Running to Normalcy
By Irene Yuan, Cupertino, California, U.S.
At the beginning of quarantine, the lack of traffic meant less time commuting and more free time, so my friends and I decided that we would start working out together over Zoom, to get in shape. It went pretty well for a couple of months, but as quarantine dragged on, our motivation decreased, and the workouts tapered off by the first week of July.
A few weeks later, some other friends and I committed to running in the mornings, to stay in shape. We would run alone near our individual homes and then Zoom afterwards to do abdominal workouts. This worked well for a few days, but it almost immediately became inconsistent because it wasn’t always easy to wake up at 7 a.m. Despite that, I continued to run on days when someone accompanied me, and some days, I ran alone. But after the school year started in August, I too, lost my motivation and stopped running in the mornings.
At the end of March, 2021, one year after the pandemic began, the county I live in was moved down to the “orange” tier in California’s system, which essentially meant that the risk level was moderate and some indoor business operations were open. Since the county’s rules were less restrictive and I had gotten my driver’s license last summer, I had more freedom without having to rely on my parents for a ride.
My friend and I decided that we should start running together in person so we could hold each other accountable. I started driving to my friend’s house every Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. so we could run together and study in her backyard for a few hours afterwards. Unlike with our previous attempts, it was a lot easier to be consistent because we met in-person; it was a lot harder to brush mornings off.
Our weekly runs have really given me hope in the midst of the pandemic. Simply setting up a consistent time to see a friend, even if it means running with a mask on, gives me hope that little by little, even with some restrictions, we will soon return to some semblance of pre-pandemic life.