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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Are you going out for exercise?

273 replies

TalkSenseIntoMe · 09/01/2021 12:14

I feel stupid asking this but as the COVID rate is now up to 1 in 15 in some parts of London...are people still going out for exercise? I had planned a forest walk with my DC today but now I’m wondering if I’m being irresponsible? We know the virus doesn’t hang around in the air but the message seems so clearly focused on STAY AT HOME. Exercise is allowed, I know, but it seems at odds with the stay at home message. Maybe the new variant does hang around in the air? Oh I’m being hysterical aren’t I? Tell me to get a grip and go out please.

OP posts:
Splodgetastic · 10/01/2021 09:46

As in, if someone was passing then their breath might hand around in this humid atmosphere for longer than on a hot, sunny day.

Melange99 · 10/01/2021 09:47

Yes, daily walks. It's important to be out in fresh air and daylight. I think I would suffer in other ways if I did not walk, bad back etc. I don't wear a mask, and don't intend to. I am not near anybody and avoid places I can't social distance. If they bring in the you must wear masks outside rule, I would probably rebel. Wear it around my neck but only cover up if I saw someone, when I do they are not near me. I don't fear the virus, I believe it exists and I don't want to get it, but I fear the hysteria more. This virus will have done untold damage to people's mental health and this will be the long term effect of it.

Lazypuppy · 10/01/2021 09:48

Definitely! I go out for a run a day for my exercise, and then again with the dog for his exercise.

DenisetheMenace · 10/01/2021 09:51

Lazypuppy

“Definitely! I go out for a run a day for my exercise, and then again with the dog for his exercise”

Do you cross over when you’re approaching people who are walking?

I had to stop walking because I was often passed very close by runners who appeared so quickly from behind me that I didn’t have time to step aside.

Skysblue · 10/01/2021 09:56

If you have DC then you should definitely be exercising them outside, it’s cruel and unhealthy not to. Bear in mind that most fit thin and healthy people, and nearly all children, shake off the virus relatively fast. The reason the message has changed so strongly is that hospitals are basically full.

If you can’t exercise while socially distancing in your immediate area then (assuming you are in England) drive a short distance to find somewhere that you can. Despite the power-trippy delusions of Derbyshire police, there is NO legal limit on how far you can travel in England to exercise, although of course the sensible thing to do is to stay as near to home as possible and the government has asked us to try to do that.

It is so so important that people understand the difference between the (a) new laws, which you must obey and (b) the government guidance, which you should try to follow but can ignore when you think you should. The government keep talking about both of these together as ‘the rules’ which is confusing people.

Covidcovid · 10/01/2021 09:56

i think they genuinely think it floats about in the air.

Well it can do inside, there have been studies and tests demonstrating this. So it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that even outside, on a day with not much wind, especially if it’s a Misty/damp day that if you’re unlucky enough to walk through a patch of air shortly after a covid positive person has walked through it that you could pick it up. Particularly if that person has been breathing hard due to physical exertion. It’s an airborne virus. Not just droplet.

frustrationcentral · 10/01/2021 09:56

Haven't been out for ages as we've self isolated two times in a row Sad. Once we can escape we'll walk the dog. We live in an area popular with dog walkers but open enough to avoid other people.

I'm struggling with seeing posts on social media of friends uplifting their family and going out for days out. As I say we live in an area suitable for exercise, plenty to look at, fairly rural. It just feels unnecessary, however maybe I feel like that as I've now had the fear of having a child test positive and the current worry of myself waiting for a test. Makes me feel like why would anyone want to spend any longer than they need to outside at the moment

PugInTheHouse · 10/01/2021 10:00

We are only taking the dog for a short walk twice a day. DH goes then I go so still only out once a day each. We live by the sea and it is packed most days. There are coffee places on the prom and people are queued up and huddled around them, one by one they are starting to close. As much as I understand they want to keep their businesses going but it is causing huge issues. Apparently exercise involves having to buy coffee etc and hanging out down the seafront.

Lazypuppy · 10/01/2021 10:01

DenisetheMenace

Do you cross over when you’re approaching people who are walking?

I had to stop walking because I was often passed very close by runners who appeared so quickly from behind me that I didn’t have time to step aside.

No i don't cross over, i give as much space as i can so run on grass next to pavement, but if there is no space i just run past, same as if i was walking.

shinynewapple2021 · 10/01/2021 10:04

I am going out most days for a walk, about half an hour. I live Midlands suburbs and mostly walk around local streets. There is a sports field very close to my house where people take their dogs, and if it's icy or snow on the ground I just walk a couple of times around the field . I don't have DC living at home but if I did I would take them over there to play for a short time . We have a park about half a mile away and that is quite busy now.

What I would do if I lived in London or somewhere the streets were really busy, I don't know. I don't think I could walk briskly with a mask on.

User5437 · 10/01/2021 10:05

DH just announced he is going for his walk at about 5 pm today as it is a sunny Sunday and it will be busy, not so much when it is dark

middleager · 10/01/2021 10:08

Not in London, but another impacted city.

We go for daily walks, but our local park is rammed, so we tend to just do the streets now - though others have the same idea.

Can't wait for the ice and snow to pass though even more will be out then!

DenisetheMenace · 10/01/2021 10:09

LazyPuppy

“No i don't cross over, i give as much space as i can so run on grass next to pavement, but if there is no space i just run past, same as if i was walking.“

Please would you consider doing so, if you are passing someone clearly less able than you? The average pavement just doesn’t allow 2m space.
I can no longer walk because I have CEV/CV family. I wore a mask but with the alarming spread of the new variant, even that no longer feels safe.
I’m glad that you’re exercising, I really am and I didn’t expect everyone to move aside for me. I’m reasonably fit and when I was overtaking anyone I would always cross over.

Please would you consider doing the same? Something that’s easy for you to do could make all the difference in making someone less able feel safe enough to continue to exercise.

PugInTheHouse · 10/01/2021 10:10

@Lazypuppy are you giving a 2m distance all the time though? Really even if walking people should be doing this. I am a runner but wouldn't even run directly past someone prior to covid, no one wants someone running past them.

This was the worst bit in the first lockdown, runners not crossing over or not giving 2m distance and heavy breathing etc right near you. Much easier for the runner to cross quickly as otherwise the walker needs to judge how fast you're going to cross in time etc.

Oysterbabe · 10/01/2021 10:10

Just been out for a run. I didn't come within 5 metres of anyone else.

Funkypolar · 10/01/2021 10:10

I wonder how many lives the obesity epidemic will claim and how much this will cost the NHS?

Tiktokersmiracle · 10/01/2021 10:14

No because where I live the police are being totally over the top threatening people. I already had one run in in November for going to my nearest shop to buy milk, made me so anxious that I don't need the hassle. DP got followed by police driving alone to shop on Thursday, he does this once a week. He said when he got to the car park they pulled round and drive off. He said he was almost sure they were going to pull him over.
I get there are rules and why but intimidating people solves nothing when we know of a neighbour who half the street reported throughout May for having 20+ people in his home every night and they never did anything.

Abraxan · 10/01/2021 10:18

I'm not in London and our rates are much lower, though have been in the increase again.
Some days we go out for a walk, other days not. Depends on the weather and how I'm feeling, but when we do go out we don't get close to anyone else. For us it's possible to walk and not get up close easy enough.

ErrolTheDragon · 10/01/2021 10:21

are you giving a 2m distance all the time though?

People breathing hard - runners and cyclists, typically - really need to allow other people more space than that.

My observation is that generally, with honourable exceptions, they're rather less considerate than walkers. We had to stop using the canal towpath (much the nicest local walk usually) because of this - it's only about 2 m wide with no scope for moving further away.

dottiedodah · 10/01/2021 10:23

We are still going out daily for exercise .Walking our dog in the woods /by the river .No good mentally staying cooped up indoors! I mean common sense prevails here surely .We are in Bournemouth ,and some people were in the Town Centre for a "Covid Protest" having travelled from sodding Dover FFS! I thought a few miles was fine .Cannot walk too far as a sore knee (From previous injury caused through too intensive tidying up in last lockdown!)

IdblowJonSnow · 10/01/2021 10:25

I think runners should give a wide berth too. This gives a lot of anxiety to people when you can hear and see their loud running breaths and for older people who I've literally seen cowering (or anyone else too), it's simply not fair to them.

WitchQueenofDarkness · 10/01/2021 10:26

Yes absolutely and every day. I’m not sacrificing my hard earned fitness and compromising my general overall health by not.

Once this is over then there’s going to be another pressure on the NHS from the effects of having an inactive sedentary population

GreenlandTheMovie · 10/01/2021 10:27

@Funkypolar

I wonder how many lives the obesity epidemic will claim and how much this will cost the NHS?
With such reduced activity levels from staying indoors day after day, not going outside the home to work, etc, unless people make a conscious effort to reduce their calorie intake, there will be increased obesity leading to increased cardiac diseases, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and all the rest. So short sighted.
99victoria · 10/01/2021 10:28

As someone who both walks and runs I find that walkers are often a bigger problem- family groups spread across the whole pathway, couples with dogs all over the place. I often have no choice but to run between people as there is nowhere else to go

Magissa · 10/01/2021 10:30

I live in W London. I hadn't been out for about ten days but as I am not sleeping well decided to go out yesterday for a twenty min brisk walk. We do live on a main one way street that is usually majorly busy on a Saturday but as the market isn't on I thought things would be fairly quiet. How wrong I was. Absolutely teaming people standing around chatting. There is a tiny coffee stall that had at least seven people waiting to be served but nobody was wearing a mask. I didn't even bother to try and get through because there was no way I could have kept a safe distance so I just went back inside. In the first lockdown it was so quiet here.