COVID-19 log

This week I thought about being done with my COVID-19 journal. This will be my third one, and after five weeks, honestly not a lot has changed. I've been home with the four-year-old and three-month-old, and our days have fallen into a rhythm.

The oldest is still really into playing superheros. We take turns being the hero or the villain, and one of his favorite things to do is say, "Now you have to call your friends," so that a new superhero enters the fray.

Submarine continues to be a mainstay in our game playing. My son loves to "connect" all the submarines (the Rock 'n Play, the chair I'm in, and the futon he's on).

A bright spot this past week has been my return to running after a five week hiatus. I ran four times this week, utilizing a five minute walk/five minute run strategy. My ankle didn't hurt at all during my runs, including a sixty minute run/walk. That was yesterday, and today I can roll my ankle in a way that used to cause pain, and it doesn't hurt at all.

We had a nice Easter weekend. We did an outside Easter egg hunt on Saturday and took some pictures outside while the weather was nice. This morning we watched church on TV and had some cinnamon rolls afterward. We also did an indoor Easter egg hunt as the weather was cold and snowing.

On Zoom, we video chatted with both our families, then in the evening we had a nice Easter dinner.

This might be the last COVID-19 log I do for a while unless some new material emerges. I'm planning on more of the same, but maybe I'll get creative and think of something different to do.

COVID-19 Log

Another week with the two children is in the books. It's now been four weeks since I've been at home with the kiddos while Laura is at work.

The days have fallen into a general routine. In the mornings the four-year-old is usually up for about an hour before the two-month old wakes up. We watch one Marvel Superhero Adventure on YouTube for about three minutes, have breakfast, and play superheros until the little one wakes up. After four weeks, it seems the story lines in superheros have repeated themselves quite a bit—there's only so many crimes Green Goblin, Venom, and various other villains can commit. The little one doesn't seem to mind though, and for him the game doesn't appear to be getting old.

Once the baby wakes, we usually play submarine in her room. We also play hide-and-seek in the submarine which consists of me closing my eyes and the four-year-old hiding someplace in the room. He only hides in about five different spots the room, so again, the game is a little monotonous. Our submarine seems to travel to New York just about every time. I assume we take the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico then head north, but he hasn't told me the exact route.

After the baby eats, we usually have a snack then play something with her. We've been big into looking at Art for Baby while the baby does tummy time.

Art for Baby

We continue to do Cosmic Kids Yoga in the mornings, then after lunch the four-year-old has quiet rest time. Usually he plays in his room, but occasionally he'll take a nap. The sweet spot is when he's in quiet rest time while the baby takes a nap. In that case, I usually squeeze in a Foundation Training workout.

It appears things got a little out of control during quiet rest time (:

When Laura comes home from work, I sometimes go on a walk or a bike ride. My ankle seems to be feeling better. I was going to take six weeks off of running after my ankle didn't feel 100% after a month off, but I decided that five weeks was long enough, so I celebrated by doing a five minute walk/five minute run for half an hour.

Early spring has been different than I planned. Both our parents were going to come and help out with the kiddos, but due to the pandemic they did not. I was going to work a bit, but since the schools have been closed anyway it didn't really matter.

It's likely that I'll be home with the kiddos for the rest of the school year and maybe summer too. The only thing I really miss is regular adult interaction. The days go by quickly, and I'm guessing this time will go quickly as well.

Retiring from Running

Running has become something I do in between injuries. In the past ten years, I've been on an injury roller coaster, especially since breaking my leg in 2012. I've had patella tendinitis, IT band syndrome, various foot and ankle injuries including sesamoiditis in one foot and peroneal tendinitis in both ankles.

I've had to take long breaks from running to heal and have had to race much less than I would have liked. Then there are all the rehab and prehab exercises. I've had so many different types of injuries that I could spend ninety minutes a day doing rehab and preventative exercises.

Then there's the time. Back in the day, before two children, time for running wasn't really an issue. I could get up early and run. I could run right after work. On the weekends, I could go run for a few hours and not think twice about it.

Now, time is at a premium. Early in the morning there are two kids to take care. After work, I'm often picking up the older kid and taking care of him until Laura gets home. The weekends are often catch up on housework that doesn't get done during the week, and sneaking away for a few hours to run isn't always possible.

I've been off of running since the beginning of March and instead have been getting in walks and a few bike rides. It hasn't been as time consuming, and I haven't had to deal with any injuries. While I miss running a bit, it's been nice not thinking about what the next thing to get injured will be. Plus, it's not like I can do any races in the near future anyway.

I'm planning on continuing to exercise—mainly walking and bike riding, though I'm also thinking of buying some aerobics videos.

With the time I'll save on running and exercises devoted to making me able to run, I'll probably take up some new hobbies. Anyone have any suggestions?