Whatever

I have been gone a week.  What transpired?

• All last week I worked from morning till typically 9pm (other than on Monday) with helping my research students prepare for their talks. It was exhausting and while many did eventually do an exceptional job, it was like pulling teeth at times.  Very painful and laborious. When they arrived at the meeting, the day before, I had them do a final run-through with me on Zoom. That too was exhausting.

• When I hit the 9 mile mark last Monday, the damn treadmill stopped working.... this time it may be the motor.  I have had no time to examine whether it is truly dead, or if I can coax the damn thing back into life.  But, with snow and ice much of the week, it my efforts to hit 55 miles for the week awfully damn difficult and added quite a bit of additional stress to the week.

• Running as follows.... Monday, 9 miles before the damn machine broke. In the evening, I got home from the U around 6pm, and the trail had melted so that it appeared clear.  So I forced myself to run an additional 6 miles.... but it started to snow heavily during the run, and by the time I hit mile 6 it was starting to get slippery.  The snow continued overnight. Tuesday, no running.... too icy and too busy with helping the students.  Wednesday, enough of a thaw occurred that I forced myself to run 15 miles (24km) outside.  It was 35 degrees (1.5C), but windy as hell.  But, I forced myself to run that many.  Thursday, even though I was really horribly sore from my first and second outdoor runs in around 3 months, I forced myself to run another 10 miles (16km) outside.  It was still around 35 degrees and still windy as hell.  Friday, I was at the meeting all day so I could do no running whatsoever.  I was so dead tired by the time I returned home around 7 and it was too dark to run outside.... and it had snowed again anyway.  Saturday, because I was desperate, I took a chance, and went to the U gym..... at the very earliest moment it opened, and went to the indoor track.  I was hoping that there would not be anyone there at that very early hour.  For the first hour-and-a-half, I was lucky, and no one was there, so I could run without a damn mask.  After 90 minutes, someone else came in and I had to struggle to run the rest of the miles with a mask on.  It was really hard to do.  But, I completed 15 damn miles on Saturday.  So, I got in all 55 miles.  This past week has been the hardest, most unpleasant running week I have ever experienced.  

• In theory the weather report says it will be almost 40 this afternoon, so I am going to plan to run as much as I can in the afternoon.  Afternoon running is hard for me, but, until it is warmer and lighter in the morning, I am not finding it safe.

• I normally love when Daylight Savings Time starts, but having it have started yesterday just added another stressor..... sunrise is now an hour later.  Before I realized Sunday was the start of Daylight Savings Time, I was thinking if I planned everything just right, I could start to go on the trail at daybreak (Saturday, this was around 6:00am, now it is 7:00am because of DST).  But, starting at 7:00 does not give me enough time, even if I hustle, to get to the U on time.  I would have had enough time at 6:00am, but it is now once again completely dark.  Cold and dark are a bad mix for me.

 So, nothing enjoyable or fun in the past week.  I admit to feeling ornery and out-of-sorts.  I am hoping for a calmer, more predictable week... without added hassles.  Somehow, I doubt by dream will come true.

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