What a hectic time March 2020 was. Who would have thought that the latter half of the month would have 7 billion people’s day-to-day filled with existential crises, economic uncertainty, and toilet paper memes?
Thankfully May has come, and with it a breath of new normal. At least in Australia, while the length of time we’ll maintain social distancing is uncertain, the general public has accepted and adapted to this new way of living. I can only hope that it’s similar elsewhere.
With a wrench thrown into the cogs of life, I (like everyone else) have drastically altered my plans on what 2020 was going to look like.
My goals for the year were big and clear. Complete a triathlon in March, hit Taiwan in April, the UK in May, become an uncle in June, and say hello to Toronto in August.
Obviously all travel has been put on hold for the time being, while the whole uncle thing seems to be going full steam ahead (thankfully!). However, the day before social distancing measures were put in place, I was luckily able to complete the triathlon goal.
I want to talk about that simpler time. A time before someone ate a pangolin and caused international turmoil.
I’d finished off my half marathon and was ready for a new physical challenge. A triathlon sounded like fun; there was less running, a quick bike around the block, and I very much enjoy swimming, having done daily morning swims back when I was based in Toronto.
After convincing my flatmate Olivia to sign up with me, I realized what triathlon distances really meant. A 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run. Individually, I can understand what that entails. An afternoon’s exercise for your average athlete. The issue, was doing those three items in succession.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Ironman (4km swim, 180km ride, 42km run. Oh my). But for someone who’d just gotten used to going for a casual hour long run, this was a big step up. Not to mention the furthest I’d gone on my bike in the past year was a leisurely ride to a friend’s house a few suburbs over.
Fun times ahead.
Training a few times a week, I’d also given up alcohol for the month, with the hope it would help me on my journey (sidenote: it didn’t).
Much too quickly, the triathlon loomed before me. Olivia and I nervously drove up the coast the day before to check in and set up our camp.
While the half marathon had the atmosphere of a lively barbecue, this felt like an all-out festival. Vibrant jumbotrons, elaborate sound systems, and thousands of people gathered around, excitement trailing on each athlete’s breath. Lacking $10,000 bikes, triathlon onesies, and aerodynamic water bottles, we couldn’t help but feel out of place.
Enough training or not, I was doing this. And after a brief night’s sleep for a 5am rise, the day was here, tri suit or not.
While I won’t bore your with the minute by minute details, here are the highlights:
- The swim was relatively enjoyable. As it was open water, I got lucky and caught a wave, bodysurfing in for a big finish
- The bike was the toughest mental challenge I’d had in a while. I struggled around the halfway mark, pushing against 30km/hr headwinds. My lack of butt pads (and cheap bike) didn’t help either. Worthy investment for next time
- Finally, the run! While I was low on energy, I was ready to finish off strong. Left foot, right foot. Easy. The first bit went great, happily trotting along. However, as I slowly ticked off kilometre by kilometre, I had shoulder pain, chest pain, and of course had my hat blown off. Twice. I wasn’t going to let that stop me though
After 3 hours of non-stop torturous cardio, I sprinted towards the finish line, giving everything I possibly could. Hands raised in triumph, I smiled as the announcer called out “Jeff Skolnik, bringing it home”.
Immediately afterwards, I was joined by Olivia and a few friends who had come to cheer us on. After celebrating and rehydrating with some watermelon, it was time for what was truly important.
My first beer in a month and a half.
Mhmmm.
Otherwise, quarantine life’s been good. I’ve taken up learning Spanish, worked on my handstands (because life’s better upside down), started brewing beer, and have helped transform what was a weed infested backyard into a flourishing farm. Green onions, beans, passionfruit, tomatoes, celery, squash, parsley and dragon fruit, all planted and looking beautiful. Hopefully a chicken coop incoming too!
I never would have thought I’d be the type to get up every morning to look at my plants. Seeing a tomato sprout emerge from the soil to greet the sun for the first time, I feel like a proud father holding a child.
With my groceries, I have created life.
Powerful stuff.
Hope everyone’s been coping alright and summer starts to show its face. As always, would love to hear about what’s new and catch up on all things life.
Zev
PS I wrote a tune about coronavirus for a contest a month ago. While I didn’t end up winning, I thought some of you might enjoy. Find it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3J6BowA2SA
