Going into lockdown was so abrupt that at first, I didn’t have time to fully comprehend what was happening, and how it would affect everyone’s season. I had been preparing myself all year to be ready to hit National Schools’ and Henley Women’s Regatta in my best physical shape ever, and so to finish the rowing season halfway through the year felt like I had missed my J16 season.
As the reality of not being able to even see a boat for months settled in, I knew I needed to find a way to maintain my physical fitness. Yet, I also wanted to take the extra time that I now had to control my training and make sure I was doing what I enjoyed, or what I needed to improve. So, I set the goals to become a better runner, improve my ergo technique, and increase my flexibility.
Teaching myself to love to run didn’t take very long. I enjoyed heading out for my daily activity to get some fresh air and found so many audio-guided runs online that I was able to follow. I could feel the impact of my hard work, and before long I was able to run further and faster then I had ever before; which helped me feel like I was becoming an overall better athlete. I also took up trying to stretch more as flexibility has always been a weak point for me. By completing a simple stretch routine every day, I felt that I had less fatigued muscles, and my enhanced flexibility began to help improve in my running and ergo techniques. The stretches meant that my hamstrings weren’t as tight as they once were, which helped me to row more efficiently on the ergo by allowing me to hold a much more stable body position.
I think there are many valuable lessons that lockdown has taught us all. We soon learned the importance of crewmates and how much we enjoy racing, yet not being able to do either meant that I had to become more responsible for my training and rowing. Lockdown taught me how to be more accountable for my mentality and motivation as I was the only person there, so I had to approach everything with a positive mindset. However, by the summer it was great to be able to meet up with friends to go on a run, and being able to train with someone again was such a relief (socially distanced, of course!).
RowWithTheFlow
The artwork that compliments this article was produced by Georgia Matthews. You can find our more about her story and purchase her prints here.
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