I remember last December 31st, just before the start of the San Silvestre Vallecana race in Madrid, 10 km away from closing out a great year. I could not complain, quite the contrary: 2019 had been a great year for me, professionally and personally. My niece was born, the greatest love I never expected to feel in life. Happy with Per Purr and our super team. Everyone close to me was healthy. I had only 10 km left to finish the year. Just before I started, I recorded a video with a very dear friend: we can do anything! The race had such contagious joy right before it began.

I could see 2020 coming, 20-20, TWO THOUSAND and TWENTY. This shining new year that I and all of us were looking forward to. A year so full of hope. So beautiful to pronounce. A year so “round” where everything would turn out even better.

Well, today, I find myself in the midst of the almost “new normal” (it’s funny to say “new normal”). If it’s normal, it’s normal. The usual is not new. New is new, not normal. Do you follow?

1. I’ve learned to manage my expectations. We “know” this, but we don’t. Now I am experiencing, firsthand, what it means not to have expectations. Because we can’t control everything.

2.         No matter how much you make plans, life comes along and messes them up. And in theory, we know that, but I, for one, didn’t apply it to myself. I couldn’t handle my frustration when a well thought-out plan didn’t work out. We have to keep the balance between plans and the inevitable that we don’t control. Otherwise, we get frustrated and the frustration generates disappointment and anxiety.

3.         We’re selfish, to a greater or lesser degree, but this characteristic is part of being human. And that’s just how it is, the law of the jungle. Back in the Stone Age, it applied; either your tribe survived or the other tribe did. Today this no longer makes sense. Either we care for others, or we all suffer. And that is what we’re going through.

4.         You can live with less. I realized that after 79 days of isolation from the world, I only bought what I needed. And you know what? Essentials include very few things. I realized that for me incense is essential.

5.         I understood that flexibility is very possible and healthy. Knowing how to manage it and create a routine within it. Who said a routine can’t be flexible? Ford said it, and he didn’t live our “new normal”.

6.         I learned not to beat myself up on the days when I can’t give 100%. That includes everything: work, family and friends, diet, training, WhatsApp messages not answered immediately. One day I’m at 100% and great! Another day at 50% or even 20%, and it’s okay! The next day I’ll maybe be at 120%. And that’s just the way it is: DON’T FEELING GUILTY!

7.         I never thought that one day I’d be grateful to have freedom, a right so fundamental that we almost forget. It’s so natural to come and go as we please that we forget that one day you may be forbidden to do so. And they did forbid it, and rightly so. The good thing I have learned from the situation is to value – not just freedom, but everything we have.

8.         I learned to thank the people who are by your side, always and as long as we need them. My only way to thank you is to be there for you when you need it.

9.         I realized how hard it is to be away from my family. Even though I knew it before, it became more painful now, knowing I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t because it was forbidden. FORBIDDEN.

10.       I am grateful that no one close to me has caught Covid-19 or any other serious illness. I value our health and that of the people we love. Even if you can’t take care of someone you don’t know, you have an obligation to care for them in some way, especially with respect.