Guest Post: Focus and Realism ...by Pat Walsh

 ** Focus and Realism **

What do we want, what should we focus on for the year ahead?

To be honest only you can answer that for yourself. 
Short and fast -- long and a bit slower -- OR a mixture of both. You decide.  
Where does your true potential lie and have you the time and inclination to go with it?

This is not a lecture post, it is simply to get you to ask yourself what do you really want, are you capable of doing it and will you put in the time and effort to succeed? If so, then go for it. Give it your best shot and see where it takes you. The next few weeks are vital in creating a solid base for the year.

The answer may be NO and that is fair enough too. Do you want to just stay active and running with your friends?

Life at the moment can have its share of difficulties and troubles so if all you want to do is get out the door for a run and take part in the occasional race then that is fine too. 

Your life, live it on your terms. I suppose the trick here is that if training is haphazard and not clearly focused then don’t beat yourself up on times or performances. 

Run for the sake of it and be glad to participate.

** If we have learnt anything from the last few years then:

Overthinking and overplanning can be a wasted effort, who knows what the future holds. Do the best you can at any given time.

Our general health and well-being is our best method of enjoying life.

We need our buddies and our miles, that is a given for sanity, fitness and general quality of life.

We need to support and encourage one another as clearly it isn’t coming from on high. The recent decision by Athletics Ireland to surcharge those non-club runners to run in races could be one of the biggest errors ever. In a time when running is declining anyway, it was the last thing that was needed.

So get out your running shoes, contact your buddies, plan your routes and coffee stops. Be grateful and thankful for the freedom to run. Enjoy every time that you are running. Life can be short, pressures can be huge but there is a solution. RUN.

Have a good weekend. 

#PWR