Quarantine? Been there, done that.
Months, stretching into years, of enforced absence from the sporting arena?
Tick. That as well. All very 2014.
If you’re looking to find an athlete perfectly placed to deal with the challenges of a long coronavirus shutdown, and to pass on some coping advice to those who may need it, try Montrose.
Retreating to the family home in Angus, with exercise curtailed by the government, might be far removed from the norm of a squash player at the peak of her career. But Lisa Aitken has had it much, much worse.
When the Scottish champion contracted dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease, six years ago, partial blindness, hallucinations, vomiting, isolation and fear of the unknown all had to be dealt with in the early weeks. And then came the long, slow fight back to full health and elite athlete fitness.
Finding perspective comes easily. There really is no meaningful comparing and contrasting to be done.
“I’m healthy and I can actually get out for an hour a day this time for starters,” said Aitken.
“My last quarantine was very different. So far this all feels OK.
“When I was quarantined with dengue fever it was while the doctors waited on results from my blood test. They didn’t know what it was or if it was contagious.
“So I was maybe in isolation for about five days at Leeds until they got the test results and then I was in a normal ward. Nobody could catch if off me – you can only get it from being bitten by a mosquito.
“There were extreme symptoms and it was horrible to go through but that part of it didn’t last too long. There was about a year of needing assistance with the most basic things like showering and making food after that.
“The period between feeling like I could leave the house to actually having a run lasted about six months. It was trial and error from then on.”
Aitken is a student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, one year into a brewing and distilling degree.
The plate-spinning for a world top-40 athlete has inevitably seen a few shatter into pieces on the floor.
She said: “For me the whole year has been a bit of a stressful and anxious time. I’ve been trying to deal with being a full-time athlete and having full-time studies.
“It seems a bit trivial in relation to what’s happening in the world but I’m kind of welcoming being told to stop and slow down. It’s given me time to breathe and get grounded again.
“Before I got dengue fever I was so caught up in my sporting world and striving to be the best to the detriment to my mental health and personal relationships. Everything else suffered.
“When I was forced into stopping I was able to think about what I was doing to myself and reflect. What can I change? What can I control? What can’t I control?
“That was a massive lesson and there are things I’ve taken from then to now. I have a psychologist and I work with a lifestyle adviser through the Scottish Institute of Sport.
“I work with them every week to try and make sure I keep on top of the little things.
“Everyone just now – not just people in sport – has a great opportunity to slow down and check themselves.”
Fixating on long-term career goals won’t be the Aitken mindset as long as the pandemic keeps her off a squash court. And the same will apply when she and her sport emerge from the current hiatus.
“I’ll have a checklist,” said the 30-year-old. “With the squash and studies it will be really important my time management is spot on. What is the purpose of today? What is the purpose of this week? That will help me stay on track. Setting little goals. It doesn’t have to be ground-breaking.
“At the moment I’ve been making sure I do something for my physical fitness, something for my mental well-being and something for somebody else. I can then go to sleep and feel I’ve been productive.”
Shortly before the lockdown, Aitken became Scottish singles champion for the fourth time, securing three in a row without dropping a game. Domestic success is not the barometer of her season, however.
“Unfortunately it has been my worst season to date,” she explained. “I think I started off 35th in the world and dropped down to 42nd.
“As nice as it is to win the national title, it’s not the benchmark of where I should be. But it’s not too drastic to see how I can get back to where I want to be.
“I knew it would take time to adjust to starting university. I’ve had a year of settling in now. I know what the timetable is like and I’m looking to get back to 35 and beyond whenever our season starts again.
“It normally ends in May so it’s definitely over. We’ll be hoping to start back up again in September.”