COVID-19 has clutched the attention of California and we have quickly transitioned from normalcy to life apart from society. My family appears to be fine, thus far. So long as I am healthy and those around me are healthy, I continue to work on my fitness.
Workouts for the week of March 16 - 22, 2020
Monday, March 16
COVID-19 Impact: Moderate
Shockingly, the gym is still open today. There have not been any announcement as to when it will close. The weather is cool and it has been raining periodically. I am officially on work-at-home status (which, as one of the executives of the company, I was part of initiating). Everybody is a little antsy and uncertain, but there is a sense of excitement that we are taking action against COVID-19.
I muster up some motivation in my rather unproductive day to trek to the gym. It is a ghost town. The gym I go to is at the local University, which has around 20,000 people on campus. Membership at the gym is compulsory for the students and part of their student fees, so the place it typically teeming with students and faculty. Not today.
I had originally intended to do around 2,800 yards and take it easy, but the sense of impending closure left me pressured to do a longer swim. I came in at 4,100 yards. I probably would have swam even more, but I parked in a metered space and my time was limited. Plus, I do have a day job.
Focus: Just do a swim
600 Warm Up
100 Kick
300 Pull
5 x {200 Free; 50 Recovery}
250 Drill
10 x 100 Free - focusing on hand entry and stroke
500 Free, easy
Total = 4100 SCY
The swim really was no big deal. After my video analysis, I had plenty to focus on, which is what I did. I didn't spend my energy on speed or intensity.
Tuesday, March 17
There it is. The pool is closed until further notice. So, I logged a Zwift session. Since I haven't been on my trainer in ages, I kept it easy and light.
Wednesday, March 18
COVID-19 is having an increasing impact, and our County issued a Shelter-at-Home order, effective Thursday. Back on the bike. This time I decided to do some hill work. Since my legs and my bum foot are not acclimated to this, it wasn't a very long workout.
My work at home situation isn't excellent since I am now sharing space with my son and his girlfriend. They are both in university, which is now shut down and 100% virtual. His girlfriend is from France, so she lives with us now too. The room they are in would normally be my office. Sadly, it is raining, so my outdoor office has its own unique issues. The umbrella held up for about 90 minutes before water started dripping in and I had to retreat to the garage.
Thursday, March 19
COVID-19 Impact: Moderate
Motivation was low, bike clothes weren't washed, and workload is increasing substantially. So, after a 7am meeting, I journeyed to the beach to clear my head. Since it has been raining all week, going in is just unsafe and buggy. But, social distancing was not a problem.
Friday, March 20
COVID-19 Impact: Moderate
The Governor of California issued a Shelter in Place order last night and it is causing confusion as to what it means for our team at work. We are fortunate that we had already shifted to remote work with a skeleton crew on site practicing safe working space. My day went by so furiously and quickly that I don't even think I ever got out of my chair. No workouts.
Saturday, March 21
The weekend is very much welcomed. The streets are quiet, there aren't airplanes flying overhead, and the air is calm. A few of my fellow swimmers and I are getting restless and eyed a trip out into the ocean. The standard precaution is 72 hours between rain and water contact. We got a few shower spurts overnight, but not an official rain. Water quality data is only updated weekly, but our man on the inside says that the water quality is well within the safety parameters. So swim we will! Excellent!
We met up mid-day and the ocean was still calm and the wind was very mild. There was absolutely no surf and the tide was slack. We swam out to the first invisible buoy and then under the pier to the river mouth. We regrouped there and head to the Poly Pier. The water was wonderfully warm and clear.
After we grouped up at the Poly Pier, we head back to the Avila Pier. I ended up shooting past the pier and went about half way to the reef buoy before turning back and swimming to shore. My shoulders and neck were tired from not using them since Monday, but by the end I was warmed up and pretty loose. I tried working on my stroke while I swam along. I'm trying to keep my head down and steady while not splaying my arms wide. It is going to take time to fix my stroke.
Sunday, March 22
Rain is most certainly preventing ocean or lake swims, so today was a rest day.
I did 30 minutes of stretching, which felt wonderful.
Totals for the Week
Total Swim = 6,866 yards
2 hours and 8 minutes of swimming
This is a big drop from the amount of training I had been doing previous to COVID-19. I can tell when I swim that I am loosing fitness. I will be happy when the rains subside and I can get a regular open water swim schedule in order.