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COVID, week 8 & California is opening, sorta

COVID, week 8 & California is opening, sorta

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Well, the fine state of California reopened ever-so-slightly since last week’s writing, though Governor Newsom made it abundantly clear that if local orders were more strict than those of the state, the former superseded the latter. For those of us living in Santa Clara county, or more specifically, for my family and me, everything felt like it remained the same. There wasn’t any discernible difference. 

Earlier this week, on Monday, Governor Newsom announced that at the end of this week, more components of California life would be opening, and he’d be laying out what it all entailed at Thursday’s press conference. Obviously I can’t foretell what this weekend will look like for my family, but I can’t imagine that any of us will be super psyched and willing to go to florists, bookstores, clothing stores, or sporting retailers, the original list of soon-to-open aspects, for curbside pickups. 

Earlier in the week, the governor intimated that some parks may be reopening this weekend — or rather, that he’d be communicating what their reopening guidelines would dictate by the weekend — so I’m curious how parks here (like my beloved ARP) will be affected, if they would be at all. Ultimately though, if local jurisdictions and counties are going to be the ones making the calls on reopening, I don’t imagine anything changing anytime soon because SCC still has a huge number of cases (with SJ, in particular, having more than 50% of those reported in the county). 

So, in other words, the past week has been more of the same, at least for us.

suddenly family selfies are much easier to pull off

Of note is that A’s principal held a school-wide parent Zoom meeting this week, simply to touch base with us, answer questions, that sort of thing, and as of this week, according to our principal, the superintendent hasn’t expressed any plans to begin school earlier, in July, as Gov. Newsom last week suggested may be the case with some schools. Who knows what will ultimately happen or what school will look like in the fall — my guess is that it’ll be some combination of in-person and remote learning — so just like with everything else related to this, all we can do is wait. We’ve got about a month left in this academic year.  

Mother’s Day is Sunday (hooray!), and I ordered gifts for my sister and my mom (that surely won’t arrive on time) and wrote in the gift messages how much I miss them both. I don’t think they read my blog, so hopefully I didn’t just spoil the surprise. There’s not much “nice” about this whole pandemic upending everyone’s life, but an unexpected byproduct is that I’ve been having video chats with my family way more often than ever before. It’s fantastic for staying in touch, even when we don’t have a ton of new updates to share, but I still sometimes find myself saddened to not know when I’m going to see my family in-person again. The girls and I definitely aren’t going to the midwest (to Ohio or to Illinois) this summer, even if things change, because the risks are just way too high. Additionally, my family has already expressed that it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be spending time together and going out of the country around Christmas/New Year’s like we’ve done for the past 5+ years.

At the earliest, that means I won’t see my parents, sister and her family, and brother and his family until at least winter 2021, which sucks, and I simply have to hope that everyone remains safe and healthy between now and then. I have no idea when I’ll next see my in-laws, too, in person, which is also a huge bummer. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have a better handle on everything before next winter (and dear god can I hope for a new president, too?), but I guess just like most things in life and, conveniently, also in running, our best approach is to stay in the mile we’re in and not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Control that which you can control, and let go of everything else beyond your reach.  

And finally, in the past week, my big girl turned 9! She said that this year’s birthday was her best birthday ever (bless her), even in the absence of the usual kid birthday stuff like a big party, special restaurant dinner, and that sort of thing. Originally, her big present was going to swim camp this summer for a week (a sleep-away camp), but of course it has all been canceled. (By no means am I complaining; it is definitely the right call). I don’t know if it’s because the pandemic is bringing out all sorts of emotions right now, if it’s some motherly guilt that I couldn’t provide for my daughter what I know she wanted the most (as she has been looking forward to being old enough for swim camp for over a year), or if it’s because my girl is now 9 — almost double digits! — but dear god, I was such a hot mess on her birthday. Honest to god, I couldn’t get through singing happy birthday without choking back tears, and I was weepy like that all day long. wth 

that ‘fresh-after-a-run’ look (and smell, eegads) because I woke up to run early so I’d be home well before she came downstairs. Wet eyes indicate I had already cried by then, ha.

(At the risk of sounding a little imbalanced right now, usually I wake up early, drink tea and read the news [and cry a little while reading the news each morning], then I go for a run and finish feeling happy and jazzed and buzzy, and I’m pretty even-keeled for the rest of the day. On her birthday though, dear lord. It was nuts). 

Hopefully your past week has been healthy and uneventful (the good type of uneventful, anyway). Hang in there, gang. 

On occupying time and settling mental unrest:

Cooking: Nothing out of the ordinary here (read: more tacos, this time with a bean dip-type filling). Extravagant! 

Running: April ended up being a really solid month for me, with 242.36 miles (slightly down from March) and 12,769’ climbing (pretty much exclusively road hills, since ARP has been closed). Last week I had a 100k training week (just shy of 63 miles) for the first time in a couple months, a new record during shelter in place. Most importantly, running has been super fun and chill, and I’ve been doing a much better job of consistently doing the ancillary stuff I usually neglect. An especially lovely and fun part of running right now is doing 5k training with A, and I feel like it’s allowing us to bond in a different way. I love it 🙂 A bunch of friends are participating in the virtual GVRAT 1000k, and I considered it but ultimately decided against it. (I instead have opted to support some local race orgs’ virtual efforts). 

right now we’re going 3x a week, and it’s so fun. I love her energy and that we get to run during sundown together.

Watching: I finally watched the Olympic Marathon trials coverage on YouTube over the weekend (which I agree, was pretty terrible). Even though I knew the results, it was still a lot of fun to watch. Related, I’ve been listening to a ton of podcasts that interviewed runners after the trials, and I feel like it’s a fantastic balance to my mornings: read the news and cry (and generally feel bad afterward) and then go for a run and usually listen to podcasts about runners from the trials (and usually feel fantastic afterward). And for whatever reason, I got on a musical kick over the weekend and watched Oklahoma! (which was definitely *not* what I remembered from high school) and Singing in the Rain (with many parts that didn’t age well). I’ve been trying to watch McMillion$ (because the girls have gotten really into playing Monopoly), but our Amazon Prime app has been buggy lately, so I haven’t yet been successful. 

Reading: After the kids and I finished Ralph S. Mouse, we began Henry Huggins, and in my own mix, I’m alternating among Kindness and Wonder (the book about Mr. Rogers), The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Melinda Gates’ The Moment of Lift (which, so far, is excellent), and I’m wrapping up To Shake the Sleeping Self. It depends on my mood at any given time. You? 

Another week of this behind us. Thinking of so many right now and wishing you all good health. Take care, be well, and happy mothers’ day. xo 

The Joy of Movement & Race Entry Giveaway for TSFM

The Joy of Movement & Race Entry Giveaway for TSFM

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COVID-19 got ya down? 

Yeah. I feel you.  

I live in Santa Clara County, in “the capital of Silicon Valley,” according to our trash and recycling cans. In the past few days, the county banned public gatherings of more than 1,000 people (exempting schools, malls, and airports), which meant that literally overnight, a good number of races, swim meets, parades, professional sports teams’ games, you name it were wiped off the calendar for the next three+ weeks. 

It’s hard to enumerate everything that has gotten canceled or postponed, but suffice it to say that it’s a lot. Add to all those changes the increasing number of people being asked to work remotely for the first time (and perhaps for the foreseeable future), and all the change and frenetic pace at which it is being thrown at all of us … it’s understandable to feel a little overwhelmed and dizzy.   

In my world, this ban, intended to mitigate COVID-19’s reach throughout our county (2 million+ people strong, with over 1 million here in SJ alone) meant that a race I’d be volunteering at on Saturday morning was cancelled (Shamrock 5k/10k), in addition to a handful of my eldest’s swim meets over the next few weeks. We haven’t yet gotten notice that schools are shuttered temporarily, but it seems it’s just a matter of time, especially since so many of the local higher ed institutions have moved to online learning. When SCC announced the ban was extended through early April, the Silicon Valley half marathon, the singular race I was planning to run in early April in advance of the Big Sur International Marathon, was postponed to a later date. 

At the moment, because Big Sur is in Monterey County, the BSIM appears to still be on as planned for its late April date, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were also canceled or postponed. The same goes for Mountains to Beach down in Ojai and Ventura in May. I’m mentally prepared for either or both race to not happen this spring. I’ve been through the experience before of races having to cancel for forces beyond their control (NYC due to Superstorm Sandy, PA races due to the fires a couple years ago up north), and while it sucks for sure, as important as this stuff is to me (and swimming is to my kids, and so on), it’s so not a big deal in the big scheme of things. It’s hard to argue with extenuating circumstances, especially when the health and well-being of a lot of people’s lives are at risk.    

I have no interest in getting into the scientific particulars or ramifications of COVID-19 because I’m not a scientist, nor do I pretend to be an expert on infectious diseases. That said, it took my breath away on Monday night when I learned that SCC had its first fatality to the disease, someone close to my parents’ age who likely had some sort of preexisting condition, just like my parents and I imagine just like your parents, too. The number of confirmed cases in our county is small — relative to our 2-million-plus person count — but it’s reasonable to predict that the numbers will continue to grow as testing kits become more available. I think of seniors in my life whose health would be seriously compromised by this, and I think of the immuno-suppressed kids I know whose health would also be upended by this stuff, and it’s all a little unnerving, to say the least. 

My original plan for this week’s entry was to write about that Kelly McGonigal book I mentioned last week, The Joy of Movement. I’m not so naive to think that all we have to do is go for a run or walk and presto! we’ll all feel like we have all the answers to this COVID-19 business. However — there’s always a however — I will claim, much like McGonigal does throughout her work, that more likely than not, if you’re feeling any sort of overwhelming emotion surrounding all the uncertainty and fear that is consuming social media and news feeds, one of the best things you can do for yourself is simply move your body. 

seeing this type of stuff is good for us always (and I imagine especially right now). we can’t get enough green stuff in our lives. we’re hard-wired for it.

Walk. 

Run. 

Ride. 

Swim. 

What or how matters less than simply doing. Bonus points if you can do it in some real-deal green space because that confers even more benefits. 

cheesin in the perc ponds. the hills are still green, which is a bit remarkable since we haven’t gotten much rain this winter.

I’m not promising that you’ll find the secret to solving this pandemic or decipher the best ways to mitigate this dilemma in SCC (or wherever you are). 

However — there’s always a however — I can all but promise that in the time you spend moving your body, connecting with nature (ideally), disconnecting from your phone and notifications and everything else that’s making us all feel so on edge about all of this, you will likely feel better than you had in the moments prior. 

When it’s so easy to fret and ruminate about the future and the uncertainties swirling around, feeling enveloped in our worries, there’s peace to be found in the right here, right now.

As contradictory as it sounds, moving is a wonderful avenue to get there. 

A better book report is forthcoming — I’m about 20 pages from finishing the text — but in the interim, how about a little positivity for a moment. I have a comped race entry to any of The San Francisco Marathon distance events that’s up for grabs. This may be something to look forward to if your spring race of choice has gotten cancelled (or likely will get cancelled). It’s the first year in a good long while where I won’t be running SF or being a race ambassador (not because of any ill will — I just don’t think I’ll be in town over race weekend this year), so while you won’t see my beautiful face there race weekend, you will see that of many, many others. 

Just throw down a comment below so my girls and I can pick someone’s name out of a hat or something.  Let’s hear something that made you smile today.

Race day is July 26th, and the race features distances from the 5k all the way up to a 52.4 mile ultra. 

Hang in there.