ready” for work, as most of my meetings are over BlueJeans (video-conference.) Its easier to get into the work mindset if I still put a little effort into my appearance, as tempting as it is just to wear athleisure every day!

Anyways, back to my recap…On Monday night, I went to one last Discover Strength session after work. My session at Discover Strength was supposed to be a group session, but I was the only one there. The trainer was a little vague about whether they would be closing. But the governor of Minnesota made the announcement later that evening that bars, restaurants, gyms, salons  all had to close. We’re not yet in shelter-in-place, but that will be soon.

So the Body Comp challenge is on hold for now! Discover Strength is sending us at-home strength workouts to do, and I’m going to do my best to keep up twice a week strength training. And running. Lots of running. I’m doing a quarantine running streak- at least a mile every day until things are back to normal!

Tuesday: I snuck out over lunch for my run. I probably won’t be able to do that much, as work is really busy, but it was just an hour away from my desk and I felt way better afterwards.

3 miles easy, 5x(90 seconds on, 30 second recovery, 45 seconds on,  1:15 minute recover) 2 mile cool-down. 7.5 miles total at an 8:40 min/mile. There were many people out walking, biking, and running (though keeping their distance from each other.) 

Wednesday: I met up with two friends for a morning 7.5 mile run, 9:15 min/mile average. We kept about 6 feet away from each other; we had to speak loudly to hear each other! Still so nice to connect with non-coworkers and have some sort of social time.

I spent 30 minutes doing the first at-home workout from Discover Strength in my basement. Nowhere near as intense as an actual session with a trainer the studio, but better than nothing!

Thursday:  9 miles easy before work, 9:15 min/mile. It was snowing when I started, and then that snow turned into rain…a gloomy day in Minneapolis.

Our local running stores all had to close, but they are still offering online orders and free local delivery. I ordered a pair of Brooks Ravennas from Mill City Running and they were on my porch that same day!

Friday:  4 mile run with Matilda, 8:45 min/mile pace.

Yes, Matilda, my senior citizen vizsla! Dustin has been taking her for 1-2 mile runs at the end of his runs to ease Matilda back to running shape. Those runs with him are at a much faster pace, so figured she would be okay for 4 miles at my pace. And she was! She seemed really happy to be out there. She was pretty tired afterwards though, so we definitely won’t be running with her every day like we used to. 

Saturday: 14 mile long run, 9:08 min/mile average. I met up with 2 friends and we kept our distance. It was great to connect with friends, but hard not to just talk about the virus…

Sunday: 7.5 run with Dustin, 8:45 min/mile. The wind was gusting really badly and made for a less-than-fun run, though I always enjoy runs with Dustin. 

Summary: 57 miles of running, 2 strength workouts.

I really hope all of you are staying healthy and safe during this stressful time. It’s great to have the ability to stay connect 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: