I got some running in and couldn’t be more happy!
Day 1 – Sunday, April 05, 2020 – Quarantine Day 20
What a SUNDAY! But, before some good news, the sad news that the number of positive COVID19 cases are on the rise and there is no sign to stop this train. All the statistical models are suggesting April 15th will be the peak day for the most of the states in the US, so by the end of this week, we might get to hear some good news. But, till then it is all depressing here!
To fight this depression and all the negative news, we decided to bike and run, utilizing the entire Sunday.
Let me tell you, Stoney Creek Metro Park gave me one more reason to love Michigan. I know I have already been in love with this place, but this metro park takes the natural beauty and the surrounding to whole different level and I couldn’t be happier to roam around on my bike (well, my friend was kind enough to let me borrow his bike).
After the biking was over, we headed home and I set out on my running schedule. I had so much fun while running, but during the third mile of the run, I hurt my left knee, making me run with the sore knee. This is where my running experience came handy and I could clock the 12 minutes per mile pace to finish the 5-mile run.
I was happy with my performance and was relieved to finally run outside.
Here’s the highlight of the day.
Day 2 – Monday April 06, 2020 – Quarantine Day 21
New day, more COVID19 positive cases! 😰 Hope we get to see the end by this Saturday, suggested by most of the statistical models around the world.
I am being hopeful, but it takes so much efforts to be positive during these stressful times, both emotionally and financially. So, let us hope for the best and keep our body in shape.
Having said this, today was the third day of consecutive running, and I regretted that. During the second mile of the run, I felt shooting pain in my left knee and I knew it was bad. The best thing that I could do during this run to overcome this pain was to reduce my pace and just focus on next step, instead of looking to finish the 6 mile run sooner than anticipated.
As I reduced the pace quite significantly, I took way more time than I had originally anticipated, but I was okay with that, especially because of the “injury” that I might have sustained during this run.
Apart from this pain, the run was not that bad. From the moment, I was waiting for my finish line and was so relieved to finally finish the run. I was so done with the running for a couple days now. I think I need to keep RUNNING on hold for a couple days for my knee to heal properly and then again attack it with more intensity.
I enjoyed some delicious food after this run and couldn’t thank enough my friends Anupam and Monika.
Day 3 – Tuesday April 07, 2020 – Quarantine Day 22
Today, we saw more than 1,700 COVID19 positive cases, taking the total to more than 18K in the state of Michigan. We are at the third position out of all 50 states in the United States of America and should take more precautions than the rest of the states. Let us where we will go from here.
Give us strength through these tough times.
As I mentioned, due to the shooting pain in my left knee, I had to opt for biking instead of running today. It was wonderful to bike in an awesome Michigan weather and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Day 4 – Wednesday April 08, 2020– Quarantine Day 23
After so many days, the count seems to be reducing now for Michigan. Today, we received the count as 1300 positive COVID19 cases, which is comparatively lower than the usual number we get.
Things are starting to look better now, so we are partially happy, but still feeling for people and families who lost their loved ones to this deadly virus.
The weather was so good today. We had the temperatures in 70s for the first time this year, so we made sure we take advantage of it, spending the entire day outside, doing nothing and just relaxing.
By 4 PM, we all left out for our biking and boy, we had fun. I could do 12 miles without breaking a sweat and enjoyed it thoroughly.
After the biking, we did our usual exercise and thought to push ourselves more since we haven’t done these in last few days.
The workout went like this.
50 – 40 – 30 – 20 – 10
Push-ups, Sit-ups & Russian Twists
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1
X-ups & V-ups
It was a good day!
Day 5 – Thursday April 09, 2020– Quarantine Day 24
More sad news as far as COVID19 is concerned. The numbers are increasing and there is no sign of stopping here. Hope you are being safe and healthy and taking care of yourselves.
The weather for Michigan today was really good and we hit 70s today for the first time. It was really good to get some sunshine two days in a row and we made sure we utilize that correctly by sunbathing and having lunch outside on the deck. It was fun to sit outside and carry on business as usual, keeping the negativities outside.
As my left knee was still in pain, I decided to skip the run today and just focus on my evening at home workout. As I did not do enough physical exercise, I thought I will take my workout to the next level, and boy, I did.
I was so so so sweaty at the end of the workout, it reminded me of CrossFit and made me miss it even more, THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
The workout went like this.
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1
Push-Ups
Sit-Ups
Russian Twists
X-Ups
Mountain Climbers
V-Ups
Squats
Lateral Lunges
Burpees
Man, it was a crushing workout. Here’s the picture.
Day 6 – Friday April 10, 2020– Quarantine Day 25
New day, more bad news for positive COVID19 cases for Michigan. Michigan has now more than 20K positive cases and I don’t think we will stop here. I see the number going at least 30K by the mid of next week. It is harsh reality that we live in these days.
We took Friday as our rest and got done a lot of work, partly because of the sucky weather. It was raining and cloudy and snowy the whole day.
By the evening though, we felt like our body can take more and I, still struggling with my knees, thought it is best to keep the workout lightly and decided to do my favorite movement – BURPEES.
It was a Death By Burpees workout. I ended up doing a 100 BURPEES workout, 10 Burpees each for 10 rounds. It was fun; At the end, I thought I could have gone for more.
Here’s the picture.
Day 7 – Saturday April 11, 2020– Quarantine Day 26
It is so unfortunate that I start the update for each day with a sad news, but these are the strange times that we live and we have to survive taking one day at a time. Hopefully, we will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and continue with our lives in a regular/normal way.
So, Saturday is the last day of the week and my knee is *still* not in a good shape, therefore, I decided to skip my run and opted for a 5-mile hike at the Bald Mountain Recreational Area.
When we started the hike, I did not feel that up to it, but as soon as I saw the wonderful trails lushed with trees and lakes, I was immediately sold. This was one of the best places to hike and I would have loved more distance if we had more time. The weather was company and the company was the best, so I couldn’t have enjoyed the hike more. Due to COVID19, all the restrooms were closed, so I had to pee in the woods. 🤪
Here’s how the hike transpired.
And this brought us to the end of the week number 14. I am glad that I could run at least twice during the week, given how bad my knee was throughout the week.
Here’s my running journal giving you the highlight of the week.
stochasticity 