What am I even doing with my life?

Not much, is the answer. I still can't run up a hill to save my life. I tried yesterday, and every stride with my left leg hurt, enough that I was likely taking visibly uneven and limpy strides. So I'm sitting on the couch like a lot of other people. (Literally right now I'm sitting on the ground on my front porch.)

I wasn't signed up for many races anyway. Once I realized I was injured I didn't sign up for the March 50K or DC Rock N' Roll marathon as I had planned, the latter of which was canceled anyway. I started teleworking (government speak for working from home) 100% in early March, on my own initiative before it was really allowed since I didn't want to ride Metro and it makes almost no difference in my work in the short-term. Then it was quickly allowed, then encouraged, and finally nobody's-allowed-in-the-building mandated. Initially we weren't sure GF was going to be up here in DC, but she was visiting for the weekend, luckily brought a bunch of dirty clothes with her to do laundry, and her office was finally shut down the day she had a ticket to go home. So we're together.

I had been planning for about a year to start hiking the Hayduke Trail starting April 4. I bought the food and gear I'd need for resupply, and my hiking partner obtained our permits. As the virus started spreading I saw the writing on the wall, but didn't want to rule things out, and the uncertainty was really stressful. In the end we made the right call and pushed the trip to September. (6 of 6 national parks we'd pass through are now closed.) Maybe if we're lucky travel will be allowed then, with testing but still bans on mass gatherings? I mean, I don't exactly see how we get there without mass testing that the US clearly appears too incompetent to accomplish, but maybe.

So no, I'm not running, please don't ask. And no, I'm not hiking. Biking on largely empty streets is fun, but it doesn't satisfy me like running does.  And unlike Oakland and a few other cities, DC didn't do anything until this Friday to make more streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Yes, traffic is way down, but the cars that are there are going fast. I have a race in late June that's not cancelled yet but I assume will be, and one that was rescheduled from May to August. Maybe I'll get fanatical about my PT exercises and be recovered in time, and maybe the plague will end. We'll see.

Movies:
Contagion: A-
Light of My Life: B
Zombieland: B+
Zombieland Doubletap: D+
Once upon a Time in Hollwood: A

Books:
Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America, by Conor Dougherty: B+
Mostly bored by The Library Book by Susan Orlean and The Long Walk by Steven King, feeling like I should read Moby Dick, The Count of Monte Cristo, or Infinite Jest since I have all this time.

Walking George, reading the news, video chats with friends, making bread (see pic), building a home seltzer machine (see pic), brewing kombucha. Most of that's pretty regular for me. So I order grains for beer and a wheat grinder to up my game. Anyway, we'll see.


Comments

  1. Hi Garret - sorry you are not running. :/ I am not either so sympathize with you! This will be longest/only break since starting to run in 2008. I find biking (on my really old and not great but good enough road bike) to be super fun and therapeutic especially when listening to some good tunes (I recommend Geographer). Your bread is beautiful. I made sourdough bagels and it was a workout but fun and tasty! The super tough dough (5 cups of flour to 1 cup of water) results in an unexpected hand and arm workout when kneading. Yuch and I watched Contagion too...before the shelter-in-place order to get in the "mood". Sorry I can't recommend any books to you. I am reading Little Women, but something tells me that might not be your style. Could be wrong. Louisa May Alcott (and therefore Jo) was a runner and pretty awesome in my opinion. Hang in there. You will be running before you know it and in the meantime make the most of this rest period to strengthen some weaker areas.

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