Photo Credit: Peter J. Thompson

Mid-May, 2020. Toronto, Canada.

Coronavirus. Covid-19. C-19. Names that identify the virus that has disrupted the behaviour of most of the people on the planet. We have been asked to band together and challenged to “Flatten the Curve”. To do that, we have been asked to shelter in place, to social distance, to work from home or to close our businesses if they can’t be run under these new conditions.

In Canada and most of the U.S., we are about eight weeks into our personal versions of isolation. We have all handled it differently, made choices and commitments that are our own, and now in many places our efforts appear to be paying off. Provincial and state governments coast to coast to coast are easing economies back open.

Like many of us, I have been staying connected through technology, including video calls, online meet-ups, and chats with colleagues, friends and family from all over the world. Although everyone’s story is unique, at eight weeks in there is also a common theme emerging. Many people are tiring of this long journey. The novelty factor that provided early fuel is long gone. The energy to meet a new challenge has waned. And the surprise enthusiasm to learn to bake, paint rocks, home school our kids, cut our own hair or do YouTube yoga, is on the decline.

But as we tire, I fear that we are also losing our focus.

Lessons from Sport

In this time, I can’t help but see parallels to sport – and to reach for lessons learned while I was a professional athlete.

I remember one event in particular. It was early afternoon in the middle of a sticky-hot Toronto summer, during a mid-season stop on our Canadian Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. The sun was at its zenith, the heat at a near record high and the humidity debilitating. My partner and I had already played two gruelling matches and everyone on-site – athletes, coaches, referees, sponsors and fans – were already feeling drained. On this particular day, while I had been recuperating after our last match, my partner had passed out from heat exhaustion and had been rushed to the hospital.

I was told that we would have to forfeit, meaning our event was over. And I confess that in the extreme heat of that day, the prospect of not having to get ready for another match or to compete again in those conditions, had its appeal to a number of people, myself included.

But I declined.

Our next match would be on Court 2, and was scheduled to begin 15 minutes after the match currently underway. My partner had contacted me from the hospital, and as luck would have it, the ER doctor that saw her regularly worked with competitive marathoners and other endurance athletes. She helped my partner rehydrate, monitored her and ultimately, gave her a go ahead to resume competition.

But by now the match on Court 2 was nearing completion and my partner was just leaving the hospital. The situation didn’t look promising.

Again, many people told me that my event was over and I should simply declare a forfeit. I felt pressure to save everyone the trouble of the exertion in the heat and preparing for a match that was unlikely to happen.

But again, I declined.

5 Minute Countdown Clocks

My partner wasn’t back when the announcer called us to Court 2, but I gathered my things and headed to our bench. Our opponents asked if I was finally ready to default the match. I said no. The referee asked the same. We were all suffering in the heat, but again I declined. Even though it was highly likely that we would end up defaulting, I began my warm up.

Match protocols included 15 minutes on-court warm up time. Then a coin would be tossed to determine which ends teams would take, and another 2-3 minutes to further ready ourselves before being called back onto the court. At that time, the opening whistle would blow and the game would formally begin. If my partner wasn’t on the court at that time, a five-minute countdown clock would start. Once that five minutes was up, and she hadn’t appeared, our game would be considered a loss by default.

I took the court, went through my regular warm up with the hopes that my partner would miraculously defy all laws of nature and arrive in time for this game. Unsurprisingly, that was not the case, and we defaulted game 1.

Matches were won in a best 3 game format, and now we had a one game deficit. At this point I had kept our opponents, referees, the support teams and field staff out in the debilitating heat for nothing, and was about to do it again. The pressure was mounting.

Regulation clocks would restart for game 2, and the same process would begin again. If the five-minute countdown clock ran out for a second time and my partner still wasn’t on the court, we would have our second loss, and hence the match. Once that happened our event would truly be over.

Our Brains are Tired

Back to C-19. We are now at least eight weeks into sheltering in place. My sense as I look around now, is that we are in a similar state now that my partner and I were in that day: surrounded by discouraging information, feeling the pressure and the exhaustion of a long journey, and hearing a persistent internal voice urging us to just get it over with.

Research suggests that our brains work like a muscle: simply put, when they are depleted, they become less effective. Right now, we are constantly weighing and reweighing ever-changing information to make even the smallest decisions. All of our routine activities – getting groceries, working, managing children’s activities, even going for a walk – come with significantly higher stakes.

“Mental fatigue is a condition triggered by prolonged cognitive activity. Basically, it sends your brain into overdrive, leaving you exhausted, hampering your productivity and overall cognitive function”.    Dr. Alice Boyes, author of The Healthy Mind Toolkit and The Anxiety Toolkit. Forbes, Sept 2018.

We are in an ongoing critical thinking loop, but constant decision making is taxing. Maintaining discipline is taxing. Right now, our brains are tired and are tempting us with thoughts of easier times and choices. They are tempting us to go back to our normal lives, normal routines, and to not have to make so many small and difficult choices. They are tempting us to default.

Sport teaches us that we need to be wary of these moments; when we are fatiguing and at risk of allowing ourselves to be lured by simpler choices, like forfeiting that game, or in a C-19 world, relaxing our physical distancing. Sport also teaches us that these are the critical moments where we need to dig deep – to fight fatigue – and to seek the strength and discipline to stay the course.

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” – Yogi Berra

My partner and I could have chosen to surrender. There were a number of opportunities throughout that long and draining day where either of us could have opted to end our event. The ups and downs were demanding, the pressure to forfeit was palpable, the extreme heat was energy sapping and the anxiety we felt very real. Undoubtedly, the most tempting and simplest choice would have been to relinquish; to agree to default and let everyone move on.

Instead we chose to laser-focus on the positives: she got medical attention quickly, her doctor was an expert and had given a go ahead. Her goal was to play. My goal was to play. And the event wasn’t over yet.

She arrived back to the site between games one and two, still feeling a bit weak but ready. The referees immediately called us back to the court.

We won that game, and then we won the next.

This virus thing isn’t over yet. It is only game one. But fatigue is an enemy we can conquer if we work together, dig deep, and focus on the end game.

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