Guest Post: What lies ahead... by Pat Walsh

 ** What lies ahead **

The announcement this week that many restrictions are being lifted over the next few weeks is to be welcomed and brings some kind of closure to the last 18 months of our lives. Very little running inspiration here this week only some observations.
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We should be back to classes, training, racing soon and maybe that will restore some normality to our lives. Digital Certs, washing our hands and face masks will be with us for some time yet, but a small price to pay for some improvement in the quality of our lives.

The Government line is moving from dictating and regulating towards a situation where we take personal responsibility for our actions. That is not easy for some.

Not everyone will welcome this freedom and will be slow, almost reluctant to fully engage again. That is entirely understandable and we must all move on now at a rate that suits ourselves. Small events will be fine but start line of a big city marathon is another matter entirely. 

While running was a life-saver for many of us, then others have been lost due to support from clubs, groups, gangs of friends and these people will need time and encouragement to get going again.

Domestic circumstances made it very difficult for some to train and that must be respected.
Now is a time for tolerance and patience with those around us.
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The last race I ran in was the Dunhill / Fenor (Co Waterford) 10mile, March 8th 2020 and in a lovely twist of fate I am heading to the Copper Coast Crawl today in Annestown which is much the same area and organised again by the wonderful Saturday Road Runners   . I am looking forward to sharing the road again with others for laughs, smiles and chats. Performance is well down the list of priorities.
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I thank each and every one of you who have engaged with this page in the last Year and a Half. Most of the time I hadn’t a clue what I was writing but I felt I had to do it for my own head, to get on paper what I was feeling. Personally it did serve a useful and badly needed purpose. Knowing we were in this together, that I wasn’t the only one having worries, doubts and cranky spells is comforting. I think that period of our lives is now over and we can get on with it.
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This is not a goodbye or anything but time for me to start thinking and planning again for the future without restrictions . No doubt there are still a few twists and turns in this but I would like to think 2022 will be time for us all to meet again. 

There is a big life change event ahead for me soon 😲 and I need to get my head around it and what is personally happening after that. (More info later) I might not post every week but just some ideas, pics and articles as they happen until we can get specific goals and targets.

It is time to spread our wings and fly again.
2022 has endless possibilities 
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“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes…. Winnie the Pooh”😍

#pwr #thankyou