Taking advantage of turbulent times

Well, it took a worldwide pandemic for me to get started on this but I'm taking advantage of having a lot more time at home and a lot less work to do. 
I've been meaning to put together a way to share my knowledge and insight and finally, here it is! 
Before we get any further, let's acknowledge that this is weird. We've all been going through life with pretty easy access to gyms, coaches, and training partners. Yet, here we are all social distancing. As a fencer, this has put a real wrench in my training. Fencing requires social interaction. 
Although we've all had our training affected, let's not throw our hands in the air and say all is lost. It's not. There's a way to take advantage of this. So... how?
- First, take this time you've gained to hang out with your family. We're all busy and we rush around the people we live with. Make sure to spend some of this time re-connecting with them. 
- Second, reflect. Reflect on why you do what you do. You go to training day-in and day-out. Ask yourself why. Is it the love of your sport? Or, the love of pushing yourself and self-development? Maybe it's habit or just because your parents tell you to go. If it's one of the former, awesome, this is a great starting point. Your next question is what to do next. But, if it's one of the latter, that's ok too. This is a great opportunity for you to dig deep and remind yourself why you like coming to training. 
- Once you've found your motivation, your next move is to get started. Training to be a high-level athlete (or fencer, more specifically) is more than just lessons, drills, and bouting. There are non-fencing things you can do:

• Mindfulness and visualization
• Video analysis (your own performance, your opponents, or your role models)
• Cross training: lift weights, do yoga, go for a run or a bike ride
• Footwork: you've done it a million times. Get creative and make your own footwork program! Alex and I will also put some together too. But maybe this is a good time to explore what you remember and think helps you. 
• Bladework: ask your parent or sibling to help you with this. We'll be sending stuff out on this but for now, get creative on your own. 

Stay tuned because my next blog post will focus on productive ways to cross train without a gym!

---