I’ve made it to the summer holidays… finally! The strange 4 months since lockdown hit have passed us by and now it’s time to find some time to relax and regather before the madness restarts in 5 weeks!
This summer is obviously going to be very different to what many of us were hoping for, and with the restrictions that are still in place, many of us won’t get to do what we so carefully planned to do way back when everything was ‘normal’. I, for one am a little gutted that we are unable to go away this year, as it is the first year, in quite a few, where I don’t have any hospital appointments booked, and no operations on the horizon. Absolutely typical!
Anyhow, as I am sure you will agree, not going away to a foreign country (or even somewhere else that is not your home in England) is for the best, and if we want to beat this insane pandemic quicker, we should be staying home, and continuing to follow social distancing measures and health advice.
So on the last day of July, and as we move into the remainder of the summer holidays, I thought we could do an Expectation vs. Reality type blog relating to the summer holidays. Expectation will be what perhaps I had hoped to do this summer and Reality will be actually what I am doing during this holiday. Let’s see where it takes us…
Expectation:
At the beginning of 2020, my family and I were chatting about the summer and spoke about where we might go once Lisa had finished her teacher training, and Ciara had completed her PhD and had more time to go away on a holiday. We have never been able to go to Center Parcs as a family, due to it being too expensive, or not being able to find the time to actually put a plan into place. However, this year we decided this year was the one, we were going to finally get our act together, chip in and make that long awaited trip to Center Parcs.
We also spoke about perhaps going back to Sorrento this year. We went 5 years ago to a beautiful hotel in the mountains overlooking Sorrento and Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna and Pompeii beyond it. The hotel staff were amazing, and we had the best time going down on the (slightly rickety) shuttle bus into the town, wandering around, and going on day trips to Capri, Positano and Amalfi. We also enjoyed just chilling out by the pool with our books (or in Lisa’s case an iPad) and swimming in the pool when it just got too hot. We always said we would love to go back and after 5 years we feel like now would have been a great time to go but this time we would bring Drew and Dave (the other halves) along with us. The sunsets from our hotel were like nothing we’ve seen before- stunning! As were the cocktails we had whilst watching it :).
Also this summer I had hoped that with that little bit of extra time I get whilst not working all hours at school, I could really get back into training, and doing better prep for competition, without being exhausted from the week at school. But as of March, neither my Trampolining club, nor my Athletics Club has been open, and so we’ve had to look for different, but equally effective, ways of keeping fit and getting some training in somewhere. Along with my bad fall in February resulting in a fractured ankle, this was not welcome news. 6 months down the line from the injury and 4 months since lockdown began, although I have been able to do light exercise, it has been no where near the amount I was doing before, and me (along with others I train with) have felt it. Fingers crossed we’re able to go back very soon!
Reality:
So what has this summer/will this summer actually look like? Evidently, we won’t be jumping on a plane anywhere, and to be honest I don’t think we’ll even be going for a weekend away either. With the measures in place, and with everything being so uncertain at the moment, there is no way of knowing what and where is safe. Therefore the easiest thing to do is sit tight and continue in the vein we have been over lockdown.
Instead we have been spending time at home, chilling, walking, and literally doing the things we never have time to do when we are working full time. We have walked the whole of the ‘Long Walk’, which despite living so close it, we’ve never walked the whole thing, and we have walked (and got lost) around the lakes in the boiling heat. I’ve been reading, and researching, and meeting up with friends (socially distanced obviously) and spent time with family members. I’ve loved it and honestly feel like perhaps it is what I have needed after the weirdness of this year at school. Yes, it would have been lovely to hop on the plane, and go somewhere hot, explore other places, eat amazing foreign food and swim to our hearts content, but without the stress of packing, finding our way around, and ensuring that laws and lockdowns don’t change whilst we are there, I am finding myself unwinding and enjoying the summer.
In reality, it has been surprisingly refreshing training in a different way during this lockdown. Right back at the beginning, Lisa, Ciara, and I bought into Alex Cane’s 90 day shred; 12 weeks, 12 workouts, 10 minutes a day, and we have absolutely loved it! With work and other commitments, when wanting to train at home we have found it difficult to complete workouts for long periods of time. 10 minutes (20-30 mins if you want to do the Abs and Core too) is so manageable, and each HIIT workout focused on different parts of the body meaning across the 12 weeks you are working all the different areas (more than once) and each leaves you feeling like you’ve achieved something. Along with this, Lisa and I have been walking (or running when the ankle recovered enough) early in the mornings before I went off to work. I know I have banged on enough about the importance of exercise in our lives, and the benefits I feel it gives to us, but again, it has been a lifesaver during this pandemic. Even an hour or less out walking or running somewhere quiet and away from crowds has been just brilliant.
Now obviously, I am desperate to get back to training, back into the circle, and onto the track, and even more insanely eager to finally get back on the trampoline, but whilst we have been stuck at home or working, with none of our usual training facilities being open the HIIT sessions, walks, and runs have been great. So good in fact that we are continuing to do them even when gyms have reopened properly (I’ve actually cancelled my membership…) and facilities begin to open up again. They have become our new normal and I for one am so happy it has!
So there we are. Expectation vs. Reality- the Summer Holiday edition. Hopefully you all have an amazing summer and find something you enjoy and can hold onto during the ongoing pandemic and what is looking inevitably to be the second wave and another lockdown.
Stay safe!
Sinead xx
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