Globe-trotting Aberdeenshire runner Meryl Cooper is learning new skills during the coronavirus lockdown.
The Great Britain international returned to her dad’s farm near Oldmeldrum six weeks ago after leaving Gran Canaria where she had just a couple of months earlier taken up a part-time teaching post after previously working in Dubai for six years.
Cooper made her GB debut in the 2019 world ultra trail-running championships in Portugal and has since made her mark in a number of overseas competitions.
Many of her plans for 2020 have been knocked on the head because of the Covid-19 crisis, but she is remaining positive about the situation which has opened up new opportunities.
She said: “Since I got back home I have been busy helping my dad on the farm. It’s the lambing season so it’s very busy. I didn’t really have any lambing skills but I’m definitely learning.
“I love spending time with the young lambs, so it doesn’t feel like work at all – even when we start preparing for the night feed at 10.30pm when I would normally be sleeping by 9.30pm.
“I also still have my teaching work to do, although it’s all online, so that fills more of my time. On top of that I am doing a six month health coaching course with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. It’s usually a one year course but I am doing the accelerated version so it’s about 15 hours a week study.
“Health coaches, in a nutshell, support people to achieve their health goals through lifestyle and behaviour changes.
“As a teacher I did a number of coaching qualifications and was an educational coach at my last school in Dubai.
“Now I’m looking to combine my passion for education and health in this way in a job which can be managed alongside my training with its flexible, remote nature.”
With all that going on, Cooper is busier than ever and she also has to find time for training.
She said: “I am running around 120 kilometres a week with quite a lot of elevation in these runs. I can’t find any really long hills near here but the roads are all undulating so cumulatively I’m getting a lot of up and down work done.
“I’m enjoying it but my motivation has wavered at times as there are no races and, to be honest, there are more pressing matters to consider at this time.
“I still want to achieve my goals and I’m training with the hope that some races might go ahead perhaps in October. But, to be honest, I can’t see it happening. However, I need to prepare as if they will.”
