It’s been just over a week since we began feeling the effects of movement restrictions here in New South Wales, so how am I coping? And, no it’s not all about me, but I suspect what I’m feeling is extremely common, so if nothing else, I hope what I say will make you feel somewhat ‘normal’.
I’m guilty of being one of those people who can’t say no! I love filling my day with meaningful things. I can even make cleaning akin to an Ironman race. I love the challenge that mess presents and the satisfaction when it’s all sorted is rewarding. But, there’s only so much tidying up to be done around the house and after a week even the dog’s starting to look nervous as I reach for another cleaning cloth.
Allan’s been working from home, which I don’t really mind but he does have a tendency to become single-minded and after a week of him gradually spreading from the dining table across into the lounge and kitchen I was ready to take an axe to him and his mess. He’s now relocated into his own office space in the bedroom and is still breathing.
Training-wise nothing much has changed.
Cycling
Jan accepts that the wind trainer is going to be a life-saver. I can get out on roads and bike paths but not far from home and we’ve come to a compromise, half road, half wind trainer for those longer rides.
I also love the online bike platform Rouvey. My neighbour thinks it’s hilarious that I announce I’m off to Switzerland or Hawaii for a bike ride, but it suits me to take myself off overseas and ride a challenging course without having to leave the house.
Running, oh my goodness!
We knew we had some trails close to home and thought we’d exhausted them all but yesterday’s run took me no further than 3.5km from the house on a 12km run, 80% on new trails along the middle harbour here in Sydney. It was glorious and I hope I don’t upset those stuck in less salubrious surroundings, I promise to enjoy them 150% for you.
Swimming
I’ve read numerous blogs and articles about how we need to get over ourselves now we can’t swim and to some degree I understand. But it irritates the hell out of me that natural swimming holes around the Sydney Harbour areas have been closed because idiots were congregating there. Genuine swimmers have had their lifeline cut because of a minority, but isn’t that always the way.
As I sit on my deck I can see a neighbour, not 200m away who has an endless pool. In the last week, he’s used it twice, ahhhhhhh!!!!! Another neighbour has offered to let me use her pool but I think she’s afraid, and I am too, that we might be breaking some rule about not visiting friends or neighbours so I haven’t done anything about that either.
Strength and core conditioning
Yeh, well, like many of you, I do it, but it just doesn’t give me the ‘wow’ returns that cleaning ALL the windows and fly screens did!
Mentally how am I feeling?
I’m lucky. I do have some work coming in. I have two volunteer roles with Park Run Australia as a social media ambassador and Women for Tri associate which will keep me sane. I am able to do most of my training close to home and I have no financial worries. But even with ALL those advantages, the current situation has affected me.
- Being in Allan’s company 24/7 isn’t easy. I love him to bits but the things you can put up with when you see someone for a few hours in the morning and then in the evening become highly irritating and I’m sure he’d say the same of me.
- All the doom and gloom news. Even though it’s my job to be across the news, both Allan and I are acutely aware that coronavirus fills an enormous amount of our day, it’s difficult for us to escape it because it’s what we do.
- General worries – I don’t mind the uncertainty that we live in at the moment. I don’t even mind that all our travel plans are on hold. What I worry about is people! Those peddling mixed messages on social media, in less reputable media outlets and when you’re out. Friends and acquaintances on social media lambasted Australians last week about that bloody terrible word, “lockdown” only to boast a week later about ‘their freedom’ to do what we here in Australia were doing last week. I feel like I’m suffering from a heightened sense of what’s fair and that’s stressful.
The positive side of life, because there is one
- I have time to train, that’s a huge bonus.
- We’re eating extremely well, home-cooked, fresh food. We’re not even delving into the fridge for those snacks.
- The house is tidy, clean and organised, although I’m not sure Allan would see that as a positive.
- We’ve had afternoon tea and drinkies with friends stranded in New Zealand and so many friends around the world. My sister who has been estranged from me for many years has started to chat via email which is wonderful. And my dear old mum, who has Alzheimer’s rang me for the first time in about six months, she was having a good day. I hope she remembers we finished the conversation with “Love you lots mum,” even if she doesn’t, I will treasure it.
- Our son arrived safely back from Japan on the last Qantas flight out of Tokyo. He’s half way through his 14-day isolation, can work from home, has friends who deliver food for him and Mikayla his travel mate and so far, he seems fit and healthy.
- And we’ve even got toilet roll, although we bought an eight-pack of ultra-thick about a month ago, pre-nutters hoarding the stuff.
So, where do we go from here?
I’m an optimist by nature, it’s others people that let me down.
I’d like to think we’ll come out of the mist kinder than before we went in, but given the way some people continue to behave the optimism is tested.
I’d like to think that we’ll all work on being healthier than we were before coronavirus, but I fear there will always be those who think eating well, exercising properly, (not Ironman stuff) doesn’t apply to them and when the proverbial hits the fan become the ‘woe is me’ merchants.
Mental health concerns have been ‘trendy’ for want of a better word in the last couple of years, however, I think it’s only now that we ALL realise that our mental well-being is of paramount importance. However, that’s not coded for “it’s all about ME”
Governments around the world are handling the coronavirus crisis in a variety of ways, but something unqiue to all, is the need for each and everyone one of us to own personal responsibility for our current situation and collective responsibility for how we conduct ourselves. As I said, “It isn’t all about ME!”
Stay safe. Stay sane. Stay active. Eat and sleep well. And be kind to yourself and one-another.