Guest Post: What now? ...by Pat Walsh

** What now? **

Huge emphasis on vaccination at the moment and the rollout is slow. Other than complain on social media we can do Nothing.

I urge patience and don’t be getting too bothered about the schedule as no real freedom comes to most until we are nearly all done anyway. If you are old, vulnerable, frontline or some medical condition then of course you must be up the top of the list but the rest of us will have to be patient. We are not in control so don’t waste mental energy on it. 🤗

We are runners, we are used to obstacles.
I have trained many people (and driven them daft) and the one thing I emphasize is to control what you can and don’t be worried about things totally outside of your control. 😱

Things we can control, our own proper training, wear the right gear for whatever conditions, have back-ups of gels and water and plan our run. There are things we cannot control and curveballs are thrown at us. The last 13 months has been a GIGANTIC curveball.
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We train in good weather for 3 months and the day of the race is wind and rain, we get on with it.
We run races on “scenic courses” to find we are running up the side of a mountain, we get on with it.
We have a disappointing race due to a bug or some other illness that appeared in the days beforehand, we dust ourselves down, refocus and get on with it.
We don’t get that longed for PB, we refocus and say “Next Day”.
🏃

I say this to show you some examples of the resilience of us as a running family.
We take a knock and roll with it and go again. We have had glory days and they will come again to us, I have no doubt.
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I’m not giving politicians or NPHET or any of the Suits a free pass on this. Their performance is scandalous. The Vaccine rollout is slow, cumbersome and open to all kinds of backhanded chicanery. #Muppets. 🙈🙉🙊

This week we hear that the chance of spreading Covid in an outdoor environment is less than 1 in a 1000. That is now accepted worldwide as being true and still we cannot run with a few buddies. Please give us limited safe things we can do and we will survive until the country is sorted. A Blanket “No” without a reason is as stupid as the person saying it. To think a virus knows where the county boundaries are is testing my credulity. It is our behavior spreads this, not how far we go.
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Enough
Last Monday we celebrated our first steps to freedom by going somewhere nice outside our 5K limit and walk or run. Take your time and breathe the air and take in the surroundings.
We are starting again on a new Journey. Make yourself part of it.

If you have been training all along then this new freedom will be a great help to pick new routes, but don’t go mad. Racing is a long way away yet.

If you fell off the running wagon in the last few months then circle the calendar and make next Monday the START DATE. New freedom, New YOU.

We must take charge of our lives and make the best of what we have.
I would love to be writing about detailed training plans or upcoming races but for now just get going. We have endured enough 😍🥰

“Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.   
O when may it suffice?”
#pwr #Survive21