Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 129, April 2020 | Page 9

KALMER’S
CORNER
Our Modern Athlete Brand Ambassador’s Blog
By Rene Kalmer
GETTING THROUGH THE LOCKDOWN
As with New Year’s resolutions, it was pretty much impossible for me to stick with my Corona lockdown goals. We are in
week three of the lockdown and I haven’t rearranged my cupboards “Marie Kondo-style,” nor have I read a book, and I
haven’t logged impressive mileage running around the house like a hamster. This doesn’t mean that I’ve been lying on
the couch binge watching Netflix series either…
I
’m sure any parent will agree that the lockdown with kids is a challenge on its
own – and we have new respect and admiration for our kids’ teachers and carers.
For us, it is a challenge every day between 12pm and 3pm to try and get Karli to
take a nap, and after another unsuccessful attempt, the focus shifts to keep her
awake till dinner time.
I was a very enthusiastic ‘kindergarten’ in week one… We made an aquarium of
fish out of paper plates, butterflies from toilette rolls, penguins from egg trays,
macaroni jewellery, etc. I also worked in a few online ballet classes with my little
ballerina. Now in week three it feels like my energy levels and creative juices are
very low, but I keep reminding myself that when this is all over, kids are only going
to remember how much time they got to spend with their family.
Luckily, I’m the only ‘morning person’ in our household, so I still get up early each
morning and enjoy two hours of ‘me-time.’ I do some Bible study before I do my
strength training routine, without the interruption of a toddler adding extra weight or
crawling on top of or underneath me.
Wish I Could Run…
Ironically my first run in a while was also my last run for a while... On 25 March I
got the green light from my doctor to start jogging again after I had hip surgery
six weeks earlier, so on 26 March I hit the road again, for one last time before the
lockdown began. It was terrific – as you can see from the smile on my face!
Unfortunately, I don’t have a treadmill or a stationary bike to use to gain or maintain
some fitness during this unprecedented time, so like many of you, I have to be
creative. Also, coming back from hip surgery, I’m very cautious not to reinjure my
hip by running tight bends around the house, but hats off to all that have broken
mental barriers by running marathons, ultra-marathons or even the Comrades
distance on the ‘Garden Route.’
While we are all homebound, let’s not dwell on all the runs we can’t do, but focus
on ways to make the best of this unimaginable time. I’m using this time to focus on
my weaknesses. I therefore do more strength and conditioning exercises focussing
on my hip rehab, and strengthening my glutes and core. I also realised how bad
I am at skipping rope, and just normal
running drills, so that will be my focus
for the next week or so.
Perhaps you have been battling
with ITB recently, due to all the
mileage done in preparation for Two
Oceans or Comrades. Well, now is
the perfect opportunity to turn those
weaknesses into strengths! And let’s
be honest… runners are definitely not
the most flexible specie on the planet.
Now you’ve got time to start working on
that.
Staying Positive
Although we’re unable to meet up with our running buddies,
it’s uplifting to engage, encourage and challenge each other via social media. My
sister Christine and I have daily “online training dates,” where we do a strength
or Pilates class ‘together.’ Then afterwards, we have a great WhatsApp chat to
discuss the class and to plan the next one.
I always like to look at the bright side of life and here are some of the positive
things that I will take from this pandemic lockdown and treasure. I get to spend
quality and quantity time with my loved ones. I have time to prepare home-cooked
meals. We also waste less food by being creative with leftovers. I have had time to
bake muffins, bread and flapjacks the last few weeks, and Karli just loves to help
me in the kitchen. I also have new gratitude for friends and family that we can stay
in touch with and help each other through this experience.
As runners, I think we appreciate the positive impact more than ever that running
has on our physical and mental wellbeing. And I doubt we will ever not feel like
going for a run again! (At least for a while...) So let’s use this time to rest, recover
and reset our goals, and hopefully we will be doing what we love very soon! Stay
calm and be positive!
About the Author:
René Kalmer is a two-
time Olympian, having
represented SA in the
1500m at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics and in the
marathon at the 2012
London Games. She has
also won more than 40 SA
titles in track, road and
cross country at youth,
junior and senior level, in
distances from 800m to the
half marathon.
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