Two Mile Run

Coronavirus quarantine has set in. I'm on day 4 of working from home, and it's not as fun as I would have expected. It's hard not getting up in the morning and going somewhere. I still have work, but it's all weird because classes have been impacted by the virus. Students are anxious about how this will impact them going forward. It seems like this will be a new normal for a while - it seems so long ago that I was going to yoga class and worrying about how my toe would hold up to climbing. I really can't complain, though, I'm so lucky. My job can be done remotely, it seems that they still need me, I have food and water, internet and cats, plenty of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and no one is driving me crazy. It's very cozy here with the cats.

I am making sure to do things like clean the kitchen and exercise. Yesterday I walked a mile and a half to get sushi, then walked back. Today I went for a 2 mile run. Yesterday was beautiful out, but today was rainy and gross. I wanted to get my exercise activities done as fast as possible. I looked at a bunch different routes, and decided on one that was just a little less than two miles. But then when I left my place, for some reason I turned left and went up hill, to the slightly over two mile route. No idea why I did that - it's a tough uphill to start and so I was gasping and puffing right from the beginning. I got to the top of the hill and really wanted to walk, but I didn't, I kept running. I did the entire unpleasant route. I was so slow - I did an 11 minute 21 second mile! On the bright side, my toe didn't hurt at all. I think I'm going to be running more, since everywhere to exercise is closed. Hopefully I'll bring my speed and distance up.

Shout out to my reader, Kit who's father isn't feeling well. Hope he's flipping bacon again soon!

Hot Yoga

Because of the coronavirus everything is closing. All the good yoga studios are shutting down, and I had to go to a hot yoga studio for class today. Man, I forgot just how hot hot yoga is. It was HOT. For part of the class I thought I might pass out. I could feel my heart beating, and I was sweating like a pig. Just as I was thinking I couldn't stand up anymore, we moved to the lying down part - I actually did all of the poses except for the last one :)  I thought lying down would be easier, but it seems that heat sinks there, it was so HOT on the floor. And, I just kept looking at my watch. With 20 minutes left I had to leave for 5 minutes to breathe, cool down, and get some water. Then I went back in and finished - I was so happy when it was done. After I drank a 28 oz gatorade to make sure I don't get sick. All in all, not a success.

Work announced that all students would have to leave campus by the end of the day Tuesday, unless they have some kind of waiver. They announced it yesterday, and today was so sad, especially for the seniors because they don't know if they will get back to campus. Today in our office we had a small graduation ceremony for our group of senior work/study and volunteer folks. They all get their graduation gowns at the start of the year, so they wore them, and we lined up in the hall and played pomp and circumstance and clapped for them. Then we had this small ceremony where we played a recording of the president's speech from last year, and everyone cried a lot. It was sweet and sad and happy at the same time. After, I wanted to go take a nap.

Being alive during a global pandemic is weird and surreal.

Rock Circuit and a tick

Last night we sprang forward, which makes today a short day. But it's so nice to have the sun go down later! I wish we just left it at this time. To celebrate the approach of spring, I decided to head out for my first real hike of the year. I did the full Rock Circuit trail, and I found a little part that I didn't know existed before, Pinnacle Rock. There's an area where things get a little loopy on the map and I always get a little confused - this time there was a group of hikers that was parents with two year olds that was going soo slow, and I was so glad to see a white blaze to turn, that I went in a direction that I've never gone before. Really glad I did - nice view!

The hike took 3 hours and 10 minutes, I took only a few breaks - about 3-5 minutes each at three view points, and once to pee. I think that's where I got the tick - when I went to get in the shower I thought I had a speck of dirt on my stomach, but it wouldn't brush off. And then I realized what it was. I think they have to be on you for 36-48 hours for you to get lyme, but I'm still a little freaked out. What happened was that I usually have the best pee karma - no one ever comes when I am peeing. But this time there I was, with my butt exposed, and I heard someone coming. So, I ducked low so they wouldn't see me. Fortunately is was a female trail runner, so she moved fast (and I wouldn't have been as embarrassed if she did see me.) But, I bet when I ducked down is when I got the tick. I read they will be worse this year because we didn't have enough days below freezing. I may buy some clothes treated with that bug stuff...

Leap Day

I spent this morning at a Leap Day for Women parkour class. It was a three hour workshop for only women. A bunch of the geriatric folks were there, but also some young'uns, so it was great to see a wide range of skills. We had some fun exercises including trying to do things quietly and making a short, three part routine. There was someone taking pictures that were going on instagram I think, will have to look and see if there are any of me. Even though I am totally new at this, and there were women flying around, everyone was friendly and accepting. Two thumbs up.

I did wind up skiing again at Nashoba Valley. They have this ski pass called The Gambler which you can buy on the Sunday at the end of school vacation week, and it's good until the place closes. It wasn't too expensive - $99, so I got it. Turns out I lost! I had one good day of skiing on the Sunday, and then the weather warmed up and it was like 65. Then it rained. I decided to try to go on Friday. I went down the hill twice, hated it, packed it up and went home. The trail was basically ice, with grainy pellets on it. No fun. It was really hard to get an edge, and I could feel my IT band objecting. I think the ski season may be done. Well, if it become spring-like outside, then I guess I'm OK with that.

I finally went back to climbing on Thursday! It was my first real climbing since my surgery. My foot is definitely not 100%, because it hurt! I can't place all of my weight on that joint yet, that's for sure. It feels a little like I will never be able to, but that's probably not true. I did two 5.7's, two 5.8's and two 5.9's. I've been climbing with a new group - a meet-up, and fortunately the other climbers were really patient. It wasn't super fun, but it was nice to be back in the gym :)

Next week is Super Tuesday and I still can't decide who to vote for. I love all the candidates, but it turns out that for this election I'm a one-issue voter. Who will beat the current guy? Really, I feel like the primaries is where I vote, so I've been stressing about it.

Parkour Day 3

When my brother and I were kids we used to play this game called "keep off the floor," where the sole objective was, you got it, to keep off the floor (we were original in our games, but not so much in naming them - or maybe everyone played keep off the floor?)  Anyhow, parkour reminds me of it, except without my mom yelling "you kids are driving me crazy, go play outside!" (Speaking of moms, both of the instructor's moms were in class today, it was cute).

The thing where you go up the stairs on hands and feet are called "kongs," and it turns out that there is a lot of shoulder lift in them.  I tried to jump my feet to the same step as my hands, but it was scary. Maybe I can try on something softer, like my bed?  There's no reason it has to be stairs. Then we did some obstacle course stuff, and there were a few things that required jumping and grabbing things. I didn't kill myself, though I did hurt my toe that I had surgery on, I iced it when I got home, but it still feels sore.

New Skis!

I tried out the new skis today, and was quite pleased with them! Good purchase, and I only have to use them 6 times to make the purchase pay for itself. Of course, I guess there's the thing about how many more times I may ski, since I don't have to rent. I may have to factor that in....  I love the skis the most! I feel like they have better edges than the ones I was renting, though maybe I was imagining that. I think the boots are a little too big, but they worked fine. If I love skiing after next season I can consider different ones if I need them - I'll probably know then what's more important. And, these were less than $50.

I went to nashoba valley, which is a small little mountain, but less than 45 minutes drive.  The trails that you take up are blue squares, which messed with my head a little; the greens are the kiddie area. When you are so small you have to do whatever you can to have a black diamond. I did go down all the blues - at first quite gingerly, and then with more and more confidence. I think I'm starting to feel a little more confidence with a little speed, and to feel a bit better with turning (counter clockwise at least).  It helped that the mountain was pretty quiet today, there weren't may crowds and not much waiting at the lifts. I definitely want to go at least once more this year, maybe more :)

Parkour day 2

I did my second parkour class, and loved it again. One of the things that's great about a new activity is that you improve so fast each time you do it. :)  I did way better in class two than in class one. I was able to balance on a metal bar for about 5 Mississippi's (I wonder who came up with that?), I climbed over a short wall, and I went through monkey bars. At the end of class, they were talking about a women's workshop that they are having on Feb 29 - Leap Class on Leap Day! The other two women in the class are going, and they were like "we can strategize next week." Parkour people may be my people - we'll see.

I did wind up getting skis at play it again sports. Super psyched about it, especially the skis that I got. They look practically new, and they're a reasonable brand for beginners. They are also the perfect size. I'm not totally sure on the boots, but they were only $45, so if I hate them, I can always get a new pair after a season or two (if I'm still skiing.) The whole set up was less than $200, including tune-up and waxing, with my inflatable paddle board money. Nice.  I'm hoping to go skiing on Monday, it's president's day.