After an incredible week number 21, in which I finished the first Marathon of my life, let us see what I accomplished in week #22.
Day 1 – Sunday, May 31, 2020 – Quarantine Day 76
Welcome to the last day of the month and I must say, I killed it again. The month of May has been incredible for me and I cannot thank the people around me enough to have accompanied me during this unprecedented time and being quarantined.
Today is the day that I realized I could compete in an IRONMAN. I think it should be doable in 2021, so I will keep this blog post in mind and keep checking on my progress and you never know, I just might surprise myself.
So, today, we finished the longest bike ride ever – we finished 41 MILES OF BIKING. Not to brag, but, I must say, even at the end of 41 miles, I wasn’t tired and could have gone for 10 more miles to finish the 50 miles of biking. Anyway, I am happy with this effort and hopefully I will be able to continue biking like that.
Unfortunately, I mistakenly ended the biking ride in between, so had to split it into two splits. Here you go.
And the second part of the bike ride.
Day 2 – Monday June 01, 2020 – Quarantine Day 77
Today, we got the news that our Governor announced that the stay-at-home order is lifted and the restaurants and gyms can open starting next Monday. It is a relief, but I am being cautious and going to stay away from everything for at least a couple months. I know, it is not an ideal place to spend the summer, but, I want to be safe and keep people around me out of danger, so I am going to limit myself from restaurants and CrossFit for at least a couple months. Let’s see how it unfolds as I still have some time on my hand.
Talking about the routine, I had to skip the run for the day as I got done a lot of work and by the time I was done, it was time for biking.
After running a Marathon last Monday and longest bike ride ever this Sunday, I was not up for a long bike ride today too, so I was relieved to find out we were going for a shorter distance. Even though it was short, we managed to complete 12.8 miles of biking and were back home just in time for dinner.
The weather had been a blessing here at Michigan and I am happy to take a full advantage of that.
Day 3 – Tuesday June 02, 2020 – Quarantine Day 78
Today was the first time that the number of COVID19 positive cases dropped below 200 for the second day in a row. I think, this was one of the reasons why our Governor announced opening of businesses and restaurants across Michigan starting next Monday. Hopefully, the count won’t increase by a significant margin after the economy opens. Right now, we don’t have much information as to when we will get back to work, so let’s see.
Today was a running day and I was happy about that. The temperatures were in the 80s and was an ideal day to be outdoors. I was a little dicey about the effect of this temperature on my body from the start itself, so wasn’t sure about my route until the moment of choosing came and I went with a longer route. I think this was kind-of a mistake for me. Two reasons – if I fell short of water (and I wasn’t carrying anything), then I will have to cover longer distance just to get home and the second one was there were no trees on the route I chose, exposing more of myself for longer time to the Sun and possibly risking burning my skin.
Anyway, I have learnt my lesson as I had to stop a couple times during the run, under the tree to feel some cold air and moisture of the grass. Those proved to be better than I expected and could finish the 5 mile run under an hour, a feat which used to take an hour before. So, apart from the learnt lessons, everything else seem to be working.
Day 4 – Wednesday June 03, 2020– Quarantine Day 79
The COVID19 positive cases climbed to more than 300 today, which was expected. Still, it is a good number and safe to say that we are making progress.
Today was the GLOBAL RUNNING DAY and I celebrated it by running a 5K. Technically, a little more than 5K and at night, I ended up watching a couple documentaries on YouTube, you know, to appease and motivate myself to work harder and achieve greater things in life.
If you are interested, I would highly recommend watching the below two documentaries.
1. The Source featuring Courtney Dauwalter
2. My Sub Two Hour Marathon featuring Eliud Kipchoge
You feel so pumped up after watching these documentaries.
Anyway, my 5K was pretty normal. I went for the shorter distance to avoid any dehydration that I experienced yesterday. I had Mr. Arnav accompanying me for this run. He was on bike and I was on foot, so it was hard to catch up to him, but, he was courteous enough to be my side throughout this distance.
I loved the picture below and is my usual reading spot early in the morning and I seem to can’t get enough of it.
After shutting down my work laptop at around 4.30PM, it was time to refuel before heading out for a “short” bike session. I didn’t want to stretch myself as I had a little tingling in my right knee during the above run.
You can see below it was a short 8 mile bike ride and was soothing for my legs and feet.
Day 5 – Thursday June 04, 2020– Quarantine Day 80
What a day!
Today, Ford announced that they were extending the Work From Home order through September, with a possibility that it might extend till December. So, I think, we are in this for a long haul. And, I am trying to digest this surprising news and coming to terms with it.
After a long day at work, I was anxious to get out of the house and knew it was scorching hot, so, I decided to take the shorter route for the run. One thing that I haven’t told you after my Marathon that I am no longer using those shoes and using my older pair for running and didn’t realize how good they were until I tried them on. Running in those shoes are soothing for both feet and legs and I don’t have any complaints so far with those.
I did start my run with high spirits and all because of the documentaries I saw a couple days ago. I get so pumped up after watching the ultra marathon and long distance running documentaries and it is one of the reasons why I don’t need music while running. I am surrounded by my thoughts and feelings and gives me enough time to focus my energy and efforts on running and things that I care about.
I had to cut short my run at 4 miles mark as we were about to go out for biking at 5 PM and I was right at 4.50PM with a few minutes to take a quick shower and have something to eat before I head out for biking. It was an amazing feeling to have completed 4 miles and still raring to go for more. This is the type of things that make me happy and I yearn for those.
The long bike ride followed my run. Again, documentaries effects kicked in and I ended up stretching my body to the limits going at the 10 MPH for almost 10 minutes, which I hadn’t done before. Also, previously I used to use lower gears for climbing the uphills and in the effort to use my body to the extremes, I tried climbing those same uphills with the higher gears and successfully could do that. I surprised myself what a human body is capable of when you make it go through the grinder.
Day 6 – Friday June 05, 2020– Quarantine Day 81
The last day of the work week and I am still processing the extended Work From Home announcement.
Taking things a little lightly today and decided to skip my run and do a lot of reading and I mean, a lot.
We went out for biking at the end of the workday and it was a light session as the heat was too much and we had some bike trouble. Friday ended up with fun, delicious, and belly full of food and having a good summer time with friends and family.
Day 7 – Saturday June 06, 2020– Quarantine Day 82
And that brings us to the last day of the week.
The scene here in the US is quite depressing and hopefully, we will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The US should show what it stands for and that is “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” and not the “DIVIDED”.
Anyway, Saturday has been our hiking day for quite some time now and I like it that way. Well, some running would have been better, but decided to skip it for hiking and the evening hour of soccer with kids.
We decided to head to the Island Lake State Recreational Area for the Saturday hiking, but, unfortunately, the area was closed for the day due to large number of people showing up to enjoy the beautiful weather and some beach scenes. Therefore, we had to head to the next best and close state park available to us and that was the Brighton State Recreational Area. This area was honored to be the first hiking spot for me when the quarantine period began.
The hike was super fast and quite cool weather-wise. The last we were here, the leaves and trees were not that green, so the same hike route was unrecognizable as almost entirety of it was drenched with the green color.
We finished the 5 mile hike sooner than expected as we ran almost half the distance. It was a good feeling to run on trails and enjoy the cool breeze through the trees.
And here we are, at the end of week 22. I didn’t imagine it would last this long.
stochasticity 