British Orienteering is publishing a series of interviews this week with GB athletes focusing on their training during lockdown. This series of interviews now continues with Sarah Jones GB elite athlete and member of Lakeland Orienteering Club.
Sarah Jones
Club: Lakeland Orienteering Club
Athlete Profile
How have the current restrictions impacted on your training?
Sarah: “My motivation for training has not been quite as strong since the start of lockdown due to the cancellation of events that training had been leading up to. Training has been less focussed, but I have used family challenges on Strava for a bit of competition. I have therefore been using lockdown mainly to rest and refresh ready to train properly again when there’s some competition dates in the diary!”
What advice have you got for other athletes or members in a similar position?
Sarah: “Enjoy your training, do it because you want to, not because you feel you have to. And don’t be afraid to take a day or two off.”
What is your number one Lockdown training session?
Sarah: “My favourite weekly training has been a lockdown 10km challenge which my family are doing. The aim being to improve your 10km time throughout lockdown. I also enjoy starting my days with Joe Wicks PE!”
Have you still been able to access support from your coach or orienteering athlete friends, and if so how?
Sarah: “I mainly use zoom to keep in touch with orienteering friends, core sessions/stretching are more fun when you know others are doing them too.”
What box sets have you been able to catch up on during Lockdown?
Sarah: “I’m not really watching any box sets at the moment, but I am a big fan of daytime TV quiz shows. A Harry Potter movie marathon may also be on the cards.”
Have you been doing any DIY tasks – anything you want to tell us about?
Sarah: “Mainly just helping with painting and decorating the lounge. One good thing about lockdown is it has forced us to get it finished.”
Anything else you wish to share on any other aspects of Lockdown training?
Sarah: “I really enjoyed taking in the Easter Lockdown Orienteering competition and am looking forward to the next one. These challenges help with the technical side of training. I hope when I go orienteering again, it will be more successful than my attempts on catching features!”
Thank you Sarah. Wishing you all the best with your on-going training.
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As a sport, we must work together to resume orienteering responsibly as and when the relevant government determines it is safe to do so.
The Board of Directors at British Orienteering have committed to following the respective advice of each government, and therefore there are likely to be periods when types of orienteering activities permitted, vary between different parts of the UK, depending on the government guidelines and regulations.
The latest statement from British Orienteering can be found here.
Resumption of Orienteering
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