Pandemic knocked you off your stride? An active woman’s tips for getting fit again | Rose George

Brain tricks and toothbrush squats might seem crazy, but it's all part of getting into a healthy routine

On Saturday, I did my local parkrun. For the unfamiliar, that means I walked to my local park and ran around it for 5km with about 100 other people, cheered on by volunteers who were cheering for nothing and who had set it up for nothing.

I should have been delighted: this was my first run since I got Covid two weeks ago. The sun was shining, the park at Potternewton in Leeds is beautiful. Instead, I watched a lithe and fit-looking woman running in front of me and thought: I'd like to run like her." And then corrected myself. No, I'd like to run like me. The fitter, faster version of me from 2019, when I got personal bests in every race I did and was at peak health.

Rose George is the author of The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste