!

 Happy New Year!

Amid everything that went down this year, I've resumed recovery jogs and tempo runs: I've found a decent route without hills by our new place. It's not the most convenient option because it crosses a busy road, and so it took me a few months to find it, but flat terrain really makes a difference. I jogged it yesterday, and actually felt that it was restorative, not just easy.

Meanwhile, my stamina has been crap so I've put one particularly long hill to use too: I've also found a short tempo route that goes up and down it twice (and more if I repeat the loop but I'm not quite there yet). It's also mentally easier to get to the top of the hill if I run it clockwise; it's brutal counterclockwise. Funny how that works. It doesn't seem that visually misleading. Anyway, I've been doing this at least once a week for a month and I think I'm starting to feel less out of shape. It's been a long haul, and I can't be too hard on myself because I've still been running fairly regularly, but it would be nice to enjoy it more sometimes. And have "long" runs that are longer than 5-6 miles.

On the plus side, I ran 5.5 miles two days ago and have NOT gotten sick since.  I'm thrilled, knock wood. After my last "long" run a month ago, I got a cough and slight fever and other symptoms. It was probably just allergies again, but this year is special. I subsequently missed half of my clinic make up time (for a rotation that went online thanks to COVID), felt q-tips probe the depths of what I presume was my sphenoid sinus (seriously, it goes way back), and quarantined myself as best as I could with a small child whom I also kept from school until my results were negative, yay. And I had to re-remake up that clinic time during my holiday, super yay. 

Here's hoping for a better 2021 for everyone!

what

back in the groove

After posting about my insouciance over the uncertainty of my future runs, I've been running regularly. Old news by this point, actually.

However, yesterday, my legs were not sore during my run, which made me realize that they are (almost) always sore and/or heavy.  It's been like this for so long, maybe since my son was born, I don't even really notice it except as a barrier to push through to get to endorphins. I remember better runs in the past, but it seems like they happened to a different person.

Yesterday, though, my legs felt fresh, even after I pushed the pace and my breathing picked up. 

Naturally, I'm now analyzing this, particularly since my run this morning was back to crappy. Yesterday I ran in the afternoon because it was only 25 C. I almost never run in the afternoon, but perhaps lower humidity was a major player. I'd strolled for a couple of hours with my family earlier that day, but my legs weren't tired from that despite my expectation. Perhaps the key is diminished hope!

It really felt amazing at any rate.

*and I scored well on my board exam thankfully, but COVID-19 cancelled the rotation I'm supposed to be on right now--this year has been a ride.

!!!!!!!!!!!

 almost almost there

I knew this month would be tough, and it's going out with a bang (it's 42 C right now!), but it's almost over, but I'm still on edge.

I wrote boards on Wednesday, and because I've been preparing since March, and didn't take the customary month off to cram, it felt weird. It's been a big shark circling in the shadows for so long, I got used to it, and still have to accept that it's now gone.  I guess the exam went well?! hard to say. I was tired by the last section, though...after about seven hours, I was slowing down a lot.  Fortunately, each half is four hours/four sections, and I'd banked a fair bit of time. Still left 1.5 hours ahead of schedule. If I stay too long, I start changing answers injuriously. Nothing good happens after "midnight" (okay, 3ish pm). 

Oh, and moving? ....well

I tried to relax with a book I picked up this morning from a local Little Free Library: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/438-Days/Jonathan-Franklin/9781501116308. Highly recommend it, especially for putting things into perspective.

Running? Uh, it's 42 C right now and I just had my first solid poop in about a month today (funnily enough, the dog had her first morning walk poop in a few weeks too--she's been spayed so we have to sync colons instead of uteruses (And period syncing seems like a myth anyway)). So, no.

I've been jogging

I'm getting slower and slower, even though the last few mornings have been ~24ish C and not ~26. It's still too warm for me but I'll take what I can get.

1 hour today
1/2 hour yesterday
1 hour Friday (and Thurs?)
1/2 hour Wednesday...I think. Can't remember.

I'm already tired and August is going to be heavy, but sadly not in terms of mileage. But maybe it'll be my last month of truly Southern summer. Now that I've typed that, probably not.

touch and go

At least I'm running more than July last year (70-75 hours/week at the hospital and still too hot to run when I got home = 0 miles). I keep telling myself, the humidex never goes below 30, it's okay to take a break.

And then Hanna came along. Hopefully it wasn't too much to handle along the coast, but it broke the heat here.

I jogged for an hour this morning. Maybe tomorrow morning will be as nice. If not, I'll relax until it is. I'll be ok.

.

Didn't run today but discovered this.

~summer~

I'm still running, here and there, 1/2 hour mostly. It's summer.

Should have run yesterday--after a few days of 40+ C highs, much of the humidity had burned off and it was overcast too. But I'd gotten only about 4 hours of sleep and felt like death. "Oh, well it should be like this tomorrow." WTF, why would I ever think that?

This morning, the humidity and sun are back.

In search of another song, I found this--not really my jam but the shots of the crowd are provoking so much nostalgia.

Found it!