Exercise - the new normal
Item
Title
Exercise - the new normal
Experience
As we reach 3 months in lockdown, I realise that I've adopted a new normal pattern of exercise.
During the week I'd race home from work to try to get to one evening run. Now I join in with a socially distant social run (for a maximum of six people, including the run leader) each Wednesday, and a running fitness class on a Saturday morning (with no equipment or pairing-up allowed). The organised races are all delayed until the autumn, or next year. Seeing running friends at 9am on a Saturday morning at my beloved local parkrun is a distant memory, and my goal of touring 20 different locations in 2020 now seems impossible. To keep us motivated, clubs invent virtual challenges around racing against one another, finding something wooden or a painted stone, or writing in your Strava route.
With no gyms or swimming pools open, I'm lucky that both lakes near me have started outdoor swimming again. We have to book in now, we can't chat over tea or cake afterwards, and there are less spaces to be had, but the feeling of freedom is just joyous. Sailing and water-skiing has started back up too, but there's no loan equipment for canoeing or paddle-boarding, although it looks like more people are using their own. I sometimes see them on the rivers and canals as I'm out running or walking one of my dogs, who are enjoying their longer walks now I'm no longer commuting.
Sales of bikes have increased too. The queue outside our local Halfords is longer than the one outside Boots the Chemist. The only time my husband and I exercise together is on a Sunday morning, when we've got into the habit of heading out across Surrey and Hampshire, at first for our allotted hour. Now that exercise is unrestricted, we venture further afield each week. We're delighted to see so many other families and friends riding out together. This Sunday we reach Woking and find a Pret A Manger open selling take-out coffee and croissants. We sit on a bench in the town centre square, separated out like everyone else, enjoying our treat. British cycling hasn't permitted organised rides again yet, but a few of us from my Breeze women's club meet up and ride out to a care home to deliver a pair of slippers.
The skipping rope I bought was abandoned. I only managed one Joe Wicks workout and a Zoom yoga session, but didn't really get much out of them being live. Zoom running was fun for a change, despite lost signals and headphones. I miss my Sunday night yoga class, but tried to do some every day whilst I listen to the government briefing. My best pre-lockdown purchase has been the hula-hoop that sits under my desk, reminding me to have a quick go when i'm losing concentration. Something I couldn't have done in the office. My next goal is to be able to hula for as long as it takes to heat-up my soup for lunch.
During the week I'd race home from work to try to get to one evening run. Now I join in with a socially distant social run (for a maximum of six people, including the run leader) each Wednesday, and a running fitness class on a Saturday morning (with no equipment or pairing-up allowed). The organised races are all delayed until the autumn, or next year. Seeing running friends at 9am on a Saturday morning at my beloved local parkrun is a distant memory, and my goal of touring 20 different locations in 2020 now seems impossible. To keep us motivated, clubs invent virtual challenges around racing against one another, finding something wooden or a painted stone, or writing in your Strava route.
With no gyms or swimming pools open, I'm lucky that both lakes near me have started outdoor swimming again. We have to book in now, we can't chat over tea or cake afterwards, and there are less spaces to be had, but the feeling of freedom is just joyous. Sailing and water-skiing has started back up too, but there's no loan equipment for canoeing or paddle-boarding, although it looks like more people are using their own. I sometimes see them on the rivers and canals as I'm out running or walking one of my dogs, who are enjoying their longer walks now I'm no longer commuting.
Sales of bikes have increased too. The queue outside our local Halfords is longer than the one outside Boots the Chemist. The only time my husband and I exercise together is on a Sunday morning, when we've got into the habit of heading out across Surrey and Hampshire, at first for our allotted hour. Now that exercise is unrestricted, we venture further afield each week. We're delighted to see so many other families and friends riding out together. This Sunday we reach Woking and find a Pret A Manger open selling take-out coffee and croissants. We sit on a bench in the town centre square, separated out like everyone else, enjoying our treat. British cycling hasn't permitted organised rides again yet, but a few of us from my Breeze women's club meet up and ride out to a care home to deliver a pair of slippers.
The skipping rope I bought was abandoned. I only managed one Joe Wicks workout and a Zoom yoga session, but didn't really get much out of them being live. Zoom running was fun for a change, despite lost signals and headphones. I miss my Sunday night yoga class, but tried to do some every day whilst I listen to the government briefing. My best pre-lockdown purchase has been the hula-hoop that sits under my desk, reminding me to have a quick go when i'm losing concentration. Something I couldn't have done in the office. My next goal is to be able to hula for as long as it takes to heat-up my soup for lunch.
Message to the future
When exercise is restricted you realise how much you miss it
Date
2020-06-16 See all items with this value
Where
Hampshire
Creator
Shireen
About the pictures
Zoom running, one of the outdoor lakes I swim in, cycling, flowers that the dog and I admire on our walks and the hula-hoop that lives under my desk
Item sets
This item was submitted on June 18, 2020
