Covid Continues

Well let us see, we are now 9 or so weeks into Covid territory.  My daily existence revolves around my home. I go into the office two days a week; a mere 7 mile drive. I work from home the remainder days of the week. I run out at Lake Maria State Park, 15 minutes away or run in the Wildlife Refuge, even closer to my home. I grocery shop in town, haven't ventured anywhere else. In normal times, I'd drive to Maple Grove / Minneapolis each week to run, to hit up Whole Foods and Costco. It's been 9 weeks since I've been to any of those places. I practice yoga at home, I knit at home, I bake and prepare meals at home, I garden at home.

Some restrictions have been lifted this past week.  Groups of 10 are able to gather while practicing social distancing. I won't be gathering. Clinics are taking appointments with precautions. I have an appointment June 1. I will wait at the car, check in on my phone, have my temperature taken, be escorted to the office while wearing PPE. Gyms are still not open so I'm using my home equipment which is fine. I don't see myself returning to the gym...at all. Home workouts are fine. Manufacturing plants have reopened, curbside restaurant pickup and delivery. No churches, schools, bars, concerts, etc.

We've become so divided. This has all become so political. It seems the Republicans want everything open and the Democrats want to keep it shut down. I just follow the rules. I am not taking chances. I will be as safe as I can be.

My races continue to cancel. So far the races on my schedule that I entered and were cancelled are Chippewa 50K, Grandmas Marathon, Superior 50K and Black Hills 50K. Chester Woods 50K  has been postponed to November. I'm waiting to hear on Voyager 50 Mile, Superior 50 Mile. Honestly, I prefer to have the Race Directors make the decision rather than me. If any of these races were open I probably wouldn't have attended anyway and since they are cancelled I don't have to ponder my decision making processes.  It's a good time to stay healthy, run all the miles and take advantage of all of my free time. 

I've set a goal to run all the trails of all the Minnesota State Parks, of which there are 67.  I love our state parks and there are some I have never set foot into. There are miles of trail for me to explore. What a lovely way to spend my time. I'll begin this weekend.

Covid 19 has thrown me for a loop but I am making the most of my downtime and enjoying that as much as I can.

COVID-19 Pandemic

This past week I'm wavering between a state of anxiety and denial. It feels like I am in the middle of a Margaret Atwood dystopian novel, but, make no mistake, COVID-19 is very real. 

Our state, our nation, our world is reeling. Too many have died and too many are sick. COVID-19 has branched out to every state and almost every country. 

I feel as though living in Minnesota is a pretty good place to be during this time. I am not getting into politics but do have to say that our  Governor seems to have our best interests in mind and tells us the hard truth, that things are difficult and doesn't white wash anything. He closed down schools and businesses pretty early into this pandemic.  He doesn't want to reopen until we can test and test thoroughly. We have some of the best  medical, manufactures and food companies world with Mayo, University of Minnesota, 3M, Medtronic, General Mills, Land O Lakes, Hormel. We are getting along.  I feel like we as a population follow our Governors' direction. We hunker down, we take social distancing seriously. I feel like we can do this. It won't be done without out grave loss.

Grocery stores near me are still being fully stocked each night. I haven't seen bare shelving. I think that because I live in small rural community our grocers haven't had the mad rush on products that the stores only 30 miles away have had. The only thing I have not been able to find is yeast, so I ordered a two pound brick from Amazon. Yes, I have plenty of toilet paper. My local mill is still grinding whole grain organic flour. 

I am not a social butterfly. I stay at home, I run alone, I enjoy time by myself. This shelter in place has taken away my weekly run with Amy, my yoga teacher training class and numerous races. I know that Amy and I will resume our weekly run, I know that yoga teacher training class will resume and races will come back next year.  I haven't had to change my schedule too much. I've realized again that I don't run to race. I race to force myself out of myself. I dislike packet pick up, the large crowed and chit chat. I dislike the crowds at the start and the finish. People feed my anxiety.  I enjoy the time from crossing the start line to crossing the finish line.  I enjoy the hours in-between. I don't mind the cancellations. I feel for the race directors, for their livelihoods. 

I feel like I have practiced social distancing my whole life. 

My down time is spent running, practicing yoga, baking  breads, reading, watching too much CNN and knitting. Instead of going from one of my hobbies at a time to another I am practicing them all, all of the time. I've been able to keep busy, to run long miles. I'm training as if I were still running a 50M in a few weeks, alas, it is cancelled. That's OK. I enjoy the time running alone. It brings me peace during this not peaceful time.

Hang in there. We can do this. 

I'm going to bake my way through Bread Baking Apprentice. I haven't picked it up in a few years and probably only baked a quarter of the breads. It brings back such good memories. The boys would pick out a bread a week for me to bake. I recall Tyler's favorite was the salami and cheese boule, Troy's favorite-caramel rolls. I looked at my notes throughout the book and the last one I wrote was from 2008.  Gosh, 12 years. Crazy. 

Stay healthy. Stay strong. Stay patient. We will get on the other side of this.