Gardens!

Plant update
Lavender: Dead.  This is not a perennial in Minnesota.
Potted strawberries and mint: Also dead.  I am disappointed as I was told this shit would come back.
Hydrangea: Coming along.  She got lots of water today.
Bee balm: Flourishing.  If I ever don't know what to plant, I'll just get more of that.
Catalpa 1: Doing fine because her gator bag works correctly.
Catalpa 2 (southie): Also starting to grow leaves.  I found the hole in the bag though.  
Follow up with Southie: Mpls Park Board Forestry Service is lovely to talk with on the telephone, and they are sending someone out with a new bag eventually.

WTF - 2021

Who made a 2021 disaster bingo card?  And then, who the eff had "the national association of manufacturers" as the voice of reason?  I straight up do not understand.  (In unrelated news, I think Larry King is still in the hospital.)

I did hand write some journal notes, which will show up when I scan them.  It's after 10:30pm.  Apparently I will not sleep, so I'mma keep writing.

In the morning, I woke up and we're all worried about the senate race in Georgia.  One of the two races had been called already.  One was technically a forgone conclusion but not yet called.

Just before 2pm my time, I turned on the TV expecting to see my governor and holy shit.  That was not what I expected. 

I have been to DC and to the Capitol multiple times in my life including the traditional 8th grade trip, a high school trip as part of presidential classroom, and some adult times with Mom and Dad.  In related news, I have traveled to multiple dictatorships (China, Vietnam, Cuba).   So I have the comparison for security. 

The Capitol building is a fucking fortress.  There's no way 'the proud boys' or any other random "militia" should've been able to breach the defenses.  Law enforcement straight up missed the boat. I am grateful for the multiple reps and news agencies who were all "remember BLM and the law enforcement then?  Because we didn't have that today." 

I have CNN on.  It's 10:45pm my time.  VP Pence and Speaker Pelosi are standing next to each other looking at everyone like "wtf people, get this shit done".  Also, people, I have CNN on.  

Bad person me is all "I wish Pence didn't have to preside over this shit so he could go invoke 25".  Y'all.  What a freaking day.  Even Dad was like "no, Pence needs to get him out of there".   Just so we're clear, Dad tells this story of a colleague who was all "when I'm mad, I can't go around you because you're so calm, I just can't be mad". 

Ok now we're on Georgia. Amy Klobuchar is reading the results.  Go Amy!  (Am I allowed to say that?  I think I am.)  74 Republicans are objecting saying that the republican sec of state made the election unlawful. Ooooh.  Y'all the senators have withdrawn their objections.  Who are these people?  Now we're on Hawaii.  So Georgia is good?

My respect for VP Pence has grown from zero to 1.  Also they're calling 45 "from FLorida" vs from NY.  Is that right? 

Yo.  Amy gets to read the certificate for Indiana.  VP Pence got a small clap for the IN vote.  I'm okay with that.  What a fucking day.

45 won Iowa?  For serious?

10:57p my time; now reports are saying 4 people died?!?  I knew there was one fatality.  From about 6 hours ago, I'd heard that.  One person died from gunefire (which I knew) and 3 died from "medical emergencies".  Also multiple pipe bombs were recovered. 

10:59pm - we're objecting to Michigan?!?  Really?  I thought PA was the only one left. Oh.  "the objection cannot be entertained".  My respect for VP Pence is rising.  

11:00pm - MN votes are being counted.  Amy gets to read it.  You go girl!

Everyone: Literally have never watched the electoral college votes be certified.  Me: same. 

We're still on M.  Apparently there will be a debate with Pennsylvania.  Fuckers.  Why? 

Ooooh.  Nevada.  Who's gonna piss on this?  Fucking Alabama. Y'all.  Pence is getting tired of your bullshit. Oh.  No senators have joined.  Ok; we're good. 

This is me being a bad person but not.  Does Sen Roy Blunt have Parkinsons?  He has a twitch that looks familiar based on some family twitches.  Sorry if this is the wrong thing today.

Yo.  I haven't seen VP Elect Harris (AKA Sen Harris) on tv.  Is she in a bunker?  VP Pence is like the only one not in a mask btw. It's fine.  This has to be a shit day for him. Maybe he can invoke 25 so he can be president for a hot second? 

Fucking Ohio. Y'all let me down.  You were blue in 2008.  

11:13pm.  Pennsylvania.  Let the chaos resume?  Penn = 244 votes for Biden? Holy shit.  Lots and lots of people are standing up.  80 members of congress and 1 senator.  Here we go.  "An objection complies with the law...." Seriously?  They're having a black lady ready this?  (Y'all; I'm sorry; it's late and it is what it is.)  Senate is retiring to its chamber.  I mean for serious people. It's after midnight in DC.  Ooooh.  Anderson Cooper is talking now.  He's going to summarize. Apparently the senators are going to sit, vote and come back.  

11:18 Former Sen Loeffler said she would no longer object to the GA votes.  Seriously.  She's 1 point less insane than I thought.  

"Fox news is state run media" I love CNN

"Black lives matter protesters were there for a real issue".  I love Don Lemon too. 

"It is not a forum for adjudication".  CNN just used the phrase "Retrumplicans". 

"President who uses fear and anger as weapons... that's why we're in this moment right now'.  Don Lemon, let's talk.

Per Batman "I forgot that you even had hair".  Yeah.   

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 - random shortages

One of the other "things we'll remember" about this time is all of these random shortages on... all of the things.

For health care, there's lots of concern about gloves, gowns, and masks.  Particularly procedure masks and N95 masks.

There's also "shortages" or ventilators that are less talked about.  The people addressing this shortage in particular, just shows how many real life MacGyvers there are in life.

Thermometers are in short supply. That's been going on for a minute.

Oximeters are now on back order until July.  (The thing that goes on your finger and tells your pulse and blood oxygen saturation.  Kind of important for a respiratory virus, right?)

Toilet paper was probably the most talked about.  With hand sanitizer and wipes coming in a close second, followed by bleach.

But there's all these other random things that people want.  For me personally, I can't find hand weights/dumbbells/kettle bells etc. They're all gone.

In addition to nursing homes, COVID has been rampant at food processing plants, so there may be shortages in pork, chicken, and beef.  No one has really talked about milk/yogurt/cheese.  I guess those places are still okay?

When I first went to the store, after the shit hit the fan, I noticed runs on the soup aisle as well as the pasta aisle.  That seems to have been short lived.

Another random item missing: elastic.  People are making masks like crazy.  Having sorted thousands of donated masks myself, I say "keep them coming".  What a boost!  But, so many people are making masks there's no elastic anymore.  Can you imagine?  JoAnns is out of elastic!

There is a straight up Toilet Paper Tracker for Costco.  There was only one day I went to Costco that I couldn't get eggs.  It was right after Easter. I haven't had an issue with fizzy water.  I also get my Dr Bronners at Costco, and that's always been in stock (so far).  I want Dr B's to stay in business, but be just obscure enough they don't wind up selling out in stores like Lysol and Bleach.

Get in Gear - 9 and 8 Weeks to Go

A note to my future self here: This is about the time coronavirus came to the US.  I had a vacation and then my job (in health care) went wild for obvious reasons.  Also, my body tried to attack me this week because I'm a woman, so, lot's going on here.  Therefore, a very late update.

9 Weeks to Go
Sunday: 1.19 miles running in Minneapolis before heading out of town.
Monday: 4.6 miles in Florida (it feels so good to be hot and sweaty) and walking drills.
Tuesday: 3.33 miles run, 1.4 mile walk.  This was the day I thought my tooth was poking through my gums in a way it should not have been. So there's also that going on.
Wednesday: 2 miles run, speed work delayed a day for weather
Thursday: 4.89 miles including tempo work.  This also includes a box truck trying to hit me and me taking a massive trip.  I stayed on my feet my torqued my leg, which becomes relevant later.
Friday: 2 miles run
Saturday: 6.95 miles run.  This was a nice easy long run with an angry leg.

8 Weeks to Go
Sunday: 2 miles run
Monday: 5.7 miles run, still on a bum leg and I may have tripped again here. 
Tuesday: 2 miles run, walking drills, and a long sad plane ride back to the snow.  Which, mercifully was trying to melt.
Wednesday: 4.65 miles, no speed because I am blah.
Thursday: 1.2 miles easy
Friday: 1.18 miles easy
Saturday: An emotional 5.49 miles.  I went a route I haven't taken in a long time.  One of the most recent times I tried this route I was attached, and then the snow started, and... it was time for me to get back on the horse.  That's the only win for the day because I felt like garbage and my heart rate was super high.

Since moving...

I keep having all these "since I moved" thoughts.  I want them all written down in one place.

Heated blanket - I couldn't find my old heated blanket.  That's one of (thankfully) very few things I just cannot find since the move.  I got a new one at Costco because...

Heat - Captain Smiley wisely told me to install a Nest Thermostat. Then Olive actually helped me install it.  My particular thermostat has a second sensor upstairs, where it gets super hot any time of the year.  When the nest is following the upstairs temperatures, downstairs gets a bit cool.

Computer lap pad - I finally also remembered why I like this lap pad for my computer.  It's so the computer itself isn't sitting on the heated blanket.  Funny how it all comes together sometimes.

Snow removal - I'd seen Captain Smiley's place and I'd seen the alley before I moved in so I wasn't too worried. My garage has a tight angle of approach to the alley.  So I was curious about how the winter was going to go.
I did invest in a snow shovel and I have done some 'clean up' after the snow removal people come with their snow blowers. I want things to look how I want them to look.  My driveway has generally been clear.  Cross fingers, turning angle into the alley has so far been okay.

Driving - I still drive a ton for my job.  I'm now 'after' a few traffic snarls that I used to have to sit in. I feel much less rushed to 'get home before rush hour' now.  That's been a pleasure.

Laundry - I was just having this conversation with someone.  It's so nice to have it right upstairs.  I don't have to wonder if anyone else is using the machines, etc. It does take me longer to do the laundry now, since I can only do one load at a time, but I'm okay with the compromise.

Biking - something I thought I would do a lot up here is ride my bike for pleasure.  (Not in the winter.  I said for pleasure.)  I didn't ride at all this summer.  So, that's something maybe for next year.

Running Conditions

A note to my future self here: Training for a spring marathon was rough this year.  Issues included ice, more ice, snow, record cold, record snow, record flooding, more snow and then more flooding.
I went back and found some of the best examples of why I should strongly consider other options in the future. Also, it's May 8 and snow is in the forecast tonight, but it's less than an inch. 

Marshmallow Training - 6 Weeks To Go

Sunday Planned: 12 Miles Long Run
Sunday actual: 11.5 Miles around Lake Harriet
From today, I learned: The snow is melting!

Monday Planned: Tempo run,  Monday abs, Monday Weights
Monday actual: Run 1 miles.  Be grumpy.
From today, I learned: At least I remembered to move the 'tempo run' around on Final Surge so my poor coach can actually find it.

Tuesday Planned: Run 1 miles
Tuesday actual: Tempo run; Monday weights.  I did not do abs because, wow, there are way too many people at the gym at this time of day and I was grumpy.
From today, I learned: I made this run harder in my mind than it was in my body.

Wednesday Planned: 4 Miles easy (I wish I'd had this last week) Wednesday weights
Wednesday actual: 4.15 miles in the morning.  I loved this run.  Weights done.
From today, I learned: I loved running and at the end I was thinking "was that all?"

Thursday Planned: Run 1 Miles
Thursday actual: 1.2 miles in the morning before a wild day
From today, I learned: Get up and get it done

Friday Planned: Run 1 Miles or 6 Miles and Friday weights
Friday actual: 6.04 miles at Coon Rapids Dam/Rush Creek Trail
From today, I learned: I loved this run too!

Saturday Planned: Run 1 Miles or 6 Miles
Saturday actual: Turns out, I did my long run today, 17.01 miles in the books.  I'm so over running.
From today, I learned: Note to my future self: This is the point where you hate marathon training apparently.

Sunday Long Run: The River has thawed

Plan: I mean, 16 miles in some direction or other.  There was really not much of a plan today.
Actual Mileage: 16.0 miles, the last few hundredths of a mile were circling the parking lot to get to a round number.  There was another runner there and she knew exactly what I was doing.

Route: This is why there was really no plan.  The route would kind of be dictated by ice conditions along the trail.
Start: Lock and Dam 1 Parking lot; which has been a good starting point for a lot of these runs.
Miles 1-5 h Mile 6 - wow, that's a big ice patch by the Guthrie; maybe don't come back this way?
Mile 7 and 8- across the Stone Arch Bridge into northeast.  Wow!  More ice patches, maybe go back on the other side of the street?
Mile 9 - I thought I'd go over the Dinkytown Greenway onto the U of M Campus, but the ice past the pedestrian tunnel was the most impressive I'd seen all day, so I turned around and stayed on my side of the river.  I'd judged the mileage would get me back to my car between 14.5 and 15 miles which meant some amount of back and forth for the cool down/total mileage.
Miles 10-15 Back south along the river, same way I'd came.  This side of the river is less hilly than the U of M/St Paul side, though Franklin Ave hill was still rough.
Mile 16 - I did an out and back over the Ford Bridge as my 'cool down'.  And by that I mean "I walked the last mile". 

Weather: SUNNY.  I mean, let me tell you how bright and sunny Minnesota can be. It was glorious. It was cool, around 30* to start, and maybe 34* at the end, and winds out of the northwest around 5mph.  This is my first run of the year where the river is legit thawed out.  I was so captivated by the reflections of the buildings and bridges in the water.  It was gorgeous. 

Wardrobe:
Shoes: I did NOT wear my Altras.  I wore an older pair of Merrells, which have some traction but not the monster lugs of heavy duty trail shoes.
Bottom: Brooks Running pants
Top: Christmas shirt, sweet shirt
Other: Sunglasses were required today.  I had a fleece headband on for most of the run but that did get too hot/uncomfortable by the end. I did not wear a hat or gloves.  Nathan vest with two water bottles and other goodness. 
Execution:  I felt like garbage when I woke up.  My head was pounding, my stomach was bleh, garbage. I'm getting my period though, so this is not likely to improve if I wait 'till tomorrow.  I ran this knowing I felt like crap and just trying to keep moving, not caring about pace.  I had the rule in my head I could switch to a run/walk whenever I wanted, which I did not do.  I did basically walk the last mile as my cool down though. My head stopped hurting around mile 15. 
Update: I think I should be fair to myself and say here this is the first day I've really felt bad in my body during marathon training.  Some of this is related to my cycle, and not so much about running, but wow, this was rough and I got through it. (I came back after this post was written to say that as a note to my future self.)
Nutrition: Before the run I had a couple slices of cheese, and unrelated to the cheese I had a scoop of nutella. During the run I had gummies and water.  

From today, I learned: If I'm going to run this long, I need to start thinking about electrolytes.  Because that was not helping the "I feel like garbage" issues.   But really the thing I learned was mental grit.  This run sucked from top to bottom but I was SO HAPPY to have it done, and so proud of myself for a) getting out of bed and b) getting this done. 

Bonus: During my cooldown I realized how close I was to Smashburger, so when I got back to my car instead of driving home, I headed over there for post-run nutrition.
Second bonus: I listed to Michelle Obama's book during this run.  At the start of the run, she'd just met Barack Obama and 16 miles later she's got two kids and a job she loves.

Quality Miles Monday Wednesday!

Plan: Tempo run

• Warm up
• 5:00 at 11:00/mile; 2:00 rest
• 4:00 at 10:45/mile; 2:00 rest
• 3:00 at 10:30/mile: 2:00 rest
• 2:00 at 10:15/mile; 2:00 rest
• 1:00 at 10:15/mile; 2:00 rest
• Cool down

Actual Mileage: 3.65 miles on the treadmill
Route: I wish.  This was done on the end treadmill at the downtown gym.
Weather: It's freezing too cold outside so I did this on the treadmill.  This actually happened today becuase Monday was a running outside day.  The workout is better suited to a treadmill and today's weather had treadmill written all over it.
Wardrobe: Hee hee.  I was inside.  Shorts, short sleeve shirt, Xero shoes
Execution: On the treadmill, the speeds were very close to what coach prescribed.  It wound up being like 10:54/mile, 10:42/mile; 10:31/mile; 10:20/mile and then the last set I did at 10:00/mile, though I wish I hadn't done it that fast.
'Rest' was at 14:38/mile.
Warm up was partially walking and then light jogging.  Cool down was all walking.
Nutrition: This was fasted.
From today, I learned: I took careful counts of the treadmills. This gym doesn't have a track, treadmills only, so my fear is they will all be full.  This morning there were 2-3 other people using the treadmills when I started and only 1 by the time I was done with the weights workout.  So, note to my future self: Go in the morning and quit freaking out.  Everything will be fine.
Bonus: I did Wednesday weights after this workout.  It took a long time for my heart rate to cool off after the tempo.  Wowsers.

Hanging with the Family: Thanksgiving

Sunday
Running:  At the crack of dawn, 1 mile before hitting the road.
Reading: Sense and Sensibility, I got through Volumes 1 and 2 on the road. 
Doing: Mainly driving.  I took the shortest route through downtown Chicago.  I had a couple moments of traffic, but mainly smooth sailing.  Once I got to Indiana I took the dog for a walk which turned into an adventure of its own.  We were charged by an over friendly Great Dane.  The dog wanted to charge deer, and I got to see a hawk and a turkey vulture.
Watching: Introduced Aunts to Doctor Thorne.  You are welcome.

Monday
Running: 5.5 miles in the morning, on a path I've liked in the past.  Then weights and abs in Aunt's basement. 
Reading: Still in volume 3 of Sense and Sensibility.
Doing: The main part of the day was helping Aunt Candy Cane (and she knows why I picked that nickname) put up her Christmas tree and other decorations.  I am not anti-Christmas.  I just don't decorate my place because I'm never home.  I don't mind decorating but I hate packing it all back up so I'd say I timed this well.  Aunt Candy had a great moment where she found a Santa with detachable legs. "He's just like me"
When Aunt Candy and I got back to Aunt Host's home, she was unhappy with the current lights on the outside tree.  She wanted to try the older lights I refer to as "the ones that will burn the house down" because they legit get hot when they are on. She had one crap string of lights and a few fairly decent strings.  We were picking the good bulbs off the crap string, and had the other strings almost fully restored when one of the strings shocked her and altogether went out.  And that was when I quit my light bulb job and went downstairs.
Watching: Finished Doctor Thorne.  Watched the first live show of The Voice. 

Tuesday
Running: 5.6 miles in the morning.  Snow was falling and it was gorgeous. I told family it's the good kind of snow with no wind and no shoveling.
Reading: Finished Sense and Sensibility.  Not sure what I'll read next.
Doing: The day started with a shopping trip and exploring Sam's.  It's mostly Costco by me, so this has slightly different stuff.   In the afternoon, I bowed out of assisting with the outside lights.  Aunt Host and Uncle Host went outside, and then something broke.  But it was not a something that would burn down the house, so we at least had that going for us.
In the late afternoon, we headed over to a local winery that was a lot of fun.  Some of the grapes are the same as what we have in Minnesota.
Evening: I said "I haven't had any positive experiences with a racoon" and that had to change.
Watching: The Voice.  I'm kind of surprised by the results.

Wednesday
Running: 1.3 miles.  Followed by another edition of Vacation weights. The dumbell fell apart. Sigh
Reading: Atomic Habits and this one has the distinction that I'm actually reading it.  Goal is to get it done before I have to leave town, so that I can start another book then and not have too many books open at once.
Doing: After running, I mostly hung out at home.  I did some early Black Friday shopping. This is the one time of the year Xero Shoes goes on sale, so I had to stock up.  Also, Flickr is changing everything, so I had to get a paid account with them.  I looked at getting a hotel room for the trip home, but I need to wait until the weather clarifies itself before deciding what I'm going to do.
Mom and Dad as well as some additional family arrived in the evening and we all hung out, had dinner, and hung out some more.  I'm already stuffed and that's before the big meal tomorrow.
Watching: There was a ton of basketball on but it wasn't my thing. 

Thursday (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Running: My annual Turkey Trot, around 8.5 miles, in the morning.
Reading: Still on 'Atomic Habits' and finding it both obvious and fascinating
Doing: After the run, I had sweet rolls for breakfast, then reviewed the weather long enough to know I needed to leave town a day early to head home.  Thanksgiving meal was around 1pm and lots of people came.  After the meal and dishes, we had a walk, which is also tradition.  In the evening, I did laundry and read.  Everyone else watched a movie.  I saw parts of it.
We had 'fourth meal' meaning supper around 9pm after the movie.  I had left over turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes.
Watching: Everyone else watched a movie but I just wanted to sit and read.

Friday
Running: 3.25 miles in the morning, plus a 'finisher' at the end.  I realized weights should happen but really won't.  Hanging with the family is more important.
Reading: I finished Atomic Habits and I started The Ministry of Utmost Happiness on the drive.
Doing: We went shopping at a few stores  to get the Black Friday flavor.  We hit Stein Mart and got a gift for Grandma, then Marshall's and got a gift for Mom, and then Eddie Bauer where we were all winners.
We had Italian Thanksgiving for lunch.  The lasagna was excellent.
Festival of Trees was a new activity for us.  We saw part of the show choir, all of the trees, and some of the dancing.  The Embassy Theater is gorgeous.  It's so old and well maintained, I loved walking around in it.
After that, it was time to pack and leave.  (Originally I'd planned to stay one more day, but I left early because of a snow storm that's going to swing through Illinois and Wisconsin on Sunday.)  I drove to Rockford and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.  Dear Future Self: it's the Holiday Inn Express at the Loves Park exit.  I mention this because there is a regular Holiday Inn an exit south.  Either one is fine, but I typically hit up the Express. 
Watching: The Road.  For reals.

Saturday
Running: 1.2 Miles at home after the drive.  Sometimes these 1-mile runs are absolutely the hardest runs ever.
Reading: I kept on with Ministry of Utmost Happiness for a while.  Around Black River Falls I switched over to music and singing along for the rest of the drive. 
Doing: Driving.  I woke up around 5:30am, hit the road by 6am, and was home before 11am. A note to my future self here: Breakfast at Holiday Inn officially starts at 6am on the weekends. It was all out there and the coffee was hot around 5:50am.  Packing the coffee thermos was a fantastic idea.  Leaving around 6am still puts me in Minneapolis before 11am.
Watching: The road.  And now I've got a hankering for Downton Abbey, related to an earlier discussion.

Long Run Thursday: Turkey Trot

Plan: I'm going to start working with a coach soon.  Her suggestion at the moment is to run the runs, not run/walk, so that's what I went with.  Also"don't look at the watch" which I did almost until the end.  (I had a plan about where it was okay to take a look.) 

Route: This is my aunt's neighborhood.  I mostly follow the curb on the left side of the road around the neighborhood.  There's a couple places I deviate but that's the general rule.  I cross a main road at one point because the other side has hills and some scenic woods.
Weather: Cold and windy but no snow.   It was 27* and 10mph winds.

Wardrobe: Brooks Running pants, Smart Wool Compression socks, smart wool top, wind proof jacket, hat, gloves (which did eventually come off) and Merrell Trail Crusher shoes.

Execution: I felt great and had a great time.  Towards the end of the run my stomach got a bit upset, which hasn't happened on a run in a long time.  That's probably more about the foods I've been eating this week than anything else.
Nutrition: LOL, see above.  This was a fasted run.
From today, I learned: Running just felt good today.  I had a blast.
Bonus: This post is mostly about future me. I found myself really wanting a 'long run report' so I remembered what to do for this run. 
To my future self: the way the map is drawn works out to about 8.6 miles.  Adding those last two side streets at the end would probably bump it up to just shy of 9 miles (and then have fun running up and down the driveway to get that last little bit, right?)
Also to my future self: the marker for mile 8 is slightly off because I accidentally lapped my watch at 7.96 when I took my glove off.