As always, I hope that whoever reads this training and life update had a reasonable weekend. I feel a little reluctant to say ‘good’ weekend, as since I last blogged, life has changed and most definitely not for the better.

I debated actually publishing this post as it contains a fair amount of what Geoff used to call self-pitying. I decided that if this post helps just one person then it’s worthwhile. On a more selfish note, I find that writing things down helps me.

Week seven of the Couch to 5k training plan I’ve been following looked like this.

Thanks to laziness, anxiety, work pressures, and a slight reluctance to actually leave the house, the reality was, unfortunately, completely different. In the weeks and months to come, I may well regret not running outside more. At least my exercise bike got used three times.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

The week got off to a slightly surreal start – little did I know at this stage what would happen later in the week – when I realised I was the only person at the station.

Usually, there are a few members of the 06:11 commuting club, I was alone with just my thoughts for company for most of the journey into Birmingham. When I got into work I discovered that most of my colleagues were already working from home. I think I made the decision to work from home for the rest of the week during the journey home. Let’s just say I didn’t enjoy having to share a train carriage with a lot of people who were coughing and sputtering.

I got home and spent an enjoyable hour or so preparing and then cooking my favourite Italian oven-baked penne recipe. I don’t want to blow my own trumpet but it tasted really good, one of my best attempts yet. Eating reasonably early meant that I also managed to complete my cross training session at a sensible time. I have a feeling I’m going to be seeing this view quite a lot more over the next few weeks/months. Hopefully, all the exercise bike sessions will make me a better cyclist.

I went to bed and then spent what felt likes hours over-thinking everything. What’s going to happen? Had I already caught the virus and would I die? Would my parents die? Would any of my friends die? Would I lose my job? Will life ever be the same again? All questions that are, quite frankly, impossible to answer right now, and definitely not at 3am!

Tuesday – 40 mins intervals (Run 15 mins/Walk 5 mins x 2) Rest

So, what can I remember about Day One of who knows how many days of working from home? Not a lot to be completely honest. I knew that I needed to have some sort of routine so I got up reasonably early, managed to access the network remotely at 7am and had a reasonably productive morning. Quite a few of my colleagues were still working from the office, a decision I found slightly strange as we were being encouraged to work from home. It took me about an hour to realise that there’s no way my dodgy left eye will be able to cope with me squinting at a tiny laptop screen for hours at a time, so I ordered myself one online to be delivered ASAP. I’m sure there’s some sort of process I should have followed but I need a monitor sooner rather than later.

I should have completed a 40 minute interval session when I finished working; the fresh air would have done me a lot of good. To be honest, I closed down my work laptop, had a proper cry and then headed to bed because I felt exhausted.  By the time I woke up, it was 10pm, a little too late to be pounding the pavements of Four Oaks.

Wednesday – Rest 30 mins cross training

Wednesday was slightly more positive, mainly because I managed to dial into an all-company briefing from the Chief Exec. The briefing and question and answer session which followed made me realise how lucky I am to work where I work. The Chief Exec told us all it was okay to not be feeling okay at the moment. He said that no jobs would be lost and that he fully supported people with families and wanted us to work from home wherever possible. It’s just a shame my contract ends in November.

After spending all day at my desk, I felt like I needed some sort of exercise. For some reason, when I’m in the office I tend to walk around a lot more than when I work from home. I felt a lot better after spending 30 minutes on my exercise bike. The rest of my Wednesday went something like walk to Sainsbury’s to buy some essentials, walk from Sainsbury’s to drop off the Mother’s Day card I’d bought, walk to the local pub. Yes, I know we were asked to avoid visiting pubs, etc but I wanted to see how my friend who works at the pub was getting on. I made sure that I sat in my usual quiet corner.

I was amazed how busy the rest of the pub was. There were several large groups of 18-25 year olds laughing and joking about the current situation. These people had clearly spent several hours in the pub. I said goodbye to my friend and left the pub feeling that something urgently needed to change. Unfortunately, a significant number of people clearly think the whole situation is a joke and are carrying on as normal.

Thursday – 30 mins intervals (Run 15 mins/Walk 5 mins/Run 10 mins) Rest

A couple of network related issues and feelings of isolation meant that the novelty of working from home wore off quite quickly. If and when everything returns to normal, remind me about this next time I complain about my commute to work and hot desking. I didn’t expect to miss office related banter quite this quickly, no amount of WhatsApp group chats and WebEx meetings will ever replace face-to-face meetings.

Needless to say, I didn’t feel like completing a 30 minute interval session when I finished working for the day. Looking back, I’m not sure I even left the house all day; no wonder I felt quite gloomy. My mental health is fragile enough at the best of times; I need to remember to stay away from social media during the day, to try to focus on the positives and to get outside at least once a day.

Friday – Rest

When an all-company email came round midway through the morning setting out some updated rules for accessing the network from home, I realised that I needed to disconnect from the network. I can’t do 99 per cent of my job offline so it was a case of ‘the computer (network) says no’. I just hope that work improves the remote working systems ASAP as I have a feeling that the current situation we are all in is very much an ultra marathon and not a sprint.

And then the news filtered through on social media that all pubs, cafes, restaurants, and bars were to close as soon as possible and not to open tomorrow.

We are telling cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can, and not to open tomorrow.

As far as possible we want you to stay at home.

That’s how we can protect our NHS and save lives.

➡ https://t.co/kdHUGOW5he pic.twitter.com/8Hko4bfBnh

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 20, 2020

After what I witnessed on Wednesday, this was probably a few days too late. Unfortunately, a not insignificant proportion of the population appears to be completing ignoring all the official advice and guidelines. I’m not surprised that the West Midlands area is rapidly turning into a hotspot with a lot of new cases. And yes, I’m aware I sound like a bit of a hypocrite writing this after visiting my local pub on Wednesday.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

My weekend started with my weekly weigh in and I’d actually lost weight. I guess my favourite local Chinese takeaway temporarily closing does have one tiny advantage. What a difference seven days makes, last week I spent an enjoyable hour in Sutton Park with my running buddy Ellen. Although, as a tail walker, I always feel quite disconnected from the rest of parkrun, I enjoyed spending an hour chatting about all sorts of random topics. Fast forward a week and I treated myself to a lie-in and managed to miss the parkrun quiz.

I did manage to motivate myself to spend 30 minutes on my exercise bike. I also spent some time researching folding treadmills, judging by how many I looked at were already out of stock I wasn’t the only person.

I think the fact that the weather on Saturday was gorgeous made the whole situation slightly harder to deal with. Judging by some of the photos I saw of Sutton Park, North Wales, parks in London and supermarkets, I was one of the few people who did my best to keep my distance from others. I have a feeling if people continue to carry on as ‘normal’ and treating what’s happening as some sort of extended Bank Holiday, we will all be put on full lockdown.

Sunday – 40 mins intervals (Run 20 mins/Walk 5 mins/Run 15 mins) Rest

I didn’t do much yesterday and after watching the news last night suspect I’ll regret not going out for a run while I still had the option. It’s a shame I don’t live with my parents as they both live on farms surrounded by fields. I could have enjoyed a few weeks/months playing dodge the livestock. At least the flowers I ordered for Mother’s Day looked good.

So that’s week seven of my Couch to 5k training plan not completed. I have no idea why, but I just didn’t feel like running last week, the love was gone. On a more positive note, my right knee is feeling much better and I’ll be able to work on my strength and conditioning if there is a full lockdown.  If we are allowed to run outside, I’ve decided to turn back the clock a couple of weeks and will start my training at week six of my training plan. There’s no rush to get to the finish.

Training totals

• Runs: 12 (out of 21)
• Time: 5 hrs 40 mins
• Distance: 29.11 miles

Niggleometer

• Right knee: 2/10
• Left knee: 1/10
• Right foot: 1/10

Did you manage to get out and run during the weekend? The weather in Four Oaks was perfect, it’s just a shame I didn’t make the most of it.

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