Sunday, March 21, 2021

Weekly Sweats: Not a Lot

 

This week's edition: 19.25 miles, two strength workouts, two race recaps, and one unbelievable update.

I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out.

I kind of want to say that not a lot happened this week, except that everything happened this week.  When I say "everything" I mean that out of nowhere vaccine eligibility in my state expanded to include healthy 45 year olds.  That's all very fine and well, but we all know that being eligible is only step one.  You still have to find an appointment and everyone is happy to tell you how hard it is and how messed up the system is.  The standard advice is to sign up everywhere and keep checking.

Day one: I signed up everywhere.  The process felt like a joke and I knew that I wasn't going to get an appointment anytime soon.

Day two: someone posted on Facebook that the health department had opened up a bunch of new slots and I went back into the rabbit hole.  The health department was a bust but I saw an article that said that before 9 is the "hot" time to get an appointment at Walgreens.  It was after 9 and to my knowledge there are no Walgreens near where I live but I typed "Walgreens covid" into the search bar just for grins.  The website was predictably painful to navigate and with each keystroke I wondered why I was bothering.  And then I hit herd immunity gold.

V Day #1 is 48 hours away and V Day #2 is on the calendar.  This distance from home is less than an hour.  I have no clue whether I'm getting Pfizer or Moderna and I absolutely do not care.  Logically I knew that the vaccine would be "soon" since the target in my state for a while has been getting it open to everyone by May and lately the predictions have been that 90% of the eligible population will have access by August but never in a million years did I think that would translate into a needle going into my arm in the next few days.

Okey dokey, I guess I should talk about running, though forgive me since my mind is elsewhere.  Here's what's going down:

Picking up from last week's tease, the Hilly 15k is now in the rear view mirror.  Eh, I don't have much to say about it.   I was expecting the hills but I was not expecting the wind.  I let gravity and nature take their course and stayed in a pack of 10 like minded people.

This would be a fun race to revisit with some hill training;-)

Monday: first workday after the time change + post race = rest day.

Tuesday: 3.25 miles.

Wednesday: I did the thing that I never do, which is to run in the evening.  Between the time change and an early meeting, there wasn't enough daylight to get a run in before work.  Wednesday is usually a rest day anyway, so I didn't sweat it.  I was able to finish up right on time and I was pretty ticked off due to an ongoing work situation so the second I stepped away from my desk I hit the streets for 4.25 pretty speedy miles. 

Thursday: running in the rain is one of my favorite things.  I stayed out a bit long and got myself caught in wet running clothes for the first meeting of the day.  4.5 miles plus brrr.

Friday: off

Saturday: Shamrock Shuffle day!  As you may remember, race day lines up with spring break and our annual visit to my SIL in Chicago.  At this point I am pretty much "done" with virtual racing but (1) I found out that if you run 4 years in a row you have a guaranteed entry into the Chicago Marathon and (2) it was quite cheap so why not.

I don't live in CHI but my town has a 5 mile race, so I helped myself to the course.  I did a warmup mile from my front door to the starting line, and then set off.  Afterwards I did a cool down jog back home so I got to both run the race AND get my long run of 7.25 miles total.

Sunday: off

That's all that I've got for this week!

33 comments:

  1. Congrats on getting a vaccine appointment! My son just got his in Wisco, but I cannot get an appointment for my hubs. Grrrr....

    Great job on the Shuffle! It was so tempting, but I've sworn off virtual races. We will have to plan on doing it next year!

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    1. Fingers crossed that an appt will open up soon. I am so hopeful that we will meet in person this time next year.

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  2. Yay for being signed up for the vaccine! Our state just announced that anyone over 60 will be eligible starting Tuesday, so I'll be hunting for my mom. I bet it's going to be tough with so many people eligible now, bu I'm starting to understand the system better after getting my dad an appt a few weeks ago. Great job on your 5 mile race!

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    1. I'm so happy that my parents have gotten their first shots. Whew, what a relief to have our parents safe.

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  3. That is exciting that you got your vaccine appointment. It feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now. Nice job on your 9+ mile run!

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    1. I am so happy about it. I just never thought that it would be possible this soon.

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  4. I was super frustrated trying to figure out how my friends were signing up for vaccination appointments! It was so confusing! But, when I did finally figure it out it didn't seem so crazy. I did end up helping several of my friends because they had the same questions. I can't even imagine how confusing it must be for older people or people without computers!

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    1. I'm just amazed how quickly things went from zero to sixty. The tide is turning.

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  5. So happy for you that you can get the vaccine! I'd drive an hour for it...not sure I'd drive 3 hours and back though, ha!

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    1. Yikes are people driving 3 hours??? If that was the only option I'd go for it but it really seems like a lot of places are opening up here.

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  6. Congrats on getting a vaccine appointment! I'm not eligible to book mine yet but I'm hoping that it won't be too crazy of a process.

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    1. You're coming up for it pretty soon!!! Since I wrote this it feels like a million appointments have opened up in my area so hopefully it will be the same for you.

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  7. I'm in the same place you were- I'm eligible for the vaccine but can't find an availability. I guess the lesson is to just keep trying! Some places near us are now offering the Johnson and Johnson- I'm hoping for that one although beggars can't be choosers.
    Congrats on your races- sounds like you had a great week of running.

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    1. I totally agree - the right vaccine to get is the one that you can get, but "one and done" sounds very appealing.

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  8. Vaccines were the same here. Just keep clicking was how I got my appt.

    I had the same weather for my race - WIND!!!! Still it was so exciting to actually run a race!

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    1. I will take all of the wind and all of the hills just so long as we get to keep racing.

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  9. Yay for getting your vax appointment! I have to wait until mid April before my wave is eligible. Hopefully the appointment system will be better than it currently is.

    Looks like a great week of running for you!

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    1. Funnily enough, Facebook was really helpful. Everyone was posting where they were getting their appointments, and that was more helpful than the state's system.

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  10. That is great that you have an appointment! Ugh, so tempting to sign up for the Shamrock Shuffle but virtual races are iffy for me. I understand the reason you signed up and I am so excited for you! Chicago Marathon yay!!

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  11. Hooray for the vaccine! Here in IL I doubt I'll be able to get it for months. So many people are jumping through hoops, cutting the "line" etc. My sister and BIL drove downstate 5 hours each way to get theirs. IMO that's just nuts.

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    1. Eek, 5 hours is a bit much. Right now Illinois is ahead of my state in vaccinations and I'll be interested to see if that changes now that the vax is open to everyone and it feels like people are getting appointments. I grew up in Illinois and my SIL lives there, so that's why I'm interested.

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  12. Yay! We are getting closer to vaccine appointments. I can drive 2.5 hours to get one right now, but I think I am ok waiting one more month until May, when it opens up to me.

    Good luck!

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    1. Yes, if it's just a month that's not very long. I am really shocked that all of a sudden the vaccine really opened up here.

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  13. glad you got your appointments. this whole thing with corona is exhausting. it just goes from one level to another. now we are on level vaccinations. we are still in lockdown, extended again and our vaccination rollout sucks goats. I'm just so tired of it all.

    I think it's great that you did the virtual Shamrock Shuffle to qualify later for the marathon! it's a perfect reason to do it.

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    1. That was our situation until just a few weeks ago. Now it seems like everyone got their first shot overnight. Hang in there, it's coming!

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  14. I tried commenting (via my phone while in FL), and it must have gone *poof* LOL Anyways, great job on the Shuffle, plus the bonus miles! Iowa, supposedly, will have the vaccine available to everyone in early April. Or so we're told...

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    1. My phone won't let me leave comments either. I'm amazed at how quickly the vax opened up here. Let's hear it for early April!!!

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  15. Congrats on your Shamrock Shuffle and now having a guaranteed Chicago Marathon entry!

    Yay for getting your vaccination (I assume you've gotten the first one by now). Virginia is still in 1b... I snagged an appointment on the other side of the commonwealth for my mom for Friday afternoon at Walgreens. I called her grocery store pharmacy to try to get her an appointment there instead (it's closer to her house), but they didn't receive any vaccine this week.

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    1. Yay that your mom is getting the shot this Friday and it's totally worth the drive for the peace of mind.

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  16. Congrats on getting an appointment for the vaccine. I just got an appointment this week for Saturday evening, because, you know, what else am I doing on a Saturday night these days? I was so excited when I booked the appointment, I didn't believe it actually had happened.

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    1. Aw yiss!!! That's a lit Saturday.

      But seriously, congratulations!!!

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