Spring Break: Broken

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Or, in my case, break it anyways by canceling all your Spring Break plans. I wish I could say "crisis averted," but plenty of COVID-19 drama still went down. At least I had the "luxury" of not worrying about air travel and dirty airports. That said, as of Saturday morning, there has now been one confirmed case in my area.

But, like most others, I chose to forge on. My current count of affected races is at six. Not a big deal...it is what it is, and I'm all about doing what's best for the general population. Most of my races are postponed (one did have a virtual option), and only one was outright cancelled.

Alas, it was another interesting week...

But, first and foremost, welcome to the Weekly Run Down!

I love hosting this link-up with Deborah (from Confessions of a Mother Runner)! If you write a fitness-based blog, you're invited to join the party. The link-up opens at 1:00 (EST) on Sundays and remains open through noon on Monday. We love reading about everyone's weekly fitness endeavors, training highlights (or low lights) and race recaps. We ask that you link back to both hosts, and we encourage you to read/comment on the other linked blogs as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)

Here's how the fitness played out this past week:

Never miss a Monday
Much of the same routine I've been following for the past several Mondays...some stairs in the morning (40 flights) but with a bonus of a 2-mile walk with the hubby and Max before work. After work, I laced up and headed out for a couple miles in what looked (and felt) like a desolated college campus. I respect this is a trying time for everyone, but I'm just amazed at the rudeness among us...especially at a time when we all should be kind to one another and grateful for what we have. I can usually shake off mean or inappropriate stuff on social media, but that wasn't the case on Monday. My mind and soul needed those miles more than my body did.

Early-morning "Roaring 20's hat trick" Tuesday
Back at my usual recovery day routine, I greeted the day with 20 minutes on the elliptical, 20 stair flights and 20 push-ups. Then I got dressed in green and headed to the office. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Stuck inside Wednesday
It was another "raining-and-pouring-treadmill-is-boring" kind of morning. Nothing crazy...2-mile power walk with Milly, 20 flights of stairs, and some upper-body strength work. I'd much rather be outside, but I am grateful for all of my indoor options.

Social distance solo run for Thursday
We'd had rain all day (and night) on Wednesday, and Thursday's forecast was looking similar. I got up early, anticipating some Milly time, but Momma N must have waved the yellow flag on the precipitation. Although the rain was (temporarily) a no-show, the fog was thick. None the less, those four miles were worth the wet, soggy shoes and icky hair (in case you were wondering, the rain did reappear in the final mile LOL).

Fasted cardio Friday
With a big virtual event happening on Saturday, I wanted to keep Friday's fitness pretty low-key. How do 25 minutes of elliptical and 20 flights of stairs sound?

Upon getting home from work Friday afternoon, though, my race packet was waiting for me from the Chocoholic Frolic (which would have been on next weekend's agenda). So I spontaneously decided to start my virtual run early (more info, down below)...and laced up and ran those 6.2 miles (in the wind, thank you very much).

Virtually running on Saturday
It was not the Saturday I had envisioned. I was supposed to have been in sunny Florida, toeing the start line of a race on the streets of Tampa. Instead, I was grounded in Iowa, due to the COVID-19 drama and precautions.  I had a 19-mile virtual run on tap. Since I had already run 6.2 miles the evening prior, I had 13ish miles remaining, which needed to be completed before 5:00. I set out, planning on running eight miles (then finishing the remaining 5 miles in the afternoon). Well, things felt surprisingly good, so I ran 10 miles instead and knocked out the final 2.8 miles by early afternoon...and finished the virtual run well ahead of the 24-hour time allotment (and there may have been a bonus mile worked in after the remaining 2.8 were finished, just saying). Mission accomplished!

Chillin' on Sunday
Waking up with a stiff body (running 20 miles over the course of 36 hours will do that to you), I knew the best thing for me was to get moving. Barb had made the comment that we should do another plogging run (picking up trash while running), so that's what we did. The temps were chill (literally) and so was our run. Two miles and four bags of trash (with lots of bending, lunging and squatting), and I felt much better upon my return home.

So, another interesting week! This is the highest mileage week I've had since MCM, even with no upcoming races. Total running miles tapped out at 28. Stairs flights totaled at 140. Elliptical got 45 minutes of sweat equity, and there was one upper-body strength workout. No HIIT or speed work this week...my bad. Oh well. No regrets.

In case you missed out, here's what all went down on the blog this week:
March Madness and Mayhem
A Week of PI Challenge recap
5 Coping Strategies for a COVID-19 Cancellation

In other news:
Friday Fashion Flair! Although the temps are still wavering a bit back and forth with Winter and Spring, I'm all on board with the new season. White skinny jeans, floral prints, and pointy toed shoes, come to Momma. As always, you're welcome to join me on Fridays...post a pic on Instagram, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and be sure to tag me (@runningonthefly).

New trending term...Social Distancing. It seems like the COVID-19 "rules" are changing everyday. A new term, brought to the center of all the precautions, was social distancing. In an attempt to keep people safely away from human contact (and, ideally, lesson the chance of exposure and spread of the virus), many businesses were forced to give their employees the work-from-home option. Restaurants and bars were ordered to close (other than take-out or delivery). Most stores cut their hours of operation. YIKES! The #ish kept getting more real.

About that 19-mile virtual run...
At Wendy's suggestion, I decided to do the COVID-19 Mile Social Distance Run. The participants could do it any time (March 13th-31st), in segments or nonstop, but it had to be completed within 24 hours of starting. As mentioned, I started with the 10K , on Friday after work. That gave me until 5:00 on Saturday to "finish" the 19 miles. It worked out well running it in segments...I had time to rest and recover (briefly) between each of the three runs. For me, it was very similar to the team relays I have done in terms of running multiple times and with similar cumulative mileage. Ironically, the initial 10K was the hardest part of this, due to the cold temps and wind (the temps had a 20F feels-like with the 20ish mph wind). Saturday morning's 10-miler felt relatively easy in comparison to Friday, and the afternoon's 2.8-miler wasn't an issue. I'm really glad I gave this challenge a go!

Finally, have you heard? Deborah and I are hosting a fun challenge starting tomorrow....the 19 Minutes for 19 Days Challenge. Basically, in the midst of all the COVID-19 stuff, we're encouraging peeps to commit to 19 minutes of fitness for 19 continuous days. It can be simply 19 minutes of one activity (running, walking, biking, swimming, etc.) or a combination of exercises (yoga, calisthentics, etc.). Hopefully, after these 19 days have passed, we'll be through the worst of this COVID-19 crisis. Hopefully. At the worst, we'll still be maintaining our fitness through it. You can post your workouts or selfies on Insta/Facebook and use the hashtag #19for19Challenge. Please join us!

#19for19Challenge

So, that's the latest and (somewhat) greatest for now.

How was your week? Are you staying active through this COVID-19 crisis? Have you been quarantined at home yet? Are you being a good social distancing participant?  

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