Lockdown 3 has been the hardest!

Lockdown 1 – it’s only for three weeks, let’s keep training hard we might get in some athletics, there will definitely be a cross country season!

Lockdown 2 – children are still at school, social interaction is happening, we might get some XC after Christmas!

Lockdown 3 – it is cold, it is dark, schooling is at home (and most schools have switched to live-lessons so no day time training!) and will we ever get back to competition? 

Yet the children who I have the pleasure to coach have been amazing. West Suffolk is a small athletics club, myself and another coach work with an endurance group of 16 children consisting of 10 girls and 6 boys ranging from the age of 10 to 13. There is a wide range of ability from those who adore endurance because they love the summer track season to those who love nothing more than a muddy XC. They have all continued to train in one form or another and have all competed in the virtual relay. I think a combination of factors has kept them going. We have a WhatsApp group for the parents (the children have their own!) where we share three coaching sessions a week, keeping to the same session days. We try to keep the sessions varied and yet simple so they are easy for everyone to follow. Photos of the training sessions are then shared on the group which seems to hugely motivate others to get out and train too. Under the current guidelines we encourage our athletes to train with one other person, for both motivation to train and to have a chat with a friend. We have also held a couple of Google meets where the coaches have led hiit training, strength and conditioning work and drills. This has been a great opportunity for the children to see each other and do a workout at the same time. The role of parents cannot be underestimated, we have a hugely supportive group of parents many of whom have started to train alongside their children to help keep them motivated (we are so hoping for some athletics this year as the Dad’s relay team is going to be awesome!) I am so proud of all of the children in my group. Some have improved over this period, some have plateaued and some have lost a little fitness but it doesn’t matter. They are young, they are going through the strangest of times and they have years ahead of them. I love this sport and I hope that their membership of this athletics club encourages them to continue to lead a healthy and active lifestyle .Thank you very much for the invite to this virtual event, it has given our athletes a focus and they have enjoyed challenging themselves, with some choosing to have a go more than once!