I hope you are reading this from the safety of your home! What crazy times we are living in…
Minneapolis is now on a two week shelter-in-place; I’ve already been working from home for two weeks before this went into place, as well as not going out at all, so this really isn’t too different for me. The biggest change is that I am not running with anyone else anymore.
Don’t get me wrong, running is still allowed, and running I definitely did this week! I just did it solo (except for one run with my quarantine-partner Dustin.)
Go Minneapolis!
Where Chicago shut down the popular running trails because they were too crowded, Minneapolis did the opposite; they shut down most of the parkways to car traffic to allow runners/walkers and bikers to social distance while still getting outside! I love Minneapolis.
So running is still happening, working from home is happening, dog parks are still open (thank goodness), and I’m getting in my strength training via virtual sessions with the great trainers at Discover Strength. I feel fortunate that I am able to maintain some sense of normalcy through all this and grateful that my loved ones are in good health (and that I am still employed.)
But there are so many things I miss! I think I’ll do a post about all the things I want to do when this over…
Anyways, here’s how this week went in fitness while sheltering-in-place:
Monday: 10 mile mid-week long, easy pace, 9:23 min/mile. There was a little bit of fresh snow coming down but nothing slippery.
After work, I did my first virtual 1:1 training session with one of the personal trainers at Discover Strength. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but it was surprisingly tough! She asked ahead of time what home equipment I had on-hand; she worked with those items as well as a lot of body weight exercises. I loved it and am so glad they are offering this option! We did a lot of lunges, wall-sits, etc; my quads were pretty sore for a day or two.
Tuesday: 8 mile run before work, 9 min/mile.
I noticed the troll on Lake Harriet is comfortably sheltering-in-place. He looks like a bit of a hoarder though. And someone brought a church to him, ha!
Wednesday: Workout Wednesday! 25 minutes easy, then 10x(90 seconds at 5k pace with 90 second recovery), 10 minute cool-down. 7.2 miles total at a 9 min/mile average.
I did another virtual 1:1 strength training session with a Discover Strength trainer after work.
Thursday: 7.7 miles before work.
Friday: Easy 4 miles before work. I’m doing a “Covid-19 running streak” on Strava. Technically today would have been a rest day, but I opted for 4 easy miles to keep up the streak.
Saturday: Without run club, I was gearing up to do my long run alone, but Dustin decided he would run with me. We covered 15 miles together at an 8:50 min/mile. We just beat the rain; the rest of the day was a wet, gloomy mess. A perfect day for staying inside!
I was feeling pretty beat up from the stress of work, anxiety about what’s happening in the world, and a lot of running, so I took advantage of the poor weather and took a lovely nap…felt much better afterwards.
At 3 pm, I had my 3rd virtual session of the week with a Discover Strength session. A great full body strength workout!
Sunday: Another rainy day. I just wasn’t feeling the windy cold, so I opted to do my 5 miles on the treadmill instead.
Summary: 57 miles of running, 3 virtual strength training sessions with Discover Strength.
In dog news, this little rascal might look innocent, but she destroyed a pair of my favorite lululemon tights this week. She has been pretty good lately about not chewing stuff she shouldn’t. So I was surprised to find my tights completely destroyed…
RUTH- couldn’t you have chewed up a cheaper pair? Ha!
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:
Wow! Excellent miles this week! 15 miles at under 9 minutes/mile is awesome! We have been sheltering in place in our county too. Thank goodness we can still go out to run, though. They are helping to keep me sane these days, especially the trail runs.
Awww…look at that innocent face. How could she have chewed up a pair of tights?
Thanks Laurie! It helped to have company on the long run. It’s hard for him to go my pace (because its quite a bit slower than his long run pace) but I think he enjoyed the company as well. Runs are definitely keeping me sane!
Ruth is such a little trouble-maker, but I love her 🙂
It’s nice that you have your hubs to run with through all of this. Wow you are in shorts already!?
Haha, I think I’m much quicker to move to shorts than most! I see you in vests and pants on days I’d probably be wearing a tank and shorts, haha!
Nice job getting those miles in! I love how Minneapolis opened the parkways to runners. What a nice solution. I pray that the trails out here in the burbs don’t get closed. I go so early, that I don’t usually see many people anyways. But I’d be bummed if I was stuck running on the roads.
I bought some really nice tights on Amazon–I’d be so sad if Cocoa chewed up any of my Lulu or InknBurn!
Stay safe! <3
I know, I’m so happy they opened the roads- more, not less! We suffer all winter for spring/summer, so everyone wants to be out. And its so good for our mental health!
Awesome week of workouts, as usual!
That’s awesome that you were able to do a 1:1 virtual personal training session! I love that technology has given us the ability to do so many things during this time.
Yes! We are sorta fortunate this is happening now when we have such great technology! The virtual training sessions have been pretty good!
Ruth seems to know she’s n the doghouse.
Bandit chewed a slipper of Mr. Judy’s a while back. We’ve had him almost 4 years. Never touched a slipper before. He’s a weird dog.
They have closed some parks here, but so far the bike paths are still open. Mostly I run in my neighborhood, but it would definitely be challenging to do a long run here.
Haha, yes, Ruth is naughty! But we love her anyways.
We are under stay at home orders now which is something that we’ve been doing. The beaches are closed and I’m afraid that the trails might be next. I get people wanting to be outside but it’s hard when EVERYONE goes to one spot. Thankfully, I live very close to some trails that don’t get much traffic. And why must dogs pick out the most expensive item? We had a puppy that chewed our new couch. Why didn’t he chew on the old chair???
Wow, the beaches are closed! I saw that some places kept beaches open…
I’m glad you have quieter trails nearby! I definitely have always been going in the morning as it’s way too busy around the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes after work, though having the space to run in the road definitely is helping. Minnesotans have been trapped inside all winter, we all need fresh air and sunshine right now!
Aw yeah Minneapolis! That’s really awesome that they shut the road traffic down and are working with people who want to be active instead of against them. I’m enjoying having fewer cars on the road right now.
Exactly! Working with people vs. trying to shut it all down.
Great update. Its so interesting to train when your goal races are all cancelled. Nice to just run for the love of running, or to train your weaknesses (pure speed in my case) during this imposed down-time.
My speculation is that the first races back will be small 5ks. They could mail bibs so no expo or pickup, limit registrations, space out the runners, impose triathlon-style “no-drafting” rules, require social distancing on the course, and go purely by net time, not gun time.
I’m really curious to see how/when races come back. I saw that Boston is offering refunds. Were you planning to run this year? We are supposed to go to Patagonia and run a marathon there in September. With our Bhutan trip off the calendar, I really hope Patagonia happens…and other marathons as well! What a weird year 2020 is going to be in the running world.
I’m qualified for Boston 2021, so fortunately I’m not in limbo for this year’s September race. All the analyses that I’ve seen say that as social distancing is relaxed, the last thing to be relaxed will be large events, particularly involving national/regional travel until we have either effective treatments or vaccines. We shall see. I really hope that Patagonia can happen for you – what a great trip that will be.
Wow impressed with all those miles! I’ve reduced my weekly mileage down to about 20 miles a week at the moment. I’m just not feeling it with no races to train for.
It does feel odd that I’m running a lot with no clear races on the calendar…but I guess it helps that I just love to run!
Great week of mileage and workouts! Although I’m still working onsite, like you I’m quite grateful not much has really changed in my routine either. That could change, so I’m just embracing as much “normalcy” as possible for the moment. That’s great the parks are still open for you! Our local parks are still open, but all the playground equipment is roped/taped off right now to keep the kids off of it.
I do think playgrounds are closed here too…which I’m sure is hard for parents with kids 🙁 I’m sure it would be a lot harder to maintain normalcy with young kids at home!
For now, I’m grateful for my family and their health, my job, and for running to get through this.
I love the idea of closing some streets so they allow runners/walkers/bikers more room. That said, it wouldn’t solve the problem we have i Chicago of people coming out to play soccer and basketball. 🙁
Oh so sorry about your tights!
True- there are still complaints about kids playing basketball here too and still just hanging out in groups in general….but oh, how hard it must be to be a kid and not hang out with your friends when you’re stuck at home 🙁
Oh my gosh, I am so jealous of those road closures! Can you get MN to send Virginia that memo? They did close dark parks around here. And golf courses, which triggered a valid “letter to the editor” because it does seem pretty easy to keep the right distance playing golf …. Yikes on the tights! Good thing Ruth is so cute!
Interesting about golf courses! You’re right, you’d think golfers could golf with their family members, but then what about the staff that has to work there? Is golf really essential? But similarly I feel that running IS essential so to each their own 🙂
I was also thinking, she should have gone for a cheaper pair! Well done on adapting to this new norm. I’m getting used to the new norm but terrified they will announce a lockdown today which would mean NO running outside, not even alone in the neighbourhood. That would hit me hard as running is the way I stay so calm.
Thank you Shathiso! I hope a complete lockdown doesn’t happen 🙁
I’m kind of in love with Ruth. She’s so cute. How could you be mad at that face?
Great job with your mileage during these crazy times. And you’re doing great with your virtual coaching sessions, too.
We aren’t technically under a shelter in place order, but we are treating it as such. There’s nothing really to do anyway, so we might as well stay home and safe.
She’s lucky she’s cute! But she’s ruthless…Ruthless Ruth!
Wow, that’s crazy (in a great way!) that they opened up the streets like that. Our parks are getting overly crowded so I suspect they will be closing down the parking lots soon to keep people distanced better. Great miles this week! Well, better the Lulu’s than maybe a pair of Vaporfly’s right? 🙂 I bet dogs are loving all the extra attention they are getting.
Haha, good point about the Vaporfly’s 🙂
Nothing will stop you from getting your runs done. Way to go! I run by my house so closing the lakefront did not affect me, but I know many people go there to run. This is my 3rd week being home (time went by fast) and who knows when we will be back to work. For now I am taking it day by day and trying to stay positive.
Haha, well, I do love running!
Glad you can still run outside near your house! Totally right, day by day.
You had a great week of workouts! I’ve found the virtual workouts are going much better than I’d expected (at least from my end as a trainer) and I’ve done the same thing your trainer did, I’ve had my clients send me a list of their equipment so I could plan accordingly. Keep up the great work!
And Ruth… It’s a good thing she’s so cute! 😉
Yes! We’re so lucky to have the technology we do to keep up with fitness! Glad it’s working out okay with your clients!
Naps are so necessary, especially on rainy, gloopy days. I feel you on the COVID anxiety. *Hugs*
Nicely done minneapolis. NYC has opened some streets too and is, so far, keeping the parks open too