Now you’ve all caught up with George and her lockdown life, next up is Nikki from the LAFA’s. I’ve put her social media links below so be sure you’re following her;
For Nikki her biggest worry at the beginning of lockdown (aside from not being able to go to the gym) was how bored she was going to get. “I can’t bear being bored; it turns me into a different person, like the less I do the less I want to do and I hate it. Its a horrible restlessness and I just stare at the walls not knowing what to do with myself!”. To prevent this Nikki puts measures in place early on, she was armed with puzzles, paint by numbers and colouring books and of course good old Harry Potter on her kindle. The irony is that actually the Antarctic training and admin has kept her so busy enough that her paint by numbers is lying only half finished in my spare room! Check it out below, I think that is pretty good progress so far.
Since lockdown has eased slightly Nikki has been visiting (all 4 of) her parents and sister to have BBQs in the garden. She of course takes her own crockery and everything to limit contact; it has been super lovely for her to see them even if she can’t have a hug just yet!
Nikki feels she has really thrived at work and genuinely cherished being able to go to the fire station. Not only does it mean that she only has to spend a maximum of 3.5 days in her flat in a row but it also means she gets to interact with human beings again whilst still feeling like she is contributing to society during the most uncertain of times. A very small victory for Nikki is that her flat is so sunny she can actually sunbathe in the lounge without going outside!
She also recently went to visit her colleague’s family farm, Nikki’s favourite part were the baby pigmy goats and in her own words “this was literally so so good for the soul”. A big thank you to Emily for letting Nikki visit, and yes, all social distancing rules were met, although not with the goats as you can see by the picture!
“Surprisingly my motivation for training hasn’t really wavered (aside from a couple of days here or there). I’ve realised just how much I use exercise for my mental health – when I train in the morning it shapes my day; makes me feel great and gives me more motivation to get productive and smash through my to-do list. It’s because of this I’ve probably been over-training and not giving my body sufficient rest, but I see it as looking after my head!”
For Nikki it’s all about having a plan to follow so she has been planning her week out and sticking to it, even working out in her lounge which she would never usually do but it seems to be working out for her!