- Just read an article "COVID marks the end of office clothes". One line in the article is "The slow erasure of professional attire can be viewed as a symbol of some of the ways the economy and the experience of white-collar work have changed for the worse.". I am NOT in that camp, and am loving wearing shorts and running t-shirts during the work day everyday!
- After spending about 12 hours in Georgia this week, my Georgian brother asked me if I found COVID life in GA to be different than RI. Um, yes, quite a bit. They just don't seem to take COVID as seriously in my brief observations, including limited mask wearing indoors, the governor fighting mayors who want to require masks, and lack of social distancing.
- So sad that Kim Jong Un recently ordered all dog owners in the capital city of Pyongyang to turn over their dogs to be confiscated by the state, purportedly with some to go to zoos and others to restaurants that serve dog meat. And for what? Because this has become a symbol of "western decadence". Sad.
- So looking to fall races, but unfortunately a slew of them just got cancelled. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but at least there are a few to pick from. Here's what I'm looking at.
Monday: 0
Long, long drive. How long? Just shy of one thousand miles. Left Westerly about 4:30am, arrived Savannah, GA just after 9pm.
Tuesday: 6
Savannah, GA city run. I had planned to run at nearby Tybee Island, but that didn't work for two reasons: 1) it would add another hour of driving (1/2 hour each way) on a tight schedule and already sick of driving, and 2) sunrise wasn't until just about 7am. Decided to just run in the city. Made it up as I went along. Not terribly hot, but terribly humid at nearly 95% humidity. Stepping out of the my hotel onto the city streets, it felt hard to breathe.
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| The fountain downtown looked inviting on a very humid day. |
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| Reminds me of Zakim Bridge in Boston |
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| Old style river boat. |
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| Along the Savannah River |
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| Was very surprised to see these Confederate statues and memorials remaining, where so many have been pulled down in recent days. |
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| The neat Forsyth Fountain inside Forsyth Park, modeled after fountains in Peru |
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| Neat Spanish Moss overhanging near a cemetery. |
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| Neat looking planetarium building. I'm assuming the "Mask Up" mandatory order refers to patrons inside their own building, as masks certainly weren't in vogue at many public buildings. |
Wednesday: 16
AM: 11 miles. SK run with Matthew and Brady. Ran the usual DuVal trails before embarking on dirt roads and trails over to Browning trails. I've much of this route with Chris in the past, but unlike this knowing this like the back of his hands, I would have been completely lost if not for constantly referring to my phone and specifically Matthew's route on Strava.
PM: 5 miles. Weekapaug run with Tom, Mike, and for a portion, Keith. Hadn't planned to run 16 miles on the day, but a late afternoon run with the guys sounds great when Tommy included a mid-run swim in the ocean. Ran first half mile as part of "Haley's Fun Run" (hopefully the kids' Fun Run at Tom McCoy Family Fun Runs will return next summer, but this is a nice substitute to keep it going for her in 2020). The rest was a good catch-up with the guys, and of course, the highlight was the mid-run ocean dip.
Thursday: 5
Woody Hill with Brady. First run in Woody in a long time.
Friday: 8
5 miles on the beach at sunrise with Matthew and Brady, and 3 on the road to finish up. There were a lot of rocks washed up on the beach, and it made for awkward barefoot running.
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| Beautiful skies just before sunrise. |
Saturday: 6
Burlingame trail with Brady on Sammy C's, North Camp trail, and VG. Annoying deerflies were still out there, but to be fair, they were worst near North Camp and sporadic otherwise. Brady seemed hot by the time we got down to Watchaug Pond, so he walked a little ways into the water, but then turned around to me and whimpered. I think he was asking for me to come in the water with him, so stripped the shoes, socks, and singlet, and went in full bore. Felt great! Continued on for two miles back to the car, and which point I was hot again. Thought about getting an iced coffee, but time was tight before heading to Providence, so I opted for a second swim with Brady at Watchaug Pond instead.
COVID-19 test: Between me having been in the South this week (which upon travel to RI requires quarantining or a negative COVID test), and heading to Maine next week (which requires RI'ers to quarantine or produce a negative COVID test), getting a COVID test made sense. I just wish the government made it easier. When I deplaned at TF Green Airport, I was met by a National Guardsman passing out information on RI quarantine/testing policy. I would've taken a test right there had it been offered. But it's not.
I tried to test at my local CVS, but I'm not eligible as I'm asymptomatic. I registered on the RI government site, but had to wait three days to be tested and go to Providence. So anyway three of us went to the new testing site at the convention center, and the testing process is order and facilitated by the National Guard. After proceeding through the first few drive-up checkpoints, a man in a full hazmat suit came around to each of us to conduct the test. He told us it would be slightly uncomfortable, but is VERY uncomfortable, as I'm quite sure I've never had anything inserted that deeply into my nostril. Fortunately, the nasal discomfort and watery eyes lasted only a few minutes, and by half an hour later, I felt just fine. Weird experience. No complaints, BUT if I need another COVID test, I hope the next one is using the new FDA-approved saliva version.
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| This is my favorite photo of the week! Our friendly neighbors invited Brady (and me) over to swim in their pool Saturday afternoon, and after many attempts with throwing his ball into the pool,he took this full leap into the pool! |
Sunday: 13
Charlestown roads with Matthew. It was sunny, relatively warm, and very humid. 1-2 miles in I was questioning myself on whether I would be able to finish the planned half-marathon distance today, and figured it would be very slow. But after circling back to the car, dropping shirts, getting a quick gulp of ice water, and resuming on shaded streets, I felt a little better and was able to run low 7s with ease.
We ran together for 10 miles, before Matthew dropped me on the Green Hill Carpenter Drive hill. That actually spurred me to pick it up for the last 3 miles, with splits of 6:28, 6:39, and 6:30. Happy with the way I finished up. Quickly devoured the rest of my ice water and an iced latte from The Bakery.
Weekly mileage: 54
Weekly synopsis: Another great week. I hit my mileage goal, ran in a new place, and got in a medium long run faring better than I thought.
Weekly highlight: The run in Savannah. It wasn't fast, my running wasn't pretty, and it was very humid, but I almost always enjoy a run in a new location and I've always wanted to visit Savannah.
Weekly lowlight: Running all went well. Probably the discomfort of the COVID test.
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