COVID-19, lockdown #1 I was working through a planned fiction trilogy about nearly the same disaster hitting my fictional world (this was before we knew anything about COVID).
COVID-19, lockdown #2 I was working on a different novel, having finished Book 1 of my disaster novel and not believing it was publishable. This novel, set in today’s world, I didn’t quite finish.
COVID-19 Lockdown #3 I stopped writing. Not because I didn’t have a desire to write, but because it seemed a lot less stressful to manage work, life and family under the conditions that we were in, without adding the stress of trying to write every day. If you’ve ever written a fiction novel before, you know it takes a lot of consistent effort to remember the characters and create the world.
The other thing that changed was my training. During COVID lockdowns I did what I had to do to keep exercising, but I put on 12lbs. I wasn’t training enough for how much I was eating, and motivation was low. I wasn’t prepared to have all my races shut down, and I didn’t set myself up with the tools to succeed through that year. In the end, it seems like a waste of a year for my training, although I got to spend a lot of quality time with my kids.
In this lockdown, I’ve run workshops and spoke about mobility, rolling and exercise. I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I’ve always had a passion for fitness and sharing my journey and trying to help people do their best, and this really helped highlight that. I wish I could help more people.
I’ve started working on a non-fiction fitness book, focused on helping people understand and find a good balance of flexibility, mobility, strength, stability and cardio. I plan to post some of that research and some chapters on the “My Writing” section of this webpage. Essentially, I’ll freely share the information while working to put it all into a book. Will I ever finish this project? Who knows? It’s one of those things that is inspiring to when my schedule looks good for it, but could all come unravelled when the city re-opens and I get busy again. Still, it’s worth a try.