Relinquishing Control: A Guide For Athletes In The Wake Of COVID-19
Athletes love the cliché “control the controllables”. It offers solid ground in uncertain times like the present pandemic with a clear sentiment: shrink your focus to the things within your sphere of influence. But in our experience, trying to control small things in an attempt to manage the anxiety stemming from a lack of control in the rest of your life can be disastrous. Just because you can control something, doesn’t mean you always should.
COVID-19 and Anxiety Disorders; Unearthing an Unexpected Blessing.
Those of us that have battled and suffered and fought our way through treatment, have more ways to deal with unexpected situations and overwhelming emotions than the average person would ever arm themselves with unnecessarily. So when the world changes in the space of a week, we have a foundation of learning to call upon; from breathing, to meditation, to distress tolerance skills, distraction techniques, and so many reframing strategies that make the rapid pace of change easier to bear. My past and the subsequent treatment has forced me to learn to live in the moment and be okay with not having control over most things in life. I have learnt it's okay to lose my freedom and sense of purpose, have no idea what the future holds, and that there is so much value in pushing forward anyway.
El Chalten: Mountain Runners Paradise
El Chalten from the perspective of a mountain runner in a nutshell. Overall I covered over 284 km with 8725m +/-, and spent over 34 hours in these mountains. Although I got to most of the major landmarks and a fair few lesser known areas, it feels like I could spend a year there and still not know all the beauty. As a runner on these trails you will have to at times stop for hikers on the more well known trails, and trail etiquette is of utmost importance to both care for the land and not ruin runners repuatations in what is know as the Trekking Capital of Patagonia. But if you enjoy these trails respectfully and responsibly then you are in for the adventure of a lifetime.
Travel Gym: Strength and Conditioning on the Go
Keeping up with the oh so important strength work required to be a robust athlete while traveling around the globe can seem like a mission destined for failure, no matter what intentions you start out with. It needn't though, because with the gear available today even the lightest traveller can take just one or two items that make a full body workout possible in any setting - and if you've carted even one small piece of gear halfway around the world, it's a lot easier to find the motivation to use it! I have refined and tested many different gear combinations to create the best travel gym for me, and the one I have going now seems to be working in terms of keeping it interesting enough to want to use it, and actually keeping me strong.