Sunday, April 26, 2020

And I Ran, I Ran So Far Away

Shhhhhh.....

I know I said in last week's Runfessions post that I wanted to run away but there was nowhere to go. As it turns out, there was.  I runfess that this weekend, my husband and I took a ride up to the lake house in Wisconsin.

Just a quick comment on the contrast we felt in Wisconsin compared to what we are experiencing in Illinois. The small little lake town where we were isn't seeing anywhere near the cases of COVID we are and people were pretty laid back. No one is masking and while some are social distancing, it isn't to the degree we have gotten used to. That doesn't mean we let down our guard. We brought all our masks and our own food from home, didn't go to any stores, and socially isolated ourselves in the cabin. So no judgment, please.

While my husband had some spring prep to do on the house, I had another reason to travel: my virtual half marathon. My plans to run it at home, using the same looping route I did for that virtual 19 miler, were thwarted by the weather. With a forecast predicting a 90% chance of rain, strong winds, and temperatures in the 40s, the last thing I wanted to do was to run a half marathon, and virtual one, in those conditions or on the treadmill. So off to Wisconsin we went.

The change of scenery felt good and the weather was decent.




Weekly Rundown
Monday: run 6 miles
Tuesday: Strength and CrossFit
Wednesday: Trail run, 7.4 miles for the Uncanceled Project
Thursday: Strength and CrossFit
Friday: Yoga with Adriene
Saturday: Stay at Home Virtual Half Marathon, 13.1 miles
Sunday: Yoga with Adriene

Running
Monday was a really nice day. I decided to run in my neighborhood and set out to do 5-6 miles. Using 9:1 run/walk intervals, I had some nicely paced splits and ended up running faster than I expected. I also found a painted rock under a bush--I haven't ever found one of those before. How could I not be happy?



I dodged the rain on Wednesday's 10k trail run for the Uncanceled Project. The theme for this week was inspiration and I have to admit that as much as I love the trail, I wasn't feeling very inspired that morning. I don't know what it was, but I think I'm starting to feel dragged down from this long period of isolation. After 4 miles, I took a detour onto the single track through the woods and along the winding creek. That detour turned things around for me. It was peaceful and it was beautiful. Sometimes getting lost is the best thing, right? I ended up running farther than 10k and I was just fine with it.



Once we got to the lake house on Saturday, I laced up my shoes for my half marathon. My plan was to run the 5 channels that lead out to the lake, using 4:1 run walk intervals, and stopping at the house once for a bathroom break and fuel. Even though my route was pretty scenic, after several runs up and down the channels I decided to finish the last 3 miles on the  road. That was mentally tough. There was quite a bit of traffic and even though the speed limit is 35, there is no way anyone was obeying that. For the most part, my splits were even, except at mile 10 when I was having to dig deep after being dusted by a large pickup truck. I finished strong, though, in 2:07:57! There was a Spotted Cow--beer, not the animal--waiting for me back at the house and it tasted great!

Yes, it was breezy!
CrossFit
I wrapped up the Support Your Local Box Challenge on Tuesday with the Week 3 WOD. This was the best workout of the 3--a chipper for time of 50 DB Deadlifts, 50 AbMat situps, 50 Box Step Ups, and 50 single arm DB thrusters. Thrilled to have deadlifts in the WOD, I did the Rx of 35# in each hand. I did not do 35# for the thrusters, though!

On Thursday, Sammy Jo led a very creative 10 days of quarantine WOD, based off of the Christmas song, 12 days of Christmas. It was very fun--you can only imagine me singing "5 burpees"! We ended with a 1000 meter run, by the way!

Strength
Coach Sammy Jo continues to challenge my strength with some tough home workouts! On Tuesday, I started with lateral box step ups. We use a 20" box at the box (see what I did there?) so I improvised with a stool. I am married to a carpenter and you'd think he'd build me a box--well, let's not go there. The box step ups alternated with DB reverse flys and plank rocks. For heavy strength, I did a power clean/split jerk complex using 45#. I could have done much heavier with the cleans but those overhead lifts are spicy--there was no way I was landing those split jerks with anything heavier. It took a lot of practice lifts before I nailed one.


Thursday morning, I woke up in a world of RA hurt. It has been a while since I felt that much pain! I decided to do a longer warm up before I started to lift. That helped a lot. I used my wrist wraps because my wrists were very unhappy. A couple of people asked me on Instagram where I got my wrist wraps from, you can find those here. I started with a 10 minute EMOM of v-ups alternating with overhead squats. I was very happy with how those went. I finished the workout with bulgarian split squats, DB bench presses, and 'knees in on bench' abs. That went well and I woke up on Friday deliciously sore but not in any pain!

This is definitely my win for the week!

In Other News...
I found out this week that my work from home has been extended to May 30. While I knew this was coming, I'm a bit sad about it. I'm feeling ambivalent about going back to work because of the risk to my health but I also feel unproductive with the little bit of work I've been doing at home. I have been doing a few telemedicine visits each day, but mostly I've been working on continuing education for my license (I need 80 hours per year). I'm glad I have this opportunity to work from home but the uncertainty of what's to come is making me feel unsettled. I see my rheumatologist next week and I'll be really curious to hear what she thinks I should do after the pandemic settles down. Should I pursue non-direct patient care options? We shall see.


How was your week? Any virtual races for you? Those of you doing the Uncanceled Project, how were your runs? What made you feel inspired? Any wins?

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.



50 comments :

  1. I’m with you on finding a new locale to run. I just can’t get inspired by the same places.

    I don’t race my virtuals. In fact I don’t think I’ve raced in a very long time. Even the ones I ran early this year were slowed by foot pain.

    So I’m just enjoying being outdoors. I’m sure our WFH will be extended too. Hate it!!!!

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    1. I'm not racing my virtual races either, which is why I'm not going to do any more of them. It was more of a challenge to run the distance than anything.

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  2. A lake house in Wisconsin sounds wonderful! I'd go there every weekend if I had one.
    Well done on your half-marathon! You definitely deserved the Spotted Cow. 😊
    Haha, I can't believe your husband didn't make you a box! If my husband were a carpenter, I strongly suspect I wouldn't get one either! 😄😄

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    1. It's kind of like the shoemaker's children, not getting shoes...lol

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  3. A Mini Vacation Sounds Devine - And Just Look At You Go - Crushing It For Sure - Hope Hubby Made Some Progress With His Chores - Happy Sunday

    Cheers
    P.S. Dig The New Profile Photo

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    1. Well, thank you! I was torn whether or not to post a photo with a beer, but hey, it's who I am, right?

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  4. Congrats on your half! That post race beer sure tasted good didn't it?

    My company sent everyone home pretty early in the game and set June 1 as the end date up front, which seemed bizarre back then but looks right on the money now.

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  5. I would love a place to go and "get away!" If my husband was here, we'd totally be camping and isolating out in the middle of the woods somewhere. I could really use that right about now.

    I keep hearing about this "uncanceled project" and never looked into it. I think I might have missed out on something fun. Nice job on that half! I'll be hitting that mileage soon - right now, it just seems so far! lol

    I tweaked my brachioradialis back quite a few months ago and was finally getting a referral to see the ortho but covid-19 halted that. It's still touchy and I've done little to no overhead stuff or any fun pulling things, like cleans, etc. I might be a little jealous of your overhead squats. Ha!

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  6. It's so odd to have everyone in the same boat at the same time with regard to jobs. Who knows what is going to happen permanently...what we knew may never be quite the same again, and it's going to take some time to get used to it.

    Glad you were able to get away! We want to go to Dallas to visit our daughter - seeing her plus a change of scenery sounds so nice. But she has a friend staying with her, so we bide our time.

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    1. For me, it's more than the fear of catching the virus, it is the uncertainty of what is going to happen!

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  7. Good job getting that half done! I'll bet being in a different location felt great. I really wish that was an option of me, I need that!

    I'm sorry that work has been meh. It's not an easy time for any of us. Good luck when you have your drs visit. Even that would make me anxious! I got a lot of overdue medical stuff done this year, but there were a few things I didn't get to, and even though they called to schedule one -- um, no, not right now, thank you very much.

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    1. I was really reluctant to go to the rheum, but they reassured me that the office is being very cautious. Because I'm on an immunosuppressant, she really wants to see me. Wondering if she wants to cut back my meds.

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  8. Great job on the virtual half! Sounds like you made the perfect getaway. Good to know the current state of affairs in WI is much different than here. I was looking at Covid cases by zip code and by town. Of course people travel and spread, etc. but we've got <10 cases here and surrounding areas are similar or even <5. Food for thought.

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    1. After going to Wisconsin, I can see why a lot of people are rebelling--unless you live in a hot spot like we do, the illness doesn't seem real.

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  9. I love that you were able to have a change of scenery for your virtual half marathon - I bet that really helped make the run more fun! I can't tell you how sick I am of running the same loops in my town - ugh!

    So far our stay at home is "supposed" to end on May 20, but I have a feeling it's going to be extended although they haven't made an official announcement yet. While I'm looking forward to getting back to the office (especially since all our stuff was moved to our new office building) I'm okay staying at home a little bit longer since CT is still seeing 100+ daily deaths from COOVID-19. We're supposed to be over the peak as of Thursday - fingers crossed that's actually true!

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    1. It's been really interesting for me now to see the differences between areas and how COVID is affecting them. The virus is certainly more concentrated in more populated areas.

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  10. Great work on your half! My husband's working from home is meant to be phased out near the end of May, however he gets public transport to work and doesn't work with anyone in his office, but with people around the world, also the company is closing some offices forever, so I feel I may have a lot more of him in my life in the future ...

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  11. Wow, May 30th...Minnesota hasn't extended yet, ours is set to expire on May 4th. TBD.

    Interesting that the Wisconsin lakes areas are in such a different place. My sister Erin lives outside Chicago and also has a lake home in Wisconsin (can't remember the exact name of the town) and she mentioned the same. Just not a concern there. Here in Minneapolis essentially everyone wears a mask to the stores, though not running (which is fine if you keep your distance!)

    Gosh I really hope this ends soon.

    On a brighter note, awesome job on the virtual half marathon! Sounds like it was a success!

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    1. Glad I got to run it up there! We felt so guilty leaving Chicago but we figured if we stayed out of the stores, we'd be fine. It was so strange how relaxed everyone was, like normal life!

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  12. If I had a secluded place to safely escape to for a few days, I sure would as well. Glad you were able to run your half somewhere else for a change. Things are still on total lock down here. I am kind of worried now about how to do reentry when it's time. Thanks for linking and have a great week

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    1. It is so different here than in Wisconsin--but it was nice to see that life is going on.

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  13. Great job on your virtual half! I envy you for having a place to escape too - I'm sure the change of scenery and vibe was good for the soul!

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    1. We weren't there long enough, lol, but it was so nice to get away!

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  14. Wisconsin sounds a lot like Iowa....we haven't been hit much until recently, but I believe most are following the proper protocol to avoid the mandated stay home orders. Great job on your 13.1!

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    1. Probably in the smaller towns, yes. Madison and Milwaukee are hot spots like Chicago.

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  15. Great job on your virtual half!! I just did one too, but just did it in my own neighborhood Friday morning while everyone slept before work. Then Saturday I did a virtual 5K to complete our virtual Cleveland marathon challenge series. I'm sore today!

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  16. As I said on IG, I think your squat picture looks like the emoji!

    It must be tough to want to see your patients in person, but to not be able to because of your health. Because most of my clients are older, I doubt that many would want to go to the gym even if they were to open back up. As of now they're slated for reopening on June 10th. Of course, that could change depending on the course of the virus.

    I signed up for a virtual Mother’s Day 4-Miler when the “We’ve Got Your Back 5K” which was going to be my comeback race got canceled. I just wanted an official comeback race, you know? The day after I registered for that virtual race, I won Darlene’s Freihofer’s 5K virtual race giveaway, so now I’ve got two to run!

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    1. Good for you!!! All Community Events, the race promoter that I am an ambassador for, is having a virtual Mother's Day run. i should sign up for it, right?

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  17. Great job on that virtual half marathon! If we had a cabin, we would go there also and not interact with anyone, but just enjoy a change of scenery. Most of our summer camping trips will not happen now, especially with campgrounds in Indiana closed and likely staying so through May. Your getaway sounds so lovely!

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    1. It was too short!!! My hubs likes to get home early and since it was too cold to go out on the water, we left right before noon. Hopefully our next trip will be a little longer.

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  18. My work schedule is going in 2 week increments. I don't see us going back to our "regular" schedule anytime soon. And when we do it's going to be a different set up anyway. The hospital is hoping to start doing elective surgery again on May 4th but it will be awhile before we'll see those patients. That is if they want to venture out. One step at a time! Great job on the virtual race! I'm sure it was a different world venturing out to a small town.

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    1. It was a nice little getaway. I'm looking forward to more of those! Work? Not so much.

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  19. Your pics from the lake were gorgeous — I’d sneak away if we had a place to go to. Interesting on the different attitude, but not surprising if the infection rate is low there — I hope it can stay that way. I’m working at home but still feeling less productive. I miss the informal interactions and discussions with my colleagues, I guess.

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    1. My husband and I are worried that as restrictions become looser, COVID will spread up there. We're going to keep doing our social distancing, and when we go back up, we'll continue to bring all our own foods so we don't have to be around anyone or be responsible for spreading the illness.

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  20. That great day at work meme. LOL. One I haven't seen yet! Nicely done on the Half, a change of scenery is always necessary. I'm glad you're able to work from home and get in the CLEs to save you time when we return to "normal"

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  21. If I had a lake house, I'd do the same thing!! I'm glad you had a nice getaway and stayed safe! Congrats on the virtual half marathon - I don't know how you guys do it!

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  22. My son and his roommates went to one of their family's lake house in Michigan this weekend and experienced pretty much the same thing. They were going stir crazy, so it was nice for them to get away, at least for a change of scenery.

    I renewed all of my licenses a couple of weeks ago. Even though they gave us an extension, I had everything I needed so I figured I might as well get it done.

    It must be tough to do the work from home as an NP. I wouldn't love it, but what can you do.

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    1. I don't love it at all. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's time to go back to work. They say the virus is going to be circulating for quite some time. We're not set up for social isolation in our workspace. It's going to be interesting.

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  23. I hope your trip to Wisconin helped refresh you. I totally understand how you're feeling, I feel much the same way. Thank good for running (yes I've said that more than a few times). California is still pretty shut down, though they've opened the trail parking lots and are allowing golf and tennis (which is what the desert is all about, right?). I just had a client email me and other inquire about my coming to their home. I'm antsy and would love to earn some money but still heistant to do that. I'm kind of waiting to hear what happens in the south where they're opening up so much.

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    1. I'm just really leery of jumping back into life again. All the experts keep warning of a second wave and I personally think it's too soon to get back to 'normal' again. Stay tuned...

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  24. I feel like your experience in Wisconsin is very much what it's like here in my town. Not a huge deal. People are not wearing masks other than about half of the people at the grocery store. I will admit - someone shook my hand this week at work (I didn't want to seem rude and not shake his hand when he offered it!), I gave my mom a hug, I gave a runner friend a hug when she finished her marathon, and I also walked with a friend and was about 3 foot away from her! Beyond that though, I did wear a mask while grocery shopping, and I diligently washed my hands ALL the time and didn't touch my face. I am being mindful of others but did bend the rules a little this week.

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    1. I'd probably avoid the handshake and hugs right now--but here we are definitely more accustomed to that. It was weird going from a 'hot spot' to a place where it's more laid back!

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  25. Great job. I did the Inspiration 5K on Tuesday, and it went well. That was it as far as virtuals.

    It's so interesting how everyone is having such different experiences with the shutdowns. We aren't seeing anything here like what you have at home. Our numbers are lower, and people are being cautious, but not really staying in. I am glad you were able to get away for a bit. <3

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    1. It will be interesting to see how the numbers trend in the places that aren't following strict guidelines!

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