The London Marathon was understandably postponed until 4 October 2020, and so now I am lucky enough to have something to aim for, a challenge on the horizon, which has proven to be really helpful for me. If you’re a key worker, then you will no doubt be rushed off your feet all day but if you’re staying inside 23/24 hours a day then a little exercise can be really helpful.
My hope is still to be able to run the Marathon and raise funds for MIND.
I have kept up my running, but obviously with the marathon now a bit further away I have tapered back to keeping them around the 4 or 5 mile mark, which helps to also keep them under 1-hour (our government advice on exercise out of the home). In order to keep building strength and fitness, without the use of a gym and classes, I have been exploring the seemingly infinite options the internet has to offer.
The first thing I did was sign up to PopSugar Active, which early in March made itself free for the foreseeable future so that people have the ability to be active whilst at home more. I really recommend this if you’re like me, and need a little guidance in your exercising. There are three sections, cardio, strength and yoga and within each section are dozens of videos guiding you through workouts. The big benefit to these is that there’s plenty of variety in terms of fitness level and length of time which means I can fit in something that suits at any given moment. My top tip for these would be to pop the radio on or Spotify nearby if you can, as for obvious reasons PopSugar doesn’t use commercial music on their videos!
I’ve always been tempted by these incredibly fit looking Instagram/YouTube types who post their workouts online and offer workout guides to their followers. Briana K Fitness had a sale on, with some of her workout guides just $2 or $2.50, each of which offers four weeks of fitness guidance. Having followed Briana for ages, when I saw this sale was on I decided it was a justifiable purchase, and incredibly cheap, so picked up her Fit At Home guide which I’m currently on Week Two of. It’s a great way to focus on different muscle groups each day and to give your workout some direction.
I have always enjoyed following people at different stages along their fitness journey on Instagram and YouTube as they provide inspiration and motivation, two things which are particularly helpful when we are living as we are now. I recommend setting aside a fixed period of time each day (only 15-minutes or so) to browse around and find people you identify with one way or another. I have lots of favourites who I love, and may do a post fully dedicated to all of them!
I have a goal – and that goal is to be able to run the London Marathon at such a point as it is safe to do so. Yes it’s odd to try and train to do this when you can only run for an hour at a time but it’s not impossible and it’s important to try and stay home, stay safe and stay healthy if you can.
And in summation – key workers you are doing incredible, demanding and draining work. Thank you.
that emily 