From early morning runs in the 24th week, I am expecting to follow this routine more religiously. Let’s see what 25th week has in store for us.
Day 1 – Sunday, June 21, 2020 – Quarantine Day 97
Happy Sunday! The first day of the week and started it with a bang!
I woke up later than I expected, but managed to get in some early morning run. Before the run, I usually have a glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice. I wanted to get a head start today as I was planning for a long distance, so, instead of spending 10-15 minutes in preparing the lemon juice and drinking it, I just had a glass of water and headed out for my run.
Skipping lemon juice and having just water didn’t turn out to be a bad decision and with reduced pace, I could finish the 10K distance with ease. By the time I was done with my run, the sun was up in full flare and I was glad that I managed to finish the run sooner than I expected.
The one downside of running bare chested was bugs. I don’t know why many bugs started following me and I had to deal with them especially around trees. I am a germaphobe, so, more than physical, it was a mental torture and wanted to be done with my run sooner. I think that was one of the reasons, I finished the 6th mile of the run under 10 minutes, whereas the rest of the miles took more than 11 minutes each. Anyway, I will make a mental note of putting on bug spray next time I go out for a morning run.
The evening was special. I visited friends after almost 3-4 months and it was a good family gathering with kids around playing. We played basketball and checked out some trails and a pond, followed by delicious and wonderful dinner.
Day 2 – Monday June 22, 2020 – Quarantine Day 98
The first day of the work week was really busy.
I woke up in the morning at around 6 AM and felt like skipping the run for the morning. I couldn’t convince myself to go out for run as I didn’t get enough time to read in the morning, so, I spent the morning to get some reading in.
I thought I would get some time in the afternoon before heading out for biking, but, work help me up and I had to head out for biking, not giving me enough time to run.
This made me take it as a rest day. I am not that happy with it, but it is okay, I guess!
Here’s the little biking session that we had this day.
Day 3 – Tuesday June 23, 2020 – Quarantine Day 99
One more lazy day for me. I got up at my usual time but instead of going out for run, I ended up spending at least an hour or so in reading the latest book that I am reading. I was so glued to the book that I gave up on running for the day.
The evening was spent with the kids playing an hour of soccer. It was relaxing especially after staring at my laptop screen for more than 10 hours. 😭
Day 4 – Wednesday June 24, 2020– Quarantine Day 100
We’re in the middle of the week now and it was very important for me to keep the momentum going to cover at least 20 miles of running for the week.
Also, today marks the 100th day of being quarantined, so I had to run a 10K just to commemorate the occasion. I still remember the first day and cannot believe we have gone through 100 days without stepping a foot at work. I have used my car during these 100 days so little that the last time I filled up the tank was back in March. Strange, right?
After spending last couple of days without running gave me enough motivation to go out for run, especially in the morning.
This 10K run turned out to be exceptional for me. I started earlier than usual, at around 5.30 AM and as it was cold, didn’t sweat that much during the run. I had such a great time that I didn’t find myself that much tired at the end of the run and could have gone for more distance.
After the run, as usual, I sat by my car enjoying some fruits and water. It has become sort of a ritual now and I like it.
The work was a little too much and had to go out for soccer after it. Loved it!
Day 5 – Thursday June 25, 2020– Quarantine Day 101
Man! What a day!
First of all, work – it was crazy today. Today was the day Ford Motor Company was going to launch the new version of their crown jewel – the all new Ford F-150 and it being my favorite vehicle of all time, I was definitely pumped to see what was in store for the new vehicle release & I was happy to know that I wasn’t disappointed.
The look, the feel and the interior were so high class and top notch, I instantly fell in love with it. I know I am going to be a future owner of the F-150, its just a question of when and which year model. Let’s see when that happens.
Here’s the quick recap of the launch, if you are interested.
So, at work, we had to do some analysis related to F-150 and it turned out to be the longest day ever. By the time, I was done with my part of the delivery, it was 7.30 PM and we sent the final email regarding the work that we did was around 9.30 PM. I must say, it was a long day and easily the longest I have worked so far. But, I am not complaining. I loved every single minute of this analysis. I got to learn so many things and got to know my favorite vehicle slightly better. Always fun to work on any area which is remotely related to Ford F-150, the best selling truck in America for more than 4 decades.
Now, talking about the run – I was so glad that I got some time to run in the morning. If I would have not gone out for a quick run, I would have missed it the whole day and would have been a grumpy person at the end of the day. When I started the run, I had only 5K in mind, but the new shoes felt so good, I couldn’t control myself from going for 5 miles.
As you can see below, trying to relax before I head to work (I mean upstairs on my Laptop).
And lastly my new shoes – Damn, my new shoes are so good, I couldn’t help but appreciate how much care the manufacturer has put in those to make a perfect product on a mass scale. I am talking about Brooks Ghost 12. I ordered these from Amazon and was excited when they finally dropped it off at my front porch in 2-3 days. I was dying to try them out and enjoy my first run with them. This day turned out to be that first run and with the first step itself, I knew, these are shoes are great and I am going to have some fun with them.
The most amazing thing about these shoes are the look and feel when you hold them in your hands or tie your shoelaces when you are going out. The fabric is so soft, I couldn’t help but smile at the feeling. The shoelaces are so well designed and crafted, that you see they have paid enough attention to details. This is by far the most expensive pair of shoes I have ever owned and I don’t have buyers remorse and believe that I have made a good choice. Let us see how far I can go in/with them.
Damn, these look sexy!
Day 6 – Friday June 26, 2020– Quarantine Day 102
Aha! The last day of the work week which seemed like never ending and it really was.
Today was the longest I worked till date. Just to give you an idea about my screen time, I turned on my laptop at around 7 AM and finally shut it off at around 10.30 PM. That’s a whopping 15 hours of work. It might be normal for some hard working people, but, for me, it is definitely the longest I have worked and was definitely exhausted when I wrote the last email of the day.
These days, I have to put in more hours than normal to support the new vehicle launches and the transformation that Ford is going through. I am not complaining, I love my job and definitely passionate about the kind of work I am doing, so those 15 hours didn’t feel long, especially when you have the luxury of working from home and enjoy some downtime in between breaks.
It was good that I got some run in before the craziness of the day began. I have been waking up consistently now at 5 AM or before that, and using the early hours of the morning to the full extent i.e. either running or reading. Today was the second day of my new shoes and it never failed to disappoint me. I clocked in the best time for a 5K. It is a personal best and I could feel it right from the beginning, so I didn’t hold myself back and just went with the flow. The coolness in the air helped a lot to keep my body temperature down and not fatigue myself while going at around 9 minutes a mile.
I am sure there is room for improvement, but, I am just happy to realize that I used to take 36 minutes to finish a 5K, which I have successfully brought down to 28 minutes. Many more 5Ks to come, and many more things to achieve.
The evening was well spent with kids playing soccer. We tried some new techniques today and they impressed me with their performance and energy.
Day 7 – Saturday June 27, 2020– Quarantine Day 103
And that brings us to the end of the week. Can’t believe it has been 25 weeks already.
After sleeping at around 10.45 PM last night, I was a little skeptical about waking up at 5 AM. I surprised myself when I opened my eyes in the morning and realized that it was 5.30 AM. I smiled and thought this is the best possible start a day can have. For the past one week, I have started keeping my phone in the downstairs living room, so when I go upstairs bedroom to sleep at night, I am alone with my thoughts, thinking about things that I would like to accomplish tomorrow. This has helped me tremendously to have a pleasant sleep without any interruption and wake up earlier than usual.
Previously, when I used to sleep with my phone by the bedside table, I used to get up frequently throughout the night causing me to wake up more tired and sleepy. For the last one week, I hardly had those interruptions in my sleep and as they call it, I have been sleeping like a baby.
Anyway, after waking up at around 5.30 AM, I was out the door for my run at around 5.50 AM. I skipped lemon juice today and just had a glass of water. The run turned out to be super amazing, partly thanks to the new route that I took on my way back. While observing different buildings in entirely different community, I realized I was running faster than usual and didn’t feel tired at all as I was distracted by the new surrounding. This transpired into pushing myself clocking the fastest pace for the last mile and I was glad I could go more than 10K distance.
This was the perfect way to end the week for me and I felt good to realize that I completed more than 26 miles of running for this week. It’s a good feeling!
You can see me relaxing after the amazing run!
The Saturday afternoon was well spent at the St. Clair Lake Metropark. I was really surprised to see so many vehicles on the freeway as I hadn’t seen them for the last 2-3 months. The traffic was a little bit too much for me. I guess, it will be like this for me until I get used to it.
We ended up walking by the lake shores and enjoyed some Sun and some lazy Saturday afternoon after many days. Here’s me posing for a photo during this walk.
And the week is finally over. Here’s my running journal looking all beautiful.
Until see each other again!
stochasticity 