Lost your mojo? Overwhelmed by the changing global circumstances? Here are the essential tools you need to get back on track

Words Tina Chantrey

Awoman is like a tea bag - you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” So said 1930s US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Adversity often shows the true nature of someone’s character and in this unprecedented time of change, women, who ‘run’ the world, have to adapt and show how versatile and multi-talented we already knew we were.

Our children are taught the importance of resilience in schools. Now it’s your turn to reacquaint yourself with what this means. With training and running, your challenge now is to adapt in order to stay active, stay sane and help your community. As you will be able to draw on these skills in the future and share them with others, they will serve you well. You already have many of these skills though, especially if you’ve ever run a marathon, or been injured.

Everything you need, you already know

Runners already know how to show great determination

We may have to reframe things for a while

When you battle to finish a long run or race, changing your strategy to cope with unexpected stomach cramps, excessive heat or an injury, you learn to adapt your A goal to finish-these are the skills needed during challenging times. Most runners have experienced the need to let go of their plans due to events out of their control, and just focus on finishing-and then being positive about this.

Motivation is the first to go, especially with the cancellation of races and the loss of goals to work towards, and you may well be eating differently or drinking too much alcohol. this is completely understandable. If you are, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, today, make a positive step towards concentrating your energy on re-engaging with running.