Quarantine – Month 4 (June 18 – July 17)

I would strongly recommend checking out the first three editions here.
First month (March 17 – April 16)
Second month (April 17 – May 16)
Third month (May 17 – June 17)

Now, let’s get started!

When I was writing the first and second edition of this monthly update, I couldn’t have predicted that I would be doing this for some more months. But, by the time I was writing the last edition, I knew I would be doing this for some foreseeable future. Given the number of cases and death rates across the USA and the whole world, I think, I wouldn’t be surprised if I do this for the next year or so. I don’t want to scare anyone, but, it might just be the reality that we might have to live with; until we get the vaccine! 🤞🏽

Reflecting back on this month, you feel humble, fortunate, lucky, and thankful for everything and everyone around you. You feel thankful for your employer that you still have a job and you are getting paid. You feel fortunate to have wonderful people around you, to give you emotional support EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Now that I am all done with my philosophical take, let us divert our attention to the topic of this blog post & start with mentioning how the fourth of quarantine went for me.

COVID19 POSITIVE CASES IN MICHIGAN
The fourth month was quite a ride for USA and especially for the state where I live and which I love, Michigan!

If you are keeping track of the US COVID19 positive cases, you would realize that we have gone from almost keeping it under control to spreading the virus more by protesting outside, not wearing masks, and not maintaining social distancing norms. It is such a shame that a country like US failed to control COVID19, and we all are paying the price for that. I am not here to complain. I just want to say that we are better than this and we all should listen to science and not some conspiracy theories.

Anyway, enough with my rant, and it’s number games now!

The number of COVID19 positive cases on July 17th was 768. We reached this number after going from 1000 cases on April 17th, 400 cases on May 17th, and 204 cases on June 17th. It is such a shame that we let the numbers inflate from 204 to where we were 3 months ago. Due to this, our Governor Gretchen Whitmer decided to penalize $500 fine to whoever don’t wear mask in public when they are in the closed building such as grocery store or shopping mall. I think, this is extremely important and brilliant decision given the situation Florida, Texas and California is in right now. Hopefully, we will be able to control it with this measure and I will be happier to report this number next month, which is not the case right now.

Fingers crossed!

RUNNING
When I started running in January, I didn’t expect to continue this much running, but this quarantine has worked in my favor and I couldn’t be happier for that. The fourth month was all about running with many highlights.

The first highlight for the fourth month was I could finish 100.6 miles during the fourth month of quarantine. This is a significant increase from the last month’s mileage of 85 miles. I am not sure if I would be able to repeat this feat, but enjoying the moment right now.

The second running highlight for the month was a PR 5K. Before starting the Detroit FreePress International Marathon preparation, I had a PR of 35 minutes for a 5K. In my wildest dreams, I didn’t imagine that I would be able to cut down 10 minutes from this time and finish the 5K under 25 minutes.
This PR run happened on July 15th when I ran 3.1 miles in 24:47 at 8 minutes a mile. This was by far the best pace for the distance greater than or equal to 5K. Let’s see how far I can go with this consistent and gritty preparation. I just might end up surprising myself one more time, who knows? 🤷🏽‍♂️

And the third running highlight was the Half Marathon number 5 that I ran during this duration. This HM came when I was running short on my weekly average and desperately needed 16-17 miles of running to finish the weekly running quota of 20 miles.

BIKING
The fourth month wasn’t that extraordinary for biking.

Mr. Aryan had some trouble with his bike, so we couldn’t go out for biking a lot. Having said that, there were definitely a couple moments worth mentioning here.

The first and foremost is my new bike. Please meet “Jinx”. If you are interested, it a Contend AR 3 bike from Giant.

When the lockdown started, nobody imagined it would last this long, including yours truly. So, I deliberately waited for my old bike, which my friend, Anupam, generously gave, to wear off until I buy a new one. That old bike was better than my first bike and I had a tremendous time with it. I had named it “Definite Lee” and you can check it out below.

Unfortunately, due to increase in demand and limited supply, I had to wait at least couple weeks to get my hands on this bike. But, I must say, the wait was totally worth it as I finished the longest ride on this bike days after.

Which brings me to the second highlight for biking – The longest bike ride till date. Biking 50 miles with Jinx was such a smooth affair for me and it was only because of Jinx, I could finish 51 miles just around 4 hours. It was July 5th when I accomplished this feat and buying Jinx turned out to be an awesome decision. I would love to see what my target be.

During this fourth month of quarantine, I biked 125 miles, which is 75 miles less than the last month. Though I am down on biking mileage, I am okay with the fact that I have enough room for improvement!

HIKING
This month wasn’t great for hiking either.

I could go on only three hikes during the fourth month of quarantine, which brought the mileage close to 50% compared to the last month. During the third month, I hiked for 46 miles which dropped to ~25 miles during the fourth month. Like biking, I am positive that I have much room for improvement and I can come back stronger. Let’s see.

CORE EXERCISES
After reading the book The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma, I started focusing on my core exercises especially during the morning time 5AM-6AM. I wouldn’t delve into the details about the book, but extraordinary, brilliant, and life changing are some of the adjectives well-suited for it.

Due to this book I started doing my core exercises again and could finish ~800 push-ups, 600 sit-ups, and 500 Russian twists for the fourth month. I know it’s not a lot, but it’s a lot if you compare these numbers to 0 in the third month of quarantine.

THE CONCLUSION
Before I conclude, I am hopeful we will have a vaccine one day. I am hopeful, if we wear masks, we will be able to contain this virus and get our life back to normal. I am also hopeful that I will be able to visit India and see my family one more time!

Till then, take care & stay safe!