Skip to main content

That Wouldn't Have Happened Without Lockdown

How are you? 

It's now almost two months since I've been living this strange #stayathome life. Races have been postponed, holidays cancelled, concerts rearranged for later in the year. parkrun is still paused.

Like most people I'm sure, there have been some tough moments especially from a well-being point of view. There have been a few tears of frustration and some moments of grumpiness. Work has been challenging and some days life has just felt tough. I've needed lots of words of encouragement and I'm extremely grateful for friends who have been in touch.

But amidst all that, there have been some special moments too. 

I've been able to get on with living, catch up with friends and family (virtually at least), make plans for the future and work towards my abridged summer challenge - cycling 100k on my exercise bike in June instead of Racing to the Castle. I'm loving my weekly quiz night with my sister and nieces in particular - last week, we didn't quite manage a best score but we did find out that you can buy tutti frutti ice cream from Tesco!

Two weeks ago should have been the Southampton marathon... instead I cycled 26.2 miles on exercise as part of a virtual marathon challenge with the Potters Trotters suggested by Liz (when 50 Potters Trotters and friends each ran 2.62 miles to create 5 virtual marathon teams). I even ended up on Radio 5Live talking to Eleanor Oldroyd about it; that wouldn't have happened without lockdown. 


From Southampton, we should have gone on to the Isle of Wight for a holiday (continuing our island adventures after recent holidays to the Isle of Man and Guernsey). Not this year, but we have postponed to 2021. Instead of walking on the beach, watching the waves crash at the Needles or just eating cream teas in lovely seaside cafes, we had a #holidayathome. We found a way to play crazy golf, take on an escape room challenge, build a tower as tall as Mr T, enjoy a fancy afternoon tea and walk on routes around our home that we have never walked before. I even virtually cycled the whole of the island covering 110k across 4 days; that wouldn't have happened without lockdown (especially as Mr T is not a fan of bike riding).


I've had time to get my craft supplies out of the cupboard too... I've probably made about 200 cards so far including some new photo cards incorporating my bottle kiln obsession. I've not started on Christmas cards yet but it's only a matter of time. If anyone needs any cards, let me know. I'm happy to post you some. The new photo cards are £3 for a pack of 4! Most other designs are £2 per pack/card or 3 for £5. Creating cards has also inspired me to send cards too and I've been spending lots of time writing letters; that wouldn't have happened without lockdown.


This last week, I've been joining in with another Potters Challenge linked to the colours of the rainbow (thanks to Carole who suggested it)... it's really helped me as it actually encouraged me to make a training plan for the week, working out what activities I would do on each day of the week. Training plans have been such a part of running for me right from my very first couch to 5k, it has been comforting and reassuring to follow a plan again (albeit a very different one to the 100k training plan I should have been following for Race to the Castle). I've run three times in the week for the first time since lockdown started, as well as completing my longest ever exercise bike ride (50k), a yoga session, Zumba via Zoom and a strength and conditioning workout based around the letter R; that wouldn't have happened without lockdown.


I've even had a few nostalgic moments as I've found a matching t-shirt or leggings for each colour of the rainbow... taking me back to the Olympic Stadium, my first marathon, volunteering at the Potters 'Arf, a fabulous weekend away in Wales with the Potters Trotters and the team challenge that is Thunder Run. 


Not all the t-shirts were old though... o for orange was represented by new parkrun apricot t-shirt, purchased during the parkrun pause and personalised to reflect that parkrundays are a little bit quieter than normal at the moment - just me and Mr T exploring on our own doorstep after taking part in The Great Big parkrun Quiz - so far, we've invented parkruns at Eastwood Fields, Berryhill Open Cast, Nature Reserve, Central Forest Park and this weekend Bucknall Station; that wouldn't have happened without lockdown (order your own personalised t-shirt here - Mr T wants another one for Bucknall Station parkrun).



Yesterday should have coincided with another adventure; a trip to see OMD play a tiny gig at a pop-up venue in Birkenhead. It seems a long time ago that I anxiously pressed F5 to re-fresh the ticket feed and was elated to get 2 of only 300 tickets to go on sale. The gig has been postponed to later in the year but last need OMD streamed previously unseen concert footage via YouTube, so we planned a concert at home; wearing our OMD t-shirts and even visiting the virtual merchandise stall when it opened at 6pm (just a couple of purchases). And to top it all off, we someone found ourselves chatting to lead singer Andy McCluskey via a never-before-heard-of app - connection problems meant we only had 30 seconds of chat but it made our evening; that wouldn't have happened without lockdown.


I have been struggling but this blog is a way of finding my way back to my inner Pollyanna - I've found lots of things to be glad about; good things that wouldn't have happened without lockdown. Hopefully, that will inspire me to keep going over the next few weeks too. 

Why not make your own list. It might inspire you too.

Staysafe
Labels:

Comments

  1. Nel19 May 2020 at 13:52

    Nice! I've put it on my list to make a list :) See ya soon xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Well, that's a long way!

Race day was finally here.  After a difficult couple of weeks, I woke up on Saturday morning with a certain amount of trepidation after a very restless night's sleep and a couple of weeks of niggles, aches and tiredness. I reminded myself of the three goals I'd set for the race - start with confidence, enjoy the adventure and finish with a smile - and was boosted by some encouraging messages from friends and family. After a quick breakfast and a short bus ride, I arrived in Marlow for the start of the race. I wasn't sure what to expect and actually had no idea how many runners were taking part. My start time was 9.15am and it seemed like there were a couple of hundred of us setting off in the "competitive" wave covering marathon and ultra marathon distances. The ultra marathon route was approximately 33 miles involved an extra loop around Hambledon but we all started off in the same direction. My first race goal was accomplished as I started with...
2 comments
Read more

(Not) Sorry!

It has been a while since my last blog. There's been a lot going on. Sometimes life gets in the way of running and writing about running. I'd like to say I'm sorry but this post is all about being not sorry, hopefully not in a selfish "I don't care if I upset you" kind of way but instead with a spirit of "I've got my motivation and priorities back on track and that's a good thing". I'm not sorry that I've decided to taken a step back from local road racing. Last year, I raced so often between May and September, that races were almost the only running I was doing. I forgot to rest properly and my body took a hit. There was a reason for racing so often: I was chasing points and placings in the NSRRA. Winning my group was a real possibility and points in every race mattered. It would be wrong to say I didn't enjoy it... I loved the competition and the challenge and of course I enjoyed winning... but I realised I wanted this summ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Waiting to Exhale

I completed the final long run of my training for the  Greater Manchester Marathon  last Thursday - 10 miles in wind and rain along the canal towpaths of Hanley and Stoke and then through Fenton and back down Victoria Road. I was feeling tired before I set off and, as I left the house, I contemplated a shorter run than my training schedule suggested. I decided to listen to the latest edition of the Marathon Talk podcast as I ran, a special show reflecting on the unexpected and tragic events at the Boston marathon on the 22nd April. The stories that were told and the emotion in the presenters' voices reflected much of what I'd been feeling since news broke of the attack. As I ran, sometimes with tears in my eyes, I forgot about being tired and focused on my goals. I would show my support for the people affected by the Boston bombings by being as ready as I could be for my first marathon on April 28th. Meanwhile, all eyes were on London yest...
1 comment
Read more