Its hard to feel that things are real right now. Covid 19 has certainly turned our entire world upside down. Who would have thought that we would be in lock down in our own homes in our lifetimes. The impact on everything has been exponential. Our World as we know it has changed forever. I think that to stay sane in this time of uncertainty is to look at the funny side of Covid-19.
Us South Africans love the outdoors and our sport. Lockdown certainly forced us to think out of the box on this one. Who would have ever thought that you would be running around your garden, up and down the driveway on your balcony or even around the dinning room table, swimming attached to a tyre tube. Social media exploded with challenges from running 2km’s a day to marathons, ultra marathons and even triathlons. Elite athletes world wide including Ronaldo, Caster Semenya and our marathon queen Gerda Steyn were challenged to who could do the most core exercises which was such a great motivator for the normal folk at home just trying to stay sane.
Zoom exploded with group exercise classes everyone and anyone became the next best personal trainer. These challenges helped keep people motivated sane and did so much good, a lot of money was raised for charities. Exercise is medicine for the mind, body and soul.
When we were finally released from our full lockdown jail to level 4 the joy was palpable, we could finally exercise outside between 6 and 9 am. Yay. When that Friday dawned and we were finally free to run outside I got the shock of my life. I have lived in my Johannesburg suburb for 25 years and have always trained most days in the early morning. It was like playing dogem cars. I was running in the middle of the road to avoid the walkers, dog walkers, kids on bikes, cyclists. Thank goodness there was little vehicle traffic. I was highly irritated and annoyed I had never seen so many people exercising except for at a Park run and at road races.
Thinking about it later it was actually great to see so many people out exercising. The human spirit is so resilient we always find ways to adapt even in times of Crisis.
Author: Nicole Fuller
I am a former elite/springbok distance runner, Oncology Patient Navigator, Breast Cancer Exercise training specialist, speaker and Breast Cancer Survivor
