February 2021 - A Roadmap Out Of This?

Another month of 2021 ticked off – and yes, I do feel like I am ticking days/weeks/months off at the moment on the unknown countdown to some form of normality. February has however seen the Government’s ‘roadmap’ to a return to normal life outlined, with a strangely specific date of 21st June earmarked as the day we shall be able to do whatever we want without Covid restrictions in place. I am skeptical though, and judging by the behaviour I have witnessed since the roadmap was announced, I am not sure how far we shall get through the 'map' without set backs occurring. I wish I felt a little more hopeful, but as a colleague put recently, I think we are almost tired of hope now, clinging onto something only for it not to happen. I am still of the mindset of taking things very much a day at a time.

The ‘roadmap’ did offer some indication of when my running club sessions could return, which will be fantastic to connect with our club community more widely again, and possibly a notion of some races/events being able to happen, but again I shall wait and see how things pan out. My rather ‘realistic’ outlook was challenged however by the announcement that parkrun intends to resume on Saturday 5th June – that news actually excited me and instilled positivity about the thought of spending my Saturday morning’s back down at Boultham Park, the home of Lincoln parkrun.

February itself has seen me continue to run regularly, getting some good mileage in the legs across some longer runs, a few sessions, and some always appreciated miles with friends. I have logged mostly 40-mile weeks, and this week actually tipped over the 50-mile marker, with 52 miles logged over the seven days. My entry into the Ashby 20 virtual event is serving me well as a good motivator to add longer miles in, although I would not say I am ‘training’ for the event as I would train for a ‘normal’ race.

​As February has passed by the weather is also beginning to turn slightly warmer and the lighter, longer days are making it more appealing to get out and run earlier, which I do not always need to do anymore whilst I am working from home – long gone are the 5:30am alarms! It also means some of my favourite routes to run intervals can be accessed again in daylight hours. February did however have the week of snow and ice – which I hated with a passion! It made running tough as surfaces never really thawed and kept constantly freezing, but I muddled through with a few uninspiring runs running loops of the same ‘safely thawed’ streets, and wrapping up in three layers (unheard of for me!) to face a couple of bracing runs into bitter winds.

Looking ahead, March will be fairly similar in both running and life senses, although I will have my virtual Ashby 20 to log (I am earning that hoody!) and my run club is also taking part in an inter-club virtual 10k event, so I need to pick a good day to have a go at seeing where my speed is at the moment! March will also hit the one year anniversary of Covid entering all our lives - safe to say its been quite a year! I think we are all feeling the strain of 'covid life' now, but whilst I am uncertain of the 'roadmap' dates which Boris and co have put together, I am still positive that the future will eventually be better, and if we have navigated these last 12 months, we can navigate the weeks ahead.