You’ll go far from a different angle
Lockdown V2 started in earnest this week for everyone and I spent the first few days being sucked into opinions about what we can’t do.
I have no idea about the science but long ago I learnt that its only worth putting energy into the things we can change not the things we can’t.
For me, that means I can still run and train for races. My next event, called the Spine Challenger, is in January and the route follows the Pennine Way nonstop for over 100 miles.
It’s one of the toughest races in the UK, rugged and, being January, probably very cold and very wet. It would be so easy to not train on the expectation that Covid may stop the race from happening. However all I can do at the moment is stick to my training regime with a smile on my face and do what I can locally.
Seemingly endless miles of training may not sound fun but, as ever, it’s up to me how I treat it mentally.
This week along the way I have bumped into Steve, who I met on a race in the Sahara last year.
He was on his bike riding around the Olympic cycling course on Box Hill when I was doing my own hill repeats.
Later in the week I spent a morning with Tom running over Epsom Downs. What I love about Tom’s story is that pre-lockdown V1 he was not a runner at all. But recognising that his health is, in part, up to him, he started the free Couch to 5k programme, which meant he was able to comfortably run a hilly 10 miles with me.
This nicely brings me back to where I started in so far as he chose to put his energy into something that he could control and is now living all the better for it. I hope that you are not wasting your life in lockdown but finding an opportunity to do something to improve your life too?
Find out about the free NHS training programme at nhs.uk and search “couch to 5k” or download the app.
Until next week
Kev
My mate Tom
after Couch to 5k training