I’m sitting here in my house on a two-week quarantine. After our recent travels, the clinic asked me to stay home for two weeks. Honestly, though, we will see if it is actually two weeks, or if it becomes longer. My husband is upstairs where he has set up an office in the spare room. He is working from home for at least two weeks. I wish I had that luxury, but since I am only part-time and, like many Americans, paid hourly, I’m back in the land of zero pay.

In case you have been living under a rock, there is this novel coronavirus and the pandemic that has spread across the world is wreaking havoc on everything. Restaurants are closed. Movie theaters are closed. Events are canceled. Vacations are ruined. Oh yeah, and thousands of people are dying. People seem to forget that minor detail as they complain about their inconveniences. Hopefully, self-isolation and mandated quarantines will prevent the deaths of thousands or millions more.

Josh and I spent the past weekend in Page, Arizona for the Antelope Canyon 55k. We signed up for the race a year ago and planned to travel with a big group of running friends. We booked tours of upper and lower Antelope Canyons the day after the race. As news of COVID-19 spread, we debated whether or not to cancel the trip. In the end, we packed hand sanitizer, Chlorox wipes and hoped for the best.  Concerns continued to rise, and hour by hour new information was released. By the time our flight arrived in Flagstaff Thursday night, and more shutdowns and travel bans were instituted, we both were fairly convinced the socially responsible thing would have been to stay home.

Friday morning, after breakfast, we headed north to Page, AZ. We had planned to stop at the Grand Canyon, but it was rainy and cloudy, and we decided to stop there on our way back. As we rolled into Page and were parking in front of our Airbnb, I received a phone call that the Navajo Nation was closing all tribal lands. Our tours through Antelope Canyon were canceled. We were quite disappointed, especially because if we had scheduled our tours for Friday instead of the day after the race, we would have been able to go. Getting to see Antelope Canyon was the primary reason we chose this race. The 100 mile and 50 mile race distances actually ran through the canyon, but only one person in our group wanted to deal with that many miles of sand running. We all got an uneasy feeling that the race was going to get canceled, but the race director said it would happen, however he recommended runners bring all their own food instead of using supplies from aid stations that other people may have touched.

The race itself was great. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, the course was challenging with a lot of sand, technical slickrock, Horseshoe Bend, Waterholes slot canyon, and the white walls and blue water of Lake Powell. Josh had a great day and finished 2nd overall. I was so proud of him, and after that performance, he can no longer claim that he is “not a runner.”  The day was going great for me as well until I crashed in the sand of Waterholes Canyon. The crash wasn’t too bad, and after a minute to assess the damage, I was off and running again. Then a couple hours later, I took a flying superman with seven miles to go. It wasn’t so much the flying part that was the issue, as it was the skidding through the dirt and rocks when I came back down. I had to sit for a minute to collect myself until my coach helped me up and got me moving again, albeit at a much slower pace.  Even with the bruising, lost skin, and slowed pace, I still managed a 10th place women’s finish, and I was pretty happy with that. Our whole group had a great day out there and we enjoyed chatting about our experiences as we lounged around the house that evening.

On Sunday, with Antelope Canyon tours canceled, a few of us headed to the Grand Canyon on our way back to Flagstaff. Josh and another friend had never seen the Grand Canyon, and it was fun to see their reactions. It really is pretty spectacular. We all discussed how surreal it felt to be there on vacation, where there was really no sign of any impending public health crisis. Friends and family were sending pictures of empty grocery store shelves, and news bulletins about shutdowns going into effect. I think we all had a sense of dread about returning home where it would all become very real. This was clearly going to be our last little hurrah for quite some time.

So now here we are, quarantined for who knows how long. It is a strange position for me to be in. After my brain injury, I dealt with relentless isolation. I spent hours and hours every day staring at the walls of our house with horrendous anxiety, loneliness, and a lot of crying. It was maddening to hear people make comments like, “Wow, it must be so nice to have nothing to do”. Or maybe, “I wish I could just sit at home for a while”. I’ve got good news, now is your chance!  Brain injury survivors are pros at self-isolation, but I promise you it isn’t by choice. After two weeks, you can tell me just how great it is. Let me know if you would like to continue for the next couple of years.

As I recovered from brain injury, it was physically hard to be out and about around people, with the noise, conversation, and general over-stimulation, but emotionally harder to be alone. I have been thankful to finally be recovered enough to be back to work part-time, talking with clients, staff and having a routine.  To be perfectly honest, this is going to be difficult for me, and I find myself having a little PTSD thinking once again about how to fill my day. But hey, I’ve got plenty of practice and at least we moved, so I have different walls to stare at.

Here are 15 ideas of things you can do to fill your day:

• Exercise – there are tons of online videos to give you ideas.
• Bake something.
• Do laundry.
• Deep cleaning – windowsills, baseboards, ceiling fans, vents, etc
• Read or listen to a book
• Go for a walk – stay 6 feet away from other people.
• Go for a second and third walk.
• Start a journal or blog about your experience.
• Touch up paint all the little dings, dents and wear spots on your walls.
• Starting checking off the other house projects on your to-do list.
• Take a nap.
• Start watching a new series (something with a lot of seasons).
• Online continuing education in your field, or learn something new.
• Teach your dog a new trick.
• Start an art project.

This period of isolation is temporary. The financial burden of lost wages, lost business, layoffs, and overall economic consequences will be much longer-lasting. If we take this seriously, the economics will be the worst of it. If we don’t, the loss of life will far outweigh the economics. My disrupted race season, canceled upcoming vacation plans, and anxiety about isolation are trivial in comparison. Although we may not know when life will return to normal, rest assured that it will eventually. Now is a good time to pick up the phone and call your friends and loved ones.  We may end up isolated, but we are all in this together and no one is alone.

Stay healthy.

-Kristin