COVID Diaries - This weather is bullshit!

 Apparently I don't even care about censors.

Wednesday 10/21

I woke up to find out the snow removal people legit just didn't come. So, that was a whole thing.  I cleared my snow and texted my neighbor that the salt I use is pet safe.  (Neighbor has a dog, which is different from last year.)  Eventually neighbor texted me back that her shovel from last year was a disaster and she was getting a new one soon. I shoveled her side of our back yard too, before I had to leave for work.

I did work outside the home for a minute, which was lovely. And involved another COVID test. For reals, the one in the office hurt significantly less than in the car.  I think the angle of approach matters. 

I also ran in the suburbs.  One of my offices is on a hospital campus which is generally well plowed.  Hospital campus also has a walking trail (which is partially under construction but still suitable for an out and back) so I ran out there versus in my neighborhood where there were varying levels of shoveling compliance.

Thursday 10/22

I ran my mile pretty early in the morning because it was supposed to snow again.  I was about a block from home when the snow thunder/lightning started, so I'll call my timing okay but not ideal.

In the evening Dungeon Master and I did online Tai Chi together. That is quickly becoming my most favorite workout of all.

Friday 10/23

Work was surprisingly wild.  I wound up with 8 points on a day where I needed like 0-1.  It's fine.  I'm happy for my job, and at this moment, happy to be able to help out my colleagues.  Fridays it's me and one other social worker, whom I really enjoy working with.  We do a phone call or two, check in on the computer, keep going, etc.  It's usually a nice day.  Today was a bit wild for us both, but ultimately fine.

In the afternoon I went out and ran/walked 3 miles.  (But I did run over a mile.  This change is emotional.  Let me have my space.) 

In the evening, Dungeon Master and I had another Tai Chi date. We had a bonus participant at the last minute.  I'm not sure I have a blog name for this dude, so we'll see what he wants to be called. Eagle Scout maybe? You know when friends from high school meet your adult friends?  That's what that night was for me.  Both Dungeon Master and Eagle Scout are the kind of friends who know where the bodies are buried, and probably helped put them there.  So to speak. 

Saturday 10/24

First off, whatever the hell I did to myself after Tai Chi was not good.  So I woke up around 1am ready to puke.  Which eventually happened.  Since I was so wide awake, I thought I'd cut my hair (which I'd been thinking about for a minute) and that mostly worked out, except the back of my head is a bit uneven.  (Sigh.)

In real life, Dungeon Master and I walked around Palmer Lake, ahead of tomorrow's proposed snow storm (which may or may not reach the Twin Cities, we are not taking chances). After the walk; I ran/walked and did my mile for running.  I also got my steps in for whatever step challenge I'm in right now.

 

 

COVID Diaries - A note to my future self

 Dear future self: anyone who says "it used to be like this when I was a kid" is full of shit. This is the most snow recorded this early in the season. This is the second highest snow fall in October, ever.  Bested only by the Halloween Blizzard or legend. 

We had 7-8" of the white stuff today.  On October 20. What the....

I woke up early and got my run in before the snow.  I had to run a work related errand, and because I'm a bone head I had to run a second work related errand as well. (Could've been more efficient there.  Sigh.)  It was trying to snow when I was running.

 

When I got home, I just sat down, worked, and watched the stuff pile up.  This needs photos, not a hand written diary entry.  Photos are in time stamp order here.  For these, the best indicator is the snow accumulating on the orange bucket.

 

COVID Diaries - October 18 and 19

 

COVID Diaries - Overdue

 

Anxiety COVID

 Anxiety COVID: So, I'm going to write this now and set it to post in like, a while.

I have described my current condition as anxiety COVID 19.  For the past couple days, my heart rate has been JACKED UP when I've been running.  Like, nutso, one day it got up to 170 on a 1 mile run.  It should be much lower than that.

Oct 13 and 14, heart rate was jacked up.  Only while running.  The rest of the time things were fine, including the "recovery" after running.  (Like, it was too high, but it came down correctly.)

October 15 I had what is technically an asymptomatic COVID test for my employer. But, like, yo, I'm curious, right?  Do I have some other infection?  Is my body going nuts?  Did I get the real deal?

October 16, end of business day: I still don't have my results.  Not sure if they come on the weekend, or if I have to wait 'till Monday. I get a call if I'm positive and just an email if it's typical results.

So, I've described my current condition as "anxiety COVID".  Because, unrelated to anxiety, my heart rate should not have been that jacked up on those runs.  But, related to anxiety, I don't want to kill all my friends.  Captain Smiley hasn't seen me for a week and he feels fine.  Dungeon Master saw me about five days ago and she hasn't mentioned anything.  I won't say anything to her 'till I know for reals.  One person saw me on Wednesday on the day of the 170bpm run.  Independent of me, she was also going in for a COVID screen because she also started coughing that day. 

I don't really want this because I strongly don't want to have to tell any of my friends to get tested.

But part of me was like "what else would be true, if I had COVID and then recovered?" And, the things that'd be true are "I'd probably go home for Christmas" and "I'd probably start going to the gym this winter".  Which, I understand 'have this and then recover' is a big assumption of health privilege, access to testing privilege, and some much else. But it's been an interesting path to travel down in my head. 

Anyways, this post is being written 10/16/20 at 5pm or so.  I'm setting it to auto publish in a couple weeks.  We'll see if I remember, and if I come back and change it. 

10/17/20 - I actually got my negative test later on the 16th and was happy not to have killed any of my friends.

However, I went out for a run today and I still feel like garbage.  So, I have a regular cough?

 

COVID Diaries - Liz dreams

 Today in Liz Dreams:
Y'all, I had like the "Outlander" dream, but it was my own dream.
I was more like, watching this like a fly on the wall.
The main lady, Claire, was born in modern times, somehow got thrown back into olden times, and then got married, but was able to take her spouse forward into our time.
Dream starts as Claire and Jamie and their kids are like, hanging out in modern times.
Then one of the kids finds like, a portal through the dresser drawer (not even a full wardrobe, just a little drawer).  And somehow the whole family finds it and goes back to what we'll call Jamie's time.
Except, y'all, they bring stuff.
In my dream, they brought a lot of plastic/water tight jars.
Dream Liz is surprised they didn't bring duct tape and ibuprofen.
Jamie, Claire, and the kids has this reassuring disregard for warping the timeline.  Like "oh, I don't need this plastic container, I'll teach a peasant from the 1600s to screw on a bottle cap and tell them it's magic".
And somehow they could get back to our time through the dresser portal.
Yo, this was a great dream but then my alarm clock went off, so I hope I have "more" of this dream sometime.

COVID Diaries - October 5

 

COVID Diaries October 4

 

TC Loony Challenge: Virtual 2020

Registration: I register online; nice and simple.  TCM sends me an email when registration opens up.  One of the reasons people register for Loony is they really just want to run the 10 mile, and having a race or two the day before seems okay?

Packet Pickup: Packets were mailed this year.  A bit of controversy here:Based on the mailing schedule, 10K and 5K packets cannot arrive before the original race day.  Loony and some other packets were mailed a week earlier. So I had my medal and finish line ahead of Dungeon Master. Obviously we shared for the pics.

SWAG: The SWAG is good but also very bad/cheap and it annoys me.  (It's the sole reason I'm even doing a race review this year.) 

I'll start with two new items this year: the mask is on point.  It's one of the better masks I have, especially since I apparently lost my 1 mile mask?  Second, the finish line tape, which is mostly so you can take/post pics, but it's sweet. 

Old items, and things that annoy me:  The shirt for the 10K and 5K: it's ONE shirt.  They used to be two shirts of two different colors.  The medal for the 10K and 5K: It's ONE medal.  This annoys me. It's cheap.  And also unimaginative.  In every year before this, the 10K shirt had one color and the 5K shirt another.  Though in 2018 they did do the cheapass thing of having the same medals for the 5K and 10K.  Not enough people must've complained because they're still doing it.  There's also a 10mile medal and shirt, and a gift bag which looks nice.

Transportation to and from the race:  LOL.  I just left this here for fun.

Course: I made "programs' on my Garmin for the 10mile race (I was at Rush Creek Trail), the 10K race (I was on Shingle Creek), and 5K race (we were at aPalmer Lake). I just ran until my watch said I was done. 

Pace Team: For the 10mile, Olive rode her bike next to me.  10K was alone listening to The Bee Keepers Apprentice.  5K was with Dungeon Master and it's hard to tell who was pacing who in that one.

Race Recommended For:  If you're one who wants to do the 10 mile, doesn't want to do the lottery, and these other races sound fun, this is absolutely for you.  Also, I'd say people who are trying to build a base.  Normal training for Loony is back to back long runs.   

COVID Diaries - October 2 and 3

 

COVID Diaries - October 1

 

COVID Diaries - Cincinnati Trip

 I've already told family this is my Thanksgiving and Christmas trip.  Not sure if I'm telling them or myself.

Thursday: 

Run: I woke up and ran first thing.  Ahead of showering and all the other good stuff.

Periodontist: I had my final check up with the periodontist.  He stuck his fingers in my mouth, said all good, took a couple of pictures of my mouth and let me go.  I'm allowed to brush my teeth now, so that's new.

Traveling: For a long trip, it was mercifully uneventful.  I did all the things the google lady told me to do around Chicago and kept myself out of trouble there and in Indy as well. I had McDonald's for breakfast and lunch (I know), and when I got home I had Dad take me over to Skyline for supper.  So, yeah, not losing weight yet.

Friday:

Run: This is the earliest I've run on the trip.  Probably won't get my hopes too high for more of the same.

Work: I worked from Mom and Dad's basement most of the day.  That is what it will be.  It's actually fairly comfortable down there. 

After work: Mom and I took a walk "around the circle" which makes sense if you know where they live.  Mom could stand another lap or two.  Her hip really bothers her.  (Her hip that she blamed on me all these years. Y'all, one leg is shorter than the other.  I had nothing to do with this bullshit.)  Then we went and had a social distance dinner with friends including Downstairs Mom and Dad who I haven't seen in a while and some other wonderful people.

 Saturday:

Pretty sure I was a lazy bum most of the morning.  In the early afternoon I took Mom and Dad on a "longer" walk.  I'm getting all my minutes in for a walking Garmin challenge on this trip.  Then I ran my mile.

Family: In the late afternoon, I headed over to my aunt's house.  We had an early supper and then social distance watched a young cousin play soccer.  From a parking lot on top of the hill.  And then we had apple crisp.  I have missed my Kentucky people so hard.

Sunday:

Run: I did run in the morning today.  We had an early lunch of goetta and eggs.  And then, y'all, we headed back to Kentucky.  Unexpectedly though, I had a screw in my tire, so we took mom's car which hadn't been driven in like a month.

Family: We headed down to the farm to see my aunt and uncle, and also said hello to their neighbors (who are basically bonus family).  It's always a request of mine to go down to the farm and take a walk.  Always.  It's one of my most favorite places in the world.  I am surprised and mildly pleased to tell you that Mom came along.  It was hard for her, but I think maybe a little easier than the last time I was in town because she wasn't telling everyone else to clean their hands.

Monday: 

Car repair and running: So, I mentioned the screw in my tire.  I didn't even have a tire pressure warning.  I took it to a tire place near Mom and Dad and said "can you make this safe so I can drive back to Minnesota?" and they said sure.  I said "I'm going to take a walk, I'll come back when it's done."

I wound up using my super power of finding a fun running trail close to wherever I am.  At first I was just walking, racking up minutes on my Garmin challenge.  But then I was all "this is silly, I should run my mile so I'm done, and then I can have Skyline for lunch" so I did that too. And yes, I did have Skyline for lunch and almost nothing for supper.

Tuesday: 

Y'all, I think today is Tuesday but I'm a bit confused.

Family: I got to see Grandma.  I haven't seen her since Christmas so it made my heart big even though I couldn't give her a hug.

Work: I had kind of a repeat of yesterday, but not exactly.  I worked from Ault Park in my car.  Then I ran my mile.  Then I had Skyline, and then I worked from a different park for the rest of the day.

I'd had a date with Dad to play tennis in the late afternoon but he was too tired so we bailed.

Wednesday:

I started with a work meeting.  I tried not to see it as super boring.  But I'd heard the first hour of it 2 times before, so I spent that time making coffee, breakfast, etc.  And then I worked most of the day.

In the afternoon, Dad and I headed out.  He let me out of the car at the head of a running trail, and then headed over to the driving range.  The running trail leads to the driving range if done correctly so I got a great workout.

In the evening, I hung out with Marge on our driveway.  The neighbors and their kids were out and super entertaining.  Apparently we get to do it again tomorrow.  It's someone's birthday? I'm unclear.  I just have to organize take out.   

Thursday: 

I worked in the morning.  And had goetta and eggs.  I was fairly grumpy most of the morning.  I dunno why.  It is what it is.

I ran in the afternoon and then walked with Mom and Dad.  Slowly.  We saw a neighbor of theirs who'd been hit by a car (in his car) and was home from rehab finally.  He wanted Dad to stay and have a beer with him.

In the evening a friend came over and we had carry out for supper on the driveway.  It was excellent.

Friday: 

 I did a quick weight routine and then a short run in the morning.

Work was fast and slow.  I'd worked so hard other days this pay period, there wasn't a ton left over for me to do on Friday, but I needed to check in because I was one of two people working. 

In the evening, I headed down to Kentucky for another visit with the family.  We wound up playing corn hole and social distancing by the fire.  Super relaxing evening and I was glad for everyone's company.

Saturday: 

Was a super chill day as it turned out.  I ran, walked, and hung out with Mom and Dad.  Mom was going through the archives apparently and found this gem.  Phone list on the back not pictured.

Sunday:

Was also a super chill day.  I ran, had Skyline, and visited my cousin and his family.  They are probably the least quarantined.  I saw them last because a few people earlier on were super strict about staying inside/away from people. But it was a great visit, good to see them and the baby who's almost not a baby anymore.

Monday: 

So.  Much.  Driving.

I got up at 6:30am Cincy time and as in the car by 7am.

I started off by listening to Between The World and Me by T. Coates.  It kind of blew my mind.  Definitely not an easy or a comfortable read, but super important.  Especially right now.  I stopped for the arches in Indiana for breakfast.  I drove straight through Illinois because I was grumpy and also because the google lady took me straight through Chicago on the Skyway.  (This is the fastest way, but only if the traffic is right.) I stopped one last time in WI at Arby's and tried their Greek Gyro sandwich.  It was really good but I could've used twice as much meat.

When I got home, I went for a run.  Then I went back to Arby's for another sandwhich.  I don't know what time I went to bed but it was early.  I was still confused about the time.