The Iso: Ashlyn Harris & Ali Krieger

The Players’ Tribune is introducing a new series called The Iso. With so many of us keeping our distance from each other in a variety of ways, we decided to ask some of our favorite athletes to share how they’ve been dealing with life in the Covid-19 world, and how they’re spending their time away from their sport.

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Ali

After the SheBelieves Cup we went to New York for a couple of appearances. We stayed there for three days and then came back to Orlando that Sunday, the 15th, and went into a 14-day quarantine. That’s when it started to click for us that this was pretty serious.

The NBA had gotten shut down and postponed while we were in NYC, and we were like, O.K. This is real. Then MLS got shut down, and the NCAA basketball tournament was canceled. Then our preseason with NWSL got postponed, and all of the chips had fallen.

All right, this is the real deal. This is no joke, we thought. Not that we didn’t think that before. We just didn’t think it was going to be this rapid, I guess.

And so, for us, we’ve just been focused on staying healthy at home. Staying away from people and just trying to make sure we don’t get sick, in order to continue to train and be at our best for when we get called back to work.

Ashlyn
Here in Orlando, now, it’s just me and Ali and our two puppies, Logan and Storm.

We’d only been home about seven days in the last few months, so it’s actually been nice to just breathe. We’re constantly on the move, constantly going from city to city and constantly just focused on our job, so it’s been a good rest time for us.

I think we both had been feeling really deprived of that space to just sit and be still. Right now, you know, we’re just taking the time to recharge and see what this next year is going to look like.

We’re safe, we’re healthy, we’re sane, we’re in a good spot mentally and physically, so we’re doing O.K. With everything going on, you have to try and look at the positives that exist in your life, if you can. We know that we’re lucky.

But we’re definitely on lockdown lockdown.

Ali
We’ve tried to set ourselves a kind of schedule, every day. We get up, feed the pups, we take them for a walk. We do our workout. We get things done around the house that we want to do, like yard work or cleaning, organizing.

It’s actually been therapeutic for me, personally, cleaning up and doing these house chores. I mean, we had just moved into our new home in November, so we hadn’t really had time at home to fix things up the way we want it, and, you know, to take things to Goodwill.

In the evenings, we’ll make dinner, listen to music and just chill out, and maybe end the day with a movie or a favorite show. We’re going to start painting and doing puzzles and things like that.

I’m reading a book right now called How Not to Die, which I started a couple of weeks ago when I was at camp with the national team at the SheBelieves Cup. It’s very scientific, and it’s been very interesting to me. (By the way, it’s not related to the coronavirus!)

And then, we’ve been watching Netflix, obviously. We watched that, what is it called? The animal….

Ashlyn
The tiger!

Ali
The tiger show.

Ashlyn
Oh, my God.

Ali
It was insane.

We’ve also watched some of our murder mysteries. One of my favorites is Cold Justice on Oxygen. We’ve been watching Good Morning America every day, kind of catching up on the news and CNN, watching all of the updates on the coronavirus.

And then, I don’t know, trying to put that aside and work out and get our minds away from the screens a little bit.

We definitely understand, now, that we can last a lifetime with each other. Living together, working together, I mean this is nothing new to us — we’re kind of just used to being around each other 24/7.

I love being around you, Ash. We work out together, we’re running together, we’re encouraging each other, motivating each other. She’s cooking, and I’ll be cleaning. Or she’s cleaning, and I’m organizing. Some days she’s doing more, some days I’m doing more. It just depends. I think we work really well together, and we respect each other so much, and we also respect our time that we need separately.

We’re so used to it, we have an advantage that maybe other couples don’t! I think some of our friends are about to drive each other crazy because they’re just like: Oh, my God, I need to get out of the house. We haven’t been together this long in like forever.

So, you just gotta get used to it and figure out what works best for you.

Ashlyn
Yeah, we’ve had a while to figure it out. I love our dynamic, too.

It really comes down to the idea that everyone needs emotional support. People are struggling, and it’s not just financially, though that’s a big part of it. It’s also damaging to your mental health to be alone during a crisis.

It’s a really hard time right now for people. This is going to be really hard for our country and for the world. It’s hard seeing everything on the news every day that businesses are going under, and people are losing jobs.

I’m worried about my own teammates, you know? We had a phone call the other day, and Ali and I told everyone that if anyone’s really struggling to get food or the necessities, we will totally be willing to give to whoever needs money to stay afloat.

It’s so heavy, we have to show compassion to one another. Love each other, and be there for each other. We learn a lot about ourselves during times like these when we’re struggling, and I just encourage everyone to lean in, and love.

Rely on the people around you in your chosen family or your family members, or your community, and know that you’re not alone. Please reach out to get help or talk to someone. Just keep leaning in and loving, and we’re going to get through this together.

Ali
Also, get outside and exercise! Everyone needs to get outside and go for a walk. It’s so important for your mental state and body to just stay fit. You’ll be surprised what that does for you.