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"Let Training Be Your Sanctuary"...

Wednesday, 25 March 2020 23:10

This blog written by triathlete Rhiannon Berry originated as a post she wrote on the popular Facebook group, Pathetic Triathletes Group, as a response to the ever-difficult and changing COVID-19 pandemic that has altered life as we know it and completely changed the sports landscape.

My beloved Pathetics — 

I've seen so many of you lamenting races that have been canceled (understandably so), so many of you losing motivation because the odds of approaching races are so bleak with no concept of where things go from here. Many have struggled with whether it is worth it to train with race schedules at the mercy of the unknown.

In addition to being a proudly Pathetic triathlete, I am a teacher at a large, impoverished district, a daughter with two older parents with pre-existing health concerns, a sister to one sibling who works in a hospital serving heavily populated areas and another sibling whose engineering company has multiple international partners, and a woman with a significantly...

compromised immune system with regard to pneumatic viruses. Like all of you, my mind has been swirling with stress these past weeks, these last few days especially taking their toll as we wait for what comes next.

Last weekend, I escaped the trainer and tried fat-biking for the first time just to get outside. I rode for a few hours with a dear friend (with proper distancing between us). For those few hours, we shouted conversations back and forth, some filled with concerns of the week but many not. We rode in silence, we rode in laughter, we rode in friendship. For those three hours, I felt normal. My mind was at ease. The trees seemed to separate us from the concerns that awaited our return. READ MORE