The Running Thread - 2020

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Is your brother John?

You got it! It means possibly we've met, as we were at the open house when they moved to the new building.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Once things are back to normal we’ll have to get together for a combo race and disc golf weekend! I don’t know how the courses are down there in GA, but we’ve got some pretty nice ones here in N.C. and they’re working on putting several higher end courses in near me, in addition. My work even set up a 5-hole course that I play at lunch when we’re on site.

I'm in. Maybe Greenville, SC?

I'm still a disc golf rookie, so I've only played Little Mulberry. It's fairly wooded with the standard trees that are able to jump in front of discs.

 

[MommaBerd]

You got it! It means possibly we've met, as we were at the open house when they moved to the new building.

Just Wow! Love your brother and his wife. Truly good people. And thanks for the well-wishes. Hoping and praying the business can make it, too.

 

[garneska]

This first week was tough. I normally go into work, I walk to work so never an issue to get there. if I have an appointment (therapy or vet) I do stay home that day. When it is one day at home no big deal. I sit in my recliner and work from my lap. after a whole week, yeah that is not going to work. Trying to get creative, we live in a smallish space. Plus Mallory is not understanding that I am not home to pet her all day.

she has gotten very anxious and with us home she just wants comfort. I was concerned she was having issues with her lungs. went to the vet yesterday. All kinds of food news. Her infection has cleared up, we did a chest X-ray and that was clean. she is now on anxiety drugs. Trying to only use it when necessary. the pluses for her, I am home all day and try to lay with her a lot, and she is getting two walks a day in her wagon. She is fine when out for a walk, no chirping no issues.

 

[TheHamm]

So how's everyone manged so far this week?

I'm avoiding the temptation to post the "Not Great, Bob" meme that was going around a few years ago.
I am FURIOUS as the local hospital is begging for PPE, and we have some at work but are not sharing as we are expected to continue working.

I spent the week before the schools shut down trying to prepare for being home, and I am glad I stocked up on kid activities and put off work tasks that could be done remotely. Unfortunately, it is challenging to accomplish anything when all my kiddos are doing is fighting. At this time I regret getting a cute, old house in town with but one bathroom instead of a McMansion with a large yard and our own swingset.

I was pretty excited for March to be a good running month, and until Friday the 13th, I had been on track to ramp up miles, use the treadmill for a bit of speed work, and get in some regular strength work. That is not going to happen now. Today was supposed to be our local marathon, I was going to stick to the 10K, and have zero motivation to go out and do it virtually. I have gone out for exactly 3 runs. I did 4 miles of my planned 5 and got a call from a friend and just walked two while chatting, making it my most successful and enjoyable run.. I was also entertained by college students from the neighborhood trying to bicycle with a keg- I have not seen that before! I realized in my rush out of the office, I left my warmest running gear at work and cut yesterday's frigid and windy run short thinking about frostbite to the ear. I have been doing a lot of GoNoodle and Cosmic Kids Yoga with my 6year olds, and we have assembled $400 worth of legos. I am hopeful we will find some better weather for outdoor stuff.

 

[camaker]

I'm in. Maybe Greenville, SC?

I'm still a disc golf rookie, so I've only played Little Mulberry. It's fairly wooded with the standard trees that are able to jump in front of discs.

“It was on a great line until the tree got in the way” is often heard during my rounds. I’ve embraced the philosophy of “if you can’t do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.” Kind of like running.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I am sure this is weird but I haven’t been this relaxed in a long time. My new job is 100% work from home anyway so this is no adjustment for me as far as work. My new job is very flexible so I have been doing all my runs during the day, as opposed to once the kids are in bed. It stinks having to “home school” 7 kids but it’s working out fine. I normally have a ton of food and supplies anyway just because of the size of my family so I didn’t panic when stores starting selling out of everything.

As for running, my ankle pain has gone away again so my runs are consistent. I have even had the chance to work in some cross training now that all the kid’s activities have been cancelled.

I got married last summer and the wife and I were taking our delayed honeymoon to CA next month. Clearly that won’t happen but we will just plan something when everything settles down.

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy and life goes back to normal as quickly as possible for everyone.

 

[KevM]

I've been doing pretty well. On Monday I still had to go into work, but shortly before lunch a senior manager came around letting us know an e-mail was coming out that starting Tuesday we would be working from home and anyone who wanted to go home at lunch and start working from hone was allowed to. So I did. I generally work from home on Tuesdays anyway, so I already have a bit of a set up at home for working. I've been social distancing since the 14th and so far I don't mind it. For me, social distancing does mean staying away from everyone I don't need to be near and only going to the food store once a week. I've been solo running and walking, sticking to the local neighborhoods and the surrounding streets because the pictures I've seen of the trails near me have them more packed then I am comfortable with. When running, when I do see other people I give as wide a space as I can.

One thing that I have found to be nice is that Google Chrome has Netflix Party (link below) that lets you watch movies with friends/family. One person controls the stream, so everyone is watching it with only a second or two delay. It also has a chat box.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/netflix-party/oocalimimngaihdkbihfgmpkcpnmlaoa?hl=en
Edited to add: Tomorrow's going to be the first real test. Monday's supposed to be rainy all day with periods of heavey rain. I'm hoping that either lunch time or late afternoon/early evening is only drizzle because I'm not looking forward to spending an entire 24 hour period inside.

 

[McNs]

Update from the other side of the world.

Running has been going well for the last month or so and I've been making good progress on my Every Single Street project (running all the streets in Auckland, city of 1.6m people and about 10,000 streets. It will take a few years). I had a couple of events I was considering entering but with a major project at work that was going to require travel and now Covid, there are no events planned!

Covid 19 is all but shutting down NZ. We only have 102 cases to date (NZ pop. 4.6m) but the first cases of community transmission have poppped up. All other cases were from people who had been overseas. Today it was announced a stay at home order from Thursday for all but essential business. I have been working from homefor the last week and the business I am in looks to be considered one of the essential ones (a lot of our product sells in supermarkets and they along with all support can remain working). Schools close from tomorrow. It's very surreal and I can't believe how quickly the situation changes.

Take care all!

 

[JulieODC]

We are in one of the harder hit areas so far - jumped from 1 to 5 deaths yesterday. Hanging in there - managing working from home (I always do) and having the kids here, getting them to do some school work, etc.

our schools are closed indefinitely- most are predicting they don’t go back this year (we end at the end of June).

still running - but definitely no more group runs, even socially distanced. But grateful we can get outside for runs, hikes, bike rides. I’m expecting a full lockdown at some point. I wish people could comply with the guidance - seeing groups together playing basketball, etc, is very frustrating!

 

[Waiting2goback]

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Good morning all! Glad to hear that most everyone is adjusting ok.

I went back to work on Monday, March 9 from maternity leave. Sobbed dropping off our little guy at daycare on day 1, tears on day 2 but not as bad, day 3 just watery eyes, no dropping tears. 2 hours into day 3, I was sent to work from home, with the understanding that I'd have a baby there too. Spending more time at home with him is a very sweet silver lining amid so much scary news.

My husband came down with a nasty cold-type bug. Clinic won't see him (told to self isolate) but he can't go into work, so he's also been working from home.
Baby started running a fever yesterday, which really stinks. Again, pediatrician's office told us to monitor and self-isolate. Do I think they have covid-19? Not really. But they can't get tested either, it's almost like they don't want to know. (I understand that the treatment is the same either way.)

I ran 4x last week and got in a walk outside with the family another time. Running/exercise is keeping me sane.

ETA: We have also watched 3 seasons of Schitt's Creek and eaten way too much

 

[kleph]

i spent a lot of the last couple weeks trying to get my family and friends prepared to handle this. needless to say, it wasn't easy as most didn't really understand the gravity of what was happening. thankfully, that seems to be changing. but now we have to endure the onslaught of the thing itself.

here in dallas folks seem to be following social distancing guidelines pretty well. we aren't on lockdown yet but in the past week the strict guidelines have been put in place by local officials. most non-essential businesses are closed, events cancelled and group gatherings of any size prohibited. stores are still out of a lot of the stuff like anti-bacterial wipes and toilet paper but, for the most part, you can get pretty much everything else if you shop smart (i pretty much only visit the Mexican supermarkets now).

while my marathon training has been mothballed, i'm really focused on getting regular runs in as a way to both stay healthy and to stay sane. the anxiety and frustration is pretty rough. add to that the challenges of isolation and it's very easy to fall into a negative mental state. the routine is almost as important as the physical benefits.

i always run alone and go out of my way to keep my distance from other folks. mostly I just run on the street and let them have the sidewalk. i figure this is safer since the route has few cars and am very traffic aware. better me on the street than someone else.

there are a lot more people out there these days but all seem to be practicing social distancing. the only folks i see bunched together are clearly family groups. probably the biggest upshot this has brought to my running experience is that while i see significantly more people walking their dogs, i never see any off the leash anymore.

 

[Jules76126]

Still adjusting to the new normal. DH and I have been working from home for over a week now. It has been okay as we don't have any kids. But we also are in a small space and both working from the kitchen table. We try and change things up so we don't feel like we are always sitting in the same room. We have been running as much as possible outside since the gym closed. We do not run together. I have seen more people out and about walking dogs, etc, but I make sure and cross the street so we aren't coming into contact. I was training for a half, but fairly confident that has been canceled so I am just running whatever mileage I can. We have tried to limit our trips to the stores and I have been baking/cooking a lot to stock up on things. We went to the pet store this weekend to stock up so we can make it for a month without having to go back. Also our local brewery was doing curbside pick up so we went and supported them as well.

My mom is a nurse and I have been talking to her quite a bit. She is hanging in there, but says that the hospitals are crazy. Luckily, she works in an essential unit with the same patients on a daily basis so her risk of exposure is limited. I think the hardest part about this whole thing is the unknown factor in terms of how long we will need to social distance. Everyone has a different answer and really no one knows.

 

[MommaBerd]

@run.minnie.miles - Definitely a silver lining to be able to spend more time with your sweet baby!!! I hope that both your husband and little guy recover quickly AND that you stay healthy!

 

[PrincessV]

It's... going. I'm high-risk for complications from even regular flu, and I live with someone who is very high-risk, so I'm WFH and doing my best to avoid humanity. Which is actually really nice as an introvert! Still working the same hours, just from home instead of office, so no change to my schedule. And my son's been doing homeschool online for years, so no change for him, either.

What's hard is having to be "on", learning about and talking about COVID-19 all day, every day for my job. I am not in healthcare, and my work has nothing to do with health issues normally, but it does now. Add in everyone talking about it in my personal social media handles, and a lot of freaking out in all directions, and I'm just mentally and emotionally spent. I need MORE social distancing at this point! Ugh. I'd like a month in a cabin in the mountains with no Internet.

Anyway, running is fine. Since all my races have been canceled, my summer off-season started early and I'm not training for anything - just running to feel good.

 

[GreatLakes]

So how's everyone manged so far this week?

So far so good. All last week every one of my employees has been working from home with one exception while we get the rest of the company set up with the ability to work remotely. Other than the office which is down to three people and a new building we are bringing online where I've had a few telco engineers in I have pretty much avoided all people for the past week. Other than going to a deserted park and walks around the neighborhood my wife and son haven't been anywhere as his daycare is closed and she has been working from home exclusively.

Our state starts "just stay home" which is their way of saying "shelter in place" tonight but anyone with any common sense has been doing that themselves all week. I wish everyone that isn't truly essential would just stay home and avoid even small group activities for the next few weeks or months to let this run its course.

On a positive note I've run 6 of the last 7 days and plan to run the next 5 after taking a rest day today. I try to run a few days a week at work but with the office deserted I just run at lunch every day. The rec I usually shower at after my runs is closed but since it is just me, one of my staff with an office nowhere near me, and one person in another department that also runs at lunch I just towel off, change. and deal with it.

 

[Chaitali]

It’s ok here. me and my husband both worked from home all of last week and will continue to work from home. Have only left the house to go for a run or walk but I’ve been able to do that every day. The neighborhood isn’t that busy so it’s easy to stay at least 6 feet from other people. Though we went to a local trail Sunday and it was busier than I’ve ever seen it. We won’t go there again while this is going on. And I’ve been trying it the peloton app and virtually meeting up with friends to do yoga together via zoom.

got bad news on Friday. I was told that I’m going to be cut down to 2 days of work per day starting April 4 . I’ve been trying to look on the bright side and think of all the things I can do with the extra time but I hope it doesn’t last too long.

 

[YawningDodo]

I'm doing my best to remind myself that things are actually going quite well for me! I've been shifted to remote work; it's weird and difficult because not a lot of my work can be done remotely but I've kept busy so far and I've been catching up on a lot of professional literature. I've also been sneaking in more time to clean the house and have made great strides on the kitchen and my bedroom, which are both problem areas that increase my anxiety when they get chaotic.

Speaking of anxiety, though, another thing that sets it off is uncertainty! And boy howdy we've got a lot of that right now. I work for a nonprofit and we're in a weird limbo position where we should have enough in our rainy day fund to see us through but also we're down a huge amount of revenue from a major fundraiser we had to postpone. And then I frankly feel sick whenever I think about my friend who works for a small local business because the owner is worried she might not be able to reopen if she's forced to close. So that's awful! I'm in this constant weird mindset where I'm kind of weirdly enjoying being home all day because it's oddly convenient and I can wear pajamas and/or leggings all day and I'm an introvert anyway, but at the same time I'm constantly losing track of the days and I find myself fixating on negative thoughts if I don't keep moving.

Running-wise, I am super out of shape! Saturday was supposed to be a 3.5 mile run but I just didn't feel up for it. I convinced myself to do a 4 mile walk with my dog instead, but wore the wrong socks and came away very sore (thankfully it's cleared up today). Thankfully it's been warm enough to get out and run, and I've been doing pretty well at sticking to that routine. Kind of wondering if I should add shorter walks with the dog to my non-running days since there seems to be a psychological element to the whole not-leaving-the-house thing.

there are a lot more people out there these days but all seem to be practicing social distancing. the only folks i see bunched together are clearly family groups. probably the biggest upshot this has brought to my running experience is that while i see significantly more people walking their dogs, i never see any off the leash anymore.

I wish that were the case here! I've got an anxious dog that seems to take a "get them before they get me" attitude toward any dog she doesn't know. Been working with her for literally years to help her understand that she doesn't need to do that, and while there's been progress it's an ongoing battle. We encountered not one, but two loose dogs on our walk on Saturday. The first I could forgive since he was a young pup trailing a leash and I think he had pulled away from his owners, and they were very quick to grab him before he got in range and were very apologetic about it. The second time, an unleashed dog charged us from across the street. I think he just wanted to play, but Penny interpreted it as aggression because that's what reactive dogs do and I ended up hauling her off her feet by the handle on her harness to prevent her from biting this dog right in the face. Felt terrible about it afterward because I basically showed her that dogs can charge her and she'll be helpless. Yelled for the owners to please get their dog because mine's aggressive toward other dogs--they called the dog back, put it in their yard, and then just ignored me as if I weren't there and nothing had happened. No apology whatsoever, no acknowledgment that they had endangered both our dogs (not to mention me if I'd ended up with my hands in the middle of a dog fight) and undermined my training efforts.

It's wild to me that people just let their dogs run loose and trust that it'll be fine. You never know how other people and dogs will react to being approached--and heck, even friendly dogs can be unpredictable when they see someone running or a dog they think is on their territory.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I saw this at just the right time yesterday because I really didn’t feel like doing my cross training yesterday. But I “toughened up” and did it.