I have to say that there were some advantages to the pandemic. I had my mornings free to sleep as long as my body wanted, enjoy a leisurely coffee, do a little reading, meditation, and exercise, and set my intention for the day. Now that I have to be to work by 7:00 am things have changed. Instead of reading the newspaper I skim the headlines or my Google feed. I only manage to get half a cup of joe before my morning run, and my run has been cut from 6 miles to 3. Honestly, that’s probably for the better. I’ve been working on my long slow distance, at a heart rate of 130-135 (based on the Maffetone method ), for 5-7 miles at a time, but I have a feeling it's time to change it up a bit. In the past, three miles hardly seemed worth lacing up my shoes, but unless I want to wake up at 4:30 (which I don’t—prioritizing sleep is number one these days!) that’s all I have to work with. Anyway, this week I decided to shake things u...