2020 has been a year of major ups and downs. In some ways, it’s been the hardest year of my life, but there have been some really amazing things as well. Beer Geek and I got to go on vacation in Bermuda before the world shut down and we celebrated 25 years of marriage. Jones graduated high school and got a major scholarship to college. Shoo finished middle school and is actually doing surprisingly well with online high school. So, when I struggle to not slide into darkness, I have to remind myself that not everything sucks.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I continue to struggle with running. It’s not the actual running that’s a problem – it’s the motivation to do it. Once I’m out there, running itself is usually fine. Thankfully I have not lost my motivation to lift weights or to jump on my exercise bike, so I’m still working out. But I can tell I’m in a bit of a vicious circle with the less I run, the more I struggle mentally with the run.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that this weekend should have been our favorite race of the year. Unfortunately, Rehoboth half marathon was cancelled (and we would not have gone anyways.) Given the state of my running, I probably would have been a unicorn again…
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Jones is heading off to college in January – finally. I know it will be a different experience than normal (all of his classes are still online), but he’s ready to get out of my workout room. I will admit that I dread driving to Michigan in the dead of winter, but I have my fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate. Shoo and I will stay up there for a week or so and plan our drive home based on what the weather does. Fingers crossed for a mild couple of weeks, although Shoo is hoping for snow. Guess I better make sure he has some winter boots that fit…
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I am still toying with the idea of a spin bike. The bike I have does not work for any sort of class, nor does its tension go high enough to really get a hard workout. I keep debating between the higher end Schwinn and some of the cheaper versions or brands. If you didn’t go the Peloton route (something I’m not interested in), what bike did you get and how’s it working for you?
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I renewed all of my blog stuff for one more year. I think I’m going to start transitioning back to Blogger so that I can keep all of the history I have, but it feels like after 12 years, it’s time to wind this down. Maybe I’ll feel differently once life opens up again and I feel like I have things to talk about. It seems sad to stop before I hit 50 states (I’m at 36, I think), but we’ll see.
How are things going in your life? Have there been some “wins” despite all the craziness?
Thanks to Deb and Coco for hosting the monthly coffee date. It’s apparently one of the few things that gets me posting these days.
My son went back to school in the fall and it was the best decision for him. The schools really are doing a good job (for the most part) and he is just so much happier being around his friends. Obviously, it’s different but he is happier than being trapped in our basement. I am full on Peloton so can’t comment about another brand at all. I do all of their strength, yoga and stretch as well. Nice to have you for coffee today!
I’m glad there’s definitely been some ups to balance out the downs of this year! I have little motivation to run too, but with the absence of any of the gyms I used to go to, I’ve picked that back up again with varying degrees of consistency. I miss weights + all the other things I used to do though!
Things continue to be so up and down. The one thing that has stayed constant for me is running. After my injury last year, the idea of getting back to the sport I love was my big motivator, and now that I’m back to semi-decent distances, I don’t want to lost it again.
My son getting married was our big “win” for 2020, and my health is better than it was last year, thank goodness. I’ve had my Schwinn IC4 for just about a month now, and so far so good. The magnetic resistance makes it a nice ride, and the cadence sensor bluetooths to various apps, so you can get more metrics than you need. I use it with the Peloton app, but there are others to try too.
We have a Proform bike. The hubs bought it several years ago, and it’s been gathering dust in our basement until the past month. I have no idea what he paid for it, but I have to believe it was more economical than the others mentioned. I saw online there are different apps and online programs available for workouts for it as well (but I have not tapped into that venture yet LOL). I have noticed the difference between level 5 and level 6 is substantial, and I do a lot of hills in my town…so I think the resistance is good. A note about Michigan weather… it gets cold, but the wind was seldom a factor when we lived there. We didn’t seem to have as much snow there as we do in Iowa (lake effects?). We lived in the East Lansing area for seven years…Go Spartans!