Realignment in COVID-19 - Part II
The days of our changed world have now tallied up to months, with COVID-19 appearing to effect our lives for the unforeseeable future. Small bits and pieces begin to return to a new normal. For instance, my children just had their “first” day of school (non-virtual that is) a couple weeks ago where six foot social distancing and masks are now part of their classroom setting.
Aspirations on hold
We enjoyed many days spring skiing - my favorite time to ski!
2020 was going to be my biggest race year of the decade. I was chasing a Golden Ticket for Western States 100 and my team, Rib Mountain Racing, was defending a national series title and poised to win the National Championship. But these aspirations evaporated during COVID-19.
During this unique time, silent sports have been stripped down to why I do them to begin with – for the love of being outside in the woods, escaping the rest of the world, and to lead a healthy lifestyle. For the latter, the pandemic gave me the opportunity to channel this energy into the next generation, my three children. Now I rediscovered a love for silent sports through a completely different lens.
Perspective
Providing full-time childcare for my children (as well as teacher and short-order chef), I took advantage of spending more time than ever with my children. Most of my workouts involved my children.
I took them cross country skiing on sunny March afternoons. My heart leapt for joy when I’d be pulling my younger kids and see them with their hands up in the air on the downhills yelling “Whee!” as if on a rollercoaster.
As the weather warmed, we progressed to longer bike cart rides and tag-along rides. As I admired how my daughter cornered turns better than me on singletrack, I came to the realization she biked six days that week, no wonder! The days had organically added up as we took advantage of nice days and mixed it up on singletrack (with trailside picnics and playdates), the roads (to the park), and even a outing on the skills course and pump track. With just 14 inch tires, she frequently hops off her bike and pushes over rocks, roots, and hills. Rather than slogging her bike, she remains unphased by these obstacles, cheerily repeating dozens of times per ride.
Working on mountain bike skills on a family outing to the trails.
Even though I’ve been on the singletrack hundreds of times, it’s so fun to witness the excitement my kids express as they experience the twists and turns on the trails for the first time. Their excitement is so contagious (the only good type of contagious, so no masks required!) that I’m discovering the trails in a new way, too.
I’ve hit a milestone that I can run (often with the handicap of pushing a double jogging stroller with the two younger kids) or rollerski while my oldest daughter bikes with me. In fact, on the technical singletrack, she often waits for me as I negotiate the jogger over roots and rocks. (Don’t worry, the younger siblings enjoy lots of bumps!)
Realignment
And I haven’t just been able to pour time into my kids enjoying silent sports, but also to others in the community by designing free courses around the area. I channeled my energy and excitement for the trails in designing IRONBULL courses at several different trail systems, where hundreds of people have emerged out of the woodwork to enjoy the trails for the first time.
The IRONBULL pop-up trail runs introduced many people trail running for the first time. In addition, it brought people to the trails or even the sport for the first time (see infographic of statistics).
2020 hasn’t been a complete loss for personal growth either. I progressed up to the most pull-ups I’ve ever done (14), since I do a set whenever I pass the pull-up bar in our basement – turns out I do a lot of laundry and get a lot of food out of our chest freezer.
I’m hoping the next time I’m at the Western Terminus of the Ice Age Trail it’s for an FKT attempt.
Once race season hits again, I’ll be fresh as I take what opportunities present themselves day by day, far from the grind of a training regimen. I’ve increased the frequency of plyometrics as I can do in the yard while the kids play or at the bus stop. And with less running on roads, I finally got rid of the nagging heel soreness that had lingered for months. But with a break from the race scene, I’ll have fire once races start up again. I have big ideas for the future – applying for the “world’s toughest race” Eco-Challenge Patagonia, a Golden Ticket Backyard Ultra on the calendar, sights on Barkley, and even a bucket-list item of a Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt on the Ice Age Trail.
COVID-19 stripped down silent sports (as well as other priorities including family) to the real reason for being out there. Although, I may be physically pulling or pushing my children, I have enjoyed the ride they have led me to rediscover silent sports through their lens.
Read Part 1 of this blog here.