After a disappointing last week, it is time to take matters into my hands and smash some running records. So, shall we start?
Day 1 – Sunday, August 02, 2020 – Quarantine Day 139
Still recovering from yesterday’s 7 mile hike at the Proud Lake Recreational Area, I decided to take a rest day before heading into a busy week. This was an ideal Sunday, giving me enough time to recover and prep my body for some rigorous activities that I was planning for the week.
Day 2 – Monday August 03, 2020 – Quarantine Day 140
Starting the work week in the right spirit!
Monday was all about enjoying the early morning run. I woke up at my usual time and headed out for run. I really wanted to go to NHS, but was too lazy to drive and go that far on foot, so I ended up running around the community area and was really focused to keep the pace below 10’. Before going out for the run, I told myself to run for at least 10K as I had missed my last week’s goal, so I was glad when I ended the run at 6.5 miles and just under 10’ pace. Enjoyed the breakfast which followed.
Day 3 – Tuesday August 04, 2020 – Quarantine Day 141
Continuing the moment from yesterday, today turned out to be the best day for my PR run.
Due to an early morning meeting, I didn’t get a chance to go out for a run. But I made sure to put some efforts for my daily running goal. I got a chance to go out for a quick 1 hour run after I shut down my laptop and did surprise myself by running the PR for a 10K. The best thing about this PR was that I was getting messages from friends and colleagues and had to reply them while running. I surprised myself by multitasking while running and managed to respond to some of the messages as well. I think this is one of the reasons I don’t take my phone with me for a run.
After the run, it was time to go through hell with a 30-minute HIIT workout. I must say, it was not easy to go through those 30 minutes especially after running for an hour.
I wasn’t expecting to go out for one more run after the HIIT workout, but, my friends and kids wanted to run, so ended up finishing a 5K in the evening. The day turned out to be better than expected, finishing with almost 10 miles of running and still ample time to go for the weekend!
Day 4 – Wednesday August 05, 2020– Quarantine Day 142
One more fantastic day and run! This one happened after work.
I couldn’t go out for a run in the morning, reasons I don’t remember now! But, after wrapping up work at around 4.30PM, I went out for a quick run. I knew my target was at least 10K, so I needed some company in the 80F temperature, so I convinced kids to bike while I ran. It worked like magic. For the first time, I crossed my community and went far ahead than expected. The kids were extremely careful and made sure they stop for me before crossing a busy street and they made sure that I was around all the time before they wander off in the distance.
I took more time to finish the 10K distance but it was worth it. The run followed one of the most delicious dinners and favorite of the kids – Tomato Soup and Veg Grilled Sandwiches. I gulped four of those and had a wonderful sleep after that!
Day 5 – Thursday August 06, 2020– Quarantine Day 143
Ah! Thursday, finally! This was the last workday for me as tomorrow I have taken a personal day. Tomorrow, we are planning for an 11 mile hike at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We have done this hike last October, and loved the trail and the extraordinary scenes around the trail, and not to mention – Lake Superior. I want to experience the same thrill and would love to see how the Upper Peninsula (UP) weather treats us during the summer time; apart from the fact that UP is my most favorite place in the entire world.
Anyway, getting back to today’s update – I took kids out today to NHS and it turned out to be a slightly longer distance than 5K. Kids were tired due to the high temperatures and opted out of running after finishing 3-4 laps. I told them to wait for 5 minutes as they wanted to go home. That 5 minutes wait extended to 20 minutes as they were busy with their new obsession – cubing. I managed to finish 4 miles by the time they asked me one more time to head home, which I could not refuse again!
By this time, I have crossed the weekly target and let’s see if I get one more run for the week!
Day 6 – Friday August 07, 2020– Quarantine Day 144
What a feeling! What a moment! What a day! Many thanks for friends, family, nature, life!! Grateful!
Words are not enough to tell you how happy I feel whenever I visit UP. There are many things I am grateful for in my life – living in Michigan and visiting UP whenever I get a chance is certainly one of the top things I love about my life. Obviously, when we started planning for this, it was very hard to imagine if we could really go through this 21 hours of adventure. Due to COVID, we decided to not stay at UP and just drive between home and Pictured Rocks.
Keeping the description short, we woke up at 4AM. We left the house at 5AM. We reached Pictured Rocks at around 12.30PM and started hiking at around 1PM. We enjoyed
– River Walk
– Lake Superior
– Chapel Rock
– Mosquito & Chapel Trail
– Aaloo Puri by Lake Superior
We left Pictured Rocks at around 7PM and were home by 2AM. It was a 22 hour day for us on the road and loved every second of it. When I was mentally prepping for this trip, I told myself this trip will tell me whether I can run for 24 hours straight or not. Turned out, I can and hopefully next year, I will be able to achieve that feat.
Enjoy the IG gallery till then. A couple breathtaking pictures there!
Day 7 – Saturday August 08, 2020– Quarantine Day 145
After spending almost 24 hours on the road, it was time to take a rest day. Though I really wanted to go out for a run, I controlled my urge and excitement and took care of some of the things that needed attention. It was great to spend some time just relaxing and giving enough time for my body to recover, so that I can bounce back with more strength.
This week turned out to be a good one and I am happy with the progress.
Showcasing the week’s highlight and my running journal here.
Let’s continue with same energy next week!
stochasticity 
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