2020 – The Year of Change and Growth
No one could have predicted the way that 2020 has turned out. The word ‘unprecedented’ has perhaps been used more than ever this year but with very good reason.. these are indeed unprecedented times we live in and will continue to do so, I suspect for many months ahead.
The 26th March 2020 saw England go into a full national lockdown, meaning that overnight, businesses, big and small, were catapulted into panic as they very quickly had to figure out a survival plan.
Small business survival
Being a small business owner myself, I was right up there with those who were losing sleep and frantically reviewing their financial status. The first thing I did was cut out all unnecessary direct debits and halved any repayments. I very quickly learnt the meaning of ‘irrational expenditure’ (flashback to Business Studies in 2000) and immediately cut that out.
The fitness industry fast became one of, if not THE most competitive industries. Every coach, instructor and personal trainer fought to get their name out there. Some were handing out free workouts whilst others, like me, dropped their prices ridiculously low to stay competitive. It was a crazy and very stressful time but in the end a lot of good came out of it.
I very quickly struck up a relationship with Zoom so that I could continue training my clients online. Not all of my clients took to online sessions so unfortunately I lost a few during lockdown – another financial hit but I understand that online training isn’t for everyone.
I also started to teach online fitness classes which became very popular and as such, I’ve continued teaching due to high demand. I’ve never been an early morning person but in these tough times I had to suck it up and respond to what worked best for my class participants.. apparently that’s 7am!
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire radio got in touch during the early lockdown days to ask me if I would do ‘radio workouts’ to keep everyone active. I jumped at the opportunity as it meant getting my name out there and also a great experience to talk the listeners through a workout without any visual cues – much easier said than done but myself and the radio team had a real laugh doing it.
Then a local company, Pixel Toys, got in touch to ask if I could provide lunchtime HIIT classes for their team who who were all working from home. My Imposter Syndrome immediately piped up as it’d been at least 20 years since I worked in corporate fitness but it was such a great opportunity, I just had to get over myself and grab it. I’ve loved working with Pixel Toys and I’m so grateful to them for their enquiry, it’s given me a huge bout of confidence and another string to my bow.
In terms of my small business surviving a global pandemic, it’s all been about showing willing, responding to demand, try and testing what works and what doesn’t – it turns out that Classic 80’s aerobics is no longer a thing - I learned that that hard way when I dressed up in full neon get up and did myself an injury for doing too many ‘step ball changes’ for only 2 people to turn up!
I’ve had to work harder than ever before and for very little financial return. That said, the experiences I’ve had and lessons learned have brought a new dimension to the way I work and money just can’t buy that.
Surviving maths and literacy
All whilst keeping my business afloat, my husband and I had the joy of home schooling to contend with. I’m not going to lie, this was a massive pain in my back side and took my stress to another level. Not because my children aren’t good at learning quite the contrary) or are poorly behaved but because it turns out I’m a terrible teacher and patience is not a virtue I possess. There were days when it was all just too much for us to handle as family and so those were the days we’d scrap maths and literacy and instead we’d have ‘outdoor forest school’ or ‘cookery and art school’… much more enjoyable! I do believe that all teachers deserve a knighthood.
Running, always my therapy
This year I was meant to take part in the Marathon Des Sables. I’d completed the training and my bags were packed.. then the plug was pulled 3 days after I completed my last big training block. (60 miles over 3 days) To say I was devastated was an understatement and I felt so selfish for reacting the way that I did. Coronavirus was rapidly spreading around the world, thousands of lives were lost each day and there I was crying about a running race that had been cancelled for all of the right reasons. It’s lame, I know, but when you invest your time, money, energy and emotions into something the size of MDS, it’s hard to keep your chin up.
After a few days of moping, I decided to take some time out of running big miles and just focus on home schooling and keeping my business afloat. I still ran but just enjoyed a few early morning miles each day before the chaos started up. During the first half of lockdown I was mindful not to wander too far from home and/or risk injury and having to be treated by an already very busy NHS.
Then Centurion Running announced that they were holding a virtual running challenge called One Community, whereby we had 7 days to complete a certain distance. This was exactly the challenge I needed to lift my spirits so I took on the 100 mile distance over 5 days. It was a good test to see if I’d manage to maintain my MDS training and it turned out that I was in a good place for the time being.
In September, with lockdown 1 over, myself and some friends travelled down to Cornwall to take on the Endurance Life Classic Quarter – a 45 mile race along the Cornish coastal path which kindly offered a nice 6000+ feet of elevation. It was a tough 10ish hours on a beautifully brutal route but again my fitness and endurance proved that they were in a good place. I never got around to writing a blog about this race but I can fully recommend it although hill training is a must and I’d throw in some technical training too.. there’s a lot of footwork along that stretch of coastline. I did however take my GoPro on this journey so you can get a taste of the Classic Quarter here.
In November, we found ourselves in another national lockdown, although with slightly more relaxed COVID rules. Heading into winter and with Marathon Des Sables still six months away, my only focus at this stage was to hit my annual goal of 2020 miles which I was already ahead of target for, so as long as I ran 34 miles a week then I was going to do it. It was quite mundane though and I could feel my mojo slipping away.
Centurion Running, having had many of their 50 and 100 mile races cancelled this year, decided to put on another One Community week. When my good friend Helen suggested we go for the 'Grand Slam' - all 7 distances combined to total 230 miles, it took a while for me to get my head around the logistics but I knew that this would be a great test of our physical and mental strength – plus it was exactly the challenge I’d been waiting for all year. Finally I could put all of those long and gruelling training days to a fair test.
To complete the challenge correctly, we had to run and record each individual distance separately. Helen put together a plan for the week which covered all 7 distances as follows;
Monday: 10km + 50km
Tuesday: Half marathon + Full marathon
Wednesday: 50 miles
Thursday: 5km
Then we planned to run the remaining 100 miles separately; Helen ran 33.3 miles on Friday, Saturday & Sunday and I decided I wanted to attempt the 100 miles in one go on the Saturday. Another good friend of mine, John, was up for doing this with me as he was also due to have run the MDS as well as the South Downs Way 100 mile race, both of which were cancelled due to COVID. Unfortunately I had to withdraw at 70 miles after acute pain in my arthritic foot and knee. I’m pleased to say that I was able to continue as crew for John as he went onto complete the full 100 miles.
The whole week was an incredible challenge which came with so many highs and a few lows too. The 50 mile day came with a few challenges as Helen and I chose a trail route near Henley-in-Arden which turned out to be incredibly muddy which really slowed our progress, particularly on very tired legs. After 30 miles which took us 8 hours, we returned to Warwick and decided to do the remaining 20 miles on road. We finished at 12:30am having started at 10am the previous morning - it was a tough and painful day for both of us!
I raised £1400 for Hope for Children, taking my overall total to £9750. I’ve included the sponsorship link below, all donations are warmly welcomed, thank you.
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/laurenmds21
So there we have it, my 2020 roundup. Of course, there’s so much more I could say but in all honesty it’s been such a crazy year for all of us, it’s kind of hard to digest everything and regurgitate it in just a few paragraphs. Who knows what 2021 will bring, none of us know, but this year has certainly brought about change and in some cases, a few positives too.
I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who has supported me this year. It’s not been easy and there have been any times when I’ve woken up and not wanted to face the world. Without the support and love of family, friends, clients and even perfect strangers, I suspect 2021 would be looking very different right now.