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Author: Erin

COVID, week 35 + running toward the White House

COVID, week 35 + running toward the White House

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We could all easily say so much about the last seven days that I’m at a loss at where to begin. As usual, I’m short on time — after a day off from distance learning, I spent as little time as possible in front of my computer today — and my nighttime medicine is kicking in and making my eyes exceedingly heavy. 

#seenonmyrun today: my kids! on bikes!

At any rate, I hope that regardless of how your past week was, that you are healthy and well and are staying so, which in and of itself would be a bit of a victory, considering how badly our country is reeling from/beginning to reel from a third COVID surge that we’ve known would likely transpire for months…and yet, strangely, are acting surprised by this turn of events. (There’s this great concept I teach my children, beginning at a very early age; it’s called cause and effect).  

Anyway. Following Biden’s history-making win last week, runner friends and I — among so many millions of others, obviously — have been absolutely stoked to have runners in the White House again. I had several different text threads going Saturday morning, after my own workout, excitedly saying how badass it was that Madam VP learned the news when she was on her morning run. I mean, c’mon. She’s just like us!

You may remember that Dr. Jill Biden is also a runner and has been for years, including the eight years when her husband was VP. Runner’s World profiled her for their “I’m a Runner” series what seems like eons ago, in case you missed it. 

Dr. Jill Biden, the marathoner, c/o Runner’s World

It’s very cool that we all start somewhere with this sport, as kids or adults, and that as our life and circumstances change, we can grow (old) with this sport. Competing and PRs only matter until they don’t anymore, and for many people, lacing up most days of the week is as essential to their health and well-being as routine medical visits, eating healthfully, getting enough sleep, the whole nine yards. I find this trajectory beautiful and honestly love to hear people’s stories about their relationships with this sport. I just find it all so fascinating and inspiring.  

I’m not someone who would vote for someone based on his or her athleticism toward running, but I will admit that the return to normalcy — adults regularly partaking in physical activity, out of concern for, and respect of, their bodies and health, and not worrying that it will drain their “battery” — is refreshing and much, much welcomed. 

Of course, we can’t fully get to normal without more visits to the absurd, so if you’re in the market for another virtual race this year to support a worthy cause, look up the Fraud Street Run in Philadelphia; hat-tip to Stacey for this one. If you’re local, you can go on an unsanctioned, masked, socially-distanced, no-frills 11-mile run from the Four Seasons Total Landscaping to the Four Seasons Hotel, because why else would you find a reason to commemorate a local landscaping business, and an international hotel chain, than because … 2020.  I’m seriously considering it (virtually). 

So 2020

Please take care of yourself and others, if you are able; wear a mask; socially distance; wash your hands; and keep listening and learning and doing the work because we are just getting started. 

feel that? that’s the winds of change, my friend
COVID, week 34 + ‘rest up for what lies ahead’

COVID, week 34 + ‘rest up for what lies ahead’

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It’s weird to have a birthday during a pandemic, when very little about life resembles its normal self. It’s not that I especially care about the pomp and circumstance related to birthdays (though I dig it for my kids), but joyously celebrating one’s birth right now is such a stark contrast to the daily reminders of the sheer amount of death related to this poorly-managed pandemic (over 234k Americans gone now, and with 103k+ cases diagnosed today, a new high). 

Why is this still a thing, 34 weeks later? 

And yet, how (or maybe why) did so many people willingly elect to have more of the same ineptitude for the next four years? 

Which “corners” could we possibly be turning right now? 

I simply cannot fathom.  

Whatever the immediate future holds, though, it’s obviously in our best interests to remember to zoom out and look at the entirety of the picture at hand and not simply focus on the pixels closest to our faces. This holds true whether we’re talking about navigating fundamental political disagreements or more pertinent to this blog, about training and racing. 

And as sacrilege as it may sound, part of taking the long view includes rest. Yes, rest. As I was reading a NYT parenting newsletter this morning, author Jessica Grose’s words jumped out at me, and her sagacious insight is applicable to a wide swath of our lives right now, whether we’re talking about working during a pandemic (possibly at home, with kids under foot), distance learning-educating at home, or training in such a way, even in the absence of in-person races, to make us feel just a little bit “normal”: “rest up for what lies ahead.” 

Rest doesn’t need to be literal rest, though that’s definitely important; instead, I think we can interpret her call as a rallying cry for taking the long view and doing what you need to do, today, every day, for yourself, so that you can show up later. Like most advice, it’s easier said than done. 

In this vein, though I’d love to tell you about the past week and about my TT last Saturday morning, I’m heeding her advice and wrapping this up now (and will likely regret publishing this under-developed piece later).  

I hope that you are doing whatever you need to do to allow yourself to “rest up” so that showing up later becomes even just a little more manageable.