Week 15 - What am I training for?


So, the world is spiralling out of control.  How's that for obvious?  I think many of us are left wondering if there will ever be a return to normal again.  I don't know the answer.  I do know that I'm going to keep training for the 444, but also I know that for the next few weeks training is going to be unstructured and heavily influenced by things that are going on outside of my athletic life.  It might also mean that these weekly posts start to look more like This Old House than a guy trying to transition to endurance cycling.

If you are looking for swim, bike, run ruminations there will be none this week, just some navel gazing about what happens when real life needs to win out.

Week 15 was dominated by work.  I did the full time job thing, but then spent every evening and long days on the weekend rehabbing a rental house that I own.  It is a long story, but let's just say everything needs to be fixed.  I tackled the bathroom first while my wife went about cleaning and painting everywhere.  I don't know when the state of the plague will let me rent this place out again, but I want to be ready when that happens.  I can't imagine having an open house during our current state of stay at home and social distancing.  Realistically though, it has been a blessing to have this house to work on.  It has distracted me from my athletic life at just the right time.  I'm still in the penalty boot although I haven't had symptoms in at least a week and I think the rest from repetitive use running or biking can only help.

It has also been nice to have a "second home" to go to.  My wife and I are the only ones working on it, so there is no elevated risk of contracting the plague, but it also gives us the sense of being able to "get out of the house" even if all we are doing is commuting between the same two houses every day.  I did spend a lot of time thinking about my impact on others.  In Week 14, before non-essential businesses were closed and when the local count was still low, I had no reluctance to go to Home Depot or Lowe's to get supplies.  I did try to limit my visits to at most 1 per day, but I went every day and stockpiled supplies.  In Week 15, when non-essential business were closed Home Depot and Lowe's were allowed to remain open.  In my mind this made for a difficult choice.  Working on this other house is not essential.  At least, it is not essential that I work on it now.  So, just because these stores are open should I go to them?  For me, the answer, at least for now, is 'no'.  It would be easiest to just pretend we are in normal times but we are not.  I won't know when I get sick.  I'll likely be contagious before I ever show symptoms.  The employees at the store are realistically putting their health at significant risk just by going to work.  How selfish would it be for me to put them at risk because I need a gallon of paint?  There will come a time that I *have* to go back to one of these stores, but for now I'm going to avoid them for as long as possible.

I'll manage the house projects by keeping a lengthy list of supplies that block me from finishing various projects and then just keep moving onto something different until I've exhausted everything that can be done.  In the meantime, we still need to eat.  If I can unblock a construction project by picking something up from Walmart when I'm also there to by food, I will.  In my mind, I will have essential reasons to go to Walmart and once I'm there the moral dilemma disappears since once I am there how many things I buy really doesn't matter.

Sorry for all of the down talk this week, but it is what it is and if I'm going to be honest with a weekly journal for 43 weeks on my way to the 444 there is no reason to hold back the negative or the positive.

Now, for some This Old House shots.


The bathroom now looks like this...


        
Mostly Done (Left)Mostly Done (Right)

But used to look like this...


        
BeforeDuring


Mostly Done

Weekly Stats

Swim - 0 yards
Bike - 0 miles
Run - 6 miles...and are really, really, nice run it was!
Body Pump - 0 times
Heavy Lifting - 0 times
Duration - 0:43 hours er, minutes

Physical Therapy - 0 times

Body Composition

Weight - N/A pounds
%Fat - N/A
%Water - N/A
%Muscle - N/A

Overall Plan and Progress

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