Navigating The First Week Of November

Navigating the first week of November required getting through a lot of ups and downs. I found it mentally and physically exhausting for a number of reasons, and ended up getting caught by a non-covid virus that forced me to take it easy.

Navigating The First Week of November

I started the first week of November in Orlando, where it was warm and humid and not November-like at all. I was there for my firm retreat, so while the hotel had a lovely pool complex, I didn’t even dip my toes in the water.

I did enjoy catching up with colleagues from around the country and the late-night “networking” activities that kept me up way past my bedtime.

On Tuesday I served as a volunteer Election Officer for the City of Alexandria. Sixteen of us worked my local polling place from 4:45 am to about 8:30 pm (with polling open from 6 am to 7 pm). We had a short line when the polls opened, and a steady stream the rest of the day until about 6 pm, with only a few more voters after that—we cheered the man who made it in at 6:57 pm, slightly out of breath.

We couldn’t wear anything associated with a party,
but generic red, white, and blue was permitted.

We checked in 1151 registered voters, and helped another 40+ complete same-day registration forms and provisional ballots. I was surprised how quickly the time passed, and impressed by the professionalism and positive attitude of the Chief and Vice Chief Election Officers who led us through our duties. We had polite observers from both the Harris and Trump campaigns, and they ended up chatting which each other to pass the time.

Wednesday was a rough day for many reasons. In additional to the national news, I learned a friend’s brother had passed away unexpectedly, and a neighbor and “father” of Scooby’s BFF passed away from lymphoma—he was only 45 and has three elementary school-aged children. 😞

By Thursday, my throat was scratchy and I had developed a nagging cough. My covid test was negative, and my throat wasn’t bad enough to get a strep test, so I just took it easy the rest of the week, trying not to get too stressed over how we will navigate the years ahead.

Weekly Run Down

This was probably one of my lightest workout weeks since I joined Peloton. Several days I did the bare minimum to get my “blue dot” for the day. I would have done it anyway, but Peloton just rolled out a new feature reporting your daily streak, and I didn’t want to break minet.

I’m up to 1595 now!

I have mixed feelings about this feature since it can encourage unhealthy obsession (ahem!) but they say if you miss a day it will go back to reporting your weekly streak which you get credit for even if you skip a few days.

Sunday: 10 min Standing Yoga + 20 min walk with Scooby
I might have been able to fit in a workout at the hotel before heading to the airport for my 9:30 am flight, but I was too unsure of the Orlando TSA lines to cut it close. I ended up having plenty of time at the airport, so I found a quiet corner to do a Peloton Standing Yoga class. After I got home, I took Scooby out for a walk..

Monday: 1 mile Scooby Walk + Core + FB Strength
Even though I had napped Sunday afternoon and gone to bed early, I was still tired—isn’t it supposed to be easier to get up after we “fall back”? I took Scooby out for a walk and did a short strength workout before heading into the office—“office presence” was a huge topic at our retreat. 😡

Tuesday: 10 min Peloton Stretch
I had contemplated walking to the polling place, but thought I might regret that decision at the end of the day. When I got home, I forced myself to do a 10 min stretching class to get my Peloton blue dot.

Wednesday: Core + 10 min UB Strength + 3.5 Tread Miles
I stack my Peloton workouts the night before, and knew I’d need a HIIT Tread run to burn off stress in the morning. I woke up early to check the election results, and got out of bed with my heart pounding.

Thursday: Core + 10 min LB Strength + 30 min Peloton Ride
There was one more Halloween ride I wanted to take—led by “Ben Aldead”. It was a good class but I could tell I was under the weather. I had to skip some intervals to catch my breath.

Friday: Core + 10 min LB Strength + 3.75 Scooby Miles
I wasn’t feeling great, but the weather was too nice to resist—low 60s!—so I took Scooby out for a run. At one point I thought about walking the rest of the way home, but after letting Scooby take a long “sniff” break I was able to get going again.

Saturday: 15 min Peloton Mobility Class + 1.5 Mile Scooby Walk
I still wasn’t feeling well so I slept in as long as I could (7:30) and then did a Peloton Mobility class to get going. Later I took Scooby out for a long walk for some fresh air and sunshine.

A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.

The first week of November has been a week, but we will naviagte our way though it together.