Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 129, April 2020 | Page 45

on your regular rest days, it’s important to not do too much. A kilometre or
two every single day is more than enough to keep a streak going.
5. Work on your weaknesses (or strength)
If you can’t get out and run as much as you’d like, this is a great time
to work on your weaknesses. For most runners, overall strength tends
to be a weakness. Building overall strength will not only make you a
better runner when things return to normal, but it will also help you avoid
injuries – and you can do it at home, with no expensive gym equipment
needed.
6. Stay in touch with your running mates
For many of us, our running group are also our friends. They are the
people we see a few times a week, and we spend hours together with
them on the road or trail. Now that we’re doing our best to isolate
ourselves to stop the Coronavirus from spreading, we no longer have
that social interaction. If you don’t have one yet, start a WhatsApp group
and stay in touch. Hold each other accountable and motivate each
other. Also, check-in with people to make sure they’re ok, because we’re
all in this together, and it’s up to each of us to look out for one another.
7. Get hold of a treadmill
I’ll be the first person to admit that running on a treadmill is not my
favourite pastime, but desperate times call for desperate measures –
and running on a treadmill beats no running every single time. If you’re
lucky to have one, fire up your favourite music playlist and crank up the
volume. (I also find that watching running documentaries helps pass the
time.) If you don’t have a treadmill, there are many privately owned gyms
that have been forced to close their doors, so give them a call and ask
if they’d be willing to hire one to you while they’re out of commission.
Doing that not only keeps you running, but also supports a local
business at a time when they need it most.
Head to www.coachparry.com to check out our programmes
and coaching advice.
IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK
The lockdown has presented a great opportunity to attain all
those goals that we “don’t always have time for.” Even here at
CoachParry HQ, we’ve been advocating that this is the perfect
opportunity to build on your strength base, as we are not
necessarily able to run. Even so, we all have those days where
we simply can’t do it… – BY SHONA HENDRICKS
L
ockdown training has been going super well for me. I am lucky enough to have been
able to borrow a wattbike for lockdown, and with all the live strength sessions we have
put in place, I am keeping more than consistent and really enjoying it. I’ve also been
working remotely, and while it’s had some challenges and been super busy, it’s been exciting
to challenge new ways of working.
It’s all been going well… but towards the end of last week, it got to a point where it felt
like this “maximise your time” message was the message from every angle. Things were
starting to unravel... Work, training, personal pressure and, in general, social media telling
us constantly to be more productive, more efficient, more anything. I’ve even ventured into
cooking, which for those who don’t know me well, is not a good idea… for me or for those
around me!
It all just got a bit much one Thursday evening, and after much guilt, I decided to take Friday
off. From work, from training, from social media. And no cooking. But then I found I was
feeling so guilty for not training and working, for not taking the opportunity to “get so much
done.”
After a chat with the friends I am currently in lockdown with, as well as my CoachParry
colleagues Lindsey, Brad and Devlin, I gave myself some leeway and decided to be a bit more
gentle with the pressure I am placing myself under. I think these are unprecedented times,
and the way each person is dealing with it is different. (I am also an extremely social being, so
this is very hard for me in general).
I landed up taking Saturday morning off as well, because the gloomy weather was perfect for
a Netflix day, and I only decided to “get back on the bike” on Saturday evening. I had a great
ride on Saturday eve, a very cool run around the house on Sunday, and felt back and raring to
go again when I woke up Monday morning.
So why am I telling you all this? Well, here are the four things I want you to take away from
this very long story:
1 Be kind to yourselves
This is an extremely pressure-filled time in so many ways. Many of you have children and
now have to play the role of teacher as well as parent, on top of the general levels of stress of
business and income, maintaining a household and keeping up work and family, all while still
trying to maintain good levels of fitness. It’s a lot to take in.
2 It’s OK to not be OK
Even though all of social media is telling you to maximise this lockdown time, it really is OK to
take a day off, especially due to the factors listed above. It’s OK to take a day or two to not be
OK, to rest and recover, and to allow yourself to bounce back.
3 Use your community
Speak to the people around you, lean on the community you have, reach out and ask for help.
We are going through a collective traumatic experience, and you’d be surprised how many
people are also feeling the pressure. There’s comfort in knowing that you’re not the only one,
that we’re all in this together.
4 Get back on the bike
After my day off training and lazy Netflix day, I was better off for it, and after allowing myself
some time to reset, I had a very cool session. And each session after that has been awesome,
too. It can also be easy to fall into the cycle of deprecation, so give yourself some time off,
but “get back on the bike.” I promise you, you will feel so much better after it.
About the Author
Shona is currently the Head of Sport Science at the High-Performance Centre,
University of Pretoria. She returned from Madrid, Spain, in 2013, where she completed
her MBA in Sport Management with Universidad Europea de Madrid (Real Madrid FC).
She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Sport Science (MSc Med Sport
Science) and she has also completed the NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning
Specialist (CSCS) course.
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