Sarah Lavender Smith: COVID-19 rerouted Sarah Lavender Smith's goals, but not her passion for running. photo courtesy of Grand to Grand Ultra
Shifting Focus Four Corners athletes redefine goals and refocus training amidst pandemic BY MORGAN SJOGREN
During the first COVID-19 related shelter in place ordinances this past March, Sarah Lavender Smith, a trail runner and coach from Telluride, Colorado, braced herself for modifications to her training and racing schedule. Dealing with the virus itself quickly took this to another level. “Our household came down with COVID-19 in late March. My two college-aged kids and I got mild cases, but my husband got a serious case and required hospitalization, followed by a month-long recovery with supplemental oxygen,” Smith said. Though Smith and her family all made a full recovery, it required some major adjustments to her training and goals. Physical and emotional exhaustion from coping with the illness led Smith to put her training on hold during the month of April. She wanted to do everything possible to stay healthy and take care of her family. So for a couple of weeks, Smith only did gentle yoga and took short walks. “The way the pandemic threatened my husband’s life and also jeopardized his business took an emotional toll and made me refocus my training purely on good health,” Smith said. Smith was supposed to race both a 50-mile trail ultra and the Boston Marathon in April, followed by a 155-mile, self-supported stage race in May. Due to the turn of events, Smith was unable to race in any of these events, and felt as if she could barely run a 10K. “I gave myself time to rest and recover and return to running gradually and slowly, with a renewed appreciation for the simple act of running,” Smith said. “I was reminded of the old saying, ‘Your health is your wealth.’” Professional climber Chris Schulte, typically a nomad frequently roaming the Four Corners, also found himself in a tricky pandemic situation. “I went to Europe at the beginning of March for bouldering in Fontainebleau (France) and Switzerland, followed by a traditional climbing trip in Italy,” Schulte said. “After we reached Switzerland, one week into our four-week trip, Italy closed its borders. Switzerland soon followed, then the rest of Europe and much of the world.” Sheltering in place in a foreign country with no certain end date posed its own challenges, yet the ability to climb gave Schulte an outlet and a renewed perspective for the sport he loves.
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