Sparkie's rundiary

No running since Tuesday's folly (hence a more philisophical post) - two physio sessions have things back on track, but predictions that I would be back running today were a little optimistic. I did head out for a run around the block this afternoon, but called it quits after a couple of minutes - no pain, but the feeling that pushing on would have set something off. Obviously I am disappointed not to be running, particularly with important races scheduled today and tomorrow. But as I advised someone recently, you should treat downtime as an opportunity - a chance to focus on the important things. Besides, nearly every double decathlon event, particularly the jumps and hurdles, requires a strong right hamstring, so trying to rush back into things is likely to bring the whole show undone. Big picture time.

Speaking of the big picture, it is a time of big change in my life - all of it positive. As work from one client has eased up, another client has requested a full-time commitment for the next few months. As this client pays nearly 50% more, and allows me to work from home, this has given me several extra hours a day - not travelling to MonaVale gives me an extra hour and the higher rate means less working time to make ends meet. Providing I have the discipline to continue to get up at 5:30, two workouts a day will be managable, with the added bonus of seeing Louis each morning. More importantly, by working at home, I have much more flexibility with my time, ideally allowing me to slot into training squads to work on my technical events.

However, I have been in this position in the past, and have squandered the opportunities it has presented. A good friend recently inspired me with the words of von Goethe on commitment "Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." One of my key reflections on turning 35 was a prominent gap between what I say I am going to do, and what actually gets done - a source of great frustration to me personally. So today saw me commit to several things that are important to me. Apart from a big personal one, and a few financial and household ones, the State Decathlon Championships are on January 7th - a date strongly burnt into my brain, and the next few weeks will revolve around preparing for these.

Getting out of bed and finishing my first lot of training before 7:00 is another, as is the commitment to performing my stretching and core strengthening routine every day. Taking RunDiary.net to the next level and doing one thing a day to promote it is a major priority, and to make room in the schedule, I will be stepping down from being President of the wine club (although I will be putting in a lot of work to hand things over better than I found them). I will be kick-starting my Masters Degree next year (one year to go) - don't know exactly where the time for that is going to come from - surely there is a market for an invention that allows you to study and stretch at the same time! And with an Australian recently taking out the World Double Decathlon Championships - this is a bigger goal than ever.

Currently sitting watching "Pride and Prejudice" for the umpteenth time - Lizzie thinks she is never going to see Darcy again. Mr Darcy's patience and perserverence would be very handy right now (and looking like Colin Firth couldn't do any harm). "I cannot bear to think that he is alive in the world and thinking ill of me"