Harrogate triathlete Caroline Livesey finding training positives in her Mallorca lockdown

Yet, with the aid of a structured routine, Yorkshire triathlete Caroline Livesey has been able to make the most of being locked down abroad during the coronavirus crisis.

The 41-year-old former military engineer splits her time between Harrogate and Mallorca, where she finds herself currently as the covid-19 pandemic sweeps the globe.

Livesey, however, is determined to make the best of a bad situation.

“Training volume has clearly had to drop considerably, but where volume drops intensity can increase and that opens up a whole world of potential gains,” she told livefeisty.com.

“We are lucky to have a turbo, treadmill and some kettlebells in the house so it is not difficult to have some variety, and to stick to twice daily training sessions.

“My husband Mark [also a triathlete] and I decided on day one that we needed to stick to a routine.

“Routine is something we both enjoy anyway and in times of uncertainty like this it is essential to have something to lean on.

“With no races on the horizon anytime soon we had a clean slate to set up a training plan. I set some totally new goals for myself, and put together a programme which I know will keep me occupied for the weeks to come.”

For many, being confined to their homes almost all day, every day during lockdown is taking some getting used to, though Harrogate’s Livesey has taken it in her stride.

This probably shouldn’t come as any great surprise.

The fact that she served for a decade in the military and has completed numerous Ironman events around the world suggests that Livesey is made of stern stuff.

That she also recovered from the physical and mental trauma of having her back broken when she was thrown from the saddle during an act of road rage back in North Yorkshire in 2017 only serves to back up that notion.

Thus, being stuck in the house for a few weeks was never likely to faze her too much.

“With 10 years military experience before I turned pro I can honestly say I have been through a lot worse,” Livesey added.

“I am an inherently positive person and am also mentally very stable and pragmatic, so I have not been mentally impacted much at all by this situation.

“People are adaptable, and once we start to focus on what we have in our present, what we can do, and how we can impact the people around us in a positive way I think it’s easy to deal with.”

Spain went into lockdown more than a week earlier than the UK, and although the situation in terms of way of life over in Mallorca is fairly similar to what people are experiencing on these shores, there are some notable differences, according to Livesey.

“Spain responded fairly quickly. By March 7, regional lockdowns started in the worst hit areas, and by March 14 we were in nationwide lockdown.

“Here that means real lockdown, not ‘stay at home unless you fancy meeting your friends for coffee’ lockdown.

“On the first day the police made that clear, stopping runners and cyclists even if they were alone and sending them home. They are fining people who were out and about with no reason 600 Euros.

“The rule is that you are allowed out of your house only to go to the shops for essential food supplies.

“Here the shops are stocked normally with food and there was no panic buying.”