Alastair’s Coronavirus Marathon

So nothing much has happened this week. Apart from that virus thing...

• All pubs and bars closing, so that's my courses wiped out :-(
• The PM gives Churchillian daily press conferences on the coronavirus. Panic buying in the shops with many shelves bare. 
• Bounds Green tube station is closed and social distancing measures are being taken ever more seriously. 
• The government taking over the payment of all working people (except the self-employed atm).
• The general level of anxiety is growing but I’ve seen no signs of social disturbance, yet.

Fliss and I are almost in lock down. The occasional walk down the shops but avoiding queues. I posted two letters today and found myself careful not to touch the letterbox.
I’ve been having wonderful conversations with friends and family and I'm so grateful for their time.

To be honest Fliss and I are in a privileged place.

• We have each other.
• A house with a garden and cats, near parks and walks and the countryside only 30mins away.
• Resources to last self-isolation and beyond.
• A great network of family and friends.
• We’re old enough to understand resilience, and young enough to imagine a world well into the future.
• We have only minor health concerns for ourselves.
• I personally gain confidence from running a marathon length only a week or so ago, which means my lungs are pretty good.
• My counselling training has been so helpful in seeing beyond the anxiety.

The list seems endless.

I could list my fears but that won't make them go away so I’ll give them a nod and move on.

Since this blog is about my marathon journey, I’ll mention that I’ve continued to run as if I’m still doing the Brighton Marathon this April (maybe a little less). I think it’s good for my mental health as well as my physical health. Besides, I may be technically unemployed at the moment but I just got all the kit so it’s a shame not to use it.

There are many changes happening and coming and we all need to adapt and change. Banging on about how things were is pointless. What’s gone is gone and the only way to move forward is to accept where we’re at now. It’s known as The Gestalt Paradox of Change.

Another thing I’ve learnt from counselling is that change brings anxiety, because change is alway moving from the known/safe into the unknown and therefore unsafe. This is natural, not harmful and to be expected. If we don’t feel anxious we’re probably in denial, and that’s ok for a bit but not permanently.

This blog needs to adapt along with everything else.
Instead of Alastair’s Marathon it’s now going to be about Alastair’s Coronavirus Marathon.
My diary of how I got through it.
I’m nothing special, so I encourage you to start a blog of your own and we can link and share. It’s incredibly healthy in times of stress to ‘let it go’ through typing it out.
I’m feeling better already :-)

Btw I’ve come up with a coronavirus sign off. Please use it and share.
It acknowledges the mountain we have to get over, that not all of us will make it, and that we’re in it together so....

SYOTOS - See You On The Other Side.
Alastair