Hope everyone has had a good summer! Olympic fever hit us hard! Union Flags everywhere, coming together as a country, what a great show it was! And even better to at LAST have some decent role models for our young girls. So many strong female athletes to look up to. Lets hope it will get rid of this ridiculous ''I want to be a wag or X factor star'' mentality.
I help out at the junior section of my club as a triathlon coach, and I'm really excited to go back in September and hopefully see some new faces who have been inspired to join after watching the phenomenal performance of the GB tri squad.
The Paralympics is now upon us.. Hopefully that will be just as supported, and just as inspiring.
I do find myself wondering why the two can't run alongside each other, make everyone a whole team? Obviously they could still compete in their classifications to make it fair, but why not together? At the moment it still seems a bit like we have the Olympics, and then ''the one for the disabled''. Watching the opening ceremony last night there were wheelchair users dancing, visually impaired people rollerskating, and Stephen Hawking doing a speech. Why couldn't we have the dancers and the rollerbladers at the main ceremony? Disability isn't completely understood by everyone, it's seen as being something different, something unusual. And to an able bodied person obviously it is unusual. We may not know how to act or what to say, fear doing the wrong thing, we avoid eye contact so not to be seen as staring. My point is that until we begin to integrate those barriers will always be there. If nobody ever sees or has contact with someone with Cerebral Palsy or paraplegia, of course it will remain a mystery, and something unusual. Popular culture features hardly anyone with a disability at all. Music, art, TV, film, modelling.. all are aimed at how we SHOULD be and SHOULD look. It excludes anyone who doesn't fit that. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I wish we didn't have to put everyone in little boxes.
Anyway! It's been a while since my last post. Since the Outlaw I have been having some down time from training. My motivation waned quite a bit, I found it very difficult to focus on the next goal and keep going, because I didn't really have one! I still felt the disappointment of not competing very strongly.
I realised I had to set another focus. I managed to get a place in the Vitruvian half iron distance. I thought with a few solid weeks I would be fine and happy with completing that, even if I had to just walk the run because of my shins.
Unfortunately, sometimes when you think you have it all planned out and cosy down to get on with it life decides to give you a shove in an opposite direction. Someone very close to me has been diagnosed with some quite significant health problems. Which once again left me feeling should I shouldn't I with regards to racing. I have now missed a lot of the Vit training due to many different appointments and many hours spent in and out of hospitals. The race is next weekend. I know I will get through it, I have a big aerobic base from Outlaw training, but any chance of a decent time is out the window I'm afraid. At least I'll be able to just enjoy it, savour the course and experience, and I will feel I have achieved something after so many disappointments this year. Even more important, I will have the t.shirt!! :)
Next year I had planned for the Outlaw again from this year, but with the news we got was unsure again. I was thinking that when someone isn't well me saying ''I'm just popping out for 5 hours on the bike, see ya later'' isn't the most thoughtful thing to do! On top of that everyone knows the body and mind are a unit, and emotional strain has a big impact on your physical energy, performance, everything really.
But on the flip side, if not now, when? The first year Nan died, this year I've been injured. Next year other commitments, and 2014...?!
I read a book that said you should not attempt to do Iron distance when anything stressful is happening in your life. It said do not consider if you are moving house, have a new relationship, or stress at work. But who has a stress free life?! I certainly don't! Its all very well saying I'll do it when life has settled down, but what if it doesn't? You never know what can happen, and if I'm not careful I may end up looking back 40 years from now and saying, ''Well I did INTEND to do an Ironman, but...'' I do not want that.
I'm aware how much effort and commitment the training takes, and I know that with the many other pressures I have it will be a huge challenge. But it's a huge challenge anyway. Maybe I need to see how I feel after next weekend. I don't want to lose the fitness base I have, and I don't want to lose focus again either.
The point of it is, this is my dream. And nothing is impossible. I may not have much spare time and a lot on, but I have determination in abundance. I still hope and believe I can do it. I love the Olympics slogan- Better Never Stops :)
