My Sporting Isolation: Alex Davis - 'Moving back home for the first time in seven years has been surreal'

The coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the sporting landscape. Starting this week a number of athletes from multiple sports tell us how their worlds have been turned upside down and how

they are dealing with the situation, both as sportspeople and in their personal lives.

Since going into self-isolation I have found poetry very reassuring. I bought a few books before we went to the Los Angeles and Vancouver Sevens last month – they are called the Poetry

Pharmacy.

They are quite poignant because they are poems that are prescribed for people to read with various conditions. Some are quite apt for the current climate.

I have also decided to start a campaign on Instagram to support our amazing NHS workers called #ShaveDonateNominate.

The idea is to raise as much money as possible through a nationwide head shave. Lots of rugby players from sevens and XVs have gotten involved such as Ruairidh McConnochie and Kent and

England cricketer Sam Billings, as well as members of the public.

We reached our initial target of £10,000 target in just a week. Together, the funds we raise could contribute towards protective clothing for nurses and doctors, more hospital beds or

equipment to support those who are suffering. I like to say that from this you lose a little (hair) but give a lot.

I guess this just shows that day-to-day life has a lot less structure now than it used to. I haven't seen most of my England Sevens team-mates for almost three weeks now, and the last time

we met was a bit strange.

We were at the Lensbury Club, where we train, collecting kit and had to go in one-by-one for safety. We all just wanted to chat while keeping our distance as we knew it would be the last

time we would see each other for a while.

Since then I have been back home in Bristol with my mum Lyndsay and dog Archie. That has felt a bit surreal because I haven’t lived at home in seven years.

I use Archie to help me train by taking him out for runs, and I even think my Mum might get involved – though she might stay from a safe distance with some of my rugby training!

I often have to remind myself what day of the week it is because I have lost track of that. I still have to fit training in everyday but it is very flexible.

I have decided to write myself a checklist of what I have done each day and that could anything from reading a bit more poetry to making sure I do some skills in the garden. That has

certainly been enjoyable, at least.