Sunday 12 April 2020

Where's Bruce Willis when you need him?

I'm starting to get used to lockdown, in a strange sort of way.  Falling out of bed, grabbing some breakfast and then wandering into my makeshift office feels....very time efficient.  This only occurred to me when we had to visit the office to send an important message to our clients who don't use email.  The office felt very strange with nobody in and a number of screens missing from desks which have been taken home by staff - working off a laptop screen when you are used to two large screens is a pain.  The journey took 25 mins each way and of course used fuel.  I filled my tank up 3 weeks ago and have hardly used any fuel so at least that's a saving and look at the impact of us all not driving is having on the environment!
Restricting my outdoor training to an hour is definitely having a negative impact on my fitness but it's just for a period of time.  This has shown up in my increased heart rate when doing my "heart rate recovery run" or granny shuffle as I call it.  Running slow and trying to keep my hear rate in the 130s has been impossible - it's been in the 150s!  Some of this is down to the hilly terrain around my home.  Some due to the reduced training but I feel a lot of it is down to the stress I've been under, like many people, in running a business in these difficult times - and we're in a good place! 
However, as I was getting frustrated at running at a granny pace with a high heart rate two days in a row, on the third day of doing the same my heart rate dropped from an average 151 to 121bpm - that's more like it.  My last two runs have been at a quicker pace and my heart rate has been within the acceptable range.
I really do hope that this bank holiday weekend doesn't see the numpties out sunbathing in the parks and having parties as this will ruin it for everyone who is enjoying taking daily exercise.  Bring in Bruce Willis and let him clear the mess up, he's got a 100% success rate over the years.  Seriously though, my house is on a popular walking route and it's so good to see so many people out walking, whether they have a dog or not.  Hopefully this challenging time will encourage others to reflect on what's important and when we come out the other side, they won't go back to their unhealthy lifestyle but instead remember what they enjoyed doing differently during lockdown and make a positive change in their lives.
I'm really looking forward to a club zoon quizz tonight, what a great idea and something we haven't done before, and I also signed up for a worldwide virtual 10km on 25th April.  Even signing up for the virtual race motivated me when I went out for my run today.  I hope you are all staying safe and sticking to the guidelines.  My nephew and his family came by yesterday and we had a chat while keeping a good distance apart outside in the sun.  They were there with their one year old baby and it was so nice to have a conversation with someone that wasn't online.  This won't last forever but we need to be mentally prepared that it's probably going to last longer than we initially thought.  Stay strong and we'll look back on this when we're in the pub or out for a meal and appreciate the simple things in life more.  Mother nature and the environment certainly seem to be enjoying the rest!