Running Ruminations

Another week is behind us in this COVID-19 world we’re living in. Not a lot has changed from last week (that I can readily think of) in terms of California’s/the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place orders or remote education through the end of the school-year, though of course the daily (or hourly) news updates assault us all with ongoing existential threats that all but preclude any type of “normalcy” from setting in. We’re all hour-to-hour right now, but it doesn’t make things any easier or less stressful. Strength isn’t always in numbers. 

Actually, now that I think of it a bit more, two new developments come to mind that manifested in the past seven days: (one) the WHO, CDC, and local governments advising that everyone wear masks (of any type) when out and about, performing essential tasks and (two) stores beginning to more stringently crowd-control how many people are shopping indoors at any given time. 

At this point, I can’t speak to the ramifications of the latter because I haven’t been shopping anywhere in the past week. 

As to the former, for me, all it has meant is that I generally don’t leave home for my runs without a balaclava that I can quickly pull over my mouth and nose in the event that I can’t easily get around people I encounter. Admittedly, I feel pretty idiotic wearing a balaclava over my face when I go to the post office to drop-off packages (and where I don’t even interact with anyone or touch any surface) and when I pull it up over my face when I’m running in the proximity of other people. I guess if the government (and respected, reputable health organizations) worldwide are advising that we do this, though, then so be it. These types of recommendations seem to change frequently, so who knows if this will even be relevant next week. Hard telling. 

I sincerely hope that you and yours are all doing well and are staying safe and healthy. We are all riding this wave together, and accompanying our high highs are no doubt low lows. Our respective challenges (and celebrations!) may look different on the surface level, but I think it’s also worth remembering that we are at our best when we recognize our shared humanity. This recognition doesn’t necessarily make anything easier — we can still be sad, or angry, or anxious, or experience whatever the feeling of the moment is — but remembering that we’re all navigating uncertain waters can help center us and bring us back. There is value in being informed and apprised of the latest surrounding all of this, and I’d also argue that there’s also real value in surrounding ourselves — and our very precious mental real estate — with cautious optimism, too. Look for the helpers. Be a helper. Do and be the best you can do and be right now because that’s enough. 

On occupying time and settling mental unrest:     

• Watching: I don’t remember what inspired us, but we watched The Pink Panther Strikes Again over the weekend. Somewhat remarkably, we watched it from start to finish, and nobody left or fell asleep! It’s silly but a lot of fun for kids (and adults). C and I just realized that we haven’t shown the kids any of the Back to the Future movies yet, so that’s probably up next. 
• Celebrating: Nothing like turning the big 4-0 in the throes of a pandemic. In the preceding weeks, the kids and I painted more than 40 mostly rainbow-filled signs adorned with messages like “happy 40th birthday, Daddy!”, “40 is the way to be!”, “we love you lots!” and other equally encouraging and uplifting messages. I usually like to post and remove decorations fast, but we decided to keep everything up for the rest of the month, just ‘cuz. 

• Listening: Billie Joe’s take on “Manic Monday” was fantastic. So, so good. I hope he throws all of this onto an album at some point. 

• Failing at: Sewing. I am beyond terrible. T-e-r-r-i-b-l-e. I had been sitting on the idea of getting a sewing machine for a long time, in part because I wanted to learn how to sew-on all the patches and badges A earns from Girl Scouts. Then, everything with COVID happened, and I thought perfect, I’ll learn to sew, do some GS stuff, maybe make some masks, and so on the aspirational thinking went. A little backstory: when I last learned how to use a sewing machine, it was 7th grade, and it took me a solid quarter learning how to thread the damn thing (and literally, I successfully did it for the first time on the last day of our sewing unit, before we switched to cooking and baking). At this point, I can say that I’m at least *a little* more adept than I was as a middle-schooler … but it’s not by much, unfortunately. I know I have to keep working at it, but damn, it’s not easy! I’m so outside my comfort zone here. There’s value in learning new things, absolutely, but seriously… I am horrible!  

• Running: In the absence of races and being allowed to run my fav local trails, I figure this is as good a time as any to go after all the road hills close to home that I usually don’t run very often. At this point, I’ve traded speedy running workouts with all the hills, and it’s a fun way to start my day, plus I feel like it’s helping me get stronger and faster. My club has a little spiel going on instagram where we’re posting about our #lonewolf runs, so if you’re running solo now, too, hop in on the action and talk about your #lonewolf training. It’s encouraging to see other people doing the same and to give kudos from afar.  

• Cooking: We’ve continued to eat at home for virtually all of our meals, which I don’t mind (being vegetarian kinda lends itself to eating at home more often than not). I could eat soup or stew every day of the week and not get bored of it, but in the past week, I only made two: a lentil pumpkin curry stew and a roasted tomato and white bean soup. Otherwise, I made roasted sweet potatoes; chickpea ratatouille (which also makes fantastic taco fillings), and some homemade bread. I see people talking online about comfort foods that they’re consuming in voluminous amounts during the SIP orders, and I think I will forever associate tacos with this time period. I’m certain I’ve consumed more tacos in the past ~month than I have in most of my adulthood. It’s not a bad thing. 

• Listening: As a result of exclusively running solo now, I’ve re-introduced podcasts into my runs as I feel like it; sometimes I just want to listen to the birds outside, but other times I want to hear humans. Arguably the best one that I’ve heard in recent weeks was the debut episode from the Growth Equation, hosted by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness, who are also the co-writers of the newsletter by the same name that I’ve mentioned in recent weeks. I listened during my Monday morning run, and I really, really enjoyed it. I think I may re-listen to it so I can write about it in more detail later, but if you want to think about how you can navigate “performance” and “well-being” in the backdrop that is the pandemic right now, look no further. I was impressed at how well-done and seamless the episode was — their first! — and genuinely look forward to future episodes. 

• Watching: Another recommendation but this time for a YouTube series by John Krasinski. The fam and I watched the first episode, and I shamelessly cried a good, uplifting cry. It’s worth it. 

Be safe, and stay well. xo