Scotland international 400m runner Kelsey Stewart should have been opening her track season in Florida right now but is instead pounding the streets around her home in Stonehaven.
The 22-year-old graduated from Aberdeen University last summer with a first class honours degree in exercise and health science and is now studying at Cardiff University for a masters in strength and conditioning.
She was preparing to jet off to the US, along with her Welsh training group and coach Matt Elias, just a week before the lockdown.
Stewart said: “We were to have been over there for a month, based at Clermont. The plan was to have a couple of weeks of solid training followed by a fortnight of racing and training.
“It’s frustrating to have missed that, but it can’t be helped given the coronavirus situation.”
Stewart, a member of Scotland’s 4x400m relay squad at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, believes she is in great condition and was eagerly looking forward to getting some competition.
She said: “The last session I did in Cardiff before coming home to Stonehaven was a real eye-opener. It was fast. I feel I’m a different athlete than I was before. The training has been different and I was looking forward to seeing how I would run in races.”
The two-time Scottish senior 400m champion added: “I’m not sure if there will be any competitions this year. I know efforts are being made to reschedule a lot of fixtures, but it might be difficult.”
In common with most other international athletes, Stewart admits she’s having to adapt her training in the absence of enjoying access to a proper track or gym facilities.
She said: “My coach has been emphasising to me and the others in the group that we were all doing really well before all of this happened and that we should remain positive.
“He says we won’t be able to make any gains at this point, but we can concentrate on maintaining our fitness.
“I am trying to work on different aspects. James Cruickshank, a physio based at Aberdeen Sports Village, is putting a daily session of mobility and strength and conditioning sessions online.
“It gets me up and going and I’m really enjoying it.
“I’m also doing a lot of hill runs. I hate them, but they do me good. I can also do some speedwork on the roads around my house, so it’s not too bad.”
