COVID-19 Log

It's been three weeks now that I've been home with our ten-week-old and our four-year-old while Laura has been providing childcare for children with parents in the critical sectors. Shelter-in-place started this past Friday night, but before that things were pretty similar. Schools and many businesses were closed.

While inconvenient, the restrictions put in place will mitigate the rapidity with which COVID-19 spreads. This will help prevent ICU capacities to be reached as soon and will potentially save many lives.

I've been enjoying my extra time at home more than I thought I would. I was a little nervous about taking care of two kiddos all day by myself. I know some parents have three, four, or more children, but watching two kids when at times one was difficult, had me a little stressed.

Thankfully, it's gone well. The ten-week-old has been a pretty easy baby. I go through the trifecta—is her diaper dry? Has she eaten? Is she tired—and if all those bases are covered, we're usually good.

The four-year-old has also been pretty mellow. We made a pictorial schedule for his day, so he does things like art and writing, blocks, kid yoga, and playing with his sister and me.

Cosmic Kids Yoga

I'm still on a sabbatical from running. Unfortunately, after a long walk yesterday, my ankle was a little sore. I'm now considering taking a full six weeks off from running instead of a month. It's looking like there won't be spring races anyway, so I might as well heal up as much as possible. Besides, the other day I got in a bike ride, and with the weather continuing to get nicer, I should be able to get in more rides in the near future.

While this COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive and tragic for many, there have definitely been bright spots for me. I've been spending lots of time with my kids, and my relationship with my four-year-old has definitely grown as I've been playing "superheroes" and "submarine" for a couple hours every day.

Since I'm not running, I'm going for walks,which means I don't have to worry about timing my eating—I can go from dinner right to walking.

Artwork in Central Park as seen from a walk

So, as we continue in this time of social distancing, I'll continue to count my blessing rather than mourn the loss of life before the pandemic, enjoying the extra time with the family and looking forward, but not longing for, the time when this is over.

Two Kilometers and COVID-19

It's a surreal feeling—waiting, worrying—as I've been home with a four-year-old and two-month-old for over two weeks now. Three days previous I spent with influenza and felt better just in time to stay home with the kiddos while Laura is at her preschool providing childcare to children of medical professionals and first responders.

With all that's going on—the fear of catching COVID-19, the fear of a loved one catching COVID-19, the loss of income, and the stir craziness of it all—it's enough to raise stress levels to a dangerously high level.

There are many ways to deal with this stress. Some healthy and some unhealthy. I sometimes fall into the trap of worrying and ruminating, which doesn't help at all. I try to bring to mind the words of Jesus, "Who of you by worrying can add a single day to your life?"

So instead I try to focus on things I can control that are healthy coping skills. I've been cleaning more thoroughly than normal, using the skills I learned in a DBT therapy group, trying to stay in the moment playing with my kids, keeping a gratitude journal, and exercising.

As you may already know, I've been out of commission from running. Instead I've been doing Foundation Training and going for walks. I'm excited to try running again in April, but I've been enjoying walks more than I thought I would.

Right now in France, outdoor exercising is a little more difficult. According to Canadian Running Magazine, "exercise can only be done within a 2K radius of a person’s home. Cycling has been completely banned."

I don't understand these regulations. They seem a little extreme, especially considering contact with others could easily be avoided while running or biking. It seems to me that banning group runs or rides would be more logical. Interestingly, as per the Canadian Running Magazine, some people have made the best of it. One runner ran around the seven meter balcony of his apartment for 42.2 km (a marathon) in six hours and forty-eight minutes.

Eight more days of my self-imposed break from running. Who knows what things will look like then, but I'm guessing I'll still be working on trying to use healthy ways to cope with this craziness. 

Goal Adjustments

In my last post (from over two weeks ago), I wrote about defining success. One of my goals this year was to average thirty miles per week. Unfortunately, a foot/ankle injury has been bothering me since the Twin Cities Marathon last October, and it just doesn't seem to want to get better.

It's a pesky little injury that usually stops hurting a week or so after not running. It doesn't hurt at all during short runs, but after a short run, it hurts again. On a longer run, it'll start hurting five or six miles in.

I tried to run through the injury as it doesn't hurt that bad or really affect my stride, but after about a month or running two to four days a week, it's just not getting any better. So, I decided that averaging thirty miles per week of running needs to go. The 1,560 miles for the year wouldn't be totally out of reach. I'd have to average just under forty miles a week for the last nine months of the year, but I've also been dealing with some serious back pain. I've started a program called "Foundation Training" and am hoping it provides some relief.

Doing the Foundation Training program and fitting in running will be a huge time management challenge, so for now I'm just planning on running when I have time and focus on the Foundation Training.

It's frustrating because last year I also took March off for a different injury. Still, this month I'm planning on doing more cross training than last year and working really hard on rehabilitating my foot/ankle.

Here's hoping it works.

Defining Success

A while back I read a Twitter post that said, “What is your definition of SUCCESS?” It got me thinking.

There are a myriad of ways I would define success. Some are subjective such as being a loving father and husband or staying emotionally balanced.  Others are more objective like achieving items on my to-do list, running a certain amount of miles, or running a certain time in a race.

Staying balanced means I'm free from bipolar symptoms or that I have a handle on them. It's hard to quantify, but it's one of those things I'll know if I see it. I've been fortunate enough that I'm pretty self-aware of my bipolar symptoms, so I can tell when I'm feeling balanced and when I'm not.

Fortunately, in the past few years, my symptoms of bipolar have been much better. Taking a dialectic behavioral therapy class where I learned skills to manage my illness and seeing a a therapist who helps me decide on which skills to use and how to use them has been very helpful. Of course, medication is also key, and I see a good doctor who helps make adjustments when needed.

As for the to do list, most of it has become mental. With a new baby in the house, I'll definitely keep the list manageable and not get down on myself when I don't get as much done as I think I should.

How about you? What's your definition of success?