July 2021
From the 19th July, as we slowly open the country, we also see a shift in responsibility. Perhaps a day and date to remember as it is one step towards some normality, and perhaps because that day is also one of my clients (Ravi Karia) and my birthdays.
There is now more freedom, some relaxed rules and we all know "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain". But how are you riding the waves of the storm? Are you adjusting and adapting well to the forever changing scenario's?
We are all in this 'kind of freaky storm' together, but each of us is in it differently which we need to tolerate and respect. We all have different circumstances, norms, values, also different levels of health, fitness, physical and mental status. These factors and our own experiences over the last 19 months have contributed to how we feel about the current storm we are in together.
We still should try to make to most of life by adapting and adjusting sensibly to whatever comes our way. Try hard, then try harder, for your own total wellbeing (especially for your mental wellbeing), for the people around you and for our society. Listen to your body: it is trying to tell you what to do, please keep an eye on your total wellbeing, check it regularly and act accordingly.
We need to remember that some are fearful where others aren't, some are weak where others are strong, some are stressed where others are calm and collective. We simply need to help each other where we can. As we know the virus naturally mutates in time to try to stay alive, it becomes more infectious in time but becomes less potent thus weakens at the same time.
To me, mind and body performance is life itself. If you live your life, feel well, and follow your passion and instincts from the heart, then who can stop you? You will find your path. If you don't do things with passion and with your heart and with your emotions, then you run on adrenaline which is likely to burn out one day. You need to have your own balance in order to handle your stress mechanisms well enough, so adapt, adjust and repeat.
Life goes on, find your own balance in this and think hard about society, what's right for society, where the balance is for you. Think about the long NHS waiting list, our future generations, please don't doubt it; society needs YOU.
Most people I know have had both vaccinations, most of them have increased confidence about their current storm scenario and they have adjusted physically and mentally well enough to get about their lives sensibly. Most of you are back training and are in a reasonably healthy and somewhat new routine which works during these uncertain times for you and their loved ones. For most, there's a new look on life, a new daily routine, a different work - life balance, whilst appreciating life differently. However, there are increasing amount of people suffering from depression, mental and physical illnesses, numerous of niggles, pains and of course lack of drive, strength and so on as we have all been effected by the storm.
But - could you be looking after your health a bit better? Do you have lack of accountability, are you inconsistent with training, do you have a lack of motivation, do you over eat and/or drink on weekends? Do you need help getting back on track? Does your body feel weaker than 19 months ago? All basic questions to which most of you said yes to until you decided to say enough is enough and picked up training again to help restore health and fitness.
Will there be a post Covid any time soon? Who knows, but what we should focus on is what we can change, adapt to, improve on, and influence ourselves with, anything positive surely helps. There's little point in getting angry at things or situations we have no control over as this will cause negative stress and ultimately can harm our immune system, which then makes us less healthy and more likely to catch any virus and possibly become ill.
Try and look at the balanced picture. Be sensible and sensitive to your environment and where possible look after the vulnerable ones amongst us. It is your choice to decide to get yourself ready to try to lead life as normal life as possible, and as said before, the best way to start is by ensuring your immune system is optimised. Get your dose of vitamin D (preferably from the sun), vitamin C and zinc, stay active, keep moving and stay healthy:
Try to (slowly) get back to a more normal activity level. Research published last month shows that most people still have a lack of daily structure, people are doing still 15% less activity and have still a worse diet than a year ago, which causes (mental and/or physical) downturn, fatigue, weight gain and some loss of health and fitness. Get ready to re-balance your mind and body, improve your total well-being. If nothing else then just get out in the sunshine and get in your daily steps - I have shared a blog on ways to do this below.
It is your choice to decide to get yourself ready to some decent kind of normality, and the best way to start is by insuring your immune system is optimised. This way you can also assist and show others that as a society we can restore balance which leads to having the confidence to lead a close to normal life.
Besides getting your dose of vitamin D (preferably from the sun), vitamin C and Zinc, stay active, keep moving and stay healthy: Try to (slowly) get ready to get back to a more normal activity level. Research shows that most people have a lack of daily structure, people are doing 20% less activity and have a worse diet than a year ago, which causes (mental and/or physical) downturn, fatigue, weight gain and some loss of health and fitness. Get ready to re-balance your mind and body, improve your total well-being. Please see a basic guide on what to eat and drink to boost your immune system below.
Over the last 3 years I have been involved in the organisation of DofE expeditions for St. Clement Danes School which is the school also my daughter Sabrina goes to. It is a pleasure to use transferable skills to help these teenagers and to keep costs low for the school. Over these years I have had to attend basic supervisory and assessors courses which were organised by the school. Last month saw the silver and gold expeditions in Derbyshire.
I love to see how teenagers interact with each other, what their behaviour is like and how they develop various skills and character. These teenagers walk the countryside footpaths carrying a 3rd of their body weight (about 15-18 kg) on their backs and can attain different levels of awards. Each participant has to start with learning the basic skills at school, then do a bronze practice expedition, then a bronze qualifying expedition and then move up to the silver and then gold standard. Expeditions take 2 days for (bronze), 3 days for (silver) and 4 days for (gold). During this time they need to be as self sufficient as possible, as a team of minimum 4 people. Each group will have one gps location tracker which assist people like me to assist a group where needed (supply them with extra water on hot days, get them back on track when lost) and simply to 'track and trace' and in case of emergency.
They map read, navigate with a compass where needed (their mobile phones are sealed and not authorised to be used!), they need to be able to cook a hot meal, they camp overnight on a campsite and they need to have had a decent breakfast before they set of again the next day. DofE is rewarding, looks decent on their initial CV, it is also challenging as for example the average sleeping time each night is 5 hours. They get to know each others strengths and weaknesses and how to keep decent harmony within the group especially when tiredness settles in. Within these expeditions I get to keep an eye on them to warrant health and safety, to guide, support, help and correct them where needed to maximise their experience of these expeditions.
The partnership with local osteopaths at The Osteopathic House in Rickmansworth is going well. The partnership greatly assists our shared clients and they can greatly benefit from our joint expertise and specific areas of rehabilitation and injury prevention as we are able to form an extension of each others' services. Our direct communication, mutual understanding, experience and way of working will be a welcome benefit for our clients, and make it easier and more efficient for all involved.
Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) is being practised by almost 1 million people each year in the UK alone, but despite this it still needs the right organisation structure in order to be recognised as a sport. With this there is a process to follow which involves a need for people within the UK Obstacle Sport Federation (UKOSF) organisation to be operating in positions from managing and organising various tasks and activities to having enough coaches and/or members in place.
I have been an UKOSF member since March '20 and during the lockdown period I have become a Level 2 qualified UKOSF OCR Coach. The course was brand new, theory held via zoom and practical assessment in small groups at Rumble Fitness near Milton Keynes. I just love the sport as it consists of so many valuable components, more than most existing sports. Each obstacle is different, participants ideally needs total physical body fitness, some technical ability, decent agility, a massive dose of mental strength and adaptability and good cardiovascular endurance, all attributes to assist total wellbeing!
To help grow and to enable to make OCR a recognised sport, UKOSF needs help, mainly in the form of more members. Membership is £10 a year for an adult, £5 a year for a child, which will give you access to discounts to courses, events, various benefits and you can win prizes too. You will help shape OCR in the UK and can become part of the UKOSF Members Facebook Group in which valuable hints and tips will be shared. For further information about it including vacancies and details on how to become an UKOSF member, please visit: https://ukosf.org/membership/
Some events did go ahead despite some last minute event cancelations during the past months so well done to you all - keep up the great work.
Special mentions: Well done to John for doing the Nuclear Races, to Jack doing Henley Trail Run, well done to Sudheer and family for completing a road cycling event and well done to all the others completing their mainly virtual endurance events.
Special well done to Ammie doing her open water swims at Merchant Taylors' school since end of March of this year (picture above taken 29th March) and well done to Swati doing various challenging hikes in areas such as in Cornwall and in The Lake District.
Earlier this month I managed to complete The Summer Fan Dance (Pen Y Fan - Wales). This is The original test march for SAS recruits organised by AEE in Brecon Beacons in Wales. You are required to carry a rucksack weighing about 15kg for about 24km with 1140m incline over mostly undulated paths and complete this as quickly as possible. SAS recruit time cut off is 4 hours.
The challenge: Start and finish at the famous red phone box, trek up Pen Y Fan mountain, decent via Jacobs Ladder (not the easiest route), then return the same way back. I wanted to see what time I would get and how far out my time would be compared to the cut off time for SAS recruits. Well, considering all 'excuse' factors (such as no practice hiking with a 15kg rucksack, new hiking - ankle protecting - army style hiking shoes, little sleep night before and not being 20 years of age any more) I finished in the top 3rd of all participants, I was happy with that but I was out by about 25 minutes. I drank 4-5 litres, used just over 3000 kcal and my body held up fine. Weather was rainy constantly and 12 degrees. The picture below is at the finish with SAS legend Lofty Wiseman. For more pictures and details please see my personal Facebook or Instagram page.
As the need to help our local community during this pandemic has subdued for the time being I have reduced my prescription running from 2 time a week to 1 shift a week which means I now just do 2 hours of prescription running a week.
I often take it literally and run (or cycle) from my house to a chemist, then to various addresses to drop off prescriptions to people who are home bound or vulnerable and run back home. A shift usually mounts up to a satisfying trip for the community and mounts up to almost 12km.
I will continue to support who need it the most during these uncertain times. It is a great way to keep fit and help out so if you would like more details of how to get involved then please let me know.
As events open back up as we come out of lockdown, why not get your diaries out and set one of these as your next target?
Some fairy local events coming up during the next few months:
25/7 Pretty Muddy obstacle run
29/7 Aquathlon by Hillingdon Triathletes at MTS
1/8 Tough Mudder
1/8 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k
7/8 Rat Race Canterbury Trails 100km (Roel)
22/8 Mud Monster Run 5k, 10k & 20k
4/9 Rat Race Man vs Mountain
4/9 Summer Nuts Challenge (ocr)
5/9 London Winter Run 10k
11/9 & 12/9 Rat Race Coast to Coast (Roel & Arno)
12/9 Nuclear Races (ocr)
19/9 Moor Park 10k & Fun Runs at MTS
23/9 - 27/9 World Championships (ocr) in Vermont (USA)
If you want to look and feel good during your next event, don't forget that Fit For Anything continues their partnership with LegendBorne clothing for 2021. You can get a 20% discount on the RRP by contacting me in person. Please see also the FFA link.
As ever, I look forward to continuing to work with you to keep you on track to achieve your goals.
You can be(come) Fit For Anything!
Roel