Guest Post: A Year Later... by Pat Walsh

 ** A Year later **

This week last year this whole crisis started to hit and nobody had any idea of the Year ahead and what it had in store for us. It has been an unreal Year in so many ways.

Saturday 8th March 2020, I ran my last race in the Dunhill / Fenor 10 mile and I thought the biggest danger ahead of me was getting out of Waterford alive…!! 😱😱

Is there any point in looking back and maybe just as well to keep the focus forward and what is in the future.  I don’t know, I haven’t the answers, I can’t understand how everyone is feeling. Personally I am up and down, I am trying to be positive and succeeding for most of the time but I can understand why people are suffering.
🏃

I am talking as a runner. We like certainty, we like a plan, we like a focus that we can work to. A race in 6 weeks, a marathon in 4 months etc, etc. We plan our lives, our runs around this and aim for that date.
I think what is killing us all now is the lack of a specific, we are chasing a moving target and it is very hard to train and motivate yourself for that scenario.

We followed a plan for the last year that promised us some light, but we find ourselves back in that same situation. Madness can be defined as 'doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome'.

I am not making this post critical of anyone or anything but just trying to help fellow runners understand why they are feeling a little lost and frustrated at the moment.
There is an air of resigned acceptance in most of us and that is stopping our enjoyment of life and building to the future. We are losing touch with one another as we haven't gathered as a group for so long. WE need to shake it up.
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What to do
We must keep going regardless, quitting isn't an option.
There will be NO races so don't be building your hopes on that. An extended area to live our lives and meeting a few others is the best we can hope for.
Make your own goals that you know you can do and will be able to complete. Many great online challenges and Virtual races to take part in. Many have a charitable element which can help the feel-good factor as well.
Plan something for Patrick's Day go out to run and wear the Green. I am hoping to do my 10 mile that day before the Parade and a few pints in the Pub. ☘️🍻

I can put a plan together to bring us to Half Marathon or 10 mile depending where you are.
There are different dates coming up after that including Easter plus May and June Bank Holidays. Aim for something around those times and we might have got some freedom after that.
I know I am saying the same old thing week-in / week-out, sorry, but life is the same every week now.
I can meet a buddy locally and run. Not much I know, but some people are having it a lot worse. I am surviving.

You can let yourself sink or you can try to swim. 🏊🏊‍♀️
#pwr #survive21 #hope