Covid-19 week 4. Guest blog # 1

Happy Feet Blog Friday 17th April 2020
We are in week 7 hundred and numpty four of lockdown (well, that is how it feels) with another three (hundred) weeks to go it seems.
My ambitious plans of home schooling faltered after about three days, Joe Wicks lasted a week with the kids, two for me on my own until my knee pain finally persuaded me that ‘spiderman’ lunges were the devils own form of torture…
My alcohol consumption has gone up by thirty percent aided and abetted by Suzy’s family’s cider farm and like most people I’ve adopted the Jimmy Buffet attitude to when it’s appropriate to start drinking (before or after bathtime??)

Luckily I have a go to activity that helps keep me sane, gives me my daily Boris approved hour of exercise and keeps me away from the daily battle for a few precious moments and I probably wouldn’t have it if it weren’t for Marie and Rhi and the rest of the Happy Feet Family.
And I mean family; we look out for each other, even when we don’t see each other often, there is always a welcome, Fatface chats and sessions keep us in touch when the world would have us keep our distance.
Some of us run fast, some are slower; some go for miles, others gently add on the miles bit by bit. Many of us had events we wanted to do that are now cancelled/postponed, but the training continues, the spirit carries on and when we all come out the other side of this we will be stronger, healthier, more able to adapt and accept what life throws at us.

My squiggly Strava routes that I post are a physical representation of how far I (and the dog) have gone in our running (I’m going to use the J word) Journey. From c25k last spring to the Worcester City 10k last September – amazing! To this year with my grandiose ideas of doing five 10ks before my 50th in December. All five were lined up, paid for, babysitters arranged, t-shirt design in progress. Obviously they are now, probably, not going to happen in their official capacity, but I intend to do them around the date I should have done.
Challenge Tuesday has given me the spur to increase my distance from the pedestrian 5kish I’ve been comfortably doing to get up to a steady 10k. I’m not sure the dog’s fully committed to this idea though…

​I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement not just for me but for everyone in the group. To all those still working in frontline positions, thank you, those who have changed their jobs to help support the rest us, thank you and anyone else who’s given up on home school – we tried!